Let us turn again to the Word
of God, turning to the Gospel. The Gospel as we find it in Luke
chapter 24, and I'll read the first 12 verses. Luke 24, reading the first 12
verses. Upon the first day of the week,
very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing
the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and
they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. It
came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold,
two men stood by them in shining garments, 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, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third
day rise again. And they remembered his words. and returned from the sepulchre
and told all these things unto the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna
and Mary the mother of James and other women that were with
them which told these things unto the apostles and their words
seemed to them as idle tales and they believed them not. Then
arose Peter and ran unto the sepulchre and stooping down he
beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves and departed wondering
in himself at that which was come to pass. We see here then
how that it was the women who were there first to witness the
glorious truth of Christ's resurrection from the dead as they had observed
the body as it had been laid in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea
there at the end of chapter 23. We are told how the women also
which came with him from Galilee followed after and beheld the
sepulchre and how his body was laid. And they returned and prepared
spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to
the commandment. And then we come into the portion that we
read here at the beginning of the 24th chapter. At the earliest opportunity then,
they go to the sepulchre, having rested as the law commanded throughout
the Sabbath day. And now the tomb is empty. And
we see how they are perplexed, Bewildered, they're afraid. And then the angel speaks on
to them. And it's these words that I want
us really to center our attention on this morning. Words that we
find at verse 5 through 7. And as they were afraid and bowed
down their faces to the earth, they, these two in the shining
garments, angels, 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, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third
day rise again. The message of the angels then,
And the message, of course, concerns the resurrection of Christ. That's the message. The message
of the resurrection. And two things we see here. There's an affirmation of the
truth of the resurrection and there's a confirmation of that
blessed truth of Christ's resurrection. And that's the division that
I want to try to follow. an affirmation of the resurrection,
and then a confirmation. And we have the affirmation there,
of course, at the beginning of verse 6, the words that these
angels first speak, He is not here, but is risen, both negative
and then positive. He is not here. Now, these women
had seen just where he had been laid in the new tomb that belonged
to Joseph of Arimathea, as we see at the end of that previous
chapter. Christ's body had been laid there.
They left him there and they expected that he would still
be there. But here is the message, he is not here. Now, it's true,
of course, it might be that someone had taken the body away. And remember how we're told in
John's account that Mary, Mary Magdalene, when she first sees
the risen Christ, her eyes are whole and she doesn't recognize
him. We're told how she turns, opposing him to be the gardener.
And she says to him, Sir, if thou hast borne him, hence tell
me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. But
no one knew where that body was, because that body had not been
stolen away. That was the way in which the
Jews bribed the soldiers. to say that his disciples had
come by night and stolen the body away. But that was a lie. His body was no longer there.
And why not there? Not because a dead body had been
removed. But then we have the positive
statement. He is not here, but he's risen. He is risen. The negative is not enough. There
must be that positive affirmation concerning the blessed truth,
the reality that Christ is one who was risen again from the
dead. And how was he raised? Well,
the amazing thing in Scripture is, of course, that we see that
the resurrection of Christ is that that was accomplished by
all of the three divine persons. He was raised by the Father and
by the Spirit, but he also raised himself. as we see all the fullness
of the Godhead there in the great work of creation. It's the work
of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, that of the creation of the heavens
and the earth. And so too here. We know that
it was the Spirit in Romans 8 and verse 11 we read of the Spirit
of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead. Peter speaks of him being put
to death in the flesh, but quickens by the spirits, as a work of
the spirit. What is the body that is raised
again? It is clearly a spiritual body,
a natural body. but raised a spiritual body. It's a great work of the Spirit
of God, even Christ being raised again from the dead. It was a
spiritual body, but it was evidently very much a real body that was
raised by the Spirit of God. And how that is made so clear in the portion that we were reading
there in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And the Lord, we're told, gives every
evidence that it is a real body because he partakes of food. We see that somewhat later in
the chapter. Remember when he shows himself
in the upper room he actually eats food before them in verse
14 he showed them his hands and his feet while they yet believed
not for joy and wondered he said unto them have you here any meat?
and they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb
and he took it and he did eat before them he gives every evidence
saying that this though it be a spiritual body a glorified
body, quickened by the Spirit of God, yet it is still that
same body in which he had been crucified and died. But as it
was the work of the Spirit to restore life to that dead body,
so also it was the work of the Father. Romans chapter 6 and
verse 4, Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of
the Father. It's the work of the Father also,
it's the Father owning Him, marking Him out, declaring Him. Remember
the opening words of the Roman Epistle. And there in chapter
1 and verse 4 he's declared, he's marked out to be the Son
of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection
from the dead. He's marked out as the Son of
God. The Father owns him. He is risen. Oh, it's the work of the Spirit,
it's the work of the Father, it's the work of the Son himself. Those words that we have in the
10th chapter of John. Therefore does my father love
me because I lay down my life that I might take it again? No
man taketh it from me, I lay it down of myself. I have power,
I have authority, he says, to lay it down. I have authority
to take it again." How he restores life to that body, even himself. And again, In the opening chapter
of the Acts of the Apostles we are told how he showed himself
alive after his passion, after his death. He showed himself
and the strength of that verb to show, he presented himself.
