Matthew 28 will begin there. I'm taking the title for the
message from what is declared in verse 6. The angel said, don't
fear, I know whom you seek. Verse 5, the Lord's not here. You see that? Matthew 28, 6.
He's not here. He's risen. He's risen as He
said. Come and see. Come and see the
place where He lay. And don't turn. Let me just read back to you
what we read earlier. Why do you seek the living among
the dead? He's not here. He is risen from
the dead. We serve a living Lord who is
enthroned in glory. These two or three messengers,
and I got to reading all three of these, four of these, accounts,
and we see one angel, two angel, another angel. I think there
were multitudes of angels. You remember at his birth, there
was a multitude in the heavenly hosts declaring glory to God
in the highest honor, peace, goodwill toward men. But these
two messengers from heaven declared unto these women, faithful women,
fearful women, the Lord Jesus Christ, his dead body, was indeed
raised again from the dead, just as He said, by the almighty power
of God. And He declared to be the Son
of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by
the resurrection from the dead. We read in Romans chapter 1,
when Paul writes about the Gospel of God, He was separated unto
the Gospel of God that was aforepromised by the prophets. The gospel of
God, he says, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. which was
made of the seed of David. He was, according to the flesh,
made of the tribe of Judah, house of David and Jesse, according
to the flesh, and declared to be the son of God with power,
according to the spirit of holiness, or the Holy Spirit, by the resurrection
from the dead. Declares everything he said to
be true, his person to be true. We read in Romans earlier in
our Bible study, and I love this verse, Romans 4.25 says, He was
delivered for our offenses and raised again because He justified
us. We're justified freely by His
grace through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Being
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. He was delivered for our offenses
and He was raised again because you know what? He accomplished
our salvation, didn't He? The empty tomb. Christ is risen
from the dead. What does it mean? What does
it mean to believers? It means everything. Everything.
Our sin has been put away when He by Himself purged our sin.
We just read that. He purged our sin by himself. He sat down on the right hand
of God. He obtained for us eternal redemption with his own blood.
He appeared once in the end of the age and put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. What does it mean, our sins put
away? What does his resurrection declare
unto us? Righteousness has been established
for us. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputes righteousness without works. He was made sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Christ Jesus. What does his resurrection mean
to the believer? The law of God being honored.
He redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. Remember our Lord said, I didn't come to destroy the
law or the prophets, I came to honor. The Lord is well pleased. Isaiah 42, 21. The Lord is well
pleased for His righteousness sake. He will magnify the law
of God and honor it. And that's what He did. The redeeming
work of the Lord Jesus Christ that He purposed to do from all
eternity. And He did it completely to the
satisfaction of God Almighty. He shall see of the travail of
His soul and shall be satisfied. Now believers are satisfied with
the Lord Jesus Christ. But you know what's more important
than that? God is satisfied. He said, this is my well-beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. It means we are redeemed with
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin according
to the riches of His grace. When the Lord Jesus Christ said,
it is finished, it really was. He accomplished our salvation.
The good and great hope we have in Christ is a resurrection hope. A resurrection hope. We read
in Isaiah 26, thy dead men shall live together with my dead body,
shall they arise and awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust,
for the dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast
out the dead. We have a resurrection hope when
we take our dear loved ones to the cemetery and put their body
in the ground. we know the Lord will come back
for them and give them a new body just like His, predestinated
to be conformed to the image of Christ. Therefore, believers
do not seek salvation Among dead things, we seek salvation in
the living Lord, who is enthroned in glory, who is exalted at the
right hand of God. In total absolute victory, we
seek mercy where mercy is found. We seek grace where grace is
found in Christ. He said, come boldly. Come with
liberty to the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. Thanks be unto God who
has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. In a revelation
when he appears to John, he said, I'm he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore.
And I have the keys. I have the keys of hell and death.
This was the great theme of all the gospel sermons preached in
the book of Acts. They repeatedly, repeatedly,
repeatedly turned to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. They repeatedly said, you crucified
Him. God raised Him from the dead.
