1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:04,440 Good morning, Calvary Chapel. Good morning, everybody. 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:07,600 It's a beautiful resurrection day. 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:08,920 Morning. And I just want to say to 4 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,760 everybody, happy resurrection day. 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,440 Jesus is risen. He is risen indeed. 6 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:17,720 Amen. Amen. 7 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:19,800 What a blessed day to be here today. 8 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,800 You know, and I, but I just want to say that whoever keeps 9 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:27,320 raising this platform every week and making it harder for Clark 10 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,960 and I to get up on this, no one's doing that. 11 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,000 I would just getting older, I guess, getting more challenging. 12 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,200 Amen. Well, please turn in your Bibles 13 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,360 to the 5th, the 16th chapter of the book of Mark. 14 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,680 That's what we're going to be coming out of today. 15 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,920 And while we're doing that, I want to thank our sister Carrie 16 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,880 for the gracious welcome of everyone that's here. 17 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,880 New, those who are coming who are new, and of course, those of 18 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,480 you who come all the time. But I just want to extend also a 19 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,960 very warm welcome to those who are listening behind prison 20 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:02,320 walls this morning. We're not forgotten. 21 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,600 And we are praying for you. And we pray that today's service 22 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:09,320 would be a blessing to you. Thank you for joining us today. 23 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:17,080 So without getting into too many other things, let's just pray 24 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,040 and let's get into the Word of God. 25 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,080 Amen. Amen. 26 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,640 Father, we do thank you for this wonderful day, this blessed day 27 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:27,680 as a believer. Lord, this is one of the most 28 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:32,760 favorite on most favorite days of the year as we celebrate your 29 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,840 dominance over death in the grave. 30 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:42,760 Lord, we thank you that you are risen, that we serve a living 31 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,520 God. We don't serve an idol. 32 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:53,360 We don't serve a Pagan God. We don't serve many ungodly 33 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:58,360 deities, but we serve the true and living God. 34 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:04,240 And this morning, Lord, we celebrate your resurrection, We 35 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:09,120 celebrate your life. And we thank you, Lord, that you 36 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,960 loved us so much, that just as you live, as you said in your 37 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:14,960 word, Lord, that we will live also. 38 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,840 So Father, I pray that You would hide me behind the cross this 39 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:24,040 morning, that You would allow Your word to come forth and not 40 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:29,480 mine, that You would think with my mind and speak with my lips. 41 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,960 Stand in this old, weak body, Lord, and I pray that everything 42 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,560 that is done today will bring You glory. 43 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:43,080 We have worshipped, we have sang, and now we will worship 44 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,240 You by sitting under Your Word and not just sitting under it, 45 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:51,520 but obeying Your word. In Jesus holy name, we pray that 46 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:56,400 everyone say Amen, Amen. So today is the day of 47 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:01,240 resurrection and it is one of the most awesome days and not 48 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:05,200 just in the history of Christianity, but in the world 49 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:07,320 period. This is history. 50 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,280 This is an event that has taken place in the world period. 51 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,560 And when we're going to start at this this particular study, 52 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,960 we're going to look at Mark chapter 16. 53 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,920 And as you can see, it begins with now when the Sabbath was 54 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:25,680 passed. But I want to bring you back to 55 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:29,920 chapter 50 at the end of chapter 15, where it ends with the 56 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:35,080 events following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. 57 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,480 And in the events following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, we 58 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,720 see very clearly that the, the men, the Josephs of Arimathea 59 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:48,000 and, and, and Nicodemus actually took the body of Jesus and they 60 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:53,200 wrapped them in fine linen and they, they put them in a, a tomb 61 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:57,080 that was cut out of stone and they put them in a tune and they 62 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,720 sealed that, that tomb was sealed with, with a rock, a big 63 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:05,320 rock, a big stone. And from that point on you had 64 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:09,440 grief, you had sorrow. And what I want to do today is 65 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,280 to look at what happened very briefly. 66 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,440 I want to look at what happened between that Friday, which was 67 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:22,240 the day of his crucifixion, and the day of preparation for the 68 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:30,320 Sabbath, and that Sunday, which was the day of Jesus rising from 69 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:32,800 the dead. And that would be the Sabbath 70 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,640 day, the Saturday. We never talk too much about 71 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,080 Saturday. We talk about Good Friday and we 72 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,840 talk about the Cruces and we talk about the rest day of 73 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:44,440 resurrection, but we never talk too much about Saturday. 74 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,040 But if you can imagine with me, just for a couple minutes, what 75 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:55,440 was it that the disciples, what were the people who believed in 76 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,200 Jesus Christ? What were they going through at 77 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,760 that particular time? I mean, they, they, they have, 78 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:06,160 they have just seen that their, their savior, their hope was, 79 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,960 was, was crucified. Many people believe that that 80 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:16,040 Saturday was the darkest day in the history of mankind because 81 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,560 their Savior lay dead in the tomb. 82 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:23,360 It was a day of sorrow, a day of grief, a day of mourning, a day 83 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,640 of weeping. But it was also a day of fear 84 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,040 because they feared that those who were arrested and crucified, 85 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,960 their Lord was also looking for them as well. 86 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,160 So they hid, and they, and they and, and they, they, they 87 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,640 coward. And according to John 20 and 19, 88 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,840 it said that they were hiding in fear from the Jews, from their 89 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:49,800 own people. But what's amazing is that prior 90 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,040 to that, everything seemed to be going so well. 91 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:55,800 I mean, they were walking with their Lord. 92 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,440 They were watching Him do miracles. 93 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:00,560 They were listening to his teaching. 94 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:06,080 They could feel His love. They were communing with him, 95 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,360 dining with Him, going from town to town, just doing the work of 96 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:13,600 the Lord. Everything seemed to be going so 97 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:15,400 well. But then the unthinkable 98 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,320 happened. The unthinkable. 