Good morning and thank you for being with us on this glorious day.
Let's begin with a question, one might even say, one of the most important questions of the ages...
What is the basis for hope in the Christian Life?
TODAY WE ARE GOING TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION AS WE FINISH OUR STUDY ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK FOCUSING ON the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ)
My goal today: WITH THE ENABLEMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, IF YOU ARE A BELIEVER I WANT YOU TO WALK OUT TODAY HAVING FULL ASSURANCE OF YOUR HOPE IN THE RESURRECTION event and the power of God in your life for eternity. IF YOU ARE A SKEPTIC, I WANT YOU TO WALK OUT TODAY HAVING HEARD THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SINGLE GREATEST EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD
The Bible has much to say about hope - Paul actually addresses this concern in the church in 1 Th 4:13+
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.”
The apostle Peter, eyewitness to the Resurrected Christ, says in 1 Peter 1:3+,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (FROM THIS PASSAGE WHY IS OUR HOPE LIVING? BECAUSE OF JESUS’ RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD)
For many of us, we (FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST) have a hope that is blessed (Titus 2:13+ - looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus), “the hope of eternal life, which God, Who cannot lie, promised long ages ago” - Titus 1:2),
Now in case your sitting there thinking, yea but can I trust Scripture? Yes Christian Scripture has withstood 2000 yrs of critique, a true, reliable, and historical account of the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, who is no ordinary man, a man whose death and resurrection changed the course of history for the entire world, a man whose moral teachings echo into almost every known part of the world. A man who claimed divine origin and status, doing things reserved only for the divine. billions of people throughout history have testified to thier lives being dramatically changed for the better by loving Him, He is the reason we are here today. He is the reason some of you were invited, He is the blessed hope of the believer, Our hope is not a “hope so”, it a sure hope, In Jn 11:25 Jesus says to Martha,
“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Look at congregation)
ILLUSTRATION- There is a story relating that years ago in England, two men set out to disprove Christianity. One was a well-known English jurist and literary scholar named Lord Lyttleton. The other was Gilbert West. They agreed that if Christianity was to be discredited, two things were necessary: to disprove the Resurrection and to explain the conversion of Saul of Tarsus in a way that satisfied the skeptics. The two men divided these tasks between themselves, Littleton taking the problem of Saul and West agreeing to research the Resurrection. They invested over a year for their studies, then met together to compare notes. Each one was astonished to discover that the other had become a Christian. The evidence was too strong, the truth too undeniable. It still is.
So whether the details of this illustration are exactly as stated, the principle is clear that an honest approach to examination of the evidence for and against the resurrection will leave one with little doubt that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a true, historical event. But such a glorious truth that Jesus has conquered death for all who believe in Him demands a response, the nature of which will determine a soul's eternal destiny! As Paul declared "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." (Acts 16:31+)
Friends, in the following minutes I will give you TRUTH FROM GOD’S WORD to think about, to help you see that the RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD IS A TRUE EVENT THAT OCCURRED IN HISTORY), (THAT HIS RESURRECTION IMPACTS US TODAY), so that we may all agree that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is our blessed hope.
Let’s pray – Today we are going to read from the Gospel of Mark starting in Mark 16:1+, let me give you some context
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Women followers were watching
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A Jewish follower of Jesus asked for the dead body of Jesus to give him a proper burial
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The roman army captain confirmed that Jesus was dead, a corpse
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Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus wrapped in linen in a new tomb we pick up in !
Mark 15:40+ There were also women looking on from a distance (THIS REFUTES THE ARGUMENT THAT THEY WENT TO THE WRONG TOMB THE NEXT MORNING! cf Lk 23:55,56+). Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When He was in Galilee, they would follow Him and help Him. Many other women had come up with Him to Jerusalem. 42 When it was already evening, because it was preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went in to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised that He was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him whether He had already died. 45 When he found out from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph. 46 After he bought some fine linen, he took Him down and wrapped Him in the linen. Then he placed Him in a tomb cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. 47 Now Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where He was placed.
Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so they could go and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week (OUR SUNDAY), they went to the tomb at sunrise. (Lk 24:1+, Mt 28:1) 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” 4 Looking up, they observed that the stone—which was very large—had been rolled away. (Mt 27:60-66) 5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; they were amazed and alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has been resurrected! He is not here! (LET’S READ THOSE WONDERFUL WORDS AGAIN! READ THEM WITH ME...JASON, YOU THEN READ THEM SLOWLY SO THEY CAN READ WITH YOU...“HE HAS BEEN RESURRECTED. HE IS NOT HERE!” WHY IS HE NOT THERE?. THEN SPEAK BOLDLY TO THE CHURCH “HE IS RISEN!” HOPEFULLY SOMEONE WILL RESPOND -- IF ONLY ONE OR TWO DO, OR THEY DO IT VERY QUIETLY, PROMPT THEM TO SAY “HE IS RISEN INDEED!”) See the place where they put Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there just as He told you.’ ” 8 So they went out and started running from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid.
IS THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST TRUE OR IS IT A HOAX PERPETRATED BY CHRISTIANS FOR THE PAST 2000 YEARS?)
Paul (IN 1 COR 15:17 UNDER THE INSPIRATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MAKES A RADICAL STATEMENT ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN FAITH STATING THAT “IF CHRIST HAS NOT BEEN RAISED, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins." -- if it is a hoax, then your faith is useless, we are still in our sin. Christianity is not a religion of death, but of life. If Jesus did not rise, then the cross means nothing.
Here are a few reasons why we can have complete confidence in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Empty tomb – there is still no better understanding of that empty tomb than THE FACT THAT Jesus was dead, a corpse, and that His body came to life again and He left the tomb, leaving it empty. Why do we believe the angel’s declaration “He has been resurrected. He is not here!”? Why do we believe in THE empty tomb?
THOUGHTS ON EMPTY TOMB - Consider the significance of the fact that NO ONE in first-century Judea disputed the empty tomb. FIRST CENTURY WITNESSES admitted the tomb was empty (WE’LL LOOK AT THAT MORE IN THE NEXT POINT). Second and more surprising, His enemies freely admitted that the tomb was empty, and they scrambled to fabricate an explanation for it. Never forget that both the Jews and the Romans—the enemies of Christ, the ones responsible for His death—never tried for one moment to dispute the empty tomb. They could not. They could have shut down the Christian movement in short order had they only produced Christ's body. But they could not, and they did not even try.
2. The appearances of Jesus to many – Remember that throughout history the testimony of eyewitnesses has been considered one of the most reliable pieces of evidence in a court of law. So let’s look at a summary of witnesses that support the angel’s words “He has been resurrected. He is not here.”
In Acts 1:3+ Luke writes (and I am reading from the New Living Translation)...
“During the forty days after His crucifixion, He appeared to the apostles from time to time and proved to them in many ways that He was actually alive.”
Paul expands on Luke’s description in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8+ which as an aside is probably the best definition of the Gospel in the Bible.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures , 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas (Explain "this is another name for Peter"), then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
Notice the phrase Paul repeated“according the scriptures” - first remember that the word “scriptures” in the NT virtually always refers to the OT scriptures - so what is Paul doing? Clearly he is making an appeal to the witness of fulfilled OT prophecies that centuries earlier had predicted Christ’s death, burial and resurrection - we don’t have time to study these prophecies now but can say that their fulfillment is evidence of Christ’s resurrection - in other words, if we put the OT Scriptures on the witness stand so to speak they would speak tell us the truth about the resurrection of Christ) (See Old Testament Messianic Prophecies).
LET’S SUMMARIZE -
Jesus appeared In his physical resurrected body to eyewitnesses - first to the women in mark 16, then to Peter, then to the disciples, (some of whom doubted until he showed them the wounds in his hands and side - He proved He was not a ghost or a spirit but had a physical body by eating and drinking with them. And He did these and other things not for just one day but for 40 days.
