Thank you, Brother John. Psalms, hymns well chosen with
the text in mind. If you paid close attention,
they went so well, so well with the text. Free from the law.
Cursed by the law. On his solid rock of righteousness
we stand, and darkness veils his lovely face. Remember that.
Remember that veil. John 20. Now, the Lord Jesus
Christ had just been crucified. And they all saw this, at least
from a distance. They all looked on Him, Scripture
says, of whom men pierced. They saw His hands and His feet
nailed to that cross. And then darkness came, and after
six hours total, He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. He died. He died. Now that's a mystery. He's God. He never ceased to
be God when he came here. He's man. But he died. And they saw this. And a little
while they saw Nicodemus and Joseph take his dead, lifeless
body down from the cross and wash his body. I'm sure they
washed his body. His face was unrecognizable. His visage marred more than any
man. They took him down and they washed
his once bleeding body. And then they wrapped him up
in these linen clothes. They saw this. Wrapped him up
tightly, bound him with these linen clothes. The last thing
they did was they took a napkin and wrapped his head around with
this napkin, and they put his body in a tomb, in a grave, the
cleft of a rock. And the Roman soldiers were there,
usually four of them as at the cross, four of them, and there
was this massive stone. that had to be rolled over that
door, that not one man could move. And they all rolled the
stone over the door, and Pilate sent command to seal it with
something and make it sure. He said, make it as sure as you
can. And they did. It's just as sure
as they could. It wasn't good enough. But they saw this. They saw this. On Friday, he lay there. On Saturday,
he lay there on the Sabbath day. And that's by design. That's
according to God's purpose and wisdom that Jesus Christ laid
in the grave on the Sabbath day, showing us clearly that we're
dead to the law by the body of Christ. That there's no life
in the law. the law killeth. He arose on
the Lord's day, the first day of the week. But Christ became
our Sabbath, he said. He is our Sabbath. He's Lord
of the Sabbath. And our Lord laid in the grave
on the Sabbath day, just like God who, when he finished his
works in the beginning creation, he rested on the Sabbath day. And that's
the Lord Jesus Christ hanging on the cross said, it is finished. What? The work of salvation. And he rested on that last day. And now all things have become
new. He'd taken away the first and
established the second. All things have become brand
new. Now on the first day of the week, we meet together. It's not a Christian Sabbath,
mind you. Christ is our Sabbath. Christ
is our rest. Noah's name means rest. That's
who Christ is. We're in Him. He is our rest. All of this was by wonderful
wisdom and design by our Lord. He used to lie in the grave on
the Sabbath day. And I believe it was this way.
I love this thought. Where was Christ on that day,
the Sabbath day? Where was He? We don't know. He was dead. But really, we don't
die, do we? We don't die. We sleep. He giveth His beloved sleep. And I believe God the Father,
after Christ spent 33 years of hard toil and labor, said, Rest,
my son. You deserve, this is a well-deserved
rest. Just like that. Rest from all
your toils, all your labors, all your sorrows, and all your
grief. Rest. And the first day of the week,
verse 1. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene. When it was yet dark, she came
early. Early. Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God. Early. Early. Shall I seek thee? She came early
in the morning. Blessed Mary. Oh, Mary was a
blessed woman, wasn't she? People call Mary the Virgin a
blessed woman. She's not blessed to love other
women. She's blessed, all right, but no more than Mary the Magdalene. What a blessed woman. A blessed
woman. Mary came. Not the other one. Mary Magdalene, out of whom the
Scripture tells us over and over again the Lord cast seven Devils,
every imaginable evil was in her. That's who the Lord came
for. That's who the Lord came down.
This is a faithful saying. He came in this world to save
sinners. And He proved it by saving the
chief, Mary Magdalene. And He proved that this man receiveth
sinners and eateth with them. And He came for sinners. And
He ever lives to make intercession for sinners. And who was the
first person our Lord appeared to? Mary. Will He keep putting up with
us? Yes. That's what He came for. Do you
hear this faithful saying? Shall I say it again? Shall I
quote it again? Okay, I will. This is a faithful saying. The
Lord is the one that said it. He's faithful. He'll save us
in His righteousness and He's faithful. And He said, I came
into the world to save sinners, even the children. He came to lay hold of her and
save her, and He will not let her go. Mary Magdalene, blessed
Mary, to whom much is forgiven, the Scripture says, they will
love much, don't they? Seven devils, and the Lord frankly,
freely, finally forgave them all, justified her from all things. By His grace, by the redemption
He paid, by His blood redempted, she believed, she believed, He
justified it. Much is forgiven. Much will love
much. Will love whom much? Christ will
love his gospel much. Will love this. Tell me again.
