 Today, we're in chapter 20 here in John's gospel. We're going to be looking at verses 11 through 18. So allow me to read those verses and I'm going to give you context and then move into application. So let's begin reading at verse 11, John chapter 20. I'll read to verse 18 and we'll look at this portion together. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Who are you seeking? She's opposing him to be the gardener said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. And Jesus said to her, Mary, she turned and said to him, Roboni, which is to say teacher. Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. Mary Madeleine came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her. The last week of the Lord Jesus Christ, the last week of his ministry was filled with activity and was extremely intense. When you look at that last week and begin at Palm Sunday, you remember that he had entered into the city of Jerusalem and there were people who came out of the city and there were people who were joining with him as they entered into the city. They were throwing down palm branches before him. They were crying out Hosanna and it was an intense moment where Jesus writing in as Messiah was welcomed into the city of Jerusalem. That was on Sunday. On Sunday, rather, on Monday. He went back in and he cleansed the temple. On Tuesday, he returned to the temple. He debated with the religious leaders. We looked at that in Matthew chapter 23, an entire chapter that deals with his last sermon and how he spoke to the religious leaders of the nation of Israel. He spoke to them in a way that was really direct, if you will, and he said things to them that they weren't used to hearing. He said, you are hypocrites. He said, you are blind guides. You are whitewashed tombs. He said, you are snakes and you are vipers. That was what many people actually believed concerning these religious leaders and all. After he spoke in such a way, Matthew 24 speaks to us concerning the fact that he went on to the Mount of Olives and he taught his men about the end times. We'll be looking at that next time we get together. We'll be introducing chapter 24. He went to the Mount of Olives and taught his men about the end times. Now that was on Tuesday. Wednesday is referred to as silent Wednesday because nothing is recorded concerning his ministry. But on Thursday, Jesus went to the upper room and he celebrated Passover. He gave a long message to his disciples that's recorded in John 13 through 17, then he closed with a prayer. Judas left to betray him. He went off to a garden to pray and to await a rest. And on Friday, Jesus went through the mockery of a religious and then a secular trial. He was abandoned by his men. He was falsely accused. He was beaten, spit upon and he was scourged. He carried his cross to the place of execution and then he was crucified. When you look at the events on the cross, he gave what are called his final last words, his seven final statements. And when you look at them in chronological order, you see that he began with Father, forgive them, which is called a word of mercy. Forgive them for they know not what they do. And he shows his mercy towards sinners. He shows his desire for a sinner to be saved. And that is revealed by the way that he prays. When you look in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel in chapter 33 in verse 11, God says, as I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. And so Jesus is there on the cross and he's praying Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And then he concluded with Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. The seven, the seventh last word was a word of trust as he was committing himself completely into his father's hands. When he said, Father, into thy hands, I commit my spirit. These words were taken from a Psalm, Psalm 31, verse 5. Into your hand, I commit my spirit. The word commit in the Hebrew means to entrust. I am completely trusting in you. Interestingly enough, these words into thy hands, I commit my spirit were part of the evening prayers that for centuries had been prayed and may have been prayed by Jesus himself. And what is touching is that Jesus prayed this prayer as he was on the cross. As he was accustomed to pray every night, he prayed for the last time. And that prayer was a prayer that was said at bedtime as a prayer of trust and dependence. It was a prayer that the parents would teach the children to pray. And so he see that Jesus died with a Psalm on his lips as he gently, peacefully, and he willingly died. It has been said the cross became his pillow and he laid his head down upon it and gave up his life. Mary Madeline had been there. She had been aware of much of what had taken place this last week from Palm Sunday to many of the teachings that Jesus had openly given. And she was there at the cross. And being there at the cross, he had heard his words and she watched him as he slowly and painfully died. I'm sure she noticed that only John and a few women were there with her. And I wonder how she felt. And I wonder if she wondered where the other men were because they were not there. And as she's watching the Lord die, as she watched as they took his beaten and lifeless body down from that cross, it's possible that as they did so that she saw Mary and perhaps Mary, the mother of Christ, actually did hold the body of her son. It would only be natural that she would. And it's possible that she saw Mary cradle her son in her arms. And as she watched that scene, as she saw her save you dying, her heart was breaking. She and other women followed Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to