2016 3-27 “He Is Risen!” Easter service

“HE IS RISEN!”
SELECTED SCRIPTURES

I. Introduction
The Lord Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross on Friday morning. Man had done his worst, and for the first three hours that Jesus hung between heaven and earth, He would undergo a degree of physical suffering that is beyond our vocabulary to fully describe. But then it got worse, infinitely worse.

For the next three hours Jesus’ Father would pour out His righteous anger for your sin and mine on His Beloved Son – on His innocent Son, the One who committed no sin. God would turn His back on Jesus and He would take what we had coming. He would suffer and die for us. This is the greatest act of unconditional love that has ever been – or ever will be!

While we struggle to find sufficient words to describe the degree of Jesus’ physical suffering in the morning, we have neither the intellectual ability nor capacity to even comprehend the degree of spiritual suffering and anguish that Jesus experienced that afternoon. Mercifully, God has not allowed us to be able to relate to it. Honestly, I don’t think we could handle it.

Yet God did all this – made His innocent Son guilty, and guilty sinners innocent – so that He might give eternal life to all who would believe in Jesus, repent, and trust in Him and Him alone for their salvation.

Before the afternoon had passed on that day we now call Good Friday (It was a “good” day for us because it was the day that God provided for our salvation.) Jesus had died. The law required that dead bodies had to be buried before the Sabbath began (sundown on Friday evening) so Jesus’ body was hurriedly prepared for the tomb.
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II. Scripture
Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.
*Luke 23:50-24:12
50 And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man
51 (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God;
52 this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
53 And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.
54 And it was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed after, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid.
56 And they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. (continuing on to Luke 24…)
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bring-ing the spices which they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel;
5 and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the Living One among the dead?
6 “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,
7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and (on) the third day rise again.”
8 And they remembered His words,
9 and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
10 Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.
11 And these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.
12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at that which had happened.
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III. Text
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the single most important event in the his-tory of the world! I am well aware that such a definitive statement made with such perfect surety and conviction can be shocking and even off-putting to many people. After all, we live in a culture that has degenerated to the point wherein absolutes of any kind are at best seen as narrow, harsh, and unfeeling. At worst absolutes are seen as bigoted, tyrannical, or intolerant. And if there’s anything that will not be tolerated in this culture it is intolerance.

LIGHTHOUSE BIBLE CHURCH exists for the purpose of proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection as truth. Actually, we exist for the purpose of proclaiming every word of Scripture as truth. But as we do that it quickly becomes clear that the entire Bible, from start to finish, lays out God’s divine plan of redemption for sinful man. And that plan centers on Jesus Christ and the fact that He was resurrected from the dead.

He Himself said, “I am…the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever-more (Revelation 1:17-18).”
And so I will say it again – the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the single most important event in the history of the world! I am staking my eternal future on it, and I hope you are too.

Not only is Jesus’ resurrection the most important event, it is the cornerstone of the Christian gospel. When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church at Rome, he made it clear that belief in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was necessary for salvation.
Romans 10:9-10
9 …if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;
10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

The point is that regardless of how good people may be, regardless of what they have done, are doing, or will do, and regardless of what they may call themselves, if they do not believe in Jesus’ resurrection, they are not Christians. The unbelieving world – as well as much of the professing church – calls such a statement narrow, bigoted, and even hateful, but that is as basic a biblical truth as there is. It has stood for two thousand years, and it will stand throughout eternity. However, to the culture in which we live at the dawn of the twenty-first century, that biblical truth is received by the world like pouring salt in an open wound.

But divine truth is not determined by what people believe or don’t believe about it. What God decreed in eternity past is not only factual, it is irreversible. It is unchanging truth that cannot be altered by man’s acceptance or rejection of it. How foolish to think it could be!

The fact is that everyone, every human being who has ever lived or ever will live, believer and unbeliever alike, will one day be resurrected from the dead. Jesus said so.
*John 5:28-29
28 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice,
29 and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

All people will be resurrected to live either in eternal comfort and joy in heaven, or in eternal pain and suffering in hell. There is no “salvation by works” here. The good and evil deeds Jesus is speaking of reveal the evidence of one’s nature and the condition of one’s heart.

Those who have rejected Christ and His gospel will be judged and condemned to hell. They will not be annihilated as is the teaching of some. They will spend eternity in conscious tor-ment. Jesus spoke of this in Matthew’s gospel. At their resurrection He will tell them…
Matthew 25:41b, 46
41b …‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been pre-pared for the devil and his angels…’
46 “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eter-nal life.”

