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Lord, we rejoice with thou art gone to sit upon thy Father's throne by path of shame and suffering, ore my heart shall grieve.
No more Lord, now we wait for thee to come and take us to Thy Father's home. Oh, what ecstatic joy it will be to spend eternity with thee #216.
A empty tomb of our Lord Jesus. Certainly a wonderful truth, Vital truth of Christianity, Resurrection and ascension of Christ.
Had on my heart the 24th of Luke and that connection like.
Suggest that if the brethren thought it might be portion the Lord has for us.
I'd like to read the whole chapter.
Well, maybe this morning down to the end of 35.
Passport Luke, chapter 24, beginning at verse one.
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the suffer, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rode away from the Suffolk curve, and they enter in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout.
Behold, 2 men stood by them in shining garments.
And as they were afraid, and bowed their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. 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.
And returned from the suffering, and told all these things unto the 11.
And to all the rest it was Mary Madeleine, and Johanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles, and their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. And then arose Peter, and ran unto the suffocate, And stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves.
And departed, wandering in himself at that which was come to pass. And behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about 3 score furlongs. And they and they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they commute together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
But their eyes were holding that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these, that you have one to another as you walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering sudden to him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and has not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty indeed, and word before God, and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. And beside all this.
Today is the third day.
Since these things were done, yeah, the certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the supper curve. And when they found out his body, they came saying that they also, they had also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the suffocated and found it Even so, as the women had said.
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But Him they saw not. Then he said unto them, all fools, and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself, and they drew nigh unto the village.
Whether they went and he made as though he would have gone further, but they constrained him, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meet with them, he took bread and blessed it, and break and gave to them, and their eyes were opened, and they knew him.
And he vanished out of their sight, and they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem together. And them that were with them, 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 of bread.
Before we begin this chapter, I'd like to just read a few verses in the.
15th chapter of First Corinthians By way of introduction to the subject of the resurrection, we often refer to 1St Corinthians 15 as the resurrection chapter, and certainly it is. We'll just read a few verses here. We find in verse three and four that the gospel that was delivered to Paul in which he preached not only included the fact that Christ died and that he was buried, but that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
And then if you just drop down to verse 12. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead.
How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen?
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain? Yeah, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ whom He raised not, whom He raised not up. If so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain. Ye are yet in your sins.
And so we see very clearly from this portion and other portions in the New Testament.
That to hold on to the truth of the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
From the dead is a vital part of Christianity, because, as he says here, if Christ be not raised.
Your faith is in vain and you are still in your sins. And it's very interesting as you read through the four gospels, that when it comes to the circumstances concerning the OR around the cross of our Lord, his trial, His crucifixion, the sufferings of Christ, each of the four Gospels adds or leaves out, according to the character of the Gospel, certain aspects of the sufferings of Christ and the circumstances surrounding the cross.
Just for instance, John's Gospel is the only one that gives us the detail of the soldier with a spear piercing his side. That's in keeping with the character of John's Gospel and John's ministry. And that's just one example, but I think it's very remarkable to find that in all four gospels. After he takes up the sufferings of Christ and his death, all four gospels bring before us very clearly.
The bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Now, it's not that the other parts of his suffering and work aren't important. Every part is vital, of course. But so vital is the truth of the resurrection, and so much did the Spirit of God anticipate that very truth being attacked.
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From the beginning that the Spirit of God records, I say very carefully in all four Gospels, the fact that the Lord Jesus bodily rose from the dead. And so I believe, brethren, it's good for us to stop and take up these Scriptures and meditate on the fact that not only did Christ die for us, but that he is risen and that also he's ascended, and as a man, as a man seated at the right hand of God.
And that's the same man that's going to come forth and call us to himself perhaps today.
Now, upon the first day of the week.
That's very significant, brethren. The first day of the week, that's the Lord's Day. That's not the Sabbath, the Lord's Day. And it's stressed throughout the word of God, especially, of course, I mean, New Testament, that it was on the first day of the week. And we find out it's called the Lord's Day in Revelation One, don't we? Yeah.
That it was the Lord's Day. So you can use either term, I don't care. But it's not the Sabbath. It's not the Sabbath.
It's the first day of the week, and that is the Lord's Day on the first day of the week.
Very early.
You know, these were godly women. They were godly women. They would have loved to get there earlier, but they honored the Sabbath that take. And then on the Lord's Day, the first day, very early, they couldn't wait. They came with spices of unbelief.
You never heard that, did you? They don't read it in the word of God, but you can tell about it. Spices of unbelief.
They thought he'd be there. What were the spices for? To prevent corruption in that body. The Lord wasn't going to allow corruption in his son's body. No, you read that in the Old Testament. I don't want to take the time, but they came with these spices. Now look at chapter 16 of Mark. I like it a little better there on this point.
