We find ourselves once again in Mark's gospel. So if you will take your Bibles and turn there, we will be looking and in Mark 16, the first eight verses. And I've entitled my discourse to you this morning, "Resurrection: The Messianic pronouncement." And I'm sure before the hour is over, you will understand that more fully and be as excited about it as I am. Charles Spurgeon once said, "There is no sin killer like the word of God. Wherever it comes, it comes as a sword and inflicts death upon evil." And that's exactly why Satan hates it so. That's why he tries to counterfeit it, distort it, deny it, and that's why we must study it. We must preach it. We must meditate upon it. We must memorize it. We must defend it and treasure it and obey it, because it is the only truth that saves and sanctifies. And those who are weak in the Scriptures will be weak in their faith, they will be shallow in their worship. They will be worldly in their life. They will be undiscerning in their thoughts, and they will be vulnerable to the schemes of the devil. So therefore, once again, this morning, we will unsheath the sword, which is the word of God, and unleash its power to accomplish his purposes in the redeemed. So let me read the passage to you, Mark chapter 16, beginning in verse one.

"When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.

Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

They were saying to one another, 'Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?'

Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.

Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.

And he said to them, 'Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.

But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.'

They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."

My friends, the physical resurrection from the dead, of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most important and foundational truth of biblical true, genuine Christianity; only God himself can give life, only God can conquer death, and the evidences of the resurrection are undeniable to any reasonable, unbiased person. Which I might add, is extremely rare. This was a day of Messianic pronouncement. The reason, I would say this is recorded in Romans, chapter one, verse four, where we read Jesus Christ, "...was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead” The word "declared" in the original language is "horizō," We get our word "horizon" from that. And it carries with it the basic meaning of marking off a boundary or a limit. So it carries this idea of that which determines, that which distinguishes or defines. And the point is, Jesus' resurrection from the dead, declared, determined, defined, the fact that he was indeed the Son of God. His resurrection is therefore a messianic pronouncement. And I might add that anyone who denies the deity of Christ, anyone who denies his atoning work on the cross, his death, his burial and his resurrection, will perish in their sin.

Now, the implications of the resurrection and the glorification of Jesus Christ exceed the importance, and I might even add the power of all other events in history. Only the actual creation of the universe rivals it, because you must understand, within the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus Christ, existed the supernatural power source of eternal life and God's everlasting kingdom. And it's for this reason that Paul prayed for the Ephesians in Ephesians, one beginning in verse 19, that they would know, quote, "...what is the immeasurable greatness of His power in us who believe...according to the working of His might, which He accomplished in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and made Him sit at His right hand in the heavenly places..." You see, contained within the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus was the supernatural seed of resurrection glory for all of the redeemed, for all whom the Father had given him - the power source, you might say - of the universe. And that's why Paul would rejoice in Colossians, 1:27, and speak of, "...Christ in you, the hope of.." what? "..the hope of glory." We have been supernaturally united to the creator and sustainer of God's everlasting kingdom. And think how this relates to us as we've just read in our scripture passage a minute ago, First Corinthians 15 verse 20, "..Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ, shall all be made alive." You see, in Christ, we have been given a new existence. Remember, his human body was made perfect. It was no longer subject to weakness or to death, but to live eternally. And as we read in First Corinthians, 15:42, and following that he put on immortality, therefore, like his resurrection body, ours will also be raised imperishable. It will be raised in glory, in power, a spiritual body. It's hard to even begin to imagine this, but we will be given a body like Christ's, a body that is fit for heaven, no longer subject to weakness or to death or to shame because of sin. Can you imagine an existence where there is no more frailty to temptation? Can you imagine living in an existence when there are no limits to time or to space, a time/ space fear like we currently live in.

And within the resurrection body of Christ was the infinite power of the self-existent, pre-existent, uncreated, Creator of the universe who spoke all things into existence, the one who upholds all things by the word of His power; a force infinitely more powerful than anything man could ever create or even conceive. And we have been united to him. To think that one day we will behold him right? Dwelling in a body that will in many ways look like ours, yet from his body, the effulgence of his celestial majesty, the resplendent light of his glory, will blaze forth, more brilliant than the sun.