They'll love much. And those that love much rise
early. Proverbs 8. Listen. Listen. Proverbs
8 is the proverb about Christ, our wisdom. And he said, I love
them that love me. And those that seek me early
shall find me." She came, she got up early looking
for the Lord. She came to see Him. And she found Him in the darkness. That's how you
know whom the Lord loves. And who loves the Lord? They
seek Him. Why? Because He first loved them.
They love Him. Why? Because He first loved them
and gave Himself for them. And He gives Himself to you.
He will never, ever leave you or forsake you. Oh, she came early at the Decepticons. and seeth the stone taken away
from the sepulcher. She runneth and cometh to Simon
Peter, the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them,
They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we
know not where they have laid him." She's saying this with
great sorrow, and she's distraught. She's upset. She thinks somebody
has come and stolen away the Lord's body. You know, we're no different. We get distraught. We get upset. We get troubled by whatever it
is it troubles us. And we say, they. We attribute
all bad things or all the mystery and all our distress to people,
the things. They've done this. Look what
they've said. Did you hear what they say? They didn't take away the Lord.
Just like they did with wicked hands, took and crucified the
Lord. This is the worst thing that could possibly happen to
the disciples, they thought. But no, it's not the worst thing
that could happen. It's the best thing. And who
did it? They. It's the Lord. Oh, how we need to have our blind
eyes open to whatever it is. It is the Lord. for our peace,
for our comforts. They've taken away the Lord.
No, you can't. They won't take away the Lord.
They can't take away the Lord, and they can't take you from
Him. Did you hear that? They've taken away my Lord. No,
they haven't. Mary doesn't know it, but He's right there. He never left her, Kelly. He's right there! And they didn't
take Him away, and they can't take her from Him. Oh, but the Father giveth, and
they shall come unto thee. Here she comes early, seeking
the Lord. Because He drew her, cords of
love, she came. He never left her. He's right
there. And I'm way ahead of myself. I'm like, my, my. It was the Lord who did this.
It was the Lord. The Lord said, I kill. I make
a light. I wound. I heal. He said, I form
the light. Isaiah 45, 7. Listen. I, the
Lord, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create
evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. You say, I don't understand. No, we don't understand. But
it is the Lord. The Lord hath made all things.
Proverbs 16, 4. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, even the wicked, Satan, for the day of evil. See, I don't understand. I'm
not charging God with sin. And I'm just telling you what
the Scripture says. For our comfort, they have... No, Mary, no. They didn't take him away. If she had listened more carefully,
like the rest of the disciples, if she had just listened to what
he said for three and a half years, he kept telling them over
and over and over again that they just didn't listen. It's
like they were dead to what he was saying. How about that? He
kept telling the Son of Man must suffer. The Son of Man must enter
into His glory. And He will be treated this way. And He said about us, you must,
through much tribulation, enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Why are
they doing this to me? Are you with me? Why are they
doing this to me? They ain't doing nothing. It's the Lord. And you remember
when he rose later, he said, he arose and he came to them
and they imagined, they thought they saw spirits out there on
the boat, thought they saw a spirit. And he said, why do thoughts
arise in your heart? In other words, why do you always
imagine the very worst? It is I. It is I. I did this. I did this. Men are his sword. Men are his
means. Like Job, remember? Job, our
Lord, let, allowed Satan to do seemingly as he would with Job.
He put some parameters there, didn't he? He heads his path.
He said, you can't go any further than that. Then our Lord ended
up, by him, I say, you moved my hand against him. The Lord
said it was his hand, not Satan's. His hand. It's the Lord. It's
so comforting. Come back Wednesday night. Do
you need peace? Do you have any doubts? Do you have any fears?
Do you have any troubles that bother you, that leave you full
of distress and distraught? Come back Wednesday night. We're
going to hear Him say, Peace be unto you. But hopefully, we
won't make it to that. It was the Lord God who sent that made this happen, sent Christ
to put Him on the cross that pleased the Lord to bruise Him.
They've taken away the Lord. Well, she noticed the stone taken
away from the sepulcher. I told you what a great stone
it was, a large stone, a huge stone that represents so much.
