Seeking once again the Lord's
gracious help to guide me by his Spirit and to grant me the
words to speak to you this morning, I'd like you to turn with me
to the Gospel according to Luke chapter 24 and the text you'll
find in verse 5. And as they were afraid and bowed
down 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. As you are all aware that today
is the Resurrection Sunday or the Lord's Day, the first day
of the week when the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the grave. It is recorded in the scriptures
and it has been written down so that we might be enabled to
believe the word of God and to know that the Lord Jesus Christ,
that his perfect sacrifice was accepted by God and that he rose
again from the dead as the first fruits of the resurrection and
that believers are enabled to have hope and faith to believe
that death has indeed lost its sting. and that when they are
laid in the grave, knowing that Christ has accomplished that
great work of salvation for them, that when they are laid in the
grave, they will not be laid in there for all eternity, they
will one day be raised from the grave in the likeness of their
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And often it is with just like
the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we forget. all of the promises of the Lord
Jesus Christ and as we pass through different troubles of life and
difficulties in life we lose sight of those things which we
once held so precious and we're so inclined to forget those things
which were so beneficial to us in times before. And it seems
with the the women and the disciples and the apostles of the Lord
Jesus Christ that as Christ had been with them for these three
years, as he had been revealing to them, teaching them the certain
things about his kingdom, certain things about his life, certain
things that would happen to him, that he would destroy the temple
and raise it again in three days, that he himself would be delivered
into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and rise again
at the third day. When these events actually took
place, the disciples were, it was like the Lord Jesus Christ
never told them anything. They were brought to despair,
not knowing what to do. We see a glimpse of that with
those two who walked on the road to Emmaus and Jesus draws near
to them and says, why are you talking one to another? Why are
you so sad? And they say to him that we thought
that Christ was going to deliver us. We thought him to be the
Christ. He says, in verse 21, but we trusted that
it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. And besides
all this, today is the third day since these things were done. And so they had trusted that
Christ was to be the one who would redeem Israel from that
oppression. And then when Christ died they
were brought to despair and they thought well how can this take
place? How can he truly be that one
who was going to redeem us and help us? And so everything that
Christ had taught them they had forgotten when it mattered most. And even the women who came to
the sepulchre on the first day of the week, very early in the
morning, having seen where the Lord Jesus Christ had been lain,
they knew where he was, they knew where they should find him.
They were even perplexed in their own mind as to who would roll
them away the stone. But they desired to go to that
place and to continue in that preparation on that body, on
his body, adding spices and such like to him. And so they had also forgotten
that the Lord Jesus Christ had told them that he would rise
again on the third day. And the angels have to remind
them Why are you seeking the living amongst the dead? Why
have you come here seeking for the Lord Jesus Christ? Of course
he's not going to be here. He told you. He told you a while
ago that he's not going to be here on the third day. He is
going to rise again from the dead. Remember, they say to him,
remember what he spoke to you when he was yet in Galilee. The
Son of Man must be delivered. into the hands of sinful men
and be crucified and the third day arise again.' And then they
remembered. And they run back to the apostles
and they tell the apostles, you would think that the apostles
of the Lord Jesus Christ would have worked everything out. but
still they were in the darkness as to what had truly taken place. Still they were unable to comprehend
that Christ must die and be laid in a grave and then on the third
day rise again. It was not until the Lord Jesus
Christ opened up their understanding to the scriptures that they believed
the things that were written. And what a blessing it is if
the Spirit of God has opened up our understanding to the Scriptures. That we don't come to the grave
expecting to find the Lord Jesus Christ there, but we come to
him seated at the right hand of God as our great mediator,
as our great high priest. Having had our understanding
opened by the Spirit of God to the Scriptures, what a blessing
it is. to be able not just to remember
the Lord Jesus Christ but to know the Lord Jesus Christ and
to know Him that He came into this world for us, that He lived
for us, that He died for us, that He was punished for our
sin and that He rose again for our sin and is seated at the
right hand of God the Father for our mediator, our great High
Priest. Throughout the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ he looked towards this event for this reason
he came into the world. We know at Christmas time we
remember the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we remember
him coming into this world and remember the angels sounding
the message that Emmanuel has come. As we follow the life of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we see those events in his life when the angels
came. They came at his birth. They
came when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane to strengthen him
and to encourage him. They came when he rose again
from the grave and they came when he ascended up into heaven
to speak and they spoke to the apostles. Why stand ye gazing
up into heaven they say. But on the cross of Christ There
was nobody there to help him or to support him. He was there
alone. And yet that was the pinnacle
of his life. That was his main focus. He was born into this world and
his focus was set upon the cross. That is where he was heading.
