Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] I need to get my dead husband out of your attic.
[00:00:06] I was standing at a family funeral and I heard these words come from my craziest relative off to the side. And I turned around to hear the craziest story about a dead body that I have ever heard.
[00:00:26] 28 years ago. @ that time, her husband had had heart surgery and did not make it.
[00:00:34] He died in the operating room, and she decided she would have him cremate it.
[00:00:42] And she put his ashes in an urn. I said, ashes, just to be clear, in an urn, Put them on a shelf.
[00:00:55] And once she remarried, her new husband looked at her one night in the house, same house where the urn was, and said to her, you're going to have to get him out of this house. And these are her words, not mine. Not making this up.
[00:01:16] I can't have your dead husband in our house.
[00:01:21] And from that point on, again, this is my craziest relative. Redneck, crazy.
[00:01:28] She began to move him around the house and hide him the urn from her new husband until finally she had moved the urn enough, she couldn't remember where she put her dead husband's body.
[00:01:49] And then she moved to another house with her husband.
[00:01:54] And laying in her bed one night thinking, where in the world did I put that urn? It hit her. I put it in the attic.
[00:02:05] I put my dead husband's ashes in the attic of our old house. It dawned on her.
[00:02:14] And my crazy relative couldn't leave well enough alone.
[00:02:19] She traveled across town, knocked on the door of her previous home, didn't know who lived there.
[00:02:29] Someone comes to the door, and she says to them, not introducing who she was or anything, just, this is the way she is.
[00:02:39] Can I get my dead husband out of your attic?
[00:02:45] Now imagine standing at your front door with this crazy person and you're thinking, there's no dead body in my attic. And I need to call the police and a lawyer really quick before you come in my house and start looking around.
[00:03:02] Now that's weird and crazy. It's a true story.
[00:03:07] And as crazy and creepy and weird as it is, you can kind of make sense of it, right?
[00:03:13] You believe something like that could happen with a dead body, with an urn, could see how it could take place.
[00:03:23] But the stories the disciples are telling about the body of Jesus on Easter morning doesn't make sense to anyone.
[00:03:33] They can't understand how that could take place, especially the disciples who saw him execute it.
[00:03:43] As they begin to hear that Jesus is alive, there's no way they are believing this you see after the crucifixion, the disciples are on the run.
[00:03:56] They understand. We followed this man. We're next. We believed in him. We were a part of his entourage. People associate us with Jesus. If they killed him. By the way, didn't he tell us if they hated me, they're going to hate you. We are next.
[00:04:17] They weren't singing Sunday's coming.
[00:04:20] They were scared and they were on the run. And in their minds, resurrection was impossible.
[00:04:27] Jesus body had been laid in a borrowed tomb. It had been there since Friday.
[00:04:33] Saturday was the Sabbath. Nothing could be done.
[00:04:37] And so when the body was being prepared, it was kind of a rush job. Let's get this done. Let's get the body in the ground and we'll come back later to make sure it is adequately prepared for death.
[00:04:51] And on Sunday morning, a group of women, they go to find the body so that they can prepare the body.
[00:04:57] And there was an earthquake and an angel rolled the stone away.
[00:05:02] And Mary Magdalene seized the empty tomb and has no idea what's going on.
[00:05:12] The body's not there.
[00:05:15] And so she goes to get John and Peter closest to disciples.
[00:05:21] They'll help us make sense out of this.
[00:05:25] And while she goes to get John and Peter, an angel appears to the women that are still at the tomb.
[00:05:36] And they the angel says to them, why in the world are you seeking someone who's alive at a grave?
[00:05:45] He's risen. He's not here.
[00:05:49] And thoughts of resurrection begin to take shape in their mind.
[00:05:57] And after Mary Magdalene gets John and Peter and they're running to the tomb, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene.
[00:06:07] And by this time there are reports that are getting back to the religious authorities and the government that the body's gone. The disciples must have stolen the body. But as these reports begin to circulate, the disciples are even in more fear.
[00:06:25] Even though there's talk of a resurrection, they're scared to death we're going to get blamed for this. The body is gone. And so they rush into hiding even more.
[00:06:37] And that's when we see in John, chapter 20, Jesus first appears to his disciples. But the first time he appears to his disciples, there's one who is not there.
