Easter Message

00:00 Lord is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. 00:05 And we think this morning of the resurrection, and one of the scriptures that goes along with the resurrection is found in Ephesians 1, where it talks about the glory of God and the riches of His inheritance, the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, 00:26 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 00:45 And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. And so this morning, the resurrection, that event in time that happened approximately 2,000 years ago, give or take a few years, 01:06 that event has eternal, everlasting implications for us today and has exalted Christ and extended His reach to the heaven of heavens and to the earth below. And so it's Him that we worship this morning. 01:24 Welcome to those of you that are here in this sparse audience at the Living Water Church. And to those who are viewing via Facebook Live, we welcome you to worship with us. Amen. Hallelujah. Christ arose from the dead. He arose a victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with His saints to reign. 01:46 Well, for those of you that are just tuning in, welcome to Living Water Church in Goshen, Indiana. We're glad for the presence of each one. We see people signing in from different parts of the country even, and certainly different parts of the county and the area here. For our home folks, I'd like to just make a mention of a few things that you'll find in your bulletins. 02:06 There's not much in the bulletins because there's not many announcements because there's not very many events, as is understandable. But the message this morning I'll be sharing from Matthew 28. And you can continue to bring your tithes and offerings to the church and drop them off in Aaron Stalspice's mailbox, 02:28 or you can mail them directly to him and keep the church functioning financially as the Lord has enabled you. And then Leroy and Betty have a new address on County Road 20. And so that address is in the bulletin as well. 02:45 Friendship Club also is canceled for the rest of April and the rest of the year. 02:51 And so remember that and remember our young friends who've been coming through the year to Friendship Club and their families at this time in our nation's history and in our community that God would make Himself real to them. Happy anniversary today to Marvin Margaret, 45 years. 03:11 Congratulations, Marvin Margaret. And may the Lord give you many, many more. If you want to turn in your copies of the scriptures now, we'll turn our attention to the scriptures. I'd like to read Matthew 28 for our scripture reading. It'll also be our text for the morning message. Now, 03:31 after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, 03:52 and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen as He said, 04:12 'Come, see the place where the Lord lay.' And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead. And indeed, He is going before you into Galilee. There you will see Him. 04:27 Behold, I have told you." So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring His disciples' word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice." So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 04:46 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee. And there they will see Me." And while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 05:07 saying, "Tell them, His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease Him and make you secure." So they took the money and did as they were instructed. And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. 05:30 Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped, but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, 05:51 baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen." Emily has a reading for us this morning. 06:11 Sister Emily, would you come and share that with us at this time? 06:18 Resurrection by Homer F. Morris. "They crucified my Lord and laid Him in a tomb. Now lies the Son of God in death's sable gloom. The man of grief and toil there in silence lies. Death has within its coil God of earth and skies. But behold, there was an earthquake. 06:40 For from heaven there came an angel with countenance like lightning and a raiment white as snow. When at dawn came Mary Magdalene, 'Twas the angel's voice that said, 'Lo, He is not here, but risen. Christ is risen from the dead. He who for the world's salvation bled now is risen, 07:02 risen from the dead. Glory, honor we will ever sing. Praise to our risen, risen King. Hallelujah sing with hearts to heaven and voices raised. Ever shout ye ransom ones, for you His blood was shed. Sing a hymn of gladness. Sing to God a hymn of praise. 07:23 Christ the Lord is risen. Indeed, He is risen from the dead." 07:42 O the death and the riches of God's saving grace, low we down from the cross for me. There the death for my sins by the Savior was paid in His suffering on Calvary. 08:06 O the riches and death of such wonderful love, low we bow thus and full and free. And the death on the cross for my sins was paid in His suffering on Calvary. 08:29 How my heart humbly bows in His presence today when I think of His agony. By His stripes I am free from the bondage of sin through His suffering on Calvary. 08:52 O the riches and death of such wonderful love, low we bow thus and full and free. And the death on the cross for my sins was paid in His suffering on Calvary. 