Sun Rise Service

[00:00:00] Christ the Lord. Traditions and way of doing things and so forth [00:00:35] And so this is a different privilege for us And I say it is a privilege And it's a wonderful joy to share this time together with you Did we realize what we were singing? I trust as we, you know, wake in our I hope you're not drowsy this morning Hope you had a good night's rest Just think of this as a typical work day. You got up at four in the morning or whatever and you got ready. [00:01:07] And so, well, it's not a typical work day. It's a worship day and it's a wonderful day. It's a day in which we can rejoice in our risen Lord. And anyways, back to this song. I was struck with this. I was thinking about this this past week. Lo, in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior, waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior, vainly they seal the dead [00:01:42] And I'm struck with this fact, when I think of the resurrection of our Lord Lord, the tomb, the stone in front of the tomb was not taken away so that our Lord could access the tomb. But the stone was taken away so that you and I could see in it and see that Jesus is not there. Our leader is not there. He is risen. And the amazing thing about that is, is we read one of the Gospels, and I struggle just a bit as to which of the Gospels to lay hold of this morning, but one of the Gospels speaks to us about how that Peter and John came to the tomb, and they marveled at how the linen clothes were lying perfectly. [00:02:36] And the napkin that was wrapped around Jesus' head was in its place. It's almost like a cocoon that, you know, the body was gone. And this shell of clothes that Joseph and Nicodemus had wrapped Jesus' body in was still lying perfectly. So it's impossible for thieves to come and to steal Jesus' body. It's impossible. [00:03:13] Oh, there's so much, so much of that. But death, the songwriter says, death cannot keep his prey. Jesus, my Savior, he tore the bars away. Jesus, my Lord, up from the grave he arose. And this is a great day, a great day for all mankind. And you know, beloved, without this day, without this experience in history, all our faith, all our believing, all our doing, all our thinking is useless, worthless. [00:03:56] But this day is from centrality to the Christian faith. It is this day that marks the promise that God said to Adam and Eve after the fall. It is this day that is for the Christian to rejoice in and to know and be assured that it is possible. The Christian life, first of all, is possible. and secondly that the Christian life is beyond this life and it is beyond the grave. [00:04:37] I invite you to turn with me to John 19. John talks about some details. John as a beloved disciple of Jesus has a lot of details that some of the others leave out. I like Mark's concise writings, and I debated between the two, but I think we'll read the passage in St. John 19. I think I'll begin in verse 38. [00:05:10] Yes, John 19, verse 38, and through chapter 20, part ways there. And after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being an disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore and took the body of Jesus. There came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and olives, about a hundred pound weight. [00:05:44] Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation day, for the sepulcher was not at hand. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, [00:06:21] They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together, and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying, yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulcher, and seeth the linen clothes lie. I want to pause here just a moment, and keep your finger with this passage. [00:06:56] Turn back to Luke chapter 24 and verse 12. Notice that Peter in his aggressive spirit comes to the tomb and he doesn't stop to think about what's going on. John and his bit different character, he stops at the door of the tomb, he stoops down and he looks in. He sees the linen clothes lie, and Peter wants to investigate this thing immediately and see what's going on. [00:07:34] And so he wastes no time, makes it into the sepulcher. In verse 12 of chapter 24 in Luke, it says, Then arose Peter and ran into the sepulcher, which we just read, and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. Now Luke gives us a little bit of a clue there that John doesn't about Peter's thoughts. And I thought it's just interesting to notice that. [00:08:07] Then cometh Simon Peter, verse 6 again, following him, and went into the sepulcher, and seeth the linen clothes lie. I'd like to just insert that phrase from Luke. And Peter beheld that, and he wondered in himself at all the things that came to pass. I wonder if it were any different for us. Well, let me continue reading. Verse 7. And the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself, [00:08:41] then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw and believed. Notice that comment as well. And he saw and believed. For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again into their own home, but Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. [00:09:13] It seems to me that Mary was there early, and possibly the other women. I don't know how all that took place. The Gospels refer of different incidents and so on. It seems to me that there was a lot of things happening in a short period of time. And so the writer simply wrote what the Spirit provoked them to write. and it comes out a little bit different. [00:09:46] I think we do well to take all of the Gospels together and if we see that picture together, it blends beautifully as we look at all those things that were happening in a short period of time. As Brother Dana mentioned, just the shock of, you what? Risen, the idea that Jesus rose from the dead was a psychological thought, but they had not experienced it. [00:10:30] And, and yes, they had, Jesus had told them that the third day I'm going to rise. Jesus had given them, you know, we, and we sometimes look at these people and we say, okay, Jesus just got finished telling you four days ago about this very thing. Now, can't you remember four days of beloved? I don't know how well you do, but my assumption is that after breakfast this morning, you'll probably forget half of what I said. [00:11:06] Well, I'm not blaming you. I do the same thing. And so, how can we look at the disciples and at the women and say, how could you not think through this? I think there's a difference between the disciples and the women understanding it psychologically. Say, yes, yes, we believe. Okay, yes, Jesus. And Mary even said to Jesus, now earth to Christ. Yes, we believe in the resurrection. Jesus had told her that when He came to their house or came to raise Lazarus from the dead. [00:11:47] But when it actually happened, when it was a reality, it's like, you what? You mean? And so the process to think through this and process the reality of what actually happened, I really don't think we are any different. In fact, I know we're not. I know that we process this a lot the same, and I want to talk about that. [00:12:27] Let me finish my reading here, if I ever get there. Verse 13, And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Now, Mary comes to there, and the angels are in the tomb. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? [00:13:00] She supposing him to be the gardener, saith to him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary, she turneth herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master, Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had spoken these things unto her. [00:13:36] Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you. And we had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, even so send I you. [00:14:07] And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciple therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. [00:14:40] Now catch that phrase. I will not believe. That was the disciple of the Lord. Verse 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within and Thomas was with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst. Actually that word means lock. The doors being shut. The doors were locked. And again, they were together for fear of the Jews. These poor disciples, young men as they were, were shaken in their boots [00:15:14] because of all the things that had taken place and the dynamics of Jesus' resurrection and all the process of that and the lies that had been out about them. And they hardly knew when some Roman soldier would break through the door And take them all captive and slay them as well We didn't take away our Lord We didn't even know He was risen [00:15:46] We laid Him in the tomb and that's where we left Him That's the end of it But the rumor was floating about the disciples came and stole him by night. That was quite a slap in the face for the Roman soldiers, but so be it. Well, then Jesus comes to them after eight days, and Thomas was with them. Jesus said, Peace be unto you. [00:16:16] Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands. Reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs truly to Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. [00:16:49] But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name. I say to us again this morning, the most important, the most exciting thing in the world happened. Early this morning, I believe, at least about this time, we believe that the disciples came to the tomb. The women had come to the tomb. They found a number of things. [00:17:20] What? What? What? Something has happened. And of course the women, dear sisters, they process things in a little bit different way than men do. They were so in love with their Savior, they didn't, first of all, they didn't think about how we were going to get the stone away from the tomb. They didn't think about the fact that Something else may have transpired other than the fact that someone took Jesus away and Mary so desperately wanted to do something for her beloved Lord. [00:18:00] I think possibly, possibly, sometime during the morning hours, John, Peter, Mary, just to name a few, may have at least in part realized what really took place. But for most of the world about, had no idea, and could have cared less, that this Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. [00:18:40] They experienced the earthquake. Ah, it's another earthquake. We just had one three days ago. We had a terrible earthquake, and it was dark, and somehow, there must be a vault down under the earth. Somehow, somewhere, something is going on. And so, this is just a physical thing. Just a coincidence. It doesn't really mean anything. After all, the people in Haiti wake up and the earth is shaking and moving. And the next night it does the same thing. The next day it does the same thing. The next night it does the same thing. [00:19:13] And early one morning, about a week later, they wake up and the earth is shaking again. And they think, you know, I don't know what all runs through their minds. But these people, to the world, in Jesus' day, now it's just another earthquake. But I'm saying to us this morning, the most exciting thing in the world happened, and only a few realized it. I'm wondering, I'm wondering when our Lord splits the eastern skies, and He comes again for His bride, [00:19:53] Will the world know? Yes, the world will know. Indeed, they will know when Jesus comes again. But will there only be a few that realize the impact that that will have upon mankind? Oh, I trust, I trust that there will be many, but the Bible does tell us that many are called, but few are chosen, simply giving the implication that many, many know, many know, but only few are prepared for His coming. [00:20:27] There's four stages of belief, and I very quickly want to look at that. At first, we think it's a fabrication, impossible to believe. Mary, John, and Peter, as we see in this passage and other scriptures in the Gospels, some of their responses, it's like, this can't be real. This can't be real. We see it. We go right in this tomb, we see where Jesus' body was laid, and they had been careful to observe that. [00:21:03] The women were there, and they said, now Joseph, now where's, okay, right there, right there, that's where he is. They were careful to observe where Jesus' body was laid. Because they had in mind, after the Sabbath day, we're going to be back. We're going to be back. And so they wanted to be careful. They knew where the body of Jesus was laid. But when they seen that, seen the clothes lying there, [00:21:36] and they had seen Joseph and Nicodemus wrap Jesus' body, they had seen that, they had seen them carry Jesus' body in there and lay it there. Even though they seen all of that, it can't be. Somebody took the body. And I say we do the same. At first, we think it's a fabrication. We think it's somebody, something's going on here. [00:22:10] It's impossible. We say that in verse 2 of chapter 20, what we just read. That she runneth and cometh unto Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Secondly, the second stage, like Peter, we may check out the facts and still be puzzled about what happened. In verse 6, then cometh Simon Peter following him and went to the sepulcher to see if the linen clothes lie. [00:22:40] And again reminding us that Peter looked at that and he wondered about the very things that were happening. And so you and I may come to