But it was God who sent the angel. It was the angel of the Lord
that came and rolled back that stone. Remember in the other
account, the soldiers were left as dead men. And the angel was
sitting on that stone. There's so much there, but I'm
not going to go into it. But it was the angel of the Lord
whom God sent to roll back that stone. And I believe one glorious
reason why. You see, Christ did not roll
away the stone himself. escape or come out. That is. But God sent the command. God
the Lawgiver, God who made Him to be sent for us, said in sending
His angel to roll back the stone, the Lawgiver, the Judge says,
open the prison. The sentence has been served.
I am satisfied. Death has been paid. Open the
gates. He's got to come out. He's got to come out. Turn him
loose. The ransoms do pay. And the justice
of God. You fear the justice of God?
Don't. Love it. Because if Christ paid
for your sin, if Christ died, who is he that condemneth? Christ died. And justice says,
let him go. Let him go. Roll back the stone.
Don't put him back under that. Roll back the stone. Turn him
loose. But Mary and the others were
in the dark. It was dark. Mary and the others are distraught.
They're upset. If only they had listened more
carefully. If only we would, huh? Why art
thou cast down within me, David said. Oh my soul, hope thou in
God. Hope in His rope. Then He will
draw you to understand. Draw us to a run after this. Hope thou in God. Wait on the
Lord. Be of good courage, I say. Wait on the Lord. David said,
I would have fainted if I had not Hope to see the goodness
of the Lord in the land of the living. He says, wait, man, you'll
see. Mary, wait, you'll see. Hope thou in God. Well, she runs. She runs. But the Scripture says,
he that believeth shall not make haste. Mary, don't run to the
men. Just wait. At Lazarus' tomb, you remember
our Lord said to Martha, He said, said I not unto thee that if
thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God? Wait, I say. Don't run. You know, you try to run away
from your troubles. You can't, can you? Old Brother
Henry used to say this, bless his heart. The way he blessed
Mary. What a happy man. But he used
to say, you know, I used to try to run away from myself. And
he said, from sin and my trouble, I tried to run away from it.
He said, I found out wherever I got, I'm still there. Because
I have my trouble. You can't run away from yourself.
Don't run to me and they can't help you. They're just as much
in the dark as you are. They don't know. They're not
very good listeners either. She ran. I said, wait. We need
to wait, don't we? Despite the darkness, despite
the sadness, there's going to be great gladness. You just wait.
You just wait. You're going to see. You're going to see. Just in
a moment, the twinkling of an eye, you're going to see. You're
going to behold His glory, and you're going to say, what was
that word? What did I fear? It's all good. Oh, man. Well, verse 3. Peter, therefore, went forth
from the other disciple. The other disciple. Don't you
love John? I love John. He never uses his name, does
he, Stephen? I love that. You know, you can listen to a
man like that. A man who doesn't care for you to know his name,
but he sure enough wants you to know the name of the Lord.
George Whitefield once said, I love George Whitefield. I love
all those men. I have a debt to all of them. George Whitefield
said, let the name of George Whitefield perish from the earth.
He said, let the name of Jesus Christ be praised. That's who
the Lord uses. That's whom the Lord is going
to use. One who says there's none of
the name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
The name of Jesus Christ. You don't need to know my name.
You sure enough need to know His. To other disciples. And here's how he distinguishes
himself, whom Jesus loved. The other disciples. He outran
Peter. Verse 4, they ran both together.
Where were they running to? They were together. Where were
they headed? Of course, to see the Lord. They're looking for
the Lord. And they ran together, he said. Together. Why? Because they're
in this thing together. They're in Christ. So they're
together. They're vitally joined together. To do what? To love
the Lord. To seek the Lord. To serve the
Lord. To serve each other. They're running together. They're
not running separate ways. They're running one way. Together. Vitally joined. Okay? But John
outran him. Well, so what? Well, does that make John better? No, just a little plaster on
his feet. They're not better. Besides the
first, the last, the last. There's no seniority. There's
no seniority in glory. You think Moses is sitting beside
Christ? I tell you he's sitting beside him. Mary! The thief on the cross was first
in. And Moses said, we've been waiting
on you thief. I told you before, I can't wait
to see Rahab. Ruth. Mary. Several Mary's we can't wait
to see. No seniority. First, last, last, first, greatest
is the least, the least is the greatest. Servant, little toe,
same as hand. They ran together. One purpose.
