story last week, true story,
I think, of an old woman who was a believer. But age had begun
to tell on her, especially on her mind and her memory. At one
time, this elderly saint had much of the Bible committed to
memory and she could recite it by heart. But as she got older,
there was just one little portion of scripture that stayed with
her. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. But soon that part slipped from
her mind too. She would be found sitting by
herself quietly repeating just a little portion of it over and
over again. Folks would pass by, friends
and family, and they'd hear her just sitting in her chair quietly
saying, that which I have committed unto him. That which I have committed
unto him. And then just before the Lord
called her home, her children saw her lips moving but couldn't
hear what she was saying. And so one of them leaned over
close to hear what her mother was saying, and this is what
she was saying. Him. Him. Him. She had forgotten everything
but Him, and in remembering Him, she remembered everything written
in this book, everything. Oh, I want you to know Him. I'm not the least bit interested
in just getting you to be religious or to behave morally. I'm not,
I leave that to law and legislators to take care of. I'm not interested
in trying to govern your life and get you to live different.
That's not my purpose. I want you to know Him. Oh, Lindsay,
if folks know Him, that takes care of everything. That'll govern
your life. That'll govern your life. Sometimes
folks They ask me, you know, don't you think you ought to
do this, do that, upbraid folks, scold folks, do this or the other
to get folks to do what they ought to. No, no, no, no, no.
If ever you fall in love with him, I'd take care of the other
problems. The problem with the religious
world around us, the reason folks live like hell who profess to
know Christ is because they don't know him. That's all. They just
don't know him. I want you to know him. Trust
him. Love him. Oh, may God enable
us today to worship Him. The title of my message this
morning is, When Jesus Was Risen. And I'm going to talk to you
about the resurrection, but again, my purpose is not just to convince
you of the doctrine of the resurrection. I don't know that'd do you any
good at all. I don't know that'd be of any benefit to you. I want
you to know Him who is the resurrection and the life. Now that'll do
you some good. That'll benefit your soul. I'm not interested
just in convincing you of the historic fact of the resurrection,
though certainly you must be convinced of that. I want you
to know Him who is the resurrection. And I want you to know Him in
the power of His resurrection. I want you to experience it being
yourselves raised from the dead by His grace unto eternal life
in His heavenly kingdom. Now, with that in mind, let's
read our text in Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14, or chapter
16, rather, verses 9 through 14. Mark chapter 16 in verse 9. Now, when Jesus was risen early
the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she went and told
them that had been with him as they mourned and wept. And they,
when they heard that he was alive and had been seen of her, believed
not. After that, he appeared in another
form unto two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it unto
the residue. Neither believed they them. Afterward, he appeared unto the
eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief
and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which
had seen him after he was risen. Now, there are many, many things
in these verses of Scripture, but I want to call your attention
today to three things that I believe stand out as the most glaring,
evident truths set before us here. First, we have before us
an undeniable fact, and then an unqualified forgiveness, and
finally an unparalleled friend. The first thing then that strikes
me in this paragraph is the fact that the resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is an undeniable fact. That which is in many respects
The most important, the most crucial, the most significant
fact revealed in Holy Scripture has been, by God's good providence,
set down as a fact of history which cannot be denied upon any
grounds of credibility or honesty. This is important for this reason.
If the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
could ever be denied, could ever be refuted, could ever be disproved,
then everything else in the Bible, everything else with regard to
our hope, everything else with regard to redemption and grace
must crumble to absolute insignificance. If there is no resurrection,
then there is no redemption for sin, no atonement made. If there is no resurrection,
then there is no forgiveness and no possibility of forgiveness.
If there is no resurrection, then there is no salvation, no
gospel, no hope for sinners. More than that. If there is no
resurrection, then all who preach the free grace of God, salvation,
eternal life, atonement, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ are
false witnesses of God. They are not men who are good
servants of men, but rather they are deceivers of men, and deceivers
of men's souls, and blasphemers of God. Moreover, if there is
no resurrection, then we're yet in our sins, and we are of all
men most miserable. So this matter is a matter of
great importance. Consequently, the Lord God arranged
in his providence for the resurrection of Christ to be established as
an undeniable fact of history. Believing facts will never save
anyone, and yet having the facts set down in such a manner that
they cannot be denied only serves to give buttress to our faith.