Moreover, Christ is the quote "first fruits." In other words, he is a precise sample of a coming harvest, which means our resurrection body will be much like his, minus the incommunicable attributes that are his alone. Oh, dear friends, the wonder of being united to the living Christ, the source of eternal life for all who believe in the crucified and resurrected Son of God; I hope you will remember this in the midst of your trials. I hope you will find encouragement in this great reality. I pray that when the world mocks you and persecutes you, your mind will go to this.

Now this morning, we're going to examine Mark's account of the resurrection along with some of the other gospel writers, and I want to have a special emphasis on the evidences that prove the resurrection, as well as, I want to fan the embers of our faith into a roaring flame of excitement knowing that because he lives, we too shall live. As I read earlier, in First Corinthians 15, "If Christ has not been raised, and our preaching is in vain, your faith also is vain." Moreover, we are even found to be "false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if, in fact, the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. Then those who have also fallen asleep in Christ have perished, if we have hoped in Christ, in this life only. We are, of all men, most to be pitied."

Now I want to back up. I want to make sure you have the big picture of the Passion Week of Christ. There are five key events that occurred during that time, and together, they help us grasp the staggering implications and significance of the death and resurrection of Christ. First, you will recall what I would describe as his messianic presentation. Remember that occurred at his triumphal entry, which would have been on Monday. Luke 19:38 tells us, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of our Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest." And if we go back to Daniel nine and verse 25 we have a prophecy given some 600 years earlier that tells us the very day of our Lord's messianic presentation. It was predicted by the Holy Spirit through the prophet Daniel.

And then secondly, we see his messianic proclamation. We see that early Tuesday morning, Jesus and the 12 approached the city of Jerusalem. And on the way, you will recall in Matthew 21 and verse 19, he cursed the barren fig tree. He said, "'No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered." And of course, that was symbolic of the judgment that was coming upon Israel. For they, like the leafy tree that gave a pretense of being fruitful, were in fact barren.

And then we go on to read how he enters the temple, he cleanses the temple, and for two days he rules in its precincts. He claimed possession of it as the mighty sovereign. And during that time, he appealed to David in Psalm 110, to prove again, his claim of Messiah. And in his first, I should say his last, public discourse at that time, he denounced the scribes and Pharisees in a series of woes recorded in Matthew 23.

And then on Wednesday night, they ascended together once again on the Mount of Olives, making their way back home to the home of Lazarus in Bethany. And there he gives his famous Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and 25; the longest of all answers concerning future things, including the destruction of Jerusalem that would come, his second coming, and specifically the conditions and the signs that would precede his coming in power and great glory to establish his kingdom.

And then Thursday afternoon, Jesus and the 12 reenter the city. And there we see number three: his messianic preparation. Preparation was made for the Passover meal in a private room that they had obtained earlier what would become the Last Supper. And during that time, Jesus exposed Judas as his betrayer. The final drama of Jesus' death was then set into motion. He was then later arrested, the early dawn on Friday. He was formerly condemned by the Sanhedrin and taken immediately to the Roman Procurator and that procurator, Pilate, interrogated him. He said that "I find no fault in him." But ultimately to keep peace with the outraged Jews, he capitulated to their demands, and he released Barabbas in exchange for Jesus. Then he had Jesus scourged, hoping that would satisfy the Jews. But of course, it did not. So he reluctantly turned Jesus over to be crucified as a rival king.

And between the hours of six and nine on Friday morning, the Roman soldiers made sport of him. They mocked him as they escorted him to Golgotha, and there the Lord Jesus, Christ, the Son of God, was crucified between two thieves. And then there, at this point, is the fourth key event that I would call, his messianic propitiation. You will recall in First John four and verse 10, we read, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." To propitiate - "hilasmos" -  in the original language, it means to appease or to placate or to satisfy. And so his death appeased, it placated, it satisfied the just wrath of God against sin. And of course, this was pictured all throughout the Old Testament. Remember the golden lid that was on top of the Ark of the Covenant stationed in the Holy of Holies, and that golden lid separated the violated law beneath with the Shekinah glory in the presence of God above, his holy presence that hovered there, and that lid was called the mercy seat. In fact, the Septuagint translates it the hilasterion, the place of propitiation. That was the place where the just wrath of God was symbolically propitiated; his anger was symbolically satisfied; his vengeance was symbolically placated. For on that lid, divine justice and grace came together symbolically when the high priest on Yom Kippur would sprinkle the blood of the animal to make atonement for the sins of Israel.  But you see, what was once symbolized, was finally realized in the cross; realized in the Messianic propitiation.