John ran ahead. He's a little faster, the others
a little slower. We need all kinds, don't we? We need people
that run fast. Some of you really get things
done, and some kind of slow, you know. If they want, they
speed up. How many mistakes have you made going too fast? Hey Richard, how many times?
You're going to measure twice, cut once. When are we going to
learn that? In a hurry. Well, you need to
be in a hurry, then you need to wait. You need both, don't
you? You need both. They all serve the same purpose.
They're running together. Alright, but John outran him.
And he came through the sepulcher. Verse 3. He came through the
sepulcher first. They ran both together. The other disciple did outrun
Peter and came first to the sepulcher. And he scooped him down, verse
5, looked in. He didn't go in, but he looked
in. He looked into it. And he saw the linen clothes
lying, yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following,
and like Peter, what did he do? He just went right on in there. And he saith the linen clothes
lie, and the napkin. The napkin that lying with the
linen clothes wrapped together in a place, it was about his
head, wrapped together in a place by itself. Now, there's so much
to see here, but you know why Simon went in the grave first
before John? It's fulfilled scripture. In
the very next chapter, the Lord says, He told Simon he was going
to be crucified. Didn't He? He told him what matter
of death he should first. He's going to go to the grave
first. And Simon said, well, what about him, John? He said,
what's that to you? You've heard about him. He went
first. I've never seen that before.
It's amazing. The word is so complete. He went
in first. Well, they came in and, you know,
there's some, like here, some have gone early. My brother was
21 years old. That's young. He went to the
grave early. Someone cruelly said to my parents,
well, his life was cut short. My dad said, no, it wasn't. All the days God gave him, he
went early. What mercy! What grace. My old dad and mom can't understand
it. They're still hanging around
after all these years. Their son went there 50 years
ago. Yeah. He'll be 70 years old. And they can't understand why
they're still around, because it's the Lord. Some go early. Some go later. Verse 7, the napkin and the linen
clothes were there. The linen clothes. It kept saying
the linen clothes. Three times, the linen clothes
they saw. The napkin laying by itself. See, it was wrapped together.
Now this tells us many things. Clearly proves to all that the
body was not taken by thieves. The thief wouldn't come out and
strip the clothes and take the body. No, no, no, no, no. They would take the clothes.
And if they were in a hurry, they sure wouldn't take the time
to take his clothes off. So this is absolute proof. One,
his life is proof, but this is a clear signal, a sign to us
that thieves did not take him away. But there's so much more
there. This is proof. Now, the clothes,
our Lord was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. We dwell in
the flesh, and our Lord, equal with God, took upon Himself the
form of a servant, made in the likeness of sinful flesh. The
habit He put on clothes and the like, without sin. God made Him
sin, but He put on these clothes, this flesh that we live in, okay? And he worked. They were like
work clothes for him. And when the work was finished,
what do you do? You take off your clothes and
put on your clean clothes. But this clearly shows us one
who was not in a hurry. A job finished like a man coming
home from work. His day is done. His work is
finished. He's satisfied. He calmly, collectively
removes his clothing. Folds it up, lays it over his
side, I'm done with that. The work is over. And puts on
his clean clothes, and puts his rest from then on. That's our
Lord. He folded up. He's going to fold
this whole thing up like a vessel, or like a vesture in the scripture.
He folded up his work clothes. And it's also a picture of how
this mortality must put on immortality. This corruption must put on incorruption. And the Lord is some day going
to change this vile body, fashioned like unto His glorious body.
These grave clothes are going to be removed from them. Listen to this. Oh, I've never
seen this in conjunction with this, but Paul said, I know,
we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved,
we have a building of God, a house not made with pan, eternal in
the heaven. In this we groan. earnestly desiring
to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be,
being clothed will not be found naked." Listen, we are in this
tabernacle and we've grown being burdened not to be unclothed,
not just to die and leave our, but to be clothed on. Not to
just be unclothed, but to be clothed upon with immortality,
to be made in His likeness. David said, I'll be satisfied
when I awaken in His likeness. Lord, remove this flesh from
me, these grave clothes, this napkin about my head, this veil,
take it off of me. Which brings me to my next point,
which is a lesson all by itself, like this napkin. Paul wrote of the veil, the veil
that is covering, that is about people's eyes and head in the
reading of the Old Testament. And he said that veil is done
away, where? In Christ. When they turn to
the Lord, their veil is removed. The veil in the temple was rent
from top to the bottom, and when our Lord arose, he took off this
veil. Moses went up to the mountain,
remember? Moses went up to the mountain
to receive the law. Stay with me. He went up to the mountain
to receive the law, and he came back down, and they couldn't
look on his face. He wrapped his head in a what? A napkin. John, are you with me? John,
this is of who Moses wrote, and he took a veil off. Now we see
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Where? In the
face of Jesus Christ. No more veil. We see clearly. And that's a message by itself. It's all wrapped up in that.