In these six verses of Holy Scripture, The Holy Spirit tells us that
on three occasions, our Lord Jesus appeared to his disciples. Now remember, Mark deals only
with the things Mark deals with. He doesn't deal with things Matthew,
Luke, and John deal with. So don't try to fit it all together
as we read this one passage. Understand that Mark leaves out
details included by others. Others leave out details included
by Mark. Fitting them all together, we have what's called the synoptic
Gospels. That is the Gospels that give
us the same story of the redeeming work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark tells us that the Lord Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. and then he speaks of the two
disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then of his appearing to
the apostles. But actually, our Lord Jesus, during his 40 days
between his resurrection and his ascension, appeared 12 times
in human flesh. 12 times. 12 times in a most
remarkable manner. I took the time this morning
waiting on you folks to gather to look these up. First, he appeared
to Mary Magdalene. And then to the other women mentioned
in Matthew 28. Then to the two disciples on
the road to Emmaus. And then to the 11. And then
to Peter. Then he appeared to the 11 again,
Thomas being absent. And then he appeared to the 11
once more, Thomas being present. He appeared to them again at
the Sea of Galilee. And then he appeared to 500 brethren
at one time. 500 at one time. Now, somebody said,
well, this is like a UFO sighting. Not at all. Those fellows are
nuts. And not one of them tells the
same story without comparing notes. Here are men who saw the
Lord Jesus, first a woman, then several women. Then he appears
to his disciples. Then he appears to Peter. Then
he appears to the disciples without Thomas. He appears to the disciples
again with Thomas. He appears by the Sea of Galilee.
He appears to 500 brethren at one time. Then he appeared to
James. Then he appeared to his brethren
in his ascension as he went up to heaven. Then he appeared to
the Apostle Paul after he was risen and ascended again into
heaven. And they all told the same story
without collusion. They all told the same thing
without comparing notes. The Lord Jesus clearly was risen
from the dead in a most remarkable, undeniable manner. Now this is
a great mercy to us. Our Lord Jesus made his resurrection
from the dead to be a thoroughly established, undeniable fact
of history. And this is a great mercy because,
as I said before, everything we believe, Everything revealed
in the gospel stands or falls with the resurrection of Christ.
The resurrection was the crowning proof of our Lord's having put
away our sins by the sacrifice of himself. The resurrection
was the seal of our redemption. The receipt given by God of our
justification. And the resurrection is God's
public declaration of his son's exaltation and glory. Listen
to the importance given in the scriptures to this matter of
the resurrection. We'll look at a few. Turn to
Romans chapter one. Romans the first chapter. Now
remember the apostle Paul here in Romans is writing to Gentile
believers primarily. Gentile believers in the citadel
of Roman paganism, Roman superstition, heathen idolatry. He's writing
to these Gentile believers concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ and
he's writing to men and women he's never seen. Now listen to
what it says, Romans chapter 1 and verse 1. Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ. I love that. Who are you, Paul? Well, my name is Reverend Dr.
Most Holy So-and-so. No, my name is Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ. That's all. Just like you. Called
to be an apostle. I didn't appoint myself to this
work. I didn't place myself here. I didn't put myself here. God
called me to be his messenger. Separated unto the gospel. I
could spend a while talking about that. I wish I could cause every one
of my brethren who preach, who call themselves preachers, who
are in the work of the ministry but not in it, who dabble in
it, who play at it. And I hope my brethren will hear
me. Separate yourselves to the gospel. Separate yourselves to the gospel.
Put aside other work. Put aside other business. Put
aside other cares. Let your whole mind and heart
and life be consumed with this business of preaching Christ
and Him crucified. Nothing else. Bobby, there's
no room for anything else. Everything else is a distraction.
Everything. Every now and then I have somebody come along and
want me to get involved in business. You know, this'll be good for
your family. This'll be good to take care of your wife. Merle
Hart, if I'm God's servant, he'll take care of me and feed my family,
and whatever fashion he's pleased to do it will be all right with
me. You understand that? God's servants must be separated
to the gospel, nothing else. The gospel which he promised
to forward by his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning
his son. This is what it's all about.
Jesus Christ, our Lord, This one who is God the Son made of
the seed of the woman or seed of David according to the flesh.
He who is God the eternal God as a man was made in human flesh
of the seed of David and declared to be. Now how do we know he's
the Son of God? How do you know this? Declared
to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness.
Look at it now. By the resurrection from the
dead. There have been many who've been raised from the dead, yeah,
but he's the only one who raised himself. He's declared to be
the Son of God by the Spirit of holiness in that he raised
himself from the dead. Look in chapter 4, verse 25.
The Apostle Paul is declaring the
glorious gospel doctrine of justification. He tells us how that Abraham
and David believed God and were justified believing God. that
righteousness was imputed to them because they believed God. Now in verse 25, it tells us
the basis of that justification. Who? The Lord Jesus Christ was
delivered for our sins, delivered into the hands of divine vengeance
and justice, delivered to death, and was raised again for our
justification. Now, that doesn't mean, James,
that his justification or his resurrection accomplished justification.
No, no, no, no. That was done when he paid the
debt. But when he was raised from the dead, God said, look
here, boys, justification's done. God said, here's the receipt.
The empty tomb declares that Christ has put away our sins.