09:16 O what marvelous mercy, what infinite love, what immeasurable grace I seek. By His blood I am cleansed, I am happy and free through His suffering on Calvary. 09:39 O the riches and death of such wonderful love, low we bow thus and full and free. And the death on the cross for my sins was paid in His suffering on Calvary. 10:10 Lift your glad voices in triumph on high, for Jesus hath risen and man shall not die. 10:24 Vain were the terrors that gathered around Him and shore the dominion of death and the grave. He burst from the fetters of darkness, 10:45 hath bound Him resplendent in glory to live and to save. 10:54 Loud was the chorus of angels on high, the Savior hath risen and man shall not die. 11:11 Glory to God in full anthems of joy. The being He gave us hath cannot destroy. Sad were the life we may part with tomorrow. 11:32 If tears were our birth, right and death were our end. But Jesus hath cheered the dark valley of sorrow and made us immortal. 11:53 To heaven ascend. 11:58 Live then your voices in triumph on high, for Jesus hath risen and man shall not die. 12:21 At this time, before Pastor Todd comes, we'd like to have a word of prayer. 12:28 Dear God, we thank You that we have a reason to lift our voices this morning, not just this morning, but every day, but especially today. We thank You for Easter and life. We thank You that Jesus died to take away our sins, to cleanse us, and to make us whole. 12:44 And God, I just thank You so much that we can look forward to living with You in eternity one day, no matter what this world holds and the troubles that we're going through at this time. God, we know we can trust You, that You hold us and You hold eternity in Your hand. This morning, as Pastor Todd preaches, I just pray that You would bring him Your words to speak, 13:06 that You give him boldness in these different circumstances just to preach Your word, to bring Your truth. And I pray for each one who's listening this morning that Your word would work in our hearts and that we would know more of You through this Easter time. Pray this all in the precious name of Jesus. Amen. 13:25 Amen. Thank you, brother. 13:29 Lift then your voices in triumph on high, for Jesus hath risen and man shall not die. Reminds me of an illustration I actually have in my notes for this message this morning. There was a British minister by the name of W.E. 13:43 Sangster who began to notice some uneasiness in his throat and a limp with his leg and was diagnosed with a disease that would later take his muscles away, would cause his muscles to waste away and his voice to fail and his throat to be unable to swallow. And as the disease progressed, 14:02 he asked the Lord that He could throw himself into His work and into ministry. And he began to lead a ministry of prayer. And he said, "Let me stay in the struggle, Lord," he plead. "I don't mind if I can no longer be a general, but give me a regiment to lead." And the Lord did that for a few years. 14:22 He wrote articles and books and helped organize prayer cells throughout England. And he said, "I'm only in the kindergarten of suffering," he told people who pitied him. He kept his faith to the end. And gradually his legs became useless and his voice went completely and he could no longer only hold a pen shakily. 14:42 And he wrote a letter to his daughter and said something like this, "It is terrible to wake on Easter morning and have no voice to shout He has risen. But it would still be more terrible to have a voice and not want to shout." So lift your glad voices in triumph on high. 15:03 The Savior has risen and man shall not die. What would be really tragic is to have a voice and be shouting but have nothing positive to shout about, to have no Savior to shout Hallelujah to and no resurrection. 15:19 As the translation of the Bible or the edition of the Bible that Thomas Jefferson published years ago, Thomas Jefferson was a deist and didn't believe in the resurrection or in miracles. But he believed that Jesus was a great teacher. And his last words of the Thomas Jefferson edition of the Gospel was, 15:39 "And they put Him in the grave and sealed the grave." And that was where it ended. And that was what Thomas Jefferson thought about Jesus, the Messiah. But our Bible goes on to say the truth, that He has risen as He said. And it is a great privilege this morning to preach the Gospel on Resurrection morning. 15:59 Great privilege. Nothing I'd rather be doing this morning than to preach Jesus on Resurrection morning, to proclaim He who is and who was and who is to come. The Almighty, the book of Revelation says. He is. He was. He is to come. 16:16 It also says He is the one who lives and was dead and is alive forevermore. It doesn't say He lived. It says He lives and was dead and is alive forevermore. Someone has said that Easter is to our faith what water is to the ocean. 16:37 You take the water out of the ocean, you have no ocean. You take Easter out of the Christian faith, you have no Christian faith. You have no faith. It is what a stone is to the mountain and what blood is to your body. It is the unique substance of redemptive reality. It is the first and final word in the dictionary of God. 16:57 It says that Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. And I want you to turn your attention this morning to Matthew chapter 28. Look specifically at about verses five through eight with this outline that we see in this passage of Scripture, 17:16 the crisis, the announcement, the invitation, the commission, and the confirmation. The crisis, the announcement, the invitation, the commission, and the confirmation. In verse five, we see the crisis. 