And he was heading there not for his own benefit but for the
benefit of his dearly beloved people, his sheep. And he had to die. He had to die. And he had to
rise again from the grave. And he had to die because Our
sin warranted a death sentence. The scripture tells us as we
have looked at over the past weeks that our sin, the wages
of our sin is death. And the punishment which must
be paid to God or God must give out to those who sin against
him is death. And so Christ, to enable him
to clear the slate, to justify his people, he must die. He must die eternally and physically
to clear the debt of his people. The scripture tells us that death
itself is the separation of the soul and the body. If any of
you have ever seen a dead body you will know that there's no
life. We say it's the body of so-and-so. There's nothing there. They themselves are gone. And so death is the separation
of soul and body. But physical death is not enough
to satisfy the full penalty of sin. Physical death will not pay the
price of sin. Christ just dying on the cross
would not be enough to wipe out the sins of his people. It would
be not enough to justify them. It's not enough that he just
gave up the ghost, for that would not satisfy the
law books of God. As we said, it is death that
has been brought, the curse of death that has been brought on
to the human race, but there is the eternal death, which is
the wages of sin. the eternal wrath of Almighty
God in hell for all eternity. It is there where God's law is
satisfied. And so we see Christ dying. But
that in itself did not pay the penalty. What paid the penalty
was the three hours of darkness when his father hid his face
from him. If you remember what Jesus speaks
to us about hell, he tells us there that it is a place of torment,
of weeping and of gnashing of teeth. It is a place where the
unrestrained anger of God is poured out upon those who have
rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a place of fire, It is
a place of darkness. And it's in the darkness that
the Lord Jesus Christ paid that eternal wrath of God, paid that
debt which his people owed to clear the law, to satisfy the
law. Luke 23. Verse 44. It was about the sixth hour and
there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. The
sun was darkened and the veil of the temple rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said this, he gave
up the ghost. We read in another place that
Jesus cried out, it is finished. And at the end of those three
hours, at the end of that darkness, as God the Father unloaded the
cup of wrath upon his son, it was there that the eternal wages
of sin were dealt with. that eternal death that you and
I are to experience in hell forever. It is there in those three hours
that Christ drank up that cup of wrath in the darkness and
when it was finished, when the payment was made, then he gave
up the ghost. We read that the temple curtain
was rent. We know that that temple curtain
separated that area, the Holy of Holies. Inside of that was
the Ark of the Covenant with the law inside of it. And into that place only went
the high priest once a year with the blood of a sacrifice. But at the end of that three
hours, as God the Father poured out His wrath upon His Son, at
the end of that, as Christ cries, it is finished. The law is satisfied. The curtain rent and access now
granted to all who would come to God through the Lord Jesus
Christ, for He fully satisfied The law of God and the wrath
of God are for sinners. And so eternal hell is the punishment
for sin and that is the cup that the Lord Jesus Christ had to
drink right up. Eternal separation from the blessings
of God. My God, my God why has thou forsaken
me? God forsaken of God who can understand
that but for the sake of salvation it had to take place for the
wages of sin is death the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus and so in those three hours of darkness their sin was dealt
with eternal death experienced by
the son and so whatever hell is if we
can somehow try and grasp it with our limited understanding
that's what the Lord Jesus Christ had to pay that's what the Lord
Jesus Christ had to experience because God cannot lie and therefore
if he has said that the wages of sin is death and the punishment
that one must experience is hell itself And the only thing that
will satisfy the law books of God would be for one to experience
and to pay that debt. And after he had experienced
that spiritual death, we could call it, forsaken of God, then
he gave up the ghost. The cross did not kill the Lord
Jesus Christ. He gave himself up for his people. I lay it down and I take it up
again. It is finished. Then he gave
up the ghost. It was a voluntary act of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It was not the spear, it was
not the nails, it was not the scourging. He gave up the ghost. He says, into, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. And so Christ had to die because
the wages of sin is death. spiritual separation under the
wrath of Almighty God for all eternity. That is what will satisfy
the law of God and that only. But he had to rise again. You see if Christ just continued
to lay in the grave then there would be no salvation. There would be no hope for anybody.
It would just be that Christ was another false prophet who
came to draw people after himself and then at the end failed. But he had to rise again. And he had to because he said
so. He said I will. And that means
if he didn't, that would have made him a liar. And we know
that no liar will ever enter into the kingdom of God. And
so because Christ said on the third day, I will rise again,
he will rise again. The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third
day rise again. He said so. That was his teaching
and so his resurrection brings, authenticates or makes true all
of his teaching. That everything that Christ said
about himself and about the Father and about the relationship between
him and his people is true because of the resurrection. The resurrection
proves to us that Christ is the Son of God. Also the prophets
prophesied about the Lord Jesus Christ. They prophesied that
he would not lie in the grave. And there are many prophecies
about the Lord Jesus Christ, that not a bone of him will be
broken and such like. But in Psalm 16, David is led
by the Spirit to see the Holy One, the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 10 it says, For thou
wilt not leave my soul in hell or the grave, neither wilt thou
suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Corruption being the decay of
the body. We know that the Holy One is
the Lord Jesus Christ, that he was not left in the grave, that
his body never underwent any decay And so he said that he
would rise again. And the prophets prophesied that
he would rise again. And so the prophets are true.
