Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the gospel according to Matthew
chapter 20 and reading for our text verse 19, but it is just
the latter part of that verse. The words, and the third day
he shall rise again. The whole verse reads, and shall
deliver him to the Gentiles, to mock and to scourge and to
crucify him, and the third day he shall rise again. What a solemn account of the
Lord's sufferings and death. Not just any death, but the death
of the cross, which is highlighted by the Apostle, where he sets
forth our Lord's obedience even unto death, even unto the death
of the cross. But it is the rising from the
dead that is upon my spirit this evening, and not just the rising
from the dead, but the third day he shall rise again. There is a significance right
through scripture of three. Of course, we would think of
the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But three is one
of those numbers that are designated or called a perfect number. There's
four of them, three, seven, ten, and twelve. But right the way
through, Scripture, the Holy Spirit has chosen out three,
three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We have with Balaam
even, when he came to offer the sacrifices, the intention of
the king of Moab that he should curse, but it ended up blessing,
was in three different places. that the children of Israel were
blessed from. We have the Aaronic blessing
as well in numbers that are in three parts. And so there is
also, going back to the flood and to Noah, three sons from
which all of the human race, they came through those families,
Shem, Ham, and Japheth. When the Lord were just before
Abraham and Sarah had their son, Isaac, there was the three angels,
one of them being the Lord, and two angels that came to him. The two angels went on to Sodom
and Gomorrah. The Lord remained with him. Again,
it was three that were chosen. When our Lord ascended to the
Mount of Transfiguration, He chose three of his twelve disciples,
Peter, James and John, those same three, he chose to be close
to him in the Garden of Gethsemane when the weight of his people's
sin was laid upon him. And of course we have Jonah,
three days and three nights in the fish's belly, a sign that
the Lord said that would be given even to that generation, that
even so must the Son of Man be three days and three nights in
the heart of the earth. And there are many other areas
as well where the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture has chosen
that there should be three Hebrew children in the burning fiery
furnace. and in many other places you
may think of. But I want to look at the word
that is before us, and the third day shall rise again with this
thought of a third day faith. A third day faith. Firstly, a
faith in a risen saviour. And then secondly, a faith that
is trying. and thirdly, a faith that waits. But firstly, a faith in a risen
Saviour. I know when we observe the Lord's
Supper, we are showing forth the Lord's death till he come. And we would always remember
that it is the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanseth from sin. The righteousness of Christ does
not cover sin. It is the blood that blots it
out. And it is the robe of righteousness
that makes us meet for heaven so that we appear in the presence
of God, not naked, but spotless, not without any righteousness,
but with a righteousness that is given us. And so it is the
blood. that puts away sin. When I see
the blood, I will pass over you. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. And so it is not the rising again,
it's not his robe of righteousness, but the blood alone that cleanses
us from sin. But without our Lord's perfect
life and obedience, we could not appear in the presence of
God without that imputed righteousness. Because, like a wedding garment,
we would be naked, we wouldn't have anything to fit us for that
place. Our own righteousness, being
as filthy rags, we need another, and that is provided by our Lord. Also, if our Lord did not rise
again from the dead, then it would prove that that blood was
not the blood of God, it was not sinless blood, it was just
the same as the blood of Abel, which could not atone for sin. And so the rising from the dead,
even though that itself doesn't put away sin, yet it is vital
to assure us that the precious blood of Christ has put away
the sin of his people. He hath given assurance unto
all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. When we hear about the shed blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ, what is so vital is that it be applied
to us and that we have assurance that it will be a factual for
us, that it will cleanse us from our sin, that our sins have been
put away. And the evidence of that then
is a risen saviour, a saviour who has ascended, a saviour who
is alive, a saviour who is the executor of his own will, that
knows for whom he died and whom he suffered, And who has prayed,
Father, I will, that they whom thou hast given me be with me
where I am, that they may behold my glory. And he has done what
is necessary for them to be with him where he is. That is, he
has shed his blood to put away their sin, he has brought them
by grace to believe in his name, he has imputed to them his righteousness,
and he lives to carry on their cause above and to ensure that
they be brought safe home to glory. The Lord says, because
I live, ye shall live also. So when we read the third day,
he shall rise again. And this is our Lord here foretelling
it. And we know that he did. He did
rise. The tomb is empty. He's not here. Behold, he has risen. then we
know that that which the Lord gave him to do, he has accomplished,
and God has set his seal to it, that his people will rise with
him, live through him, he is their advocate with the Father
Jesus Christ the righteous, he does appear in the presence of
God for us. And so it is a living faith,
that centers upon a living Jesus, a living Christ, a prime reality. And it doesn't just center in
a cross or a dead Christ, but a living Savior, a living Christ. And that is so vital for us. If you and I are to live and
receive the benefits and blessings of Christ's sacrificial death,
then we also need to know something about His rising, His life, His
appearing to us. The disciples were glad when
they saw the Lord, when they saw Him risen, when they saw
Him personally, when they knew it was the same Jesus, when He
allayed their fears, when he came to them, not them to him. In each of those appearances
of our Lord, when he rose from the dead, he appeared to them. It is why we read the beautiful
summary that the Apostle gives to the Corinthian church, that
he says that this is a summary of the gospel which he preached,
and he makes this point. which ye also have received and
wherein ye stand. And then he testifies that those
things that he delivered unto them he also first received. He was a partaker of those blessings. The Lord appeared to him, he
says, last of all he was seen in me also as one born out of
due time. On the Damascus road, the Lord
appeared to him, gave him so that he should be an apostle
with a first-hand witness of Christ. But he had received these
things, and the emphasis then, not only that he was buried,
not only that he died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
but that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according
to the Scriptures. So we have, on the first day,
Christ died. Then he was buried, he is dead.