17:37 "The angel answered and said unto them, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.'" And we're familiar with the account of the events that led up to the Resurrection morning and how that all hope looked to be lost. 17:52 But God begins almost every move of God and every move toward God with some sort of a crisis. That's what it takes to get our attention. That's what it takes for newness of life to exist is that there was death. As that seed falls into the ground and dies, 18:13 then comes new life and ultimately a harvest. 18:16 And so this morning, out of crisis comes a hope of the resurrection, out of the crisis of their crucifixion, out of the crisis of their fear, out of the crisis of their sense of need and dread and fear of the future and fear of the unknown and fear that they would never see the Lord again and fear that maybe His promises were not true. 18:36 And out of that comes the hope of the resurrection. But embrace the crisis this morning as that opportunity for God to bring forth hope. It may be the crisis of conviction of sin. 18:51 That's how we all come to Christ, is out of the conviction of the sin and the crisis of sinfulness and undone and unworthiness that brings us to the cross. And then ultimately, the Lord stretches forth His hand and lays His hand on our lives and brings forth newness of life. There's a lack of something in our life. 19:12 By the way, Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Those who recognize the crisis, a crisis of faith, a crisis in the heart, a crisis of discipline, a crisis of correction, a life of pain. Maybe some are experiencing addictions or brokenness of various things, 19:31 brokenness of relationships, brokenness of finances, brokenness of health. And out of that crisis, God wants to show Himself strong. And so that brings us then to the announcement, verse six, probably and possibly the greatest announcement ever heard by human ears. 19:51 The greatest announcement ever heard by human ears, "He is not here." Now, that would be kind of discouraging in itself because Mary Magdalene got that first part real good. She said, "Lord, where the gardener, she said, 'Where have you taken my Lord?' They've taken His body and I don't know where they put Him." But you got to listen to the rest of that announcement. 20:11 "He is not here, for He is risen as He said." He has risen. And so we go from crisis to announcement that there is good news, good news of the Gospel. 20:24 The sorrow and sadness of broken dreams and dashed hopes find their fulfillment and their culmination in this announcement that He has risen from the dead. The sadness of hearing that He is not here contrasted with the cry that He is risen. The announcement of His birth was wonderful. 20:46 How wonderful it was just in December to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ as we do every year. That announcement was wonderful. But how sad to have a Savior that dies and is no more. How disappointing to have a version of Christianity such as Thomas Jefferson had. 21:05 But to the one who lives and was dead and is alive forevermore, that's shouting territory. That is hope. 21:13 You see, anybody can be born, anybody can live, anybody can die, but only God's Son can be raised from the dead and all those subsequently whom He resurrects as He has been resurrected. 21:29 Oh, yes, there were a few people that were resuscitated from the dead in the Old Testament by the power of God and 21:36 even in the Gospels and some in the book of Acts. They were resuscitated, but they were not resurrected. The resurrection is yet to happen, the resurrection of the dead. So we have that announcement that He is not here, but He is risen as He said. Then we move to the invitation. 21:56 The invitation is open to those disciples and those ladies who were early at the tomb, and it's open to us as well. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Had the privilege five years ago to see the place where the Lord lay. They believe it was the place in the garden tomb where Jesus was laid in a borrowed tomb. 22:16 Probably the only person that was ever laid there because it was new, newly hewn out of the rock when Jesus used it. And subsequent to His resurrection, I doubt if anyone ever used it after that. 22:28 In fact, I read somewhere that in 1855, I think it was, was when a person discovered the garden tomb through archaeological digging and so on. It's a different place than what the church had originally thought it was, where the church of the seplica, open seplica is. 22:48 It's outside the city walls. And it's my understanding that they took the dirt from that site of excavation and they found this tomb, but they found no evidence of any human remains in that tomb as they did scientific testing. 23:04 And probably the only one who ever used that tomb was the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see Him saying, like Jesus gave it to His disciples in John chapter one. They said, "Lord, where are You staying?" And He said, "Come and see. Come and see. Investigate. 