[00:06:50] There is one who at this point is rejecting Jesus glory. Remember we've talked about in John how Jesus glory will be displayed when he is high and lifted up at the cross. We see the apex, the climax of God's glory in Christ when he is lifted up as a payment for sin. And his all sufficiency is displayed.
[00:07:22] But there is One who has seen and heard of the cross and doesn't see it as glory, can't fathom it being glory. After all he's seen, he wants nothing to do with it. And his Name in verse 24 is Thomas.
[00:07:40] Notice he was one of the 12 called the Twin. But he was not with them. The first time Jesus appears to all of the disciples. The disciples were men who were called to leave everything, their families, their business, their way of life, to follow Jesus, this carpenter's son who's going to make them fishers of men. And they spent three years being taught by him around meals, at weddings, at funerals, at parties.
[00:08:16] They are with Jesus, being taught what it means to say the kingdom is at hand in Jesus and they're going to be sent out with that message. They have walked miles with the Savior.
[00:08:30] They've traveled in boats. They've camped on mountainsides to hear him teach.
[00:08:38] And at this moment, when he appears to his disciples post crucifixion, Judas isn't there, the one who betrayed him. But Thomas isn't there. Which is odd, because In John, chapter 11, things start making sense to Thomas and he begins to understand. Jesus might die in Jerusalem. And the first words out of Thomas mouth were, let's go with him, that we might die too.
[00:09:09] So why is he not here now?
[00:09:12] He was ready to die for Jesus.
[00:09:16] Well, he's seen too much and he's heard too much.
[00:09:22] The crucifixion, what we understand as the glory of Christ, was too much for him. And now he's done with it all. He's probably gone home. He's probably afraid.
[00:09:37] He doesn't want any part of this.
[00:09:40] In verse 25, the disciples told him, we have seen the Lord after Jesus appears to them. Probably some of them. The first person they wanted to find was Thomas. Hey, missed you at church Sunday.
[00:09:59] Guess who was there.
[00:10:03] We saw Jesus, but notice his response. Unless I see his hands, the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, I will never believe he looks at them and says, you're delusional.
[00:10:29] This is just something that you really want to be true.
[00:10:34] There's no way I believe this is true.
[00:10:38] I mean, he was beaten like an animal, his flesh hanging off of his body, his intestines hanging out, hung on a tree, suffocated, a spear through his side. And now you're talking about him being alive, back from the dead. You just really, really want that to be true. I know how much you loved him.
[00:11:07] And it's going to take me seeing the body that went into the tomb.
[00:11:13] I'm going to have to see it. And not only am I going to have to see it, I'm going to have to touch the marks.
[00:11:20] The scars in his hands, probably his wrist, the hand area, the hand would have ripped from the cross, the side where the spear was shoved in.
[00:11:35] Thomas literally says here, I'm going to have to take my hand and put it inside that scar to really believe it. He's exaggerating. He's being emphatic here. Y'all are crazy. He doesn't believe this is going to be reality for him. I'm going to have to see and I'm going to have to touch it. It's going to. I'm going to have to, for me to believe. I'm not going to be emotionally manipulated by some fairy tale.
[00:12:03] Same thing some of you are saying this morning.
[00:12:06] See, a lot of times we think if we heard these reports, we would believe it. And the truth is, you wouldn't.
[00:12:13] It's not as though you hear the women tell the story. It's not as though you hear John and Peter begin to say, he told us he would be raised from the dead. It's not as though you would hear those things and all of a sudden we would all start singing. It's beginning to look a lot like Easter.
[00:12:30] You wouldn't.
[00:12:32] I wouldn't.
[00:12:35] It doesn't make sense.
[00:12:37] It's like nothing that's ever been seen. Our minds would not even be able to process these thoughts.
[00:12:45] You see, the reality is a lot of us feel that way in this moment, right now.
[00:12:51] We live life between Good Friday and Easter.
[00:12:56] We live in the Saturday.
[00:12:59] We look back on our lives. Pain, disappointment, heartache, suffering. What you've all experienced, what we've all experienced up in this point in life, heartache. And we look back and because of what we've seen, there's no way we can believe something better is coming.
[00:13:26] All we know is the pain of Good Friday, Easter makes no sense in our minds. That that can be reversed, that those scars can be healed, that there can good can come of the trauma we've experienced, abuse we've experienced. How in the world could that all change one day? That's where many of us live right now. Just like Thomas. I've seen too much real life to believe in this fairy tale. Cancer, divorce, abuse, betrayal, lies. I'm not going to be manipulated emotionally to believe something so far fetched as a resurrection.
