and He leadeth me. His faithful heart would be o'er
my feet, and He leadeth me. Thank you, Sherry. Alright, go
back to Matthew 28 with me. Matthew 28. There is so much here, and it's
hard not to dwell on just one verse, or one line even. I told one of the brethren, one
of the preacher brethren I was talking to today on the phone,
I said, this is like the alabaster box full of precious ointment. And if the Lord opens it up,
the spices, The sweet savor of Christ will fill this room and
fill our hearts. Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary had come to view the tomb. And it said, Behold, there had
been a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord had descended
from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door
and sat upon it, sat upon that stone. And then he bid them to come
in and look at that empty tomb. And he said these glorious words,
verse 6, He is not here, for he is risen, as he said, as the
scriptures prophesied. He is risen. He is not here. He is risen. He is soon to ascend. He is soon to be seated. to reign
and rule for at least 2,000 years and then come again and take
his people home where they will reign with him forever. But he
is not here. In verse 7, he said to them,
go quickly. After they looked into that empty
tomb, he told them to go quickly. and tell his disciples that he
is risen from the dead. Go quickly. Now, why did he tell
them to hurry? The Lord certainly in no hurry. Well, look at Mark chapter 16
with me. Mark chapter 16. He said, Go
quickly. Make haste. Hurry. and tell his
disciples. I was blessed with this thought,
why he told them to go quickly. Mark 16. Did you turn there?
Okay. Turn quick. Mark 16, and look
at verses 9 and 10. It says that now when Jesus was
risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to
Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she
went, as she was instructed, and told them that had been with
him as they mourned and wept. They were in great sorrow. They
were distraught. They were in great sadness, mourning,
and weeping. And the Lord, the angel of the
Lord, said, Hurry, relieve them of their sorrow.
relieve them of their sorrow. The Lord is quick to comfort
His mourning disciples. Go to John chapter 16. This is a blessing. All believers
are sorrowful. There are men and women of sorrows
acquainted with grief. And most of our sadness and our
sorrow is over our sin. Our Lord said that. He said,
blessed are they that mourn. They will be comforted quickly. Blessed are they that mourn.
Those that mourn over sin, their own. That's a cheap cause for
our mourning, our own sinfulness. And the sin in this world. It
grieves us. My wife and I watch a little
television every now and then. It is just... Is it grieving
you how men and women are using God's name today? It's just... It's a sure sign to me that these
are the very last of the last days that God has given men over
to a reprobate mind, the way they use His name and blaspheme. That's what the Lord said in
the last days, men will be blasphemer. They think nothing of it, do
they? Think nothing of it. Take that name which Scripture
says is to be exalted. And I grieve over that, don't
you? I mourn over that. It sickens me. It saddens me
to hear my Lord's name used that way. And what all goes on in
this world. And the trials that believers
go through. All believers go through trials. And we sorrow. Scripture says
we sorrow. And there's nothing wrong with
sorrow. Our Lord sorrowed, didn't He? But here's the good news. We sorrow not as others who have
no hope. And our sorrow, our weeping,
will endure for just a night. But lo and behold, the joy will
come in the morning. It will be as just a night, a
night watch. Your sorrow won't last. Look
at John 16. Verse 20, the Lord said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but
the world shall rejoice. And ye shall be sorrowful, but
your sorrow shall be turned unto joy. Read on. A woman, and Hannah,
read this carefully. A woman, when she is in travail,
hath sorrow, because her hour is come. But as soon as she is
delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish for joy that
a man is born into the world. And you now, therefore, have
sorrow. We all have sorrow. But I will see you again, and
your heart shall rejoice, and your joy No man taking it from you. So,
our Lord said, go quickly. They're weeping, they're mourning.
Comfort them with this most comforting word. He's not here. He's risen,
as He said. Everything has happened just
as He said. It has, it is, and ever shall
happen as He said. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Go quickly. Go quickly. by order of the Lord said this
in our text, verse 7, ìGo quickly and tell his disciples that he
is risen from the dead, and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall you see him. Lo, I have told you Behold, he
goeth before you." Now, let's take each of these phrases by
themselves. Behold, he goeth before you.
