Once again, with the help of
God, I'd like you to turn with me to the Gospel according to
Mark, chapter 16, and the text you'll find in verse 3. They said among themselves, who
shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? Today is the day where we specifically
look at the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as he was crucified
on Friday, as he laid in the grave and as it came to the Lord's
Day, the first day of the week, as the women went to see the
place where the Lord was they found that the tomb was empty,
the stone had been rolled away. And the scripture tells us very
clearly that the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross at Calvary
and it is a a doctrine which is vital to
the Christian faith should this doctrine prove to be or Invalid,
as the apostle says, if Christ be not risen, our faith is in
vain. That the Christian faith hinges on this doctrine. It is the foundation of the Christian
faith that the Lord Jesus Christ had to come into this world and
to die. And not only to die, but also
to rise again. He had to come into this world,
as we know, to live as a man, to live under the law of God,
to live in obedience to his father, to fulfil all of the prophecies
regarding himself and to die upon the cross at Calvary. Multitudes witnessed the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not done in secret. It was not done in a room somewhere. It was done in public. It was
a public display of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. it
had to be witnessed, it had to be seen by multitudes so that
there could be that clarity, that evidence that the Lord Jesus
Christ actually died. In the chapter that we read in
verse 15 it was a surprise to Pilate. He questioned the fact,
is he dead so soon? How could it be that he has died
already? And so he inquires of the centurion,
to ask him if he was dead already. And Pilate marveled if he were
already dead. Calling unto him the centurion,
he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew of it, when
he knew of the centurion he gave the body to Joseph and so Pilate
himself was sure that the Lord Jesus Christ he had died. The
centurion bears witness in the gospel according to John. He
gives us a bit more depth into what takes place. He's able to
provide an eyewitness account to what he saw regarding the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Lord Jesus Christ cried
out, it is finished, or it has been paid in full, he gave up
the ghost. And because it was the preparation
of the Sabbath the bodies were not wanted to be left upon the
cross and so they asked for them to be taken down. They came to
the Lord Jesus Christ and they found that he was dead already. They broke the legs of the two
thieves but when they came to the Lord Jesus Christ they found
that he was dead already. they found that he had given
up the ghost and so they didn't break his legs. One of the soldiers
with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came out blood
and water. And this was the evidence that
they needed. The Lord Jesus Christ was there,
the blood and water coming out of the body of the Lord Jesus.
There was no reaction from him as he was pierced with the spear
because his life was gone. He had given up the ghost and
he was dead. And so it was clear for all to see that the Lord
Jesus Christ really died upon the cross. And John tells us
that these things have been written so that we might believe that
Jesus is the Christ. He says, and I saw it. bear record and his record is
true and knoweth that he saith is true that ye might believe. The scripture tells us that Christ
is the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin
of the world, crucified at the Passover feast. He is the Passover
Lamb for the Lord's people and that Lamb had to have been seen to have been killed. You go back
to the time in Egypt when they were to be delivered, the angel
passed over and he had to see the blood. He actually had to
see the blood upon the lintels and upon the doorposts of the
houses and when he saw the blood he passed over. It wasn't to
be done in secret. It wasn't to be placed in any
secret place. It was to be visual so that everybody
could see and that the angel as he passed over he could see.
And so the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was a public death
so that everybody could see, so there could be no lies that
he didn't really die. He did die and it was confirmed
by Pilate. It was confirmed by the centurion. It was confirmed by the soldiers
who pierced the Lord Jesus Christ. It was confirmed by all of those
that were round about the cross at the time as the Lord Jesus
Christ was taken down from the cross. He was dead. He hadn't gone unconscious. He
wasn't pretending. He wasn't swapped as some say. The Lord Jesus Christ gave up
his life upon the cross and it was witnessed by multitudes of
people. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus
begged the body of the Lord Jesus Christ and they take it down
and they wrap it in linen clothes and they give him the burial
of the Jews. They wrap his body in spices. Something like 37 kilograms of
spices they wrapped the body of the Lord Jesus Christ in.