Chapter 16, verse one.
And when the Sabbath was passed?
They waited until that wonderful day was over of Old Testament truth, Mary. We know who they were, and they brought sweet spices of unbelief.
Why do I say that? Well, look, it says well, read two. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came under the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
So I want to read something else and I'll let I'll quit. But here on on Mark's gospel chapter.
I can't look at the top of the page because mine's always wrong chapter.
Nine, I think.
Wait a minute.
OK Lions and verse 30.
Jesus told his disciples, The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of of men, and they shall kill him, and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
That's the first day of the week, of course.
And.
I got one more turn to 10 chapter 10 of the same book.
I think it's there.
All right, versa.
32 of 10 and they were in the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them.
And they were amazed.
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And as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the 12 and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered into the to the chief priests and under the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death.
And shall deliver him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock him, and they shall scourge him, and they shall spit upon him, and they shall kill him. And the third day he shall rise again. Now this is these are not the only times he told them what's going to happen to it.
Why are spices?
That's, you know, they didn't believe that he arose the third day. They didn't believe it.
That's why the spices look at Is there things in here that you don't believe? Shame on you. That's all I can say. These women were godly and the Lord honored this because He knew.
Their. Their.
Desire was a proper desire, but it wasn't according to his word, that's all. And so he honored them. You can tell as the different gospels and of the three groups that were going astray, they were they were the quickest restored in their hearts and souls, these women.
The apostles was the flawless to be restored. We'll get into that, but I want to mention it is the first day of the week and the Lord explained exactly what was going to happen and it happened and he said the third day I'll ride again.
But they brought spices.
It's nice to see that.
Even though our poor faith fails to enter into.
What the Lord was going to do, I think of John the Baptist.
He's in prison.
Going to have his head cut off.
And he asked the question, He sends his disciples, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?
And then he gives some words that evidence that he was the one that was to come. John, who had said, Behold the Lamb of God to taketh away the sin of the world. Everything was different than he thought it would be. He was in prison. His master was rejected. And are you really the one that was to come?
And then he gave them a word that would.
Assure them that he was, but then when?
The next thing he says to those around him is that John the Baptist was the greatest among women.
He saw the affection that John had and.
He commends that though he has to correct the error and these that didn't enter in, you know, the hardest truth of all of Christianity to accept is the resurrection.
A resurrection, one raised from among the dead, that takes faith, and only faith can lay hold upon it. We can't reason it out. We can't think about it and get to the right answer. We simply submit to it. I think of that verse in in Hebrews 12.
Where it says.
I'm going to have to read it. I'm afraid I'll not get it. Hebrews 12.
Sorry I'm so slow.
My fingers don't work like they used to.
Hebrews 12 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight.
And the sin which doth so easily beset us. And let us run with patience the race of the set before us. I've heard that interpreted to be you have a certain sin that beset you, and you have another and you have another. I don't think that's the thought here. This chapter follows the Faith chapter, Chapter 11.
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And the sin that so easily besets us is lack of faith.
Lack of faith, lack of believing. And that besets everyone of us.
The weights that hinder are going on properly, but then there's that sin, that sin of unbelief.
That hinders our entering into the deeper things of God.
Without faith it is impossible to please God for they that.
Though of him leaving him, it can't be delighted to him but by faith, faith.
Well, I just mentioned those thoughts with these women. They had affection.
And they were privileged to go back with the message that even the apostles rejected. At first, even the apostles didn't believe it. The resurrection.
So our affection, Mary Magdalene especially, she stayed there when the others left because she had lost the only object to her heart that meant anything.
He wasn't there wherever he laid him. She thought he was the gardener. And then he says one word, Mary.
And then she realized who it was.
And she worshipped him.
He said go to my father, tell them I send to my father and to your father, to my God and to your God. What a message given to that woman because her affections, not intelligence. That was the other Mary that sat at his feet and heard his words. She had the intelligence not to be there. She knew he was going to rise, but Mary Magdalene didn't enter into that. But she loved him so much that he meant everything to her.
Does he mean everything to us, to me, to you, everything himself?
I think it's so nice and apropos that you brought that out the sin.
As so easily beset us.
Unbelief.
Now it's all here in the Word of God, and if you doubt any of it, the sin, it's called sin to doubt the word of God, Satan.
Started that way with the woman in the garden.
He says, yeah, hath God said that's a sin? It's easily beset and it's got her, didn't it? Yeah, she told them. She added to the word of God there. And it goes on and on until he says, ye shall not surely die. An outright denial of the word of God. Brethren, this is the word of God we're going to handle today. Do you ever doubt any of it?
You better pray about that. The Lord will help you. Yeah, that's why the Spirit is in you. That's why He's here in our midst.
He'll bring it out.
I would say to the younger if you doubt any part of this book, leave it alone. Don't use your reason. You'll be wrong every time. Every time. That's right. This is not reason.