He presented himself alive after his passion. He has the authority,
he has the power then. to restore life to that body
that he had offered. No one had taken the life from
him. He had died by a voluntary sacrifice
and he has that power then to restore life to the dead body. Or here is the affirmation then.
He is not here but is risen. But then We see also in the second
place the confirmation of these things. Remember how He spoke
unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be
delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the
third day rise again. All that you remember what He
had said in the course of His own ministry. and they are therefore
to witness these things that they might bear testimony to
the people and so considering something of the confirmation
and the witnesses these women are the first witnesses the angels
were told in Matthew 28 say to the women come see the place
where the Lord lie that to witness the glorious truth of that empty
tomb. And as it was with these women
at the beginning, so also subsequently we see Peter. Here at verse 12,
Peter arose and ran unto the sepulcher, and stooping down,
he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed,
wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. all there
to witness, you see, this blessed truth and he wasn't just Peter
because we have the account more fully in John where John also
runs together with Peter he outruns Peter, doesn't he? and then bold,
impetuous, impulsive Peter though he comes up behind John he's
the first in the two but John is also there to witness and
we know that there were many witnesses of this blessed truth
of the resurrection. One cannot but be struck by the
way in which Paul speaks of this in that passage that we read.
He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and then the
witnesses seen of Cephas, then of the twelve After that he was
seen of above five hundred brethren, at once of whom the greater part
remain under this present, but some are fallen asleep. After
that he was seen of James and of all the apostles. And last
of all, says Paul, he was seen of me also, as of one born out
of due time." Oh, there were these many witnesses. And what are they witnesses?
They are witnesses of all these things. There in Acts chapter
5, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged
on a tree, him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince
and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness
of sins, and we are witnesses of these things. And so also
is the Holy Ghost. We are witnesses of these things.
It's in the plural, there are many things that these men bear
their testimony too. And I would mention at least
five things that we can say they are witnesses to. In a sense
they are men who bear witness to the blessed truth of the covenant. There in Acts 5, what do they
say? The God of our fathers, the God
of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew him. He was the God of the
fathers. And God's promise, what was God's
promise to the fathers? Those words that we have at the
end of Micah. Micah 7 and verse 20, they will
perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham which they
were sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. All of these
things you see, the outworking of God's eternal covenant. that
great and blessed purpose of salvation. And the Psalmist,
the Psalmist speaks of it, doesn't he? There in the language of
the 105th Psalm, verse 8, he has remembered his
covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac, and
confirm the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting
covenant." Or the covenant, and who is this that has died and
risen again from the dead? It's that one who is the mediator
of the new covenant. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, the Promised One. They bear witness then to the
outworking of God's eternal purpose in the person and work of Him
who is the mediator of the covenant of grace. And so, they witness
also, of course, the blessed truth of the resurrection, their
witnesses. And John, John reminds us of
that, doesn't he? There in the opening words of
that first general epistle. the reality of the human nature,
that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands
have handled of the word of life. For the life was manifested,
and we have seen it, and bear witness. For they bear witness
to that eternal life, which is there in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and that one now raised in the power of an endless
life. Again what does the Lord God
say in the prophecy of the 89th Psalm? I have laid help upon
one that is mighty. Oh God has laid help upon one. Mighty to save, able to save. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sends forth His Son, made of a woman made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law. All thou
witnesses of many things, the Incarnation, but of course, especially
all that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished as a man by His
obedience. His obedience unto death, even
the death of the cross. We see it in the preaching of
Peter, certainly there on the day of Pentecost. What is the great message that
he is proclaiming in that sermon? It centers in Christ. Him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. They speak then of how he was
obedient even to that cruel death, the death of the cross. But then, really, they're witnesses
to that great truth of the resurrection and we see that so clearly in
the message that is running right through the Acts of the Apostle.