the tomb. She saw Jesus placed in the tomb. She saw how his body had been gently laid in it. She heard the sound of a 4,000 pound stone wheel as it rolled down the incline and sealed that tomb. And the stone settling and sealing the tomb would have made a dull sound. That would be the sound of finality. It's like today if you go to a funeral, when the grave is filled with dirt, there's a sense of finality. There's a sense they are dead. When my grandmother died, my dad and I together stood at her casket there in that little chapel. And everybody had departed and they were making their way to the graveside. And it was just my dad and me standing there. And I still remember looking into the casket, into the face of my grandmother with my dad standing quietly looking at the body of his mama. My dad was a very stoic man, a very quiet man. He didn't show his emotion very often. He pretty much kept his emotions to himself. And I stood there respectfully as my father was taking his last moments, looking at his mom's body. And then he drew my attention to his mother and he said, do you see those hands, David? And I looked at my grandmother's hands that were folded in front of her and they were gnarled with arthritis. She was 92 years old, I believe, when she died. And I'm looking at these arthritic hands and he says, see those hands, David? And I said, yes, daddy. He said, they made a lot of tortillas for me. And I said, I'm sure they did because we would go to my grandma's house on Saturdays as little kids. And she was always making tortillas and things for us, you know, so it's a good memory. And he said, she used them on my head once in a while too. And I remember that and my dad still had a little bit of a silliness in him, even in the midst of all of that. And I said, I'm sure she did. And then he and I walked together and we made it to the grave side and there was the final words and they placed the casket within the grave and there was a pile of dirt there at the lip of that grave and people got up and they walked away. And once again, it was just dad and me and I was standing next to him. And he's just looking at the casket and he's looking at the dirt. And I'm sure he was just thinking of whatever a son thinks at that moment about his mama. And then the bulldozer came. And when the bulldozer began to push the dirt into the grave, my father, who had made no sounds, who had shown no or very little emotion, when the dirt fell onto the casket, I heard him draw his breath and a sob that began to come out of his heart. And it was a moment where he said to himself, my mama's dead. That's what happens when Mary was there at the tomb and they had rolled that stone and it had sealed that tomb and the thud of it, just the weight of it in the thud in your mind, you're going to have to think he's dead. He's dead. And there's nothing else I can do now. His burial, though, his burial wasn't good enough for Jesus. So she and her friends planned to do something better. You see, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had given Jesus a very hasty burial. It's recorded in John's Gospel chapter 19. And they had 100 pounds of spices that they had used. These pounds, these spices were aromatics. They were very costly because this was enough to perfume 200 dead bodies. But she didn't think that was enough. And so she wanted to do something even better. And so Mary and her friends believed he deserved more, more than he'd received. They wanted to add their gifts to this in order to give him more honor. Luke tells us in chapter 23 verses 55 and 56 that the women who had come with him from Galilee followed after and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. They rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. But at dawn, Mary and some of the other women came to the tomb to complete his burial. Luke tells us in chapter 24 verse 1 on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with him came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone had been rolled away from that tomb. Verse 1 here in John 20 says the first day of the week, Mary Madeleine came or went to the tomb early while it was still dark. Saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Now the tomb had been sealed. Pharisees had made sure that a guard or a watch was put over it because they were concerned that the body would come and be stolen. Matthew 27 verses 62 through 66 tells us that they had remembered that Jesus said on the third day he would rise from the dead. So they set a guard to prevent someone from stealing the body. And so it's interesting to note that those who didn't follow Christ remembered his words and those who did follow Christ forgot them. So Mary's coming to the tomb reveals to us some things about Mary. One is that she had a tremendous love for Jesus Christ. It also reveals her courage. It also shows us her zeal because it was dangerous for her to come and be identified with this one who had just been put to death. And so she's a great example to us. She is an example of a thankful sinner who understands the grace and the love of God. You see she loved him and she loved him deeply. She loved him deeply because she had been loved by him deeply. 