Dedicated To The Men of God Who Preach the Word of God As It
Is To Men As They Are
"Preach The Word"
HOW I KNOW JESUS' BODY
ISN'T IN THE GRAVE
Text: Luke 24:1-7- esp. v.6
INTRODUCTION:
The three main events in the life of Jesus were when He became incarnate at his birth, when He went to Calvary to bear our sins, and when He arose from the dead on the first Easter morning.
The three are intricately inter-related. If Jesus had not become incarnate, He could not have borne the sins of man. If He had not given His life a ransom for the sinner, then there would have been no need for a resurrection from the dead.
The resurrection of Jesus provides for us a great source of gladness. There were no "what ifs" about his resurrection, for Peter said that "IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR DEATH TO HOLD HIM." It was planned in eternity past, that the Lord Jesus would not only die, but that he would not stay in the grave in defeat. Christ was destined to rise in victory and glory.
It is said in the scripture that when the two Marys and the other women at the tomb heard from the angels that Jesus had arisen, they experienced great joy. Matt 28:8 states, " And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring His disciples word." "Joy " is the word which is often translated "rejoice." Joy is an emotion of great delight or happiness. It is the opposite of sadness and gloom.
Our hearts are lifted above our present problems and pressures, when we realize get a glimpse of an empty tomb and a resurrected, ever living Savior.
We begin to catch a ray of hope in what we regard as hopeless situations, when we stop to think that Jesus lives, and because He lives we can face tomorrow.
We tend to lose our fears when we have our eyes upon the Lord of Life and the Conquerer of Death. We hear Him come from the grave and whisper to our souls the comforting, reassuring words : "Fear Not".
Life's difficulties do not look as large, when we remind ourselves that He lives. We have a present help in the time of trouble.
The apostle John met the risen Christ on the isle of Patmos and says to us in Rev 1:17, "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And he laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the First And The Last."
The fact that Jesus is alive is more real to me than the fact than I am living. How precious are these eternal, wonderful, spiritual things of God!
I am going to give you several reasons why I know that Jesus body is not still in its grave.
I.BECAUSE OF HIS PERSON
In John 5 the Jews understood that Jesus claimed equality with God.
John 5:18 declares, "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making himself equal with God."
The Lord had just healed the man who had an infirmity for thirty-eight years, that had hindered him from getting into the waters to be healed. An angel from time to time would stir the waters, and made possible the healing of the one who could get there in time. He did this on the sabbath, so the religious people were infuriated. Even Jesus' enemies understood that He claimed to be God. Of course, that was blasphemy to them.
Jesus also said in John 10:30, " I and my Father are one."
He is not just talking about a oneness in purpose but also a oneness in person. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. If you have the Father, you have the Son and the Spirit. If you have Jesus, you have the Father and the Spirit. If you have the Holy Ghost, you have the Father and the Son.
We serve the great three in one and one in three- God of very God.
One of the great teachings about God in the Bible is that of his eternality. He never had a beginning and He never will have an ending. Jesus as God did not begin in Bethlehem, it was only the humanity part of His existence that began. Now, the humanity part of his existence continues, as glorified humanity at the right hand of the Father on high.
WE ALL HAD A BEGINNING. I WAS BORN IN MARION,NC AND DID NOT EXIST PRIOR TO THAT TIME.
How could the Creator be permanently destroyed byHis creatures? That is an utter impossible.
The resurrection is not hard to believe when we understand the fact that Jesus was God of very God tabernacled or dwelling in human flesh.
ILL
The great military genius Napoleon Bonaparte said- "I know men, and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world, there is no possible comparison. I have founded empires, but upon what do they depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions would die for Him."
I full agree with that, how about you ? Jesus is deity--that means he is God--that means resurrection. No power could hold Him down permanently because of His person.
Not only because of His Person
II. BECAUSE OF HIS POWER
See Matt 28:18.
Beyond any shadow of a doubt the Lord Jesus had power over the chains of death. How do we know that? Because of those who he raised from the dead.
Someone said he never came upon a funeral procession without raising the one who had died from the dead.
It would be interesting to know how many people in His ministry that Jesus brought from the dead.
John 21:25 declares, " And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."
Thank God for what has been recorded in the Bible about the things that Jesus did, but that is not all of it. That is only a small fraction of all the miracles that Jesus performed. The length of His actual ministry was about three and one-half years.
John says even the world itself could not hold the books that should be written. Christ must have constantly and continually performed miracles. That is just like Jesus!
ILL
The most familiar incident in the NT of Jesus raising a person from the dead is Lazrus.
John 11:43 tells us, "And when he thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice,'Lazarus, come forth'." (KJV)
John 11:44 , "And he that was dead cameforth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go."