3. RADICAL CHANGE of LIFE IN THE APOSTLES - PAUL WAS AS ORTHODOX A JEWISH MAN AS ANYONE WRITING “(I WAS) circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. (Phil 3:5-7+)
AND YET WHAT DID PAUL SAY ABOUT ALL HIS ORTHODOX JEWISH CREDENTIALS AFTER HE HAD MET THE RESURRECTED CHRIST? He said “I count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ” (Phil 3:9)
THAT’S A RADICAL CHANGE.
AND ACTS 9:20-21+ SUMMARIZES PAUL’S RADICAL CHANGE - HE SAW THE RISEN JESUS IN ACTS 9:3-6+ (PROBABLY NEED TO READ THIS AS IT IS PAUL’S EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST)
3 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”
AND WHAT WAS THE EFFECT OF PAUL’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE RISEN CHRIST?
ACTS 9:20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”)
SO in one moment PAUL was transformed BY A VISION OF THE RISEN CHRIST from the greatest enemy the early church into the greatest missionary the world has ever known.
Add to PAUL’S EXAMPLE, THE RADICAL CHANGE THAT OCCURRED IN ALL THE APOSTLES AFTER SEEING THE RESURRECTED CHRIST A MAN NAMED PETER THE THRICE DENIER OF CHRIST BECAME FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST AND WAS TRANSFORMED INTO PETER THE PROCLAIMER OF CHRIST’S DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION.
Paul and Peter were willing to die for their belief in the resurrected Christ. Extrabiblical evidence supports the fact that all 12 apostles were martyred for the sake of the gospel.
Why? The tomb is empty, and Jesus is alive (Lk 24:6+). Buddha is still in his tomb. Confucius is still in his tomb. Mohammed is still in his tomb. But as the angel SAID “HE IS NOT HERE!” Why? Because HE IS RISEN!
LET’S SUMMARIZE THE EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION:
1) The empty tomb testifies to the truth of the resurrection of Christ
2) Many eyewitnesses including prophecies and people testify that Jesus is alive
3) Radically changed lives testify that Jesus is alive -- in fact every person in this room who has experienced a radically changed life is a living witness to the truth that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and is alive.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THE RESURRECTION MAKE TO GOD THE FATHER?
When Christ died on the cross he uttered some of the greatest words ever spoken “It is finished” (which means “paid in full” -- in ancient times this exact phrase would be written across a bill of sale when the bill was paid. We all had a bill - the wages of sin (Ro 6:23+). Jesus paid our sin bill in full when he died on the cross in our place. His resurrection showed that god the father accepted the payment of his “precious blood, as of a Lamb unblemished and spotless.” (1 Peter 1:19+). In other words the empty tomb is the father’s cry of “Amen” to the son’s cry of it is finished, paid in full (Jn 19:30+)! The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead indicates that the Father is satisfied with the Son’s payment! And that is good news for all of us who are in Christ by grace through faith in Him (Eph 2:8-9+)!
What about me? What difference does THE TRUTH OF THE RESURRECTION, MAKE IN MY LIFE?
The resurrection provides us with POWER - supernatural power, resurrection power - you may be thinking there is no way that kind of power would be available to me. Sure, it was there for Jesus to raise Him from the dead, but for me in my day to day life. No way! Let's see what the Bible says.
1) PAUL’S DESIRE FOR RESURRECTION POWER:
Paul wanted to experience resurrection power declaring….
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Phil 3:10+)
Question: Do you desire the power of His resurrection in your life?
2) PAUL DESCRIPTION OF RESURRECTION POWER:
LET’S LOOK AT ROMANS 6:3-5+ PAUL BEGINS WITH A QUESTION…
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into (IDENTIFIED WITH) Christ Jesus have been baptized into (IDENTIFIED WITH) His death? 4 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, so we too might walk in newness of life (MIGHT BE ENABLE TO LIVE A BRAND NEW QUALITY OF LIFE ONE WE WERE NEVER ABLE TO LIVE BEFORE). 5 For (term of explanation - youtube) if we have become united with Him (in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.