99 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:21,600 One of their own betrays the Messiah. 100 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:26,440 Jesus is arrested. Peter denies him three times. 101 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,920 Jesus is crucified and he dies in their hopes. 102 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,880 All their hopes, all the things that they imagined would happen 103 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:41,040 died with them in their hearts. They didn't recognize, They 104 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:46,800 didn't remember the promise that he gave them several times when 105 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,880 he said it was so, it has to be so and fulfilled that the Son of 106 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:55,400 Man would would die, He would be he would be crucified and he 107 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,080 would be buried, but he would raise again the third day. 108 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,320 That thought was nowhere in their hearts. 109 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,960 They were it was covered by the grief and the sorrow that they 110 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,000 were feeling those unthinkable things. 111 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,440 But this experience actually revealed evidence of their 112 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:14,880 disbelief and the weakness of their faith. 113 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:20,720 Even though he told them on three occasions that this would 114 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,240 happen, they were still caught off guard. 115 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,200 It's, it's, it's amazing how sometimes even though we can 116 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:32,080 know or anticipate that something may happen, when it 117 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:36,480 does happen, we can still be caught totally unprepared and 118 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:39,280 off guard. All of us have that experience 119 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:41,960 at one time or another. We've had a life changing 120 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:46,480 experience where something happened suddenly in like for 121 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,880 example, losing a loved one. Or maybe you have had the 122 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:55,400 experience of having a, a, a negative medical report from the 123 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,800 doctor test result that may have come up and and it caught you 124 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,400 off guard. Maybe you had the experience of 125 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:08,440 a financial crisis in your life. The COVID epidemic caught many 126 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:14,280 people off guard and unprepared. How about this war and the 127 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,720 crisis that the country is going through right now? 128 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,120 And for a lot of people, they are dealing with grief and and 129 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,560 they're dealing with sorrow as a result of these things. 130 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,480 But thank God for his scriptures, his scriptures that 131 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:31,600 we can go to for comfort. And for example, scriptures like 132 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:37,400 Psalm 46 that says God is our refuge and strength as a very 133 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,559 present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear even 134 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:46,080 though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried into 135 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:50,000 the midst of the sea, and though the waters may roar, sometimes 136 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,080 in our life we feel like the waters are all roaring and the 137 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:56,600 waves are raging. But he says, you don't have to 138 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:01,040 worry about that because God is our refuge and He is our 139 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,720 strength. Psalm 33 tells us that our soul 140 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:05,840 waits. Our soul waits for the Lord. 141 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,600 He is our help in our shield. Sometimes we need to remember 142 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,600 that, you know, we want to run to other people when these 143 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,000 things happen sometimes, but it's God who is our refuge. 144 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,800 He is our our our our shield. He is our help for our hearts 145 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:25,760 shall not shall rejoice in him because we have trusted in his 146 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:30,240 holy name. So as we move into verse one and 147 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:32,920 we look at what happened, I'm going to read down to verse 5 148 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:37,920 and then we'll come back. But he says here and Mark 149 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:43,080 chapter 16 verse 1, he says now when the Sabbath was passed, so 150 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:47,480 Saturday is over with Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of 151 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:54,280 James Salome brought spices that they might come to anoint him 152 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,680 very early in the morning on the first day of the week. 153 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:00,720 They came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 154 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:07,040 So that lets us know that they had no intention or no idea that 155 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:11,560 they would find the tomb empty. They came prepared to anoint 156 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:14,160 him. They came prepared to finish 157 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,680 with Joseph and Nicodemus had started to anoint them with 158 00:10:18,680 --> 00:10:25,880 these spices to try to delay the decay of the body and to take 159 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,920 care of that odor that happens with the the decaying body, the 160 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,400 odor of death. They didn't come there thinking 161 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:38,680 that there would be any kind of of of of empty tomb, but they 162 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:44,520 were looking to see a body. They never considered that he 163 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,320 would be risen. They expect, they never expected 164 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:51,720 the miracle of resurrection, which really makes that 165 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:55,480 conspiracy theory which they had tried to conjure up, the 166 00:10:55,560 --> 00:10:58,080 enemies, the the Jews. The Jews tried to conjure up 167 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,640 this conspiracy theory that said that Jesus's followers stole the 168 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:04,240 body. That sounds even more ridiculous 169 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,080 when you think about the fact that they didn't come prepared 170 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,120 to see a body. They can't prepare to see a 171 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:11,320 body. They didn't come prepared to see 172 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:13,080 an empty tomb. They would have never done all 173 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:18,280 that if they had plans to steal Jesus's body and it came early 174 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,800 in the morning on a Sunday morning could be when the lights 175 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,240 when the sun came up so that they can see inside the tomb. 176 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:26,920 They knew they needed to have some light because it would be 177 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,400 so dark. But when they got there, they 178 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,920 saw that the tomb was empty and the stone was rolled away. 179 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,080 Look at what it says here in verse 3. 180 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,440 It says and they said among themselves as they were coming, 181 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,360 This is interesting. Who will roll away the stone 182 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:45,160 from the door of the tomb for us? 183 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,720 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had already 184 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,520 been rolled away for it was very large. 185 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:55,800 So they were looking and they were considering as they're 186 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,040 walking along the way. We have our spices and we have 187 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,360 these things that we need to try to minister to our Lord, to our 188 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,720 savior. But we got a problem here. 189 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,600 There's a big stone. This stone is about 1 to 2 tons 190 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:13,640 and, and we need some help. You know, men can't even move 191 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:16,480 this thing and it's just three of us ladies, and how are we 192 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:21,040 going to move this stone? But God had already taken care 193 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:25,080 of that provision because he had an Angel come down and, and 194 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:29,840 through the power of God, that stone was rolled away. 195 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:33,200 But what's interesting about this is that the men were 196 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,160 cowering. They were cowering somewhere. 