And Christ is true. And they proved the reality of
his teaching. But more than this, it was the
seal of God's favour upon his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that
the grave itself could not hold the perfect Lamb of God. He had
no right. to be there in the grave for
he had not sinned against God. The seal of God's favour. Why seek ye the living among
the dead? He is not here but is risen. Remember how he spoke unto you
when he was yet in Galilee. Also for us today If Christ isn't
risen we're in serious trouble. You see we worship God through
Christ and we say that Christ is God manifest in the flesh.
He is the God-man and we come and we worship him. And if it's not God then we are
committing sin today. We're offending a holy God who
says you shall have no other gods before me. And so if Christ
is not God then we're worshipping an idol. We're no different to
any other religion that worships dead people. But also the Apostle Paul tells
us if Christ isn't risen then there's no hope for believers,
we might as well give up. If Christ isn't risen then there's
no resurrection of the dead and if there's no resurrection of
Christ then we are still in our sin. And so the very fact that we
are here today is a testament to the fact that we believe that
Christ is risen. Because if we don't believe that
Christ is risen then we are committing sin and we're wasting our time
and there's no salvation. There's no way of escape from
a holy God. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 from verse 13 it says, but if
there be no resurrection of the dead then is Christ not risen?
That was what they were teaching. And if Christ be not risen, then
our preaching is vain or empty. And your faith is also vain.
You see, everything hangs upon the fact that Christ rose again
from the dead. And if Christ did not rise again
from the dead, then Christianity is a waste of time. If Christ
didn't rise, the whole thing crashes to the ground and it
is useless. But the whole of scripture hangs
on this one point that he is not here, he is risen. And if
Christ is not risen, then our preaching is vain and our faith
is also vain. And we are found false witnesses
of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ,
who he raised not up, if so be that the dead are not raised. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, and you are yet in your sin. You see, we
say that we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We say
that we have been born again of the Spirit of God and our
sins have been forgiven. And that can only be said and
only ever happen if Christ rose again from the dead. If Christ
never rose again from the dead, this book is a lie and our lives
are a waste of time. You are yet in your sins. So everything hangs on that fact. Christ is risen from the dead. and he lives even today. Verse 20 it says, But now is
Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them
that slept. For since by man came death,
by man also the resurrection from the dead. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. So it's essential
that Jesus was to die but not to stay in the grave but to rise
again on the third day as the Prophet said, as He said, as
a seal of the approval of God the Father and as a testimony
that his sacrifice which he made was accepted by God and that
he has indeed justified his people that they may be counted as sinless
in the sight of a holy God. But also he couldn't lay in the grave
because he had no right to be there. He gave up his life. They laid him in the grave, but
the grave could not hold him. John 10. 17 and 18. Therefore does my father
love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it again. This is the commandment of my
father. He has power to lay it down and
he has power to take it up again. the book of Acts chapter 2 in verse 24 Peter says
whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because
it was not possible that he should be holden by it and then he quotes
again from that Psalm 16 for David speaketh concerning him
for I foresaw the Lord always before my face for he is on my
right hand that I should not be moved Therefore did my heart
rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh shall
rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. It was not
possible that Christ should be held by death. The grave could
not hold him. So the resurrection of Christ
proves to us and proves to the early believers who saw him that
everything that he said was true. As we read through the Gospels
and we see all the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, all
the things that he says about him or himself, all the things
that he says about the Father, all the things that he says that
he would accomplish, all the things that he says regarding
eternal life, his resurrection proves that those things, they
are true. And this should be terrifying
for some people. terrifying for unbelievers. As they view the cross of Christ
and as they see everything that had to take place in order to
redeem a people for themselves and as they hear about the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ and as they reject that message they are rejecting is the only
way in which one can be reconciled to God and as we have seen the
resurrection of Christ it proves the truth of the ministry of
Christ and all that Christ said about the punishment for sin
is also true and so it should be terrifying to unbelievers
that what Christ speaks about, the judgment of God, it should
bring fear. But it doesn't. It doesn't because
they don't believe it. Just because they don't believe
it doesn't mean that it's not true. Christ rose from the grave
and is now seated at the right hand of God. What he said about
the judgment of God and his second coming it is true. And it will
happen. Hell is real. The wrath of God
is real. And Christ will one day come
again to divide the sheep from the goats. And that should be
terrifying. Oh that the Spirit of God might
open up our eyes to see the real terror of it. To face a holy
God without Christ. O that he might open your eyes,
that you may seek the Lord Jesus while he may be found. Even today,
like these ladies, they came seeking him. They were looking
in the wrong place, but then they were pointed to the right
place. He is risen. He is not here. But it's a great
comfort for believers. You see as we can read through
the Word of God the New Testament and we can read of eyewitnesses
accounts of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and
we can read then of the great blessings and promises which
are found in the Word of God and we know them to be true.