When we believed in Christ for salvation, in the mysterious divine working of redemption, we were crucified with Christ on the Cross (Gal 2:20+), we were buried with Him and we were raised with Him to “newness of life” in the likeness of His life. In short, believers now have access to resurrection power, a power which is activated or enabled by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Perhaps you are skeptical of everything I have said. Let me give you an example of a man who was skeptical. His name is Lee Strobel an investigative reporter and Yale trained lawyer who sought to disprove the resurrection of Christ. With a well trained legal mind, he called the same witnesses to the stand as we did today -
(1) The witness of the empty tomb
(2) The eyewitness of Biblical prophecies and Biblical people and
(3) the irrefutable witness of radically transformed lives of Paul and Peter among many others.
And what was the result of Strobel’s investigation? Did he disprove the resurrection of Christ? Like so many men and women before him who have looked honestly at the evidence for the resurrection, this once skeptical lawyer became a radical believer who chronicled his journey in the best selling book THE CASE FOR CHRIST (BORROW THIS BOOK), (Here is the audio version of the book) which has been released in as a major motion picture (free) (Watch associated documentary free). (Consider watching this movie with a skeptical unbelieving friend, one like Lee Strobel, and then having a dessert and a discussion!)
Recently, Lee Strobel spoke about our need for resurrection power explaining that
“before I bowed the knee to Jesus as Lord and received the Spirit of God, I was so angry and mean that my 4yr old daughter when she heard me opening the door upon coming home from work, would gather up all her toys from the living room and go to her room and shut the door. This is heart-breaking. Yet, some months after my conversion, my daughter too at church makes the announcement that she too wants to follow Jesus, because she wants what has happened to daddy to happen to her. RESURRECTION POWER matters today. You and I can’t break destructive patterns in our lives. We can’t forgive freely. We can’t defeat sin but He can, 1 John 4:4 “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
Question: Are you relying on your natural power or supernatural resurrection power to live the Christian life? The former will result in futility, frequent failures and much frustration. The latter will lead to frequent victory over sin and frequent experiencing of the abundant John 10:10 life in Christ.
3) PAUL’S PRAYER FOR RESURRECTION POWER
Okay Pastor, so I desire this resurrection power and I believe it is available to me through the indwelling Holy Spirit. How? Prayer and the Word
Paul prayed for the saints at Ephesus to practically experience this supernatural, resurrection power. It’s a great prayer for us to pray for our spouses and each other. It’s a prayer I want to pray for you, depending on the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to make it real in your heart and your daily walk. Let’s read it first and then I will close by praying it for every follower of Christ who desires resurrection power. If you are not yet a follower of Jesus, but would like to experience God’s resurrection power, then the way is open to you today, by placing your faith in the Risen Redeemer Who died in your place, paying the bill for your sin debt in full, so that you might experience His resurrection power and a be enabled to live a resurrection life now and forever in eternity.
So here is Paul’s prayer for resurrection power…
Ephesians 1:18-20+ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope (absolute assurance) of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of HIS POWER toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places
"We all need this resurrection power to live a supernatural life"
Short comment on power (dunamis) - The Greek word for power in simple terms means the power to accomplish supernaturally what you cannot possibly accomplish naturally! And so, it is the power to obey commands like "husbands love (present imperative - continually!) your wives like Christ loved the church.” (Eph 5:25+) Try to obey that one in your natural power! Or the command to forgive one another just like God has forgiven you! (Eph 4:32+) Try that one relying on your natural power! You can see the point -- we all need this resurrection power to live a supernatural life!
Let’s pray for a Spirit filled church, a church filled with saints learning to daily rely on resurrection power so that the world will see that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead by looking at the supernatural lives of his followers.
Bow your heads with me.
Low in the grave He lay,
Jesus, my Savior,
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus, my Lord!
Refrain:
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!
Vainly they watch His bed,
Jesus, my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus, my Lord!
Death cannot keep his Prey,
Jesus, my Savior;
He tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord!
Related Resources:
- Trial & Crucifixion of Jesus-Parallel Passages
- Who Moved the Stone? by Frank Morison
- Resurrection of Jesus Christ-Devotionals
- The Case For Christ - full movie free
- The Case for Christ - borrow book
- The Case for Christ - audio version of the book
- The Case for Christ - a related documentary
- He's Alive by Don Francisco with lyrics