Such a joy to be with you. Thank
the Lord for you. And I pray the Lord will bless
this message that I want us to consider. I've entitled this
message, and I'll give you the title before I read the text.
Come see the place where the Lord lay. Now, if I tell you to look to
Christ, it's nothing physical, is it? If I try to describe him physically,
it would not be right. But we are commanded to look
at something physical tonight and see what we can learn from
it. Come, see the place, where the Lord lay. That was Matthew's
account. We're going to look mainly in
the book of Mark as we consider this thought of looking in the
empty tomb. Looking in a place where we see
nothing. In Mark chapter 15, Verse 37, Jesus cried with a loud voice. And we know from the other gospels
what it was he cried at this time. It is finished. I don't know of any more glorious
words than those. And he cried it with a loud voice
and gave up the ghost. He's the only man to ever do
this. You die because you don't have
any choice. Death could not take him until
he gave it permission. You see, he's Lord of all. There's
nothing he's not the Lord of. And he gave death, at this time,
permission to come and take him. And immediately upon his death
and the veil of the temple was ripped in twain from the top
to the bottom. Can you imagine how those people
in the temple felt when that took place? You know, something
else that you can think about is They were all exposed to be phonies
at that time. There wasn't any Ark of the Covenant behind there.
They didn't have the original furniture. And they were exposed
to be what they are. But this lets us know that the
way into the holiest is open to every believer. Come and welcome. And when the centurion, which
stood over against him, saw that he so cried out and gave up the
ghost, he said, truly, this man was the Son of God. This is as glorious a revelation
as the thief on the cross. He didn't begin this time believing
he was the son of God, but when he saw him, so cry out. He'd never seen anything like
this. He heard the things that he said. He saw the sun darkened. He felt the earth tremble during
the earthquake. And he cried out, truly, surely
this man was the son of God. There were also women looking
rather far off, among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the
mother of James, the last son of Joseph, and Salome, who also,
when he was in Galilee, followed him and ministered unto him. I love to think of these women
following the Lord around. And many other women which came
up with him unto Jerusalem. And now when the evening was
come, because it was the preparation, that is the day before the Sabbath,
Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor, which also waited
for the kingdom of God, came and went boldly into Pilate and
craved the body of Jesus. The Lord had been left on the
cross at this time. He was still hanging there, dead
that evening. And Pilate marveled if he were
already dead. He called unto him the centurion.
He asked him whether he had been dead, any while dead. And when
he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought forth fine linen,
and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him
in a sepulcher, which was hewn out of a rock and rolled a stone
unto the door of the sepulcher. He gave the Lord a rich man's
funeral. Now if this hadn't happened,
they would have just taken his body down and thrown it aside,
not even buried it. The Mount Calvary is called the
place of the skull because there were so many bones laying around.
They weren't going to take the time to bury a criminal against
Rome, but the Lord's not gonna have that done with the body
of his son. And he has a rich man and he prepares him for this
burial. And Mary Magdalene and Mary,
the mother of Joseph beheld where he was laid. They saw him taken
down, they saw him wrapped in fine linen, and they saw where
they put him in that sepulcher. And when the Sabbath was passed,
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome had bought
sweet spices that they might come and anoint him. Now see
these dear women did not know at this time that the body of
the Lord would never decay. They thought they were gonna
help out. It wasn't needed. Why did he never go through the
process of decay? Because of what he accomplished.
The complete salvation of everybody he died for. And very early in the morning,
the first day of the week, they came into the sepulchre at the
rising of the sun. They said among themselves, who
shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
You'll remember they saw the stone rolled before the sepulchre. They were watching. And they
remembered that that stone was before the sepulchre. And they
said, who's going to roll us away that stone? We can't roll
away that stone. And when they looked, They saw. Now that's the divine order of
faith. You look, you see. You don't look, you don't see. If you look, you will see. Everybody who looks, sees. And if I say to you, look at
me, Nobody says, what do you mean by that? No. Look. They looked and saw. Let's go on reading. And when
they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away. For it was very great. We know
from Matthew's account, that a great earthquake had been used
to roll away that stone. And I really don't believe the
Lord needed the stone rolled away. I believe he could have
walked right through it. He vanished in the very presence
of the men on the road to Emmaus. I mean, he just disappeared.