It's all wrapped up. Our salvation's wrapped up. And
He ripped the veil. Takes off the veil, but blindness
is up. And we see clearly, you know,
salvation is in Christ, isn't it? He lives! We don't worship a dead Christ,
but a living, the living Lord, the true and living God. These disciples were distraught.
They were upset. They thought all their hopes
were dashed. They thought that Christ had come to establish
an earthly kingdom. They thought, they said, on the
road to Emmaus, we trusted it was Him who would redeem Israel.
He did, but Israel is not outward, it's inward. We trusted He would
set up a kingdom. He did! He came and set up a
spiritual kingdom, an unseen kingdom. He did! We trusted in
him. Good, you should have. You ought
to. But you're blinded. He's got to keep taking his veil
off, doesn't he? Like old Lazarus in the tomb. Lucy, take off that
head cover. Take off those grave clothes.
We've got some on until the day we die, don't we? Well, they came, and they
saw the linen clothes. Oh, people, have you seen His
clothes? Christ. And that veil over there laying
by itself. Our head is uncovered. It's a
shame for a man to cover his head when he goes in to worship,
pray. Shame. Our Lord endured the shame. Now His head is crowned with
glory and honor. Amazing. Amazing. I stand amazed. A napkin,
you know, a napkin, what do you think of a napkin? It's a handkerchief,
that's what the word means, a handkerchief. What do you use with a handkerchief?
What do you do with a handkerchief? Why do you have a handkerchief?
To dry your tears. This will dry your tears. Our
head is exalted. Our head lives. Dry up your tears
with that. They went in, also the other
disciples, and they saw verse 8 and believed. John did. Verse 9, it says, As yet they
knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
That's Psalm 16. They knew that scripture. Our
Lord has quoted it too many times. They knew it, but they didn't
hear it. How about us? How many times have we quoted?
Could you quote that scripture? Probably not. You know it, don't
you? We just don't half believe it,
do we? John came and he saw and
he believed. A little later, our Lord's going
to say to Thomas, because you see, you believe. Oh, how blessed
are they that don't see and yet believe. John saw and he believed. And
I thought about this. And there's some people in this
very room who sat for a long time, and I don't believe they've
seen it yet. And my hope and my prayer is
that the Lord will remove the veil and reveal Himself to them. Christ crucified, buried, and
risen again for them. I hope He'll show them. But you
see, John believed. He really did believe. The rest
of them were just more sure. They hoped. If they'd hoped in His Word,
they'd believe Him. He's risen. Mary didn't. She
hoped. Well, Mary stood, verse 11, Mary
stood without at the sepulcher weeping. She stood weeping a
long time. She wept. And she stooped down
and looked one more time in the tomb. She wept. She wept. And you know, the Scripture says
that he that goeth forth weeping bearing precious seed shall doubtless
come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. They that
sow in tears shall reap in joy. Weeping endureth for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning. Weeping over what? What was Mary
weeping over? Tell me. Her Lord. She missed
her Lord. Like, listen, listen, this is
the thing I just learned, as it were. Like the Shulamite maiden,
she sought him whom her soul loved, and she couldn't find
him. And she said, where have you laid? Where is he? What have
you done with him? Where has he gone? I'm looking
for him. Tell him if you see him, I'm sick with love. You
know where he was? He's never left the garden. Don't you leave. But I can't
see him. I can't feel him. He's there. But she wept. Blessed are they
that mourn, they shall be comforted. Weeping's good. Let your laughter
be turned to weeping. All of religion needs to hear
this. All the foolish mockery and laughter and all this lightness.