1 John 4 19 simply says we love him because he first loved us. And so she loves him deeply and what does she do? Well according to verse 2 she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus left and said to them they've taken away the Lord out of the tomb. We don't know where they have laid him. So Mary and the other women saw that the stone had been rolled away. They looked into the tomb. It says in Mark 16 5 through 7 entering the tomb they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side. They were alarmed. But he said to them do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He's risen. He's not here. See the place where they laid him. But go tell his disciples and Peter that he's going before you into Galilee. There you will see him as he said to you. Well this they did. But the majority of the apostles didn't believe him. Luke 24 11 says their words seemed to them like idle tales. They did not believe them. So verse 3 says to us here in chapter 20 that Peter therefore went out and the other disciple and we're going to the tomb. As is typical the apostle John leaves himself unnamed. In the gospel John refers to himself as the other disciple. He actually speaks of himself as the one whom Jesus loved. And it used to bother me. I've said this to you before. I'll say it again at this moment. It used to bother me a lot. I mean why didn't you just say I John? Why did you have to say I'm the one whom Jesus loved? I mean that sounds a bit arrogant doesn't it? And it does at least to me. And I thought man this guy's got a big head. Why does he say I am the one whom Jesus loved? But when you compare the apostle Peter with John it's interesting because when you look in the life of the apostle Peter especially when the apostle Peter on the night that Judas betrayed Jesus and Jesus was speaking concerning what was about to happen. If you remember the story you'll remember that the apostle Peter was saying even if everybody were to leave you if everybody were to deny you no matter what I will never do that I would even die with you. And what the apostle Peter was saying simply put is I love you. I love you so much I will die for you. And that's what he was saying. He was saying I love you and yet we have John who speaks of himself as the one whom Jesus loved and for the longest time I wonder why do we have that in Scripture? Why is it that the apostle Peter says I love you and John says I am loved by you and then you consider for a moment that even though the great commandment in the law is to love God with all your heart soul strength and mind even though that is the number one commandment that God gives to us when it comes to having a relationship with him is to love him with everything we have within us. The fact is the one whom he moved to write those words Moses himself did not have that kind of love because we know that Moses misrepresented the Lord prior to the children of Israel entering into the promised land as the deliverer out of Egypt he led them in the wilderness he spent time with them ministered to them but ultimately he misrepresented the Lord portraying God as angry at them but in fact God was not and God said because you have done that you will not enter into the land you could only go onto this mountain and look into it the man who penned the words to love God with all of your heart was a man who failed to do so himself. You think of another man you think of David and you think of the amount of love that that David who became king David had for God he was a guy who would go out as a shepherd caring for his sheep and became what was called the sweet psalmist of Israel of the 150 Psalms it's reported that he he wrote at least 77 of those Psalms at least 77. He was a man who couldn't sit outside even when he was camping out or watching the the sheep without writing looking at the stars he realized how small he was and how great God was and he'd have to write poetry to God this is somebody that the Lord spoke of and you see it when he speaks of him in first Samuel and he speaks of David in this way he says this is a man after my own heart and yet at the same time did king David a man who was poetic a man who loved the Lord a man who fought against Goliath a man who was so upset because the name of God was dishonored by this uncircumcised Philistine he had this zeal for for the Lord we don't think of him only as with Goliath we also think of this man as with Bathsheba because even this man who could not resist writing poetry to God even this man ultimately took another man's wife had him killed and failed who has ever really loved God with everything within us every one of us is a failure you know one of the great traps is when you try to prove to God how much you love him by doing a lot of good things for him it's one of the great traps because what happens is you get to the point where you start thinking he owes you something for all the efforts you put into a relationship with him and you have forgotten a cardinal thing he loved you before you loved him john knew that and that's why john could say i'm the one whom jesus loved because you see when peter was speaking of how he loved jesus he was hiding when jesus was taken for fear of the jews but john followed jesus all the way to a foot of a cross because he knew it was the love of god that drew him it's like what paul said when he said the love of christ constraints me it isn't the love i i have for him listen it is the love he has for me kind of love do you have for me jesus i love you so much that i hurt i love you so much that i stretched out my hands on a cross and i died for you how much do i love you i love you this much what does god say god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life how much do you love me i love you this much this much and that's what draws us to christ it's not our attempts to be good it's not our religiosity it's not our attempts to to fulfill all the commandments or or to live by the sermon on the mount it's that he loved us so much he drew us with his