We know them to be true because Christ rose again from the dead. It is only he who is able to
forgive sin and what a blessing it is to experience the true
salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ and to know him, the Lord Jesus. So it brings great comfort to
the Lord's people that God the Father was well satisfied with
his Son and that in his Son he is able to be satisfied with
us. That is a great comfort. But also it's a great comfort
to know that that last enemy which we fear, there is no reason
to fear, which is death. Death is the last enemy, the
one that will take us from this time to the eternal state. And
the believer has nothing to fear about that transition because
Christ has removed the sting of that transition. Go back to
Corinthians. The same chapter, chapter 15.
Verses 55 and 56. He says there, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. The sting has been removed from
death. Sin has been removed from the
life of the believer and therefore they can pass from this world
to the next having known that Christ has dealt with that sting. Christ has had the wrath of God
poured out upon him. In the darkness for those three
hours that sting was taken away from the life of the believer.
The law of God was satisfied there is now no more sin and
they can pass from this world to the next without any fear. They will not spend an eternity
in the grave. They will not spend an eternity
under the wrath of Almighty God because of that perfect sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus having absorbed the full wrath of God for them. Therefore their body will lay
in the grave waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ while their
soul will be with the Lord. The grave couldn't hold the Lord
Jesus Christ and the grave will not hold you and I. Because Christ rose from the
dead so the believers also will rise from the dead. We'll have
bodies like unto his body. He is not here for he is risen. He paid in full. all the charges that were laid
against you. If you think of your name and
the list of sins that were there, Christ paid in full. Upon the
cross at Calvary in that darkness, the wrath of God poured out upon
him as that substitute for sinners and now we come to the grave
and we find that he's not there. He's not there because he has
risen. He came out from the holy of holies, having had that sacrifice
accepted by God the Father, raised up on the third day. Now stamped next to every single
one who would ever believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is paid
in full. No more charges justified, delivered,
For Jesus' sake, he is not here, but he is risen. But they came searching for him
anyway. They had forgotten. And how often we forget the great
promises that are found in the word of God. And we have to be
reminded of them. And it's good, I think, As we are reminded year by year
and month by month as we sit at the Lord's Supper we come
to remember the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we don't
just remember his death. We remember that he is not here. He is risen. Remember his words. But he is here. He is here with us. Although
we cannot see Him as the hymn says, His form is unseen, yet
He is here. He says, Lo, I will be with you
even unto the ends of the world. He is here by the presence of
His Holy Spirit. He is here with His people. Where
two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst
of them. He is with us. Although His physical
form, His resurrected body is at the right hand of the Father
yet his spirit, the Holy Spirit of God is amongst his people. He is continuing on his work
as we read through the book of Acts we see that added to the
church daily edification and sanctification for the saints.
So he continues on in that great work that he does all because
he rose again the third day. He is not here. Why do you seek the living among
the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spake unto you
when he was yet in Galilee. May we be enabled to lay hold
of these truths as our truth, that Christ is our Saviour, that
he died and he rose again for us and that his Spirit now abides
in us. May he remind us, the Spirit
may remind us of those great promises that we are indeed loved
with an everlasting love. Amen. Our final hymn this morning is
from Hymns for Worship, number 173. 173. Take up your cross, the Saviour
said, if you would my disciple be. Deny yourself, the world
forsake, and humbly follow after me. Hymns for Worship 173, tune
401. Take up your whole cross, the
Savior said. If you would, my dear, insightful
be, Deny yourself, the world forsake. and help me follow the way. Take up your cross, let not its
weight fill your weak soul with maydom. His strength shall build your
spirit up, and praise your heart, and mend your ground. Take up your hopes, knowing the
shame, nor let your foolish pride prevail. And vote for you, the
cross and you, to save your soul from death and hell. Take up your cross and follow
Christ. Nothing's too bad to bear it
down. For only he who bears the cross
Make her superfluous. Dear Lord and loving Heavenly
Father, we thank Thee for Thy Word and the message of the Gospel. We thank Thee for the resurrected
Lord Jesus Christ and who now ever lives to intercede for us. And we pray that Thou help us
then to take up our cross and to deny ourselves and to follow
Him. Do them be with us now, we pray,
as we part from each other. Do watch over us in the interval
of the services and do bring us here again this evening, if
it could please thee. Now may the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with us each now
and forevermore. Amen.