Paul said, I didn't use lightness. This thing's a heavy burden until
every soul is brought in. It's a burden. It's not fun and
games. It's life and death. Let your
life be returned to mourning, but oh, blessed are they that
mourn. Blessed are they that mourn over their sins. Blessed
are they that seek the Lord. They'll find Him. Those that
mourn will be comforted. Oh, I hope and pray the Lord
will give someone mourning over their sin. I haven't seen it
yet. But, boy, when you see it, it's a wonderful thing. Call
for Mr. Wet Eyes. The Lord told Jeremiah,
teach your wives and your daughters to weep. Our Lord going to the
cross, buried His cross, said, don't weep for me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children. Weep until they know me. Then
when they know me, Well, it's beginning to dawn. They've been in the darkness,
and it's beginning to dawn. The sun's about to rise with
healing in his wings. Mary, on Mary, on Mary and the
disciples, the sun is about to rise. And they knew it not. They
knew it not. Mary stood without weeping, and
look what the Lord did first. Verse 12, she seeth two angels
in the white city, one at his head, the other at his feet,
where the body of Jesus lay. The Lord sent two angels. You
know when you want to hear from the Lord? You know how the Lord
is going to reveal himself to you? You know how the Lord is
going to save you from all your sorrow and misery? He's going
to send his angels. He's going to send the messengers,
the gospel messengers, prophets, apostles, angels, two of them.
I was going to have you turn, but I'm out of time. Over in
Exodus, the Lord said, I've made a mercy seat. He said, I put
the testimony in the Ark of the Covenant, and I've sealed it
with a lid, a mercy seat, and poured that blood on that mercy
seat. And he said, I put the mercy seat in the holy of holy.
That's where Christ went, who bore our sin, who shed his precious
blood, the mercy seat of God. And God said, make two angels.
Make two angels and have them look over that ark. Have their
wings touch and have them gazing down at that ark. And Peter later
on said, these are the things which angels desire to look into. And God said, that's where I'll
meet you. That's where I'll meet you at the mercy seat, where
Christ was crucified. Even the angels decided to look
into it. And an angel sent by God, he's
going to tell you one thing. An angel sent by God is going
to say, woman, why are we for stopping? What are you crying
about? I want to seek my Lord. He's not here. He's risen! Yes, He was crucified for your
sins. Buried like the scapegoat. Buried
like the scapegoat. And the fit man took your sins
as far and separated them from you as far as the east is from
the west. And this fit man came back. Why are you weeping? He's risen. That's what the messenger of
God said. Paul, everywhere he went, Everywhere he went, every
message he preached was this. Christ reigns. Rules. He was
crucified. Why? According to Scripture.
For sin. That's why he came. Buried. Why? Because he must die. He paid
the penalty. But he's risen. Risen for a justification. Seated at the right hand of God.
And we're seated with him. Why are you weeping? They didn't take away the Lord.
God took. God accepts you, and you're accepted
into Him. You want to hear this next sermon?
Two angels. Two angels. Who were they? Michael?
Gabriel? Doesn't matter, does it? Didn't
tell their name. Why? Because it's not important
who they are. But their message is. Words of life. They said to Mary,
why weepest thou? She said, they've taken away
my Lord. I don't know where they've laid him. And when she had thus
said, she turned herself back, turned around and saw Jesus standing
and knew not that it was Jesus. And he said, woman, why weepest
thou? Same thing. Same thing. Do you reckon Eve in the garden
was weeping? Yes, she was. He said, woman,
the seed's coming. And she didn't know it was him.
She didn't know, but he was there all along in his garden. She
didn't see him. He saw her. Jeanette, he never
took his eyes off her. She didn't know it was him, but
he knew her. He foreknew her. He foreloved her. He came for
her. And he's come back for her. And
he said, I go to prepare a place for you. And he said, if I go,
I'll come again. If it were not so, I would have
told you. He's not going to kill us, brother.
He wouldn't have told us these things. He wouldn't have accepted
the sacrifice. Did you hear that? Oh my. Well, she just said, just tell
me where he is. She's supposing he's the gardener. He is. She's supposing he's the gardener.
He is. Who made the garden of Eden?
The Lord did. And this garden that's called
the New Kingdom, he's the one that made it. He is the gardener. And he said, I am coming to my
garden, my spouse, my beloved, come. Oh, north wind, south blow
upon thy garden that the spices may flow in. The spices may...
See, remember the door is open. The door of the tomb is open.