In John 11 we read that Jesus went to the funeral of His friend Lazarus. One of Lazarus’ sisters, Martha, was grieving over the loss of her brother.
*John 11:23-25
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother shall rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies…”

This is “Resurrection Sunday.” Most call it “Easter,” but the word has nothing to do with Jesus. It comes from one of the ancient pagan religions. The goddess of spring, Eostre, was worshipped during the spring equinox. She was often depicted as a rabbit, one of the ancient symbols of fertility. The church eventually chose the spring equinox as the time to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. That’s why so many of us call today “Easter.” But what-ever you choose to call it, neither bunnies, nor eggs, nor flowers, nor any other symbols of spring and fertility have anything whatsoever to do with Jesus’ resurrection.

On this Resurrection Sunday we celebrate the one great truth upon which the church was founded – Jesus being raised from the dead. In fact, on the very first day of the church’s existence, in the very first sermon, the very first preacher (the Apostle Peter) said…
*Acts 2:22-24
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know –
23 this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
24 “And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

So with that fact firmly planted in our minds, let’s go back to this morning’s text and take a closer look at Luke’s account.
*Luke 24:1-3
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bring-ing the spices which they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

The first-century Jews did not name the days of the week as we do. Their week centered on the Sabbath, and each day was numbered as it related to the Sabbath.
Thus Sunday was the first day of the week, Monday was the second, and so it went until the next Sabbath. We do not have a Sabbath anymore because the Saturday that Jesus was in the tomb was the last one. Our Sabbath rest is neither Saturday nor Sunday. Our Sabbath rest is Jesus Himself. So, in honor of His resurrection, the church worships on Sunday, the first day of the week.

The women came to the tomb at dawn. All four gospel writers report this though they each use somewhat different terms to describe it. Luke calls it “early dawn.” Matthew says, “…as it began to dawn (28:1).” Mark says, “…when the sun had risen (16:2).” And John says that Mary Magdalene was the first to arrive, “…while it was still dark (20:1).”

She saw that the stone had been rolled away and she ran to tell Peter and John. When the other women arrived they found that the guards had fled and the tomb was empty. Of course, the guards had fled. They were terrorized – twice. First, they would have been ter-rorized when an angel appeared, broke the Roman seal, and rolled away the stone. Second, they would have been terrorized when they realized that they would be facing the wrath of their superior officers for failing in their duty to guard the tomb. What could they do?

They could go to the chief priests and plead for some help, or some cover, or some excuse that would shield them from a court-martial and probable execution for dereliction of duty.
Matthew 28:12-15
12 And when they had assembled with the elders and counseled together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
13 and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’
14 “And if this should come to the governor’s ears (Pilate), we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.”
15 And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.

Here again we see those who deny the truth of Christ’s resurrection indulging in lying, in deception, in corruption, and in bribery.

Look around you today. There’s no end to lying, deception, corruption, and bribery. If the first lie doesn’t work a bigger one is tried. If that one fails the liar “doubles-down” on his deception, ignores the corruption, and uses whatever power, influence, or money he has in order to accomplish his purpose. So the truth becomes whatever those in power want it to be. Does this not define much of our government today?

Luke 24:3 says that the women did not find the body when they entered the tomb. When someone questions the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and your belief in it, you may want to remember this. The Roman soldiers knew the tomb was empty.
The Jewish leaders knew the tomb was empty. Peter and John and Mary Magdalene knew the tomb was empty. And none of them – neither those who loved Jesus, nor those who hated Him, nor those who were mere bystanders doing their duty – had any rational explana-tion for it. Jesus Christ had been resurrected from the dead! Period!
*Luke 24:4-7
4 And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel;
5 and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the Living One among the dead?
6 “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,
7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and (on) the third day rise again.”

As the women tried to deal with the reality of Jesus’ missing body, their confusion was replaced by great fear (“ĕmphŏbŏs” = phobia = panic or terror). Two men (John’s gospel identifies them as angels) suddenly materialized before them. One of them asked, and I paraphrase, “What are you doing in a graveyard looking for someone who is alive?” This is the first announcement that Jesus is alive. It comes from heaven, and is essentially a mild rebuke. Hadn’t Jesus had told them that He would be resurrected? But just like the apostles, they hadn’t really believed Him? If they had, why did they bring spices and perfumes to anoint His body?

Look, they loved Jesus. They believed in Jesus. They even had faith in Jesus. But when the going got tough, and when their natural senses told them differently, they forgot what He said, and their faith slipped. These women brought materials to embalm a dead body. Why? Jesus had told them that He would be resurrected on the third day, hadn’t He? They had faith in Jesus, but when “the chips were down,” they didn’t. Can anyone here relate to that?