He's gone. And what about there in John when it says the doors
were shut, then he appeared to him. It doesn't say the door
was open. Obviously, I don't understand this, but the Lord
had a glorified body that if he could do things, you and I
can't even begin to fathom. And he could have walked through
that stone, but they couldn't. So he had the stone rolled away. And entering into the sepulcher,
they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in
a white garment. They saw an angel. He looked
like a young man, but they saw an angel. Those beings, creatures
of God that are greater in power and might than we are. But you
know what? I love the way Paul calls them,
the elect angels. You know, they're just as dependent
upon election as we are. The only reason they have not
fallen is because they are elect angels. They would have been
Satan with Satan and the rest of the bunch had God not prevented
it. The elect angels. Well, this was an elect angel. And they were affrighted. I can
understand that. You'd be affrighted too if you
saw an angel like this. Verse six, and he saith unto
them, be not affrighted. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucified. He's risen. He's not here. come behold the place where they
laid him. Now the Lord would to God that
he would enable me and you to come and behold the place where
the Lord where the Lord had been laid. Now, they were coming thinking
they were going to find a dead Christ in the tomb. They were
going to try to anoint him with spices. And he wasn't there. Now, I don't know of anything
that is more exciting to think about when
you think about the resurrection of Christ. Every hope we have
is founded upon the resurrection of Christ. The apostles, if you
read the book of Acts, what was the main subject? the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. And I love to think of him being
dead. Stone cold graveyard dead. He was dead on the cross, they
took him down, they put him in a tomb, and there he lay, dead. A cold, lifeless corpse. I mentioned this last night.
Can you imagine? All of a sudden, his lungs heave. He takes in a breath of air.
His heart beats. And that air he takes oxygenated. The heart pumps it to the different
parts of his body. He opens his eyes and he gets
up. He removes the grave clothes. He took the napkin over his face
and put it in a separate place. And like I said, I kind of believe
he just walked through the rock when he went out. He certainly had the ability
to do that. And then he had the earthquake come along and shake
that ground and that rock rolled away. And that's when those women
came and looked into that tomb. And the angel said, he's not
here, he's risen. Behold the place where he lay. What do you see? Nothing. Nothing. As I and as you behold that empty
tomb, first thing I see is He is risen. I am he that liveth, who was
dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and have the keys
of hell and death. Now, I've heard people say, Jesus
Christ is alive and well. You know, I don't much like that.
He's not alive, he's life. He's life. You know, before time
began, He's life. Oh, He is that eternal life which
was with the Father. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God. A distinct person, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God, and oh, His life in eternity passed. And listen to
me, while he walked on this earth for 33 years, his life is the
life. Oh, what life. This is life. Now, you know,
we're really living it up. No, I don't think so. This is
life. And when he is in glory, his
life is the only life that's acknowledged by the Father. And
the only way I'm going to be in heaven is if His life is my
life. I love the way the Lord said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the
Father but by me. Now, think about this. That doesn't
mean I come beside Him. It doesn't mean I come behind
Him. It doesn't mean I come pleading his name. It means this, when
he comes to the father, me being in him, I come too. The only
way I can get to the father is if I'm in him and when he ascends
back to the father, I'm in him. And he says, behold I and the
children thou has given me. I love what Luke's account says
the angel said. Why seek ye him that liveth among
the dead? That's a dumb thing to do, isn't
it? Why seek ye him that liveth in
your dead works, your dead, that's not a good thing to do. Second thing, as we behold, we
behold He is risen. I serve a risen Savior. He's
in the world today. He's risen. He's not in that
tomb. The second thing we see as we
behold that empty tomb, we see God's eternal purpose displayed. This is God's eternal purpose. This is why God made the universe. So that the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world, who is the Lamb raised from the
foundation of the world, would come in time and be slain and
be raised. This is God's great declaration
of himself. This is, this, nothing compares
to this. Nothing. This is God's eternal
purpose, which he purposed in himself. The lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Now, I love to think about when
we're given that picture into heavenly glory in Revelation
chapter five, where the lamb as it had been slain, even In
eternity future, in heaven, this is always his character, the
lamb as he had been slain. That was the object of worship
in eternity past, he's the object of worship now, and he'll be
the only object of worship in heaven, the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. But I love to think of the lamb
slain coming up to him who sat on the throne, and the scripture
says, he took the book. He didn't ask for it. He didn't
say, my habit, please. As the father's equal, he took
the book as the lamb having been slain. This is the eternal purpose
which God purposed in Christ Jesus, his resurrection and its
accomplishments. We see he's risen. We see God's
eternal purpose unfolded. What do we see when we look into
that empty tomb? We see He is who He said He was. He was raised from the dead.