everlasting love and his grace and brought us to a relationship with him peter had forgotten john hadn't and so as they gather there peter only saw an empty tomb but john understood why it was empty luke tells us in chapter 24 verse 12 that peter departed marveling to himself at what had happened you see peter was still dealing with the guilt of denying jesus christ his eyes were still clouded with his sin it's like what david said when he said my sin is always before me it's something i can't get past whenever you're in sin whenever you're living in sin you live a guilty life and you can explain it away if you want you can try convince others that you're really not that bad you can even say i have a private relationship with god and nobody should judge my heart but you know when you have sin it clouds your vision and that's what took place with peter he had denied the lord his eyes are clouded now because of god's grace and god's love jesus will restore this man but at that moment he doesn't see as all of this is taking place verse 11 tells us mary stood outside by the tomb weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb when it says she was outside of that tomb weeping the word weeping in the original language the greek language means to mourn with pain and grief it speaks of a strong passionate crying you see mary loved jesus and she was crying as if her heart would break and she was unwilling to leave the place that jesus had been buried in she feared that his body had been stolen it would be abused by evil people her mind is filled with the evil that could be happening and it's breaking her heart again she loved jesus with all of her heart because he had forgiven and restored her when you read the life of mary you see that she had an incredible salvation experience she was extremely thankful she'd been delivered from demonic possession became one of his followers and because jesus had set her free she used that freedom to follow him she reminds me of the woman who ministered to jesus in the home of a man by the name of simon who was a Pharisee this is a woman who washed kissed and anointed the feet of jesus christ and jesus tells us what was used to wash his feet because in luke 7 it says that jesus turned to the woman and said to simon do you see this woman i entered your house you gave me no water for my feet but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head now in the day of christ women would wear what were called tear bottles and these tear bottles were used to collect the tears that had been shed for all the pain that they suffered all the hurt the loss and they had a little vial that they would carry they still sell these by the way in israel when you're in israel you go to various shops and all and they still will sell these vials that hold your tears they still do and what they would do is they would weep and as they they would weep they would they would take the top off and they would catch their their tears in the bottle and when they finished crying they would seal the bottle they took that out of the psalms in psalm 56 verse 8 it says you number my one my wanderings put my tears into your bottle so they're called tear bottles and so undoubtedly what had happened is this woman had come in and she sees jesus and she approaches him and his feet are extended as he's there kneeling eating reclining at meal and she took the bottle of tears and she pours those tears on his feet and dries his feet with her hair this woman had healed her broken heart and this woman had given her love to jesus christ she was a very sinful woman but she had been cleansed by a very loving savior and when jesus was speaking he said to simon in luke 747 he said i say to you her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but to whom little is forgiven the same loves little how much have you been forgiven sometimes as you follow the lord for a while you forget how bad you were you do oh i've been a christian five years i'm nothing like i used to be just remember what you used to be but what happens is we begin to think we're progressing and becoming better than others when in fact the closer you come to the lord the deeper you should be aware of your own sinfulness and the most gratitude should start pouring out of your heart because of that one of the biggest things you need to be careful for is self-righteousness because you get to the point where you think i'm better than they when in fact we're all sinners in need of the grace of god and the more you understand that the deeper you fall in love with jesus christ because you have a testimony don't you but that testimony that you have if you're a believer that testimony that you have you have a public one where you tell others and you have the private one where only god really knows and we never tell that private one do we we only tell the public one but my god loves me even though he knows both the public and the private testimony and that ought to cause my heart to be gripped by him and that's what takes place it's not how much you love the lord it's how much he has loved you and we need to remember if you're a christian that every sin that you have committed has been completely forgiven and that's something we need to accept amen that's worthy of applause that's something we need to accept because as you accept that you're set free by that when you came to faith in christ he forgave you not of some of your sins he forgave you of all of your sins and that produces a new life you see those who refuse the offer that god gives of forgiveness remain in bondage to sin as well as sorrow and that's why it's so important to