197 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,320 They were hiding, you know, from the, from the Jews and the 198 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,200 enemies of Jesus Christ. They were all hiding somewhere. 199 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:46,160 But these women who the only thing they had on their minds 200 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:50,360 was ministering to their Lord. They didn't care about what the 201 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:52,920 threat would be if we went out into the public. 202 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:56,840 They didn't care if they, if they thought that everybody knew 203 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:00,640 that they were with Jesus. They just wanted to minister to 204 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,440 their Lord and they were fearless about it. 205 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,240 So what the men worried about, they were concerned about who's 206 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,200 going to know that we are followers of Jesus and find out 207 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,360 where we are. And the women, the only thing 208 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:15,680 they worried about was how we're going to move the stone to 209 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:21,320 minister to our Lord. So the next verse says in verse 210 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:25,120 5 says in and entering the tomb. I'm going to come back to that 211 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:29,000 stone a little later, but entering that tomb, they saw a 212 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:33,520 young man clothed in in a white robe sitting on the right side 213 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:37,720 and they were alarmed. Verse 6 says, but he said to 214 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,960 them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who 215 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,000 was crucified. In other words, he had to make 216 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,120 it clear he is dead. He did die. 217 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:52,400 No one survives crucifixion. He is dead. 218 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,920 But then the next verse is the thing that we are all the reason 219 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,240 why we're all here and the reason why we come every Sunday, 220 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:06,080 the reason why we believe what we believe, and we're so adamant 221 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:11,680 about sharing this truth. He is risen. 222 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,200 He is risen. He is not here. 223 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:22,880 He's not here. See the place where they laid 224 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:28,080 him, But go and tell his disciples and Peter that he is 225 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:32,520 going before you into Galilee. There you will see him as he 226 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:38,240 said, he's risen, He's risen. The, the, the, the resurrection 227 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:42,080 has happened. Now there was no one there that 228 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,880 actually witnessed him coming out of the tomb, except for the 229 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,800 angels. But the proof of his 230 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:54,360 resurrection is massive. It's massive. 231 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:56,960 And that's what we're going to talk a lot about today is going 232 00:14:56,960 --> 00:15:01,000 to be that the resurrection, the proof of it, what it means, it 233 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,480 was massive. And he says, go tell his 234 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,640 disciples evangelism. Go tell somebody what you know, 235 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,360 go tell the truth. Go tell what you what you just 236 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,400 witnessed here. Go tell them that's evangelism. 237 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:22,200 And also tell Peter I love that because that tells me that 238 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:28,480 regardless of my shortcomings, regardless of how many times I 239 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:32,800 may come short of His glory, He doesn't forget me. 240 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:38,040 He doesn't forget you. No matter what we do in this 241 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:45,560 life, if our hearts are to seek Him, if we believe in Him, He 242 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,440 won't forget us. He knew that Peter was 243 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,080 heartbroken. He Peter had just denied him 244 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:52,920 three times. He probably didn't even feel 245 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:54,600 like he was a part of the group anymore. 246 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:01,240 But yet Jesus made it a point to tell the women, When you go tell 247 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:05,600 the rest of them that I've resurrected, that I'm no longer 248 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,760 here, go tell Jesus. I mean, go tell Peter as well. 249 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:11,840 Tell Peter. Let him know that I've forgiven 250 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,160 him. Let him know that my grace is 251 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:18,560 sufficient. Let them know that I have mercy. 252 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,240 And that is such a good, that's such a good, a good message for 253 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:25,760 me. It's such a good, such a good 254 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:30,320 word for me and for you. You don't have to be perfect. 255 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,520 We can't be perfect, but we just need to know. 256 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:40,720 As he said, he'll remember you. Go tell Peter too. 257 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,920 Don't leave him out. Don't leave him out. 258 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,520 So she goes back. These women go back, as you can 259 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,800 see in verse A So they went out quickly and they fled from the 260 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,040 tomb. And they, and they, they, they, 261 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,680 they, they tremble because they, they were in fear, fear of the 262 00:16:57,680 --> 00:16:59,280 fact that what they don't know what the Lord is. 263 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,960 They, they, they, he was told that he was, he was risen, but 264 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,079 we don't know where he is. But they were also amazed. 265 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:09,319 They were astonished. They had great joy and they said 266 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:11,680 nothing to no one, for they were afraid. 267 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:16,319 Now in most manuscripts, this is where the 16th chapter of Mark 268 00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:19,640 ends. You know, some of your Bibles 269 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,720 may not even have the rest of the book of Mark from verses 9 270 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,079 to 20. And the ones of them ones that 271 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:30,240 do some of your verses, some of your, your books may have 272 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:36,120 parentheses or braces at the end that starts with the verse 9 and 273 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:39,160 goes through verse 20 of the book of Mark. 274 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,000 But this is accepted. So we go through and we read the 275 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,280 rest of it. And he says, now from verses 9 276 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,040 to 13, we see something interesting. 277 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:54,920 You would think, you would think that if the word, the message 278 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,800 was coming through that he's resurrected, that he's not in 279 00:17:57,800 --> 00:17:59,640 the grave. You would think that that would 280 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:04,440 be met with jubilation. It would be met with a bunch of 281 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:06,720 joy. It would be meant by people 282 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:10,120 just, oh, praising and worshipping and being thankful 283 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:12,240 and belief. But it wasn't. 284 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:17,880 In fact, verses 9 through 13 tells us that it was actually 285 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:22,520 met with unbelief. And this isn't from the people, 286 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:24,680 just the people of the town we're talking about, from his 287 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,480 disciples. It was met with unbelief. 288 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,400 Look at what it says now. When he arose early on the first 289 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:34,840 day of the week, verse 9, he appeared first to Mary 290 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,160 Magdalene, out of whom he had cast 7 demons. 