Acts chapter 2. You men of Israel, verse 22,
Acts 2, 22. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by Him in the midst of you, as you yourselves know,
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel for knowledge of God,
you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain
all. whom God raised up, having loosed
the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it." Turn one page, or just across the page in Acts
chapter 3. Verse 13, the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified
his son, Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied him in the presence
of Pilate when he was determined to let him go, but you denied
the Holy One and the just and desire of murder to be granted. You remember they said, give
us Barabbas. And you killed the Prince of
Life, whom God raised up from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. Just across the page in Acts
chapter 4, verse 10, Be it known unto you, Acts 4, 10, unto all
the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom you crucified. They keep saying that same thing.
You killed him. You crucified him, and they did,
whom God raised from the dead. Even by him doth this man stand
here whole. That cripple was made whole in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a stone which was set
at night of you builders, which has become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation. in any other, for there is none
of the name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved." And you go on through the book of Acts, and they declared
over and over and over again the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, how important is His resurrection
and His ascension? He was raised from the dead three
days after He died. And then 40 days later, he bodily
ascended to the throne of God. They watched him go up through
the clouds. And he's seated on the throne of glory, wherever
that is, right now, interceding for us. How important is the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? Without his resurrection,
we have no good news. We have no gospel. And our preaching
is vain. Without his resurrection, our
faith is also vain. Without his resurrection, we
are yet in our sin. And that's exactly what Paul
says in 1 Corinthians 15. Without his resurrection, Jesus
of Nazareth was a fraud, an imposter. And as the old writers used to
say, his soul is still in the grave, or his body is still in
the grave. If he's an imposter, We know
that he's not. He's a true and living God. We
believe the record of God. Now, as the Lord would be pleased
to lead us and teach us, I want to glean some very important
lessons from Matthew 28, Luke 24, Mark 16, and John 20. And I'll try to use my time wisely,
but if I get a little bit lengthy, just be patient. Just be patient. The first thing I want us to
look at, back in Matthew 28, and it says also in Luke 24 verse
1, Matthew 28, 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 grave. And behold, there was a great
earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
came and rolled back the stone from the door, and he sat upon
it. And his countenance was like
lightning, his raiment white as snow. Now, I've never seen
an angel, not that I know of. But they did. And his character
was white and glistening. The Lord Jesus Christ was raised
up the first day of the week. What day is that? What is today? Sunday, the first day of the
week. First day of the week. He gave his life for us on Friday. He finished the work. He said,
it is finished. Father, into my hands I commend
my spirit. He finished the work on Friday,
the work of redemption. And on Saturday, that Sabbath
day, he rested. Now, on the first day of the
week, he's back at work. He's back on the job. He's back
at work. It's not a mere coincidence,
and it's certainly not accidental, that the Lord died on a certain
day. and rested on the Sabbath day and was raised on the first
day of the week. That's all according to the purpose
and will of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Passover is sacrificed
for. He was the Passover lamb. Now
what does that mean for us today? The Old Testament law of Sabbath
keeping is now passed. A new day of grace has dawned.
We're no longer under the covenant of law. The Sabbath is over. The law has been fulfilled. We're
now under the covenant of grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen
to this scripture. Hebrews 13, 20. Now, the God
of peace. that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood
of everlasting covenant, make you perfect in all things." Perfectly
justified, perfectly made righteous. The Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled
the law for us. We read in Romans 10, verse 4,
that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. Believers are not under the law.
You're not under the law, but under grace. Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. In Christ, we are dead to the
law through his body that we might live under God. Preacher,
what's your position on the law? Dead. Dead. The law's got no claim on me.
It's already killed me. The law says the guilty must
die. The laws of the state of Kentucky can only put to death
a criminal justly condemned how many times? Once he's dead, what,
does that law have a claim on him? No. The law is satisfied.
Christ has satisfied that law of God. In Christ, we are crucified. The law of God has no claim on
us. In Christ, we're dead to the law. The Lord Jesus Christ
is our Sabbath rest. I'm resting in Him. I'm resting
in Him who honored the law of God for me. We rest in Him. We enjoy the full gift of His
salvation. No longer do we seek God's favor
by observing a legal Sabbath. Christ himself, he is our Sabbath. Christ is our Sabbath. That's
why he said, come unto me all you are laboring and heavy laden,
come unto me and I will give you rest. I will give you rest. Paul writes in Hebrews 4, let
us labor to enter into that rest. Strive to enter into that rest. My friend, come to Christ by
faith. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ
by faith and rest. Rest all of your hope of salvation. All of your hope of redemption
in Him. In Him we live and move and have
our being. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. In Him we are complete. Now here's
the second thing I want us to look at. The women who came to
the grave did so motivated by what? Love. It wasn't the law of God that
motivated them. They were in love with somebody.
They cared for somebody. The women who came to the grave
did so motivated by their love for their Savior and faith in
Him as their Lord. Many of you visit the graves
of your loved ones, don't you? Why do you do that? You love
them. You still love them. They came
out of love. A dear mother out of love cares
and protects her child, doesn't she? A father would risk his
own life for his family. Why? He loves them. You'd lay
down, you wouldn't even think about it, would you? You'd lay
down your life for your children, your wife, your family. Here
these women are determined to come and anoint the body of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Because they love Him. They love
Him. What gave them such faith and
such boldness? The love of God was shed abroad
in their heart by the Holy Spirit. Love filled their hearts. Their
hearts were filled with love for Christ who put away their
sin. Their hearts were filled with gratitude and thanksgiving
unto the Lord. Remember, they were beholding
Him as He was dying for their sin, and now they come to honor
Him. spices, anointments. The Lord
Jesus Christ, for the Lord Jesus Christ, they were willing to
risk their lives. Remember, there was a posted
guard. The Roman soldiers were posted
at that gravesite to protect anyone from coming and stealing
away his body, remember? For the Lord Jesus Christ, they
were willing to risk their lives, to put their life on the line,
not because they were motivated by law, but they were motivated
by what? Love. Love. What a great motivator,
love us. Paul talks about the love of
Christ constrains us, doesn't it? This is the true motive for
believers today, to serve and worship the Lord out of love. It's not fear of punishment.
or promise of reward, but out of love, out of gratitude. He's
done so much for us. How can I not in return love,
honor, worship, and serve him? Aren't you here this morning
because you love the Lord Jesus Christ? The love of Christ constrains
us. He gave himself for us out of
love. Hereby perceive we the love of
God because he laid down his life for us. We ought to lay
down our lives for the brethren, 1 John 3, 16. Now here's the
third thought that I want us to think about. Most of our fears
and doubts and fears are needless fears, needless fears. We read in Mark 16, as they walked
along, they spoke one to another, and they said, who's going to
roll away that stone? They were thinking, how are we
going to anoint his body? But they went, didn't they? As
these faithful women walked along, they began to be filled with
fears. Maybe they were thinking about
those Roman soldiers posted there in the large stone. It was on
the mouth of the grave. But all their fears were needless,
for when they came to the grave, the grave of the Lord, the stone
was already removed, as it says there. Behold, there was a great
earthquake, Matthew 28, 2. There had been a great earthquake,
and the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled
back the stone from the door, and I love this, and he sat upon
it. He sat upon it, he's sitting
there. and they behold this sight. How often, like these women,
if we don't have a legitimate reason to be fearful and filled
with anxiety, we'll invent something to worry about. All of us are plagued with this.
I'm especially plagued with it. Oftentimes we needlessly worry
about things that will never come to pass and fear things
that don't even exist merely is something imagined in our
mind. Our Lord teaches us throughout
the word, fret not. I love Psalm 37. We've studied
it several times. Fret not thyself because of evildoers. Be thou envious, be thou not
envious against the workers of iniquity, or they soon shall
be cut down like the grass and withers the green herb. When
you get right down to it, Worry is just another form of unbelief. It is, when you think about it.