And then the third day, he rises again. And our faith is to centre
and to be upon the reality of what our Lord truly died, truly
was buried, and truly rose again. And that it answers to what our
Lord said would happen and in all the types and all the shadows
of the Scriptures. If you and I have a true faith,
it will be in a risen Saviour. A third day faith, a risen Saviour. That's the thing, when the Lord
arises with healing in His wings, when He arises in a sinner's
heart, when he shows himself to his disciples, who were sad,
who were so low, and the Lord appears, and the Lord shows himself
to them. Faith in a risen Saviour, may
we have that faith, and it really put a seal on everything else,
his death, his sufferings, his burial, his rising again. But then secondly, a faith that
is tried. Abraham was told, and we're told
that it was the trial of his faith where God would tempt or
try Abraham. He told him to go and offer up
Isaac. Now Isaac, Abraham was very sure,
was the son of promise. We are told in Hebrews 11 that
Abraham believed that even if he had died, yet God would raise
him up because the scriptures, the promise, must come to pass. Abraham had a real clear faith
not in a dead Isaac, not in just the promise through Isaac, but
that Isaac must live, he must rise. Now the first day, when
Abraham set out, Isaac in his eyes would have been, as it were,
dying. The second day, as dead. But then the third day, taken
off the altar, alive and risen. It was vital for the trial of
Abraham's faith that he went through those first two days,
that there was a dying, that there was a viewing of Isaac
as dead, where we're told in Hebrews in a figure he received
him from the dead, and vital that he saw him rise and taken
off the altar. Peter says the trial of your
faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Christ. And a trial of faith
always has a time aspect to it. Need it might not best be. three
days. It might not be that long. Sometimes
it is a lot longer than that. But really this is very significant
to testify of what is expected with the trial of faith. It certainly was to the dear
disciples. Those two on the way to Emmaus,
they said that we trusted that it should have been He which
should have redeemed Israel. And beside all these things,
today is the third day since these things were done. And their
faith was sharply tried, and yet they'd gone through that
first day, they'd seen our Lord crucified and slain, all that
we have here, mocked, scourged, crucified, They'd seen him laying
in the grave, and now it was the third day. And they realized
there was some significance in that. And then the Lord appeared
to them. At first, not clearly, their
heart burned within them as he showed himself through all of
the scriptures. And then at last, in the breaking
of bread, He made himself known to them, and then vanished out
of their sight. They viewed a risen Saviour,
but it only followed as it were that triumph of faith. You may
gather this evening, and there be those things you say, but
we trust it. We believe this would happen.