Do you remember the father in Mark’s gospel whose young son was possessed by a demon? He was desperate for help so he went to Jesus. The Lord asked him…
Mark 9:21b-24
21b “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From child-hood.
22 “And it (the demon) has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”
23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can!’ All things are possible to him who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and began saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

Two verses later the demon was gone and the boy was well.
Listen, if Jesus says something, believe it! It doesn’t matter what you think, what you feel, or what others may say or do. He said He would be resurrected from the dead, and He was. Now He says, “I am…the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore (Revelation 1:17-18).”
*Luke 24:8-10
8 And they remembered His words,
9 and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
10 Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.

“…they remembered (Jesus’) words.” As the women ran from the tomb (and the two angels) the reality of what had happened began to sink in. Matthew says it beautifully.
Matthew 28:8-10 (This is an excerpt from what Josue read at the beginning of the service.)
8 And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him.
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me.”

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus’ first appearance was to these blessed women, and not to the eleven remaining disciples, or even to Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus? These women were the only ones who were courageous enough to have been there and to have witnessed the entire sequence of events. They were at the cross, they witnessed His burial, they were the first to go to the empty tomb, and they were the first to see the risen Lord.

As their initial fear passed you can imagine the women’s excitement and their joy. Wouldn’t you expect the eleven, Jesus’ own disciples, to believe them?
*Luke 24:11-12
11 And these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.
12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at that which had happened.

The disciples’ unbelief is maddening, isn’t it? If anyone should have believed it, it should have been them. But the fact is that they weren’t expecting it. They didn’t believe it until Jesus appeared to them that evening. But one of the disciples, Thomas, was not present with the others, and he refused to believe their testimony. Eight days later Jesus appeared to the disciples again. Thomas was there and he finally believed. Then…

John 20:29
29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

So let me ask you something. Has anyone here seen the resurrected Jesus? No one here has seen Him? All right! Does anyone here believe in the resurrected Jesus? He said that those of you who do are blessed. “Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
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IV. Conclusion
There are only two kinds of people in this world – those who believe in the resurrected Jesus and those who do not. If you are among those who do, you are blessed. You are blessed today on this Resurrection Sunday, and you will be blessed throughout eternity future. This is because you will be resurrected to eternal life with your glorious Lord Jesus Himself.

But if you are among those who do not believe, and if you persist in that unbelief, the resur-rection we celebrate today carries no blessing for you. It will carry only condemnation. So let me encourage you, no, let me urge you to take a step of faith. We will never have all the answers to all our questions until we are in heaven. But God has given us enough evidence of the truth so that we can trust Him and put our faith in His risen Son.

The tomb was empty and there was (and there is) no rational human explanation for it. Consi-der all of the things you believe for which you have no direct evidence. You believe them because you trust the words of men. For example…

• Have you ever flown in an airplane? Did you take time to study the physics of flight and the mechanical integrity of the plane before you boarded? Why didn’t you?
• You are going to eat today. Will you be doing a chemical analysis of the food to see that it isn’t poisoned? Why not?
• You entered this building this morning confident that the roof wouldn’t fall in on you. Why? Did you ask to see the architect’s structural calculations before you walked in?
• You drove here today. Did you talk to all the other drivers who would be on the road and remind them of the necessity of staying on their side of the white line? Why not?

No, you didn’t do any of those things. Why? Because you took sinful men at their word! You put your faith in them, the things they built, and the rules they laid down, didn’t you? If you believe them why don’t you believe God – the God who is sinless and cannot lie? His Word says the tomb was empty. Please listen to Him.

Jesus said, “I am…the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore (Revelation 1:17-18).” Believe Him, trust Him, and cling to Him.
Romans 10:9-10
9 …if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;
10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

On this Resurrection Sunday we remember that the tomb was empty. Two thousand years ago Jesus arose. He is risen!

Let me close with this quote from “The Prince of Preachers.” On April 9, 1882, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, preaching at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Lon-don, ended his Resurrection Sunday sermon with the following words…

“Jesus rose again! His body had not decayed, for it was not possible for that holy thing to see corruption; but still it had been dead. And by the power of God – by His own power, by the Father’s power, by the power of the (Holy) Spirit, for it is attributed to each of these in turn – before the sun had risen, His dead body was (made alive). The silent heart began to beat; and through the stagnant canals of the veins, the life-blood began to circulate. The soul of the Redeemer again took possession of the body, and it lived once more. There He was within the sepulcher, as truly living as… He had ever been. He literally and truly, in a material body, came forth from the tomb to live among men until the hour of His ascension into heaven.

“This is the truth that is still to be taught, refine it who may, spiritualize it who dare. This is the historical fact that the apostles witnessed. This is the truth for which the (martyrs) bled and died. This is the doctrine that is the keystone of the arch of Chris-tianity, and they that hold it have not cast aside the essential truth of God. How can they hope for salvation for their souls if they do not believe that ‘the Lord is risen indeed’?”

~ Pray ~