So Jesus was buried then sometime before sundown on Friday, and there his body laid all of Saturday, which was the Jewish Sabbath. And then just before dawn on Sunday, he was resurrected from the dead.

Dave Harrell  

And so we move finally from the Messianic propitiation, which was finished, to where we are today in the Messianic pronouncement. Again, Romans one four, Jesus Christ was, "...declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead..." I might add that there are many other New Testament proofs of his resurrection. We're going to look at some of them today, but I'm reminded of what Luke tells us in Acts chapter one, verse three, "To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God."

Now Luke writes in a very succinct way, and he doesn't cover all of the details, so we will look at some of the other gospel writers, but we see three convincing proofs that emerge from Mark's account. We will see them in these three categories that I've given to you, that I hope will be helpful. We will see the convincing proof concerning the amazement of the women; secondly, the appearance of the angels, and finally, the astonishment of the disciples. My if only we could have been there, right? You know, I try to put myself in that place, if only I could have been there and seen that, but something better awaits us, we're going to see him face to face in all of his glory soon.

So with that, we come to the text. He begins by saying, "When the Sabbath was over..." Very important. That means it's after 6pm on Saturday, therefore all of the shops, all of the bazaars, are open, and the loyal, loving group of Galilean women that have been with him through all of this have, and the ones that are mentioned, I might add, in chapter 15, have purchased spices from those shops to anoint Jesus body; an act of honor and love, but also one to help cover the odor of decomposition. But I might also add, the phrase, "the Sabbath was over" speaks to a broader and more important subject than just the mere time of day. You will recall that the Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic Covenant. Mosaic Covenant was the law that God gave Israel through Moses to govern their life and conduct when they went into the promised land of Canaan. And Israel repeatedly violated the Mosaic Covenant, but God promised that that covenant would be superseded by a better New Covenant. You read about that in Jeremiah 31:31 through 32. And the death of Jesus meant, therefore, the end of the Mosaic Covenant as a rule of life. Indeed, he fulfilled the demands of the covenant and established the new covenant in his blood, Luke 22:20. In fact, Paul says in Romans 10 verse four, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes."

And I might add that as Christians, we are no longer under the Mosaic covenant. We have been released from the law to serve in the new way of the Holy Spirit. Paul says in First Corinthians, 9:20 through 21, "We are now under the law of Christ" and the Sabbath was therefore replaced by the Lord's day that commemorated his resurrection every first day of the week, First Corinthians 16, verse two. I might also add at that at that time, Jesus fulfilled the Passover and instituted the Lord's Supper as the new memorial feast commemorating his death, as we read in Mark 14.

Now, little bit of context here is helpful. A lot has gone on before these ladies arrive at the tomb, and the last time they saw the tomb was on Friday night, and they did not know that the Sanhedrenists had already had the tomb sealed shut, nor were they aware of a detachment of Roman soldiers that had been stationed to guard it. In fact, Matthew 28 beginning in verse one, says, "Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave." It's important here, it can get a little confusing, according to John's account, Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb first, probably walking ahead by a number of minutes from her companions, because John 20 and verse one says she arrived "... while it was still dark." And so the others come along a little bit later at dawn.

And here we see the first of three convincing proofs. We see the amazement of the women. Again, Mark 16 verse one, "When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Again, he's summarizing a lot of what's going on, not getting into the details of exactly who, what and when. Now it's obvious that in their distress, they had not taken seriously the Lord's claim that he was going to rise again from the dead three days later, because they're going to prepare his body. So we read in verse two, "Very early on the first day of the week," that would be Sunday, "they came to the tomb when the sun had risen." Then he says, "They," which would be referring to the women trailing behind Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, "They were saying to one another, 'Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?' Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large." Now, what they didn't realize that had occurred is recorded in Matthew 28 beginning in verse two. There we read, "And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred."

By the way, let me pause here for a moment. You will recall the earthquake at the death of Jesus that opened up the tombs of many of the saints. And now this is matched again with another earthquake that reveals the resurrection of our Lord. And so we read, "...for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it." I might also add that in John 20 and verse 12, we read that there were two angels, not just one. Perhaps to fulfill the biblical requirement of multiple witnesses to verify a testimony. You wonder, why didn't Mark and Matthew record two? Well, probably they were just focusing on the one that spoke. So we see convincing proofs here, just the amazement of the women, what they saw in the empty tomb. But secondly, we see the proof of the appearance of the angels. Now this is where it gets even more fascinating, if that's even possible.