Lazrus had been dead for three days but on that particular day, the Resurrection and the Life passed by and used that 'ALL AUTHORITY' that He possessed."
Jesus said in John 11:25, " I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
Martha and Mary would not have to wait until the resurrection of the dead to see their brother Lazrus come to life. Jesus could use His authority and speak life to Lazrus.
You have heard it said that the authority and power of Jesus is so great that if he had not said "LAZRUS COME FORTH", if He had not specified one person, then all of the saved dead would have come forth.
He has that much power and authority. "ALL POWER" means just what it says.
A Biblical Interpretation professor in my graduate work said " ALL means all and that is all all means."
"All" means everything, nothing excluded, including everthing.
Here is what I want you to see: If Jesus had all authority and power, and could raise others, surely, He could raise himself from that from which he had the key!
Because of his power
Because of his person
III. BECAUSE OF HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCES
The Lord Jesus desired that many reliable witnesses would could substiantiate the truthfulness of the risen Savior.
1 Cor 15:5 says, " And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve.
1 Cor 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1 Cor 15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
1 Cor 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
Jesus was seen of 500 at one time and most of those were alive when Paul wrote 1 Cor.called as witnesses to it if necessary.
ILLUSTRATION:
One witness can put a man on death row, to eventually have his life taken from him. Over 250 could have appeared in a court of law at any given time, to witness that Jesus raised from the dead.. That would certainly be a convincing testimony.
All of the twelve disciples saw Jesus.
His brother James saw Him; if anyone should know him it should be His half- brother James.
Illustration:
Your brother or sister probably knows you better than anyone else knows you. They are around you more than anyone else.
Paul personally met the resurrected Christ.
Because of his person
Because of his power
Because of his personal appearances
IV. BECAUSE OF HIS PURPOSE
1 Tim 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Christ did not come into this world to die a martyr's death or even to just set a good example.
'SAVING SINNERS' was His purpose
Involves two main things:
1. Providing redemption for man -dying & blood
2. Being alive to save those form whom He died-
I am saying a dead savior cannot save! It takes One who is alive Himself!
2 Cor 5:17 states, " Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Things do no become new without life.
Illustration:
Have entered spring of the year and noticed grass that looked dead and brown has turned deep green? The roots were alive but the plant was "wintered."
Flower bulbs that have been under the ground and appear to be dead, are coming to life, because there is life in that bulb seed.
Trees have looked dead for some time-but they are now budding and forming leaves that you will soon see.
Even a seed that appears to be dead, has life in it. That is why with the proper germination environment, water, sunlight, and warmth, it will produce us plants to get vegetables from later.
HIS PERSON
HIS POWER
HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCES
HIS PURPOSE
V. HIS PLACE
Col 3:1 says, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. "
Heb 12:2 reminds us to be, " Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
He lives in our hearts through the Holy Spirit today and we are told that he is seated at the right hand of the Father on high.
Why is he there at the right hand of the Father?
1 John 2:1 tells us, " My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
The word "Advocate" suggests "one called to you side to help and assist." It was used in a court of justice to denote a legal assistant, counsel for the defense, an advocate; then, generally, one who pleads another's cause, an intercessor, and advocate.
It should be clear; it doesn't take a Ph.D to realize, that if Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father on high, then He is alive. His place, and His position indicates that His body is not in that tomb in Jerusalem!
Note:
By the way I have been there to the garden tomb, and there is no evidence of any remains of His body. The sign over the door says: "He is not here, He is risen."
PERSON, POWER, PEOPLE, PURPOSE, PLACE
VI. BECAUSE OF HIS PROMISES
A. To Return- Jn. 14:1-3
A dead corpse cannot get anything done. It is impossible for one to drive a car, fly an airplane, sweep a floor, climb a ladder, or pick up a stone off the ground.
It is going to take a live Savior to return.Am I looking for Him? Yes, for He is living today. He will never die again.
B. To Raise Himself
In John 2:19, Jesus answered and said unto them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
C. To Resurrect Others
Speaking of Jesus, Paul says in I Thessalonians 4:1617, " For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
How could a lifeless Savior bring life to a pile of dust somewhere in a cemetary? He could not, but one who is God and lives, certainly can, since He has all power in heaven and in earth.
CONCLUSION:
Calvary did not end it all for the Lord and for His people.
When He cried "It is finished, it was just the beginning for me.When He came forth from the tomb, I was set free."
That will promote about 10,000 x 10,000 hallelujahs in your soul. I know His body is not in the tomb, and that He wants to come to you and live in you today. He can take care of sin in your life.
SERMON FROM DR. TOM WALKER
PASTOR: ZION HILL BAPTIST CHURCH, MARION, NC-USA
Site created by Tom Walker