Matthew chapter 28. The title
of my message is this. A new day dawning. A new day
dawning. And that's from verse 1. That's
our text. Verse 1 of chapter 28. Look at
it with me again. In the end of the Sabbath, we'll
have more to say about that in a moment. In the end of the Sabbath,
As it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. As it began
to dawn toward the first day of the week, the dawning of the
new day that I want to speak to you about, I want us to think
about, had already taken place, the dawning that I'm thinking
of. It was already over because the sun had already risen, S-O-N. the Son of God. These women had
watched Joseph put the body of Christ in this tomb. In Luke's
account, you need not turn there, but he gives us a little more,
considering what he said about this, a little more detail. Luke
23, and the women also which came with him from Galilee followed
after and beheld the sepulcher and how his body was laid. And
they returned and prepared spices because it was the preparation
the day before the Sabbath, they couldn't do that on the Sabbath
day, so they go and prepare these spices, planning to come back
with them after the Sabbath to anoint the body of Christ. They
prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day according
to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the
week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher,
bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others
with them. But that new day, that had already
dawned made those things unnecessary. There was no body to prepare. They didn't need the spices or
the ointment to anoint the body of Jesus Christ. As the prophet
said, Malachi, but unto you that fear my name shall the son of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings and all how he has. That was the glorious news this
angel told these women that came to the tomb early that morning
before the sun ever rose. They said to them again, verse
5, here in Matthew 28, the angel answered and said unto the women,
Fear ye not, for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here. A new day has
dawned. He is not here, for he is risen,
as he said, come see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly
and tell his disciples he is risen from the dead. Christ's
new day. The dawning of Christ's day.
In everything he must have the preeminence. And if it wasn't
for his rising, his resurrection, we would not have one. Not in
this life, when he opens our eyes to newness of life, and
in the life afterwards, eternal everlasting life. The same marvelous
time that we speak of here in our text, the psalmist wrote
about in Psalm 118. I know it applied today that
we're about to read, but it applied more so to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and I refer to these verses in Psalm 118. The stone which the
builders refused is become the headstone of the corner. This
is the Lord's doing. God did this. It's marvelous
in our eyes. We just look. We just watch. But oh, it's the Lord that did
this. This is the day. This is the
day, especially this day of our Lord's resurrection. This is
the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. And again, as I said, I know
those words apply to David, the son of Jesse. the shepherd boy. But it was God's anointed. David
was God's anointed. David was God's chosen. He was
Israel's future king. Saul didn't like that, did he?
Because Saul was king. And Saul did everything in his
power, because he was still on the throne at the time. He did
everything in his power to stop this. He on more than one occasion
tried to have David killed. But God's purpose was that David
sat on the throne. And that being so, when we read
something like this, God himself declares from the beginning and
from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying
this is God, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. That kind of hits the nail on
the head, doesn't it? That being so, we should not
be at all surprised to read, despite everything that Saul
did to prevent it, David ascended the throne as Israel's king. Again, Psalm 118, the stone which
the builders refused has become the headstone of the corner.
This is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. Oh,
but children of God, behold, a greater than David is here.