I want to give you a note here. Angels, we know biblically, are not bound by physical space. Sothey can travel from heaven to earth instantaneously. They have unimaginable power, as you read in Scripture, they can they can blind people, they can rescue people, they can destroy cities. But here we see they are able to cause a localized earthquake. Additionally, I might add, that angels are spirit beings without gender, but when they do appear in what we would call an angelophany, they always look like men. They never look like women. That, by the way, is the only proof I can find to be able to say that my wife is truly human and not angelic. She wanted me to say that. But it is amazing when we think of angels in the scriptures. We see that they are ministering spirits. We know that they rejoice at the salvation of a believer. We know that they provide protection. They're constantly doing battle with demons in the invisible world. I'm sure that there are angelic beings here. Hi guys. They protect our families, our church.

By the way, I would add that I'm in constant prayer, and I hope you are too, that God will protect us from the godlessness that is so pervasive these days. Somebody sent me a clip just this morning, a video of look like a young teenage girl crawling around out in the grass in front of a restaurant she identifies as an animal, and the parents come into the place, and this individual saw it all, and parents got their meal, and then when they were done, they went out and got their pet and got in the car and drove off. It's unbelievable what Satan is producing, and to know that God has given his angels, as well as his church, through the power of the Spirit and his Word and his people to restrain and to protect. And we pray for that.

So again, as we come to the text in Matthew 28 beginning in verse two, we read, "And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow." And then we read, "The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men." The original gives us the idea that they just passed out. It was just overwhelming to them, and I might even add, this isn't in the text, but it's certainly true of these types of situations, that they probably soiled themselves, because we know that this kind of severe trigger can activate the sympathetic nervous system, which manages the bladder muscles, and can cause it to restrict, and so this was a horrifying thing to them, and by now they have run off out of fright.

You know, I also pause for a moment. I've encountered people who are demon possessed, and it is a terrifying thing to experience. The Lord sustains you in the midst of it, but it is a terrifying thing. And I might add, it's for that reason that I would never, ever, ever watch a horror movie. That is more wicked than pornography, because it exalts evil.

Dave Harrell  

But folks to see a holy angel , looking like lightning, causing an earthquake; I can't even imagine that. A brief insertion here in the flow of the historical narrative, the Roman soldiers knew the tomb was empty, alright? They knew what happened to them. And you know that was never in dispute by anyone during that day; they knew what really happened. And that's why we read in Matthew 28 beginning in verse 11, "Now, while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together"...they fell on their faces, seeking mercy, and worship their Messiah, whom they had crucified. No,  that's not what it says.

Isn't that sad? It says, "...they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers and said, 'You are to say, "His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep." And if this should come to the governor's ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.' And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day." We all know that it is the habit of corrupt labor leaders to bribe witnesses and to use an equally corrupt media to disseminate deceptive propaganda to somehow preserve their own power and prestige. You know, we see that today in our country just constantly. We're gaslighted with so many things. And I hear people sometimes say, "Well, you know, we can trust the American people to see right through all of these things." No, we can't. Most people are dumb sheep; they're blinded by Satan. And for the most part the job of politicians is to get people to believe that which is false, knowing that that is what people want to believe with all of their heart. The Jewish leaders, the Jewish people, did not want to believe that they had crucified their Messiah, so we have got to cover this up. I don't know if I've ever quoted Mark Twain from the pulpit, but I'm about to I read this on a person's wall an office that I visited last week. He said this, "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble, it's what you know for sure that just ain't so." Most people today know for sure that Jesus was not God. They know for absolute certain that he did not rise from the dead. They absolutely know for sure that he's not coming again, and he is not going to judge the living and the dead, but that just ain't so.

Back to Matthew 28 verse five, "The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, He has risen just as he said. Come, see the place where He was lying.'" What an amazing account, a record of eyewitnesses.

Now back to Mark 16, verse five, "Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed." The original language carries the idea of using a term that means they were just completely overwhelmed with emotion, as any of us would be. But the angel immediately comforted them verse six, and he said to them, "'Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they had laid Him.'" Now, a little technical point that I hope will be of encouragement to you, grammatically, the Greek verb "egeirō," which is translated here "has risen,"-  "He has risen” is in what is called the aorist passive, and can therefore be translated, "he has been raised," or "he has been resurrected."