He's speaking of the Lord and leader of His people. We sang
to Him tonight. Now, do you know why? He leadeth
us. He's the Lord and leader of His
people who goes before His people. to lead them. He's the Savior
and Shepherd of the sheep who always goes before the sheep,
leading the sheep. John the Baptist said this. John
said, He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he
was before me. Jesus Christ said this of Himself,
I am the first and the last. Somehow or another, the Lord
goes before us and even behind us. He's the great I Am. The Scripture says, in the beginning,
that is, long before there was anything, in the beginning was
the Word, that is, Christ. Before there was a sinner, there
was a lamb slain before the foundation of the Word. Over in John 10,
our Lord, in speaking of Himself being the Good Shepherd, He said
this. He said, the Good Shepherd, when
He putteth forth His own sheep, He's chosen them, the Father
gave them to Him, He chose them, and He puts them forth, He puts
them in the fold, and He puts them forth on this path where
He's going to lead them, and it says, He goeth before them. And they follow. Every one of
them. They follow. He doesn't drive
His sheep. The Lord doesn't have to drive
His sheep with a whip. He goes before them. And they
follow. Willingly. Lovingly. They follow. So He's the shepherd of the sheep
who goes before them. And Scripture calls the Lord
Jesus Christ the Captain of our salvation. Behold, the captain of our salvation
goeth before us." The Lord Jesus Christ was always out in front
of His disciples, wasn't He? Always. As the captain of their
salvation, He was always out in front of them. Now, when you
are in front leading, you must know where you are going. And He did. He always knew where
He was going. They did not. They never knew
where he was going or where they were going, but they merely followed,
didn't they? But that's good. That's a good way to be. It's
much easier to follow than it is to lead. If you're leading,
you must know where you're going. And you must face things first,
right? Leading is hard. Leading requires
great responsibility. You have much to answer to if
you lead those into danger or into harm's way, right? Leading
is dangerous. You're the first one going to
get shot. Leading is thankless. Following is easy. I want to be a follower, don't
you? I told you, I think, one time that a few couples from
this church went on a trip together, and one of the few times that
I did not drive my automobile. In fact, I had nothing to do
with making the plans of that trip. Others did it all. And
I didn't know where we were going. I'd never been there before.
I didn't know the way there. Kind of like Thomas. We don't know the way. I didn't
know the way. But I knew the one that was leading. And I got in his car, and I sat
in the passenger seat, and I was just so happy. I've never enjoyed
a trip anywhere like this. I just looked around. I didn't
even look at the road. I sure didn't look at a map. I didn't
care. I trusted the one that was leading.
And lo and behold, Brother John, He got me there. And our Lord
is the captain of our salvation going out before us. You see,
we know not what a day brings forth, do we? We do not know what a day brings
forth. Thank God. Our sovereign Lord
leads us. Aren't you thankful? Thank God
He hath ordered all things, and they're sure. Thank God He hath
purposed the end from the beginning." Aren't you glad? Just enjoy the
trip. And it says, Christ went before
His disciples going up to Jerusalem. You remember that message we
looked at? He was in the way going up to
Jerusalem. You remember that? I'd love to
look at that again, how the Lord started as a lowly a child in
a manger and went all the way up, working his way up to Jerusalem. And then when he got there, and
they lifted him up, and he did that great work, and then he
went higher than that. But anyway, our scripture says,
he was going up to Jerusalem, he went before them. Scripture
says that He set His face like a flint. Have you ever been around
somebody that their forehead is hard-headed and resolute,
and we're going this way, and you're not going to change my
mind? Don't look at me like that. Some of you are just like that. Well, the Scripture says our
Lord set His face like a flint. He knew where he was going, because
this was where he was going before the world began, to Jerusalem,
to save his people from their sin. Strong, resolute, firm,
steadfastly, Scripture says, he went steadfastly toward Jerusalem,
set for our defense. And the Scripture said, long
before He came, He shall not fail. And He didn't. He went before them and us, and
He would face our sins. He went to the cross to face
our sins. First, He faced our foe, didn't
He? Long before that, He faced our
foe in the beginning of his earthly ministry and faced him down,
met every challenge for attempted in all points like as we are.
And he would go to the cross, that's where he was headed, to
face our sins and be made sin for us, to face the law and take
off his shoe and throw it at him to face death and defeat
it. Sin, hell and death were defeated
by him. In every instance the Lord went
before them. You see why I stopped here. Behold,
he goeth before them. He goeth before you in the Galilee.