Our Lord applied these very words from the Psalms to himself. These
words in Psalm 118 speak also of David's son and David's Lord,
Jesus Christ. The religious leaders, the builders,
the builders. They refused this stone, this
foundation that God had laid. We don't need you. How often
did they throw that in the face of Christ? We don't need you. Who do you think you are? We
know who your parents are. We know your brothers and your
sisters. You're nobody. We be Abraham's children. Who needs you? Pilate. Pilate asked him, what should
I do with Jesus? And again, the builders, the
priest. The Pharisees, the Sadducees,
the religious folks, the builders cried, away with him. Give us
Barabbas. Give us that murderer. Give us
that rebel. We won't have this man that is
Christ rule over us. Crucify him. Away with him. The stone which the builders
refused. Luke again, in his account, tells
us this. They, the builders, were instant
with loud voices requiring that he might be crucified. And the
voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate
gave sentence that it should be as they required. And he released
unto them him, that is Barabbas, that for sedition and murder
was cast into prison, whom they had desired. But he delivered
Jesus to their will." It would be easy to digress here on those
few words, delivering Jesus to their will, the so-called free
will of man. What was the will? What was their
will concerning the Son of God? Away with Him. Away with Him. Crucify Him. Oh, but as we read
in Psalm 118 once again, the stone which the builders refused,
it's become the headstone of the corner anyway. This is the
Lord's doing. This is the day. This is the
day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. And this is that day that we
read of in our text, that glorious dawning As the angel declared
to those women, look at verse 5 again. Fear ye not, for I know
you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here. He is not here. He's risen. Oh, what a dawning
that was. What a day that was. Come see
the place where the Lord lay. He's not here. He was here. But he's not here anymore. Not anymore. Why? Because the
stone which the builders refused, that is Jesus Christ, has become
the headstone of the corner. How is that so? This is God's
doing. God has exalted his son. This
is exactly what we read in Psalms 2. Why do the heathen rage, David
wrote, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, They stand
against the Lord? They must be blind fools. Let
us break their bands asunder. That's exactly what they thought
they were doing. And cast away their cords from us. He that
setteth in the heavens shall laugh. Does that sound like that God
was caught off guard? Does it sound like that God was
concerned? Does it sound like that all they
did, all their plotting, and all their conniving, did it make
a lick of difference in the purpose of God? God used their very treachery
to accomplish his will. He that saideth unto heaven shall
laugh, and the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall
he speak unto them in his wrath, and vexed them in his sword his
pleasure. Yet, yet, yet, despite all that
the builders tried to do, yet have I set my King, King Jesus,
upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the
Lord has set unto me, thou art my Son, this is God speaking
to Christ, thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me. and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. The purpose of God, the glory
of God, and the salvation of the people God entrusted into
his son's hands depends upon this day of our Lord's resurrection. These words spoken to Joseph
before Jesus was ever born while he was still in the womb of his
mother. When the angel told Joseph, She
shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Now think about
this. All those glorious things. Did
he? Did he? Did Christ save his people
from their sins? Did Jesus Christ accomplish?
Now I hear preaching all the time, I wouldn't get out of bed
to listen to it. Men that say Christ tried to
do something, But before it is successful, it depends on what
you do with it. So don't call that good news.
That's telling lies on God. Did Jesus Christ accomplish this
great and glorious work? Was he successful? How can we
be sure that God accepted the sacrifice when Christ offered
himself without spot to God? How do we know God was pleased
with it? How do we know it satisfied God? How do we know that God was satisfied
with the atonement that Jesus Christ didn't offer to you and
me, but he offered to God Almighty, his Father? The fact that God
was satisfied with that offering, that atonement, that it accomplished
everything he was intended to accomplish, such as putting the
way of the sins of all those whose sins he bore in his own
body on the tree. in satisfying the holy justice
of God. And remember, if this was not
done when Christ died, none will be saved. Because God will not
have righteous grounds by which he is enabled to justify a sinner. Now here's the proof. Oh, thank
God. Here's the proof. Here's the
evidence that all those most important things were accomplished. God showed his everlasting satisfaction,
everlasting satisfaction. The Savior, the Savior of the
Lord Jesus Christ is still a sweet smelling odor in the nostrils
of the Holy God. And he said, I'm well pleased. I told you about the dear brother
in a little church I pastored for a couple of years back in
West Virginia, Brother Waldo Arthur. When I would call upon
him to pray, When we would observe the Lord's Supper, He would speak
of the sacrifice of God's Son. And He said, Father, you're satisfied
with it, and we're satisfied with it. It is well with our
souls. The proof, the evidence that
God accepted the sacrifice of His Son was by Him raising Him
again from the dead. If he wasn't, Christ would still
be in the tomb. Listen to what Paul wrote in
Romans 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an
apostle, separated unto the what? Separated unto the gospel of
God. Ain't too many preachers can
say that today, are they? There's a lot that can separate
it to everything else, but not the gospel. Concerning his son
Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh, and declared, set forth, proclaimed to be the
son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, how? By the resurrection of the dead. Observe, observe how the language
there in Romans 1 and 3 changes. He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. But He wasn't made or proven
to be the Son of God according to the flesh. Oh no, but by the
raising of His Son from the dead, declared, proved to be what He
always was, the Son of God. The Son of God. We've heard people
refer to Mary as the Mother of God. Those people that do all
this mumbo-jumbo, especially. Oh no, she wasn't the Mother
of God. He was a mother of Jesus Christ
according to the flesh. Oh, but he was the son of God
from everlasting, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Paul puts it this way, how satisfied was God with what his son did
upon the cross. Who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God. This is Christ. Made himself of no reputation. and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, like his brethren. And being found in the fashion
of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Was God pleased with it? Sounds
like he was. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
that was the reward of Christ's success. that would not have
been so if he had failed, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow. There are no exceptions to that
rule. Every knee should bow of things
in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth, and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. Now I realize I've told you this
story before, but I think it's a good illustration. If a prince
was sent out by his father, the king, to defend the kingdom against
an approaching enemy, and days went by and that prince never
returned. Weeks went by and he still didn't return. Everyone
would assume that he had failed, that he was overcome. Oh, but
if he succeeded, his very return was evidence of it. The fact
that God raised his son, the captain of our salvation, back
to glory is evidence that he succeeded. He said he did. It is finished. Finished. Glory to God. These
words spake Jesus, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,
Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
may also glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all
flesh. that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom thou didst send. I have glorified thee on earth,
I have finished, I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do. And you, this is in Galatians,
and you, chapter 2, being dead in your sins, in the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven
you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to the cross. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing, triumphing
over them in it." This same Jesus, this is what Peter preached to
those on the day of Pentecost. Jesus has God raised from the
dead whereof we are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, exalted, the stone which the builders
refused is made the headstone of the corner. And having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth
this which you now see and hear. Therefore, that all the house
of Israel know assuredly, that God had made that same Jesus
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." You ever hear folks,
religious folks, speak about making Jesus Lord? Oh, you made
your decision for Jesus, but have you made Him Lord of your
life? Someone said, oh, it's too late.
God made Him Lord, proved Him Lord when He raised Him from
the dead. John said, I saw Him on the owl of Patmos. I was out
there alone, cast out for the gospel's sake. Oh, but while
I was there, I saw Him, the risen, reigning, exalted Lord. And He
said, I am He that liveth. I was dead, but behold, I'm alive
forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of
death and hell. Oh, up from the grave He arose. All the consequences of His resurrection
With a mighty triumph over his foes, he arose a victor from
the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose, he arose, hallelujah,
Christ arose. Yes, the resurrection of Jesus
Christ was the dawning of a new day. Note, if you will, for a
moment, we said we would come back to it again. Verse 1 of
Matthew 28, in the end of the Sabbath, in the end of the Sabbath. Well, that means more than we
might at first suppose. Believers have entered into the
rest with Jesus Christ, who is our Sabbath. He fulfilled the
Sabbath. The Sabbath was, Christians observed
no Sabbath. There's no such thing as a Christian
Sabbath. The Sabbath was on Saturday anyway. We gather on the Lord's Day.
And this is the reason. For Christ is the end of the
law, for righteousness to everyone that believeth. No man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it's evident, for the just shall
live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. All the law can do is condemn.
All the law can do is demand perfection, but it won't lift
a finger to give it to you. Oh, no, no, no, for that we must
look elsewhere. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Free from the
law. Oh, that's a happy state to be
in, isn't it? Free from the law, oh, happy condition. Jesus hath
bled and there is remission. Cursed by the law and bruised
by the fall, grace hath redeemed us once for all. Here's the second
thing. Another dawning. Because Christ
had his, his people have their New Day dawning. Oh, there is
such a union between Christ and His Church. What He did was as
if they did it in Him. This is what Paul said, If Christ
be not risen, then our preaching is vain. Your faith is vain. It's pointless. It's useless.
It accomplishes nothing. Yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ,
whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For
if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ
be not raised, your faith is vain, and you're yet in your
sins. There's no hope. Then they also
which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. But Paul sweeps
all of those things away, all of those conditional ifs when
he says, but now is Christ risen from the dead. now and become
the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came
death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ, all those who are in Christ shall be made
alive. Only a living Savior can give
life to dead sinners. New everlasting life. This is
what he said himself, didn't he? In John chapter 5 verse 25. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall what? Live. Live. I passed by thee when you
were polluted in your own blood, and I said live. Live. It was a time of love, and we
found out God loved us with an everlasting love when he came
to us and gave us life. Christ said, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Even so, when we were dead in
trespasses and sins, hath he quickened us together with Christ,
with Christ, and hath raised us up together and made us set
together, together. in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. An old hymn writer expressed
it this way better than I'm trying to do. He said, betwixt Jesus
and the chosen race subsists a bond of sovereign grace that
held with its infernal train shall never dissolve nor rent
entwine. This sacred bond shall never
break, though earth should from her center shake, Rest, rest,
doubting saint, assured of this, for God has pledged his holiness.
One in the tomb, one when he rose, one when he triumphed o'er
his foes, one when in heaven he took his seat, while seraphs
sang all hell's defeat. This sacred tie forbids their
fears, for all he is and has is theirs. With him their head
they stand or fall, their life, their surety, and their all. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I. But Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for
me, nevertheless I live. Because Jesus Christ came to
where I was. He came to where I was, a dead
sinner. among all other dead sinners.
He came to where I was and he by mighty grace and power said,
live, live. What happened? God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the knowledge of the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. Thank God. for that light that
shined through the darkness and showed us Jesus Christ. Oh, was
that not a dawning of a new day for you? What a day. What a day when Christ revealed
himself to you. Old John Bunyan said, I could
have told the crows. I wanted to tell someone. I almost
was tempted as I walked home after God had spoken peace to
my soul to tell the crows sitting out there on the plowed field
what God had done for me. Spurgeon said when he left that
primitive chapel that morning that he wanted to shout to every
snowflake falling from the sky what God had done for his soul. Didn't you? Didn't you? Oh my soul, can it be? Can it
be? Has he forgiven me? Has Jesus
Christ forgiven all my sins? Is it true that I am His and
He is mine? Can it be so? Almost too good
to believe, but by His precious grace He convinced us that it
was so. Paul, referring to those heroes
of the faith, that roll call of the heroes of faith in Hebrews
chapter 11, in verse 13 he said this, These all died in faith. Yes, we live by faith, but we
will die in faith. Once we believe, we can never
stop believing. Faith, rather, is a gift of God
that he will never take back. Verse 13 of Hebrews 11, These
all died in faith, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded
of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. That's what we just heard David
sing. I'm just a poor, well-faring pilgrim. I'm just traveling through
this world. This world is not my home. We, like Abraham, are strangers
and pilgrims on this earth, and thank God it's so. I don't want
to fit into you. This world hates God. This world
is under condemnation. This world's going to hell. I
don't want to fit into this world. Thank God, as he told his disciples,
you're not of the world. You're not of the world, just
like I'm not of the world. And the reason is I've chosen
you out of the world. Oh, God, give us grace to remember
that. I ran across this the other day, and I thought it was so
very good. Let me share a portion of it
with you. It's by old J.C. Philpott. I thought this is so
timely. He said, if you are at home in
the world, that was the title, if you are at home in the world,
he wrote, if you possess the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, you like them, Confess that you are a stranger, and
your confession springs out of a believing heart and a sincere
experience. You feel yourself a stranger
to this ungodly world, don't we? It is not your element. It is not your home. You're in
it during God's appointed time, but you wander up and down in
this world, a stranger to its company, a stranger to its maxims. a stranger to its fashions, a
stranger to its principles, a stranger to its motives, a stranger to
its lust and its inclinations, and all in which this world moves
as into its native element. Grace has separated you by God's
sovereign power, that though you are in the world, you are
not of the world." And he said this, I can tell you plainly,
if you are at home in the world, if the things of time and sense
are your element, If you feel one with the company of this
world, the maxims of this world, the fashions of this world, and
the principles of this world, grace has not reached your heart.
The faith of God's elect does not dwell in your bosom. Oh, I can think of many I wish
was here to hear that. Oh, God's elect by his grace
are made new creatures in Christ Jesus and the grace in us is
as effectual as the grace of God in the things he's done for
us. Is that not so? Is that not so? Thank God that grace has made
us to differ, that has made us new creatures in Christ Jesus
so that we can now say from our heart in truth, old things are
passed away, behold a new day has dawned, everything has become
new. Will you bear with me while I
read this poem, The Touch of the Master's Hand. Several, several
verses and I wanted to eliminate one but I couldn't, I couldn't
find one that would, that I could take out that would It would
break the whole song. Was battered and scarred, and
the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while. To waste much
time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. What
am I bidding, good folks, he cried. Who'll start the bidding
for me? A dollar, a dollar, then two,
only two, two dollars. Who shall make it three? Three
dollars once, three dollars twice. Going for three, but no. From
the room far back, a gray-haired man came forward and picked up
the bow. Then wiping the dust from the
old violin and tightening the loosened strings, he played a
melody pure and sweet as caroling angels sing. The music ceased,
and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low, said,
what am I bid for this old violin? And he held it up with the bow.
A thousand dollars, who'll make it two? Two thousand, who'll
make it three? Three thousand once, three thousand
twice, going and gone, said he. The people cheered, but some
of them cried, we do not quite understand. What changed the
worth? Swift came the reply, the touch
of the master's hand. And many a man, Many a man with
a life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin, is auctioned
cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. A mess
of pottage, a glass of wine, a game, and he travels on. He's
going once, he's going twice, he's going, and he's almost gone. He's almost gone. But the master comes, and the
foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul
and the change that is wrought by the touch of the master's
hand. Thank God for the touch of the
Master's hand. Last of all, last of all, there's
another day yet to dawn. We spoke about the dawning of
Christ that day, our day, when he called us out of darkness
into his marvelous light. But there's another day yet to
dawn. There's another day God's people, pilgrims or strangers,
are looking forward to. It's sort of a combination of
those two others. And I'm not talking about a 24-hour
day. When this day dawns, it will
be forever. When the sun arises on this day,
it'll never go down again. The dawning of this day is what
our Lord spoke of in John 17. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which thou gavest me. before time was, while time
rolls on, and when time shall be no more, Christ lives, the
great I am, and his people will live with him forever." Genesis,
we read, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God
took him. He walked with God, and just
walked right into glory. Someone said, come up, Enoch.
It was as if God said to Enoch, come up and spend the night.
And he never came back. Because there's no night there.
It will be that glorious day when Christ shall present his
bride, his church, back to his father without a spot or a blemish
and say, Father, I and the children that thou has given me, I lost
none that day. that David spoke of when he says,
I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. There will be no more time. Time
shall be no more, and there shall be no more death either. Neither
sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the
former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne
said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write,
for these words are true and faithful. And the city had no
need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the
glory of God did lighten it. And the lamb, the lamb is the
light thereof. Oh, what a day, what a dawning.
And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither
light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they
shall reign forever and ever. There is coming a day when no
heartache shall come, no more clouds in the sky, no more tears
to dim the eye. All is peace for evermore on
that happy golden shore. What a day, glorious day that's
gonna be. There'll be no more sorrow there,
no more burdens to bear, no more sickness, no more pain, no more
parting, no more, no more parting over there. And
forever we will be with the one who died for me. What a day,
glorious day that will be. What a day that will be when
my Jesus eyes shall see. And I'll look upon the face of
the one who saved me by his grace. And he takes me by the hand and
leads me through the promised land. Oh, what a day, glorious
day that will be. Therefore, the redeemed of the
Lord shall return. and shall come with singing undesiring,
and everlasting joy shall be upon their head. They shall obtain
gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.