23:20 Come with me." Jesus also then went to those disciples at their fishing nets down by the Sea of Galilee and said, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." The Samaritan woman issued the invitation to come, 23:36 "Come and see a man which told me every thing that I've ever done and led men to Jesus Christ." And Jesus also said, "Come unto me, all you that labor inner heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Jesus said to Peter, an unusual thing, "Come to me on the water." In response to Peter's faith, "Come and walk on the water." Jesus said, 23:58 "Come ye blessed of my Father. He will say one day, 'Come ye blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'" The end of the book, the end of the book of Revelation, the end of the Scriptures says, "Come ye blessed of my Father." Excuse me. "Let him come to me. Come." The spirit and the bride say, 24:18 "Come." Let him that is a thirst say, "Come." Let him that will, anyone that will come and drink of the water of life freely. Jesus said, "Let him come to me if any man thirst. Let him come to me and drink." And then that beautiful invitation, one of the warmest passages of Scripture that I know of recorded in the life of Jesus, 24:40 at least it's warm to me, was when Jesus was with His disciples on the shore of Galilee after His resurrection. And He made that breakfast for the disciples who had gone fishing that morning. And He said, "Come and eat. Come and dine with me." What a beautiful invitation. 25:01 "Go ahead. Take a look," He says. "Take a look at this open tomb. There's nothing to hide here. Take a look at what Jesus has to offer. It's available for all." You see, there are those religions and lodges and secret religions that say you have to be one of the select few in order to get good information. 25:23 No, Jesus said information is available to all. It's all in the open. It's all able to be seen or not seen in this case and investigated. God is not at all intimidated by those who would scrutinize our faith. He's not at all intimidated with that because our faith is credible. 25:44 He's not intimidated by those who are curious looking on and investigating. In fact, there are many who through the years have tried to disprove the resurrection account who have ended up coming to faith in Jesus Christ. As they look at the evidence, their hearts have been warmed and changed, and they have come to faith. 26:04 Then we move from that into the commission. The angel said, "Indeed, He is going before you into Galilee. There you will see Him. Behold, I have told you." Whoops, I missed that commission there in the first part of verse seven. "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead. 26:24 Go quickly." He said, "Come, see, go, tell." "Come and see, go and tell." Maybe that ought to be on the doors of our church, on the inside, "Come and see," and on the outside, "Come and see." On the inside, as you go out, 26:39 "Go and tell." He said, "Go and tell. Share the story. Share the story. Tell the news." Now, I hesitate to share this account yet, but I'm going to because I don't think the Lord lets it happen just for any just for no reason at all. 27:00 But I don't want you to think I'm not practicing social distancing. But when it comes to ministry, I think the social distance thing needs to be tempered with a little bit of ministry opportunities. And so I was on my way back from the office at Gospel Echoes the other day, 27:20 and I was just driving through a housing development there that I wanted to look at a particular house that had come on the market. And I wasn't going to get out, but just driving through. And on my way out of that street, there was a man pushing a moped and looked like maybe he needed some help. 27:40 And so I rolled my window down and I says, "Do you need something?" Well, I couldn't hardly understand him. He had no front teeth. It was very difficult for him to communicate. And he was cold, and he had his blanket there, and he had a battery pack trying to charge a moped battery. And then he was pushing it down to the gas station, 28:01 which was probably about a quarter of a mile away or half a mile. And so the Lord laid on my heart, "You need to help this man." And so I went out and I got some jumper cables and jumped his little moped there after a chain of events I won't go into. But followed him to the gas station then so that he could for sure get to the gas station, get the gas he needed. 28:21 And I was thinking, "How, Lord, can I give a word for you on Easter weekend?" And so just we didn't have much opportunity. We didn't get too close to each other in this time of social distancing. But nevertheless, I said, "Now, if you want to give thanks to anybody for what he was thanking me," I said, 28:39 "You're my angel." I said, "No, if you want to give thanks to anybody, it's Easter weekend. Give thanks to Jesus Christ who rose from the dead." And so tell, tell, go, tell. Come, see, go, tell. Go tell like those lepers in Second Kings chapter seven. 28:58 You remember the account in Second Kings chapter seven? Children, if you're watching, you might want to have your mom or dad read that to you today. It's a fascinating story, a fascinating account of some lepers who were living outside the city of Samaria when it was under siege by the Syrians. The Syrians had blocked it off, 29:18 had put a blockade around it, and had trapped everybody in the city and not able to come and go except for these lepers who no one wanted anything to do with. And they were dying. They were dying in the city from starvation. In fact, they were actually eating people because they were so hungry. 