We would believe that the Lord would work in this way or that
way. You might have felt that the Lord had even begun a work
in your soul, but it's not working out as you felt it should. And
that faith that first you felt implanted is now being severely
tried. Part of the trial is a time factor,
but part of the trial, again, is the deadness, the lifelessness,
the need of life. The Lord has said that he came
to give his people life and that more abundantly. And in a way,
in the experience of God's people, when the Lord first gives life,
when he passes by them and bids them live, the first effect of
that life is death. Because then they realise their
state, they realise their condition. Paul says when the commandment
came, sin revived and I died. the Lord's first dealings with
me in conviction. It wasn't saying, oh, the Lord
is my God or the Lord has begun with me. Not at that point. I
realised what a hypocrite I was, what a sinner I was, how far
off I was, how lost I was. And yet the Lord gave a hearing
ear and he gave a felt need. And yet there is that time factor
between The time the Lord gives that life and begins the work,
he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the
day of Jesus Christ. You might say that day of Jesus
Christ is when the Lord comes again or when he brings us to
heaven. But in another sense, is unto the day when the Lord
Jesus Christ is revealed. And experience a testimony like
those two on the way to Emmaus, He didn't just say their sorrows
and their griefs and their perplexities. It ended with, they told what
was done in the way and how Jesus had made himself known to them,
a risen Christ. He had risen and showed himself
to them. And so when the Lord performs
his work and begins that work, first to slay, first to cast
down, first to bring as a sinner, and then to carry on that work
and to bring it on then so that it results in the Lord revealing
himself to his people. Our Lord told the parable of
the sower and in those accounts that he gave, those things that
tried the word that was first implanted in that ground. especially the cases that were
in the stony ground, then it was that the picture was that
that word had no root, had no depth of earth, so when persecution
came or trouble because of the word, then by and by they're
offended and they went back and there was no fruit. And then
the one sown amongst thorns, when the cares of the world and
the things of this life came. And they tried that word. Was
it a real word? Was it really a seed? Was it good ground? Was it ground
prepared by God? And yet those that were in that
thorny ground, they bore no fruit. and it was only the one in good
ground that it brought forth fruit. And those that hear the
gospel, those that hear the word, some receiving it. Three types
there where the Lord said they received it, but it never brought
forth fruit to perfection because there were things that, when
in the trial, it tried it to be not real. And so really we
should welcome trials, we should welcome tests, welcome troubles
and tribulations, and things that discourage, because it shows
not to God, God knows the work, He knows what is His, but it
shows to us that the work that is in us is a work of which we
will not be offended, we will not be enticed away by the world,
but the Lord will bring us safely on in it. Bunyan's pilgrim was
shown into the interpreter's house and there was a fire in
the grave. It had water being poured upon
it and it didn't go out. And the secret was the oil being
poured on the other side. The work of God has a secret
life and power and strength in it. is not a natural religion,
it comes from heaven, and it will stand those trials and tests
that are brought against it. And so that's why, if need be,
he says, Paul, are in heaviness through manifold temptations,
one after another, one trial after another, to try and test
and shake. Can you think of our Lord immediately
after he's baptised in the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. Forty
days, forty nights, that time of temptation. We only read of
three of the specific temptations. But a hymn writer says, our captain
stood the fiery test and we shall stand through him. It is God's
plan to give his people life and grace and then try and test
that and show to them that what they have is not a natural religion,
is not just a turning over a leaf, but is that which He has given.
It may be an encouragement to some of you that may be discouraged,
may have trials in family, trials in the world, trials of health,
trials in the church, and they're the most hardest ones to bear,
things that really toss you, things that you think that surely
must come to nothing under these. And yet, where the work is the
Lord, then He will bring you safely through. Yes, reeling
to and fro, stabbling like a drunken man, neither know where the scene
will end. But in the end, the Lord will
sustain and keep alive His people. The dear disciples had to go
through seeing all that was done against the Lord Jesus Christ
by the religious leaders of their day. They themselves forsook
him and fled. But they had to view, they had
to see all these things and be brought through these things
and the Lord appear to them at last, make all things to be truly
and fully known and established. So may we be very clear that
faith will be tried. Grace, says the hymn writer,
though the smallest must surely be tried. And for those trials
to be effectual, they liken to fires. They burn up much. They burn up much grass. They
burn up much religion that is really not of God. But the blessing
is that they leave that which God has done and which He maintains. and supplies are fresh again. It's hard, it's painful, it's
not nice, and in the middle of it we wonder where the scene
will end. But he that endureth unto the
end shall be saved, and that we do endure is just by the grace
of God alone. I want to think then thirdly, of
faith that waits. Faith that waits. We're in a
world that wants everything straight away. We really have need of patience. After you've done the will of
God, you might receive the promise. Endurance. James says, you've
heard of the patience or endurance of Job and the end of the Lord. We read at the beginning of his
trial, loss of all his goods, his loved ones, his health. Then we read how the trial was
aggravated because his friends that first sympathised now turned
on him and accused him, and he says, miserable comforters aeon. And the dealings that he had
with the Lord, with them, it showed what was in his heart.