And Mary said, that's odd. He doesn't think. What's that
wonderful smell? Life. Sweet smelling savor of
redemption accomplished. Applied salvation. And she said, Sir, if thou hast
borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will
take him away. And Jesus saith unto her, one
word, Mary. Does that mean anything to you? Does
anybody in here hear what I say? Mary. Christ died for you. He was buried for you. And now
he ever lives to make intercession for you. And he said he came
for you, and he's coming back for you, and he'll never leave
you. Mary. You've got a good name, don't
you? Spurgeon used to say this, Mike. He said, I'm glad the name
Charles Spurgeon is not in the Bible. He said, I'm glad it doesn't
say that this is a faithful saint, worthy of all acceptation, that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save Charles Spurgeon. He
said, because I know it has to be another Charles Spurgeon he's
talking about. There's a Paul Mahan up in Boston,
Massachusetts, who was arrested for... I'm not going to tell
you what. An old Catholic priest was arrested for... You know
what? His name is Paul Mahan. But I can tell you this. He came
to say, sinners. Is that your name? Sinners. I know that's me. I know that's
me. I know he's talking to me. Are
you a sinner? Romans 7 sinner? In your flesh, that's who He
came for. Sinner? I've got good news for
you. He lives. Mary. Scripture says, our Lord
said earlier, He said, the good shepherd knoweth his sheep and
calleth them by name. Mary. That's all she knew. She
knew it. She'd heard that name before.
She'd heard Him call her name as no one else had. with such
love, such kindness, such tender affection, such mercy, such grace,
in calling her by that? Martha. Martha. Married. Sinner. Married. And she had one thing
to say. Master. Do you reckon when we woe into
glory, we're going to hear the first person that's going to
say something to us? It's going to be our Lord. It's going to say,
Henry. I know what Henry said. Master. Like an old dog. My old dog Abner
ran off and he became captain. And I put out a reward. Redemption's
price. And I paid it. Somebody stole
him. Somebody stole him from me. My dog. And I found him. I paid the price. You know what?
He ran off. He got in trouble. But I came
for him. You know what the first thing
I said to him was? Abner. You know what he said to me? You don't know dog like I did.
I did. In his own way, master, you've
come for me. Is he your master? I know he was so unhappy until
I came for him. So unhappy. He never wanted to
run off very far after that. Well, let me conclude. Our Lord
said in verse 17, touch me not. I am not yet ascended to my Father. I believe she laid hold. Mary was always at his feet,
wasn't she? I believe she fell at his feet
and just laid hold of those beautiful feet, nail-scarred feet. And she laid hold of his feet.
And what he's saying, and nearly everyone agrees, is that he's
saying, don't let go of me. I've got to go back to the party.
I'm coming back, he's assuring her. And I'm not yet ascended
to the Father. He's not saying, don't touch
me, I'm too holy. No, not holy. No. Say, let go. I'm not yet ascended to my Father,
but go to my brother. Here's what you're to do. And
you know, we'd like to stay right here at his feet. We'd like to
stay right here and not leave. But he says, no. Here's what
you do. You go to my brother and you
tell him the good news. And he never said this before.
He never said this before. He always said, I go to my father,
the father, the father, the father, the father. He said, my father,
my father, the father that sent me, my father. He said, you go
tell my disciple, verse 17, that I go, I send unto my father and
your father. I'm going back to your father.
That's a good place to be. If you've got a good father, And to my God, and I go to your
God. He's now your Father. Because I'm the firstborn among
many brethren. And you're accepted in the beloved.
That's what he's saying there with John. Because I went to
the Father to prepare a place for you, and seated at the right
hand of God in my fiddle shed, you're coming too. You're accepted. Like one of
the king's sons. Isn't that good enough? You go
tell my brethren. And Mary Magdalene came and told, how do you reckon
she went? If she ran before, she had tears before, she doesn't
have them now. And the Lord's going to wipe
away all tears, isn't He? I love this song. I love, love,
love, love, love this song. Psalm 126. When the Lord turned
again our captivity, we were like them that dreamed. Now this
is too good to be true. Then our mouths were filled with
laughter, the Scripture said. She went from crying to weeping
to laughter. They that sow in tears shall
reap in joy. They that go up weeping, bearing
precious seeds, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing. She went home and told him, he's
risen. He told me to tell you that. He said, go and I'll meet you
somewhere, I'll meet you there. And they did, all but one thing. All right, Mother John, you come
and lay this in closing here. All right, let's all turn to number 132.