Look in Romans chapter 8 now, verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? Who's
gonna condemn one of God's people? Who's gonna condemn one of God's
elect? Who's gonna condemn any sinner who believes on the Son
of God? Why, here's the impossibility of that. It is Christ that died. There's no condemnation for my
soul because Christ died. Yea, rather, that's risen again. I know there's no condemnation
because He's risen again. More than that, who is even at
the right hand of God. also maketh intercession for
us." Oh, now the Scriptures place tremendous weight upon the resurrection. The multiplied witnesses of our
Lord's resurrection are simply irrefutable. Our Lord Jesus lived
for us, but He didn't just live for us. He died for us, but He
didn't just die for us, He arose for us. He took His place at
the right hand of the majesty on high and sits yonder on the
throne of the universe as the king of the universe in sovereign
monarchy, reigning over all flesh. to give eternal life to as many
as the Father has given him. Down in Mexico and in other third
world countries where Romanism dominates, in this country, you
know, it puts on the facade of civility and tries to hide its
idolatry. They still wear silly looking
costumes, but down there in these third world countries, it takes
off its mask and the idolatry, just the sheer idolatry of it
is rampant. I go to those old, old shrines,
and not because there's anything holy about them, my soul, they're
just old, that's all. Remarkable pieces of architecture.
But you go in there, and you'll see these statues of Mary, you
know, these big statues of Mary. They have to hide her, she's
got some gold on her, somebody'll steal their god, but they've got these
big statues of Mary and crucifixes and crosses all over, you know,
and they roll her out, these big statues of Mary. Then they
got their ideas and pictures and statues of Christ as well.
Almost always he's laying over here in a casket. Almost always. Because they do not in any way
recognize the validity of his finished work. And he's still
in the casket as far as they're concerned. Now let me tell you
something. The Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And he sits
yonder on the throne of glory with power to give eternal life
to as many as God's given him. And that is an undeniable fact. You might say, well, nobody believes
that but a Christian. I know that. Well, lots of folks believe
it who think they're Christians who aren't. But nobody believes
that except someone who claims to believe this book. I know
that. I understand that. That's because men will willingly leap
over facts and jump out of light into darkness rather than bow
to the revelation of God in Scripture. It's a plain nose on your face,
Merle. Christ rose from the dead. He rose from the dead. All right,
now here's the second thing. Our Lord's forgiveness of sin
is an unqualified forgiveness. Certainly this is evident in
the heart of every sinner. who's experienced it. It is evident
in many of his gracious displays of grace and forgiveness while
he walked on this earth. One of my favorite stories in
the Gospels is the story of that woman taken in adultery, taken
in the very act. The Pharisee said, now, we got
the goods on her. We got the goods on her, and
we know what the law says. We know what? Kill her. Kill
her. Don't have any mercy on her,
kill her. And they thought they had the Lord Jesus trapped. They thought, well, if he says
kill her, then we're going to declare he's not merciful as
folks say he is. And if he says let her go, then
we'll declare he's against the law. He's an antinomian. I've
been there a few times. What's he going to do? What's
he going to do? The Lord Jesus first silenced her accusers.
He dealt with the law first. He always does. That's the first
thing he did for us, Bobby. He silenced our accuser. He dealt
with the law first. And then he turns in mercy to
that poor woman. And he says, woman, where are
your accusers? Who doth now condemn thee? She
looked around her. She said, well, Lord, there's
nobody here to condemn me now. He said, neither do I condemn
thee. Go and sin no more. That's forgiveness. That's forgiveness. Free forgiveness. What do I have
to do? Nothing. How do I get this? I gave it
to you. Just free. Just free forgiveness. I recall once, several years
ago, someone gave me a sermon. A fellow had preached on this
text in John chapter eight, dealing with the adulterous woman. And
I listened to it twice, because I couldn't believe it. I just,
I thought, man, If ever a fellow's gonna preach the gospel, he's
gonna get to it here. He was scared to death somebody
was gonna take that and run into licentiousness with it. He said,
now the Lord's not here teaching, it's all right to commit adultery
or fornication. And spent 20, 30 minutes talking about that,
and I thought, well, I wonder what Nut thought he was. He talked about how the Lord
was not here teaching, that the law had been abrogated, didn't
mean anything. And you know, he never once dealt with the
issue of grace. Never once talked about forgiveness.