more than any other person would ever have their body wrapped
in spices. Such was their love for the Lord
Jesus Christ. Such was their devotion to the
Lord Jesus Christ. They wanted him to have a kingly
burial and as the scripture says he was buried with the rich. Joseph of Arimathea places the
Lord Jesus Christ into his own tomb, a new tomb, whenever a
man had been laid and there the tomb was sealed. not a grave like you and I are
used to, but a tomb in which the body was placed into it in
the side of a cliff or a rock and then a big stone rolled across
the front of it. And in some cases that tomb would
later on in years to come be opened up again and another body
could be placed into that. You see it was the case of Abraham and they had the cave
there and they put the bodies into the cave and so the Lord
Jesus Christ was placed into a cave and there he was sealed
in. These women were devoted to the
Lord Jesus Christ They had spent their life, the three years of
his ministry, ministering to the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember
the Lord Jesus, it said of him that the foxes have holes and
the birds of the air have nests, yet the son of man has no place
to lay his head. And he lived under the care and
devotion of other people. and these women ministered to
his needs. They seemed to be more loving
and caring than his own apostles. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ
die. They were witness to him being
taken down from the cross. They saw him being wrapped in
linen clothes. They saw him being wrapped with
spices. They saw him being placed into
the grave and they saw a great stone laid over the front of
the grave. In our reading it says, for it
was very great. It was a very great stone that
was laid across the front of the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ. because it was the Sabbath the
next day or beginning of the evening they went home. They
went home and they observed the Jewish Sabbath. No doubt their
minds were constantly on the Lord Jesus and all that had taken
place. Little did they know that the Jews, their rulers,
were not observing the Sabbath. They had other things to do. They remembered all that the
Lord Jesus Christ had said. They were scheming and planning
as to how they could stop the Lord Jesus Christ arising from
the grave. They were scheming and planning
to try and bring the words of the Lord Jesus Christ to nothing.
And so they go to Pilate and they ask that the grave may be
sealed. Matthew 27. From verse 62 it says, Now the next
day that followed the day of the preparation, the Sabbath
day, The Sabbath day when the Jewish leaders should be worshipping
God, where were they? The chief priests and the Pharisees
came together to Pilate. Such was their hatred of the
Lord Jesus. Such was their desire to stop his words coming to pass. They were filled with fear. And
so they wanted to do everything that they could. And they say,
Sir, we remember that this deceiver said, while he was yet alive,
after three days, I will rise again. command therefore that
the sepulchre be made sure until the third day lest its disciples
come by night and steal him away and say unto the people he is
risen from the dead and so the last error shall be worse than
the first. Pilate said unto them ye have a watch go your way make
it as sure as you can so they went and made the sepulchre sure
sealing the stone and setting a watch. All this was done on
the Sabbath day while the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ were
weeping and mourning, while they were observing the Sabbath day,
the scheming religious elite of the day were seeking to prevent
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. These women didn't
know about the soldiers. These women didn't know about
the seal. All they remembered was the stone. And so very early in the morning, very early in the morning, on
the first day of the week, which is the Lord's Day, which came
to be the Lord's Day, they came to the sepulchre at the rising
of the sun. their devotion to the Lord Jesus
Christ, their love to the Lord Jesus Christ caused them to get
up early and to prepare themselves spices and to prepare themselves
to go to the grave of their Saviour. They wanted to do something more. The Jews as is their custom it
was to wrap the body in the spices because they were sealing them
in a cave to prevent the smell of decay they would cover them
with these spices to conceal the odour. And such was their
love to the Lord Jesus Christ they wanted to add even more
to his body. It's only natural isn't it? when
you love somebody, and even when they die, that love for them
still remains. You still go to the grave, you
still think about them, you still have a concern for them. So it
is with these ladies, they believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, he
had died, yet they still loved him. They still wanted to serve
him or show some respect in some way. And yet in their zeal they overlooked a couple of things. Sometimes that can happen can't
it in life we get excited about something and we overlook certain
aspects of what we are going to do. And these ladies they
had overlooked that there was a stone in front of the door. And they
said among themselves, who shall roll us away the stone from the
door of the sepulchre? But they'd also overlooked the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see the Lord Jesus had told
them that he would rise again. The Jews and the Pharisees and
Sadducees they had remembered the words of the Lord Jesus Christ
yet his apostles and his disciples they had forgotten the words
of the Lord Jesus or it had been hidden from them. And so they had forgotten about
this great stone. They were devoted to the Lord
Jesus yet they were still unbelieving And they saw this stone as an
obstacle to them but it wasn't going to stop them It was an
obstacle to be got around but it wasn't going to hinder them
from serving the Lord Jesus Christ They didn't give up They didn't
say, who's going to roll us away the stone? Oh, nobody. The stone
is going to be too big. We better turn around and go
back. No, they continued pressing on. the love that they had to the
Lord Jesus was greater than the obstacle that was in their way.
