The Resurrection - Part 2 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lacerre Bradley Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, Thou the praise of my God and King, Thou triumphs of his grace.

This is Lacerre Bradley Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia! Now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that stand.

Now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that stand. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Alleluia! And did he rise, and did he rise, and did he rise, did he rise? Here all ye nations, here in all ye dead, he rose, he rose, he rose, he rose, he burst the bars of death, he burst the bars of death, he burst the bars of death and triumph o'er the grave. And did he rise, and did he rise, did he rise, here all ye nations, here in all ye dead, he rose, he rose, he rose, he burst the bars of death, he burst the bars of death, he burst the bars of death and triumph o'er the grave.

Then, then, then I rose, then I rose, then I rose, then I rose. When first humanity triumphed once past the crystal ports of God, And seized eternal youth, And seized eternal youth, Then, all immortal, hail, hail! Then thou, O man, will show strength, years to man. Thine, all the glory, man the landless bliss, Thine, all the glory, man the landless bliss. And if ye rise, and if ye rise, and if ye rise, If ye rise, E'er all ye nations, e'er it all ye dead, He rose, He rose, He rose, He rose, He burst the bars of death, He burst the bars of death, He burst the bars of death, and triumphed for the grave.

Then, then, then are those, then are those, then are those, then are those. When first humanity triumphed and passed the crystal ports of God, And seized eternal youth, Then, all immortal, hail, hail! Then thou, O man, will show strength, years to man. Thine, all the glory, man the landless bliss, Thine, all the glory, man the boundless bliss. Today we continue our message on the resurrection taken from our series on the Gospel of John. If you would like to get the complete message on CD, we'll be glad to send it to you upon request.

Our address is the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Now we go on with our reading, chapter 20 of the Gospel of John, verse 1. 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 John generally refers to himself in this manner, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid Him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together, and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.

It is thought that John was probably younger than Peter, and he outran him and got there first. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying, yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and he went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie.

Peter was the impetuous one, so when he gets there he doesn't slow down, he doesn't just stand and peek in, he goes inside, he wants to see it firsthand. And the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself, then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and believed. What did he believe? When he saw the clothes in an orderly fashion, he was convinced at that moment Jesus had risen from the dead.

He believed, seeing the empty tomb, and seeing the position of the clothes, no grave robber would have left them so neatly. And if the theory that some advance that the disciples had stolen the body away were true, they certainly would not have unwrapped the body and left those clothes in such an orderly fashion. For as yet they knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home, but Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 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? She supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, If thou have borne him hence tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Obviously, it would have been impossible for this woman to have carried the body of Jesus with the additional weight of a hundred pounds of the spices that were put in the burial garments.

But it just shows the intensity of her love. She's so distraught to think that somebody has carried the body away, and she wants to find it and show respect. And she's asking where, thinking this is the gardener, where the body might have been placed. Jesus saith unto her, Mary, she turned 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 unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God.

After seeing the respectable burial, we now see the empty tomb. Mary comes, and as you read the account in the other gospels, sometimes it's a little difficult to follow just the sequence of events and the timing because there was more than one Mary that was in the group of women that went, but principally focusing our attention upon the account that is farthest here in the Gospel of John. Mary comes there in the early morning hours, apparently ahead of some of the other women that were identified as being with her by other writers.

It's a very difficult, emotional time for her. She was there to watch the crucifixion. She was already a devoted follower of Jesus. She loved him dearly. She had faith in him. She had hope of what was to come. But she sees him mistreated, abused, spit upon, suffering on the cross. No doubt, she along with the disciples were terribly discouraged at this point. Although Jesus had told them that he would be raised from the dead, they had not fully grasped it. So many of their hopes were dashed.

They still had the idea that there was going to be a kingdom established on this earth and that the Jews would become a great people and delivered from their oppressors. Now it looks like that's not going to happen. And so no doubt she has shed many, many tears. But she comes before daylight to the grave site. Her devotion should put many of us to shame. She didn't just stay home and say, well, it's all over. I give up. It wouldn't make any difference whether I went or not.

What could I do? She was intense in her love for Jesus. And so she goes to the place of the tomb.

She wants to determine exactly what the status is and wants herself to anoint his body, showing again her great affection for him. We read the account from Matthew 28 verse 1. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers did shake and became as dead men. Remember, they had put soldiers there to guard him.

Pilate said, make it as secure as you can. And these men had the responsibility to guard the grave and be sure that the disciples did not steal the body away and then claim that he had been raised. But the earthquake comes and the angels are there in white raiment, their countenance as bright as lightning.

And so these who were the soldiers supposedly keeping the place became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen.

What good news. An empty tomb. Jesus was not there.

The angel to say, he is not here. Friends, that's the very basic truth of Christianity. It separates Christianity from every other religion. People will say, oh I think there's good in all religions.

Nothing else can compare to this. Every other religious leader died and his body is still in the grave. But Jesus Christ came out of the grave victorious over death, over sin. Oh yes, he is not here. He is risen. Come see the place where the Lord lay and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall ye see him.

Lo, I have told you. And so Mary is weeping and greatly disturbed. She sees this man standing there thinking it's the gardener. She didn't recognize at first it was Jesus because the picture in her mind is still of Jesus on the cross. His body torn by the nails in his hands and the crown of thorns on his brow. Seeing him in such a miserable state and now he is in his resurrected body. And she doesn't recognize him at first but he calls her by name and she says, Rabboni, you're the master.

I recognize now who he is. She had forgotten at this point that Jesus had promised he would rise from the dead. How much of the teachings of Jesus his own followers let slip away. There were times he was very direct and very plain as he would speak of his crucifixion and of his consequent burial and resurrection. He said, even as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights so the son of man will be.