[00:14:15] But notice what Jesus does in Light of our not just doubts.
[00:14:21] Notice Thomas said, I will never believe. We call him Doubting Thomas. He's not doubting, he's rejecting the idea.
[00:14:32] Ain't no way.
[00:14:34] But notice what Jesus does.
[00:14:37] Verse 26. Eight days later, the next day at church, the Lord's Day. Disciples still gathering despite persecution.
[00:14:47] Momentum is taking place. Jesus is appearing in other places. This is all true. But they're still running for their lives. And they're inside again, hidden away.
[00:14:59] But this time, Thomas was with them. I want to see what this is all about. Maybe talk some sense into these loons.
[00:15:08] And although the doors were locked, they didn't want anybody busting in, arresting them.
[00:15:15] Jesus came and stood.
[00:15:20] Imagine, in a room hidden away, all of your fears present, scared to death.
[00:15:27] And he doesn't knock.
[00:15:30] He just appears in a resurrected, glorified body.
[00:15:38] And notice his words, peace be with you.
[00:15:43] Oh, how soothing, the words of the risen Christ.
[00:15:55] All of their fear, all of their anxiety, all of their doubts, Peace be with you in flesh and blood.
[00:16:04] It wasn't a sweet, sweet whisper that just kind of filled the place.
[00:16:12] It was flesh and blood standing before them.
[00:16:17] Flesh and blood that would, in just a few moments, eat fish with them and have bread crumbs in his beard.
[00:16:27] It wasn't just words. Wishful thinking. Did y'all hear that?
[00:16:31] No. They see flesh and blood.
[00:16:35] They see Jesus back from the dead. They see a former corpse standing before them. And what are the first words on this Sunday morning? Peace be with you. What? They all need it. How many times has Jesus told them, don't be afraid. Don't be scared.
[00:16:57] And here he says, peace. The word can actually mean rest.
[00:17:03] Relax.
[00:17:07] One reason they don't have to be scared is because if he's alive, the people they're running from, why would you fear them?
[00:17:15] He's back from the dead.
[00:17:19] But what we see here is Jesus stands before them in flesh and blood.
[00:17:23] That the peace God offers you isn't just a vibe.
[00:17:28] It's not just a vibe, a feeling you get. It's a reality. His flesh and blood, his fingernails, his eyelashes, his nose, his mouth.
[00:17:41] Standing there, real reality. That's peace. He is the peace. Standing there, back from the dead. And what does that mean for us? That he's back from the dead. We have peace with God. Primarily, it means the payment for our sin has been accepted. God raises Jesus from the dead to say, he did not deserve to die. He's innocent. He's perfect. He doesn't stay in the ground because he was the sufficient payment the perfect payment. Only his blood would do the innocent perfect payment, which means all of the hostility that God would have in judgment toward your sin has already been absorbed in Jesus. That's what resurrection means. That's the peace resurrection gives you, is that you are no longer an enemy with God in your sin.
[00:18:38] Rejecting, rebelling against God, deserving judgment. Payment's been made you, you can have peace.
[00:18:47] You can have peace with God and you can have no fear in death. This is also the peace that we have no fear in death. Because if the payment for sin has been paid, then the curse of death can be lifted. Death is in the world because of sin. It is the judgment of sin. If sin has been paid for, death can be lifted. So you have peace with God, and then you have no fear of death.
[00:19:15] So the flesh and blood peace that Jesus offers you is that death and hell are off the table for you.
[00:19:25] That is the peace you can live with. And it's real.
[00:19:30] It's as real as Jesus standing before the disciples here. That's why he appears after his death to declare to them in, in reality that you can have peace. It's more than a feeling. It's more than being on the side of the mountain and just being overwhelmed with God's creation and having that peaceful feeling. Looking at the sunset, at the beach, the days that your kids seemingly obey and you get to the end and you're like, whoa, that was a peaceful day, having all the bills paid.
[00:20:07] It's more than that. Flesh and blood peace means death and hell are no longer your future in Jesus.
[00:20:20] It means your greatest problem. What is your greatest problem here today? And it changes daily and it changes weekly for us.