291 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,480 She went and told those who were had been with him. 292 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:44,880 And as they mourned and weeped, so they were still weeping, and 293 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,360 they were still mourning as they wanted to meet. 294 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:53,960 And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, 295 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:58,960 they did not believe. Let's drop down to verse 12 and 296 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,720 13. After that he appeared in 297 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:06,200 another form to two or three to to two of them as they walked on 298 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:08,680 the way into the country. That was when he talked about 299 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,120 the, the road, the disciples that he met on the road to 300 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:14,480 Emmaus. And they went and told it to the 301 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:16,880 rest. After they saw Jesus, after they 302 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,240 commune with Jesus that night and they realized that it was 303 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,320 Him, they went back and told the rest. 304 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,600 But look at what it says. But they did not believe them. 305 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,280 So it was met. The news of Jesus rising was met 306 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,600 with unbelief. And even to today, there is 307 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,240 still unbelief about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 308 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:40,720 Still today we're dealing with that. 309 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,960 I looked at a study that was done by Lifeway Research and it 310 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:51,560 said that 66% of people who profess to be Christians, only 311 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:58,440 66% actually believe the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus 312 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,680 Christ. Only 66%. 313 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:02,920 What was wrong with the rest of y'all? 314 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:14,640 But then it says that 20% don't believe at all and then 14% are 315 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,000 not sure. What's really sad about this is 316 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:23,560 that that 20 and 14% include. Men who are standing in the 317 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:28,960 pulpit and preaching the gospel, how can you preach the gospel 318 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:31,800 when you don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? 319 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,160 Can't happen. It can't happen. 320 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,560 The resurrection is a non negotiable part of the gospel 321 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,200 message. It's non negotiable. 322 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,800 To not believe in the message of the resurrection is to not 323 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:50,280 believe the gospel at all. That's why at baptism, Pastor 324 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:55,080 Clark does an excellent job of giving a brief devotional before 325 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:59,960 anybody gets in the water. He does a brief devotional on 326 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:03,120 the gospel of Jesus Christ and make sure that everybody 327 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:05,640 believes it before they step into the water. 328 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,040 Because baptism does not save you. 329 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,440 It's what you believe before you get in that water that saves 330 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:19,640 you. So he gives that brief he, he 331 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,600 gives that brief devotion. And before they go down into the 332 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:26,520 water or before they're dipped, they have to agree and they 333 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:32,880 believe or profess the gospel that Jesus is the Son of God, 334 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,560 God himself in the flesh, that Jesus did die for our sins, that 335 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,080 Jesus was buried and that he arose on the third day. 336 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:46,000 That is the core message in the central belief of the Christian 337 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,760 faith. Paul says in the in the in the 338 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:54,480 book of Romans, he says that it's a part of our confession of 339 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,960 faith for salvation. In Romans 10 and 9, he says if 340 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:03,320 you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your 341 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,080 heart that God has raised him from the dead, that's 342 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,840 resurrection. You shall be saved. 343 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:15,080 So it's not up for grabs that we talk about resurrection. 344 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:17,520 I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. 345 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,160 I believe that he died, but I don't know about the 346 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:24,000 resurrection thing. If you either you believe at all 347 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,520 or you don't believe any of it, it's the gospel. 348 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,280 It's the gospel. So at this point, I'm going to 349 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:35,520 take your attention to the defense of the resurrection 350 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,000 because today I want each and every one of us. 351 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,640 Just like Jesus made sure that each and every one of his 352 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:47,360 disciples of his apostles, he made sure that they were sure, 353 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:51,080 that they were reassured and that without a shadow of a 354 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:55,840 doubt, they knew that what they would go out and profess, what 355 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,600 they would go out and preach. They did it with the true 356 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,960 understanding and that they believed it with all of their 357 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,600 heart. And that's why he appeared to 358 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:12,920 them all. They had eyewitness accounts of 359 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,680 their Savior being risen. So today we're going to talk 360 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,120 about the defense of the death of the resurrection. 361 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:23,680 So with the defense of the resurrection, we have to go back 362 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:29,640 to the 15th chapter of the book of First Corinthians, 15th 363 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,040 chapter, the book of First Corinthians. 364 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:33,520 I just want to bring out a few things concerning that. 365 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,440 First of all, from verses one through 8, when we look at that, 366 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,880 we look at first at verses one through 4 which presents the 367 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:46,440 gospel and it says here, moreover, brethren, starting at 368 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:51,480 verse verse one and chapter 15, it says, moreover, brethren, I 369 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:56,000 declare to you the gospel. This is the gospel which I 370 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,160 preached to you, what you also received and in which you stand. 371 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:05,160 This is important. The gospel message that he 372 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:09,400 preached was the message in which they stand. 373 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:13,600 It's the message in which we stand as Christians, as 374 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:19,280 believers in Jesus Christ, by which also you are saved. 375 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,800 He wouldn't put that in there if it didn't mean something by 376 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,680 which you are saved. This is the gospel. 377 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,000 You can't be saved by another gospel. 378 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:33,320 You can't be saved by half gospel. 379 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:38,960 You got to believe in this gospel, this gospel, unless you 380 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,040 have believed in vain. So here's the gospel message. 381 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,880 There's three points to it. Some people say that this is a 382 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,840 A3 legged stool. When I first heard that, I said, 383 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,760 wait a minute, shouldn't it still have 4 legs? 384 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,400 But it can stand on 3A stool, Can't stand on three, cannot 385 00:24:54,400 --> 00:25:00,880 stand on two though not a stool. So he says this, that Christ 386 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,520 died for our sins. According to the Scriptures, 387 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,760 Christ died for our sins. That's important, the death, to 388 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,400 have that, to have the a record of that death. 