1. Is He Dead or Risen?
THERE was no small stir in Jerusalem on the third morning after the crucifixion of Jesus. Elders and priests were in close consultation, for the report brought by the Roman soldiers from the sepulcher had been the source of more than ordinary uneasiness. The body of Jesus gone! Could it be possible? Alas! for them it was but too true. What, then, could be done in the matter? Was Jesus risen, and their worst fears realized? No; they would never allow their proud hearts to bow to such an unwelcome fact. Risen? Never! But His body was missing from the sepulcher. What could be said? With the arch-deceiver at their side, himself as much foiled and disappointed as they, an explanation is soon arrived at. The soldiers must be bribed, their lives protected, and a report set afloat through the city, as a fitting answer to all inquirers.
Now let us remember that eternal issues are at stake in this question, and let us calmly and carefully consider what their report was worth. For “if Christ be not raised... ye are yet in your sins,” says the apostle (1 Cor. 15:17).
Here it is, then: “His disciples came by night, and stole, Him away while we slept” (Matt. 28:13).
Now, upon the face of it, if this story be true, another thing must be taken along with it, viz. that of all the dwellers in Jerusalem at the time none knew so well as the disciples that Jesus was still dead, and that He was a dead “Deceiver.” Had He not repeatedly told them that He should rise again from the dead the third day? (see Matthew 17:9; 26:32; Mark 9:31; Luke 18:33). Indeed, this fact had become so notorious that the Lord’s enemies, whose perceptions were quickened by malice and fear, seem to have laid hold of it more firmly than His attached disciples had done. None, therefore, we repeat, knew so well as His disciples, if they had stolen His dead body, that He had dashed all their hopes as to His Messiahship, and entirely forfeited their confidence in His truthfulness. What, then, could have followed but the effectual scattering of this feeble few had it been so? Was it not so when Theudas was slain (Acts 5:36,37) and when Judas of Galilee was cut off?
But what do we find in the case of the disciples! Why, never before the cross had the Lord such bold and persistent followers as He had after. The handful of men who fled for fear from the side of their living Master were afterward prepared to go to prison and to death for Him, and to go joyfully. And all this for whom? For a dead Impostor? Yes, even so, if they were but midnight body-snatchers, and their Master not risen from the dead. But let us look at this story more closely.
“His disciples came by night, and stole Him away” (Matt. 28:13). Alas for these heads of the nation! their very determination to keep the body of Jesus in the tomb until after the third day turned out to be one of the strongest links in the chain of testimony against them. Pilate seems to have fallen in with their wishes by granting a special guard of soldiers to watch the tomb, and added further, “Make it as sure as ye can.” This they certainly did; and it is easy to picture their self-satisfied faces as they look again and again at the huge stone at the door, at the secure fastening and the official seal. Who dare tamper with it? Surrounded as it was with their military watch, who could? All that was now left would be to wait quietly until the third day, and then to open the sepulcher and reveal the dead body of Jesus. This would be the crowning day for their hatred and pride.
But had these precautions not been taken, there might have been at first; perhaps, an appearance of truth in this concocted story.
Here was a “great stone,” so heavy, indeed, that the devoted women (who had doubtless seen it) despaired of being, by their combined strength, able to roll it away. What, then, must the difficulty have been when, in addition to the usual fastening, it was securely and officially sealed? For we may rest assured that when these chief priests had, to their own satisfaction, “made the sepulcher sure,” by no ordinary wrench would anyone be able to cast the stone aside and enter. And yet, to their own showing, all this was done without even waking the Roman guards, who, instead of watching, lay sleeping on the spot. Was it credible?
But look at the rest of the story: “While we slept.” Now it is well known that for a man in the Roman army to fall asleep while on guard was to incur the penalty of death, so that it was a rare occurrence for any soldier on watch to do it. But here was a number of them, with more than ordinary charges of vigilance, and yet they all go fast asleep. Indeed, so soundly do they slumber that a sealed sepulcher could be broken into, the ponderous stone rolled away, and a dead body carried safely out without one of their number being awakened. Neither trampling of footsteps nor the wrenching of official fastenings could arouse these sound sleepers. And yet they could actually tell who it was that came and stole away the body!
