He Is Risen - Part 1 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! The praise of my God and King, the triumph of His grace!

This is Lacerre Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree? Were you there, were you there when they nailed Him to the tree, my Lord?

Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree? Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb of the tomb? Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb of the tomb?

Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb of the grave? Could not hold Him, the grave could not hold Him. Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o'er His foes. Were you there when He rose up from the grave? Were you there when He rose up from the grave?

Where is that awful sting? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there, hallelujah, Christ the Lord. Certainly thankful to have you with us for the broadcast today and pray that the message will be a blessing to you.

We're talking about the very heart of the gospel, that Jesus Christ arose from the dead, victorious over sin, Satan, and death. We would love to hear from you. Please take time to write us at Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. We depend on our listeners for support and hope you would pray the Lord to guide you in what you could do to help us. You can also go to our website at BaptistBibleHour.org.

There you can make a donation and there you can also read the Baptist Witness and find both the Sunday and daily broadcasts. The truth of the resurrection separates Christianity from every other religion. There are those that could point to the resting place where their esteemed prophet rests.

But for Christians, it is an empty tomb because Jesus Christ is alive. We turn to the 28th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, read beginning with the first verse. 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. As for fear of him, the keepers did shake and 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. As he said, 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, though I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, Jesus met them saying, All hail, and they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid, go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see me.

Here is a glorious declaration. Jesus had spoken many times about his resurrection. He sometimes used figurative language. He sometimes was very explicit. But these, his close followers, had not been able to grasp the truth of it.

We look at some of the references. Matthew chapter 16 verse 21. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Jesus is making the matter very clear.

He must die. That's the purpose for which he had come into the world. In the gospel of Luke chapter 24, verse 5 says, And as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

This also gives the account of the angels speaking to these women who came and found the tomb to be empty. He is not here but is risen. Now notice the next word. Remember, you've forgotten something.

Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words. The angel says, You've forgotten something. You were informed that this is what was going to transpire.

And then they remembered. How many times do you suppose in our own lives we deal with great anxiety, we face disappointment and frustration simply because we've forgotten some vital truth. We look at a situation that appears to be all negative to us and say this is disastrous.

Nothing good can come out of it. But we've forgotten that the sovereign God is on the throne of heaven, working his will, accomplishing his purposes, working things to gather for the good of them that love him and are called according to his purpose. How reassuring to remember.

Remember what we've been taught. Remember what his word declares. And so they then remembered the words of Jesus. So Jesus had spoken to them many times concerning this matter.

But at this moment, they are confused. Back in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 6, just as Jesus had frequently spoken of the fact that he would come forth from the grave, it is now confirmed. The angel that is sent from above says, he is not here for he is risen. As he said, come see the place where the Lord lay. Now these women were rushing to the tomb with their spices.

In that climate, the bodies decayed very quickly. And they were hoping that somehow the stone could be rolled away and they could go in and anoint the body of Jesus. They have forgotten his message concerning the resurrection, so they're not all expecting that. They're not at all anticipating an empty tomb.

They're going there out of love for Jesus, wanting to show respect to him and anoint his body. But it's said that there had been a great earthquake and the angel of the Lord had descended from heaven and he rolled back the stone from the door. He didn't have to roll the stone away so Jesus could get out of the tomb.

He rolled the stone away so that the women could see that it was empty. Because the grave clothes were still there intact. These grave clothes were linens that were wrapped repeatedly around the body. Jesus did not have to unwrap them to come out of the grave. In his resurrected body, he could walk into a room when the door was closed. So there was no difficulty in him coming out of the grave clothes and coming out of the tomb. Because he is God. He is Lord of all and therefore he came out of the grave.

Now it is a fact. And then verse 9, we read that Jesus met them saying, All hail! And they came and held him to the feet and worshiped him. The angel from heaven makes the declaration, here's the empty tomb. Of course the officials were fearful. The leaders among the Jews said, you know it just could be that his followers will come back and try to steal the body. And then claim that he was raised from the dead. So they got agreement from the officials that the tomb could be guarded. The seal put upon it to guarantee that nobody would have the right to take the body out. The Bible told them, you can do all you can.