389 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,200 That's the sacrifice that paid our sin debt. 390 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:15,680 That's why the death is important. 391 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,360 Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of 392 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:21,160 sins. And only Jesus Christ could have 393 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:24,280 done it because he was the only one that was without sin. 394 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:29,160 He was the Lamb. He was the Lamb without spot or 395 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,040 blemish, so only he could have done that. 396 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,000 Because we're not redeemed with corruptible things like silver 397 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:37,200 and gold. I couldn't come up with enough 398 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:41,240 money to redeem us and save us or pay for our sin debt. 399 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:44,200 Couldn't pay for it with enough money. 400 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:47,760 But it was with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb with 401 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,880 our blemishes spot, according to Peter. 402 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:55,080 And Peter also understood that it was Jesus who bore our sins 403 00:25:55,080 --> 00:26:00,440 and his own body on the tree, that we having died to sins, 404 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:05,200 might live to righteousness, by whose stripes we are healed from 405 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:09,480 that sinful condition. By his stripes we're healed. 406 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:14,120 His death was prophesied in the Old Testament as well. 407 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:18,400 If you look at Isaiah 5053 and 80 says he was cut off from the 408 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,480 land of the living for the transgressions of my people, He 409 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:25,440 was stricken. So yes, there is the proof that 410 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,960 he did die and it was prophesied that he would die. 411 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:33,000 So that's part of the gospel. The Messiah will come and he 412 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,800 would die for our sins. That's part of the gospel. 413 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,880 And then there's a second part. He was buried. 414 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,440 Now He was placed in a tomb that was secured. 415 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,120 And when he was buried, he was placed in the tomb that was 416 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:49,560 secured three ways, three ways. The first way he was secured, 417 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,680 they put a they put a guard, they put a door, a rock, a big 418 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,000 stone in the mouth of the tomb where he was. 419 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:01,840 And then in addition to that, they put a guard to watch over 420 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:04,960 it. And as if that wasn't enough, 421 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,480 they sealed it. They put a seal on it over in 422 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,560 Matthew chapter 2766 says that they went and made the tomb 423 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:17,160 secure, sealing it, sealing it with a stone and setting a 424 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:19,480 guard. So it was sealed and that's 425 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:24,840 sealed with that seal meant was that it was the authority and 426 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,920 the ownership of the Roman government. 427 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,280 And they knew that if they sealed that tomb that nobody 428 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,600 would tamper with it because to tamper with something that was 429 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,360 sealed by the Roman government meant death. 430 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,960 So that was one of the ways that they tried to secure that tomb 431 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:45,600 to make sure that nobody, nobody would interfere with it. 432 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,040 And they didn't, but they wouldn't didn't bank on the 433 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,320 power of God. They didn't bank on the power of 434 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:54,480 God. And you know what, Thank God we 435 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:56,360 are sealed. The Bible says that when we 436 00:27:56,360 --> 00:27:59,760 believe, at the moment that we believe, we are sealed with the 437 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,840 Holy Spirit of promise. We are sealed. 438 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,800 Each and every one of us who believe are sealed and we are 439 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:13,560 under the authority and we are the ownership of Jesus Christ. 440 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:17,880 We serve Him and we're sealed by him. 441 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:20,160 Thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord. 442 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,160 But then the third part, the third leg of this, of this three 443 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,920 leg of stool is that he rose again the third day. 444 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:27,680 And that's what we're here celebrating today. 445 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,800 In fact, we celebrate this every Sunday, every time we get 446 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,560 together. It is a celebration of the 447 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:35,680 resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because without that 448 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,480 resurrection, there'll be no need to come together. 449 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:39,680 There'll be no need to get up and come to church. 450 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:46,000 But we do have a reason to come because we raise, we, we, we 451 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,920 serve the risen and living God. Amen. 452 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,280 Amen. So that third one is the 453 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,440 resurrection. OK? 454 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:58,720 Christ is not just our suffering Savior. 455 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:03,240 He's our living Lord. He is not just your suffering 456 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:05,520 Savior. It wouldn't mean anything if he 457 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:10,760 just went to and got and had to suffer, or if he went to the 458 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:12,800 cross and just died and that was it. 459 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:17,880 There was a period left or that that wouldn't mean anything but 460 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,640 the resurrection that is what gives our that's our hope. 461 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,600 That's where our faith lies in the resurrection of Jesus 462 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,360 Christ. He is our he's not just our 463 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,920 suffering Savior. He's our living Lord Proof. 464 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:34,640 Now there's a couple of things that his resurrection proves 465 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:38,120 first of all proves of his power over death and the grave. 466 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:44,080 It proves that Jesus is the Messiah, that he is divine, and 467 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,440 that he is the Son of the living God. 468 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:54,120 And most important, not only that, but it proves that God the 469 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:58,960 Father accepted his sacrifice when he came out of that grave. 470 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:03,960 When God raised him from the dead, it meant that he accepted 471 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:10,560 Jesus Christ as our sacrifice. And because he accepted that 472 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:14,920 sacrifice, we have forgiveness of sins. 473 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:22,680 The sin dead is paid 100% paid. Yeah. 474 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:27,560 He was delivered because of our offenses and was raised because 475 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,600 of our justification. We redeemed through the blood of 476 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:35,640 Jesus Christ and that was accepted by the Father. 477 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:41,200 So Paul defends this truth of the gospel, the fact that he 478 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,200 died, the fact that he was buried and the fact that he and 479 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:46,120 the fact that he rose on the third day. 480 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:51,840 He defends the resurrection. He defends it based on this, the 481 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,560 authority and the authority has two points. 