Was a more clumsy, threadbare lie ever told? Well might the chief priests have deemed it necessary to pay “large money” to the soldiers to adopt and repeat such a story. Yet this was the only way the Lord’s absence from the tomb could be accounted for by them.
No wonder, then, that all the enemies of Christ should be astir in Jerusalem, as miracle after miracle was performed in the name and power of the risen Jesus!
But could they not stamp out this new doctrine? Well, at any rate they would try. A hot zealot was soon found in the person of a young man of promise and energy―Saul of Tarsus. He would carry their cause to certain victory. Exceedingly mad against the poor followers of the despised Nazarene, he set to his work in real earnest. He had undertaken to superintend the stoning of Stephen, and having made havoc of the disciples in Jerusalem, he was now determined to do the same in Damascus.
But even the hottest enemy to the truth of the resurrection is to become one of its boldest witnesses. On the road thither, he is suddenly arrested by the voice of the ascended Jesus. The glorified One speaks to him, “I am... Jesus whom thou persecutest”; and the champion persecutor is turned forthwith into a willing servant, and “Jesus and the resurrection” becomes his lifelong theme.
What a testimony was this! Writing to the Corinthians afterward (1 Cor. 15:5-8), and speaking of the various witnesses of the resurrection, he says, “He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, He was seen of James; then of all the apostles; and last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” And who shall dare to gainsay the witness which he bore, or question the motives which actuated him in bearing it?
Was it for personal or pecuniary gain he did it? Listen to his words as they come from the walls of a foreign prison, a place he reached, moreover, because of this very testimony: “I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:8).
Did an ambitious desire for worldly glory influence him? He was accounted the very “filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things,” and he knew it (1 Cor. 4:13).
Was it for social or religious applause? His confession of Christ simply meant the sacrifice of every religious friend he had. New companions he found, it is true, but they were among those he once so bitterly hated, the poor and despised among men.
Had he remained the fierce persecutor of the humble followers of the “Nazarene,” the learned, and religious, and respectable in Jerusalem would have honored and applauded him still; but by becoming a bold witness of Jesus and the resurrection he is imprisoned here, half murdered there, hated everywhere. Read that long catalog of ills in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, and you will see the recompense Paul got for bearing testimony to a risen Saviour. Nor was life itself so dear to him as the joy of finishing his course of labor and suffering in the interests of the One who had awakened his sleepy conscience and won his rebel heart.
God has taken great care, then, that there should be an abundant witness to the truth of His resurrection. Angels and men, friend and foe alike, are called in to give their testimony. And even those who denied it at the beginning, and those who willfully do so still, are certainly divested of every tittle of proof to the contrary.
Reader, do you believe that the glory of the Father visited that dark sepulcher and raised up Jesus from the dead? Do you believe, that the highest place in heaven is now occupied by that very Man—that God bas not only raised Him, but made Him Lord of all? Believe it or not, it is so, and we would earnestly call upon you to bow to Him now. If you remain unsaved you must, sooner or later, bow before a throne of judgment, and be damned. Thank God, you may bow before a throne of grace, and be saved. Oh, turn to Him now in true repentance “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13).
If God, in righteousness, forsook Him on the cross as a Sin-bearer, in righteousness He has glorified Him as the Sin-purger, i.e. as having done the work of sin-purging (Heb. 1:3). And He is equally righteous in clearing from all charge of sin the guiltiest sinner who believes in Jesus (Rom. 3:25). But beware of indecision. Your eternity may hang upon this moment. The risen One is coming again, and coming quickly. Bow to the Man of power now, and you will find Him the most blessed of friends forever.
2. What is Believing in Vain?
1 Cor. 15:2.
Untold gladness must have filled the hearts of the disciples as they discovered, beyond any possibility of doubt, that their Lord was risen from the dead. At first it seemed too good to be true, as one witness after another proclaimed the welcome news, “He is risen! He is risen!” Even when they saw Him standing in their midst we are told that, until He “did eat before them,” they “believed not for joy.” But there could be no mistake about those wounded hands and that pierced side of His. The most doubting one is fully convinced, and each and all go forth prepared henceforth to stake all they had in this world and all they hoped for in the next—nay, even life itself upon the truth of it. “He is risen! He is risen!” was their simple testimony, and their souls went with it. “With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 4:33).
