Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled this message, Come
See the Place Where the Lord Lay. That is what the angels
said to the two Marys. Come see the place where the
Lord lay. He's not here. He is risen. Now I want to begin this reading
in verse 46 of the 15th chapter of Mark. Joseph of Arimathea
had taken the dead body of the Lord Jesus Christ down from the
cross. And we read in verse 46, and
he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in
the linen, and laid him in a sepulcher, which was hewn out of rock, and
rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulcher. Now the Lord
was given a rich man's burial. Joseph of Arimathea was rich,
Nicodemus was rich, and they are the men God used to remove
the body of the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. And we read in
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, beheld where
he was laid. These two dear ladies were watching
and saw where their Lord was laid." They did not yet understand
that he would be raised from the dead, but they were watching
as he was placed in that sepulcher. And when the Sabbath, this is
starting in chapter 16, and when the Sabbath was passed, they
waited during the rest of the Sabbath, and when it was passed,
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, had
bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint him. Now,
they did not yet realize that these spices would not be needed,
because the Lord's body never went through the process of decay. He saw no corruption, because
the moment He died, complete satisfaction was made. He never
saw corruption. These spices were not needed,
but these women didn't understand that. And we read in verse two,
and very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they
came into the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said
among themselves, who shall roll us away the stone from the door
of the sepulchre? They witnessed as this stone
was put in front of the opening to the sepulchre, and they knew
they couldn't move it. And they said, who will roll
away the stone for us? Verse 4, when they arrived there,
and when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away,
for it was very great. And we read in Matthew's account
that it was rolled away because of an earthquake. God caused
an earthquake to come and remove the stone. Verse five, and entering
into the sepulcher, they saw a young man. Now we know that
this was an angel in the appearance of a young man. And entering
into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right
side, clothed in a long white garment, and they were frightened. It scared them when they saw
this angel. And he, the angel, verse 6, and
he saith unto them, be not affrighted. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucified. And he really was crucified.
He was nailed to a cross. He died on that cross and they
took his corpse, his lifeless corpse, down from the cross and
put that dead body in the sepulcher. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the God-man, really did die. Graveyard dead. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, which
was crucified. He is risen. He's not here. Behold the place
where they laid him, but go your way. Tell his disciples and Peter
that he goeth before you into Galilee. There you shall see
him as he said unto you. Now, on numerous occasions before
the Lord died, he told them of his crucifixion and of his death. And three days later, he would
be raised from the dead. And he said this to them shortly
before his death. He said, when I'm risen, I'll
go to Galilee and meet you there. And so the angel is saying he's
just doing as he said. But I love the way the angel
says. behold the place where they laid
him." In Matthew's account, it says, come see the place where
the Lord lay. What was there? Nothing. His grave clothes were
there. The napkin about his face, he
had taken off and folded it up and set it in a separate place.
But the place where he lay, what was there? Nothing. An empty tomb. Come see the place
the Lord lay. Now, I pray that by God's Spirit,
you and I will be enabled to come see the place where the
Lord lay. Now, when they put him into that
sepulcher, into that tomb, he was dead. He was graveyard dead. His blood was not flowing. His
lungs were not heaving. He was dead. Now he was not going
through the process of decay like you and I will, but he was
dead. And at some point, I don't know
when it was, but at some point, this is something only the father
witnessed. No man witnessed this, only his
father. But as he lay there dead, all
of a sudden, he took in a breath. His heart began to pump blood
and he opened his eyes and got up because he was resurrected
from the dead and he was risen. Now, I don't believe that that
stone had to be rolled away for him. We read in Mark's account,
I mean in John's account, that the disciples were in a room
with the door shut out of fear for the Jews. It's pointed out
that the door remained shut and yet the Lord appeared to them. It appears that in his glorified
body he could walk through rocks, he could walk through doors that
were closed, he could walk through walls in his glorified body.
Now, do we understand that? Of course not. But the Lord could
have walked right through that rock, that great stone that was
before his sepulcher, but he had it removed for these women
to come in and see the place where the Lord lay. Now, as these
dear women look into that empty tomb, what do they see? Number one, He is risen. He really did rise from the dead. He said, I am he that liveth
who was dead and I am alive forevermore and have the keys of hell and
death. We serve a risen savior. You know, I see these crucifixes
that people seem to like. They hang them up on their walls.