[00:20:30] One day it's the doctor's appointment that I have tomorrow. The next day it's a situation at school with the kids. The next day it's a conflict at work.
[00:20:40] The next day it's, oh, they increased our rates.
[00:20:47] And our greatest problem, whatever it is today, whatever you're thinking about tomorrow, if death and hell are off the table for you, your greatest problem is going to be okay.
[00:21:00] Believer, Christian, if you believe in Jesus, your greatest problem, it's going to be okay.
[00:21:07] It's going to be all right.
[00:21:10] When you die, you don't go to hell. How do you know? Jesus got up out of the ground. He defeated death because he had paid your penalty, which is hell. And you can live with that peace.
[00:21:23] And so when you hear the words peace be with you, for the believer, they mean something.
[00:21:29] It's not just a greeting. Hey, y'all oh, peace be with you.
[00:21:38] Drives to the deepest part of your soul.
[00:21:42] Yes, he is risen.
[00:21:47] Death hurts, but its sting is not eternal.
[00:21:54] And I don't have to go to hell because of Jesus.
[00:21:58] Next we see the glory of all promises kept. Notice verse 27. Then he said to Thomas, hey, dude, you made it to church today.
[00:22:07] You want to see something unbelievable?
[00:22:11] Put your finger here and see my hands. And put out your hand and place it in my side. And we don't know what he actually did, if he touched the body of Christ, if Jesus took his hand and placed it on his side.
[00:22:27] But we do know that Jesus is meeting him where he is.
[00:22:32] He doesn't walk in the room. Where's Thomas?
[00:22:35] Come here, son.
[00:22:37] You idiot. I told you this was going to happen.
[00:22:43] He doesn't scold him in front of the other disciples. They're probably wondering, what is he going to say to Thomas? Wasn't here last week.
[00:22:53] Come here, Thomas.
[00:22:55] Because Jesus wants him to believe.
[00:22:58] And he shows him the hands and the side so that he would believe. Notice, he says, do not disbelieve, but believe again. He's not just doubting. Jesus steps in and says, stop not believing.
[00:23:15] Stop rejecting what you're hearing and start believing.
[00:23:20] Here, I'm giving you every reason to believe. You wanted to see the scars? Here they are. It's a good question. Why does Jesus resurrected body have scars?
[00:23:33] Wouldn't that be a flaw? In a resurrected body, not totally glorified, there's scars.
[00:23:43] Why? Why does God allow scars on the risen body of Christ? It's for you and I.
[00:23:53] So we would always remember not just that the curse of death has been lifted, but how it was lifted through the death of Christ.
[00:24:02] This isn't a twin. This isn't a mirage. The resurrected body proves the curse of sin has been defeated. And for eternity it will remind us how in Revelation 5, 6, we see a picture of the Lamb looking as if he had been slain. It will be noticeable on the body of Christ throughout eternity that he was crucified for our sin. And we will always know and remember we are there because of the cross.
[00:24:33] As we live and serve with Jesus, there will be times where we will glance and see the scars on his body, be overwhelmed in worship.
[00:24:46] That's why I'm here.
[00:24:50] He was bruised for my iniquity.
[00:24:55] He was wounded for my transgression on the cross in flesh and blood.
[00:25:03] He endured the full brunt of God's wrath for me. And the scars will scream forever.
[00:25:11] That's why we are there.
[00:25:15] But notice Thomas's response.
[00:25:18] He answered him, my Lord and my God.
[00:25:23] Notice it's not, wow, I was wrong.
[00:25:29] I was wrong and all of y'all were right.
[00:25:32] Dadgum it, no. From what we understand, no embrace.
[00:25:40] It's almost as though he falls to his face in reverence and he says, my Lord, it's personal.
[00:25:50] My ruler and my master and my God. And all of this points to Old Testament Lord Yahweh, the promise keeping God of the Old Testament.
[00:26:01] My God. We see that over and over in the Psalms. My God who delivers. My God who saves. My God who keeps all of his promises.
[00:26:10] His love is everlasting.
[00:26:13] This is who Thomas sees standing before him.
[00:26:17] A God who keeps all of his promises. Primarily, that's what this means.
[00:26:22] When Thomas says, my Lord and my God, what he is saying is, he is who he said he was.
[00:26:30] And in his mind, in those moments, like scenes from a movie, they flash in Thomas mind.
