May it please Almighty God to
bless our souls this evening. Let's turn to the Gospel of Mark,
chapter 16, and we'll read the sixth verse. The Gospel of Mark,
chapter 16, and reading the sixth verse. And he saith unto them, Be not
affrighted, ye see Jesus, of Nazareth, which was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid
him. And of course, the three words
really we want to speak on tonight are just those three words in
the middle of this verse. He is risen. It was a most wonderful day in
the history of the world. And the Church of God, by faith,
had been looking forward to this wonderful occasion for some 4,000
years. And now it had come to pass. And the great and glorious God
had suffered himself to die that sin-atoning death upon the cross
at Calvary, and taken and buried in the sepulchre of Joseph of
Arimathea, and then to rise from the dead. And what was it doing? Well, it was fulfilling the many
prophetic words in the Old Testament and many of the sayings of the
Saviour Himself, when it's so clearly said that He would rise
again the third day. And now this was the third day
after He was crucified. And the Word of God, the words
of God, had been and were being fulfilled in a most wonderful
way. No one naturally can give life
to a dead person. No one can. If you have seen
a dead person at all, you will know that there's absolutely
no life there. You cannot hear They cannot eat. They cannot smell. They can't
do anything. There's no movement. They're
dead. And my friends, the Savior was
dead. He was dead when he gave up the
ghost, gave up his spirit on that cross at Calvary and died. and as we read this morning Joseph
of Arimathea and Nicodemus came and took him and bound him up
and put him into the sepulchre and sealed the sepulchre with
a great stone so that he could not be stolen away and now we
find on the resurrection morn, three days afterwards, when the
Sabbath was passed, as we read Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother
of James and Salome had brought sweet spices that they might
come and anoint him. And very early in the morning,
the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the
rising of the sun. how keen they were to come and
see the Saviour. But what a surprise it was. They'd
asked the question, who shall roll us away the stone from the
door of the sepulcher? And when they looked, they saw
that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great. And entering
into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right
hand, right side, clothed in a long white garment, and they
were affrighted. And it was him that we read about
in our text, the sixth verse, and he said unto them, Being
unaffrighted, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified,
he is risen, He is not here. Behold the place where they laid
him. Well, it was a marvellous situation
which had occurred. And it was a fulfilment of the
Word of God. And how encouraging it should
be for us today to realise that we have this same Jesus, risen
from the dead, ascended to his Father, seated on his right hand,
there to intercede for us, intercede to the Father as we pray unto
the Father, this risen Saviour. Surely what cause we have today
to praise God, from whom all blessings flow, to realise the
wonderful plan of salvation was worked out in every detail that
which was agreed between the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit way back in eternity and it came to pass and it was fulfilled
in just the way that had been agreed between God what a wonderful,
wonderful truth it is And so we can rejoice in it. You know,
the people then, when they realized what it was, how they came and
how they rejoiced, and we're told in Matthew's account, and
they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great
joy. And they did run to bring his
disciples word. Well, I hope that you and I can
truly rejoice to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ rose again,
a conqueror. He conquered sin, yes, through
his death. And how we need to know that
for ourselves, to know that he is risen, to know that he is
alive forevermore. and that he does intercede for
us today. You know, it would be a great
blessing for us if, when we come to God in prayer, and we realise that our prayers
are only accepted through the Lord Jesus Christ, and to know
then, as we've prayed in that way, to have been blessed with
what we term the access at the throne of grace. To know that
our prayers don't just bounce back at us like against a brick
wall, but they enter in to the holy place. They enter in where
our Father dwells. and they're presented by our
great and glorious risen Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. How wonderful
to think that we as utterly undeserving, utterly unworthy sinners of the
earth can approach unto the majesty on high and have our prayers
presented by none other than the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. what a wonderful blessing it
is and what a wonderful thing it is when we are blessed to
realise that by faith our prayers do enter in enter in to the holy
place and how amazingly humbling that is when you and I realise
we don't deserve God to hear our prayers we're sinners of
the earth we've turned our back upon God We please ourself and
