Dharius Daniels - I Told You So (Easter)

This is your season to bounce back, and I’m excited about sharing it with you. So, hey, let’s go together to the Gospel of Luke, chapter number 24. Luke, chapter number 24, beginning at verse number one. Luke 24, starting at verse number one. Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t miss a verse here; I think it’s so, so important. Hey, listen to what it says: «On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they could not find the body of Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He’s risen! Remember how He told you while He was still with you in Galilee: The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.' Then they remembered His words.»

I want to talk from this subject, and if you’re watching online, I want you to put it in the chat. Here’s the topic of this teaching: «I Told You So.» I told you so, family. On this day, many people who populate the planet are reflecting on, remembering, and rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus, and I think it’s important to remember because humans have a tendency to forget. I think all of us do. This is why, throughout Scripture, we see God encouraging His people to remember. Remember, because if you don’t remember, watch this: you will take for granted in your present season what you prayed for in your last one. Did you hear what I just said? Some of us are sitting in seasons we prayed for, but because the season has become familiar, we begin to take it for granted. We need to remember.

We need to remember that He was wounded for our transgressions. We need to remember that He was bruised for our iniquities. We need to remember that the chastisement—or the punishment—for our peace was upon His shoulders, and we need to remember that because of His stripes, His lashes, we are healed. We need to remember, we need to reflect. I want to reflect because since He got up, I can get up, and we need to rejoice. Listen to me: gratitude is proper stewardship of God’s goodness. I wish you all would talk back to me in the chat and in the room like we were a Baptocostal collegiate church. I said gratitude is good stewardship over God’s goodness. When God’s good to you, the way you steward that well is by expressing that you recognize His goodness and that you appreciate His goodness by being grateful.

See, some people think that when we’re enthusiastic, boisterous, and loud in our praise, it’s because we are uninformed, non-reflective, and unintelligent. I’m not praising because I’m dumb; I’m praising because I’m smart! Did you hear what I just said? I said I’m not praising Him because I’m dumb; I’m praising Him because I’m smart. I’m praising Him because I have enough intelligence to recognize and realize that I didn’t get here by myself. Yeah, we need to remember, we need to reflect, and we need to rejoice over the event.

But it is also important to explore not just the event, but its implications. Now, I’m getting ready to step out on a theological limb here, but I’m going to share it because, at least at this point in my theological journey, it’s a conviction of mine, and I reserve the right to disagree with myself in a future season. See, the evidence of growth is when the new you can disagree with the old one. If the new you never disagrees with the old you, it means that you’ve never become a new you. But this is what I believe: I believe what makes the Gospel good news is not just solely what happened. What makes the resurrection good news is what it means.

The word «Gospel» simply means «good news,» so if I know that Jesus got up, that’s good news for Him, but it’s only when I know what it means that it actually becomes good news for me. So, I think it’s one thing to know what happened; it’s another thing to explore what it means. In that spirit, I want to offer this sticky statement: Here it is: The resurrection is a revelation of God’s ability to orchestrate an unusual recovery. I’ll say it one more time: The resurrection is a revelation of God’s ability to orchestrate an unusual recovery. Here it is, family: Just because it’s unlikely does not mean it’s impossible. Y’all better come get me today! I said just because it’s unlikely does not mean it’s impossible.

It’s unlikely that the Red Sea parted, but it wasn’t impossible. It’s unlikely that you go into the lion’s den and come out whole and wholesome, but it’s not impossible. It’s unlikely that you go into a fiery furnace and come out not even smelling like smoke, but it’s not impossible. It’s unlikely that you get buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb and stay there all night Friday night, all day Saturday, and all night Saturday night, but early Sunday morning, you come out of that grave. That’s unusual! But God specializes in the unusual.