[00:26:40] Remember when he said, if you've seen me, you've seen the father.
[00:26:47] Remember when he said before Abraham was, I am.
[00:26:56] Remember when he said to the guy laying on the floor, what's easier to say to this guy who can't walk, get up and walk?
[00:27:12] A magician could say that, but only God can look at this man and say, your sins are forgiven.
[00:27:20] Oh, he had the authority to do it. And I see it in flesh and blood now.
[00:27:24] Everything he said is true about himself. He is who he said he was. Up until this moment. In Thomas mind, Jesus was a liar, a fraud, but he is who he said he was. He's faithful and true to his word. This confession reminds us that God is ultimately the only one we can trust. He is the only one who has come back from the dead and fulfilled all of his promises.
[00:27:51] It gets even deeper. He is who he said he was. But Thomas confession also demands his allegiance. Notice my Lord and my God.
[00:28:02] Not just you are the Lord and the God. You are my Lord and my God.
[00:28:07] He swears his allegiance to him here. Thomas eventually became a church planter, planted many churches. Several churches was eventually killed by Hindu priests for preaching the Gospel. That makes sense, right? He was willing to die for the confession. Jesus is my Lord and my God. He swears his allegiance to Jesus here. And we got to understand that in claiming resurrection today, you're just not, you're not just here to claim facts. Some of us think about believing the gospel. It's like going to the, to the doctor and they give you that form where you're just checking boxes. Yes, yes, no, about your health before you go in to see the doctor.
[00:28:55] Do you smoke? Do you drink? No. Some of you may say, yes, you're a different kind of Baptist. And you may check. Yes. On those things.
[00:29:05] You're just checking boxes.
[00:29:08] And you think resurrection. Yes. Got it. I get to go to heaven. Listen, Satan believes in resurrection. Do you understand that? Satan knows for fact that Jesus is the risen Christ. He's seen it all. He's cowered in fear before the risen Christ.
[00:29:33] So it's not just facts that Thomas is affirming here.
[00:29:38] No. He's saying, my life will now be ordered around you, my Lord and my God. This means Jesus can't just be your mascot for hope. A lot of Christianity, that's what Jesus is. I want to have hope. I want to believe that things turn out good in the end. And so I take Jesus and he's kind of the mascot for that.
[00:29:59] No, he's not the mascot.
[00:30:02] He's not a rabbit's foot just to get what you want.
[00:30:06] He is your Lord, and you order your life around him. If he's defeated death, you better tremble before him in some sense, and you better not cross him.
[00:30:19] He's Lord and he's God. And Thomas realizes that when he sees him back from the dead. You see, many of you here today, you are miserable in trying to live a double life.
[00:30:32] You're trying to say this Christianity thing is true because it's just kind of culturally accepted. And just in case it's true, I want to make sure I get to heaven. And so you check that box.
[00:30:46] But you're not living as though Jesus is your Lord and God.
[00:30:51] If he's Lord and God. Some of you got to stop playing games with all of this.
[00:30:56] Start ordering your life around Jesus. Jesus.
[00:31:01] Begin to bring Jesus into the discussion when you say, what's my family going to look like? What's my marriage going to look like? What's my parenting going to look like? What's my schedule going to look like? What's my calendar going to look like? How am I going to spend my money?
[00:31:17] My Lord and my God back from the dead. Shouldn't he have, say, some of us just tack him onto the end of our weeks and our plans if I got enough time for him. No, here for Thomas, if he's back from the dead, he's my life.
[00:31:36] He's central in everything.
[00:31:39] But notice, it wasn't just for Thomas to believe. Notice verse 29.
[00:31:44] Jesus turns to him and says, have you believed because you've seen me and the Answer is yes, yes, Lord, I would not have believed if I had not seen you standing here.
[00:31:58] And so Jesus says, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. And who are those people where you're seated in a warehouse you haven't seen in my prayers that you would believe in the same way Thomas believed to say, my Lord and my God.
[00:32:18] Jesus appeared to a total of 500 witnesses.
[00:32:23] And Jesus is explaining here. There's a first generation of witnesses who saw and believed. But many, most have not seen and notice the word blessed. They are favored, meaning they have been born again by the word of God. When they heard the gospel, the eyes of their heart were opened and they saw the glory of Christ, even though they haven't seen him, they heard and believed the word of God.