It was greater than the stone they desired to serve him and
the stone was in their way yet they must have believed somehow
something was going to take place and they would be delivered,
the stone would be moved. But Jesus had already told them
as well that he was going to rise again from the grave. How often it is, isn't it, that
we may know the scripture. We may have heard the scripture
read time and time again. We may have heard the preaching
of the word time and time again. We may have known the many fear
nots that are in the scripture yet when times of trial come. Times of difficulty and anxiety
come. We seem to forget all the promises
of God. Everything that we know about
God seems to vanish away in a moment. And it seems to be the same with
these apostles and the loved ones of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He had told them. He had pre-warned them so that
they would know what was going to happen when the time came. They forgot everything that he
said in the Gospel of Mark, chapter
8, verse from verse 31. And he began
to teach them that the son of man must suffer many times, many
things and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests
and scribes and be killed. And after three days, rise again
and he spoke that saying openly and Peter took him and began
to rebuke him and so there it is very clear that he spoke this
saying openly that he was going to suffer many things and be
rejected of the Jews and to be killed and to rise again on the
third day. Mark chapter 9 from verse 30. And he departed thence and passed
through Galilee and he would not that any man should know
it for he taught his disciples and said unto them the son of
man is delivered into the hands of men and they shall kill him
and after that he is killed he shall be risen on the third day
but they understood not the sayings and were afraid to ask him. In chapter 10 verse 32, and they
were in the way going up to Jerusalem and Jesus went before them and
they were amazed. And as they followed, they were
afraid. And he took again the twelve 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 unto the
chief priests and unto the scribes. And they shall condemn him to
death and shall deliver him to the Gentiles. And they shall
mock him and shall scourge him and shall spit upon him and shall
kill him. And the third day he shall rise
again. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
lays it out in clarity to his people, to his apostles. He tells
them that he's going to be beaten. He tells them that he's going
to be delivered into the hands of the chief priests. They're
going to scourge him. They're going to spit upon him
and they're going to kill him. But more importantly, he tells
them that he is going to rise again on the third day. And so
everything is made very, very clear. to them yet they understood
not the things that he's saying and even when the time came,
even that it was very evident that the Lord Jesus Christ had
rose again, even then as the women went and told Peter and
the others were told, they didn't believe. It seemed to them as
an idle tale, they believed not, neither believed they them. until
the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to them himself and then they believed. Thomas
says I will not believe unless I thrust my finger into the holes
of his hand and thrust my hand into his side I will not believe. And so these ladies as they got
up very early in the morning they had forgotten these two
things. One, that there was a great big
stone in the way. And the other, that the Lord
Jesus Christ had already told them that he would not be there. There was no need for them to
waste their money on buying spices. There was no need for them to
be weeping because he would not be there. He was already risen
from the grave. And they said to themselves,
who shall roll us away the stone from the door? The Lord Jesus Christ had already risen and that the stone
was already rolled away from the door. In the gospel according
to Matthew it tells us that there was a great earthquake and an
angel of the Lord descended and rolled away the stone from the
grave and is there waiting to meet with the women as they arrive. It's all the scheming of the
Jews, all the planning to seem to hinder the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ all comes to nothing. You see, Jesus had
said, I will rise again the third day. It doesn't matter what the
Jews said, we're going to try and prove this man to be a liar. The resurrection proves that
the Lord Jesus Christ tells the truth, that he is the son of
God, that he is the son of David, he is the Lamb of God who came
to take away the sin of the world, he is the one whom God is well
pleased with, he is the one in whom the grave cannot hold him
because in him is found no sin, no seal, could prevent the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. No amount of soldiers placed
around the grave could prevent the Lord Jesus Christ. No stone,