seek the lord's forgiveness proverbs 28 13 says he who covers his sins will not prosper but whoever confesses and forsakes him will have mercy you see Mary loved Jesus she was devoted to him she was a genuine follower his men weren't there but she wasn't afraid of being associated with him she knew that faith in him had brought forgiveness and she knew she had a brand new life but there she is in verse 11 standing and weeping and looking into the tomb verse 12 she saw two angels in white sitting one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of jesus had lain so she sees these two angels and they ask a question verse 13 woman why are you weeping she said to them because they have taken away my lord and i do not know where they have laid him somebody has removed his body from the tomb i don't know where they took it now that's interesting because she's very much there at that moment like many are today you know the fact is jesus is alive but we order our lives like he's dead you see they're saying to her your tears are unnecessary why are you crying you should be rejoicing but here you are sobbing your heart out you see many christians live like jesus didn't rise and they fail to realize what we have in him we have been blessed in jesus christ abundantly above all that we could ever ask or even think in Ephesians 1 3 it says blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ listen to what god has given to us in jesus because he's alive we are new creations in christ all things are passed away we are redeemed from the kingdom of darkness we are overcomers through the blood and the word of our testimony we are more than conquerors through jesus who loved us we are heirs of christ and joint heirs with jesus we have life because he who has the son has life we walk in the light we have liberty where the spirit of the lord is there is liberty we have love the love of god is shed abroad in our hearts we have joy because jesus said your joy no man can take from you we have forgiveness because the blood of jesus cleanses us from all sin we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ we have power by the holy spirit we have provision because my god shall supply all of our need and we have heaven because jesus said in my father's house our many mansions i go and prepare a place for you for you we have so much in christ we need to remember that now as this is taken place and they're basically given a mild rebuke why are you weeping it says in verses 14 and 15 when she had said this she turned around and saw jesus standing there and did not know that it was jesus and jesus said to her woman why are you weeping whom are you seeking she's opposing him to be the gardener said to him sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him and i will take him away she didn't recognize him it wasn't that he was dressed up as a gardener it was early she was emotionally distressed blinded by her tears she was in a state of unbelief she didn't expect to see him alive so she's confused but the question is asked why are you weeping in verse 15 and whom are you seeking she had forgotten what jesus had said you see in matthew 16 21 it says from that time on jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to jerusalem suffer many things at the hands of the elders chief priests and teachers of the law that he must be killed and on the third day he raised the life she was aware of his teaching but she didn't understand it and it says in verse 15 that she supposed him to be the gardener and so she made a mistake so jesus speaks to her in verse 16 and he says to her mary she turned and said damn roboni she heard the voice of the shepherd listen one of the things that is beautiful to know is that the sheep know the shepherd's voice and they follow him and jesus calls your name you know his voice you know his voice you may have come from a background where nobody knew who you were you may have come from a background where you felt unloved and nobody cared whether you were there or not there you might have gone someplace there's a party lots of people there and you walk in and even though there are a lot of people nobody acknowledges that you're there and you start saying within yourself doesn't even matter if i'm here nobody even notices whether i am or not you might have become kind of like what i was like which is as a kid trying to draw attention to myself by doing all kinds of crazy and stupid things because any attention was better than feeling invisible you weren't the big person on campus you weren't the person that they chose first whenever they were having a team putting a team together you were the person that was just kind of there and so nobody knew your name nobody ever spoke of you nobody ever really showed love to you you were the person that was left out of everything and that's kind of how i felt as i was growing up left out of everything and then i heard the gospel and then i realized it doesn't matter if man knows your name what matters is that god does that's what matters that's what matters and she heard when jesus spoke and he spoke in such a way that she knew it was his voice that's why when he says Mary she she hears that and it pierces her unbelief and it awakens her and her expression of honey that means my dear rabbi my my dear teacher and she takes hold of him she grabs him and jesus has to speak to her verses 17 and 18 says he says to her don't cling to me don't hold me i have to ascend to my father a new work is occurring i'm no longer to be physically present with you i'm going to send my spirit to dwell within you so don't try and keep me here allow me