482 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,600 The authority of the Scriptures. Throughout the Old Testament 483 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:04,520 Scriptures it prophesied that the Messiah would die, but that 484 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:08,400 he would be raised again. Again Isaiah 53 and 10 says, 485 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:14,040 When you make his soul and offering for sin his death, he 486 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,120 shall see his seed. That means he's going to rise 487 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,800 again, and he shall pro, and we shall He shall prolong his days, 488 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,520 and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 489 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:29,080 That was written 700 to 750 years before he ever went to the 490 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:37,240 cross. And then Psalm 616 and 10, he 491 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,000 says you will not leave my soul and she O nor will you allow the 492 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:46,360 Holy one to see corruption. And then even Job, even Job 493 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,400 talked about Jesus resurrecting. He says, for I know that my 494 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:55,440 Redeemer lives and he shall stand at last on the earth. 495 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,320 So it's well prophesied that they that he would live. 496 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,680 So the so through these through the fulfillment of these Old 497 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:06,480 Testament prophecies of his death and his resurrection, he 498 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:09,680 is declared to be the Son of God. 499 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:16,080 He's declared and what Paul said over in Romans, it just really 500 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,600 strikes me because Paul says over in Romans chapter 1 and 501 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:23,120 verse three and four, he says concerning his Son Jesus Christ 502 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:27,920 our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the 503 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:33,480 flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power according to 504 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:38,720 the Spirit of holiness. But how did he declare to be the 505 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:43,800 Son of God according to power? How did he declare to be the 506 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,960 Messiah? How did he declare to do this? 507 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:49,200 And we look at the last part of that verse. 508 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:53,000 It says by the resurrection from the dead. 509 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:59,600 That's how he declared it. So we have proof. 510 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,800 The second authority is the authority of eyewitnesses. 511 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,320 There the resurrection of Jesus Christ is most attested, is the 512 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,320 most attested event in ancient history. 513 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,400 It is the most attested event in ancient history. 514 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:18,200 What do I mean by the word attested? 515 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:24,120 It means that it is the most witnessed and confirmed event 516 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:27,280 and proof that something is true. 517 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:32,200 When you attest something, you you're basically witnessing that 518 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:34,840 it is true. That's right, young lady, help 519 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:39,920 me teach this. He's witnessing that something 520 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:43,560 is true. So Jesus's resurrection was 521 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,120 witnessed by all the apostles, Not just look at you. 522 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:49,360 Do the math in your own minds as we go through this. 523 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:54,200 He was witnessed by all the apostles, and then he was 524 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,600 witnessed, and then He was witnessed by over 500 brethren 525 00:33:57,640 --> 00:33:59,840 at once. Now we're talking about people 526 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:03,960 seeing the Messiah after He rose, not just hearing about 527 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,000 Him. They saw Him. 528 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:11,000 They saw Him after He arose from the grave. 529 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,480 And that strengthened their faith and they became bold 530 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:16,920 witnesses for Christ, even unto death. 531 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:20,080 That's why you have so many people who didn't, you know, who 532 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:24,040 didn't shrink in the face a martyr ship in the face of 533 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,159 death. They would get on their knees 534 00:34:27,159 --> 00:34:31,840 and they would start singing hymns and be prepared to die for 535 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:35,400 their Lord because they knew that what they were proclaiming 536 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,760 was true. They knew it was true. 537 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,120 And last of all, he was seen and witnessed by Paul. 538 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,800 At the last time Paul saw Jesus, he spent time with Jesus and 539 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,440 Jesus taught him the gospel. And that was before he went to 540 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:53,040 be with the other apostles. So he saw him. 541 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:55,719 Paul said it was like 1 being born out of time. 542 00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:03,680 So just as a point of reference here, you have 500 / 500 543 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:06,960 witnesses, and then you have the 12 apostles. 544 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:10,680 OK. Then you have Jesus's brother 545 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:12,600 who saw him, and then you have Paul. 546 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,160 That's a lot of people. That's over 500 people who saw 547 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:18,880 Jesus alive after the resurrection. 548 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:22,400 Now, the Bible says only two or three in the mouth of two or 549 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:24,560 three witnesses. Every word is established. 550 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:28,040 Well, I would think 500 is a lot more than two or three. 551 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:33,440 And in any court of law, if I was if, if I was defending a 552 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,640 case, OK. If I was defending my brother 553 00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:43,000 Dan here, Dan was accused of robbing the bank down the 554 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:47,280 street, got a couple $1,000,000 out of there and they accused 555 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:50,040 him of it. But the first thing they would 556 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,480 do is say, well, Dan, say, well, wait a minute. 557 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,040 I, I wasn't there. I wasn't there. 558 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:59,240 Well, where were you, Dan? I was at Starbucks. 559 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:02,440 That would have been my first guess for Dan. 560 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:07,440 If a police officer ever come to me and say, do you see, have you 561 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:08,960 seen Dan? Did you check Starbucks? 562 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:13,640 But he would say, OK, I was at, he was at Starbucks. 563 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:18,520 Now, if two or three people were to say that, yeah, we saw him at 564 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:22,600 Starbucks, that would be OK, That would be great for the 565 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,280 court of law. But he has 500 people, that's 566 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,600 it. They saw him at Starbucks, 500 567 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:32,960 witnesses. So even with that, they still 568 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:37,120 question the resurrection of Jesus Christ even with that. 569 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:41,160 So you know, that's nothing but an evil agenda. 570 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:46,480 And I say this to you because I want us, just like Jesus Christ 571 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:48,840 wants us to be affirmed in our faith. 572 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,880 That when we go out and proclaim the word of God, regardless of 573 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:56,520 who we proclaim it to, if we proclaim it to a relative, to a 574 00:36:56,520 --> 00:37:00,040 friend, and we proclaim it to an enemy and we proclaim it to a 575 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:04,000 neighbor, to a Co worker, no matter who we proclaim it to, we 576 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:09,560 need to be affirmed that he is who he said he was. 577 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:15,040 He is Jesus, He's the bread of heaven. 578 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:23,280 He's God in the flesh. We have to be affirmed to that. 579 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:28,240 So he goes on and we see that this resurrection is is 580 00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:30,480 falsifiable. What do you mean he's 581 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:34,240 falsifiable? Well, because anybody could have 582 00:37:34,240 --> 00:37:38,520 went to any of those people and asked them privately. 