1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:05,320 As has been already mentioned, welcome everyone for coming. 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:08,760 It is so good to see everyone that's here. 3 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:11,720 There are faces in this audience I haven't seen for a while, and 4 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:15,440 it's wonderful to see you. We have some visitors that are 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,080 among us and we want to say welcome, and we're just so 6 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:21,360 grateful you're here with us today. 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,080 It's a very special day because it's the Lord's Day. 8 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,680 It's the first day of the week, and I always consider it an 9 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:31,720 honor to speak concerning the Word of God. 10 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:36,080 And I'm going to talk about a subject, as has been mentioned 11 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,200 just a moment ago, before we sang that last song that we 12 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:45,000 rejoice in today because Jesus is risen. 13 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,800 Before we get into this, I want to just notice our introductory 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,800 pack passage and I have a couple introductory things that I might 15 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,200 say in Matthew 28, beginning in verse 2. 16 00:00:57,440 --> 00:00:59,320 And behold, there was a great earthquake. 17 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,120 For an Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came 18 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,560 and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. 19 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,320 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing 20 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:13,720 white as snow. And the guards took for fear of 21 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:18,360 him and became like dead men. But the Angel answered and said 22 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,160 to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus 23 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:26,600 who was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen 24 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,360 as He said. Come see the place where the 25 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,120 Lord lay. Before we get into the 26 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,080 resurrection. Just a few words regarding the 27 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,280 events that transpired just prior to this that we've studied 28 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,560 in our series leading up to this and that is regarding the 29 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:50,000 resurrection after the Lord Jesus Christ was tried, after He 30 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,280 was beaten and scourged and as after He was taken to a Roman 31 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:58,240 cross and he hung between heaven and earth for about 6 hours 32 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,520 after he was given the sour wine in his thirst done in mockery. 33 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,840 Jesus said those words. It is finished. 34 00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:13,640 Some translations say it is accomplished and Jesus was 35 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:15,560 letting the world know I've done it. 36 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,680 It is over. And he says to his Father, 37 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,760 Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit. 38 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,640 And Jesus died for our sins on that great day. 39 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,040 It's about 3:00 PM now on the day of preparation, and 40 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,200 something very significant has to happen. 41 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,560 He has to be buried to fulfill prophecy. 42 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,720 And they only have 3 hours to get that done because by 6:00 43 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:45,920 PM, that was the Sabbath. That's the next day. 44 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,880 And in order to count the day of that day that he died, he's got 45 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:55,080 to be buried before 6:00 PM. On the scene comes a man by the 46 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,360 name of Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple. 47 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,440 And the Bible says he was a secret disciple for fear of the 48 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,720 Jews. You remember that when Jesus was 49 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,520 preaching on this earth, when he had his personal ministry, there 50 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,800 was a decree that went forth among the Jews by the religious 51 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,760 leaders, and that was this. If anybody professed Jesus as 52 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:17,680 the Christ, they were cast from the synagogue. 53 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:22,480 So Joseph of Arimathea, for fear of the Jews, was a secret 54 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,640 disciple. Now the Bible says in Isaiah 55 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:30,440 chapter 53 that his grave was to be assigned among wicked men, 56 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:32,000 but that's not what would happen. 57 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,640 He would be with a rich man in his death. 58 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,280 And there just happened to be a rich man, a secret disciple of 59 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:42,040 Jesus that had a brand new grave unoccupied nearby. 60 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:47,080 And he was Joseph of Arimathea. He was also a member of the 61 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:52,320 Sanhedrin, but the Bible says he did not consent to the death of 62 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,080 Jesus Christ. He already does. 63 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,400 The Scripture says he summoned the courage. 64 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,360 I'm going to tell you, I don't care if it's back then on that 65 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,200 occasion, or I don't care if it's right now in 2025. 66 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,200 You have to summon the courage to stand up for Jesus. 67 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:10,960 He had to summon the courage. And remember, there's nothing 68 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,160 wrong with fear because there is no courage where there is No 69 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,519 Fear. In other words, your courage is 70 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:20,200 your response to fear. That's the difference between a 71 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,800 courageous person and a coward. Is your response to fear. 72 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,240 Oh, he had fear all right. He was at stake of losing 73 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,800 everything. Sanhedrin writes business, all 74 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,640 kinds of pressure on him, but he summoned the courage. 75 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,400 And what does he do? He comes and he begs the body of 76 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,640 Jesus from Pilate, and the body is taken down, the body of Jesus 77 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:47,080 taken down from the cross, and he wraps his body and he lays 78 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:51,840 them in a new unoccupied tomb. You know, I read it was quite an 79 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:58,400 honor to be laid to rest in an unoccupied tomb, a rich man's 80 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,160 tomb. Jesus crucified like a criminal 81 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:07,160 that he was not, and he was buried in a rich man's tomb. 82 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:10,600 But there's more. They got to prepare the body 83 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,280 now. So a man is summoned by the name 84 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:17,520 of Nicodemus and Nicodemus shows up in the Bible, says in John's 85 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:22,960 account, he shows up with 100 lbs of myrrh and aloes to wrap 86 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,360 the body of Jesus. You know what's amazing about 87 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:28,200 that? Significant. 88 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,200 I think it's very significant. I think there's no accident 89 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,800 here. The only time in all of history 90 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,760 where they used £100 to bury somebody is when they buried a 91 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,920 king crucified between Mal factors. 92 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,120 Buried like the king that he is, he is king of kings. 93 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:52,440 He's Lord of Lords. When he's buried, though, they 94 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:56,120 roll the stone in front of the entrance, and the stone was 95 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:00,920 rolled in front of the entrance to keep out animals and to keep 96 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,680 out grave robbers. Now remember, it's not the 97 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,000 Sabbath yet. It's not the Sabbath until 6:00 98 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:08,800 PM. So guess who's there? 99 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:13,920 There's two very special women just hanging around, two very 100 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:18,720 precious women, those Marys, Mary Magdalene and Mary the 101 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,920 mother of Joseph's, they just happen to be hanging around. 102 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,440 What are they doing there? Well, first of all, Jesus was 103 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,680 not buried in a public cemetery. He was buried in a private 104 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,040 grave. Therefore these women had to 105 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,840 know where the grave was so they can come back later after three 106 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:40,120 days and complete and complete the tending to the body of Jesus 107 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,240 Christ. Precious women hanging around. 108 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:52,960 Notice but then in Matthew 27 and 62 on the next day. 109 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:58,000 By the way, non Jews called that Friday evening on the next day 110 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,800 that was the Sabbath. In other words, after 6:00, the 111 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:03,920 day following the day of preparation. 112 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,160 The word preparation was the word Paris Fue, or the day 113 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:11,640 before the Sabbath common name, and it was actually became a 114 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:16,320 colloquial phrase for Friday, the day after the the day of 115 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:18,880 preparation. Notice the chief priests and the 116 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,920 Pharisees gathered together to pilot the chief priests. 117 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,360 Who in the world were they? Did you know the chief priests 118 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:31,480 were predominantly made-up of the Sadducees and the Pharisees 119 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,040 are together now? So you got the Sadducees and you 120 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:37,440 got the Pharisees teaming up. And this is only the second time 121 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,720 that I can find in all the New Testament where the Sadducees 122 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:48,040 teamed up with the Pharisees. Why do you remember on Tuesday, 123 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,440 in the last week in the life of Jesus, He had already made his 124 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,480 triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Sunday, by Tuesday was the 125 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:56,320 day of questions. You know what happened? 126 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,240 The Sadducees and the Pharisees get together and they think 127 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:00,960 they're going to stump Jesus. I'm going to tell you right now, 128 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,360 you ain't stumping Jesus. Big mistake. 129 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:06,840 They think they're going to get him against the ropes. 130 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:11,080 Oh no, Brilliant. Jesus shows up and took care of 131 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,880 the whole mess. But Sadducees and Pharisees who 132 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:18,880 were at theological odds with each other joined together on 133 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,440 that day, and they joined together on this day. 134 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:23,760 Why did they have theological odds? 135 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,040 Because the Pharisees believed in the resurrection or a life 136 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,000 after this one, and the Sadducees did not. 137 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:36,760 Big theological differences. Oh, but on this occasion, 138 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,240 they're going to team up. They're going to team up. 139 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:42,600 There's two. There's something they had in 140 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:47,040 common #1 the Sadducees did not want, and I'm going to phrase it 141 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,480 like this because that's how they felt it really was. 142 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:55,800 They did not want the resurrection tale of Jesus to be 143 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,480 circulated, and neither did the Pharisees. 144 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:04,880 Even though the Pharisees believed in a resurrection, they 145 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,120 just didn't believe Jesus would be resurrected and they didn't 146 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,320 consider him to be the Son of God. 147 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:16,560 OK, they want to squelch that. So verse 63, they come to Pilate 148 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:20,280 and they say, Sir, we remember that while he was still alive. 149 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:26,400 How that deceiver said, after three days I will arise. 150 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:29,200 You know, the most classic prediction of this is in Matthew 151 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,960 chapter 12, and it's by Jesus Christ himself. 152 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,640 And I love this because sometimes people are kind of 153 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:37,960 like this today, like they were back then. 154 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:39,840 They came to Jesus and they, you know, they want they want a 155 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:41,760 sign. Give me a sign. 156 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,560 You know, anytime you want a sign, you don't have any faith. 157 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,360 I had somebody say one time, if you just show me proof, I did 158 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,320 write in the Bible. Oh, but give me proof. 159 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:58,280 Yeah, I just did in the Bible. Well, give me proof that God 160 00:09:58,280 --> 00:09:59,560 created. Oh, got it right here. 161 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:01,680 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 162 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:03,120 Gotcha. Right there. 163 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:08,080 There it is, but if you can be proof just did. 164 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:12,880 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of 165 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,920 things not seen. What they wanted though is they 166 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:17,480 didn't accept the teaching of Jesus. 167 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:19,440 What they wanted is give me a sign. 168 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:22,240 You know what Jesus said, He answered and said to them an 169 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:26,120 evil and adulterous generation. 6 after sign, and no sign will 170 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:31,240 be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 171 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,680 For as Jonah was 3 days and three nights in the belly of the 172 00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:39,120 great fish, so will the Son of Man be also three days and three 173 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,040 nights in the heart of the earth. 174 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:46,480 A classic prediction of Jesus being raised from the dead on 175 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:53,800 the third day. All right, so verse 64 therefore 176 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:58,080 command that the tomb is what Pilate says, be made secure 177 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:06,120 until the third day. And then if you do that, lest 178 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,240 His disciples come by night and steal him away and say to the 179 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,920 people, He has risen from the dead, so the last deception will 180 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:18,600 be worse than the first. I was sitting there this morning 181 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:24,240 in my office looking over my sermon and I got to thinking 182 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:31,040 about something here. Isn't it true that sometimes, 183 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:37,160 actually a lot of the time, we judge people or we judge others 184 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:44,920 by way of our own character? In other words, people judge 185 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:48,720 other people based on their own character often times. 186 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:53,360 Give you an example. If a person is dishonest, they 187 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:54,960 expect everybody else to be dishonest. 188 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,600 If they're evil, they expect other people to be evil. 189 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,840 If they're suspicious, they think everybody else is going to 190 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:09,040 be suspicious. If they're not trustworthy, they 191 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:13,280 don't trust others. And oftentimes people judge 192 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:15,640 other people based on their own character. 193 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:21,280 So notice what they're doing here, lest they do what the last 194 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:23,560 deception will be worse than the first. 195 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:27,400 They're judging these men on their own character. 196 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,160 The religious leaders look to the disciples. 197 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:37,520 The other leaders here look to the disciples and they say these 198 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:39,760 aren't honest men, God fearing men. 199 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,040 These are men that are not devastated by the loss of their 200 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:44,880 leader. These are men that are going to 201 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,600 be rogues awaiting to pull off the greatest hoax in all of 202 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:50,440 history. That's what they thought. 203 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,960 So here's Pilate's solution. By the way, Pilate made some 204 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:59,240 terrible decisions throughout the entire process of the trial 205 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:02,240 and the crucifixion. And the only thing he did right, 206 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,520 the only thing is the inscription that was put up, the 207 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:10,000 accusation above the head of Jesus, and that was this is 208 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,440 Jesus the King of the Jews. Then they said, no, don't say 209 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,000 that, Pilate say he said I'm the king of the Jews. 210 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,960 Pilate says what I've written. I've written the only thing he 211 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,520 did right. So in this case, when they come 212 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:26,440 to him, we got a problem here. Here is Pilot's solution. 213 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:31,600 Pilot says you have a guard. Go your way. 214 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:34,760 Make it as secure as you know how. 215 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:36,360 Remember it's going to be 3 days. 216 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:38,280 All you got to do is secure it for three days. 217 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,720 So they went and made the tomb secure. 218 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,480 Notice sealing the stone and setting the guard. 219 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:47,400 I don't know what it looked like. 220 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:50,880 This is a picture here of what it probably depicted. 221 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,840 They say, but I'm not sure what I've read is this. 222 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,080 There was probably some some kind of a cord that stretched 223 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:04,280 across the stone and on each side of the cord was sealed with 224 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:06,480 wax. Kind of like with a signet ring. 225 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:08,920 You know, a signet ring when you seal a document. 226 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:12,160 Same kind of a deal. In other words, it wasn't 227 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,680 something that was a barrier to keep the door shut. 228 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,840 What it was is this. It was something that told 229 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:22,040 people, I don't know how else to phrase it, Unauthorized 230 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:24,840 personnel. Any unauthorized personnel, if 231 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:28,240 you break the seal, you commit a high crime. 232 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:42,200 That's what it was. Brilliant by God, I know you got 233 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,320 all these people, all these evil people involved, I get it. 234 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:51,160 But everything was orchestrated by God. 235 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:54,760 Why is that? Look how brilliant this is. 236 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:58,000 Look how brilliant God is and they think they got this dialed 237 00:14:58,000 --> 00:14:58,880 in. Look at God. 238 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:01,840 Fowler says it this way. The seal means that non 239 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:06,400 disciples are forced to be the first to bring the astounding 240 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,160 news to Jesus's enemies that all of their precautions have been 241 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,920 futile. In other words, it's not the 242 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,080 disciples who tamper with the tomb or the body. 243 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:23,400 He arose. It's proof the Sabbath is now 244 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,680 over. So we go back to Matthew's 245 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:31,440 account in Matthew 28 and verse 2 and behold, there was a great 246 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:37,400 earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven and 247 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:42,000 came back and rolled the stone from the door and sat on it. 248 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:43,840 Now I got to tell you, I've seen paintings. 249 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:50,000 Maybe you have two. It's interesting paintings. 250 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,760 I've seen paintings where the stone was rolled away and then 251 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:58,720 here comes Jesus walking out. Do you know the stone being 252 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,400 rolled away was not to let Jesus out? 253 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,200 You think Jesus needed somebody to roll the stone away? 254 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,360 Kind of like Lazarus when he says Lazarus come forth after he 255 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:12,920 told the roll with the stone. Jesus can walk through the 256 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,280 stone. Jesus could appear on one side 257 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:17,800 of the stone and then a second later appeared on the other 258 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:19,640 side. He didn't need the stone rolled 259 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:24,080 away to get out. The stone was rolled away not to 260 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,320 let the Lord out. The stone was rolled away to let 261 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:34,840 the others in, and sitting there on the stone was an Angel. 262 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:47,400 Verses 3 and 4 about this Angel. His countenance was like 263 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,120 lightning, and his clothing is white as snow. 264 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:59,680 And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. 265 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:03,480 You ever been so scared you couldn't move? 266 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,359 You know the phrase scared stiff? 267 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,720 I mean, you are so petrified you can't move. 268 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:21,839 And you just shake. You're paralyzed temporarily, 269 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,920 metaphorically, but in your mind you can't move. 270 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:31,120 My question is why were they afraid? 271 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,720 I'll tell you what some people say as the reason they were 272 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:40,160 afraid, they became like dead men, meaning they were 273 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,600 paralyzed. And some say, well, This is why, 274 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:49,800 because they failed to secure the tomb, because a soldier that 275 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:55,400 was given the task of guarding A prisoner, by the way, if the 276 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,720 prisoner escaped, he lost his life. 277 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:03,480 We know that. So because of that, everybody 278 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:07,000 assumes, and because they're afraid later on, and because the 279 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,760 Jews actually backed them up and protect them later on, the 280 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,120 soldiers. But what he was afraid of, he 281 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:17,200 was afraid because he had let Jesus go. 282 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:22,680 He's now gone. However it was the body of Jesus 283 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:24,400 is gone and the stone is rolled away. 284 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,680 Not so fast. Let's just look to the 285 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:31,760 scriptures and find out why they were so scared. 286 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:34,920 Sometimes you can overthink these things. 287 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,360 Notice it says why the guardship? 288 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:40,680 For what? Fear of him? 289 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:48,480 For fear of the Angel it describes, His countenance was 290 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,640 like lightning and his clothing as white as snow, and they 291 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:56,720 feared because of him. Folks, I'm going to tell you 292 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:57,880 something. It was an Angel of God. 293 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:02,840 But this is an act of God. And when an act of God occurs, I 294 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,280 don't care who you are, you are powerless. 295 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:10,640 If God wants something and it's an act of God, it doesn't make 296 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,240 any difference how much power you think you got, you got none. 297 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,640 All these powerful soldiers that had all this authority, they 298 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:27,280 were powerless, an act of God, kind of like when Jesus was in 299 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:32,600 the garden and they came to Jesus and Jesus sees them coming 300 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:34,840 in advance that we've already studied about. 301 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:36,480 And Jesus says, who you looking for? 302 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,080 And he says they said Jesus of Nazareth. 303 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:42,160 And Jesus says I am. It doesn't even say he in the 304 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:46,240 original, it says I am. And they fell, 500 men fell 305 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:49,800 back. You know why they fell back? 306 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:53,520 Because they were in the presence of deity, and Jesus 307 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:57,520 professed I am and he as deity, they fell. 308 00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,960 They were powerless. If it's an act of God, I'm 309 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:03,280 telling you, you're powerless. And they were afraid. 310 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:11,280 Verses 5 and 6, notice, but the Angel of the Lord said to the 311 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:13,360 women, oh, these precious women, I'm going to spend a little time 312 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:17,480 about these women. Do not be afraid, for I know 313 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,000 that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 314 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:26,320 He is not here, for he is risen first. 315 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:36,200 He says, do not be afraid. Have you stopped to consider the 316 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,200 role that these precious women have? 317 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:41,960 It won? The disciples, were they, I 318 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,520 don't know, they're just way over there. 319 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:51,480 They're all the way over there. The women were there. 320 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,440 The Sabbath is over. They're about to give first hand 321 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,080 eyewitness testimony to the resurrection and that is 322 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,360 brilliant. By God, they've got no axe to 323 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:06,000 grind. They've got no agenda. 324 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,840 It's not like the apostles who could have gone there and 325 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:11,680 witnessed the resurrection. They could have said you're 326 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:17,440 lying. No, it was 2 precious women and 327 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:21,880 the Angel says don't be afraid and then come see the place 328 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:26,720 where the Lord lay. Have you ever stopped to 329 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:28,920 consider what it must have been like for the rest of their life? 330 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,760 Mary? What was it like? 331 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:42,000 What was it like? The one that they seek is not 332 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:48,680 dead, He's alive. In other words, they came 333 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:53,200 seeking a dead man. They leave seeking A risen 334 00:21:53,200 --> 00:22:02,480 Savior, and their hopes are full of wonder, amazement, and hope. 335 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:08,240 Verses 7 and 8, they're told, go quickly and tell his disciples 336 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,280 by the Angel. They said, He said that he's 337 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:15,560 risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into 338 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,040 Galilee. There you will see him. 339 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:21,000 Behold, I've told you. So they went out quickly from 340 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:25,600 the tomb, and fear, and great joy, with fear and great joy, 341 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,120 and ran to bring his disciples word. 342 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:33,520 Then notice please in verse 9. And as they went to tell the 343 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:37,520 disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, rejoice. 344 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:43,280 So they came and they held him by the feet, and they worshipped 345 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:48,120 him. What would that have been? 346 00:22:48,120 --> 00:23:00,480 Like The Angel said, have hope. He's alive, he's risen. 347 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:06,320 Go tell his disciples. And then all of a sudden there's 348 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:10,600 Jesus, and they're so overwhelmed. 349 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:17,080 These precious women can't contain themself, and they fall 350 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,280 down at the feet of Jesus and they hold his feet. 351 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,320 Please get that. Yes, they touched him. 352 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:31,040 Yes, they touched him, and they held his feet and they 353 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:41,650 worshipped him. He's worthy of their worship. 354 00:23:42,010 --> 00:23:43,930 We have to go to John's account for more though. 355 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,120 We got to go to John's account because maybe you're saying 356 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,160 you're thinking in your mind, well, doesn't it say somewhere 357 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:51,160 touch me not for I'm not going to say, well, here we go. 358 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,680 We go to John's account. John chapter 20, the new King 359 00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:00,000 James says Jesus said to her, in other words, as they fell down 360 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,120 at his feet to worship him and they clung to him and they held 361 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:08,200 him. Jesus says, do not cling to me. 362 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:13,280 Then he's going to get specific as to why and what he means. 363 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,000 Well, the old King James says this. 364 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,560 Touch me. Not in the original. 365 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:24,280 It says this. Stop clinging to me. 366 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:25,840 That's what it says in the original. 367 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,360 So in other words, there's no contradiction. 