29:39 And it was a terrible, terrible time in the city of Samaria with the king not knowing what to do. And these lepers decided, "You know what? If we go into the city, we're going to die. If we stay here, we're going to die. And likely if we go over to the Syrian camp, 29:57 we'll probably die." But there's a chance if you go into the city, there's no food. If you stay here, there's no food. If you go to the Syrians, they might have something to eat. And so they went to the Syrian camp. And lo and behold, God had moved in such a way that the Syrian army had heard an approaching army. 30:18 God did a miracle. Had heard an approaching army and had fled their camp, had left their horses, their donkeys, their food, their clothing, everything. Their spears were lined along the path that they had gone fleeing out of the camp. And here are these lepers. 30:38 They were having a great time. They were eating and drinking. 30:45 They were eating and drinking and gathering clothes and gold and silver and took the gold and silver and hid it. And they were hoarders, like some people today. Hoard that teepee, hoard that fresh water and the bottled water or whatever. 30:59 And they went back for some more, and they ate and drank in another tent and got some more food and clothes and silver and gold. And all of a sudden, they stopped and said, "Wait a minute. 31:11 This is not right." In fact, their words were recorded in Scripture, "We are not doing right." What was wrong with that? I mean, they were just getting theirs. "This is a day of good news, and we remain silent." Sounds like what we need to do with the resurrection. 31:34 "This is a day of good news, and yet many of us remain silent." No, go and tell. Don't remain silent. 31:46 And then we come to verse nine, the confirmation, also in verse seven. He said, "Go quickly. Tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead. And indeed, He is going before you into Galilee. There you will see Him. You will see Him." That's the confirmation. 32:08 "You will see Him." Verse nine, "And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, 'Rejoice.' So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him." The confirmation. The confirmation. 32:26 "Look to the Lord." They saw Him. "In the upper room, they saw Him. On the road to Emmaus, they saw Him. In the garden, they saw Him. 32:43 On the shores of Galilee, they saw Him." 500 at once, Paul records in the First Corinthians. He says, "It was seen of 500 people at one time. They saw Him by infallible proofs." Peter said, "I saw Him. 33:03 I touched Him. I handled Him. I heard Him. I saw Him. I experienced Him, the risen Christ." How do you know it's Him? Well, the legend is told of a man of fourth century bishop by the name of Martin of Tours. Martin of Tours. 33:23 Can I get a drink of water, please? 33:25 Martin of Tours was a bishop in the fourth century. 33:36 And the story goes like this: that one day, Satan appeared to him masquerading, pretending to be Jesus. And the Bible says that Satan is transformed as an angel of light. And he did that to Martin of Tours and said, "I'm Jesus." And he had brightness, and he was bright and shining. 33:58 Looked like the Savior Himself. And Martin was ready to fall at His feet and worship this glorious being of light. And then all of a sudden, he looked at this being's hands, and he said, "Where are the scars?" And the vision vanished. Yeah, it was not God. 34:19 It was not Jesus. You can know it's Jesus by the scars in His hands, the scars in His feet, the hole in His side, the scars on His head from the crown of thorns. 34:36 Anything that doesn't include the cross is not the risen Savior. And so we look to Jesus, and we come and see He is alive. He is verifiable. They touched Him. They heard Him. They could experience His presence. 34:59 This then, my friends, became the message of the early church. This became the message of the early church. This is the pinnacle of our faith. It is a pinnacle of our faith. Jesus preached the resurrection. They didn't understand it. God had withheld their understanding, 35:20 lest the princes of this world would know and not crucify Him. He withheld that understanding. 35:27 But Jesus said in Matthew 16, "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day." Jesus said of Himself in John 5:25, 35:47 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which they that are in the graves, in which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth, 36:07 they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. And Jesus, in His pinnacle. Action and life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." The early church had this message. 36:32 If you turn over to the book of Acts, I want to just show you how many times this message was emphasized in the early church, bringing people to Christ, the risen Christ, not to a dead crucifix, but to a risen living Christ. Chapter 2, 36:51 verse 31 to 33 says this, "He, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, 37:13 He poured out this which now you see and hear." That was Peter on the day of Pentecost. 37:22 Peter also in chapter 3, verse 14 and 15, another message that Peter preached after the healing of the lame man, "But you denied the Holy One and the Just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the Prince of Life whom God raised from the dead, 37:43 of which we are witnesses." There you have it, Peter's message, chapter 4, verse 2. 37:51 "The Sadducees and the temple officials were greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead." I believe that every message that the apostles preached somehow included that resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. 