yet the mercy of God is new every day. Great is his faithfulness. He doesn't deal with us as our
sins deserve. And it's all because of the risen
Saviour. If Christ had not risen from
the dead, there'd be no hope for you or me. There'd be no
access to a holy God. but how wonderful it is to realize
the Lord Jesus did indeed rise from the dead and we have so
many scriptures to encourage us we can read in the Acts of
the Apostles that wonderful book and we're told in the first chapter
to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion after
his crucifixion with many infallible proofs being seen of them for
40 days he lived on the earth for 40 days after he rose from
the dead and showed himself to individuals to his disciples
to the two on the Emmaus Road to a multitude of above 500 people
how many saw the Lord Jesus Christ physically to confirm He had
risen from the dead. And we have therefore a record
of that in the Word of God and how wonderful it is to know that
we have that, to strengthen our faith. This was the wonderful
evidence, the evidence to prove that the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ, had fulfilled all that His Father gave Him to do. Surely
we must come and bow down and say glory to God, because our
hope is based upon the risen Saviour. Without a risen Saviour,
without the blessed Lord Jesus Christ rising from the dead,
we would have no way to the Father, no access, Our prayers would
just bounce back. And so today, can we not thank
God? And as we know, as the Apostle
wrote to the Romans when he said, Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors, more than conquerors, through Him that loved us. Okay, that's an amazing thought,
isn't it? to think that the risen Saviour loved unworthy sinners. He sent His love upon us. Yes,
we were loved in eternity past before we were born, before we
were conceived. There was that love toward us. How wonderful if you and I have
the evidence of it in our hearts, in our souls. that this great
and glorious Saviour therefore gave His life, suffered so terribly
in order to redeem us, so that we might have some little understanding
of the great cost of our salvation. It wasn't trivial. it wasn't
something which could be purchased with money something which could
have been purchased with whatever other things no there was only
one way for our redemption and that was through the shed blood
of the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ but if he had remained
in the tomb there would be no Saviour to intercede for us We might say the life and death
would have been worthless. But wonder of wonders, the Saviour
rose in the dead. And as you and I may read through
the New Testament, there are so many instances when the Lord
Jesus told his disciples that this would occur, that he would
rise from the dead the third day and yet how ignorant they
were we have to really say their eyes were blinded, their ears
were stopped and you know we're no different today until the Lord comes until the
Lord opens our eyes, gives us spiritual eyes We just read the
account in just a formal way. But when the Holy Spirit opens
our eyes to see and our ears to hear, what happens? All things are new. We rejoice in the great and wonderful
plan of salvation. We rejoice that we have a risen
Saviour. We rejoice that we have that
great and glorious one who now sits on the right hand of the
Father in heaven. Oh, what a wonderful blessing
it is to be favoured with faith to believe these things. You
know, there's a great comfort when God gives us faith, when
God gives us access at the throne of grace. when our prayers are
accepted in the Beloved. It's a wonderful blessing, it's
a wonderful favour and how comforting it is to us as poor unworthy
sinners to realise there is a way and that way is through the Lord
Jesus Christ. What a blessing. Well, the Lord
knows how we stand before God. The Lord knows whether the Holy
Spirit has revealed these great truths to our souls so that we
can indeed go on our way rejoicing like those did that we've read
of. Yes, who are more than conquerors
and we should be so thankful. I often think it's a wonderful
account that we have of those two travelling on that Emmaus
road. And Jesus himself drew near and
went with them. What a wonderful thing it is
when Jesus himself draws near to us and goes with us. on our little journeys of life,
that Jesus is with us. And how often, perhaps, we fall
into the same category, those words of condemnation, slow of
heart to believe all. In his case, the prophets had
revealed to them, and in our case today, all that's revealed
to us in the blessed gospels. slow heart I wonder if you and
I look back in our lives to realize there were those days when we
were walking in darkness and had no light oh my friends what
a solemn position it is but yet to realize when the light has
come and the light shines how we should really and honestly
praise and thank our God for his wonderful mercy. In the book
of Isaiah we read in the 50th chapter, Who is among you that
feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that
walketh in darkness and hath no light? Sometimes we might feel that
describes our position. Well, if it does, we have an
encouraging word, which continues, if we are like that, let him
trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. what a mercy it is to believe
therefore that we have a God who is merciful a God who will
hear light will flow the blessing will come and yet there may be
those times when we seem to be just walking in darkness and
have no light well the light of the glorious gospel the light
of wonderful access in the throne of grace shines in the wonderful
face of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a mercy
it is when this risen Saviour shines into our heart and all
things become new. There were those things which
were impossible for us to grasp understand and we fumbled and
rambled on, far off from God. But then when God draws near
to us, yes, and inclines us to look to him and to hear that
great and glorious invitation in Isaiah, look unto me and be
ye saved. from all the ends of the earth,
for I am God, and there is none else. No, there's no one else. But we have set before us, from
Genesis to Revelation, a merciful God, a God who doesn't deal with
us as our sins deserve, and a God who has provided this glorious
accent through the Lord Jesus Christ. Well what a mercy it
is then to realise today that he is risen. As I said this morning
we don't know of course when the Saviour actually rose from
the dead, we don't know when he was crucified, but we're thankful
that we are able to remember the occasion and to praise and
bless God for it. In the Corinthians the Apostle
When he wrote to the Corinthians, he says, but now, but now is
Christ risen from the dead. That's true. And become the first
fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, Even so, in Christ, shall all be made alive. You see, through Adam's sin. That sin passed upon all mankind,
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. My friends, by nature, that's
where we are. We're in that sad condition. We're lost. We're
ruined in the fall. There's no hope because of our
sin. We're guilty before a holy God. And then to realise in Christ,
in Christ, should all be made alive, spiritually alive. What a mercy when we are directed
to the new and living way. We can't deliver ourselves, we
can't save ourselves, but we have a wonderful Saviour who
can and does. What a mercy then if we are given
that faith to look to Him Look to the Lord Jesus Christ, commit
our way unto him, casting all our care upon him, for he careth
for us. It's a great and glorious gospel
that we have, and it's because the Lord is risen. He is risen. It's true. Well, do you and I
believe it? Do you and I believe it? Do we rejoice in it? That's the
great truth, isn't it? You see, we need that faith to
believe in a risen Christ. And my friends, the blessing
is God, in His sovereign will and purpose, gives us faith to
believe. Left to ourselves, we won't believe,
we can't believe. but blessed with the wonderful
Spirit of God we do believe and how wonderful it is to realise
the wonderful favour and blessing that we have you know in Matthew's
Gospel at the end, the last chapter is very similar really to the
words that we've read together this evening but in the 20th
chapter of Matthew we're told when they came to the sepulchre
and they were told come and see the place where the Lord lay
and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead
and behold he goeth before you into Galilee there should he
see him and I have told you and they departed quickly from the
sepulcher with fear and great joy. You see, when by faith we've
seen the suffering Saviour as a risen Saviour, a risen Saviour
interceding for us, oh my friends, joy there is in the heart. What
a wonderful privilege, what a wonderful truth it is. How wonderful in
our lives to have the effect of it so that we do rejoice.
Rejoice in what has been done. And as they went to tell his
disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, all hail. And they came and held him by
the feet and worshipped him. Well, I believe that's when you
and I become true worshippers, when through the great and wonderful
gift of the Holy Spirit, we view the plan of salvation and we
come to our Father in heaven through the merits of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And we have the wonderful blessing
of the Holy Spirit giving us the right words to bring. And
what does it do? Really, we rejoice in God the
Father, in God the Son, in God the Holy Spirit. You see, we
find that we are Trinitarians because we rejoice in the glorious
work of God. Oh, my friends, tonight, do we
rejoice in the work of God? Do we bless him for all that
he's done and realize these truths when Jesus said, be not afraid. We are afraid. We're afraid of
judgment. We're afraid because of our sins
will cast us into hell. What a mercy to realize that
Christ is risen. and Christ has accomplished that
which his Father gave him to do and that all our sins, every
sin, is washed away in the precious blood of the Saviour. Well, these
are wonderful and glorious truths and what a blessing it is if
we can enter into it. You know, the naturally People
mock God, don't they? They mock God. Perhaps we've
mocked God. God knows in our hearts. No one else perhaps knows. Perhaps
we have mocked God. And to think then that this Saviour
has still risen in order that He might redeem our souls. Oh, my friends, can we bless
God tonight for the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