And it's fascinating to understand that indeed, all three members of the triune godhead were involved in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 10:18, I have authority to lay down my life, and I have authority to take it up again. But we also see in Romans 6:4 that the Father was involved. There we read, "...Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father..." And in Galatians, one one, we read that God the Father "raised Him from the dead." But then we also see the Holy Spirit's involvement in Romans, chapter eight and verse 11, where the apostle Paul says, "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."

So again, back to the text. In verse six, the angel said to the ladies, "'Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold here is the place where they laid Him." Luke adds this in Luke 24 five, the angel also asked the women, "'Why do you seek the living One among the dead?'" That's kind of a gentle rebuke, is it not? Why are you looking, don't you remember he said he was going to rise again, three days later. And by the way, that caused them to remember, as we read later on in verse eight of Luke 24.

So we've seen the convincing proofs of the resurrection from the amazement of the women and the appearance of the angels. Finally, the astonishment of the disciples. And I love this section here. In verse seven, "'But go tell His disciples and Peter, "He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you."'" Let me pause here. This is such a precious, precious passage. Here's why. Notice he says, "'But go, tell His disciples and Peter...'" Now think about that. The one who had denied him three times. You know what it feels like? I certainly do; when because of your own sin and stupidity, you just feel lower than an earthworm. You're just so ashamed of yourself, you're so frustrated, you feel defeated, you hate yourself, you feel useless, you feel abandoned. Don't you know Peter felt that way. And don't you know, when he got this news, he said, "wait a minute, are you saying that the angel said that this is what the Lord wanted you to say, Go tell his disciples and me? Isn't that encouraging? Don't you know that would have been encouraging to him. Oh, my.

Folks, Jesus wants to restore the damaged. He wants to salvage the useless, revive the brokenhearted. He wants to rebuild the weak. He wants to encourage the downtrodden, make priceless what the world deems worthless. Oh, what a compassionate Savior. I'm thankful for the words in Isaiah, 42, three, "A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish."

So we read in verse eight, "They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." And according to John's account in John 20, beginning in verse one, we read how Mary Magdalene ran to tell Peter and John. The text says this, "'They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him. So Peter and the other disciples went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself."

By the way, that's something grave robbers would certainly not do, right? What another evidence of the resurrection that somehow, in a way that we cannot fathom, the Lord's body just passed through those wrappings, and whether he or an angel, or whatever, folded those things up, these are eyewitness accounts of historical facts, and you're going to tell me that it's all foolishness? The other women that arrived later, according to Matthew 28 and verse eight, "...left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.'"

Now we know, according to Scripture, that before he met his disciples in Galilee, he appeared to two disciples that were traveling to Emmaus, remember? And he opened up the Scriptures from the Old Testament; that's all they had. He opened up the scriptures and explained the doctrine of the death and the resurrection of the Promised Messiah that were delineated in the Old Testament scriptures. We know then that he met with 10 apostles in the Upper Room. And then eight days later, all 11 were there, including Thomas. And then on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, remember, he appeared to seven of them; they were out fishing, weren't catching anything; throw the the net over on the other side, and they caught all of the fish. And Peter realizes it's his Lord, and he takes off his garments, and he jumps in the water, swims about 100 yards, falls at Jesus' feet. And there Jesus had made breakfast for them.

He then appeared to more than 500 people in one gathering on a mountain, First, Corinthians 15 six, that we read earlier. And there he gave the Great Commission that's recorded in Matthew 28:16 and 17. And it was probably around this time that he met with his half-brother, James - First Corinthians 15 seven - and probably with his other half-brothers, probably including Jude. And it was probably at that point that they were genuinely converted. And then in Luke 24:44 through nine, we read how he gave instructions to the assembled disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until the promise of the Spirit is fulfilled. That would be a promise relating to the Old Testament, prophecies of the new covenant that's recorded in Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 33 and to later prophecies spoken by John the Baptist in John one. And likewise, according to Acts one and following, he appeared to the 11 apostles on the Mount of Olives and told them, quote, "'You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'" He went on to add, "'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth.'" And beloved that is continuing to this very day. We are seeing people come to faith in Christ all over this globe. I can't wait to hear the accounts of our dear church family members that just got back from Uganda.