I don't want to take it too far, but that's the real sin. That's all believers.
Unbelief.
In connection with the resurrection, let's just read a verse or two in Ephesians chapter one.
Ephesians, chapter one.
And verse 19.
Particularly verse 20. But we'll start with 19 Ephesians one and 19. And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us? Word, who believe according to the working of his mighty power. Now notice this, when he which He wrought in Christ, when He raised him from the dead, and set him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, I think it's beautiful to see in connection with the resurrection, that it was God that raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand.
And I've sometimes said that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus was God's Amen to the work of Calvary. The resurrection, the ascension and glorification of Christ are proof beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was completely satisfied with what His Son accomplished there for His glory and for our eternal blessing. And if doubts ever rise in your mind, just look up and see where Christ is now.
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Just realize that God has raised him from the dead. God is completely satisfied.
Now, if God is completely satisfied with what his Son accomplished on Calvary's cross, what room for doubt is there in your mind and mind? Why is it that we doubt so often? Why is it that those fears come in? I suggest that often it's because we don't realize what God's part is in all this. We think of our part, what Christ is to us, what salvation and the work means to us, what the resurrection means to us.
And brethren, that's certainly all part of it. It ought to mean everything to your heart and mind. But to look beyond that and see what God's part in this is, I believe in a moment wipes away every doubt. If your faith is weak, see that God has raised him from the dead.
And so, brethren, we boast of a tomb in Christianity, but we boast of a tomb in a different way than all the other.
Shall I say so great, so-called great religions of the world? There are many who boast of a tomb and will even make long pilgrimages at great expense to themselves and sacrifice to visit those tombs because they think it's going to do them some good as to their salvation or blessing. But every one of those tombs contains a corpse. It contains a body, the stone coffin of Mohammed.
Contains the remains of Muhammad, and so men boast of their tombs and cemeteries.
From the tombs of the Pharaohs, the pyramids, right down to Arlington Cemetery.
But all those great men, as great as they may have been, as far as the eyes of this world are concerned, they died and they were buried. But the story ends there as far as it goes. But we have a tomb too. And when they came to the tomb early here on the resurrection morning, on the first day of the week, they found the tomb indeed. But they found a tomb that is unique to Christianity, a tomb that is empty. And brethren, let's never forget that that tomb is empty because God.
Satisfied with his son, raised him from the dead.
Resurrection is such an important thing as it was, as mentioned already, even our very faith-based on that, I'd like to turn to a verse that we very well known in Romans chapter 10, verse nine. And I know many young ones here have learned that from Sunday school, but we read this very fundamental verse in regard to salvation. We find that resurrection is mentioned here.
Hear this verse in Romans 10 and nine. He says, if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. Well, we learned that, haven't we? And you know, it's interesting because for many years I didn't understand or I failed to see the second part of this verse in regard to salvation. We talk about confessing the Lord with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. But then what is the second part of the verse that we know so well is that and believe.
Believe what? Believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead. Isn't that resurrection? Isn't that clear that we knew from the very beginning that our whole salvation based on death and resurrection? So here the verse go. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
We find in the Word of God, God knows that we forget easily. He knows that we get discouraged easily. So He put resurrection. Seen throughout scriptures we find many incidents that we have gone over in the New Testament, but we find that too in the Old Testament resurrection was very real and important to God. We find in the very beginning of the book of Genesis we find death.
When man committed sin, we know that an animal has to be killed, a skin that was taken off from that. There was a picture of death, but then a new life was given because of death and bloodshed. So resurrection in a small type was there. We find when Isaac and Abraham went into that place with that knife and the wood, Isaac would ask the fire would ask Abraham, where is the where is the lamb?
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For the burnt offering we know the scene. There we find that Abraham was ready to offer up his son, but then he saw that ram caught in the thicket, so that ram was offered up in his stead. We do not read of Isaac returning back with Abraham. What a picture of resurrection. We find that in the in the book of Genesis. There the ark after that judgment that speaks of death after the flood. The ark rested on Mount Ararat is set on the first month and on the 17th day of the month.
That's a picture of resurrection because the 17th day of the month of that self saved month is a resurrection day we find in the seven feasts of Jehovah. There in the middle of the feast is the feast of Firstfruits. Resurrection seen. We find that death and resurrection go closely together. We found the very first feast that fees are Passover that we know well speaks of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And then the feast of the unleavened bread. And then right after that, the feet actually let me go back on the 14th day was that feast of Passover. On that 17th day was the feast 3 days later. We they were to be reminded of that new feast, the feast of the first fruit. The Lord Jesus is the first fruit of resurrection. But what about resurrection? Oh, there's so much in connection to that because our whole faith hinge on that. We find 50 days after resurrection, 50 days after the feast of the first fruits.