In every instance the Lord went before his disciples. In the
garden, In the garden, remember when those adversaries, the ones
who came to apprehend Him, they came to get Him. And, you know, they take the king
by order of the authorities. Everyone that's part of a conspiracy,
so to speak, is apprehended, right? Not just the captain,
but all the whole army, right? Well, they were coming, and they
would have taken all of the disciples, wouldn't they? Oh yeah, they
want to take them all. But the Lord went out before
them. They were asleep and He was not. He that keepeth Israel shall
neither slumber nor sleep. But He went out before them and
met that crowd, that mob that came out with staves against
the sword of God, came out and He met them head on and said
to them, if you seek Me, let them go. He went before them. And that's why whoever and whatever
that pursues us can't have us, because the Lord went before.
He went to the cross, as we say it, and He was taken and He was
slain and He died that we don't have to. He died, didn't He? That's what it says. It says
he died. I don't fully understand that, do you? No one does. But
it says he died. But, Nancy, he said, we'll never
die, didn't he? He died. Who is he that condemneth? Christ
died. But he said, he that liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. Why? He went before Him. He faced death. And death slew
Him in our stead as our substitute. He died so we will not. He went to the grave first. Our Lord was the first to go
to the grave. His disciples, He went before
them to the grave. And He came out three days later
and said, fear not. You see, all our lifetime we're
subject to fear, aren't we? It has been a mystery. He removed
the mystery. Death has been a dark place,
a mysterious place. Barbara, He removed the mystery
and the darkness. He who is light went in there
and shed light on this thing of death. And He said, Fear not. Fear not. And so He went before
us into the grave. And the sting of death is sin. And so he removed that, didn't
he? The sting of death. Where is
thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Christ got the victory. That's where. Where'd the sting? It stung him. And he removed
the sting. So when you face death, when
it is time for you to face death, and there will come a time, there
will be no sting. as he said. Do you believe him? Do you believe him up to this
point? Do you think he's going to let you alone at that most
important time? The time when you're actually
called upon to leave everything and everyone. He said, fear not. Sting is removed. You have nothing to fear. And
so the angel of the Lord said, Behold, he goeth before you. You see why I stopped there?
He goeth before you, look at this, into Galilee. And there you shall see him,
at Galilee. And in verse 10, looking down at verse 10, when
he did appear to Mary and the other Mary, he said unto them,
Be not afraid, go. Tell my brethren that they go
into Galilee, and there shall they see me." Stay with me now,
this is going to be a blessing. And then up in verse 16, sure
enough, the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into
a mountain where the Lord had appointed them. And they saw
him, as he said. Galilee. Why did the Lord say? Why did the Lord say? He'll go
before them and they will see him in Galilee. Why did he choose
Galilee? And there was a mountain there,
it says in verse 16, that he had appointed. And there they
saw him in Galilee. Why? Some of you hung around
last Wednesday night and and you guessed it. I rejoice that
you guessed it. We were standing over here talking
and we brought that up. And lo and behold, some of you
guessed it. I was glad. But Galilee, here's one little
note that I found today. I looked it up. You know where
the first city of refuge was? The very first city of refuge
over in Joshua chapter 20, ordained by the Lord, was in Galilee. Mount Natholah in Galilee. Now you know the cities of refuge
are pictures of the Lord himself, who is our refuge. A man shall
be a refuge and a hiding place. But there they would see him,
there they would go and meet in the city of refuge, the man
slayers. Verse 16, it says, they saw him
in a mountain where he had appointed them. Now, every word is significant. And they saw him. God's Word
is so perfect, so prophetic, and so amazing. Galilee was not
just a good meeting place. The Lord didn't just choose that
because it's a good place to meet. The Lord didn't choose
that because it was convenient. Stay with me. It wasn't at all
convenient. It was 70 miles away. 70 miles, mind you. On foot? How long would that take? 70 miles. Not convenient. The
long way. The long way. But you know, when
you read the word, whenever you read scriptures, as we tried
to note last week, you know, a lot of time goes by in just
a few verses of scripture. And we read that and it seems
it appears like, well, just the next day they were there or just
a few hours later that evening. No, no, no, no. It took them a while. It was
a long way. However, the Lord records it
as if it just happened. And I thought about this journey
that we're taking, this race that we're running, that the
Scripture says, looking unto the Lord Jesus, this race, is
short. It really is. Time is short. Many of you are getting way up
in years. And the time's gone by quickly, hasn't it? Well,
at the time, it seemed like a long time, didn't it? Whatever you
were going through. At the moment, it seemed long,
and the journey seemed arduous or difficult, didn't it? The
trial, whatever it may be that you went through, seemed like
it would never end. Weeping did endure for a night,
didn't it? All night. And you thought, I'll
never get through it. It's gone. It's over. And the Scripture
says we spend our years as a tale that is told. Just a short tale
that is told. The Scripture over in Genesis
says Methuselah lived 187 years. And he begat Lamech. And after
he begat Lamech, he lived 782 years. 969 years did Methuselah live and
he died. And then Lamech lived 180...