38:11 Chapter 4, verse 33, "And with great power, the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 38:18 and great grace was upon them all." You go over to chapter 10 as Peter is giving his defense about Cornelius and as he met Cornelius and as he preached to Cornelius in chapter 10:39 through 41, 38:36 "And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 38:43 Him God raised up on the third day and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 38:58 And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead." Chapter 17, "The apostle Paul picked up on this message, 39:15 having himself seen the resurrected Christ preaching in Thessalonica." Chapter 17, verse 2, "Then Paul, as his custom was, went into them and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying, 39:36 'This Jesus whom we preach to you is the Christ.'" Over in verse 18, "Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered Him, and some said, 'What does this babbler want to say?' Others said, 39:51 'He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.'" In chapter 17, verse 31, "Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He has ordained. 40:08 He has given us assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." And so the early church, this was the theme of their preaching: Christ, the fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures, and Christ dying for the sins of the world and Christ rising again from the dead. 40:28 Peter refers to the resurrection in First Peter 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead." Paul, his central message, Romans 1:4, 40:48 "Declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead." Romans 4:25, "Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification." Romans 14:9, "For to this end, 41:07 Christ both died and rose and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living." Paul said, "This is the gospel." First Corinthians 15, "For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, 41:23 how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures." Paul saying emphatically in First Corinthians 15, 41:36 "But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept." We read it from Ephesians 20, "That He has been raised, that God raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places." First Thessalonians 4, 41:56 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him at the return of Christ." Second Timothy 2:8, 42:07 "Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel." Paul wrote to the pastor Timothy. What does this mean for us? It means hope. It means newness of life. 42:28 It means dying to the world and walking, being raised with Christ, having had our shackles fallen off, our bondage taken away, and walking in newness of life. Oh, whatever we do, we must not stop at the cross. We must make our way to the tomb, to the empty tomb. 42:50 Story is told that every year, thousands of people climb a mountain in the Italian Alps to pass the stations of the cross to stand at an outdoor crucifix. And there they stand, and there they weep, and there they worship someone, a dead Christ. 43:12 One time, a tourist noticed that a little trail that led beyond the cross. He fought his way through the rough thicket and, to his surprise, came upon another shrine, one devoted to the empty tomb, much less used. It was neglected. The brush had grown around it. Almost everybody had gone as far as the cross, 43:31 but they had failed to go to the tomb. How sad life is if all we experience is the death of Christ, the payment of our sins, to be sure. 43:44 But that payment was verified, ratified, stamped, and full guarantee of God's acceptance of Christ by His resurrection and His ascension. Far too many people, far too few, move beyond the cross to the real message of Easter. 44:05 This is a poem that I found by Annie Johnson Flint. It goes like this, "Some of us stay at the cross. Some of us wait at the tomb, quickened and raised with Christ, yet lingering still in the gloom. 44:18 Some of us bide at the Passover feast while Pentecost, all unknown, the triumphs of grace in the heavenly place that our Lord has made His own. If the Christ who died had stopped at the cross, His work would have been incomplete. If the Christ who was buried had stayed in the tomb, 44:38 He had only known defeat. 44:41 But the way of the cross never stops at the cross, and the way of the tomb leads on to victorious grace in the heavenly place where the risen Lord has gone." Story is told of a little boy who's about in third grade, and he was a Down syndrome boy, 44:59 not able to do and keep up with the other children either mentally or physically. And as sometimes happens in that time of age and that age group, there would be less than full acceptance of the handicapped boy. 45:16 One day, the teacher—this must have been a few years ago—when ladies could buy their stockings in eggs. Remember those days? They were called legs. And they would put those nylon stockings into an egg, called it legs. 45:35 And the teacher brought a whole bunch of those leg eggs to Sunday school one day, and she said, "This is Easter Sunday or the Sunday after Easter, and we're going to go out into the yard of the church, and we're going to do a little assignment. I want you to go out and find anything you can think of that reminds you of new life, 45:58 new life." And so the children went out, and they accumulated their little things and put them in those plastic leg eggs and brought them back to the teacher, and she began to open them. There was a piece of clover, nice clover, and there was another, 46:17 maybe a butterfly or maybe a flower. And one by one, she opened them up, and the children oohed and awed, and, "Oh, that's great. That's neat. That's cool." Until she came to one egg, and she opened it up, and there was nothing in it. 46:36 And the children said, "What's this? Somebody didn't do their assignment. Somebody didn't do their assignment right." And little Philip, he said, "That's me." He said, "That's my egg." "Philip, you never do anything right. Why can't you do something right if something is simple as this? 46:53 Philip, you're just a failure." And Philip said, "No." He said, "My egg is empty, and that's what Easter is, an empty tomb." You see, Philip had it figured out. And from that day on, he was a member of the class. 