They hang them up in their religious assemblies. And on those crucifixes,
they have there nailed a figure of him who's supposed to be the
Lord Jesus Christ. But he's not on that cross anymore. He's not on in that tomb anymore. He is risen. Whatever it was he intended to
do by his death, he did. And now he is risen. He liveth. I love what Luke's
account said. Why seek ye the living among
the dead? Why seek ye him who lives, who
is life? Oh, let me say this. The life
of Christ, that is eternal life, that eternal life that was with
the Father. That is the life that the believer
is justified by. When I'm judged, I'll be judged
according to His life, according to His faithfulness, according
to His obedience. And now He lives. Why seek ye him who lives among
the dead, among dead religion that does not give life? He is not here, he is risen. Now what do they see when they
look upon that empty place in that sepulcher where he had formerly
been Dead, but now that tomb is empty. What do they see? They see God's eternal purpose. Now don't leave me on this point.
They see God's eternal purpose. You see, God is a God of purpose,
and His purpose always comes to pass. And before time began,
we read of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, before there was a universe,
before there was any matter, before there was any material
existence, Christ Jesus, before there was time, Christ was the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God's purpose has
always been the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, His life,
His death, and His resurrection. Just as He was the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, He didn't stay slain from the
foundation of the world. He's the Lamb raised from the
foundation of the world. And God created the universe
for this to take place. For His Son to go to the cross
and accomplish the salvation of His people, to accomplish
the manifestation of His attributes and all that God is and all who
God is is revealed in the cross. and He was raised from the dead,
and God's eternal purpose is done. I love to think about this. Do you know, even in glory, when
time will be no more, and all of God's people will be in His
presence, conformed to the image of Christ, without sin, Even
then, they're going to behold the scars of the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. And although they won't be conscious
of sin, they will know that the only reason they are there is
because of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, what do they see as they
behold that empty tomb? They see He is. who he said he
was. He is, when I look at that empty
tomb, where he had been dead. And he's no longer there, but
risen. I see that he is who he said
he was. The eternal son of God. The great I am that I am. God manifest in the flesh. You see, if he were just a man,
he'd still be there. No man can raise himself up from
the dead if he were just a man. He would still be there, but
he's not just a man. He is the God man. And in his death, he paid for
sin so that God is satisfied. He was delivered for our offenses,
raised again for our justification. And his resurrection, the fact
that that tomb is empty, tells us he is who he said he was. Now listen to me real carefully.
Jesus Christ is either God manifested in the flesh, the creator of
the universe, or he's the greatest imposter to ever live. One of the two. There is no in-between. Somebody says, well, I believe
he was a great prophet. No, he's either God manifest
in the flesh or he's the greatest imposter and deceiver to ever
live. Well, the fact that he was raised
from the dead tells us he is who he said he was. As we look
at that empty tomb, we see that his humiliation is past. Now, what do you mean by that,
somebody says? Well, there was a time when Jesus Christ did
not have a body as the eternal Son of God. He did not have a
body. Some 2,000 years ago, he became
flesh. God was manifest in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us He took upon Himself the limitations of flesh. What a stoop that God would become
a man. And that stoop went even further.
How so? Not only did he become a man,
but he became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.
Now the reason why he was nailed to a cross was not because he
was a victim of men who were stronger than him and put him
there. No, those men were under his control. They couldn't make
a move without him. The reason he was nailed to that
cross is because he was made sin. Second Corinthians 5.21
says, thou hast made him to be sin who knew no sin, that he
might be made the righteousness of God in him. God made him to
be sin, what a stoop. And in dying, he put that sin
away. We look into that empty tomb,
his time of humiliation is over. He's not still in a tomb. He's
not still on a cross. He is seated at the right hand
of the Father, the place of all authority. He achieved glory
that he would never have achieved had he not gone to the cross.
Now, looking at that place that is now empty reminds us of where
he is now. He's seated at the right hand
of the Father. Seated. Not pacing back and forth, worrying.
Seated, having finished his work. Nothing left for him to do. He's
at the right hand of the Father, the place of all authority, ruling
and reigning, and as the great high priest of his people, making
intercession for his people. There's a man in glory right
now, the God man, representing all for whom he died, all who
come to God by him. And looking at that empty tomb
that he went into, And he's no longer there. What did he bring
into that empty tomb? What did he bring with him? The
sins of the elect. The sins of everybody he died
for. Their sins were made his sins
and he carried them into the tomb. What's there now? Nothing. Nothing. Where are their sins? They've
been made not to be. Everybody he died for is now
justified. Now, don't forget what justification
means. If I'm justified, that means
I am sinless. That means I have no guilt. That means I stand before God
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. That is what His
death accomplished. That empty tomb tells me that
my sins are no more. Listen to this scripture from
Jeremiah chapter 50, verse 20, because of that empty tomb. Let
me quote this. The iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for, and there shall be none. And the sins of Judah,
and they shall not be found. Now, just as there was nothing
there, my sins are non-existent. That is what the great Redeemer
did when he was raised from the dead and walked out of that tomb.