This is what they preach. They preach Christ and Him crucified,
yes, but they preach the great and glorious truth of His resurrection. Those words that we've already
referred to in Acts 5 30. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom ye crucified. the very opening chapter of course
makes it clear to whom he showed himself by many infallible proofs
40 days to those men who were chosen to be witnesses they were
to witness to that great truth of him rising again from the
dead And it comes out in Peter's sermon. It's not just that Peter
speaks of his crucifixion, he speaks also of him being raised
again. Yes, he's delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. He's crucified. But then, this Jesus hath God
raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. or they're ever always
witnessing to these things and it's not only in his sermon to
the Jews and the Jewish proselytes there in Acts chapter 2 but then
remember how in the house of Cornelius the Gentile Pentecost
we might say, what is the message of Peter on that occasion? Well
he speaks Acts 10.38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with
the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and
healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with
him. And we are witnesses of all things
which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem
whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the
third day and showed him openly not to all the people but unto
witnesses chosen before of God, even us, who did eat and drink
with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to
preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which is
ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. This message
runs right through the the Acts and when we come to
chapter 17 and we have Paul there preaching at Athens and addressing
himself to the Greek philosophers Verse 18 of that chapter, we
read how certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the
Stoics encountered him. And some said, what will this
babbler say? Other, some, he seemeth to be
a set-aforth of strange gods, because he preached unto them
Jesus and the resurrection. Or they bear witness, you see,
to many things, that this one is the mediator of the covenant
It's that message that has been given to the fathers of old and
they speak of how God did indeed send his son in the fullness
of the time in the incarnation and how Christ lived and how
Christ died. They crucified him but he rose
again from the dead. And so they proclaim of course
his exaltation. His exaltation. This Jesus of
God raised up. Raised up where? Well, He's raised
to the right hand of God. Being by the right hand of God
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of
the Holy Ghost, He has set forth this, which ye now see and hear,
And in that passage that we referred to in Acts 5 at verse 30 through
to 32, doesn't he speak of witnesses, not only in the terms of these
women and these men, but also the Holy Ghost? We are His witnesses
of these things, and so also is the Holy Ghost. Oh, there's a blessed ministry
of the Spirit of God Himself. And again, look at what we read
later. The end of the chapter, verse
48. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the
promise of my Father upon you. But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem
until ye be endued with power from on high." The very last
words that the Lord speaks to them as he ascends to heaven. He showed himself for those 40
days by many infallible proofs. They saw the reality of his resurrection. But here is the promise as they
are witnesses so they will know that blessed help and that ministry
that comes by the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who confirms
the preaching. It is the Spirit who must be
in that miniature of the Word, making it an effectual Word.
It's not just the preaching of the apostles. Their preaching is not in word
only, but in power. says Paul, and in the Holy Ghost
and in much assurance. And the resurrection is there
at the very heart of that message that they are proclaiming. And again, one cannot be but
struck by the words of Paul in that portion that we were reading
in the 15th of 1 Corinthians. What is he doing here it's another
definition of the gospel just as we have a definition of the
gospel in the opening words of Romans so here at the end of
1st Corinthians I declare unto you the gospel he says which
I preached unto you and which also ye have received wherein
ye stand by which also ye are saved if ye keep in memory what
I preached unto you unless ye have believed in vain And he
goes on, doesn't he, verse 14, "...if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain, yea, and
we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified
of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not." Oh, he's so emphatic, it's such a
confirmation. the gospel is there at the very
heart, the resurrection is there at the very heart of the gospel. But coming again to the words
that we have here in the text, I said an affirmation, then a
confirmation of the resurrection. He is not here, but he's risen. Remember, how He spake unto you
when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third
day rise again." It's not just the witness of these men. It's
more than that. It's the Word of Christ. It's
the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ. Had He not spoken of these things
to His disciples, back in chapter 18 remember how they're making this
final journey now up to Jerusalem how back in chapter 9 he had
set his face to go to Jerusalem his face as a flint he was aware
of what would happen to him there
And so here in chapter 18 and verse 31, He took unto him the
twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all
things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of
Man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto
the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and
spitted on, and they shall scourge Him, and put Him to death, and
the third day. He shall rise again. And they
understood none of these things. And His saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken. Oh, He speaks
to them plainly there. As He's making His final journey,
as He's leaving Galilee, as they're going up to Jerusalem, And amongst
those things that are to have their accomplishment in Him is
that resurrection from the dead on the third day. Or the importance
of the Word, you see. It is the Word of Christ that
is to be believed. Isn't this what the angels are
saying to these women? Remember how He spoke unto you. when he was yet in Galilee. All remember his words. That's their authority. As he is a priest, as he has
made the great priestly sacrifice, so he is also the prophet, the
one who is speaking the words of God, the one who is the Amen,
the faithful and the true witness it's His words, it's His words
and those words are enough and doesn't the Lord make that plain
Himself when He speaks in chapter 16 of the rich man and Lazarus
a remarkable portion that we have there and they each go to
their appointed place Lazarus the poor beggar dies and he's
taken up to heaven into the very bosom of Abram who is the father
of all them that believe and then the rich man goes to his
appointed place. At the end of that chapter And the rich man speaks there
at verse 24, Father Abram, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus that
he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongues,
for I am tormented in this flame. But Abram said, Son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and
thou art tormented. And beside all this, between
us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which
would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass
to us that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray you, I pray
you therefore, Father, that they would ascend him to my father's
house, for our five brethren that he may testify unto them,
lest they also come into this place of torment. Abram said
unto them, They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abram,
but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And
he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither
will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Oh, what
remarkable prophetic words! Though one rose from the dead,
they still will not believe it. That is, man dead in trespasses
and sins, they will not believe these things. But what is the
Lord teaching here? Surely, this glorious truth that
we have the Word of God. And that suffices. They have
Moses and the prophets. That's the Old Testament Scriptures.