Years rolled on, and the restless enemy still continued busy. He had signally failed in his direct attack from without; he would now try what he could do by an indirect attack from within. Accordingly we find that at Corinth he managed that false teachers should creep into the assembly, teaching that “there is no resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor. 15:12). But with what moral force and transparent simplicity does the apostle cause the light to be focused upon this crafty design of Satan! How thoroughly he exposes it! He shows a sevenfold consequence to believers if this “no-resurrection” theory were true. The whole gospel arch would give way if this keystone were removed. Seven important links would necessarily fall if that one link were severed. Let us look at these in order.
1. “If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen” (vs. 13).
2. “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain” (vs. 14).
3. If our preaching is vain, “your faith is also vain... ye have believed in vain” (vv. 2, 14).
4. “We are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ” (vs. 15), which was a lie, if there was no such thing as resurrection.
5. “Ye are yet in your sins”; i.e. if Christ be not raised (vs. 17).
6. “Then they also which are faller asleep in Christ are perished”; for if living believers are still in their sins, those who had departed had died in their sins, and consequently “perished” (vs. 18).
7. “We [the apostles] are of all men most miserable” (vs. 19), for “we stand in jeopardy” of our lives “every hour” because of preaching this very doctrine.
How crafty of the devil to aim this kind of backhanded blow at the truth of Christ’s resurrection Little do professing Christians know what they are doing when they willfully depart, in the least degree, from the plaid doctrine of God’s Word. But now comes the question―
WHAT IS MEANT BY BELIEVING IN VAIN?
Take a simple illustration. A London tradesman owes to a manufacturer in the North the sum of £50. Repeated demands are made for a settlement of the account, but in vain. The poor tradesman has well-nigh come to a deadlock in his affairs, and is quite unable to meet this claim on the part of his creditor.
One morning, among his business letters, he finds a short but very important note. It is from a friendly man of business living in the town next to that of the manufacturer, saying that, on hearing of his serious difficulties, he had been to the creditor’s office and laid down a check for the full amount, and that a receipt would be sent in due course. The poor tradesman’s mind is forthwith set at rest about the debt, for he fully believes the word of his correspondent.
By a later post the same day comes another letter in the well-known handwriting of his creditor. “Ah,” thinks he, “this is doubtless the receipt for my longstanding account,” as with good courage he breaks the seal and begins to read. But, alas! no such thing. With regret the manufacturer writes to tell him that the check paid on his behalf yesterday had been dishonored at the bank, and that consequently the £50 is still owing.
Now, you see, it was not that the check had not been paid, and not that the poor debtor did not fully believe its but Hint since the creditor could not accept the dishonored cheque as payment, the debtor had believed in vain, and was still in debt to the manufacturer.
Now may the Spirit of grace apply this to the help of some anxious reader of these pages. Is it not clear that if a settlement is to be made with God on account of sin, it is the One against whom we have sinned that must accept the satisfaction when offered? It is He who must be satisfied with that which makes the settlement. Now such was made when upon the cross the dying Saviour said, “It is finished.” As a Sin-bearer He had been, under the judgment of God, “forsaken,” as His own blessed lips proclaimed. But what proof should we have had of God’s acceptance of that work, or His good pleasure in it, if the One who did it were still in the grave, having never been raised? None whatever. Plenty of evidence we should have had that He had undertaken the settlement of that awful question, or why the sinless One there at all? Why that bitter cry in the darkness? Why forsaken? But where the proof that in God’s account He had not failed in the attempt? Even though we had believed, and ever so firmly believed, that He had died for us, we should still be in our sins. If God had not raised Him from the dead, we should have believed in vain.
Now this is what the apostle is seeking to press upon the Corinthians when he says, “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17).
But Christ is risen, “risen indeed”; and the blessed consequence is that the believer is no longer in his sins before God, but out of them forever. He who bore our sins is out of them, or God could not righteously have raised and glorified Him, and therefore those for whom He suffered must be out of them also.