He had much to learn in it. But in the end, the latter end
of Job was better than the first. but there was a time factor in
it. There was a going down into that
trial, there was a continuing in it, and then there was a bringing
up out of it again. In a faith that waits, doesn't
make haste, judged nothing says the word before the time. Our Lord says, your time is always
ready, but my time is not yet. If you would say to Elijah, how
many times must you pray for rain? And he'd say, well, I prayed
just once and fire came down from heaven. But you say, but
then how many times did you have to pray for rain? And he'd say,
seven times. Go again seven times. And then
nothing, nothing, nothing. And then a cloud like a man's
hand. And he saw that as the answer. A time factor. Sometimes we may wait a long
time for the Lord to answer our prayers. We think he should answer
straight away, but he doesn't. Sometimes we think the trial
should be well and truly over by now, but it is not. We think of when King Saul had
the Philistines coming against him. Now a king was not a prophet,
was not to offer the sacrifices. He was told to wait for Samuel. But the Philistines were drawing
near, and he felt the time was up. It wasn't up. So he forced
himself and offered the sacrifice. And just as he'd finished, and
was about to offer the peace offering, then along comes Samuel. And Samuel reproves him that
he has done very foolishly. Why? Because he didn't wait. He didn't wait for Samuel to
come. It was a big encouragement to
us to wait the Lord's time. We think of going back to Abraham. Abraham was promised a sea. But
time went on, Sarah was barren, so he took Sarah's advice, took
her, made Hagar had a child Ishmael by her. The Lord said, no, that
shall not be the promised seed. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. And in God's time, then Isaac
is born. Faith. is a faith that needs
to wait. Abraham brought trouble, sorrow. King Saul brought rejection because
of what he did. The disciples, they were told
to tarry at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on
high. And they had to wait. Thinking
of the resurrection morning, and we find the disciples coming
and going from the tomb, but Mary waiting at the tomb, and
as she waits there, then the Lord does appear to her. Those things that are set before
us are an encouragement that in a true faith, there is a waiting. We think of dear Jacob, All these
things are against me. Some 20 years or so, he had to
wait. Until then, he knows God's plan
and God's purpose. But Jacob was a man of faith,
and yet walking out that long, long trial, what of his son's
dreams? What of Joseph's dreams? And
Joseph himself had to wait all that time. A faith that waits. In the tabernacle in the wilderness,
and also in the temple, there was three parts to that tabernacle
and that temple. In the first, the outer court,
there was just two things. You had to enter into it by the
veil, but entering in through the veil, which signifies our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. and the three times it was the
veil or the curtain of the door. But in it was the altar of burnt
offering and then the lava to wash in. The hymn writer says,
let the water and the blood from my riven side which flowed, be
of sin the double cure, and cleanse me from its guilt and power. And when God deals with his people,
he puts away their sin, he sanctifies them, and they are to know the
blood of atonement, and they are to know the washing of the
water of regeneration and being sanctified. And when the Lord
does that, Then how long he takes in doing that, the Lord is sovereign
in that. But then they are brought into
the second, which is the holy place, the inner court. All that in the outer court was
brass, signifying sin. Moses with the brazen serpent
was brass, setting forth sin. But when it comes to the inner
court, then there's the three things there. There's the candlestick
giving light, there's the showbread that gives the bread, and then
there is the altar of incense, of prayer rising. In one way
I feel it beautifully sets forth, and everything there was gold,
sets forth a church on earth. Those that are called by God
to know his precious blood, and to know his sanctifying work
are then brought into that inner court. And there the candlestick
which our Lord in Revelation clearly sets forth are the churches
and the Lord in the midst of them. And there they partake
of the bread and their prayer is offered in the church of God. And it's a blessed thing. when
the Lord brings his people in his time and his way into that
outer court, and then into the inner court, and then the last
court, the holiest of holies, heaven itself, where the Ark
is, where Christ is. And there is, as it were, a progression,
a time, and a threefold faith, a time
where the Lord begins and brings to faith, brings to a revelation
and a trust in the Lord, and brings into the church and the
privileges and communion and fellowship in the church, the
church militant, and then brings to the church above at last. All of the Lord's people will
be brought As it were, through these parts, he gives grace and
glory. His design is that his bride,
his church, be formed here, imperfect though it is, and yet shall be
brought to the last great wedding feast above, perfect in heaven. May the Lord grant us a third
day faith, a risen saviour, a living work, a work that results in
eternal life and to live with the Lord forever and ever. Because
I live, he says, ye shall live also. And the third day he shall
rise again. The Lord bless his word. Amen.