He is who He said He was. The eternal, uncreated Lord of
glory. The Son of God. He is who he said he was. Now, if he were just a man, just
a mere man, you know where he'd be. He'd still be there. But
he is who he said he was. And we see that when we look
into that empty tomb. He's not there. He's risen because
he's the son of God. And he is who he said he was. We look into that empty tomb,
look in there, what do you see? Nothing. You know what that means?
All of the time of his humiliation is over. It's over, no more. Now when he walked upon this
earth, he walked as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
Everybody that was anybody turned thumbs down on him. He was hated
and despised. What a stoop he took when he
became man. The eternal God took upon himself
the limitations of the flesh. What a stoop. And what a stoop
when he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. What a stoop when he was made
sin. What a stoop. But all that's over. One of the
reasons I despise looking at a crucifixion is they have Christ
still on the cross. He's not there. He's not there. His time of humiliation is over. He has achieved glories that
he would never have achieved had he not gone to Calvary's
tree. What do we see? The time of his
humiliation is over. Now, looking at that empty place,
come see the place where the Lord lay. Looking at that empty
space, there's nothing there, reminds us of where he is right
now. You know where he is right now? Seated at the right hand of the
Father. There's a man in glory right
now, seated at the right hand of the Father. And I love the
way he's seated. You know what that means? His
work's finished. He's the sitting Savior. His work's finished. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work thou
gavest me to do. Now when he, On his first recorded
words, I must be about my father's business. It is finished. My father's business is finished. The salvation of all my people
is accomplished. And he sits down, and he's not
pacing back and forth worrying. He's sitting as the ruling, reigning
Christ, controlling everything. And listen to this. Not only
is he sitting, not only is he ruling, he's making intercession
for me right now. Wherefore he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. And understand this about
the intercession of Christ. You sin, and he says, forgive
him. And you sin again, and he says,
oh, forgive him again. And you might commit that sin
for the 9,000th time. He said, well, forgive him for
the 9,000th time. No, that's not the way the intercession
of Christ is. He simply shows the Father his
hands and his feet, and nothing else is needed to be said. Every
believer is complete in the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking into that empty tomb,
now what did he take on himself when he was nailed to that cross? Our sins. Now remember, sins
can't be two places at once. He took my sin. What all that is, we'll never
really understand. It's a thing of worship, it's
a thing of all, it's a thing of bow down. It's not something
to argue about. It's something to be amazed by.
He took my sin. Now, look into that empty tomb. Where is my sin? Nothing there. You know why? Because it's been put away, it
is no longer in the universe. It's gone. Listen to this scripture
from Jeremiah chapter 50 verse 20. The iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for and there shall be none. Now when God looks for
something, he finds it if it's there. He can't be mistaken. He can't fail to find what he's
looking for. The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall
not be found. Now I know we can only get this
by faith. But believer, you stand before
God right now without sin, perfectly righteous, having the righteousness
of Jesus Christ as your personal righteousness. You know, I can't
express the contempt I feel for that teaching that says that
Believers will be judged according to their works in the sense of
you'll get a higher award in heaven or a lower or you'll have
to be in the basement or You can add to the righteousness
of Christ You can subtract from the righteousness of Christ no
Every believer stands before God look into that empty tomb
what's there nothing? That's what said about your sin
Nothing. Nothing there. You see, that empty place speaks
of complete atonement. There's nothing left. Complete
atonement. We don't sing Jesus paid a half
the other half I owe. No. We sing Jesus paid it all. the debt I owe. Sin had left
a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. Complete atonement. Like I said that last night,
that publican went down to his house, not forgiven, not shown
mercy, not having been given grace, although all those things
are true, but he went down to his house justified, without
guilt, having never sinned. Don't, oh, may the Lord deliver
us from missing the blessings of this glorious thing of being
justified. I stand before God without guilt,
Full payment was made, full satisfaction was made. Now this is how satisfied
God is with the death of Christ. This is how satisfied God is
with the death of Christ. He is completely satisfied with
me. Now that is glorious. God looks at me, and I know something
about what I am, just a little bit. I don't know near how bad
it really is. I remember somebody came up to
me all that long ago, and they said, I'm feeling bad about myself.