It tells the story of Methuselah 969 years, a millennium, as if it's
just a day. It's over. How many trials do
you reckon Methuselah went through? How many deaths do you think
he endured in his family? How many sicknesses? How much sorrow? How many sleepless
nights? How much mourning and weeping
and sorrow do you think he had in 969 years? But the Lord wrote it down like
it was a vapor. He's gone. He's been gone for
thousands of years. Does that comfort you? The time
seemed long. One of these disciples, the Lord
said, go. The angel of the Lord said, Lo,
he goeth before you into Galilee. Go. And there you shall see him. And so they left. And they had
to walk a long way to see the Lord. That's what they were doing,
wasn't it? That's where they were going. Huh? And so are we. We have here no continuing sin.
We're strangers and pilgrims here. Where are we headed? To
see the Lord. Well, how did these disciples
make it? It was a long trip, and they
still hadn't seen the Lord. They were just taking somebody's
word for it. They were just taking somebody's
word for it that He lives. He told them, go and you'll see
Me. Okay. Here we go. Well, how did
they make that long journey? How did they endure? How did,
you know, some of them wanted to stop and say, let's turn around.
How did they get? You remember the disciples on
the road to Emmaus? That was during this time. Emmaus
was about eight miles from Jerusalem, and that was a little short journey.
We're not sure who that was that went over there, but the Lord
appeared to them on that road. What were they doing? How were
they, what were they doing as they walked along the way? They
were talking of all these things. And the disciples were certainly
talking about these things among themselves. They were certainly
comforting one another, weren't they? Exhorting one another.
They stopped, spent the night, pitched their tents or however
they slept, built a fire and sat around the fire. Talked about
the Lord. And reminded one another, didn't
they? Got up early? Yeah. You better believe it.
Going to see the Lord. And they left. And they left. And so the Lord said, go. Take
this, what seems to be a long and difficult journey. But it
was over. And lo and behold, they saw it.
Why Galilee though? Here's another reason. Go back
to Matthew 4. Matthew chapter 4. Why Galilee? The Lord said
this three times, it's recorded three times. The angel of the
Lord told them, go, he'll go before you into Galilee, that's
where you'll see him. And the Lord told these women
to tell them again, go, he'll go before you to Galilee, and
that's where you'll see him. Alright? Pay attention. Galilee. is where the Lord first
appeared to these disciples. They were from Galilee. They
were Galileans, remember? And when they first saw the Lord, where He first found them, where
He first chose them, met them, called them by His grace, that's
where they're going to see Him again. Are you with me? Matthew 4, look at this, verse
12. Matthew 4. Now, when Jesus had heard that
John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee. Now, right
before that is the story of our Lord facing Satan, going out
before. Before He ever called His disciple,
He faced Satan, faced the foe. Tempted at all points like as
we are, yet without sin, as ourselves do. So he faced Satan, and then he
leaves him. And where is he going? Looking
for his sheep. And he told that story, didn't
he? The good shepherd who left the ninety and nine. That's a
greater host in heaven, a heavenly host. To find the one lost sheep. And then he went, and it says,
and when he finds them, the Lord, the shepherd, went looking for
his lost sheep, and he found every one that he was looking
for, because they were where the Lord put them, in Galilee. Look at verse 13. Leaving Nazareth,
he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the Sea Cove, in
the borders of Zadbulon and Naphthalim, that's that mountain, that city
of refuge, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the
prophet, saying, the land of Zadbulon, and the land of Nathalim
by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people which sat in darkness
saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow
of death, light has sprung up. And from that time Jesus began
to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren,
Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into
the sea. But they were fishers, and he
saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going
on from then, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee,
and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending
their net, and he called them. And they immediately left the
ship and their father and followed him and he went about all Galilee
teaching, calling his sheep. Go before, he'll go before you
into Galilee. So Galilee is where the Lord,
where the disciples first saw the Lord. That was the place
that he had chosen to reveal himself to them, to put his name
there, in other words. The place where the Lord found
these bunch of sinners, these bunch of fishermen. And they
found Him. He found them first. And now in the end, these same
fellows, and you know their story, don't you? You've read it with
me. Are they better than when they started? Not if you ask
them. Oh, they're regenerating. But
if you ask them, ask Peter. Peter, have you made great strides
in progress? Well, I'll tell you what, Peter,
go back. Go back where you first saw Him. Go back as you first
saw Him. Go back as a sinner to the place
where He called you to hear that same old, old gospel. Go back
where he first gave you confidence that he was a Christ, the beginning
of your confidence. Go back and lay hold of it again. Go back. These sad and sinful
men, they're all ashamed of themselves, aren't they? Every one of them
had left the Lord. Every one of them denied the Lord in a
sense, didn't they? Every one of them. And they're sad and
they're sinful, but he says, Go back. Go back to Galilee. Like old Jacob. You know the
story of Jacob back to Bethel? Would you like to hear that?
Jacob, you remember? On the run. And he went back
to the place where the Lord first spoke to him. Bethel. The house
of God. Bethel. The house of God. And that's where the Lord wrestled
with him. And he went back there again and he found a pillow for
his head. Back to Bethel like old Jacob. And these disciples
needed to see the Lord again, didn't they? They needed to see
Him again. They needed to hear His voice
again, didn't they? They needed Him to remove all their doubts
and fears again. And so the Lord, through His
angel, first through His angel, the Lord said, He instructed
all His disciples, go back where you first saw Me and you'll see
Me again. Did that bless anybody? And I'm
instructed by the Lord to tell all you sinners, all you disciples
of the Lord, go back to Bethel. No matter how far you have roamed,
no matter where you have been, no matter what you have been
through, no matter what you have done, go home to the Father. There he waits to be gracious.
Is that good news? Tell that woman to go back to
the well. Go right back to the well where
you first met him. There he waits to be gracious. You'll see him.
And you'll renew your strength. And he'll allay your fears and
your sorrow over your sin, over your Cowardice over your everything
will be turned to joy. And so they departed. They left. Now look at this, verse 8. It
says they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear. From the sepulchre, quickly,
they left. They'd been at that place where the dead were. The
Lord He prophetically said this one time to a man who said, let
me go first bury my father. The Lord said, follow me. He
said, let me go first bury my father, meaning I'm going to
go home, take care of my parents and live with them and take care
of them until they die. And the Lord said, let the dead
bury the dead. You follow me. That's prophetic. Leave everybody,
leave the dead. Leave that sepulcher fast. quick,
and everyone in here who was in false religion, the religion
of dead works, when you heard the Lord, when
you heard that gospel command, He gave commandment to save you,
Jeanette, you left the sepulcher quickly, didn't you? Yeah, let the dead bury
the dead. Let me worship a living Lord. And they left with fear. You didn't have fear before,
now you do, don't you? Fear of the Lord. And what? Great
joy. Great joy. Oh, and they ran. These women, it's not proper
for a woman to run, is it? They did. They ran quickly. To do what? To bring His disciples'
word. I've got to tell you something.
I got to tell you the good news. I got to tell you what we've
heard. I got to tell you with great joy. Well, I hope that
was worth listening to, and I know it was. I hope you got a blessing
from it. And Wednesday night, next Wednesday night, the Lord
willing, it gets better. The Lord says to them, first
thing out of his mouth to them is all hail. We're going to look at what that
means. That's the reason I didn't just skip over this. What the
Lord said in those two words is more than a greeting, just
like Galilee is more than a place. All hail. And then one of the
last things He said was, all power. So we're going to look
at all hail and all power. that Christ speaks of.