But he's going to come out. He's going to be raised even as Jonah was delivered from the belly of the whale. But you know we think about these disciples who had such great advantages and opportunities. And yet how much they missed and how much they misunderstood.

But are we any better than they? How much of the scriptures that you read do you pass over hurriedly and say, well I don't understand that I'll have to come back and study that someday but you don't get back to it. How many times in a message that you hear from the pulpit you think about something for the moment but as the busy cares of life press in the next week it's forgotten. How many times has there been misunderstanding?

You had in your mind that you had come to great knowledge about some particular theme of the Bible and later saw you were totally wrong. Let us be careful. Take heed how you hear.

Bless the truth of God's Word, the wonderful things that are for our benefit that we may live to His glory to not quickly slip away from us. Well she runs and tells Peter the tomb is empty. You need to come and see, come quickly. And it said as she ran to tell Simon Peter and the other disciple then they came running. They weren't hesitant. They wanted to see what was going on.

They were anxious to know what this meant. And so they come and find the grave clothes in neat order. Jesus just slipped out of those clothes. Isn't it interesting that there is not one word in any of the four gospels to describe specifically the resurrection itself. Nobody saw it. Nobody saw Him arise. But they saw the clear evidence that He had risen. They saw the empty tomb. They saw the clothes still there neatly in order because Jesus had just come out of it. Now it said that the angels had rolled the stone away. It wasn't because Jesus couldn't have done it. But it was a part of the plan as these angels then appeared and told Mary she need not be weeping because Jesus is alive.

So after we observe a respectable burial and then look at the empty tomb we then see the appearance of Jesus. Verse 16, Jesus saith unto her Mary, she turned herself and saith unto him Rabboni, which is to say master. She saw Him. She now recognizes Him. She responds, He's my teacher. He's my master. He's my Lord.

I see Him and she rejoiced in the sight. You see there were many evidences of His resurrection. Those who have challenged it. Those who have questioned it. Those who have come up with their various theories of the disciples stealing the body or grave robbers carrying it away.

Or of the swoon theory that He didn't really die. All of those things are foolish when you begin to examine the many evidences, proof positive that He arose. There was the empty tomb.

There were the grave clothes left neatly in order. There was the message of the angels and then various appearances. First appearing to Mary, then to the disciples.

I believe there was ten different times that Jesus appeared before He ultimately ascended back to heaven. And then throughout the New Testament the message of His resurrection is continually declared. First Corinthians chapter 15 verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I have preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, 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. And that He was seen of Cephas then of the twelve. After that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once of whom the greater part remain unto this present time but some are fallen asleep. He was seen repeatedly by His disciples and then at one point by five hundred people. In a court of law, an eyewitness gives a credible testimony. They rely upon someone who says I was there, I saw it, this is what happened for five hundred people to see it. What a testimony!

How can it be challenged? Five hundred saw Him in His resurrected form. Furthermore there is evidence of it when you see the willingness of the disciples to suffer, to be persecuted, to be put to death. If they knew down deep that there was no resurrection, they had stolen the body and hidden it. Do you think they could have stood up under the test of being imprisoned and beaten and persecuted and ultimately put to death when it was all a farce?

Certainly not. So the evidences are abundant. A message then that we draw from all of this to you who are believers today has some practical implications. Colossians chapter three verse one. If ye then be risen with Christ, now if you're one of His, His resurrection was your resurrection.

You have been raised to a newness of life in Him. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth, for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. So the message to all of us as believers, if you are risen with Christ, seek those things that are above. Have your mind and heart directed toward that in the heavenly city.

Remembering that this risen Savior, Jesus Christ, your Lord, is there seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. And the message to you who are unbelievers, when you see the clear evidence that Jesus Christ arose from the dead, would you not today believe it and trust Him, trust Him for your salvation? What foolishness to trust some religious rite or ceremony, some creed to which you subscribe, some effort on your part to live a satisfactory life thinking that it will prepare you for heaven.

No, your case is desperate. By nature, you're a fallen sinner, a rebel against God, you violated His law, you're justly condemned, you need one who is alive, you need Jesus Christ who died for sinners. You need one who can reach down to the lowest pit and lift up the fallen sinner and save them by His grace. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And let us all today rejoice, rejoice in His glorious resurrection, rejoice in His victory over death, rejoice that He reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Sometimes the troubles of life are great, the confusion, the violence, the disturbances all over the world in which we're living today are troubling. But to know that King Jesus reigns gives us an inner peace that nothing else could possibly provide. Think of the empty tomb. He's alive today to comfort troubled hearts, to transform broken lives, to save fallen, ruined sinners and to make intercession for us.

Think of that. We have the privilege of calling upon Him and He is there perpetually at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. Don't you feel you need one to plead your case and to plead not on the basis of any merit that you might have or you have none but on the basis of His successful work at the cross. What a Savior we have. He is not here, He is risen.

Worthy of praise is Christ our Redeemer, worthy of glory, honor and power, worthy of all our soul's adoration, worthy of power, worthy of power. What a wonderful truth to know that Jesus Christ came to this earth to fulfill the will of His Father. He laid down His life. He paid the price of redemption.

He secured a people. But though He was laid in the grave, after three days and three nights He arose. He lives today. He is our hope, our salvation, our all. We rejoice in the truth of the risen Savior. I urge you to write us this week and until next week at the same time may the Lord richly bless you all.

Worthy of honor, worthy of wisdom, glory and power, worthy of earth and heaven's thanksgiving, worthy art thou, worthy art thou. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Lord, may we come before Thee with singing, filled with life's spirit, wisdom and power. May we ascribe Thee, glory and honor, worthy of power, worthy of power, worthy of riches, blessings and honor, worthy of wisdom, glory and power, worthy of earth and heaven's thanksgiving, worthy art thou, worthy art thou.