He made my sins to not be. Now that empty tomb spells full
payment. You look into that empty tomb,
And you know, because there's nothing there, full payment has
already been made. I owe nothing. He paid my debt. Jesus paid it all. All the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Now somebody may think, what
do you mean by full payment? The Bible says the soul that
sinneth shall surely die. I've sinned. God will by no means
clear the guilty. That's what he said of himself.
But God, in the glory of his person, took my sin off of me
and put it on his son, so that his son became guilty of the
commission of my sin. No, he never sinned in his own
person, but when my sin was put in him, he became guilty of the
commission of that sin. The soul that sinned shall surely
die. Christ died. and he made full
payment. You see, he's the only one who
could do that. The reason hell is eternal, this
is a difficult subject, but it's true, it's scriptural. The reason
hell is eternal is because no one could ever satisfy God for
putting to death his son. There could be no satisfaction
there. If someone murdered your child, and said, here's $10 million. Would that be enough to satisfy
you? And you'd just blot it out and
forget about it? You'd just be satisfied from
here on out? No, no, that could never satisfy you. And God can
never be satisfied in the punishment of the sinner for the death of
his son. He could never say, that's enough, that's enough.
No, that is why hell is eternal. But Jesus Christ did what no
man could ever do. He completely satisfied God so
that God needs no more. He is satisfied with everybody
that Christ died for. That's why He was raised from
the dead. God said, I'm satisfied with him and everybody in him,
everybody he represented, so much so that who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? God justified them. Who is he
that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather,
that's risen again. who's even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Complete satisfaction. Now, when I look at the place
he lay, this is so important, and I see nothing is there, I
see the ground of assurance. the ground of my assurance. Now some people struggle with
assurance. They say, I could believe I was
saved if, hold on, could you believe you're saved if Christ
died and was raised from the dead? Well, I already know that,
but I could believe I was saved if I was more holy and less sinful
and didn't struggle with sin so much. And if I was more spiritual
and more heavenly minded, oh, then I could believe I was saved.
So what you do is better than what he did. Something wrong
with that picture. The only ground of assurance
is what He did. I look into that empty tomb where
Christ was raised from the dead and I am satisfied that I need
nothing else. Peter called this the answer
of a good conscience by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The
only thing that can truly satisfy the conscience before God is
the resurrection of Christ from the dead. And I need nothing
else for my assurance but this Simple truth. What he did is
all. When he was raised from the dead,
God was satisfied. Now, I'm satisfied too. What do I see when I look within
that empty tomb? Well, what do you physically
see? Nothing. That's faith. Faith that walk
by sight, does it? We walk by faith and not by sight. We believe what we cannot see. Now, when I look into that tomb,
I don't see anything, and I know that's my whole salvation, that
empty tomb. Now, here is a picture of what
I'm trying to say. I can't see by looking at myself
that I'm justified. I can't see by looking at myself,
I'm without sin and sinless. I can't see that. But what is
the evidence that I am? Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I see faith when I see that empty
tomb. I'm looking to Him only. Now
what do we see when we see that empty tomb? We see the utter
defeat of Satan. He was completely defeated by
what the Lord did. He thought he had the Lord defeated.
He didn't know that this was his head being crushed. And the last thing I wanna point
out, the angel said, but go your way, tell his disciples and Peter. Now, why did they say and Peter? Because I will assure you, Peter
didn't believe he was a disciple anymore. He heard the Lord say,
Whoso denieth me before men, him will I deny before my Father
which is in heaven. He thought, well, I'm cut off.
The Lord's going to deny me before the Father. I'm not one of the
disciples. But let me say this about Peter.
What he did was very sinful. No question about that. No more
sinful than anything you or I have done when we have failed to confess
Christ before men. What he did was very sinful,
but let me tell you something he never did do. His faith didn't
fail. Now he failed. He denied he knew
Christ. He was afraid to be identified
with Christ. He was cowardly, but his faith
didn't fail because the Lord said, I prayed for you, Peter,
I prayed for you that your faith fail not. And Peter, even when
he was denying Christ and going through that horrible ordeal
of doing that, He never quit believing that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. Now understand this, faith is
what you believe concerning Him, not what you believe concerning
yourself. He knew that Jesus Christ was the eternal Son of
God, God's Christ. He never quit believing that.
Now, I have no doubt at this time he thought, well, it's over
for me. And that's why the angel said,
and I'm sure this was because the Lord told him to say this,
you go to my disciples and Peter. Make sure he knows that because
of my resurrection, he is my disciple indeed. Now, we have
this message on DVD and CD. If you call the church, write,
or email, we'll send you a copy. Or look at our website and you
can get a copy of this message. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send
a request to todd.nyberg at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.