to do my work and then Mary goes and tells the disciples according to verse 18 and she testifies she testifies the way that we do as believers she testifies that jesus is alive and we testify that jesus christ is alive and that he is the savior of the world we testify that he didn't die on the cross for his own sins he died on the cross to save me from mine that he poured his blood out to wash and cleanse us from all sin we received an ademic nature father adam died and when he sinned and died and his nature was given to us and thus we all died too jesus christ came in order that he might bring us life and that more abundantly not just a quality of life here but a life that is an age abiding life and in relationship with him to know him and his father is life and that's why he came to rescue us out of the darkness and to set us free we were separated from god by sin but jesus took upon himself human flesh and he dealt with that question and what we do now is we simply say god thank you for the work you've done i know you did it on my behalf and i believe you like it says in romans 10 9 and 10 if you confess with your mouth the lord jesus believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead you will be saved for what the heart one believes in the righteousness with the mouth confession is made into salvation somebody said his birth was an event his life only an example until his death gave them meaning and his resurrection gave them power of all events that defined the life of jesus a miraculous birth a test in the desert the sermon on the mount the working of miracles the bible commands us to remember only one is sacrificial death why why are we not commanded to celebrate his birth or commemorate his miracles but to remember his death in his birth he became immanuel god with us but in his death he became our savior god has saved us and in his resurrection god has renewed us in his birth and life he revealed the possible in his death and resurrection he made it possible it was not enough that he was our teacher he had to become our savior our redeemer he said it is it is for your good that i am going away for unless i go away the comforter will not come without Easter Sunday we only see his example with Easter Sunday we become his example without Easter Sunday we can only be considered good people with Easter Sunday we are reborn a holy people his birth was the incarnation his life was a revelation his death was for our salvation and his resurrection is our restoration and this is why we celebrate Easter the lord says to cry into him and he will answer you he is our help is a very present help in our time of need Friday after friday night's service my granddaughter zoe is two years old going on 40 she's so demanding she gives orders to everybody it is so stinking cute so she was in my office after the service and she wanted to play with me so she commanded me to play with her and i was and she wanted to play hide and seek and her uncle joseph was with her me and and so joseph was pretending that he couldn't find her and you know that kind of thing and so i told her when joseph was closing his eyes i said go hide in my in my bathroom and the light was turned off in in the bathroom there in my office and i said go go hide in there he won't see you she didn't want to go in no i said no honey go and hide so joseph won't find you go on baby you you can do that you know i was playing with her and all and i started wondering i wonder if she's a little nervous to be in the dark but i know and so she went in you know i said we're here go on so she's just you know 10 feet from me and she's inside the bathroom and joseph's pretending for a moment to be looking then all of a sudden i hear her saying help me help me well i did exactly what you just did i thought how cute she's hiding no she had hurt herself she had hurt herself she had run into something hey i i i'm i get emotional about that forgive me but to hear her little voice do you know for two days it's been in my mind and i've cried like i am right now because she hurt herself isn't that crazy but the lord spoke to my heart when she said help me and i heard the tear i got up and i ran in and i scooped her into my arms and i held her and i kissed her and i carried her out i said are you okay and i ministered to her and i loved her and the spirit of god said and that's what i do for you help me can you say that to the lord today his ear is open to your cry his heart is pure i'm an evil grandfather i'm an evil man but my heavenly father is not evil he loves me and he loves you too and if you amen that's worthy of applause and if you cry out to you he's not going to say well of course you hurt yourself look at you look at the way you are you drunk yeah you tripped and hit your head on that tree lucky it wasn't a car you fell in front of get up punk he doesn't say that does he he doesn't say he says it hurt you turn from it turn from it i'll help you turn from it you want to explain your your anger turn from it i'll help you you're so confused turn from it i'll set your mind free you've got hatred in your heart turn from it i'll teach you what love is god will change your life because he wants to conform you into the image of his son jesus christ and he can do it through the power of the spirit and the power of the word of god and he can take somebody who breathes out threatenings and murder like like sol and he can turn them into the apostle paul because god can make a new creation out of anybody out of anybody he has that ability and he will and he will and he will so all you need to do is say god i'm a sinner forgive me help me