1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,640 Welcome to the Reem Sound Church of God podcast. 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,360 Wherever you're listening from, we hope you are blessed by 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:09,160 today's message. Matthew chapter 28 and you might 4 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:14,160 have expected that a passage like this would be the passage 5 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:16,440 of today from one of the gospels. 6 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,880 This is one of the tremendous stories of the resurrection of 7 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,480 Jesus Christ in Matthew 28. It says in verse one. 8 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,280 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to 9 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,680 dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb. 10 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:34,520 And behold, there was a great earthquake. 11 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,520 For an Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came 12 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,520 and rollback the stone from the door, and sat on it. 13 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:46,600 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as 14 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:50,400 white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of 15 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:55,040 him, and became like dead men. But the Angel answered and said 16 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:59,960 to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, 17 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:05,880 who was crucified. He is not here. 18 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:14,240 He is not here, for he is risen as he said. 19 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,840 Come and see the place where the Lord lay. 20 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,120 I want to speak to you this morning on this thought. 21 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:27,600 The sunrise that took place before sunrise. 22 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,720 It was a sunrise before sunrise. Let's pray. 23 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,480 Father, I thank you for everything God in this service 24 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,320 today. God, the worship just ushered us 25 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:43,440 into your presence, since you're here in a great and mighty way. 26 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:48,400 And Lord, we can never do justice to this story, no matter 27 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,840 how many times we try to tell it, sing about it, teach it, 28 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,520 whatever it is. The greatest story, Lord, in the 29 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:02,120 whole history of mankind. No story even comes close. 30 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,760 But give us an anointing Lord to be able here today, God, to at 31 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:12,400 least shine a bit of light that maybe hasn't been seen before on 32 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,160 this amazing account of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus 33 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,800 Christ. I pray this for the glory of God 34 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,280 in Jesus name, Amen. You may be seated. 35 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,600 So there was a day and I want to talk about that day when there 36 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:32,320 were two sunrises on the same day, 2 sunrises. 37 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:39,720 The first one is spelled Capital SON Son. 38 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:46,200 The son of God rise because he rose even before the SUN 39 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,240 sunrise. So there was a Day in History 40 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:55,480 that there were two sunrises. Sunrise here today in Stevens, 41 00:02:55,480 --> 00:03:01,600 PA took place at 6:43 AM this morning. 42 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,360 I was awake and up for it. I wasn't watching the sunrise. 43 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,800 I'm praying and studying and trying to get ready for coming 44 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:15,520 here and ministering the word. Sunset will be at 7:33 PM today. 45 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,280 Now sometimes people say, and I've said it and probably most 46 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,600 of you have said it, the sun is not shining today. 47 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,760 But that is not true. The sun is always shining. 48 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:29,360 I said. The sun is always shining 49 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:34,600 whether we see it or not. The sun always shines. 50 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:40,640 The sun, as you know what I'm talking, SUN is for us, it is 51 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:45,480 actually the star that's at the center of our solar system. 52 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,000 And in fact it's the only star in our solar system. 53 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,240 Anything you're looking at at night and you see all those 54 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:53,920 stars, they are light years away from you. 55 00:03:54,520 --> 00:04:00,680 But the Sun is 93,000,000 miles away and perfectly set in the 56 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,640 right place so that all of the planets, the asteroids, the 57 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,360 comets, they all are in orbit around it. 58 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:14,360 And so the Sun actually really provides tremendous things not 59 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,320 only to us but to our entire solar system. 60 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,959 And some, but sometimes we will say, well, the Sun is not 61 00:04:21,079 --> 00:04:24,120 shining today. And there are reasons where it 62 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,080 appears, appears why it appears not to be shining. 63 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:30,800 One is nighttime. Once the sunsets today, it will 64 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,560 start getting dark. And that's because of the 65 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,760 Earth's rotation. And you know that there's a side 66 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,080 of the Earth that is facing the sun and when the rotation takes 67 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,680 place, that there's a side that goes away from the sun, and 68 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,600 that's called night or nighttime. 