583 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:43,040 Did you see him? And anyone could have said no, I 584 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:47,800 didn't see him, not really. Or all they had to do was 585 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:51,920 produce a body. If you say he didn't rise from 586 00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,120 the dead, OK, produce a body. Where's his body? 587 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,120 It's been almost 2000 years and they haven't come up with a body 588 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:00,720 yet. I don't think they're going to, 589 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:03,680 personally. My money is on that. 590 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:08,320 He's not going to. I feel secure in proclaiming 591 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,760 Jesus Christ as being my Lord and Savior, very secure. 592 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:15,880 Nothing's going to die. Make me doubt him. 593 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:18,240 My grandmother used to say, you can't make me doubt him because 594 00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:30,720 I know too much about him. Verse 20 over in verse 20 and 595 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:35,720 the book of First Corinthians, Paul makes this assertion. 596 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:40,080 He says, but now Christ is risen from the dead. 597 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:45,560 Why did he say that? He said that because there were 598 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:49,120 so many who would doubt that he had risen. 599 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:53,360 But but Paul understood that if there was no resurrection, 600 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,720 there'd be no Christianity and no salvation. 601 00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:58,560 If there's no resurrection, those who are dead or just 602 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:03,600 perished, we would have no hope for the future of eternal life. 603 00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:07,800 If He did not rise out of the grave, then we are still all in 604 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:14,520 our sins with no hope of being redeemed or being forgiven. 605 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:20,920 But Paul says, but now Christ is risen from the dead and has 606 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:24,520 become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 607 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:28,120 Glory to God because when he says first fruits, then that 608 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:32,960 means that means it's going to be others to follow. 609 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,280 You can't be the first unless you got somebody coming after 610 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:37,520 you. And we are those who are coming 611 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:40,320 after him. Amen. 612 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:47,280 So with that said, that is the defense for the resurrection. 613 00:39:47,720 --> 00:39:51,200 Now going back to as we come in for a landing pretty soon here 614 00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:56,240 going back to Mark 16, I just want to take another look at 615 00:39:56,240 --> 00:40:01,040 that stone. That stone back in verses 3 616 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:05,760 through 6 when he talked about the stone that was in the tomb 617 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:09,680 there verse verse 3. He says and they and they and 618 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:11,760 they sit among themselves, who will roll away the stone from 619 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:15,560 the door of the tomb for us. I just want to take a quick look 620 00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:18,200 at that stone. As we said, that stone probably 621 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:24,720 weighed between 1 1/2 to 2 tons. But there's something that that 622 00:40:24,720 --> 00:40:29,640 stone symbolizes for us. The stone symbolizes the 623 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:34,640 finality of death. That stone symbolized It was 624 00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:42,360 used as a door to shut death in, just as sin as a door that shuts 625 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:46,880 us into the prison of death, keeps us in darkness. 626 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:53,040 But faith in Christ removed that sin and it revives us and brings 627 00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:59,120 us into everlasting life. Just as those ladies were were 628 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:03,240 able to go in and see what was in the tomb, death was no longer 629 00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:05,120 in that tomb. It was gone. 630 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:09,040 But Jesus didn't have to have the, the, the stone removed in 631 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:12,640 order for him to get out. That wasn't why the stone was 632 00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:14,800 removed. It wasn't removed so Jesus can 633 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:16,200 get out. He could have walked through it. 634 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:18,040 He could have transported himself. 635 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,120 He rose with a spiritual body. At that point he could have done 636 00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:26,120 a lot of things, a lot of things as he did with the disciples. 637 00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:29,600 He was walking through doors. He was appearing in different 638 00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:36,360 places, so he didn't need anybody to move the door, but 639 00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:38,120 the door wasn't moved for him to come out. 640 00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:42,080 The door was moved for those ladies to be able to see in to 641 00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:45,920 justify their proclamation of his resurrection. 642 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:49,840 And even when we go, I asked the last time we talked about the 643 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:52,040 resurrection. I asked because Clark is the 644 00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:55,600 only one that I know to hear it has actually been to Israel on 645 00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:58,720 more than one occasion. And I'm sure he stopped by that 646 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:03,280 tomb and he affirmed that when he stopped and looked in, Jesus 647 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:06,760 wasn't there. And that's enough for me. 648 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:10,440 I don't have to fly to Israel to go to see if he's in the tomb. 649 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:16,000 I know he's not there based on 501 witnesses now, right? 650 00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:18,960 Amen. Amen. 651 00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:23,560 So this stone that was there to shut in death is no longer 652 00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:26,520 there. And I love what Matthew 28 and 653 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:28,600 two says. He said the Angel rolled back to 654 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:33,680 stone and sat on it. He sat on that stone, that thing 655 00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:37,120 that was supposed to be so secure to lead, to have death 656 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:40,200 shut in, that thing that was going to be so secure to have 657 00:42:40,280 --> 00:42:43,200 darkness be sat in and overwhelming. 658 00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:47,800 He sat on it to show that God's victory over, his victory over 659 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,680 and dominance over death in the grave. 660 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:53,040 He is victorious over death in the grave. 661 00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:57,240 Death couldn't keep him and the grave can't hold him. 662 00:42:57,240 --> 00:42:59,080 Oh, Death, where's your, where's your thing? 663 00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:02,640 Where's your sting? Death doesn't have sting 664 00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:04,080 anymore. We don't have to be afraid of 665 00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:06,440 death anymore because we know we will rise. 666 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:09,760 So we don't have to be afraid. Death doesn't have that sting 667 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,800 anymore. Oh grave, where is your victory? 668 00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:15,960 The grave can't keep anybody. It won't keep us because it 669 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:20,080 didn't keep him. Jesus says you will live because 670 00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:24,520 I live. And if I live, you will live our 671 00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:29,560 soul. So the door to the prison of 672 00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:31,600 death was removed. Charles Spurgeon said this. 673 00:43:31,720 --> 00:43:35,360 He said death's ancient prison house is missing a door. 674 00:43:38,240 --> 00:43:42,440 Glory to God. So today we celebrate and we 675 00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:46,320 recognize that resurrected new life in Jesus Christ. 676 00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:51,680 We recognize his victory over death and the grave. 677 00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:56,400 His resurrection is our hope of eternal life. 678 00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:00,360 He is the first born from the dead, meaning that there will be 679 00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:02,440 others who will follow. But lastly, in the praise and 680 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:04,120 worship team can come forth now please. 