I'm telling you, our Lord's forgiveness is manifest there, and it's manifest
here as well. The Lord Jesus did not first
appear to his mother, though she was still alive. He did not
first appear to John the beloved, though he had recently spoken
to him. Our Lord Jesus, the scripture tells us, appeared first to Mary
Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. Isn't that
interesting? Well, it's just like it. It's
just like it. Here the Holy Spirit shows us
by example what we're taught throughout the scriptures. Salvation
is a matter of absolute, free, unconditional grace. Because
salvation is in its entirety a matter of free grace, in absolutely
no way conditioned or dependent upon or determined by us, then
all who are saved by grace stand before God upon equal footing,
and the footing upon which we stand is the righteousness of
Jesus Christ the Lord. Everybody. There is, listen now,
there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
Would you be free of condemnation? I mean free of condemnation so
that God doesn't condemn you? so that there is no word in Holy
Scripture to give you any concern about condemnation? So that your
own conscience, when you lay in bed at night and you anticipate
drawing your last breath and you anticipate standing before
God in judgment, your own conscience doesn't cause you any trouble.
Would you like to be free from condemnation? believe on the
Son of God. And right now, oh my soul, right
now, there's no condemnation. Not now, not tomorrow, not forever. No condemnation to them that
believe on the Son of God. You see in Christ, by the wondrous
arrangement of God's grace, there's absolutely no difference between
a saved virgin and a saved harlot. There's absolutely no difference
between saved scholars and saved sots, saved Pharisees and saved
pimps and pushers. In Christ, there's absolutely
no difference between saved princes and saved paupers. You mean,
preacher, if God saves a sinner, It doesn't matter whether he
snatches him out of one of the dark cells over in North Point
Training Center, or snatches him out of the gutter, or snatches
her out of the brothel, or snatches her out of the convent. It doesn't
matter. You mean they stand before God
in absolute righteousness? You got what I said. That's exactly
right. That's what the scripture means
when it says, God is no respecter of persons. That's exactly what
it means. Folks quote that passage in Acts
chapter 10 and try to say it talks about God denying God's
election. Why? Nonsense. It means when God saves
you, he doesn't save you because of something in you. He saves
you because of something in himself called grace. In Christ, all believers are
equal. The last is first and the first
is last. All our sins are all forgiven. We all possess perfect righteousness. We all have all the grace of
God. Christ is all in all who believe. He's all. in all who believe. All right, here's the third,
fourth thing, I'm sorry, third thing. Our Lord Jesus is an unparalleled
friend to sinners. Truly, he who is the friend to
publicans and sinners is the friend that sticketh closer than
a brother. How manifestly evident this is
in our Lord's dealing with his unbelieving disciples. Three times, three times in these
few verses, six of them, Mark tells us how that these disciples
believed not. The Lord appeared to Mary and
she said, fellas, I've seen the Lord. They said, no, you haven't.
He appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and they
said, Lord, we've seen the Lord. He talked to us, by the way,
and our hearts burned within us as he did. And they said,
you're deluded. No, you didn't see him. And Mark
was included. They believed not. At last, he appeared to the 11
apostles in person and upbraided them for their unbelief. He said,
fellas, give me some wine here. Give me a piece of fish." He
said, you're not looking at a ghost, you're looking at a man in human
flesh. You see, God's salvation is an
irreversible act of grace. Our Lord comes to these disciples
and he rebukes them and he chastens them. And I warn you, the chastening
hand of God. You fathers who take a paddle
to your child, take that little girl and you love her, you know,
because you love her, you're determined to make something
out of her. You want her to grow up, be respectful and honorable.
And she misbehaves and you take her back to the bedroom, you
lay her across your lap and you say, now, honey, I love you.
And then you start to blister that behind. And she thinks to
herself, this is a strange way of showing me you love me. This
is a strange way of showing me. And she doesn't know it. She
has no idea. But it breaks your heart far
more than it hurts her behind. You have to do it. But you do
it because you love her. Because you love her. Our God,
because he loves his people, will one way or another drive
us from the sin that we naturally love. He will chasten us. He
does chasten us because of our unbelief. But listen. Listen. He never forsakes us. Never. Never. The Lord Jesus
comes here to these unbelieving disciples and upbraids them sharply. But he comes to upbraid them
because he loves them. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth,
and scourgeth every soul in whom he receiveth. Something else
here. understand this, God's saints
in this world are sinners still. The Holy Spirit shows us this
so often and he shows it to us with the
surest proof of all by leading us to experience the bitterness
of it in our souls. And the greatest believer there is horrible unbelief Merle, I'm guilty of so many
things and that which is the most obnoxious is the one thing I can tell you
about publicly and you won't think hardly of me for it Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? The most obnoxious thing in this
world is my unbelief. Oh, God forgive me. But he's left it that way for
the time being so that we may understand salvation is God's
doing, not ours. It's not even accomplished, Gary,
by our faith. Our faith is the result of it. You understand that? It's the
gift of God. He's left it that way, to teach
us to look to Christ alone for everything. He's left it that
way, to teach us to be gracious to each other. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see. And this I know, that grace which
saved me is the grace that keeps me and the grace that will present
me thoughtless before the presence of his glory because Christ is
the unparalleled to this man's soul. Amen.