And I said, it's a lot worse than you think. And he was shocked. But the point is, The God of absolute holiness,
of two pure eyes to behold iniquity. And I'm scared to say this, but
I'm saying it. He looks at me and he says, I am satisfied with
him. There's no way he can get any
better. There's no way he can get any more saved. There's no
way he can get any more holy. There's no way he can get any
more accepted. Satisfaction. Oh, the satisfying work of Christ. He shall see the travail of his
soul and be satisfied. Are you satisfied with that? My soul, I'm not looking for
anything else. I'm really not. Somebody says,
there's got to be more. You ain't seen them. Because every believer
is completely satisfied with what God is satisfied with. God
is satisfied with Christ. I am too. Oh, look at that empty
tomb. That speaks of God's utter satisfaction
with the Lord Jesus Christ. I want us to take a look at that
empty tomb and see the ground of my assurance. I can believe I was saved if,
wait, wait, if Christ died? If Christ was raised from the
dead? No, I could believe I was saved
if I had better experience in my life, if I loved God more,
if I sinned less, if I saw more grace in my heart, if I saw more
victory over sin, if I saw more zeal for His glory, if I saw
more hungering and thirsting after Him, then I could believe
I was saved. You might believe it, but if
that's what you find to give you assurance, you're not saved. The only ground of assurance
is his death. I love what Peter called baptism
in first Peter 3 21. Baptism is the answer of a good
conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. Now, what is a good conscience?
Somebody says, well, I don't feel guilty. Well, it could be
you've got a seared conscience. Somebody says, I feel real guilty.
Well, you've got an accusing conscience. What is a good conscience? A good conscience is something
that has nothing to feel guilty about. And the only thing that satisfies
this conscience to know that I have nothing to feel guilty
about is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. There's
the ground of our assurance. And if you find assurance from
anything else, it's a false assurance. What do we see when we look into
that empty tomb? Nothing. Faith is not something you see,
is it? I do not, I've been talking about
being justified. I've been talking about being
holy in God's presence. I've been talking about God being
satisfied with me. I don't see it. I can't look at my life,
my conduct, my thoughts, my words, anything about me. I can't see
anything about me that would make me come to that conclusion.
I mean with regard to everything. I don't care if it's my preaching,
I don't care if it's my praying, I don't care if it's my Bible
study, the things that I would consider good. Lord deliver me from considering
anything in me good. I know that in me, that is in
my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. I know that. Paul said, we know
that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. And when he said we know, he
was speaking as a representative for all the elect. They all know
that. We know with the law of spirits,
I'm carnal, soul to undersee, and we see that in ourselves. Well, what's the evidence that
you're justified? Faith. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now let me remind you
what faith is. Faith is believing He is all
in your salvation. And relying on Him only as all
you have in your salvation. That's the evidence that you
stand just before a holy God. What do we see in the empty tomb?
We see the utter defeat of Satan, and here's what I want to, I
could say a lot about that good, but I'm going too long, but let
me read the seventh verse. Verse six, he saith unto them,
be not affrighted, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified,
he's risen, he's not here, behold the place where they laid him,
but go hereon, tell his disciples, and Peter. and Peter, that he goeth before you into
Galilee, and there shall you see him as he said unto you."
Now, why did he say, and Peter? I know you know this, Peter didn't
think he was a disciple. He heard when the Lord said,
whoso denieth me before men, Him will I deny before my Father,
which is in heaven. He heard that. He knew it, and
I have no doubt at this time he thought, I'm cut off. I'm
not a disciple. All this disciple stuff was phony
with me. There was nothing real about
it. Do you remember when the Lord
said, Peter, I've prayed for you. that your faith fail not. And you know what? His faith
never failed. Now he denied that he knew Christ
out of cowardice. You ever done that? Anybody? He denied that he knew Christ
out of cowardice, but he never quit believing that Jesus was
the Christ, the son of the living God. Even when he was denying
him, I don't know what, what did he feel when he was doing
that? What did he feel? I was scared to death, amazed
that he was doing this. He was like he's been carried
on with the tidal wave, there he goes, he can't stop it. But
that whole time, remember Christ said, I prayed for you, that
your faith fail not. And he never quit believing,
even in his utter failure, that Jesus was the Christ, the Son
of the Living God. Now, dare I believe that Jesus
Christ died and rose for me? If he did, I'm saved. Nothing else needed. Dare I believe
that Jesus Christ lived and died for me? Listen to this scripture. For when we were yet without
strength, not just weak, but without strength, in due time,
Christ died for the ungodly. Now, if that would be you, without
strength and ungodly, Jesus Christ died for you. And he was raised
for you. And your salvation is an utter
necessity. believe the gospel. Amen. If you need to go to the restroom
now would be a good time, but we're going to, Rick's wife Denise
is going to do our special