I give you the authority, I give you the permission to do all you can. Well they did all they could but that wasn't enough. They could not keep Jesus in the grave. This great earthquake had come. This heavenly messenger had brought the news.

The stone was rolled back and they could see clearly that the tomb was empty. So Jesus now appears. And in verse 17 it says, And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. And so he makes another appearance repeatedly now. He is manifesting himself.

He is putting in an appearance. His followers are able to see him. And then in the Gospel of Luke, we find reference to it as well. We'll be talking about this in conjunction with what we find here in the book of Matthew chapter 28. But in Luke chapter 24, two of his followers were walking on the road to Emmaus.

And they were in great sadness. But now Jesus reveals himself. Verse 31 of Luke 24 says, And their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. Verse 34, saying, The LORD is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.

And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. So the messenger from heaven has said he's not here. Why, I seek ye the living among the dead. Here's the empty tomb. And then Jesus periodically is appearing to them.

What a glorious, wonderful declaration. Yes, Jesus Christ died. Yes, he suffered tremendously upon the cross. He was beaten until his visage did not appear to be that of a man. He was beaten, the crown of thorns pressed down upon his brow.

What a terrible sight. The only perfect man that had ever lived upon the earth. But he's hated, despised, dying as though he were a common criminal. But though he died, and though he was laid in the grave, he was only there according to the predicted time. Three days and three nights, and he came out of the grave victorious over sin, over Satan, and over death. And that message concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ became a theme of the apostles. Find in the book of Acts chapter 2, after the ascension of Christ back to glory, and the blessing of the Holy Spirit coming upon them on the day of Pentecost.

What does Peter have to say in this powerful discourse when 3,000 were converted? Acts chapter 2 verse 22, he says, Ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did be him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. You see, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was no accident. It had been determined by the will of God from all ages past. And yet he says, though it was by the determinate counsel of God, you have taken him by wicked hands. God was sovereign in determining that Jesus Christ would go to the cross and die to redeem his people, but those who cried crucify him, crucify him, and nailed him to the cross were accountable for their wicked action. You by wicked hands have crucified him, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holding of it.

Oh, the good news is being proclaimed. Yes, you nailed him to the cross. You saw him die. You thought you had defeated him.

You thought this man that you despise was totally out of the picture. You'd never be troubled by him again, but God raised him up. He lives today, and therefore he's preaching.

You're accountable to him. Oh, there were many then on this occasion who were pricked in their heart, who were greatly disturbed, who saw their sinfulness and cried out, What must we do? How marvelous to see 3,000 under deep conviction coming to faith in Jesus Christ, believing on him as being the Son of God, the Savior of sinners, and submitting to baptism that they might show forth the Lord's death in this beautiful gospel ordinance. In chapter 3, the book of Acts chapter 3 verse 14, it says, But ye denied the Holy One, and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. You know, when they were given the opportunity to say, All right, we'll let Jesus go free. No, they said we would rather him remain a prisoner. We want to see him suffer.

Let this criminal, let this thief go free. And so it said, And you kill the prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are all witnesses. You were guilty.

You put him to death. But God raised him up, and we're witnesses. We have seen him. We not only heard the testimony, we not only heard the good news delivered by the angel, we have seen him in his resurrected form.

We know of a fact. This is the truth, that Jesus Christ is alive. When Peter went to the house of Cornelius, as recorded in Acts chapter 10, this truth was also proclaimed.

Reading in Acts chapter 10, verse 39, And we are witnesses of all things, which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him, God, raised up the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. This was something that was startling to them.

Some were so confused and perplexed over the matter that they thought they had seen a spirit. They couldn't believe that this was really Jesus Christ in a resurrected body. But then Jesus ate with them.

He took fish and partook of it and communed with them. And so he says he appeared to these chosen witnesses and did eat and drink after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be judge of the quick and dead.