47:14 They got the picture that Philip got. And a couple of weeks later, Philip got an infection and died, and his Sunday school class came to pay tribute to Philip at the funeral. And guess what they brought and laid on the altar? Eggs, empty eggs. 47:33 They understood. They understood that the strife is oar, the battle done. 47:43 Now is the victor's triumph won. Now be the song of praise begun. Hallelujah. 47:55 For some reason, we got kicked off. We're back on. I don't know if anybody's back on with us or not. 48:06 Well, we're going to start over with that illustration and bring this to a close here pretty soon. But little Philip was born with Down syndrome and wasn't able to keep up with the young children of his age, third grade approximately. And as can often happen even in Sunday school, that children kind of don't accept those that are different from them. 48:28 And they didn't really accept little Philip in his age group. And one day, the teacher brought these plastic eggs. Years ago, the ladies could buy their nylon stockings in eggs. They called them legs, and they sold them in eggs, 48:47 plastic eggs that would open up, and you could take your stockings out and save the egg. And so the teacher brought those to class one day, and she said, "We're going to do a little project, and I want you to go out, and I want you to find something out in the churchyard that represents new life." And so some of them went out. 49:05 They all went out and gathered their little things, and they brought them back into the teacher, and she began to open those eggs. And in some of them was a clover or a piece of blade of grass or a petal of a flower or a butterfly or something like that, a butterfly wing, something that spoke of new life until she came to one egg, 49:25 and she opened it up, and it was empty. And the children said, "What's this about? Somebody didn't do the assignment." Philip said, "Well, that's my egg." And he said, "Philip, you didn't do the assignment. Why can't you do anything right? I mean, such a simple assignment, Philip, you could have done that at least." He said, "Ah, mine is empty because that's what stands for the resurrection, 49:47 the empty tomb, the empty tomb. You opened it up, and there's nothing in there. It's empty." Philip understood that. And so several weeks later, Philip got an infection that he was not able to fight and actually died. 50:03 And during that time of the funeral, the Sunday school class from Philip came and put on the altar a tribute to him, leg eggs that were empty. You see, Philip understood the meaning of Easter. He understood in a simple way, 50:23 although as an eight-year-old child could never have described it this way, but the songwriter did when they said, "The strife is oar, the battle done. Now is the victor's triumph won. Now be the song of praise begun. Hallelujah. The power of death have done their worst, 50:43 but Christ, their legions hath dispersed. Let shouts of holy joy outburst. Hallelujah. The three sad days have quickly sped. He rises glorious from the dead. All glory to our risen head. Hallelujah. 51:02 He broke the age-bound chains of hell. The bars from heaven's high portals fell. Let hymns of praise his triumph tell. Hallelujah. Lord, by the stripes which wounded thee, from death's dread sting the servants free, 51:22 that we may live and sing to thee. Hallelujah. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the resurrection. 51:34 Let us come and look, and let us go and tell. Let us worship at the feet of our risen Lord, and let us walk in new life, making our way daily to the cross, 51:55 to the tomb, to the mountain of ascension, and to the upper room, and ultimately to the streets of our Jerusalem, sharing this glorious good news. Stalspers are going to come and sing, "That strife is our," and send you out with an Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 52:26 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 52:35 The strife is our, the battle done. The victory of life is won. Thus all the triumph has begun. 52:56 Hallelujah. 53:02 The powers of death have done their worst, but Christ, their legions hath dispersed. Let shout of holy joy outburst. 53:25 Hallelujah. 53:32 The three sad days are quickly sped. He rises glorious from the dead. All glory to our risen head. 53:55 Hallelujah. 54:01 He closed the yawning gates of hell. The bars from heaven's high portals tell. Let hymns of praise his triumph tell. 54:24 Hallelujah. 54:31 Lord, by the stripes that wounded thee, from death's dread sting thy servants free, that we may live and sing to thee. 54:54 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 55:05 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen.