It's a privilege and an honor
that I don't take lightly at all. I'm a pastor and by the grace
of God I'm a pastor and a preacher and people I love dearly that
I preach to, and very jealous over, and guard the pulpit. Don't just let anybody in that
pulpit where we might. So when you ask a man to come
preach for you, you've placed some confidence in him, humanly
speaking, that he's going to preach the truth. Nobody's going
to stand in our pulpit, God willing, that's not going to preach the
gospel. And I know that Brother Walter feels that way, and Joe.
So it's an honor and a privilege, an undeserved one. Something
I don't take lightly. And I've prepared for this. I'm not going to give you any
leftovers. You know, when we go places to
preach, you know how it is. At home, you've got to prepare
a new message every service. When you go somewhere, often
you take another message you've preached before. I'm not doing
that this morning. In fact, the folks tomorrow are
going to get this message. John and Irene are going to get
the leftover. Hey, we like leftovers. Hey, that was my next point. I love leftovers. Sometimes I
like them better. In fact, this message might be
better tomorrow than it is today. It's not anything new. That's
the gospel, isn't it? It's good news, yet it's the
old, old story. Nothing new. You'll be very relieved
to know that I'm not going to say anything new. Nothing you
haven't already heard. Like Paul said to the Thessalonians,
see that you know these things already, but I'm going to tell
you again. And isn't that what the Lord
sends us gospel preachers to do? Just remind people. I tell
them again, over and over again, the same old story. And I love
it. Oh, how I love when the Holy
Spirit bears witness with our spirit. At the mouth of two or three
witnesses. Look with me at Matthew 28. This morning, we're going
to look at the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when
Mike started reading that from Acts 13, I rejoiced. I rejoiced. Two fellows are going to stand
up today and bear witness to the same thing. The resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything depends on this. Our salvation depends upon it.
The truth of God's Word depends upon it. Who Christ is and what
He did depends upon it, doesn't it? If he did not come out of
that grave, he's an imposter. The greatest hoax ever been perpetrated
upon mankind was this fellow named Jesus if he did not come
out of that grave. But now if he did, he is all
that Scripture says he is. He is all that He said He was.
And everything He said is true and everything He did is true. It all depends upon that. This
is why the apostles preached His resurrection every time they
stood up, didn't they? Every time. Every time. And one of the old preachers,
I don't know who it was, Martin Luther, one of them said that
we preachers ought to preach as if Christ died yesterday,
arose again today, and coming tomorrow. He just might, didn't
He? He just might. He just might
come back tomorrow. But it all depends on this. And us preachers are kind of
like those bells on the hymn of the high priest garment aren't
they? Ringing the bell. He's alive. That story, that
story of the Old Testament high priest who went into the Holy
of Holies with the blood sacrifice. He wore on his garment bells
and pomegranate, ringing the bell and fruit unto the Lord,
bearing fruit unto the Lord. But those bells were that the
people might know that he's alive, weren't they? As long as those
bells were ringing, they said, God's not angry. He's offering
up the blood on the mercy seat. And as long as those bells were
ringing, that high priest is alive. And especially if he came
out of that veil, there he is! God accepted the sacrifice. This
is precisely what the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ meant.
And there was a bunch of bells on that hymn, and that's all
we are. We're good for nothing, Mike, if we don't ring that bell,
aren't we? Right, Brother Walt? But I want
to ring that bell. Verse 1 says, in the end of the
Sabbath. There's no insignificant word
in God's Word. No idle word. Everything is divinely
appointed and points to the truth as it is in our Lord Jesus Christ.
This was the end of the Sabbath day. Christ is the end of the
law to them that believe on that. end of the law for righteousness
to them that believe. End of the Sabbath. Our Lord
laid in the grave on the Sabbath day, didn't He? That's by design. And one of the old writers pointed
out that he had the Romans put a seal on that tomb so that he
could not come out on the Sabbath day. Well, he wasn't going to
anyway. But they put to his seal. And they put to the seal of God's
Word that Christ fulfilled the Sabbath for his people and were
dead to the law by the body of Christ. Everybody saw that clearly. You ought to see it today. They
can't see it, those Sabbath keepers today. But Christ laid in that
tomb on the Sabbath day, showing us He took away the first to
establish the second. And He came out on the first
day of the week. Oh my God, man is going to fulfill
his purpose. Unwittingly, unwillingly. He's
going to do it. Keep him in there on the Sabbath.
Okay, we will. It began to dawn toward the first
day of the week. Oh my. You know when salvation
comes? It's when the day star arises
in your heart. When it dawns on you who Jesus
Christ is. As it began to dawn, you that
look for him, shall the sun of righteousness arise with feeling
in his wings. These two ladies were looking
for him. And he met them. And we are too. That's why we're
here, aren't we? We're not here to play games. Brother Walter said that then.
The greatest blessing on earth is to come and meet together
and worship the Lord. And they go together. Unless
you meet together, you won't see the Lord. Where two or three
are gathered, He's promised to be. It was just two here this
morning, but He was there. He was there wherever God's people
meet. They're seeking Christ. He'll
be there. It doesn't matter how many. Just tombs I'll tell you. My dad, you know, many of you
know him well. Brother Mahan, he preached on
the TV for years. Places all up through West Virginia
and all would hear the broadcast. And some little primitive Baptist
church somewhere, I don't know where it was, the man called
him. And he thought Dad was one of
these big televangelists. If you're on TV, somebody must
be preaching to thousands. Well, he called him and said,
Brother Mahan, I'm so-and-so, and he said, we'd love to have
you come up and preach for us. But he said, we're just a little
bitty handful of people. We don't have very many people.
He said, how many would you have to have to come preach to? And dad said, two. He said, you
to listen and me to preach. Isn't that so? Or two or three gathered. It
doesn't matter how many. It's just as long as the Lord
is there. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the
sepulchre. They weren't there just to see
the grave. Scripture says they came to bring spices to anoint
His body. They didn't need spices, did
they? This is the only grave that that
fell inside didn't suffer corruption. And buddy, when that stone rolled
away from that door, a sweet smelling savor came out of that
thing. Oh, they didn't need spices.
He had spices flowing from this. cheeks from his death. He didn't suffer corruption.
He didn't need spices. That garment he wore wasn't soiled
at all. It was pristine and perfect and
spotless white. But they came and married two
unlikely sisters. came to worship the Lord, to
see the Lord. Mary Magdalene, a harlot, out
of whom the Lord cast seven devils, and Mary the other Mary, this
is the mother of our Lord. I'm quite sure it is, the mother
of James and Joseph. That is the former virgin Mary. She had at least six other children,
didn't she? This is the other Mary. Now after
she served her purpose, they start calling her the other Mary.
Not the virgin Mary. She's just another Mary. Another
sinner saved by grace. She's no better than Mary Magdalene. Ask her. She would esteem Mary
higher than herself. Mary Magdalene. These are just
two sinners. Saved the same way. And in the
purpose and grace of God, they both came different directions,
didn't they? They were what they were by the grace of God. One
restrained all her life, one not restrained. One in the gutter
and one, you know, immorality and all that, but they both needed
saving them. They both needed to find out
they were sinners. They both needed Jesus Christ
to die for their sins. And Mary prayed that in her prayer,
didn't you? I rejoice in God my Savior. Mary Magdalene. And so from that
day forward, they were inseparable companions. And they came. In verse 2, Behold,
there was, or had been, an earthquake, a great earthquake, for the angel
of the Lord had descended from heaven and came, and he rolled
back the stone from the door and sat upon it. First day of
the week, the angel came. A great earthquake had taken
place. At His death, an earthquake took
place, didn't it? And as His resurrection, an earthquake
took place. And you know his resurrection
the first time is somewhat greatly like our raising from being dead
in trespasses and sin. And his second coming is all
very similar. The day spring arises in our
heart when the Lord reveals Himself to us, when He sends His angel,
the angel of His presence, His Holy Spirit to us, He'll break
these hard hearts, won't He? There'll be, as it were, an earthquake. Shake us up. This stony heart
has to be broken, doesn't it? Dead sinners will rise and only
when He raises us like He raised Christ from the dead. Every son
of Jacob, every worm will find out that the Lord Jesus Christ
reigns and rules. And He'll set up His reign and
rule in your heart. It's like an earthquake. Your
whole world is shaking. You're going to think I'm crazy. But I bought, not too many years
ago, I bought 2,000 worms, ordered them in the mail. I know what
you're thinking. But you know, the Lord redeemed
us, didn't he? I bought 2,000 worms and they
mailed them to me in a sack. If you've never seen 2,000 worms,
you need to. It's a good picture of humanity.
Honestly, the ball of worm writhing and wriggling. They're just made
out of dirt. They love darkness. They love
dirt. When they die, they'll go back to the dirt. They hate
light. Just on and on you can go with
it. They only eat dead things. They're worthless, except for
manure. That's why I bought them, by
the way, for my garden. They're good for the soil. And
I bought these worms. Anyway, I made these worms a house. I'm
going into worm farming. And I made them a house and put
them in this house. And I feed them daily. And I
take care of those worms, mind you. Think about those worms occasionally.
worry about. I do. Isn't that a good illustration? But every now and then I'll go
down there and just because I feel like it, I'll take their whole
house and I can shake it. Shake it up, their whole world.
I'll shake their whole world. I could throw them away. I could
easily Didn't have to buy them. Don't have to feed them. They're
worthless to me. And every now and then I'll shake
their whole existence. And you know not one of them,
not one of them has ever stopped to think, what's going on here?
Not one of them has called on me. I looked down to see if there
were any that did understand. There was none that called on
me. None seeking after me. They're ignorant. They're stinking.
They're foolish. They're worthless. Altogether,
worthless. That's us, isn't it? But God. Salvation is in those two words
then. But God. It became a Word. The only way. If what if I could go down there
in the midst of those words, the only way. Go down there. Speak to them.
Tell them. Reveal. Listen, you don't know
what you're doing here. Do you understand who this is
shaking this world? The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven His eternal power and God has clearly revealed,
but man does man. But God. Here we are. Here we
sit. A bunch of worms. Whom God has
revealed Himself to. Made Himself known to. Oh, we're
so blessed. The world thinks we're fools. Like Mary and Magdalene, the
other Mary. Here they are going to that tomb. What are you going
there for? Why are you going to that tomb? He's dead. No,
He's not. You're dead. These things aren't
like they appear, are they? He's not dead. You are. And so are we. You can't preach the gospel without
saying, but God. Here's gospel and you, but we're
dead. But God. Oh, my. Great earthquake. The angel of
the Lord descended from heaven. You know, the Lord sends His
angel to all of His elect. His Holy Spirit. He's counting. It's like lightning, rain, but
white as snow. Some of the gospels say that
there are two angels. Some say a young man. A young
man. I came in and saw a young man. You know, up there sits an angel. Unaware. People are unaware of
that. Right there. Right back there sits an angel. You've had
a young man. Cody came in here. A young angel.
One of the Gospels says one of them sat at his head where his
head was and one of them sat at his feet. That's a good picture. Let me tell you about the head.
The other one said, well let me tell you about your beautiful
feet. But they both said he's not here. Angels, they're men. The angel
of the church at Ephesus. The angel at Philippi. The angel
at Galatia. The angel. The angel of His presence. These men are just men, but through
the Spirit of God, through the preaching of the Gospel, they're
sent to do one thing. To tell God's elect, He's arisen. He's reigning. He's ruling. He's
not dead. And you aren't either. In Acts chapter 1 it says that
the Lord showed Himself alive, it says to His chosen, to His
apostles whom He had chosen, He showed Himself alive after
His passion by many infallible proofs. And the Lord has shown
Himself alive to His people, hasn't He? By many infallible
proofs being seen of them. We see Him. The world doesn't
see Him. Why? He hides Himself. He's a
God that hides Himself. He hides Himself from the wise
and prudent, but reveals Himself under babe, doesn't He? And He
rejoiced one day that that was so, didn't He? He stopped one
day and said, I thank you, Father. The Pharisees and the scribes
and all of them said they were looking for Him, but they weren't.
They were in it in their own names, for their own glory. They
weren't looking for Christ. They weren't worshiping Christ.
And this world is full of people just like that. They're not worshiping
Christ. And they think we're a bunch
of fools. They think Christ is dead. They look at this little
place like they did the tabernacle in the wilderness, this little
brown building and say, what's in there? Ain't nothing to that.
You need to come down to the temple of Diana. I tell you what's
in that little brown building, shekinah glory. God's there. That's a fact. It is a fact. The truth has always been in
the minority. Always. Ask Noah. Can all these
people be wrong? Always are. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination to God. Whatever the world thinks
is right is dead wrong. Only God is true and every man
is a liar. And only those that believe Him
are true. And it's the few. Many are called. Don't they hear?
Yes, they do. But few, bless God, for His sovereign
electing grace. Few are chosen to believe, to
receive, to bow, to know the Lord Jesus Christ. These two
ladies who were the nothing, nothing, but God sent His angel. The two lowly women. No, we don't know. Brother Walter
said it. But we don't know how blessed
we are. We just don't know. Someday we're going to. When
we see Him as He is and look back and see how He preserved
us, He chose us as a bran from the burning, plucked us as a
bran from the burning, and set our feet on a rock, and revealed
Himself to us, and hid Himself from the vast majority of people.
Boy, we're going to sing then, aren't we? And how Christ laid
down His life for such worms as we. Unworthy, unworthy, but worthy
is the Name. Oh, we're going to sing. And you know, it says that angels
struck fear in the keepers of the... Don't you love that last
verse of chapter 27? It says, now make it sure as
you can. Second to the last part. Got it sure? Yeah. We got it. He's not coming out. Are you
sure? Better make it as sure as you can. Buddy, when this angel came back,
you know, Psalm 2, That was quoted in what you read. Psalm 2 says, you better kiss
the Lord. Lest he be angry. His wrath is
kindled. That's right. One angel flicked that door. It took many men to roll it against
him. And it filled these fellows with
fear. They did shake and tremble. What
does that tell you about all these visions and signs that
people say they see the Lord? That little boy that died and
sat on Jesus and laughed. It's a phony, it's a fake, it's
a fraud, it's all deception. Everybody that saw the truth
Christ shook with fear. Hell at its feet is a dead man.
Fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All those that know
Him, still fear Him. We're going to see that here
in a minute. Verse 5 says, The angel said
unto the women, Fear not. They were afraid. He said unto them, All those
that fear Him, what does He say? Fear not. He only speaks peace to those
that fear Him. And He said unto these women,
Fear not, I know you seek Jesus which was crucified. Oh, the
foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are His. Now how does He know them? He
chose them. He redeemed them. He died for them. He brought
them. He sought them. He bought them.
He brought them. He taught them. Chosen by the Father, redeemed
by the Son, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Oh, He knows
them. He said, I know my sheep, and have known of mine. I know you seek Jesus Christ
and Him crucified, because I put that seeking in you. Like David. When thou sayest, seek my face,
what David sayeth, I'll seek you. But not until then. Oh,
bless God. Bless God. We do seek Him, don't
we? Jesus Christ, which was crucified. All our hope, all our help, all
our salvation is found in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That
lamb, we know by the grace of God, don't we, Brother Dan, that
we have to have a lamb. We can't worship God without
a lamb. Oh my. The Old Testament story of of
David bringing the ark back to Jerusalem. You know, he made
that mistake the first time. As I touched it, we're going
to have to do this thing the right way. Carried on the high
priest's shoulder, you know, the sons of Levi's shoulder.
And it says after he, the fear, God stuck fear in him. It says
they'd take seven paces and make a sacrifice. They wouldn't go
seven steps without sacrificing. It's the blood that makes atonement.
We know, oh we know, you're seeking Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Because He sought you. Because He bought you. Because
He brought you. That's why you're seeking Him.
He gets all the glory, doesn't He? Seek the Lord, yes. Seek
the Lord. If you don't seek the Lord, you
won't find Him. If you don't call on the Lord,
He won't answer you. You won't be saved. Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever
seeks will find. Whoever asks will receive. Whoever knocks, a door will be
opened. But you know why you'll ask? You know why you'll seek?
You know why you'll knock? You know why you'll come? Because
God did it. And we have to say that. Why?
Because it's so. And because He gets the glory.
He's got to get the glory. So they sought the Lord. Verse
6, and they said, He's not here. He's risen. One of the other
gospels says, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He's
not here. They were in the tomb. They were
in the catacombs one day. Many of you were in dead religion,
weren't you? Ironic, isn't it? A lot of church houses are built
in a cemetery. That's fitting, isn't it? Dead outside and dead in. What
are you doing here? He's not here. He's risen. Like He said. Everything's like
He said, isn't it? As He said. The world is in existence
because that's what He said. Now come see the place where
the Lord lay, they say. Come in here. We'll show you.
It's proof. Alright? I advise you not to go to Israel. They call it the Holy Land. It's
no more holy than than the Crow, West Virginia, is it? It's just
dirt. It's pagan. Don't go there. But if you did, if you're going
to go there for any reason, go over there and find that tomb
where he was and go ahead and go in there and you'll see he's
not there. That's the only reason I said
come in here. We don't believe it. Well, come in here. You'll
see he's not here. He's not here. Come see the place
where the Lord lay. And the title of this message
came to me as Brother Spurgeon. Brother Spurgeon just made a
brief passing comment in his commentary. He said the Sleeping
King was about to rise. The Sleeping King. his commentary on the book of
Matthew. Matthew is the gospel of the
kingdom. It's all about the king, the
king, the king, the king. And he talks about the sleeping
king was about to arise. I like that. I loved that when
I heard that. He giveth his beloved sleep. Have you ever thought
of that in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ? Where was he? Where
did the Lord go on the Sabbath day? Well, we think, we can only
speculate, can't we? He didn't go to hell. No, he
didn't go down to hell and preach. No, that's not what Peter was
saying over there. He was talking about the Spirit
of God through Noah who preached back then, preaching to those
spirits that are now in hell right now. Isn't that right?
That's what they're saying. Those who are now in hell. The
Spirit of God through Noah, preacher of righteousness, preached to
those people then. Christ did not go to hell and preach. Why
would He do that? He already preached to him. He went to hell on Calvary. He
was on Calvary where he went through hell. Separation from
God. That's where God put him through hell. Separation from
God. Well, where was he? Well, maybe... He giveth his beloved slave.
As one that had been on a long journey, Boy, he did come to his heart. From the glory of heaven down
to this cesspool. Long journey. Long time. 33 years for him, Joe, in this
quagmire, in this filthy, in Sodom. It was like an eternity. He who was not subject to time,
yet became subject to time. Try to think about it, Rover.
Try to think about it. Everything was repulsive to Him.
Living amongst these worms, He who was holy and spotless, without
blame, separate from sinners and undefiled. He heard their
thoughts. He could smell them. They smelled despicable to Him.
And every day, every hour to Him was repulsive to His holy
nature. Can you get a hold of that? And
He spent an eternity, as it were, in this earth. Why? For us. For us worms to bring us to God.
He doesn't smell that bad to us. That's because we're worms. But He did. He spent all that
time down here. A long journey. A long time to
Him. Separation from the Father. I
know they weren't separated, but there was a sense in which
they were, weren't there? He left the Father. And after this long journey,
the Father, and it's like one who did a great work and toiled. Oh, did He work. Oh, did He work. They told Him one time, sleep.
He said, I don't have time. I got a great work to do. And
I'm the only one doing it. And nobody's helping me. I got
the weight of the world on my shoulders. I can't sleep. I got to do this thing while
there's 12 hours in the day. All my people depend on me. I'm
not going to sleep. I'm going to let them sleep while
I do this work. While they're sleeping, I'm going
to keep them. I'm going to save them. I'm going
to fulfill the law for them. I'm going to die for Him. But
after He did that glorious work, it's as if the Father said, Son,
now lie down and rest. I'm not going to let anybody
disturb you. Give you rest. You deserve
it. You deserve it. As one going through great sorrow.
Have you ever gone through great sorrow? You know, great sorrow
will leave you sleepless, won't it? Great grief and great sorrow,
you can't sleep. But if somehow you can get some
peace, your sins, your guilt, your shame, you can't sleep. You can't go to sleep. No fear. Our Lord took our sins in His
body He became sin while the disciples slept in the garden.
He was awake, sweat and blood. Sweat and blood while we slept. And after He did that great work,
going through great sorrow for us, the Father said, sleep. Sleep. Sleep on. Turn with me to Jeremiah
31. You've got to see this if you've
never seen it before. This is why I think, at least,
you know, this is a good illustration anyway. Whether he slept or not,
I don't know, but it's a good illustration. Jeremiah 31, look
at verse 25. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah 31. He said, I have satiated the
weary soul. Satisfied. I have replenished
every sorrowful soul. Brought them back to God. Upon
this I wait and be held. And my sleep is sweet. Sleep on, son. I'll wake
you in the morning. I'll wake you in the morning.
First, go back to our text now. I've got to hurry. It says there
in verse 7 of our text, the angel told these women, go quickly
and tell his disciples. He's risen from the dead. As
I was thinking about what to preach
to you, I started reading this for our people Sunday, unsure
of what I was going to preach to you. So I thought, well, I'll
just start preparing this message for them. And I read this and
it says, go tell my disciples. He's risen. Okay, go to Crow. What are you going to preach?
Well, go tell them. This is it. Go tell them, wherever they are,
my disciples, whoever's come to see the Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him crucified, go quickly. Tell them. This is urgent,
isn't it? Today's the day of salvation.
Don't wait. This can't wait till Easter. This can't wait till
April. Can it? Go tell them now. He's risen. And behold, He goeth
before you into Galilee. There you shall see Him. Lord,
I have told you. I told you that. Go to Galilee. Galilee. Galilee. There you shall see Him. Galilee
is where they were from. Galilee is where they first met
the Lord. Remember that? Galilee is where He came to them
in the beginning. That's where He revealed Himself
to them in the beginning. Sea of Galilee. Out there was
Andrew and Philip and Andrew and James and John, Simon Peter
and Andrew and James and John out there fishing. The Lord came
to them, didn't He? Their boats. and chose them and
called them to see a Galilee. These were Galileans. You know
what they said about Galilee? It's like what they said about
Nazareth. These are Galileans. Can't anything
good come out of Galilee? You're going where? Crow. Where? Where's that? Crow, Virginia? No. Worse. I didn't mean that. I didn't
mean that at all. Please, I want to come back.
I want to come back. It's like dingus. Seriously, dingus. There's no
place I'd rather go, Laura. No place on earth, is there many?
No place on earth we'd rather go than dingus. And if people
ask you, what's in dingus? God's there. Christ is there. And some of the finest people
on the face of the earth. Of whom the world is not worthy.
There's a saint, there's an angel there, he's named Gary Vance.
The world despises and rejects him, thinks nothing of him. Cottageville,
West Virginia. Where? Rocky Mount, Virginia. Not North
Carolina. Virginia. Galilee. Our Lord spent a great deal of
time in Galilee calling out these Galileans. Do you see your calling,
brethren? I do. A bunch of nobodies from
nowhere. I love that old quartet, that
old quartet, black quartet sang that song. I'm just a nobody
trying to tell everybody about somebody who can save anybody. We're a bunch of nobodies. He's
the only somebody. This is not the church where
everybody's somebody. This is the church where everybody's nobody.
This is the church where only Christ is somebody. A whole bunch
of nobodies. A bunch of worms. He's the king. He's the one who gets the glory. Go to Galilee and that's where
you'll see Him. That's where they saw Him in
the beginning. That's where they're going to see Him again. steadfast at the beginning of
your company, steadfast at the end. Lo, I've told you that.
And they departed quickly. I've got to hurry. They departed
quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy. Can you have
both fear and joy? Yes, sir. But yeah, you can. All God's people do. And the
world doesn't understand that. All false religion talks about
is joy. Joy, joy, joy. Let's all be joy. Everybody happy and say Amen.
Well, I'm not happy all the time. Are you? Let your laughter be
turned to mourning. Blessed are they that mourn.
They shall be comforted. Do we ever quit mourning? No.
Do we ever quit fearing? No. This is how you know God's
people. This is how you know God's people. This is how you know God's true
people. They fear the Lord. It's not
only the beginning of wisdom, but they grow in that knowledge
and that fear and that wisdom and that fear of Him. These women knew the Lord. They
loved the Lord. They walked with the Lord. They
talked with the Lord. He held them. They held Him. They still feared Him. I had
a dog. I loved that dog. Oh, I loved
that dog. I would never hurt that dog.
But, you know, he feared me. It wasn't a slavish fear. He
wasn't scared to death of it. He just feared. You can't even
describe it, can you Mike? But you know, you experience
it. And the one he feared, this dog,
is the one he ran to when he did wrong. When he got in trouble. He didn't run from me, although
he feared me. He ran to me basically. I know
what that means, but I can't explain it. Fear and great joy. Here it is. Psalm 130, I think
it's verse 4. There is forgiveness with thee. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquity, who shall stand? Why won't He mark iniquity? Because
Christ took our sins. Christ paid for our sins. That's
why He's not going to mark them. They're gone. They're blotted
out. If He would mark them, We can't stand. But He blooded them
out on the cross. Nailed them to the cross. Alright?
Then the next verse says, there is forgiveness with thee. Why? That thou mayest be feared. Thou mayest be feared. Oh my,
I don't want to do that again. Fear bringing reproach on God. Fear the sin. Fear the temptation. Fear, fear, fear. There is forgiveness. That's great joy. There's no
more joyful words ever heard by a sinner than that. What Mike
read, justified from all things. I heard you John say that. Justified
from all things. He repeated it. From which you
cannot be justified by that alone. Completely forgiven. completely
forgive, pardon from all things. Christ wasn't pardoned. Bernard used to say, God can't
just forgive sin. He spared not his own son. He
paid for him. He forgave us, but Christ was
held accountable. God can't just sweep them under
the rug. He's holy. He's just. He by no means cleared the guilty.
Well how'd He clear us? He didn't clear Christ. He didn't
clear the Son. He made Him sent for us. And
we're cleared. Justified. But He wasn't. And you know why that He was
raised from the grave? I love this. Matthew Henry brought
it out. He didn't just rise from the
grave. He was raised. by the Spirit of God. The Spirit
of God sent the angel to roll back that door. Because he was
put in prison as our substitute. As the greatest sinner that ever
lived. Our substitute. He was me. I deserve to go to
prison and to die for my sins. And God put him in there for
me. Okay? to fulfill His law and
His justice and to pay the penalty, which is death. And He paid that
crime. He paid it all. He died like a criminal on death
row. He died, alright? Once a man
dies, the law's been satisfied at him. The penalty's been paid.
It's over. It's blotted out. Alright, so
God sent the angel. As a legal transaction, you know. He's paid the crime, he's got
to come out. I never have understood our justice
system, so-called today. You don't understand, you work
there. But he's going to serve two life terms. If you could explain that to
me later, please do, all right? He's going to serve 47 years
without parole, he serves eight. That's religion. He paid it all, but no he didn't.
You might have to pay for it. Well did he or didn't he? Yes
he did. And God sent the angel of the Lord down here, roll back
the stone, he's got to come out. One time a fella said to my dad,
he said, well here's how I think it is, one of these Arminian
priests, here's how I think it is. that the Lord paid the price and paid
the penalty and all that, and He's offering this to anybody.
And they're in jail and He opens the door and whoever wants to
come out can come out. And Dad said, there's a big problem
with that. He said, you show me a jail anywhere that's taking
in boarders. If you pay the crime, you're
going to stay in there. If the penalty has been fulfilled,
Walter, you've got to go, don't you? Get him out of here. Here's the point. God's justice
has been satisfied for his people. The law has no claim on us. Death. Oh, death, where's thy
victory? Grave. He's been satisfied. The stones got to roll away. Brother Mike, when He arose,
the previous chapter says, a bunch of people came out of the grave.
But they had stones on their door too. Yeah, but they've got
to come. And He comes out. We're quickened
together with Him. Oh my, I'm sorry. I didn't want
to go this long. What else have we got to do? They ran. They said with great
joy they ran to bring the disciples' word. And they went to tell His
disciples verse 9, and Christ met them. Jesus Christ Himself
met them on the way, saying, All hail. Oh, there's so much in these
two words. All hail. Every single sinner saved by
grace is not just going to hear from an angel. He's going to
hear from the Lord Himself. He said, My sheep hear My voice.
And they do. Yes, they do. This is not what's
the word I'm looking for. He really does speak to them.
He said, my sheep hear my voice. There may be a man preaching,
but when it comes a time, in the fullness of time, my sheep
are going to hear my voice. And you tell me if it's not so.
When you first heard the Gospel, Roland, I think you heard it
through my dad. Maybe, I don't know. Whoever
you heard it from. That doesn't matter. The man
doesn't. But the point being, when you first heard the Gospel,
you thought, I'm the only one in here. He's talking to me. And how many times have you heard
a message and you've gone up to your preacher and said, that
was just for me. How did you know what I needed? Well, he
didn't, but the Lord did. And the Lord came and spoke to
you. It's Him. It's Him. And He said, all hail. This is what he says to all seeking
sinners. All hail. In those two words,
all the blessings of God have been conferred on you. All the
salvation of God. All the fullness of God. All
the forgiveness of God. All that God is and all that
God had is for you. Hail! He wasn't hailing Mary,
the virgin. He was hailing Magdalene! You know, Catholics worship that
woman. No. They say they don't, but they're
liars. They do. And they pray that prayer. Hail Mary. You know what they
say? They corrupt the Word of God.
Hail Mary, full of grace. He doesn't say that. He didn't
say hail Mary. And He didn't say you're full
of grace. There's only one person in Scripture who says he's full
of grace. John said we beheld it. The law came by Moses, but
grace and truth. We hailed him and it was full
of grace. And what he said to Mary the
virgin, he said to Mary Magdalene. Same thing. Hail! And what he
said, Dan, was, Hail, thou art highly favored. The Lord is with
you. And he says that to every single
sinner saved by grace. You've been highly favored. The
Lord is with you. Hail, all hail. All hail. And they came, oh blessed
God, and hailed Him by the feet. Those feet that Mary loved to
sit at and listen to Him, that's where she is right now, isn't
she? And she knew they were His feet,
how'd she know? Had scars in them. Yep, she said, oh His feet are
beautiful. He's the most beautiful feet.
Bring the gospel of glad tidings Look at those nail scars. And
worshiped Him. That's what God's people do.
They worship Him. That's how you know them. They
fear Him. They worship God in spirit and
truth. They rejoice in Jesus Christ. And they don't have any confidence
in Him. And our Lord said, Be not afraid.
You see that? To His people who fear Him, don't
be afraid. Go tell my brethren that go into
Galilee. They go into Galilee. He says it again. The same thing. They're going to Galilee. You
tell them that's where I'm going to be. You go to meet me. You come
to meet me. And I'll be there. I promise
you. My servant told you. I told you. You go there to meet
me. I'll meet with you. I will be
there. You know, Galilee is about 90
miles from there. About 90 miles. They had to walk
a long way. Took a while. Took a while. What do you reckon they're talking
about on the way? And y'all came a long way, didn't
you? God forbid that I should stand up here and carry on a
bunch of food. People coming all this way. Come
a long way. Was it worth it? He is if He meets with you. It's
never too long. It's never too far. Be not afraid. Go tell Him. And in this conspiracy
that was going on, verses 11 through 15, we won't read it
all right now, but it says they took money. They offered great,
large money. And isn't that religion? It's
all about money. Money answereth all things. Denying
the Lord that bought them. Preaching a helpless Jesus. Lying on God. Lying to people.
It's all about money. All about money. That's what
it is. A great conspiracy. They call what we're doing a
lie and foolishness. No, they're the ones lying. They're
the fool. In verse 16, Then the eleven
disciples went away into Galilee. Just like he said. They went
to Galilee. They went where he told them
to. And it went into a mountain. Wherever the Lord meets with
His people, you go up. Mount Calvary, Mount Zion, city
set on a hill, wherever the Lord is, He's high and lifted up.
And He lifts His people up, doesn't He? It may not physically be
a place that's high. Brother Mike, Cottageville Church
is down below the road isn't it? Ours is too, down below the
road. While down the road that Catholic whorehouse, I mean religious
place, that's what it is, that's what scripture really is. Dare
not call it church. Dare not call it that. That Catholic house of prostitution
set up on a hill got the finest lot in all the land. Darkness. Are we damned? But I tell you
what, when you leave this world, when you come out of this place
that's like Sodom, when you leave this place that's like the slime
pits of Egypt, when you leave this place that's like the dung
hill, you sin, don't you? When you come to Mount Sinai,
you come where God's people meet, you come where Christ is, and
you'll be lifted up out of the mire and clay and set your feet
on a rock, won't you? Huh? We've already been glorified
people. Yes, we have And he called he justified whom he justified
he glorified. It's glory to see his glory And
that's where he had appointed them and when they saw him look
at that. They saw and they all saw him
then what they do Worshiped him with some doubted Can you worship
and doubt? Can you fear and have joy? Yeah,
it's a paradox I'm ashamed of it, but I'm full of doubt. Aren't
you? There is no reason at all for
us to doubt it. None whatsoever. All our lives,
like the children of Israel, the whole story of the children
of Israel, for 40 years, they saw miracles and signs and wonders
and proved themselves by many infallible proofs. We're still
doubting. And I'm so glad that He knows
our praying. He knows that we're just dust and ashes. He knows
we're just flesh. He knows that the disciples were
to sleep. We finally said, just sleep.
I'm not going to. Oh, fear and doubt. Lord, I believe. I do believe by His grace, but
help me. I worship Him, Please deliver
me from doubt. Would you? You know when we're
going to be without a doubt? Until we stand there, Mike, we're
all going to be standing there together, silence in heaven.
I can't believe it. I'm here. I didn't think. I just didn't think. He said
it. He said it. He said it. And I just didn't believe Him.
I thought I was too great a sinner. I just didn't believe He was
willing to save one like me. And I had a hope. Boy, I believe
now. Without a doubt. And He spake unto them the words
that we always need to hear. Time and time again, he said
these blessed words, all power is given unto me in heaven and
in earth. Isn't this our joy? Isn't this our rejoicing? Isn't
this our comfort? Isn't this our peace? Isn't this
our salvation? All power. Power to save. Power to forgive. Able to keep
you from falling. Able to present us faultless
before. He's able. He's powerful. And
bless God, He's willing. He's willing. All power is given
unto me in heaven and earth. We look around at terrorists.
We look around at the troubles, the tribulations, and the trials,
and the people all around us. We've got a corrupt government.
Yes, we do. Manasseh is in power. No, he's
not. That King's heart is in the hands
of our Lord. Like the rivers of water, He
turns it withersoever He will. He said, all power is given unto
me in heaven. In heaven? Who does that make
Him if He has all power in heaven? He's God. He's God in heaven
and earth. Go therefore and teach all nations.
What? Not what? Who? You know why the
owl is a wise creature? You ask him anything, and he'll
say, who? What's the meaning of life? Who? How's a man saved? Who? Where should we go to find? Who? Dumb creatures are wiser than
we are. Teach them in my name. Teach them of who I am. Baptizing
them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Baptism,
you know, it doesn't save. It's the answer of a good conscience. But you know our Lord said, you'll
be damned if you don't confess it. If you can, you must. Who would not want to? This is
another proof. They want to. It's like a marriage
ceremony or something. I want to tell the world what
He's done for me. It's like a burial, just like
a funeral to Him. Yeah, I want to die, be crucified
with Him. I want the world to see that He's raised me. Teaching them
to observe all things. You know His commandments are
not grievous. His yoke is easy, His burden is light, whatever
He commands us. His chief commandment is this,
follow me. That's what I want to do. And
Lo, Lo, I am with you always. Even to the ends of the world. I'm with you. For you. Isn't that good news? A risen
Lord. And sometimes, you know, and
we're not trying to prove our God at all. We can't convince
anybody of anything. God has to give life and faith. But sometimes I ask, how do you
know he lives? You know, it's plain as every
day the sun comes up. Like a big tabernacle in the
sky. It's the blind that can't see the sun. Why did they, in
the English language, the most widely spoken language in the
world, why did they call that ball of fire that the whole world
exists because of, if it moves a foot closer, burn us up, a
foot farther away, we'll freeze to death, call it the sun? God had that idea. Without excuse. Without excuse. And I'm with
you. And sometimes all you can say
is, I know because He's spoken to me. You sing that song because
He lives within my heart. May the Lord bless you. May the
Lord use His Word for His glory. Amen.