69 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,120 There's other reasons why there's something called polar 70 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,080 night. And there are places in the 71 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:57,720 Arctic Circle like Utica, Victoria, Alaska, where they can 72 00:04:57,720 --> 00:04:59,640 go for weeks and never have a sunrise. 73 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,720 It'll come almost up, perhaps to the horizon. 74 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,160 If you've been to Alaska, you know this and it won't even come 75 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:07,840 up. The sun won't rise, but it's 76 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:10,320 still there and it's still shining. 77 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,400 Another thing, of course, is the solar eclipse and that's when 78 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,280 the moon passes between the Earth and the sun. 79 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:21,680 And for a little while at least, it blocks the sun because of the 80 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,120 proximity, the distance. It's the moon is not the sun, of 81 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:26,600 course. And we know the moon is in a 82 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:31,640 different place, but it's, it causes us not to be able to see 83 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:35,480 the sun, but the sun is still shining. 84 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:39,760 And then we know that sometimes just plain old cloud cover that 85 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:44,160 we see on often, we've seen a lot of it over this past winter 86 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,160 when there's cloud cover and we just can't see it. 87 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:52,440 But the sun is always shining. Now, if you have any concerns 88 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:56,800 about the sun, you might ought to because scientists tell us 89 00:05:56,840 --> 00:06:02,640 that the sun will burn itself out in about 5 billion years. 90 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,600 You talk about climate change. 5 billion years from now, 91 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:12,400 scientists tell us that the sun will burn out, it'll use up all 92 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,320 this fuel and it'll be gone. I believe God has a different 93 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,680 plan. And I I do believe the sun is 94 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,040 going to be gone because the Bible tells us that. 95 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,400 But right now, I don't think you need to worry too much about 96 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:27,040 whether the sun is shining. But I can also tell you that the 97 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:33,880 Son of God is much like the SUN because he is always shining. 98 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:37,080 The Son of God is never in darkness. 99 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:43,000 The Son of God is never at a place where he is not visible if 100 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:47,040 we want to see him, because he is the Son of God and he's 101 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,640 always shining. In fact, Malachi 42 tells us, 102 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:56,520 but to you who fear my name, the Son of righteousness will arise 103 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,840 with healing in his wings. Aren't you thankful for the Son 104 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:05,040 of righteousness today that rises with healing in his wing? 105 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,400 And whether you see Him or not, whether you feel him or not, the 106 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:14,040 sun is always shining. The sun is always bright. 107 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,280 It's never dim and never dull. The Bible says in Him was light. 108 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:23,320 John 14 says in Him was life, and the life was the light of 109 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,600 men. And the light shines where in 110 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,400 the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 111 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,800 That means that the darkness could not extinguish it. 112 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:38,320 The light of Jesus was so bright that no matter how great the 113 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:42,280 darkness, no matter how black the darkness, it could never 114 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,240 extinguish the light of Jesus Christ. 115 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:49,280 And in this Dark World in which we live, I'm happy to tell you 116 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:53,480 that that light is shining as bright as it ever did, because 117 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:58,080 Christ is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 118 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:04,000 The sun is shining. Now, that doesn't mean that 119 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,920 there aren't those who want to extinguish that light. 120 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,760 In fact, from the very start, this son of righteousness, when 121 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,320 he came into the world, this one who was the light and the life 122 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:19,760 of men when he came even as an infant and even as a toddler, we 123 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,880 know that King Herod wanted to kill him before he even got 124 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,560 started. We know in the ministry of Jesus 125 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,080 numbers of times they tried to kill him after preaching in 126 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:34,320 Nazareth and Luke 4 the crowd tried to throw him off of a 127 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:38,080 Cliff. According to Mark 3 Pharisees 128 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,320 sought counsel together how they might destroy him. 129 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,880 In Matthew 12 it says the council got together and met and 130 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,720 wanted to destroy him. In John chapter 5 we are told 131 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:54,320 that the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to sought to slay him 132 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:57,160 because he said that God was his father. 