We as Gentiles are brought into blessings. We find 50 days after the Feast of the First fruit, the Feast of Weeks. There a picture of the Church being introduced 50 days after the Ascension.
I'm sorry, fifty days after the Resurrection day, we had the day of Pentecost. What a beautiful picture to see. God had set aside a timetable where Israel will be set aside. Here in our chapter, Israel will be setting aside and we as Gentiles, the bride, the church, will be brought into blessing. We see in the book of Acts the transition because of that of how the Jewish church gradually turned into the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We found resurrection is so important. Dear young people, be reminded of the resurrection, death and resurrection together.
Think perhaps too we could it could take this up in a little different aspect. I was thinking of in Romans chapter 4 and verse 24, it says if we believe on him that raised up Jesus from the dead. Well, it's it doesn't bring the focus so much on the resurrection as it does on the one who rose him from the dead. And why is that well?
One thing that we can learn in connection with everything else that has been said is we can learn that the gospel of God, that God is a God of love, and that it was He who took up our 'cause it was his salvation plan, it was the righteousness of God, and having completed the finished work through His Son, he satisfied Rosa from the dead.
And we can look back, and we can boast in God. We can glory in the One.
Who loved us so much that he took up our cause to save our never dying souls. And so that's just a little different aspect of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the practical side is that if he was still in the tomb, we could sing about him tomorrow when we come to the breaking of bread. But now the wonderful thing is he's alive. We can sing to him. We can sing these hymns to him. We can pray to him.
That passage that was.
Read in Ephesians 1.
It's a prayer.
And he prays.
He says, I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you and my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling. That's the first thing he's praying for. And secondly, what is the richest of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints? And then the third thing.
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And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to Usward who believe?
He's not talking about the power that God put forth when he created the universe, Genesis 11 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and so on. He's not talking about any other kind of power. But what's he talking about which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places? He's talking about the power that raised him, the resurrection.
But that.
He ascended, he was raised to sit at the right hand of the power of God in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, and not only in this world, but also in that which is to come as a man there. And he has put all things under his feet, the whole universe, the whole universe, and gave him to be the head over all things.
To the church.
He gave him as head of all things to the Church.
So we're going to share it all with him, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all. So it's not just the resurrection, but the result of it. The full display of that power. Put him in the highest place in the universe, and we're going to share it all with him. Tremendous, tremendous prayer. You can't get higher than that, can you?
I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me. These women thought the Lord early very early in the morning. Because they love the Lord, and the Lord love them. But you know.
They had an ignorant affection for the Lord. They sought the Lord in the wrong place. The Lord was not there. He had risen. Nonetheless, the Lord found them. I mean those that love me.
Will be found, and the Lord found them.
But you know, I wonder what they did with those spices. They came too late. There was Mary of Bethany, and she had not only love for the Lord, but she had faith in what the Lord had said. And she anointed the body of the Lord beforehand. What she had prepared against the burial of the Lord was not wasted. But these women brought. I don't know what they did with it, but you know, Brevin, the Lord will always have faith before affection because.
Faith depends upon what God will give. Affection depends upon our giving to God, and God will have the greater place as the giver. And here we see that these women, they came early in the morning, and the Lord revealed Himself to them. There are many dear brethren who love the Lord, but they don't walk with us. A brother Bob has been bringing before us the faith of obedience. The Lord wants us also to exercise faith in His precious word. He wants our affection, but He also.
Would desire to have the faith that was lean and trust his precious words as well. I'd like to just make a comment in connection with what you say Brother Ruben, as to the stone being rolled away. Here we simply read that the stone was rolled. They found the stone rolled away. Now before I make my comment as to a practical application, we might ask the question, why was the stone rolled away? We know from John's Gospel where the Lord appeared to the disciples.
In resurrection, it says the doors were shut for fear of the Jews and he came and stood in the midst. And we know from that portion that the stone did not need to be rolled away for the Lord Jesus to come forth in resurrection because in resurrection the Lord Jesus had a body that wasn't subject to physical hindrances. And so we might say, well, why did the was the stone rolled away? Well, the stone was rolled away on a couple of accounts and one and foremost was that there would be ample testimony.
As to the fact that the tomb was empty, how would these have known that the tomb was empty if the stone hadn't been rolled away?
It was a great stone, and so God rolled away the stone to give testimony to them and testimony to the world that the Lord Jesus had bodily risen from the dead. But I'd like, just in connection with the devotedness of these women that came early, to just notice a little comment that's made about this in Mark's Gospel. Just go to Mark's Gospel, chapter 16. There's a comment made about this stone that you don't get in any of the other 4 gospels.
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I'll read verse 2 to get the connection. Mark 16 and verse 2.