681 00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:10,560 But lastly, that stone represents something else. 682 00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:19,200 That stone represents the obstacle that was in the way of 683 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:25,040 those women getting to Jesus. It was an obstacle to keep these 684 00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:27,560 women from being able to see Jesus, from being able to 685 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:30,520 minister to Jesus. It would have been an obstacle 686 00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:36,520 to keep them from Jesus, and it had to be removed. 687 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:38,440 But they couldn't remove it themselves. 688 00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:41,360 It had to be removed by the power of God. 689 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:47,520 Many of us have obstacles. We have stones in our lives that 690 00:44:47,520 --> 00:44:52,320 stop us and keeps us from getting closer to Jesus Christ. 691 00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:57,440 Many of us do. We have obstacles that that, 692 00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:00,520 that, that keep us from believing on Jesus Christ or 693 00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:04,480 keeps us from giving ourselves totally to Jesus Christ. 694 00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:06,320 That stops us from giving him all. 695 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:11,080 Or I'll give him this much, but I can't give him everything from 696 00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:12,720 totally surrendering to Jesus Christ. 697 00:45:12,720 --> 00:45:16,440 There are stones, there are obstacles that stops us from 698 00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:17,920 doing that. What is yours? 699 00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:21,520 What is your obstacle? If you can take a moment, just 700 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:23,160 think about that. What is the obstacle that's 701 00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:27,600 really stopping you from going deeper in the Lord or stopping 702 00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:32,520 you from serving Him the way that you know that He's worthy 703 00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:36,080 to be served? Or if you're an unbeliever, what 704 00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:38,680 is the obstacle that's stopping you from believing? 705 00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:42,880 What's the stone that's in your way that's stopping you from 706 00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:45,880 believing? What is stopping us from being 707 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:49,200 more like Jesus Christ? You can put anything in there. 708 00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:55,400 I would follow Jesus closer if wasn't there or I would get I 709 00:45:55,400 --> 00:46:00,000 would give my life today to Jesus if wasn't there. 710 00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:05,160 What's the stone? I would read my Bible more if 711 00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:11,400 wasn't there. I would come and assemble with 712 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:15,120 the believers more if wasn't there. 713 00:46:15,840 --> 00:46:19,680 What's the stone in your life? We all have to answer that 714 00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:22,560 question for ourselves, we all do. 715 00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:27,520 But one thing we know for sure is that the same stone, the same 716 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:34,120 God that raised Jesus from the dead, the same God that rolled 717 00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:38,120 the stone away from those women to be able to go in and see the 718 00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:42,520 tomb. The same is the same one who was 719 00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:46,720 able to roll the stone way out of my life and he's able to roll 720 00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:50,320 the stone way out of your life. You just have to determine what 721 00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:52,760 that stone is and give it to the Lord. 722 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:59,720 Bible says if we submit ourselves to God and resist the 723 00:46:59,720 --> 00:47:04,720 devil, he will flee from us. What's your stone? 724 00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:15,120 So as we go into our communion, Lord's Table, which for some 725 00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:18,960 reason for me today has a little bit more meaning, and it should 726 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:22,040 have meaning every Sunday. So I even repent for that 727 00:47:23,520 --> 00:47:25,560 because this should have meaning every Sunday. 728 00:47:27,360 --> 00:47:31,400 Because every Sunday that we come and we congregate as a body 729 00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:35,840 of believers, we are celebrating His resurrection because we 730 00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:37,600 wouldn't have to come if He didn't resurrect. 731 00:47:42,360 --> 00:47:46,920 So let's pray. Father, there are so many things 732 00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:49,960 in our lives, Lord, that sometimes keep us from getting 733 00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:53,320 closer to You. And one of those things is 734 00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:58,840 unbelief and doubt. Father, we just talked about how 735 00:47:58,840 --> 00:48:03,080 the resurrection was doubted and and was even not believed by 736 00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:05,560 those who followed you the closest. 737 00:48:07,960 --> 00:48:13,640 So what about us? It wasn't until they saw you, 738 00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:17,360 Lord, that they believe truly and was ready to give their 739 00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:22,480 lives for the cause, give their lives to proclaim you as the 740 00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:29,520 Messiah, the resurrected Lord. But you told Thomas, you said, 741 00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:32,800 Thomas, you believe because you see me. 742 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:36,320 But blessed are those who believe and not see. 743 00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:44,760 So, Father, we believe even though we don't see, but we see 744 00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:48,400 your effects in our lives. We see your power working 745 00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:50,320 through the Holy Spirit in our lives. 746 00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:54,800 We see, Lord, how you brought us out of darkness and into your 747 00:48:54,800 --> 00:48:59,200 marvelous light. We see how you bless us with 748 00:48:59,200 --> 00:49:03,400 good things, Lord, and how You keep no good things from those 749 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:07,360 who fear you. We see how you translated us 750 00:49:07,360 --> 00:49:11,080 from the Kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of your dear Son. 751 00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:16,720 We see the effects of your power, the effects of Your 752 00:49:16,720 --> 00:49:19,160 resurrected life. We see that You are still the 753 00:49:19,240 --> 00:49:24,160 advocate for us in heaven. We see that You still work 754 00:49:24,240 --> 00:49:30,600 intercessory for us even here. So Father, we thank you that you 755 00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:34,760 are no longer in that tomb, but you raised, You are risen. 756 00:49:35,720 --> 00:49:40,920 And because of that, we have a living faith because we serve a 757 00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:44,040 living God. We're the only ones who can 758 00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:50,720 boast that Confucius is still in the grave, Muhammad is still in 759 00:49:50,720 --> 00:49:54,120 the grave, Joseph Smith is still in the grave. 760 00:49:55,440 --> 00:49:59,160 But you, you are the living Savior. 761 00:49:59,720 --> 00:50:03,120 You're the living Lord. You arose. 762 00:50:04,720 --> 00:50:07,480 So on a night in which Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread. 763 00:50:08,680 --> 00:50:11,440 And after he broke it, he said, take and eat. 764 00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:15,040 This is my body which is broken for you. 765 00:50:15,800 --> 00:50:28,480 Eat this in remembrance of me. In the same manner he also took 766 00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:34,640 the cup, and after supper he said, This cup is a new covenant 767 00:50:34,640 --> 00:50:42,520 in my blood, which was shed for the sins of many. 768 00:50:43,760 --> 00:50:47,880 Lord, when you went to that cross, when you allowed your 769 00:50:47,880 --> 00:50:52,800 body to be beaten, when you allowed your blood to be shed by 770 00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:58,960 mere men whom you yourself have created, Lord, you did it 771 00:50:59,400 --> 00:51:04,400 thinking about us. You did it because you loved us. 772 00:51:05,560 --> 00:51:08,560 You did it not for your sins, but for ours. 773 00:51:12,040 --> 00:51:14,080 So this is the New covenant in your blood. 774 00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:20,000 Drink this as often as you drink it, drinking in remembrance of 775 00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:25,120 me. For as often as you eat this 776 00:51:25,120 --> 00:51:30,600 bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death until he 777 00:51:30,600 --> 00:51:32,160 comes again. Amen. 778 00:51:32,800 --> 00:51:35,760 I would just ask that if anyone would like to come up to the 779 00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:40,600 altar and just do business with the Lord, to just share what 780 00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:45,680 that stone is that keeps you from being closer to Him. 781 00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:52,560 Whatever that stone is, that prevents you from being able to 782 00:51:52,560 --> 00:51:57,480 see Him more clearly and to serve Him, walk with Him more 783 00:51:57,480 --> 00:52:01,520 dearly. The altar is open.