no matter how great that stone was or could be, it would never
hinder the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And no will
of man, no man, could ever hinder the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ and no amount of unbelief from his
dear apostles and from his beloved followers could hinder the Lord
Jesus Christ. He has said, I will rise again
on the third day and nothing was going to stop him because
the grave could not hold him. And even today, no amount of
unbelief can stop the Lord breaking open a hard heart. No amount can hinder the work of God's
salvation. He says, I will build my church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it until as they
come questioning who is going to roll
away the stone. When they looked, they saw that
the stone was rolled away, for it is very great. The angel tells them, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, of
which was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. behold the place where they laid
him. They are invited to see where
the Lord Jesus Christ was and as they look into the tomb they
find it to be true that the Lord Jesus Christ is not there, he
is risen from the dead. The grave could not hold him
as he As he rises from the grave, the
scripture tells us that he rose again for our justification,
that God was well satisfied with the sacrifice of his beloved
son. As he died upon the cross, as
the anger of God was poured out upon his son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, for the sins of his people, as he extinguished that wrath,
as he emptied that cup, Now upon his son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
as the Lord Jesus Christ drunk up that cup, the wrath of God
for his people. When it was finished, he gave
up the ghosts and he died. Him rising again shows to us
that God was well pleased with the sacrifice of his son. That
payment which was due to God because of the sins of his people
had been paid in full. Every single sin that every one
of the Lord's people had ever been committed and would ever
commit had been atoned for, had been paid for. They are now justified
without sin on their account. Their account has been wiped
clear. it's proved by the fact that
there is an empty tomb, it is proved by the fact that the angel
is quite pleased to say you seek Jesus of Nazareth which is crucified,
he is risen, he is not here, behold the place where he laid.
Everybody saw that the Lord Jesus Christ had died. They saw his
side being pierced. They saw the darkness. They saw
the cross being lowered down. They saw him being wrapped in
spices and linen cloth. They saw him being placed into
a grave. They knew that he was dead and
they were so concerned that he was going to be stolen away.
They sealed his tomb. And then they bribed the soldiers
to say that he had been stolen away. But Jesus rose again on
the third day according to the scriptures, according to his
own word. And that shows us that he is
the lamb of God, that he is the son of David, the son of God
that came to take away the sin of the world and that God was
well satisfied with his son and he paid him full. all of the
accounts of his people and he rose again signifying to us that
God is happy, that death could not hold him, there is no sin
in him. Even Pilate declared, I find
no fault in this man. He has done nothing amiss, yet
to please the people he crucified the Son of God.
Yet it was for the predetermined counsel of God that the Lord
Jesus Christ must die. That is the only way that you
and I can ever be forgiven. Nothing we can offer God is ever
good enough. Our righteousness is as a filthy
rag before God. Yet he is well pleased with his
beloved son who defeated death. Shows us of God's great power.
as the Lord Jesus Christ rose up Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus
come forth. But the Lord Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead. He says I'm able to give my life
and I'm able to take it again. And Jesus did what he said he
was going to do. You see if somebody says I'm going to die, I'm going to
rise again the third day. Whether they're telling the truth
or not will be seen in their resurrection. So Christ said
on three occasions that he's going to die and that he is going
to rise again on the third day. And the proof is in the empty
tomb. He is not here. He is risen. but also is of a great hope for
the Lord's people. Christ is the first fruit of
the resurrection. He's the first one to rise from
the dead. He gives us hope that we who believe and trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation that when we die,
or if Jesus comes again, then we will be raised up with a body
like unto his body, a glorified body, a body that can stand in
the presence of a holy, holy God, that can exist for all eternity,
to be forever with the Lord. So it gives us hope. The many stones which we put
in the way, stones of unbelief, stones of doubts and fears and
we worry about them. And often we worry without cause.