And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
Now notice this, and they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre. Now, as has been already said, these women were not intelligent as to what was going on. It's been alluded to Mary of Bethany, and it's interesting that she was neither at the foot of the cross or at the tomb on the resurrection morning, because she figures to U.S. intelligence. She had divine intelligence.
Having sat at Jesus feet on a number of occasions during his pathway here.
And as has just been said, she came before to anoint him to the burial. She entered in in a deeper way even than the disciples entered in as to what was taking place. And so in her true character, she's not at the cross, nor is she here at the tomb. She's a picture of intelligence. But these women and Mary Magdalene, they are a picture of devotion. And God wants both in our Christian pathway. He wants us to be intelligent.
As to divine things, and he's abounded to us in all wisdom and intelligence. The Scripture tells us then he wants that devotion that is figured here in these women. But it's interesting as these women approach the sepulcher, what the subject of their conversation was. Who of us shall roll away the stone, brethren? Heaven, we felt that way sometimes some circumstance in our lives and we anticipate it and we say, how are we going to deal with it when the time comes?
Maybe it's something in our personal lives, often in the family or even in the assembly, we say, who's going to roll away the stone? But when there's a proper desire and devotion, may not always be the intelligence that there should be, but when there's the proper desire and devotion to be close to himself, he takes care of the difficulty. How many times have we been concerned, overwhelmed even about something, and we come to a brother's meeting, we say, oh, I just dread to go to brothers meeting tonight.
There's a stone and we're not going to be able to roll it away. And we get there and what's happened, brethren, He's rolled away the stone. He took care of the difficulty for us and our personal lives. You say, hey, there's someone here and you say I dread to go back to work next week. I dread to go back home next week. There's insurmountable difficulties, big stones in my life. Who of us is going to roll away the stone? I'll have that devotion. These women desired to be close to the Lord Jesus.
Even if it simply meant being close to his dead body. But their desire was to be close to himself. Mary says give them to me and I'll give me his body and I'll take it away. She wanted to be close to himself. And brethren, if we desire to be close to himself, He's going to remove the stones and He's going to preserve us. I remember hearing about a difficulty amongst the Saints of God that affected not just the local assembly, but assemblies gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ at large many years ago.
And after a brother's meeting, a younger brother's turned to an older brother.
And he said to this older brother, he said, and brother, what step will you be taking in this difficulty? And this brother looked at him, and he very wisely said, I hope when the time comes to take the step, that I am close enough to the Lord Jesus that I know what step to take. And so these women again, perhaps they should have been, but they had hearts devoted that longed to be with themselves.
And God took care of the problems for them. Brethren, intelligence comes by the Spirit of God applying the word of God to you. And don't think you're going to get it any other way. Now, I don't, I'm not taking issue brother, with you, but I don't like to say that Mary of Bethany was intelligent. I don't like that Mary of Bethany just believed what Jesus said.
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The word of God.
And that she acted on it. That's it.
How much intelligence she had before the Spirit of God indwelled her, I don't know, but that's where intelligence comes from. Brethren, all we have to do with this is realize we've got to believe the Word. That's it. I am the truth.
The Lord said, and if you don't understand it, don't ask for intelligence, ask that your faith be strengthened in you, because faith will believe this book, every bit of it.
And I don't, I I think she just believed what Jesus said. That was it. And that's all we have to do.
I think, Jim, you were Speaking of the fact that the Lord Jesus is in control. I was thinking of the, if we could turn it for a moment to the third chapter of Hebrews and just look for a moment at verse six. I was thinking of that in connection with an example of that which faith can lay hold of and find absolute peace in the midst of many trying circumstances.
We read their Christ as Son over His own house. Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end?
That's something for faith to lay hold of, and we see the end of the verse really explaining that faith has laid hold of it and have often thought of this too. We are, we've heard it said. Sometimes we're called unbelieving believers.
Well, we have believed God, we've received the Lord Jesus as our Savior. Our eternal destiny is settled based upon what He has done and our faith in that blessed work. And yet when it comes to these issues, so many things that come up in life.
We're unbelieving, we're worrying, we're fearful. The sin that does so easily beset us. And as another, a brother has often said, too.
In connection with that sin, Sin and sorrow come from unbelief of the goodness that's in the heart of God. But the thought of faith here in connection with the the resurrection and with everything in life.
One almost hesitates to speak of these things because.
Failed so often in trusting the Lord, but He would have us to trust Him. And another thought in connection with that. When we're worrying, when we're doubting just exactly who is it that we're doubting? The blessed Savior himself. Oh, may our hearts have a new and a fresh glimpse of Him because as Colossians 3 verse 11 tells us.
Christ is all.
And there the new translation says Christ is everything and in all.
He's able to meet our needs and we're living in a world where the enemy is busy to trouble us, trouble the Saints. But all, how lovely. Let this mind be in you, which is in Christ Jesus all. May it may be more true of us and beloved brethren.
They found the stone already rolled away.
Who rolled it away?