for his glorious resurrection, for his ascension into heaven? And you see, this wasn't just
done secretly. It was done. So there is a wonderful
record and a wonderful testimony of Jesus ascending up to His
Father after those 40 days. The risen Saviour ascended to
His Father. And He's there now, this very
moment, seated on His Father's right hand, there to intercede
for your prayers and my prayers. You know, as we come to God in
prayer, it's very easy, isn't it? to come very casually, to
not realise the solemnity that we are blessed with to be able
to come to the Holy God. Wonderful favour and how great
it is to realise that this whole plan was worked in eternity past
and was fulfilled and was completed when Christ died and rose from
the dead and ascended up to his Father and now today intercedes
for us. It's a great blessing to appreciate
the intercession of the Saviour. The access that is granted through
this intercession Again, it's not something that you and I
can produce ourselves, we have no right to naturally, but we
do have a godly right if the Lord Jesus, through that new
and living way which he wrought out through his death, made that
way for unworthy sinners to approach unto the majesty on high. It's a good thing if you and
I realise we do approach in prayer to the Majesty on high. It's not something which is trivial. It's a very solemn and yet blessed
occupation to pray unto our God and yet to realise that God is
holy, our Father in heaven is holy, cannot look upon sin, But
as we approach unto him in prayer, as he sees his son, he sees what
his son did in atoning, paying the price, so that we can approach
unto the majesty on high through what the Lord Jesus Christ has
done. No risen saviour, no access. And so today do we praise and
bless God for the risen saviour. Does he then take on a different
aspect? Does he then become to us more
precious far than earth and all its comforts are? It's a blessing
when it is so, when we know what it is, to bow down. Bow down,
as the hymn writer says, sense and reason. Yes, before that
great God. And to be truly humbled because
the effect will be that you and I would desire to truly praise
and honor our God. How we fail, don't we? when we
are led into these great and glorious truths. What a mercy
it is to have such a God, such a compassionate God. He knows what sore temptations
are, because He has felt and known the same, tempted in all
points, like as we are, yet without sin. This risen Saviour, when
He walked on the earth, He walked in this sinful world, and as
we are told so clearly tempted in all points like as we are
so when we come in prayer we realise we don't come to someone
who doesn't understand we come to someone who understands all
about us surely that's a wonderful privilege and a wonderful comfort
to realize that great as our God is, he understands us. And the great blessing is this, you and I, by the grace of God,
are being prepared, not for this world, but for the world to come. Yes, we pass here through a glass
darkly, but then face to face. Then we shall see the glory of
Emmanuel's land. There we shall bask in the love
of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And
how amazing it will be to realise that Almighty God has died for
us and the power that raised Christ from the dead is the same
power that raised our dead soul to life and it will be the same
power that will raise our dead body to that great last day when
that trump shall sound when we should go to be with Christ forever
and ever. Well, these are wonderful truths. And at this Easter time, how
good it is to ponder and to not lose the gracious and wonderful
effect of the words of the Saviour. To be blessed indeed and to be
thankful for all that He's done when he was able to say, it is
finished. He completed the work that his
father gave him to do. And then after he was in the
grave for those three days, he rose again. Death could not hold
him. What a mercy. The first fruits
of those that die. An evidence of eternal life. May we therefore go on our way
realising that if we have the evidence, as I've touched upon,
of the life of God in our souls, to have the comfort that it is
well with our soul. And we do need to have that evidence
and that comfort that it is well with our soul. so that one day,
through the mercy and love of our blessed Redeemer, we shall
be forever with the Lord. Amen. Let us conclude our worship,
public worship, today by singing hymn 751. The tune is Saint Clement
813. The Saviour lives, no more to
die. He lives, the Lord, enthroned
on high. He lives, triumphant, o'er the
grave. He lives eternally to save. Hymn 751. ? O'er water and sky ? ? Elect
the Lord and Lord of life ? ? Elect the Lord and Lord of life ? ?
Elect the Lord and Lord of life ? O come, O come, Emmanuel! Hail, excellent God of our God,
Hail, excellent God of our God, Hail, excellent God of our God,
Hail, excellent God of our God, Hail, excellent God of our God,
Hail, excellent God of our God, In excelsis Deo. Let our joys, our pain, our suffering,
let them march us to victory. Now by the grace of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the love of God our Father, and
the fellowship and communion of the Eternal Spirit, rest and
abide with us each, now and for evermore. Amen.