And over the course of these appearances, Luke tells us that he met with his apostles on other undesignated occasions and times. And again, in Acts one, beginning in verse two, he did this, "...until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom." And then later, in verse nine, we read this, "And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go in to heaven.'" Oh, the glory of our resurrected Savior. And to think because he lives, we too shall live.

Moreover, the implications of His resurrection on the redeemed are just mind boggling. Let me give you just a little sample of it in closing this morning, and Lord willing, I'll elaborate it on it more next week. But in Romans six and verse three, we read, "Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? And here, the term baptized - baptizō in Greek, which literally means to immerse - has nothing to do with water baptism. It's used metaphorically to describe the believer’s immersion into Christ at salvation. You see, when we are genuinely born again, we are mystically united to him by grace, through faith, which the ritual of baptism merely symbolizes. And the practical implications of this are absolutely staggering. What he is saying is that our immersion into Christ included an immersion into his death. Do you realize when he died, we died, and when he was raised, we too were raised. When he died in some unfathomable way, we also died. In fact, our spiritual baptism united us to Christ in his death, as well as his burial and resurrection. And at that point, the old man of sin that once defined our very nature is now dead, he no longer reigns. His dominion over us has ceased. And therefore, in verse four we read, "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." The term newness - "kairos," in the original language - is newness in quality with the implication of superiority. We have a radically different disposition from our formal former self.

And then later on, in verse 11, he says, "Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. And the context there is the certainty of holy living for those who have truly been born again; have truly been immersed into Christ's death and resurrection; and what a amazing thing it is to witness a person who is truly born again and to hear their testimony.

I'm sure you've been deeply moved by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's testimony; the gold medal winner of the women's 400 meters hurdle. Maybe you've seen that and heard about that. By the way, she and her husband Andre attend Grace Community Church, and her husband is studying at The Master Seminary. But she said this quote, "I would take my relationship with Christ over a gold medal any day." That a great statement. She said, "I credit all that I do to God." She said this in a press conference. "He's given me a gift. He's given me a drive to just want to continue to improve upon myself. And I have a platform, and I want to use it to glorify Him. So whenever I step on the track, it's always the prayer, of quote, 'God, let me be the vessel in which you're glorified, whatever the result is; how I conduct myself, how I carry myself, not just how I perform.' So it's just freedom in knowing that regardless of what happens, He's going to get the praise through me. That's why I do what I do." Folks, this is the power of the resurrection in a believer. This is the hope that we have in Christ.

Oh Child of God, the implications of the resurrection in the life of a believer exceeds anything that we can even begin to imagine. So I ask you, how can we be silent about this? How can we not preach the great truths of the gospel? How can we be so easily distracted by these little screens and big screens and bigger screens, so that we become apathetic to the most important truths in the world that determine the destiny of the souls of men and women. Parents, are you teaching these things to your children? Have you sat down with your children and explained to them the death and the burial and the resurrection of Christ and what that means? Fathers, is this the burden of your heart for your children? Is this the priority of your time and effort and energy in your family. Mothers, is it the passion of your heart to teach these things, to raise your children in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord that they might be saved, that they might be sanctified? Young people, is this the type of thing that you put on social media? Let me give you a post, okay? You young people, listen up. Here's a post for you. You can look it up, copy and paste, I guess. I don't know how you do those things, but Romans 10, nine and 10, "If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, the person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth, he confesses, resulting in salvation." Put that on social media.

Unleash the gospel on social media and watch what the Spirit of God will do. Oh yes, 99.9% of the people will hear it, will mock you, will ridicule you, but you know what? The Spirit of God will use his word to either harden or soften a heart, and you never know how many people will read that and be saved. May we all get serious about evangelism and discipleship, and may we as believers rejoice in all that this means for us, for Christ is risen from the dead, and he is returning as he said, Amen?

Dave Harrell  

Let's pray together, Father, thank you for the magnificent truths of your word that penetrate our heart with such clarity and such conviction. Lord, I pray that what we've examined here today will be the seeds of truth that germinate in such a way as to bear much fruit, to the praise of your glory and to the joy of your saints and Father, for those that may not know or love Christ, I pray that somehow, through your convicting work, you will overwhelm them with conviction, help them to see the horror of their sin and the glory of the cross that they too might be saved. So we commit all of these things to you for the glory of Christ and His Kingdom. Amen.