And we are encouraged throughout the scripture to trust in the
Lord. He's in charge of all things, all things, all things, even
our affliction, Paul writes, our affliction, which yet, but
for a moment, worketh for us an exceeding and eternal way
to glory. Listen to this scripture, Isaiah
41. Fear not, fear not. And I asked
myself, why? Fear not. The Lord said, I'm
with thee. Be not dismayed. Why? I am by
God. I will strengthen thee. I will
help thee. I will, I will, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Isn't that enough? Fear not. Fret not thyself because of evildoers. What did the Lord tell Peter
when Peter had just, when the Lord told him he's going to deny
him not once, but three times? He said, let not your heart be
troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. So let us
be confident. If God before us, who can be
against us? We studied recently, a couple
of weeks ago, Psalm 56, where David said, this I know. Here's
what I know, I'm confident of this. God is for me. If that's
so, who can be against us? And here's the fourth thing.
We see in these stories here angels. Angels came to announce
his birth. Angels came and ministered to
him during his ministry of 33, his life of 33 some years. The elect angels of God are servants
unto the Lord and his elect people. Therefore, we have no need to
fear them. When the women came to the tomb,
they saw an angel of God in the form of a young man, and they
were frightened. He says in Mark 16, and entering
into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right
side, clothed in long white raiment, and they were afraid. It says,
his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And then in Luke 24, these two
men stood by them in shining garments. But the angels quickly
calmed their fears and said, you have no reason to fear. No
reason to fear. No reason to fear at all. Quickly calmed their fears. Turn
over to Luke 24 now. Luke 24, and it came to pass
in verse 4, Luke 24 verse 4, as they were much perplexed thereabout,
two men stood by them in shining garments, and as they were afraid,
they bowed down their faces to the earth and said unto them,
why do you seek And they said to them, why do you seek the
living among the dead? He's not here, he's risen. Remember how
he spake unto you when he is yet with you in Galilee, saying
the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,
must be crucified, must be raised again the third day. Oh, and
then they remembered his words. How did they comfort their fears
with the message of the gospel? This must happen. As far as we
know in this day, angels no longer appear to men in a visible form,
as long as we know anything about. I don't know anybody who has
actually seen an angel in our day, but some have entertained
angels unawares. I'm saying that I've never seen
an angel as far as I know. But there is a day coming when
we shall see a multitude of angels. The holy angels appeared to Joseph
of Mary to declare the coming of a son of man called in the
name of Jesus. He shall save his people from
their sin. They appeared to the shepherds
in the field to announce the birth of the Lord Jesus. This
day is born in the city of David, a Savior, Christ the Lord. And
there was a multitude of heavenly hosts declaring glory to God
in the highest on earth. Peace on earth, peace, peace. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes
back to judge the world, there will be a multitude of angels
with him. You can turn if you want to back
to Matthew 25. Matthew 25, 31. When the Son
of Man shall come in His glory, and all His holy angels with
Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. When He
comes back, He's coming back with a multitude, with a multitude
of heavenly angels, with a multitude of His people. When the Lord
Jesus, Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians, when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not God, that obey not the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, when he shall come
to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them
that believe." The angels are coming back when the Lord comes
back. And they're going to separate.
The holy angels will gather the wheat into the barn, and bind
the tares, and cast them into the furnace of fire. And we're
told in Scripture that we're not to separate the tares from
the wheat. That's not our business. Now, our business, but my business
back here in this garden, I separate, I try to separate the tares from
the wheat. I try to get the weeds out of my garden. But in the
congregation of the Lord's assembly, that's His business. That's not
mine. The Lord will take care of that
in due time. He'll separate them, He'll put the sheep on His right
hand, the goats on the left, and He'll say to them on His
right hand, Come ye blessed in My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. The holy angels
we read in Luke 15, they rejoice in heaven when Christ gathers
His sheep and He grants repentance unto them. The holy angels visit,
think about this, the holy angels visit our worship services where
the gospel is preached to learn about God's sovereign mercy. The angels of God meet with us.
It says that in 1 Peter, that when the gospel is preached,
they desire to look into these things. I don't see any angels, but the
Lord says they're here. Angels are ministering spirits
sent forth to minister to those who shall be the heirs of salvation.