Let them hear them. It is sufficient, you see, that
we have the Word of God. We have the Word of the Lord
Jesus. And we are to believe that Word.
We are to believe that Word. And that suffices. the words
again of the Lord to Thomas of course he was not there when
the risen Christ first showed himself to his disciples after
his resurrection and he must see him for himself but what
does the Lord say Thomas blessed are they that have not seen and
yet have believed or to believe, to believe the word of truth,
to believe the word of these witnesses. The Lord himself has
said heaven and earth shall pass away, my word shall not pass
away. And we therefore make much of
the word, it has that principal place in all our worship. Why
is it that in a Protestant non-conformist chapel the pulpit is so so central
because we see that it is here in the Word of God that the Lord
is pleased to come to us the Holy Ghost who first gave
that Word we look to Him to come and bear His own testimony in
our hearts we want God to come by the Spirit in His Word and
it is that more reliable and dependable words. Again, the
language that we have in the opening chapter of Peter's second general epistle. There at verse 16 he says, we
have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto
you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. For he received from God the
Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him
from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount, He
was there, of course, in the Mount of Transfiguration. He
witnessed these things. He saw something of the glories
of the deity of the Lord. He saw, together with James and
John, through the veil of his humiliation. So, beyond the man,
the human nature, he saw the divine. his voice which came from heaven
we heard when we were with him in the holy mount but then he
says we have also a more sure word of prophecy a more sure
word of prophecy where unto you do well that you take heed as
unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn
and the day star arise in your heart now what is that more sure
word of prophecy it is the word of God It's the scriptures of
truth. And what are these women to remember?
They are to remember how Christ spoke. Now, of course the reference
is specifically to his own ministry as we have it recorded in the
Gospels. But you don't need me to remind you that it's all the
word of Christ. from Genesis right through to
Revelation. It's all the Word of God. That's
what we contend for. The inspired Word, the inherent
Word, free from any error. God's truth. And these women, they remembered.
Verse 8, and they remembered His words. and then they go to the eleven and the rest of the
disciples and what we read verse eleven their words seem to them
as idle tales and they believe them not oh alas what a contrast what
a contrast these blessed women oh they remembered his words
but initially they go and tell the others and their words and
they were true words they were true witnesses their words seem
to them as idle tales and they believe them not oh God have
mercy upon us that we're not amongst those who treat it all
as but an idle tale rather God grant us grace that we might
embrace the whole of it, all that they bear witness to, the
Covenant, the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection
from the dead, the Ascension, the Exaltation of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, remember those words we've
referred to them several times just now in Acts 5 at verse 30
following. Yes, they slew Christ, they hung
Him on a tree, Himmath got exalted with his right hand to be a prince
and a saviour to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness
of sins. Gil speaks of how he has been
raised to that high office of being the saviour. Oh, he's been
exalted on high. He's that one who ever lives
to make intercession for all that come to God by him. We can
have access and entrance into the very presence of God and
we can receive all that Christ has been ascended to bestow. Gifts for men. Gifts for the
rebellious amongst men. Gifts for sinners. Repentance
and forgiveness of sins. Saving faith. Or we have to look
unto Jesus. He is the author, He is the finisher
of our faith. He is that one who is now risen
again, and able to say, O God, grant then that we might remember
His words, as these blessed women did. They remembered His words,
that one who is the faithful and the true witness. May the
Lord be pleased to bless His word to us. Amen.