Not a man, not a company of men.
One Angel rolled it away and then sat on it.
In defiance to the whole Roman army and the soldiers quaked.
That's not that's in Matthew, I think. But it wasn't men that rolled that stone away. It was God's servant, an Angel, and it only took one to frighten the army.
Of the growth, he sat there in defiance to that. They were supposed to guard it.
It's good to get this in mind. It's all God, brethren, nothing of men.
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And they found not the body of the Lord Jesus. Seems like a simple statement itself, but again, it's very vital. And I just want to re echo something. And that is that the Lord Jesus did not rise from the dead just in spirit, as many have taught down through the ages as to false teaching. The Lord Jesus bodily rose from the dead and that's why he remained on earth as as long as he did between the resurrection and the ascension.
He remained on earth to give proof to his own that he had bodily risen from the dead, showing himself to even about 500 brethren at one time. Later on in this chapter we're going to find that he ate before them. He said handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone as you see me have. And so this statement that they found not the body of the Lord Jesus is very, very important. He bodily rose from the dead on the first day of the week.
But they were still much perplexed. They were puzzled.
They had his word, but they still were puzzled.
So it said, two men stood by them in shining garments.
This is what God did for them and as they were afraid.
Why?
They didn't believe his word and bowed down their faces to the.
The earth, you know what the two angels were? It was one Angel, I think in another gospel. Why seek ye him that liveth among the dead? Now that was a real rebuke to those women.
Why seek ye that liveth among the dead? That's J&D, I'm sorry.
But anyway, that's the way it should be.
Can you imagine that?
Well, now it's wonderful to see though He is not here but risen. Remember how he's fake under you? He didn't just tell the apostle, He told the women, the women who came from Galilee and followed him every place he went and provided for him in love, and he told them what's going to happen.
And he's told us.
Everything all right? I think it's so beautiful how he's fake under you when he was yet in Galilee. That's where they came from, saying the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified the third day, arise again.
Now I tell you, when his word that he spake was again told them by the Angel.
They were restored in their souls just that quickly. Think about it. How do I know they were restored? It says they remembered his words and returned. They restored. You know, it's a beautiful thing, restoration. It takes just as much repentance in your soul and conscience to be restored once you slip away.
Than it does to be saved the first time.
Remember that.
If some get away and it's happening too fast now for me to believe it's happening, but it is, they're getting away.
And I used to tell the young people, don't take the first step away. It's already a long way back. Many of them don't get back. For 25 years, I've talked to them, yeah, sometime 20. But I say, when did you realize you were the wrong way when you left?
The first day I left.
Pride prevents them from returning. I just mentioned that because that's a disease among.
Christians, even in Christendom, I would, I shouldn't bring that up, but that's a disease and it's growing.
The serpent planted that. Yeah. There's not just one place where God will be worshipped corporately. There's many. Pick it out. How many in the United States? 2600 on the last census.
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Are you going to choose none of that? OK.
Turn over to Matthew, chapter 27.
Matthew 27, verse 63. Now this is the chief priest, the Pharisees, and so on, who were unbelievers. Verse 63.
Sir, we remember that that deceiver said that while he was yet alive. After three days, I will rise again. Isn't that an incredible statement to put over against the verse that we're looking at in Luke 24 when it says.
Verse 6 Here remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, and also in verse 11.
Their words seemed unto them as idle tales, because they believed them not. Here we have unbelievers, the scribes and Pharisees, believing what He said, that He would rise from the dead, and yet His own were slow of heart to believe. Isn't that something that strikes our consciences?
But they didn't believe in faith, The Pharisees and scribes. Let's don't forget that. They believed historically, not in faith. They didn't believe because He said it and did it. Let's remember that many out there in Chrysanthemum believe.
Believe the story.
And they falsify it. We won't get into that. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about faith. Why did he say if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can move the mountain? Why did he say that? Because you can. He's talking about the greatest obstacle in your life. You'll move it with faith in Christ. Doesn't matter.
How great your faith is? Because it's not a question of quantity.
It's a question of quality. It's the faith of God.
You can be a mustard seed faith, that's all right. It's just as good as one who has a mountain of faith. That's it. The faith that the apostles had, I'm not talking about what the Spirit did for them, but the faith that they had is the same faith you got. And the faith Paul had was the same faith you had. If you're saved, it's a gift of God.
Not in major.
Itself is it? It's the faith of God. Don't ever think you got to have more. The apostle said to the Lord himself, increase our faith in that right. Increase our faith He. I can't do that. You already have faith. What did the man say was the lunatic son? Lord, I believe this is what you need and I need.
Help my unbelief. He could do that.
He can help your unbelief and that's what we've been talking about and you look to him for the help.
I wonder 1St Corinthians 15 and three at the last the end of verse two it says unless ye have believed in vain, the thought there is believed at random.