These women, they were worried about the stone. Who's going
to roll us away, this stone? This stone is blocking us from
getting to our saviour. They didn't have to worry, did
they? because the stone was already rolled away. And maybe you've
got a stone blocking you today or you think that it's blocking
you. Maybe you have that desire to come to the Lord Jesus Christ
and you keep putting stones in the way. Who's going to roll
us away the stone? Maybe you're saying my sin is
too big. It's too big a stone. Maybe you're saying, well, I
don't feel like I'm a real believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
you put the stone there. You block yourself. These women were not hindered
by the stone. It was just an obstacle to them.
And they pressed forward. And when they pressed forward,
they saw that the stone had been removed. and they were able to
witness the risen saviour. He wasn't in the tomb as they
thought, but he'd risen again and they saw him for themselves. What a blessing it is to know
that the Lord Jesus Christ is the risen saviour. And what a blessing to know him
as your risen saviour. These women, they came seeking
the Lord Jesus Christ because they loved him. They wanted to
show some devotion to him. They wanted to serve him. And nothing was going to stop
them. And the evidence is clear that he wasn't there. and they weren't going to serve
a dead saviour. They now had the privilege of
serving a risen saviour. And their sin, which was much,
was washed away. And as Christ, he came out of
the tomb. Today he comes out of the tomb
and into the hearts of his people. And they said among themselves,
who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw
that the stone was rolled away. It was very great. May the Lord
help us then to be like these women. Yes, they may see obstacles
in the way, but press on. The stone will be removed. you'll
be able to see Christ clearly. It wasn't a hindrance to them,
it didn't stop them but it was an obstacle by which they must
have felt it would be able to be dealt with. and there's nothing
too hard for the Lord to deal with. He's able to do far more
than we can ask or think. If we can raise up the Lord Jesus
Christ from the grave and in doing so bring about the justification
of all of his people and then nothing is too hard for him. Your small stone is able to be
removed and rolled away. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Closing hymn is hymn number 123
from Hymns of Worship. I know not why God's wondrous
grace to me has been made known, nor why, unworthy as I am, he
claimed me for his own. Hymn number 123 from Hymns of
Worship. As I had, he claimed me for his
own. But I know I have believed Him,
and I'm persuaded that He is able to keep the But I know, Lord, I have an angel
And I will train him that he is able To keep the work which
I've committed May they be reserved for me. and age before this place I see. If I shall pass the veil of death
for Nathan in the end. But I know him, I have believed
him, and have persuaded that he is able. And now may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship
and communion of the Holy Spirit be with us each now and for evermore. Amen. Death, where is thy victory?
We know that in Christ there is no victory for death. Victory is for the risen Lord
Jesus Christ. So Lord, do grant all needed
help. We do pray at this time. And
Lord, again, for those attending to Liz in the hospital, grant,
oh Lord, wisdom and skill and help for them, we do pray. We
give thanks, oh Lord, for the services that are available to
us. So Lord, do hear us, we pray.
We thank thee for thy word to our hearts this morning. As those
women went to the tomb, wondering who would roll the stone away
and it was already gone. It was already moved away and
the Lord was not there, he had risen. Oh Lord, do comfort us
with these things, we pray. So help us be with us as now
we part, we pray. Bless thy word as we meet again
this evening, we pray. And so take us home with thy
blessing and in safety we do pray. Bless our fellowship on
this day, O Lord, when we remember the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
So may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
be all's now to ways. Amen.