[00:32:50] And you're here today with the word of God in front of you. The question is, will you be favored and believe it?
[00:32:58] And notice verse 30, Jesus did many other signs. John says, there's no way I could contain everything Jesus did. These signs, these wonders, these miracles that kind of give us a window into his power. The kingdom is at hand in Jesus. You want to see what the kingdom looks like? Well, it reverses sin and death. It casts out demons and it heals the sick and it controls nature.
[00:33:22] Jesus did all of these signs which he did in the presence of the disciples. They saw them. They're not written in the book of John, but the ones that are. Notice verse 31 are written that you may believe. Why is the story of Thomas in the Bible? So that you would be here on this Easter morning. And if you've never believed in Jesus, today would be the day you believe in him as your Lord and your God, your Savior and your king.
[00:33:50] When John put the period on this sentence, he was praying for you to believe.
[00:33:59] That's why he wrote the book that you would believe. Notice Jesus is the Christ. He's the Savior, King, the Son of God. All of those words here just kind of mashed together to say he is the Messiah who's come to rescue his people. How did he rescue his people? Dying for their sin, defeating death. He is the Messiah. And that by believing in him, you may have life in his name. You see, John writes his whole gospel as a tract so that you would hear and believe an evangelistic tool.
[00:34:35] And notice that by believing you would have eternal life, abundant life. This is how John describes the life that comes in the name and the reputation and what Jesus has done. Throughout the book. He describes life as eternal, abundant life. Meaning right now you Live in a world that is death, cursed because of sin.
[00:34:59] And when you believe in Jesus, his cross, his perfect life lived for you, and his resurrection, the Spirit of God comes within your life, within your heart, and you are immersed and you are united with Jesus and you have new life. This is what John describes as being born again.
[00:35:23] And though you live in this death cursed world, there is eternal life that overlaps it and begins to overwhelm it. Life that doesn't end in a casket.
[00:35:38] Life that lasts forever. When you believe in Jesus, that is the life that you get. When you trust in his name and what he has done.
[00:35:49] That means as hard and sad as this life gets, all of the good Fridays that you look back on, as hard and difficult as your life gets, there is life that transcends it.
[00:36:08] That means when you are so overwhelmed with the reality of death, you can still have hope.
[00:36:19] When you go to the funerals of your high school friends and it just seems like there's one once a month and you're getting to that age, there was a time where you showed up at family get togethers and you looked across the room at Uncle Jimmy, you said, uncle Jimmy, you're really old.
[00:36:39] And now you're Uncle Jimmy's age and Uncle Jimmy's dead and gone.
[00:36:44] And you begin to think it won't be long.
[00:36:50] And fear and anxiety overwhelm you. And then you remember, I have life in his name that doesn't end.
[00:37:01] And instead of panicking and trying to cling to this life, we're so just stupid.
[00:37:10] We think this is the best it gets.
[00:37:14] And we have these experiences in this life where we think it couldn't get any better. And if I die, I won't get to experience these things ever. I still haven't gone through the Grand Canyon. I don't know how in the world I'm going to make. I got to get all of this in. No, the gospel means you got zillions of years for your bucket list.
[00:37:43] It only gets better.
[00:37:46] And you have to live with that life surging through your soul, reminding yourself this ain't as good as it gets unless you rejecting Jesus.
[00:38:02] This is as good as it gets for you.
[00:38:05] And that's why you must believe in his name today, trusting in his cross and resurrection and those who do.
[00:38:14] There's a day when the monitor flatlines and your family that are maybe seated with you today, they're going to hear the beep and the nurse is going to come in, she's going to start pulling the cords out.
[00:38:33] And when you close your eyes, your vision opens to the glory of the face of a resurrected savior.
[00:38:53] Jesus says you believe in him. You will not see death because those same eyes that were once matted with blood blinked on Easter morning to open in a dark cave are filled with glory.
[00:39:19] Connect it to hands that promise to wipe away every Good Friday from your life, every tear your eyes will close in death, open to see the face of the Lord. And then we wait for those who are in Christ when you die. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But the body is still important because we go to be with Jesus and we wait for the day when he will knock on planet Earth's door and he will say, I'm here to get the bodies of my once dead brothers and sisters.
[00:40:04] Those who believe.
[00:40:07] And though they be scattered by death throughout the earth, he hasn't misplaced one.