He's raised up and he is the judge of the living of the dead. Of course, we find the apostle preaching that at a later time in Acts chapter 17 when he's preaching at Mars Hill and saying that God commands all men everywhere to repent. The fact being that God is appointed today in which he will judge the world and is but that man that he raised from the dead. See how the theme permeates the preaching of the apostles. It's a message that they were excited about. They wanted to proclaim it, that Jesus Christ was alive. Verse 43, To him give all the prophets witness, and through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

So, what has transpired is exactly what the prophets of old had proclaimed. It shows you how people can become familiar with the letter of the word and yet miss such important truths that are there contained in it. These Jews, familiar with the Old Testament, but their distorted view was that the Messiah would always be triumphant, victorious, a suffering Messiah. A Messiah that was going to die just was completely out of their view. They couldn't comprehend it.

They couldn't believe it was so. And yet Isaiah chapter 53 makes it explicitly clear. He was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities. Over and over again, there's clear indication that when the Lamb of God came, He would come to die. And yet they missed it. How many people today read their Bibles, sometimes with preconceived ideas? They already know what they think. They've already made up their mind about what they believe. And consequently, they miss some basic, fundamental truths.

If they see something that they think contradicts what they feel like, they just pass it by and ignore it. Oh, when we read God's Word, may we pray that God will enlighten our minds, give us understanding, help us not to be prejudiced against what we read, but to accept exactly what God has given us in this inspired record. So the prophets give witness of all of these things and whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.

What good news to know that. Now obviously not everybody is going to rejoice in good news for sinners because there are those like the Pharisee who consider themselves to be sufficient. They glory in their own accomplishments. They consider that they have many good works that would recommend them to God. And so when you talk about the gospel for sinners, it doesn't appeal to them. But if a person knows, I am a sinner in the sight of a holy God, I am justly condemned, I tremble at the thought of having to stand before my Maker and give an account of every deed done in the body. To know not only that God would hold me accountable for my actions, but for my thoughts, for my attitudes, for my motives. Suppose today we said in the afternoon service we're going to have an interesting program. There's going to be a movie shown that will show your whole life and reveal every sin and every evil thought. Do you think you'd want to be here for the service? I don't think any of us would.

But think about it. While we would be embarrassed for others to see every sin, every discrepancy, every evil thought, every wrong-molding that we have ever entertained, God, in His absolute holiness, already knows it all. How could any of us expect to stand acceptably before Him in our own name, in our own condition by nature?

Only when sin is remitted, when sin is forgiven, when we're washed in the precious blood of Jesus Christ and His righteousness is credited to our account, can we expect to stand before Him with joy and delight? Yes, this message was continually preached by the apostles. In Acts chapter 26, we see the Apostle Paul taking up the theme so often when he was brought into court.

He spoke to this issue. He was not hesitant to tell others about his strong conviction concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Verse 22, Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to the small and great, saying none of the things, and those which the prophets and Moses did say should come. They were constantly accusing the apostle of being, well, Agrippa told him he was beside himself.

He had lost his mind. But he says, What I'm telling you is exactly what Moses and the prophets said should come, that Christ should suffer and that He should be first and that He should rise from the dead and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles. So the apostle continues to proclaim it at ever given opportunity.

And then he writes to the church of Corinth, a church that had a number of issues to be dealt with, both doctrinal and practical. Notice the great emphasis that he puts upon the truth of resurrection in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you received and wherein you stand, by which also you're saved if you keep in memory what I've preached unto you unless you 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, that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that He was seen of Cephas and then of the 12.

After that, He was seen of above 500 brethren at once. My, what clear evidence. You know, in a court of law, if there is an eyewitness, a person that says, I was there at the scene. I saw this. They relate the event. They're consistent every time they're questioned. This is what I saw.

This is what happened. It carries tremendous weight. But think of this concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There were not only His followers, His immediate disciples, but on another occasion, seen of 500 individuals. Overwhelming testimony. One day when the Lord was filled with His praises, one day when sin was as black as could be. What a comfort to be reminded that our Savior Jesus Christ not only went to the cross, not only suffered and died, not only paid the sin debt, but He arose and He lives today. He lives on high and He's ready to hear from us when we call upon Him for our help. I hope that you will take time to write and let us know that you've listened to the program. Until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. 4-5-2-1-7