368 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:30,800 Sometimes if you look at Don't Touch me, it looks like there's 369 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:32,680 a contradiction. When they fell and grabbed him 370 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:34,440 and worshiped him, they did fall. 371 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:35,920 They did grab him. They did worship him. 372 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:38,920 They didn't hold his feet. What he's saying is, is stop 373 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:41,320 clinging to me. And then he said this. 374 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:44,360 Here's the reason why, for I have not yet ascended to my 375 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:46,960 father. Let me give you some theories as 376 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:51,000 to what this means. Here's some theories, theory #1 377 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:59,600 theory #1 is that Jesus was telling them I've not yet 378 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,440 ascended to my father, which is going to happen in 40 days. 379 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,040 In other words, it's not time for me to leave yet. 380 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:08,680 You can let go. I'm, I'm talking about, I've 381 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:14,520 read this from commentaries, others say this, I'm going to be 382 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,480 resurrected. Here's his point in 30 days. 383 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:23,160 I'm going to ascend to my father in 40 days, ultimately in my 384 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,480 spiritual body. But see, I'm now in my fleshly 385 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:26,760 body. See, it's still me. 386 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:32,640 It's not time yet. And while these things may have 387 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,840 merit, I think there's a better explanation. 388 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,080 I believe what he's saying is this. 389 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:45,840 I believe Jesus needed to fulfill one final prophetic 390 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,320 type. Jesus fulfilled all of the 391 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,600 prophecies, talked about all those that were fulfilled, and 392 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,880 the chances of that crazy only happens if God's involved. 393 00:25:57,880 --> 00:25:59,000 We already preached on that, right? 394 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:03,400 Well, there's one prophetic type that still has to be fulfilled. 395 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,720 We look in the book of Hebrews, Chapter 9, verse 7, But into the 396 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,800 second part, the high priest went in alone once a year, not 397 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,880 without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people 398 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:18,800 sins committed in ignorance. So in the Tabernacle and later 399 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,920 in the temple, the high priest, by the way, verse 6 says the 400 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,200 common priest, that's a picture of us Christians. 401 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:29,840 We're in the first part or the holy place, which is a picture 402 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,160 of the Church accomplishing the service of God. 403 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:36,320 Right now, only the high priest on the Day of Atonement for the 404 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:40,280 sins of the people will take the blood sacrifice into the Most 405 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:44,560 Holy place in the Tabernacle and also in the temple, and bring 406 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:48,440 the blood sacrifice before the mercy seat and before the 407 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:52,320 presence of God for the atonement of the sins of the 408 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,200 people. And it was done every year. 409 00:26:54,480 --> 00:27:02,640 OK, prophetic type, Old Testament, Jesus is our ultimate 410 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:07,120 high priest. Jesus, on this ultimate Day of 411 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:13,280 Atonement, I believe, took the blood, His blood, as He was 412 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:17,040 still in the flesh, to His Father before the presence of 413 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:24,400 God, and gave the sacrifice of His blood to fulfill the 414 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:28,040 prophetic type. Now let me just say this. 415 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:36,400 If that's not true, this is the only prophecy by way of either 416 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:42,840 verbal or typical that was not fulfilled by Jesus Christ 417 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,280 Himself while He was in fleshly human form. 418 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,200 That's free. Makes more sense to me. 419 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:56,120 So he says stop clinging to me. Now we know in addition to this, 420 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,640 Jesus would ultimately ascend to his Father in Acts chapter 1. 421 00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:03,280 He does ascend to his Father ultimately and we we know that 422 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,320 and you know, as he ascended up toward his father, those two men 423 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,960 in white apparel says, why are you standing up, you Galileans? 424 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:12,600 Why are you looking up into heaven? 425 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:15,880 Jesus, the same man that you're looking at will so come in like 426 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,360 manner as you've seen him go into the heavens. 427 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:23,200 That was ultimate. I just don't think this passage 428 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,920 is referring to that day 40 days later because you know what the 429 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,440 King James says, touch me not well, you know what happened 8 430 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,920 days after he said this? He told Thomas, stick your hand 431 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:37,960 in my in the holes in my hand. I think he was fulfilling that 432 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:42,040 prophetic type. OK, let me talk about the fact 433 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,080 that Jesus not only ascended, but he will return. 434 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,480 He will return John chapter 20 verse 710 verses before this, 435 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:55,280 when the grave was open and Peter looks in, it says in the 436 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:58,760 handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with 437 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:03,960 the linen clothes, but folded together in one place by itself. 438 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,600 Now just a little cultural history. 439 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:15,000 Cultural history here. If a person went to a meal, they 440 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:19,720 went to a function and they were having a meal, it was customary 441 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,600 if that person was going to get up from the dining area and 442 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,120 leave and be done and not come back, he would take the napkin. 443 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,120 He would ball it up, wad it up and he would throw it down with 444 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:33,520 all the rest. But when that person was not 445 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:37,040 going to leave for good, but they were coming back to let 446 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:39,280 everybody know I'm just temporarily leaving, but I'm 447 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:41,240 coming back here. What they do, they would fold 448 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,440 the napkin. They would put the napkin by 449 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,440 itself to let everybody know I'm coming back. 450 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:51,920 Significant here. I don't know. 451 00:29:51,920 --> 00:30:02,200 You tell me, notice, But folded together in a place by itself as 452 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:09,720 if to say I'm coming back. Whether that's not a symbol and 453 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:11,320 whether that's tradition, I don't know. 454 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:17,560 I do know this. He's coming back, and if He's 455 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:19,840 not coming back, and that's the last verse we're going to talk 456 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:25,760 about in this sermon, we got no hope, but Jesus is risen from 457 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:31,160 the dead and He is coming back and because of that we have hope 458 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:39,240 and that's the only reason. OK, Matthew 28 again and verse 459 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:44,000 10 back to Matthew. Then Jesus said to them, do not 460 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,760 be afraid, Go and tell my brethren to go into Galilee and 461 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,240 there they will see me. You know the Lord's words here 462 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,040 echo the words of the Angel, except there's one exception. 463 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:58,200 Did you see the exception? As you glance up, do you see the 464 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:02,680 exception? The exception is the Angel says 465 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:09,160 go tell his disciples, please get this, Jesus said. 466 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:18,920 Go tell my brethren. Why does that matter? 467 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:22,640 You know what the word brethren means? 468 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:27,000 The word brethren means kin or brother. 469 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,320 And because it means kin or brother, let me tell you what 470 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:31,760 some people think he's talking about. 471 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:39,080 And maybe. But like I said before, I think 472 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,800 there's a better explanation makes more sense. 473 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,280 Some people believe because it says brethren, and that means 474 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,640 Ken or brother. He's talking about his own 475 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,920 personal step brothers. In other words, go tell them I'm 476 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:55,920 risen. So they finally get it. 477 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:57,760 They finally understand my mission. 478 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:00,520 They finally understand that it's complete and they finally 479 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,120 understand that it's fulfilled. Possibly. 480 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,320 Let me tell you what makes more sense in context. 481 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,520 He's not talking about his literal kin. 482 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:12,960 He's talking about his spiritual kin. 483 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,360 Now, why does that matter? Who's he talking about? 484 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,400 He's talking about men that forsook him and fled. 485 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:29,720 He's talking about one in particular who denied him three 486 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:31,640 times, even cursing and swearing. 487 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:37,120 I know not the man. He's talking about people that 488 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:48,520 turn their back on him and he calls them brethren and he 489 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:53,440 extends love. I'm going to tell you something. 490 00:32:55,680 --> 00:33:03,880 If a child of God departs from the Lord temporarily, there's 491 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,280 changes that they need to make sure, and there was changes the 492 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,320 apostles need to make. I'm going to keep this series 493 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:10,960 going and we're going to get into the second conversion of 494 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,120 Peter that's coming. I'm going to keep it on going. 495 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:17,560 But you know something about this. 496 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:23,560 They had changes to make. They made a mistake, but they 497 00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:31,600 were still the Lord's family. Sometimes we think, well, we're 498 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:32,920 not doing what's right. They're not. 499 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,200 Yeah, they are. They're brethren. 500 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:41,440 And sometimes in our life, we are the only light to magnify 501 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,800 the light of Jesus Christ so that we could be the lighthouse 502 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:46,680 to help them see their way back to Jesus. 503 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:53,000 Keep that in mind. Keep that in mind that even 504 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,560 Peter who denied him with cursing and swearing, I know not 505 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:08,090 the man Jesus called brethren. Then in verse 28 or chapter 28, 506 00:34:08,090 --> 00:34:11,330 verse 11, now while they were eating the while they were 507 00:34:11,330 --> 00:34:15,370 going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported 508 00:34:15,489 --> 00:34:18,370 to the chief priests all of the things that had happened. 509 00:34:18,610 --> 00:34:22,570 This is amazing to me. You got the women right, And you 510 00:34:22,570 --> 00:34:25,370 got the women and they're on their way to tell good news. 511 00:34:25,810 --> 00:34:30,090 OK, You got these guys, you got the soldiers going to go talk to 512 00:34:30,090 --> 00:34:33,040 their superiors to present bad news. 513 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:35,520 You know what's interesting about that? 514 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:39,280 It's the same news. He's risen. 515 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,639 The women is wonderful news, Soldiers, terrible news. 516 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:49,520 Same facts, same story. He's risen. 517 00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:57,920 You know, we've got people in every culture, in every era of 518 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:02,800 history that have tried to deny the resurrection of Jesus. 519 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:10,000 In fact, there's 77 theories that people actually have come 520 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,840 up with to deny the resurrection. 521 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:16,480 I'm sitting here. I'm standing here talking to a 522 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:21,880 bunch of logical people with intelligence. 523 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,800 We just read. He's risen. 524 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:31,320 Easy. The Bible says he's risen. 525 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,680 We find that the women rejoice and worship him. 526 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,960 He's risen. The soldiers knew he was gone. 527 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,160 And they go take the facts of the bad news. 528 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:47,720 He's risen and yet there's been 7 theories in history that have 529 00:35:47,720 --> 00:35:50,640 come up with to explain away the resurrection. 530 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,080 Here are the seven. You may have known these, you 531 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:55,160 may have heard of these. I'll give them to you now. 532 00:35:55,400 --> 00:36:00,480 The first one's called the swoon theory or the semi coma theory. 533 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:05,000 What's that? This theory said Jesus never 534 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:08,200 died, he was just really traumatized. 535 00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:12,840 He went into shock, he fell into a semi comatose state, but the 536 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:16,560 coolest of the tomb and spices revived him. 537 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:21,920 That's not going to work. By the way, you know who came up 538 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:24,120 with that? A man by the name of Venturini 539 00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:30,080 1600 years later. It took that guy 1600 years to 540 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:35,160 come up with that. And by the way, if that theory 541 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:41,000 was true, think of it this way, the Romans were very proficient 542 00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:44,520 at crucifixion. You don't think they got the job 543 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:46,040 done? They got the job done. 544 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:48,640 And when they were still living, to expedite that, they broke the 545 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:50,160 legs. They didn't break the legs of 546 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,120 Jesus fulfilling prophecy, but they didn't break the legs of 547 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:54,440 Jesus. Why? 548 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:57,120 What was their reasoning? He was already dead. 549 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:00,720 Then they took the spear satisfying Zachariah's prophecy 550 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:03,600 and thrust it into his side, and from his side flowed blood and 551 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:07,920 water. Proving he was dead doesn't 552 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:13,360 work. But if this theory is true, then 553 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:21,760 Jesus in Luke 24 walks 7 point whatever miles to Emmaus 554 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:29,520 barefoot with holes in his feet. No, here's another one. 555 00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:32,880 Believe it or not, the no burial theory. 