the place where we see the facts, we check them out, and we are just impressed with the facts that lie before us. And yet somehow we, I'm not sure that I can understand this. [00:23:11] What is actually transpiring? Thirdly, thirdly, verse 16, only when we encounter Jesus personally are we able to accept the fact of the resurrection. Verse 16, Jesus saith unto her, Mary, she turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. There was a connection, there was an experience, there was an encounter with Jesus. [00:23:47] And there are times, beloved, when our faith reaches beyond the things that you and I can comprehend with our minds. Our faith needs to take us beyond the facts that have lied before us. Our faith needs to take us beyond the things that we know to be a truth. And sometimes we call it the Christian faith is a blind faith. And indeed it is. Indeed it is. It sometimes looks beyond the things that don't really make sense. [00:24:20] Some of our own experiences in life bring us to the place where we wonder, how can this be? What is God trying to tell us? And beloved, when we look at the truths of the scripture, our faith carries us far beyond the present experiences and the realities around us. And I say when you and I encounter our Lord Jesus, when we experience Him, we don't know how all this happens. [00:24:51] We don't know how Jesus was laid in the grave, in this tomb, and He triumphantly rose over death. We don't know all the process of that, but beloved, it's not important that we understand all of that. The important thing is that our faith is so settled and rooted in the truths of His Scripture that we believe that Jesus rose again. I trust that each one of us this morning believes that and has that assurance in our hearts that our Lord and Jesus is alive and is well. [00:25:25] He is sitting at the right hand of the Father today interceding for us. Oh beloved, it's a hopeless case if we don't believe that. Indeed it is. We'll talk about that in our next message. Well, fourthly, we want to look at this. Then as we commit ourselves to the risen Lord and devote our lives to Him, we begin to understand more fully the reality of His presence with us. Listen, there's a process. There's a process which continues in our hearts. [00:25:57] Verse 28, there were those that did not believe, and Thomas was bold enough to say, I will not believe. Now many of us would be too pious to say that, but many of us act that way. We act, we don't really say it verbally, but by our actions we say the same words. Unless I can see it, unless I can prove it with the scientific facts, I will not believe. [00:26:30] And beloved, I say again, when we encounter an experience with the Lord Jesus, The scientific facts really don't matter because when we experience the Lord Jesus and we fully commit our lives to Him, our risen Lord, and beloved, the Christian faith is the only faith, the only religion, whatever we want to call it, that has a risen Savior. [00:27:02] All other religions are a dead, dead entity of itself. There's no end to it because there's really no beginning to it. It's dead. But when you and I commit ourselves to the risen Lord and we devote our lives to Him, we begin to understand more fully in a deeper way. We understand in a greater capacity the reality of His presence with us. [00:27:36] Beloved, we know that the Lord Jesus is with us. Not only that He has risen from the dead, He is interceding at the right hand of the Father for us, but there's an aspect of the believer that Jesus is walking with us. Jesus is present in our lives through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. What a blessing. What a blessing. And so it is a great cause for us to worship Him, to love Him and serve Him. [00:28:12] I would like to just this morning inspire us to the same love and dedication for our Lord as we see in these individuals. Now yes, we've looked at their slow, slow heart to believe. But we've also looked at the stages of believing and how that we process that. [00:28:48] It's difficult for me to be critical of Mary, Peter, and John, and the other disciples, Thomas. Because I really question, as I know myself, I really question whether I would have done any better. In fact, I'm sure I wouldn't have. But in each of these individuals, there was a love, there was a dedication, [00:29:22] we see in their action, we see their very actions that Jesus' death and resurrection compelled them to. And I'm asking us the question this morning, how does Jesus' death and resurrection affect your life? How does it affect my life? You know, does it stir us to action? Does it stir us to action like it did Nicodemus and Joseph and Peter and Mary and the other women and John and Thomas? [00:29:58] Does it stir us to that kind of an action? And so I say to us, don't be so slow to believe, but simply believe the Scriptures and what they teach us. And yes, yes, many a person may say to you, well, how do you know that Jesus rose from the dead? You've not really seen Him. How can you prove to me that your Lord is alive? Yes, yes, yes. I say to them, yes, I've not seen our Lord as the Apostle Paul had out of due time or how the twelve apostles and many others had seen the Lord. I've not seen Him. I've not seen Him. [00:30:41] But beloved, as I have experienced him, I know that he is alive. He cannot be in a grave. He cannot be in those grave clothes. He cannot be in that tomb because of what I experienced in my walk with him. I think I'm going to just, let's just bow our heads for a word of prayer. Gracious, loving Father, we thank you, we rejoice in this great experience of history. [00:31:13] Father, we hardly know how to worship and how to pray and how to sing. Father, we know that the greatest thing that ever happened to mankind happened some 2,000 years ago, and we rejoice in that. Father, it is because of the Lord Jesus' resurrection that is able to bring new life to dead lives. Father, we just thank you for that transformation that you've brought to our own lives. [00:31:52] And that you're bringing to the lives of many men and women, boys and girls throughout this world. Father, we also recognize that there are many, there are many that proclaim the name of Jesus. I thank you, O Father, that all power was given to Jesus, the power over death, the power over sin, and the power over our miserable selves. [00:32:32] I thank you, dear Lord, and we pray that you would bless this day. Continue to minister to us and draw us to yourself, O Father. Help us to understand in a greater way, by our experiences and our walk with you, that you are alive, that you are well, and that you want to give us life eternal. We thank you and praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.