133 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,040 Because he said God was his Father making him the Son of 134 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,520 God. They said we want to kill him in 135 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,960 John chapter after 7 the Bible says he could no longer walk in 136 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,680 Judea because when he did people wanted to kill him. 137 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:14,080 So all of Jesus earthly life, somebody was after him. 138 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:19,080 Somebody wanted to put that life out and that light out. 139 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:22,240 They wanted to kill. Believe it or not, the giver of 140 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:26,840 life that makes no sense at all. The one who gave everyone life, 141 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:28,720 they're wanting to extinguish him. 142 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:33,000 But I want you to think about that because even after the 143 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:37,080 resurrection, when the sunrise took place, before the sunrise, 144 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:41,520 even after that, the chief priests and elders wanted to 145 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:45,320 conceal the fact that he had been raised from the dead. 146 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,240 They didn't want anybody to know that. 147 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:49,520 And so they came up with a scheme. 148 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:53,720 And the scheme was to have fake grave robbers. 149 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:57,120 Fake grave robbers. You heard of fake news? 150 00:09:57,880 --> 00:09:59,680 It was fake grave robbers, right? 151 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,720 Matthew 2811 says. Now while they were going, 152 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,960 behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to 153 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:09,960 the chief priests all the things that had happened. 154 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,000 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted 155 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:17,720 together, it says they gave a large sum of money to the 156 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,440 soldier, saying, tell them his disciples came at night and 157 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,840 stole him away while we slept. And if this comes through the 158 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,240 governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure. 159 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,080 So they took the money and did as they were instructed. 160 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:37,760 And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until 161 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:41,280 this day. So we see a picture here of a 162 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:46,760 scheme that says, let's pretend, let's make up a story that he 163 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,120 isn't really resurrected and raised from the dead. 164 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,000 We couldn't kill him all his life. 165 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,400 But then when he did offer his life and was crucified, he would 166 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,160 have to come back to life. And now he's living again. 167 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:58,920 And we don't want anybody to know that. 168 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:03,880 So you want to tell those people that are asking you that His 169 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,840 disciples came during the night and stole him away? 170 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:13,480 Grave robbers. How many of you know who Charlie 171 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,680 Chaplin was? Charlie Chaplin. 172 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:21,880 Now you're dating yourself. Charlie Chaplin was a * in 173 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:24,920 silent movies. You've possibly seen reels or 174 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:27,880 something of him. Charlie Chaplin was back when 175 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:32,040 there was there was no voice. It was he was a star in those 176 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:38,200 movies. Well, in 1978 his body was 177 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:45,120 stolen by a grave robber. He died and was buried in 178 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:50,000 Corsair Survey, Switzerland. And about two months after his 179 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,040 death, two men conspired together and said we're going to 180 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,400 steal his body. And so they went and they dug up 181 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,840 his body, casket, everything, and took it away. 182 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:06,320 And so when people came out to visit the grave, it was open and 183 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:11,560 he was gone. And those same two men tried to 184 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:17,240 extort 600,000 Swiss francs as ransom from his widow. 185 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:22,680 So they said we've got your dead husband and for 600,000 German 186 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:26,400 francs we'll give him back. Well, these two men were caught 187 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:30,160 and they did were sentenced. They were found guilty and were 188 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,040 sentenced. But the the story ends to that. 189 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:39,480 To prevent future thefts, his body was reburied under a layer 190 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,800 of reinforced concrete. In other words, we're not going 191 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,600 to let him be stolen again. You imagine somebody stealing a 192 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:50,720 body and then trying to extort money out of a widow because 193 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,640 you've got the body of a, of a dead person. 194 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:55,640 You've got that body, that corpse. 195 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:57,960 And so when they got it back, they said, no, what? 196 00:12:57,960 --> 00:12:59,600 This is not going to happen anymore. 197 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:03,680 And so they buried it under reinforced concrete, come to 198 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:07,600 think of it. And there's a story in our news 199 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,120 in the last few months of a man in Lancaster County who's been 200 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:15,520 accused of grave robbing. It happened at Mount Moriah 201 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:21,520 Cemetery in Philadelphia, and he is accused of stealing 100 or 202 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:26,240 more skeletons. Body parts were sold on the 203 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:30,400 Internet. They found Crips and mausoleums 204 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:35,800 opened and bodies gone, some from long ago. 205 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:40,440 And that man is waiting trial, as I understand it right now, 206 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:44,880 and has been charged with I think over 100 different crimes. 207 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:50,480 Well, this story is different because the tomb was empty, not 208 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:55,000 because of grave robbers, but because of the resurrection. 209 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,000 I said not because somebody stole his body, not because 210 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:04,920 somebody wanted to get his body and sell it, but he was gone. 211 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:09,240 He was raised from the dead by the Father in heaven and he is 212 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,760 alive today. How many believe that for the 213 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:17,920 glory of God? I read, I heard a story. 214 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,240 I should say I heard a pastor tell a story. 215 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,040 So I'm going to leave it at that and just tell you I'm sure it's 216 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:26,040 a story, OK? I'm pretty sure it's a story, 217 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:31,360 but the story goes that a man wanted, a married man, wanted to 218 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,880 take his wife and his mother-in-law to the Holy Land 219 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,360 during Easter season. And so he did. 220 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:43,560 And the problem with it was that his mother-in-law hated him. 221 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:46,720 His mother-in-law never thought he was good enough for her 222 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,080 daughter. His mother-in-law was always 223 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,480 angry and always mad at him. But he said, I'm going to be the 224 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,760 the good son-in-law and I'm taking her to the Holy Land. 225 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,800 And he did. But while he was there, she 226 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:05,840 suddenly got sick and she died. She died. 227 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:07,800 And the man is like, what do I do? 228 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:11,600 I'm here in Israel. I'm in the Holy Land and my 229 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,680 mother-in-law just died. She went to funeral director and 230 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:16,760 said, what can I do? And the funeral director said, 231 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,400 well, very simple. He said, we can bury your 232 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:24,360 mother-in-law here in the Holy Land for $500. 233 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:30,320 Or if you wish we could, we could send her back to the 234 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:34,000 state, ship her back. It would cost you $5000. 235 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,080 And he said, well, I need to think about that. 236 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,440 So he thought a little bit and he said to the funeral director, 237 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:43,240 he said, I tell you what. He said I think I'm going to 238 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:48,720 take your offer to send her body back to the US And the funeral 239 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:50,320 director said, why would you do that? 240 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:54,640 This is the land of the Bible that for $500 you could bury her 241 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:56,920 right here. Why would you spend $5000? 242 00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:59,040 He said. Well if I remember correctly, 243 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:04,040 there was a man that died here 2000 years ago and they buried 244 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:07,720 him and three days later he came to life again. 245 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:10,760 I can't afford to take that chance. 246 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:29,040 All the mother-in-law say Amen. I can tell you that Christ was 247 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,280 not reburied because he didn't die again. 248 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,760 I can tell you that Jesus is alive today, Amen. 249 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,960 And I can tell you that he will never die again. 250 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:44,360 The Bible says in Hebrews 724 But he because he continues 251 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:48,200 forever as an has an unchangeable priesthood. 252 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,520 Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost those who 253 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:57,200 come to God through him, since He always, he always lives not 254 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:01,360 just Easter Sunday, not just a resurrection day, but Christ is 255 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:05,800 alive and always alive to make intercession for them. 256 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:10,240 Paul said in First Corinthians 1534, I delivered to you first 257 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:13,720 of all that which also I received, that Christ died for 258 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,520 our sins according to the Scripture, that he was buried 259 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:20,880 and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures 260 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:25,760 up from the grave He arose, as the old song says, lo, in the 261 00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:29,680 from the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior waiting the coming day, 262 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:34,360 Jesus my Lord up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph 263 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:37,920 or his foes. He arose a victor over the dark 264 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:42,040 domain, and he lives forever with his Saints to reign. 265 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,440 He arose, Hallelujah, Christ arose. 266 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:55,000 There are some notable people in history that have died, but they 267 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:00,640 never rose from the dead. When I think about it, Abraham, 268 00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:04,160 who's introduced to us in the book of Genesis, and he's the 269 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:08,840 father of the faithful, the father of Judaism, but he died, 270 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:14,400 He was buried in The Cave of Mcpeel in Hebron, and he never 271 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,320 rose again. Isaac and Jacob who followed 272 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:21,200 him, they died and never rose again. 273 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,560 I think of Jacob's son though Joseph. 274 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,880 This is very, I think, very interesting. 275 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,280 I hope you find it that way if you have never thought about it. 276 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:33,760 But Joseph had a a lengthy time between his death and final 277 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,960 burial. The Bible tells us that before 278 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:40,880 he died, if you remember, Joseph went down into Egypt. 279 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:45,240 If you remember, God spared all of Jacob's sons and the family 280 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,160 and actually all of Israel. He saved all of Israel because 281 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,960 Joseph went down into Egypt as a as a slave, became a prisoner, 282 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,520 became Prime Minister and he rescued the nation and he died 283 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,920 there. But before he died, it says in 284 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:03,640 Genesis 5024, Joseph said to his brethren, I am dying, but God 285 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:07,040 will surely visit you and bring you out of this land to the land 286 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,640 of which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. 287 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,160 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel saying, 288 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:17,960 God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones. 289 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,320 You shall. So Joseph died being 110 years 290 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:27,640 old, and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. 291 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:30,760 But he said my bones aren't staying here. 292 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:36,040 Hundreds of years later, hundreds of years later, we read 293 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,280 an Exodus 1319. This is when the Passover took 294 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,880 place, and Moses took the bones of Joseph with it. 295 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,120 He took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the 296 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:50,320 children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, God will surely 297 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,360 visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here with you. 298 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:56,960 Get this. This man about 400 years earlier 299 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:58,960 died. Before he died, he said, you 300 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,840 don't leave my bones here. I'm not made for this. 301 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,120 You take me back to the Promised Land. 302 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:09,800 That's where I want to go. And about 400 years later, the 303 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,360 Passover takes place and Moses help. 304 00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:15,640 We got to take Joseph with us. Joseph's been dead for hundreds 305 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,720 of years, but they got his embalmed body and they took him 306 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:22,480 with him and they had another 40 years out there in the 307 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:24,080 wilderness. You know all about that. 308 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:28,880 And we get over to Joshua 2432. It says the bones of Joseph 309 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,600 which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt. 310 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:35,080 They buried it. Shechem in the plot of ground 311 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,680 with Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of 312 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:42,080 Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver when which had become an 313 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,680 inheritance of the children of Israel. 314 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:49,000 So we are following on. One man dies and hundreds of 315 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,000 years later they're carrying his bones for another 40 years 316 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,880 through the wilderness. And now in the promised land, 317 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:00,240 Joshua says, hey, we made a promise to this guy that he gets 318 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:02,480 buried here. And so they buried him in 319 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,920 Shechem. Talk about a God of detail. 320 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:10,000 Joseph said, I don't want to be here. 321 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,680 This world's not my home, right? He said, I'm dead, but don't, 322 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:16,600 don't, don't leave my bones even here. 323 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,240 You know, I there's a nice story I want to tell you real quickly. 324 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:25,240 True story that happened right in our vicinity. 325 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,360 I was really intrigued. Sister Karen was telling me, 326 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:31,160 probably, I don't know, a year and a half ago maybe she started 327 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:35,440 telling me this story, which I knew part of it, but this part 328 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,200 was brand new, she was telling me. 329 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,280 And for all of you that are related to the Justice family, 330 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:43,720 as it would be certainly yours to tell as well. 331 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,520 And that is not too long before I came here to pastor one of the 332 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,960 members of of the extended family. 333 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,360 One of the family members, a young man probably in his middle 334 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:59,160 20s or so, died of an undiagnosed illness rather 335 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:05,200 suddenly, Didn't know he had it. And anyway he had they had a 336 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:12,880 funeral for him in in Tennessee and they brought his body here 337 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,000 and it was buried in a cemetery out here. 338 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:20,080 And I've, I've heard the story fine young man, love the Lord 339 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,000 all, all the things and about that. 340 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,440 But this story then takes A twist because about a year and a 341 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:31,120 half ago, she's telling me that the families decided to move his 342 00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:36,240 body to Tennessee. Now, it came from Tennessee. 343 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:38,280 They had a funeral in Tennessee and came here for the 344 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,600 internment. They decided that they wanted 345 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:45,320 him because he had his father lived in Delaware and anyway, 346 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:47,720 there was a reason for him coming here. 347 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,760 But almost 50 years later, they said it's he ought to be with 348 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:57,680 the family, family plot here. So about a year, maybe a year 349 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:02,680 ago or so, this grave was dug up and the casket and vault was 350 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,000 removed. And they took his body to 351 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:10,400 Tennessee where the family could kind of tend the grave. 352 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:13,880 That's kind of a remarkable story, right? 353 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,200 I mean it, you might say what would, But they did that that 354 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,520 because it's just the way the family operated. 355 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,000 And I was intrigued by this story. 356 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,920 And it doesn't end there because he had a tombstone and the 357 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:31,760 tombstone was repurposed and it's now sitting on the grave 358 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:35,000 with Bob and Louis Justice's name on the tombstone. 359 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,720 So I'm thinking to myself, if somebody came to that cemetery 360 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:44,560 for years and they saw this young man's tombstone and they 361 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,760 come out there one day and the things dug up and, and the 362 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,880 tombstone sitting over here on Bob and Lois with their names on 363 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,000 it. They not only stole his body, 364 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:58,320 they even stole his tombstone. But here's what I do know as a 365 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,360 believer. Doesn't matter where his body is 366 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,960 absent from the body present with the Lord. 367 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:06,960 But I can tell you this whether it's in whether it's in Stevens, 368 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,480 Reemstown, Pennsylvania or Cleveland, TN God knows where 369 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,320 the body is. So when the day comes at the 370 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,520 trumpet sounds and the dead in Christ rise, it won't matter 371 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:18,760 whether it's from Tennessee or Pennsylvania. 372 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,440 Thank God there is a resurrection. 373 00:24:27,230 --> 00:24:29,990 Buddha lived 500 years before the time of Jesus. 374 00:24:30,310 --> 00:24:31,790 He was a teacher and a philosopher. 375 00:24:31,790 --> 00:24:35,230 He died, he was cremated. His ashes were taken off 376 00:24:35,430 --> 00:24:38,510 everywhere. But there is a place in Sri 377 00:24:38,510 --> 00:24:42,750 Lanka called the Temple of the Tooth, and they claim that there 378 00:24:42,750 --> 00:24:47,280 is one tooth remaining of his body. 379 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,240 That's all that. And it's a it's a sacred place 380 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,600 to them. And that was Buddha's final, 381 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:56,240 final resting place, shall we say. 382 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,280 But I can tell you this Buddha never rose from the dead. 383 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:08,280 Confucius of China, who is a great philosopher, is dead. 384 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:13,000 He died 500 years before Christ. He was buried in China, 385 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:18,520 thousands of his descendants buried along with him over the 386 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,400 years. But Confucius has not risen 387 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,240 either. I want you to also know that 388 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:29,160 Muhammad lived 600 years after Jesus, and he was buried in a 389 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:33,560 mosque in Medina, but he has not risen either. 390 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:38,520 And then there is Lenin, the the one who was the architect of 391 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:42,560 communism. He died in 1924, and his body is 392 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:48,120 on display in a glass crypt that is climate controlled. 393 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:51,360 You could see his body and there's a sign there that says 394 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,160 it says here lies linen. Can I tell you that he has not 395 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,640 risen either? But the one that we're talking 396 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,320 about today, the one that we're singing about today, the one 397 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:05,160 that we're preaching about today, when you go to his tomb 398 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:09,720 in Jerusalem, it's empty today. It's empty because he's alive. 399 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,520 He's risen. He is not here. 400 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:20,080 Hallelujah, Hallelujah. This is an exciting story. 401 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,400 Christ is alive, Romans 64, Paul said. 402 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,160 Therefore, we are buried with him, We're buried with him 403 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,840 through baptism into death. That just as Christ was raised 404 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:36,400 from the dead by the glory of the Father over, Even so we also 405 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:40,360 now, right now are walking in newness of life. 406 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,080 Thank God. I may not have a new body right 407 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:46,360 now, but I got a new life. And that new life is in Jesus 408 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:50,440 Christ our Lord and Savior. Can you say Amen and praise the 409 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:51,760 Lord? Hallelujah. 410 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,960 So we know that Christ is alive. We know that he is the living 411 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,120 God. Remember that I said earlier in 412 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:04,240 this message that Jesus was comparable or comparable to the 413 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:08,880 sun, even though the SUN is dimmer, shall we say, than 414 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,960 Jesus? The Bible says in second Peter 415 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,360 119. And so we have the prophetic 416 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:20,680 word confirm, which you do well to heed as a light that shines 417 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,720 in the dark place until the day dawns. 418 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,000 And the morning star, there's a different one. 419 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,880 The morning star rises in your heart. 420 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:35,560 The morning star in the Bible is a symbol of Jesus Christ, the 421 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:40,000 light of the world who brought the hope of salvation and that 422 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,480 sovereign Lord that controls all of creation. 423 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:45,840 He is the bright and morning star. 424 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:49,840 In fact, Jesus says it himself in Revelation 2216. 425 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:55,000 I, Jesus, have sent my Angel to testify to you these things in 426 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,880 the churches. I am the root and the offspring 427 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,680 of David, the bright and the morning star. 428 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,080 It's the star that outshines all others. 429 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,280 I said. It is the bright star, the 430 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:11,880 morning star, the day star. It is the star that shines and 431 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:17,120 will never, never go out. Think about it. 432 00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:23,760 As I said earlier, our sun in our solar system is a star. 433 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:30,440 It's almost a perfect ball of hot plasma located at the center 434 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,360 of our solar system, and it provides a lot. 435 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:38,480 It provides the energy for us. The sun is very important to us, 436 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:43,800 but I tell you that Jesus is the most powerful source of light. 437 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:46,440 We couldn't live without him, Amen. 438 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,120 He's the brightest light in all of the universe. 439 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:54,080 In fact, he's so bright that the Bible talks about when the New 440 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:58,880 Jerusalem comes down, it tells us in Revelation 2123, the city 441 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:04,280 had no need of the sun. So if it burns out, it burns 442 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:07,040 out, right? It didn't need the sun anyway. 443 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,880 It doesn't even need the moon for the glory. 444 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:16,480 I said the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is 445 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:18,960 it's light. Amen. 446 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:21,240 Don't worry, I'm almost finished. 447 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:23,840 Although we don't have church tonight, I guess I could preach 448 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,960 to another sermon right now. Not going to do it. 449 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:28,680 I'm not going to do it, but thank you anyway. 450 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:31,160 Jay, you get me in trouble, but then you're going to have to 451 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:34,040 bail me out. But I want to tell you though, 452 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,040 he is the light and I want to close though with a thought, I'm 453 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:39,600 going to ask the musicians, the worship team to come back around 454 00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:48,080 because there's something that I, I heard that just I never 455 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,920 heard anybody say this before. I don't know how many familiar 456 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:57,560 at all with the name Ronnie Henson, but Ron Henson wrote a 457 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,640 number of songs and it was a part of the Henson family. 458 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:06,320 My wife and I actually went to a singing back in the 70s in Goose 459 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:10,960 Creek, SC and we heard them and they were just a fireball young 460 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,640 group. But he wrote a song back during 461 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,040 that time called The Lighthouse. It's been sung here before, I'm 462 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:22,000 quite sure. But it says in part, there's a 463 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:27,040 lighthouse on a hillside that overlooks life C And when I'm 464 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:31,240 tossed, it sends out a light that I might see. 465 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:36,080 And the light that shines in darkness now will safely lead me 466 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,880 home. If it wasn't for the lighthouse, 467 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:44,640 my ship would sail no more. And the course says, and I thank 468 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,440 God for the lighthouse. I owe my life to him. 469 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:55,280 Jesus is the lighthouse. And from the rocks of sin he has 470 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:58,800 shown his light around me that I might clearly see. 471 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,040 If it wasn't for the lighthouse, tell me, where would this ship 472 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,360 be? And I heard Ron Henson say this. 473 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:14,400 He's the writer of the song, and he described the night after the 474 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:19,000 crucifixion of Jesus. And he talked about when the 475 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,960 disciples, it sunk in that Jesus was really dead. 476 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:27,280 They had a hard time believing that, as you know, all along, 477 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:30,360 Jesus was telling them he's going to die and he's going to 478 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:32,080 go to Calvary, told them the whole thing. 479 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:33,680 And they had such a hard time with it. 480 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:39,000 But he said that night after the crucifixion, it must have seemed 481 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,080 like the darkest night in history. 482 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,440 And he said those, these words, it's like an ocean with no 483 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:51,360 shore, no hope of ever finding safety. 484 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:54,840 And that's, I don't know why, but that just stuck out. 485 00:31:54,960 --> 00:32:02,640 An ocean with no shore, no hope of ever finding safety. 486 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:08,000 I can't even begin to. If you've been on a cruise 487 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,520 somewhere, you probably know that if you can get out, 488 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,400 obviously you do get out in the ocean where you don't see any 489 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:19,040 land anywhere, but you do know that there is land and there's a 490 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:23,640 shore and that's your destiny. But he said for those disciples 491 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:27,680 that night, it was like there was an ocean with no shore. 492 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,360 And in my mind, I just got to thinking about being on a ship, 493 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:39,560 storm tossed, and there's no shore, no matter how far you 494 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,560 travel, no hope of ever finding land. 495 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:49,080 But he said some still hung on. And then we know what happened. 496 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:53,720 On Sunday morning, the lighthouse began to shine. 497 00:32:55,400 --> 00:33:01,960 And hope came back to the world The night after Jesus died. 498 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,240 And while he was in that tomb, it was dark. 499 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:09,840 It was very dark. And it seemed like all hope was 500 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:13,160 gone. And I think his description was 501 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:18,120 really perfect. And there are people today that 502 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:22,240 still don't know there's a shore, There's people and could 503 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:27,720 be even sitting in here, people who are in a troubled sea and 504 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,840 you've run out of hope because you don't think there's anywhere 505 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:33,880 you can land safely. There's no shore. 506 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:40,040 But I'm here to tell you that hope has come when Jesus was 507 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,160 raised from the dead, no matter how far you were out on Live 508 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:45,560 Sea. And you may not be able to see a 509 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:50,040 shore anywhere on the horizon, anywhere you look, but I assure 510 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:54,320 you there is a shore and there is a lighthouse. 511 00:33:55,440 --> 00:34:01,040 And that gives us hope. And by the way, hope has a name. 512 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:07,480 I said Hope has a name, and that name is Jesus. 513 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,880 Thanks for joining us today. If you'd like to connect, visit 514 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,159 us at Reams Town churchofgod.org, follow us on 515 00:34:14,159 --> 00:34:17,639 Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to this podcast so you 516 00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:18,880 never miss an episode.