In glory we shall join with them in holy worship, turn to Revelation
chapter 5. In glory we shall worship with
them around the throne of God, Revelation chapter 5. Verse 9
says, And they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take
the book to open the seals thereof. For thou was slain, and has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, people,
and nation, as made us kings and priests unto our God. And
we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beast, and
the elders. And the number of them was 10,000
times 10,000, and thousands of thousands. saying with a loud voice, they
all have worship worthy as the lamb that was slain to receive
all honor, power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing. We're going to worship with the
angels, the Son of God. Believers have no need to fear
the elect angels. They're great friends to us.
They minister unto us. We have no need to fear fallen
angels. The Lord is over them and rules
their ministry too. The devil is but God's servant
to work the Lord's will in this earth. They're under his sovereign
control as well. The angels of God repeat the
message. told the disciples to go tell
the good news, the good news. That's what preaching is all
about. Repeating, repeating what God has already said. They didn't
make up a message. They said that the Lord is risen
saying, Luke 24 verse 7, the Son of Man must be delivered
in the hands of sinful men and be crucified. And the third day,
Rise again. Where did they hear that message?
It's the same exact message that the Lord preached to his disciples.
You remember he said, I must go to Jerusalem. I must be rejected
and denied and betrayed. I must be crucified. I must be
raised again the third day. These things are a must. And
we simply repeat what God has already said. The lamb was delivered
by the eternal counsel of God as the lamb who died for our
sin. He was raised again to the right hand of God because he
put away our sin. Even now, right now, he ever
lived to intercede for us, making effectual intercession for us.
Because the Lord died for our sins and lived to intercede for
us, we're assured of our resurrection. We've been made heirs of God
and joined heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's because of
his death and resurrection that we have faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, that we have obtained like precious faith. We only
believe the gospel by the working of his mighty power. As the same
mighty power, when Paul talks about that in Ephesians chapter
one, we believe according to the working of his mighty power.
And the next verse, you know what he talks about? The resurrection
power. that took to raise the dead body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it takes for a sinner
to believe. You have to be quickened who were dead. And when He quickens
us, we believe the gospel. We're made to love the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now I'll close with this, the last thing I want us to consider.
First, these women were earwitnesses. They heard the message of the
angel. He's not here, he's risen. Then they were eyewitnesses to
the risen Lord. Seeing him, they fell at his
feet and hailed him and worshipped him. No need to fear, go tell
what you have seen and heard. He told Mary the same thing.
When they came and told the disciples, the Lord was risen from the dead,
we've seen Him, and we've talked with Him, what was their first
response? Unbelief, wasn't it? They believed
not, says in Mark 16, verse 9-11, that they did not believe. Their
words seem to be, as it says down here in Luke 24, verse 11,
their words seem to be idle tales. You think, how could they be
so stupid? The Lord repeatedly told them
over and over. Our heart is so plagued with
unbelief. Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief. Help my unbelief. The words seem
to be idle-tailed. Now, let me show you an example
of this. And I'll close with this. But turn over here to John
20 again. John 20. John chapter 20. When the Lord appeared to the
apostles, at first Thomas was not there. John 20, verse 24.
You see it? Thomas, one of the 12, called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. Now this is the risen
Lord. And he appeared to these apostles. The other disciples therefore
said to him, we've seen the Lord. But he said unto them, except
I see in his hand the print of nails, and put my finger in the
print of the nail, and thrust my hand to his side, I will not
believe. Peter just said, John just said,
Thomas, we've seen the Lord. We've heard Him. We've handled
Him, the Word of life. Isn't that amazing? That's us
by nature, left to ourselves. After eight days again, His disciples
were within, verse 26, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst of them. And He said
to them, Peace be unto you. Then He said to Thomas, Reach
hither your finger. and behold my hands, and reach
hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless,
but believing.' And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and
my God. And the Lord said to him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me and hast believed, blessed are they
that have not seen me yet, yet believe. Read on, two more verses. But these are written that ye
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing ye might have life through His name. What's the
foundation of faith? His Word. The testimony of His
Word. We have His Word. Faith comes
by hearing, hearing by the Word, the Word of the Lord.