556 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:37,160 In other words, he wasn't there on Sunday because he wasn't 557 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:41,200 there on Friday. Well, think about it. 558 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:46,000 If that's the case, why would they seal a tomb with nobody in 559 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:49,800 it? And then why would they put a 560 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:54,920 guard guarding a tomb with nobody in it if he was not 561 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:58,720 buried? You know, the Bible says his 562 00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:01,960 grave was to be assigned among wicked men, but he would be with 563 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:03,960 the rich man in his death. I quoted that. 564 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:06,680 Do you know where they put the wicked men? 565 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:10,280 They sent him to the valley of Hinnom in a city waste dump. 566 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:13,320 And they threw their bodies where the where the fires burned 567 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:15,560 incessantly. It was like a dump. 568 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:17,080 Go to the dump and they burned trash. 569 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:24,880 That's where wicked men went. So the no burial theory was he 570 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:27,480 wasn't buried, he was just thrown to the waist up. 571 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:33,440 Why steal the tomb? Why guard the tomb if you saw 572 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:36,240 there was no one in it? Here's another one. 573 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:38,800 These get more and more ridiculous. 574 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:40,640 How about the hallucination theory? 575 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,800 That is that all the appearances of Jesus were not real. 576 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:51,720 They were only hallucinations. Why would the disciples please 577 00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:53,600 get this? Why would the disciples 578 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:58,000 hallucinate a resurrection when they never expected to have a 579 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:00,200 resurrection? Do you remember when Jesus said, 580 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:03,680 Now I'm going to tell you what, I'm just a country boy. 581 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:07,840 I'm not extremely intelligent with the higher echelons of 582 00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:11,480 academia, but I guarantee you what I think I would have 583 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:13,640 understood what Jesus said. Maybe not. 584 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,160 Maybe I would have been as dumb as the Galilean fisherman. 585 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:23,040 I don't know, but Jesus says I'm going to die and three days 586 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:26,760 later I'm going to rise. You know what they said? 587 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:32,080 Ask him what he meant by that. Ask him what he means by that. 588 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:36,760 Why would they hallucinate A resurrection when they never 589 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:45,680 anticipated a resurrection and then also die as martyrs if it 590 00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:49,320 was only a hallucination? And again, again, the tomb was 591 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:51,800 empty. How about this one telepathy 592 00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:55,240 theory? No physical resurrection, but 593 00:39:55,240 --> 00:39:59,840 God sent back telepathic messages to the disciples that 594 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:04,560 Jesus had risen. Well, by the way, if that's 595 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:07,840 true, it wouldn't have been a telepathic message. 596 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:11,280 It would have been a telepathic movie that lasted 40 days. 597 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:17,680 Do you know that there's Learned? 598 00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:24,440 Educated smart guys that have come up with this these theories 599 00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:28,480 to try to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 600 00:40:29,240 --> 00:40:32,720 Oh, there's more about this one, the seance theory. 601 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:38,600 This theory was this, that a medium conjured up a spirit, the 602 00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:41,000 spirit of the dead Jesus by the occult power. 603 00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:47,160 Even with that far. So what about this? 604 00:40:47,720 --> 00:40:51,840 If that's the case, how did he walk through a closed door and 605 00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,600 how did they touch him? Oh, and by the way, tomb's 606 00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:56,160 empty. Keep going back to that. 607 00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:59,880 The tomb is empty. Here's another one. 608 00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:02,440 This is number six, and there's only 7. 609 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:06,320 Almost finished the mistaken identity theory. 610 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:10,160 And this is just simply somebody impersonated Jesus. 611 00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:18,920 Somebody else did it. If that's the case, then the 612 00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:24,120 body would still be in the tomb. Finally, here is the last one, 613 00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:28,640 and it's the best of the bad. It's the one that the Jews held 614 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:30,360 on to, and that's the theft theory. 615 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:35,400 The body of Jesus was stolen. My question is this, who stole 616 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:37,640 the body of Jesus? Was it the soldiers? 617 00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:40,760 Was it the religious leaders? Well, it wouldn't have been the 618 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:42,920 soldiers. Absolutely would not have been 619 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:46,520 the soldiers. The religious leaders, 620 00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:50,160 Absolutely not, because it would prove what they wanted to 621 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:51,840 disprove. So it couldn't have been them. 622 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:54,880 What about the disciples? It couldn't have been the 623 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:56,200 disciples. What are they going to do? 624 00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:59,560 Overpower the guards? Rollback the stone? 625 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:02,480 Grab Jesus and unravel him with nobody looking? 626 00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:14,960 No, no, you wouldn't steal a body, fabricate the 627 00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:19,520 resurrection, and then die as a martyr. 628 00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:23,800 Now we come back to Matthew 28, beginning in verse 12. 629 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:27,720 Notice what happens next. When they had assembled with the 630 00:42:27,720 --> 00:42:31,560 elders and consulted together. Notice, please, they gave a 631 00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:38,040 large sum of money, a large sum. I'm going to get back to the sum 632 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:42,560 in a minute to the soldiers saying, tell them his disciples 633 00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:44,920 came at night and stole them away while we slept. 634 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:48,040 And if this comes into the governor's ears, we will appease 635 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:50,840 him and make you secure. So they took the money and did 636 00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,160 as they were instructed. And this saying is commonly 637 00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:58,640 reported among the Jews until this day. 638 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:05,600 Wow, look at that large sum of money. 639 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:09,800 You realize something? I'm sure it's leaping off at the 640 00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:17,200 page to you. The lie cost more than the 641 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:23,240 betrayal. Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of 642 00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:29,400 silver, the price of a slave. The lie about the resurrection 643 00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:34,880 cost more than the betrayal. And as I'm sitting there in my 644 00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:37,520 office this morning, it just kind of hit me, man. 645 00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:43,000 That'll preach. Because I got into thinking a 646 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:49,880 lie always costs more in our lifetime, in our dealings with 647 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:54,080 people, a lie cost more. How many people have had a 648 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:57,760 parent that said it's always better just to tell the truth? 649 00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:01,960 If you tell a lie, you got to remember what you lied about. 650 00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:04,400 So you can lie about that. And it's hard to rely on and on. 651 00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:08,680 It's hard, and you know what? You perpetuate the lie and it 652 00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:10,800 goes on and on and on. But you know what's wonderful? 653 00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:12,600 If you just tell the truth and then it's over. 654 00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:15,160 You got ramifications to deal with and then it's over. 655 00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:20,400 The price of the lie is always more. 656 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:23,000 I like this phrase right here. You know, the worst thing that 657 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,280 an honest man could ever do is make an honest mistake. 658 00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:29,440 That's the worst thing that ever happened to an honest man is an 659 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:31,000 honest mistake. And then he makes it right and 660 00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:34,720 he moves on. But a lie, a lie cost so much 661 00:44:34,720 --> 00:44:36,840 more. It's the lie that actually 662 00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:41,480 proves the resurrection. Nothing explains the empty tomb 663 00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:46,200 except he is risen and I'm thankful. 664 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:56,800 In closing this morning, if Jesus were not raised, we have 665 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:01,320 no hope. We got nothing. 666 00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:06,720 You ever hear that phrase, that common phrase, What if this is 667 00:45:06,720 --> 00:45:16,440 as good as it gets? If Jesus wasn't raised, We have 668 00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:21,240 absolutely no hope whatsoever. I'm going to tell you something 669 00:45:21,240 --> 00:45:24,480 here. If you are suffering through 670 00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,960 hard times, difficult times, painful times, medical issues, 671 00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:31,120 whatever it is, spiritual struggles that you're doing 672 00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:35,840 everything you can to just stay on the right side of that, I got 673 00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:39,640 news for you. There's hope. 674 00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:46,280 And it may not be even in this life that you have any relief. 675 00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:52,840 Maybe you do, and I hope you do. But if you don't, there's relief 676 00:45:52,840 --> 00:45:58,600 someday. There's hope, The apostle Paul 677 00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:02,720 in First Corinthians 15 said. But now Christ is risen from the 678 00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:05,840 dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen 679 00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:08,680 asleep. For since by man came death, by 680 00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:10,640 man came also the resurrection of the dead. 681 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:14,880 For as an Adam all die, Even so in Christ shall all be made 682 00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:17,200 alive, but each one in his own order. 683 00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:21,720 Christ the first fruits after those who are Christ at his 684 00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:27,720 coming, all because of Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead and the 685 00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:29,840 the phrase firstfruits means this. 686 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:32,320 He wasn't the first guy to ever be risen from the dead. 687 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:34,680 Jesus actually rose people from the dead. 688 00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:38,520 What that means is this. He was the first one to be 689 00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:41,560 raised from the dead, never to die again. 690 00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:46,960 And guess what? One day at his coming, we, the 691 00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:52,800 children of God will be raised in His image, in His glory, 692 00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:59,960 never to die again. He's risen. 693 00:47:01,600 --> 00:47:03,320 I'm through this morning. Thank you for your kind 694 00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:05,240 listening. Rejoice. 695 00:47:05,240 --> 00:47:08,960 And let me just say, I know that sometimes people pick one day a 696 00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:10,800 year to rejoice in the resurrection. 697 00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:12,360 Let's not, let's not ever do that. 698 00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:17,680 Let's rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus Christ 365 699 00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:22,600 days a year. And let's remember we appreciate 700 00:47:22,600 --> 00:47:26,880 Jesus every day because you know what, Every day we live, we got 701 00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:30,920 hope because of what Jesus did. Just keep that in mind. 702 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:35,120 We never close the service without extending an invitation 703 00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:38,120 to somebody that might be subject to the gospel call. 704 00:47:38,720 --> 00:47:41,360 The steps to become a child of God are very simple. 705 00:47:42,240 --> 00:47:43,680 First you got to hear the Word of God. 706 00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:46,520 Romans 10/17. So then faith comes by hearing, 707 00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:50,640 and hearing by the word of God. But after you hear the word of 708 00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:54,320 God, you got a choice to make. You got to either believe it or 709 00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:57,040 not believe it. The Bible says we got to believe 710 00:47:57,040 --> 00:47:59,480 it with all of our heart. Hebrews 11 and 6. 711 00:47:59,600 --> 00:48:02,960 Without faith it's impossible to please Him, for he who comes to 712 00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:06,520 God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those 713 00:48:06,520 --> 00:48:09,400 who diligently seek Him. Then what? 714 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:12,360 I got to change my waves. Simple. 715 00:48:12,440 --> 00:48:13,560 I've been going to One Direction. 716 00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:15,440 I got to change direction. That's all that means. 717 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:19,280 I got to repent of my sins. Acts 1730. 718 00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:22,400 Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands 719 00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:26,040 all men everywhere to repent. Then what? 720 00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:30,160 I have to be willing to confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of 721 00:48:30,160 --> 00:48:32,160 God. It's the greatest thing a person 722 00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:35,160 will ever say. Acts 837 that Philip said if you 723 00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:36,320 believe with all your heart, you may. 724 00:48:36,720 --> 00:48:40,360 And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the 725 00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:43,440 Son of God. But these steps lead us toward 726 00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:45,920 the point of salvation. Folks. 727 00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:50,960 We're still not saved yet. Until what? 728 00:48:52,640 --> 00:48:55,800 Be baptized for the remission of our sins. 729 00:48:56,320 --> 00:48:58,720 You know why? Because that's where you contact 730 00:48:58,720 --> 00:49:02,120 the blood of Jesus that he shed for our sins that we talked 731 00:49:02,120 --> 00:49:05,680 about. We assimilate the death, burial 732 00:49:05,680 --> 00:49:09,480 and resurrection of Jesus at baptism like he did, and rise to 733 00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:12,520 walk in newness of life. Mark 16/16. 734 00:49:12,520 --> 00:49:16,520 He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he does who 735 00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:18,160 does not believe will be condemned. 736 00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:22,240 Is baptism necessary? We hear this a lot. 737 00:49:22,240 --> 00:49:24,600 Big question here it is first Peter 321. 738 00:49:24,600 --> 00:49:29,920 Let the Bible answer the light figure where in the even baptism 739 00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:34,440 doth also now save us, not the putting away the filth of the 740 00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:38,200 flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the 741 00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:41,800 resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you've never taken these 742 00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:45,400 steps of obedience, we'd love to assist you in that. 743 00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:48,280 We stand ready, willing and able to do that. 744 00:49:48,960 --> 00:49:50,360 Maybe you have taken those steps. 745 00:49:50,360 --> 00:49:52,320 Maybe there's something in your life, it's just not what it 746 00:49:52,320 --> 00:49:53,720 should be. Repent of that. 747 00:49:53,720 --> 00:49:55,880 Confess that. We'll pray with you and for you, 748 00:49:55,880 --> 00:49:57,280 and God will forgive and restore. 749 00:49:57,600 --> 00:50:00,360 If you want to be in a class, come forward while we stand and 750 00:50:00,360 --> 00:50:00,840 while we see.