That.
They believed at random, but the faith that believes according to scripture is the faith that hangs on Christ, if I could put it that way.
Would that not be the difference?
For by grace are you saying through faith that's not of yourself, it's a gift of God?
If any of you here do not believe, If any of you have not the faith.
Ask God to give it to you because it's a gift and He will.
01:00:04
And you will believe.
It's beautiful, isn't it? I had nothing to do with the faith I have. I got it in spite of myself.
It was a gift of God, all grace. By grace are you saved. You might even believe something intelligently and connect it as to an undisputable historical fact. Something might be shown to you, as we would say in black and white. We find that when Simon in the early Acts saw the miracles that the disciples were performing in the power of the Spirit, he had to believe it with his head. He saw it right there, what they were doing.
He recognized that there was a force or a power, and we know that power was the Spirit of God. And so he it says he also believed. But to believe with our heart is quite another matter. And so if we believe in our hearts that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. You might believe something with the intellect to get it down into your soul and believe it with the heart is quite another matter, and it's going to make all the difference in the world. But I was thinking of what Bruce said, how it ought to exercise us.
How slow they were to believe, and how the Lord had to rebuke them. And it ought to exercise us, especially as we consider the fact that we here this morning are far, far more responsible than the disciples were at this time. The Spirit of God had not yet been given.
We have the Spirit of God indwelling us, the Spirit of God here this morning to teach us from the pages of this divine book. We have these things very carefully recorded by inspiration by the Spirit of God. We are far more responsible than the disciples were here in Luke's gospel chapter 24. And if we find that there's doubts in our minds, if we're raising questions as to these things and we really belong to the Lord Jesus.
We ought to get into the presence of God, into the presence of the Lord Jesus, and judge that because there ought to be no shadow of doubt in our minds as to what He has told us in His living Word. When you say we're more responsible, I take that to mean we've been given far more truth than others and we're responsible for it. But the simplicity of just believing God is the same.
What truth it is if it's just believing God because God said it in his word, that's.
Lord, I believe help thou mine unbelief, said the father of one of his children.
We're so feeble in our faith, but the Lord did say, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you'll say move this mountain and it'll do it. If it's real. It's not a question of how strong you believe that that gives credit to you or to me. It's not something faith is not something that gives us the credit for. It's the faith that comes from Him, but we believe Him.
And to doubt him is unbelief. It's just that simple, isn't it?
In the Faith chapter it goes all the way back to the very beginning of Genesis.
And the Lord says of Abraham, I think at least three times he believed Abraham, believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.
Belief that Abraham was what God had told him was going to happen and what God told him was going to happen was physically impossible, but that didn't hinder him a bit. Abraham believed God. Well, I believe it's the same character with you and me what God says. Like the little girl said, God said it, I believe it, and that settles it. And I think that should be the attitude of our hearts because what God says is absolute truth and it's going to be carried out. It's going to take place regardless of what.
Our feeble minds think about it.
Abraham believed God, and God counted unto him for righteousness, and he does the same for you and me.
Turn to John chapter 12. As far as miracles, you know you can't get saved. Believe in a miracle even if Jesus did it. Now John 1237.
For though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.
Believing in miracles, which is really prevalent today, will not get you to glory. It is not faith.
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If you receive faith of God, you become the miracle.
That's all. It's a miracle. A man like me is on the way to glory. I am.
That's faith, that's believing God and you know, he doesn't just give you life, He gives it more abundantly. And the more you go on with him, the more you realize what that means. Wow, you know, the promises of God are so vast. If I started to name them for believers here, we wouldn't have lunch until I, I wouldn't be done by lunch.
I don't know them all, but I love them. Now with that, I will just turn to one thing. First Corinthians. I'm sorry, Second Corinthians chapter.
One, I think I'll look here Second Corinthians.
I should have had it opened. I had my mind. Second Corinthians.
One it is one I think.
I'm like Chuck getting slower and slower. I even run out of spit.
All right, Second Corinthians.
Yeah, I got one some place here. Chapter one. I'm sorry.
Now verse 19 get this for the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Now I would mention here, don't fail to give him his title. When you pray, don't just say Jesus.
He's your Lord, He's the Christ. He's the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Our Lord, that's his title and we don't want to take it away for anyway, I don't have that in my mind.
At the end.
In him was not Yeah and nay, but in him was yeah. Now get this for all the promises of God. And I told you, if I started to name Him, we wouldn't be done by lunchtime. All the promises of God I love that are in Him yay, and in Him, Amen.
Under the glory of God, by us beautiful.
Every promise you read that can apply to you is yay in Christ and in him Amen. It's just as though the Father said.
Just do, he says, yeah, father always. And then the father really would say in him. Amen. It's done. Well, I won't take that farther. We're not get we're getting a little away from my portion. Sorry.
I believe there's a very practical lessons here for us.
We're sitting here looking at these.
As if all these unbelievable.
And as I was thinking.
We already been mentioned that we are very responsible.
Do we? Are we like them? We all know the answer. We're just like them. It's not the knowledge we have the knowledge of many things concerning the Word of God. Do we believe? That's a great question. Do we have the faith to walk the path that the Lord wants us to walk?
It was a very serious question. We find later on in this chapter, not trying to jump too far ahead, the two on the world's Emmaus, we find they know. They have the knowledge. In fact, they even questioned the Lord. Are you a stranger in this land? Don't you know what's going on? Well, obviously they knew. They even knew that there was a testimony that morning about his resurrection. But because of the unbelief, they were sad and they were walking away from the place they ought to be.
Brethren.
Is there a lesson for us?
We have mentioned about problems in our lives or in the assembly and we know the answer. We have mentioned about godly intelligence. It was very simple, as our brother put it, is simply believing and do obedience in the word of God is crucial to our Christian walk.
01:10:04
Our brother mentioned problems not just for you, but in your assembly. And you know the Song of Song, which is Solomon. Solomon explains that, you know, there's many gardens which are assemblies where he feeds among the lilies. That's your new name when you're saved a Lily. Why? Well, anyway, that's a different story, but he feeds there. He loves to feed.
He's feeding here not only through the Spirit giving us what to say, but it goes up.
Thoughts about him and the Father loves it. OK, I didn't mean that. Now what about his assembly?
Sometimes he goes down to feet among the lilies. Then it says he takes one with him. We've had some lilies taken recently. We really feel it, but he loves it. All right. Then he says, blow the north wind on my garden.
And South breeze too. He knows just the right portion in your assembly to bring you to Him in prayer and seeking help. It's the north wind. You have problems in your assembly. Get on your knees. Lay it before him. That's what He wants. Then the South breeze. He knows just the proportion that your assembly needs.
In order to bring blessing there. I love that, don't you? He's in control. Don't just regret what's happening.
The exercise about what's happening, well, that's a different one. Anyway, just to get back to our chapter for a moment before we close, there are in verse 7 three things that must be accomplished, that had to be accomplished. And I think it's important to see that. And so they say the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men.
And He must be crucified, and He must rise again. The rise again. I'm adding the must three times to make a point. But it's interesting, isn't it? Because apart from this, God could never fulfill His counsels and purposes for the blessing of mankind and for the full glory and exaltation of His Son. These things had to be accomplished. And so he had to die. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. He must rise from the dead because.
As we've already pointed out in Corinthians, if he be not raised, your faith is in vain, you are still in your sins. We have no hope beyond this life. We'd be of all men most miserable because it's Christ the first fruits afterward, they that are Christ at his coming. And so for the glory of God, these three things must be accomplished. And we look back now and they are accomplished. They are finished. It's a finished work. And I think it's on a practical note too, to realize, brethren, been talking about faith and resting on the Word of God.
And to realize that everything God has stated in his work must be accomplished. It's going to be fulfilled. There are portions of the Word of God that have not been fulfilled yet. There are portions of the Word of God that are going to be fulfilled prophetically in the coming day. They may have had a partial fulfillment, but they're going to have their real fulfillment in a coming day. Are you and I willing to rest upon that? To realize that everything he says.
Is going to come to pass and be accomplished that God is never frustrated.
I might tell you I'm going to do something. I may even put it in writing. I may put my signature on it and say this is going to come to pass in the in the proper time in the right way. But it may never happen. The resources I had may be lost. I may promise too much. I may plan beyond my capacity to carry it out. But when God states something in his word, whether it's looking back and seeing it fulfilled already.
Or whether it's looking ahead and realizing it's going to be fulfilled in a coming day. Brethren, we can rest with absolute certainty on what God has said. God had prophesied in the Old Testament that these things were going to be fulfilled and accomplished. Now the Lord Jesus and these ones, they say they have been, they must be and they have been. But brethren, let's realize that they must be accomplished. What he speaks of here.
01:15:08
First of all, for the glory of God, and then for our eternal blessing. Brethren, we didn't cover many verses, but we did see these godly women restored, and I think that's the most beautiful thing that ever happened. How do I know they're restored? It says, and they remembered his words. That's how they were restored. There's no other other way.
And notice and returned from the sample curve, no longer seeking him among the dead, and told all these things under the 11 of fossils. And to all the rest they were now preaching. They were now telling what they saw and heard from the Angel.
They are restored now. It's going to take a lot longer for the two on the way to Emmaus.
And it's going to take even longer for the apostles to be restored. So that's a warning for all of us.
Simple faith is much more easy restored than complicated faith.
We joy in our God, and we sing of that love, so sovereign and free, which did his heart move. 135.
We pray that our God.
I love me in the eye of my preservation.