A little Irish boy was once asked the question, “How do you know that your sins have been put away?” His answer was a clear proof that he had got hold of God’s side of the gospel, heaven’s side of the cross. It was simply this, “Because they’re not on Jesus now.”
“Of course they are not. But what has that to do with it?”
“Everything. Because if He actually bore my sins in His own body on the cross―and He did―and is now in heaven without them, He must certainly have put them away.”
How beautiful, how heart-cheering, such an answer! The Lord fill my reader’s heart with the joy of such an answer―God’s own answer to every question of the enemy as to the sins of all who believe in Jesus.
3. The Surety Set Free.
How ready we are to turn in upon ourselves for some proof in our feelings that the momentous question of our soul’s salvation is settled! How slow in turning to Christ, the risen Surety! To hear many an anxious soul speak you might think that instead of the Lord saying, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved,” He had said, “Look at yourself till you feel you are saved.” And thus it is that many a troubled seeker is kept in doubt and darkness for years. Oh, what a relief it is to turn from self, with all its defeats and vain struggles, and rest the eye upon a risen. Saviour, knowing that in God’s account His victory is our own!
“We triumph in Thy triumphs, Lord.”
We wish to bring this blessed risen Surety before your heart, dear reader, and we long for your blessing in doing so. Should heart and conscience still be anxious and unsettled, we beg of you to look up to God before reading further, and seek His blessing upon this little paper. He alone can give the truth a peace-speaking entrance.
Let us first take a simple illustration. A kind-hearted traveler has occasion to spend a few days in a small country village. He is himself strictly punctual in all his business concerns, and owes not a single penny to any man. During his short stay he hears that the poor widow who keeps the village shop is deeply in debt, and likely to be sold up on that account. His kind heart is so touched that, in order to save her from “distress,” he signs his name as surety for the whole of her responsibilities. Now from that very moment, until every farthing is paid, he is in debt. To what amount? To the exact amount of the widow’s debts―no more, no less.
Now suppose you knew for certain that during the following week this gentleman had left the village, and as to debt, left it as he came into it, owing not a single penny, what would you say of the poor widow’s affairs? She would certainly be out of debt also. Exactly. And it is even so with believers in connection with their Surety. To use our figure, He came into this world and passed through it “out of debt.” He, the perfectly sinless One, had not the shadow of a righteous charge against Him. But when He offered Himself without spot to God as our Surety, then could He call our sins His sins; and hence the fierce wrath, the dark forsaking, the undiminished judgment which overtook and overwhelmed Him as He hung upon the tree as our Substitute. As it is written: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [or the chastisement whereby our peace was effected] was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). And again, in verse 7, which some read thus: “It was exacted, and He was made answerable, and He opened not His mouth.”
But He has left this poor world again, and returned to heavenly glory. Did He go out as He came in? Were the charges of the Surety still binding upon Him, or lied He satisfied the righteous claims for which He made Himself answerable? There can be but one answer―He went out chargeless. How could the glory of God and the unsettled question of sin be found together in one person? Hear the testimony of God’s Word: “Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father” (Rom. 6:4). He was “received up in glory” (1 Tim. 3:16), and then “crowned with glory” (Heb. 2:9).
God had justified the guilty sinner’s Surety. In prophetic language, after speaking of His sufferings, the blessed Saviour could say, “He is near that justifieth Me; who will contend with Me? let us stand together: who is Mine adversary? let him come near to Me. Behold, the Lord God will help Me; who is he that shall condemn Me?” (Isa. 1:8, 9).
And if the Surety is beyond charge, so are those for whom He stood responsible. Indeed, so clear are they that the Holy Ghost takes up, in Romans 8, this very language of the Lord Jesus just quoted, and boldly asks, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” And this happy position of “no condemnation” is in God’s account the indisputable portion of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Is the Surety free—free from even the slightest charge? So are they. Is He beyond and forever clear of condemnation? So are they. Their place is determined by His, henceforward forever.
For proof of this settlement, therefore, do not look into the restless heart of the poor debtor, but behold the glory-crowned brow of the risen Surety, and lift up heart and voice in His praise. He, He alone is worthy. Trust Him, trust Him.
“He bore on the tree the sentence for me,
And now both the Surety and the sinner are free.”