Hope From An Empty Tomb

HOPE From An Empty Tomb

Matthew 28:1-20

Years ago there was a valley in New England that was going to be dammed up for a hydro-electric plant. There was a small town in the bottom of the valley, and that town fell into disrepair. Someone asked why? The answer came back "If there is no HOPE in the future, there is no work in the present.”

If you have a personal relationship with Christ there is Hope for the future!

What does the Resurrection mean to you? It does have meaning. It means HOPE. The resurrection of Jesus offers hope to all.

Without hope students are discouraged and marriages are in despair. Hope is essential to life.

When Jesus arose from the grave He planted the only durable rumor of hope amid the widespread despair of a hopeless world.

O, what hope is found for the individual whose faith in Jesus Christ.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ

I. Offers the hope of a pardoned life (Acts 13:36-39)

Do you believe that your sin can be forgiven? Do you believe that there is the possibility that the record of your sin could be canceled, pardoned, or erased clean? That’s what Jesus’ and followed by the Resurrection proclaims to all of us.

Do you have a pardoned life? Do you know that your sins have been forgiven, that they are pardoned? The resurrected Lord makes this a possibility.

A Sunday School teacher had just concluded her lesson and wanted to make sure she had made her point. She said, "Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness of sin?" There was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, a small boy spoke up. "Sin," he said.

You can have a pardoned life through placing your faith in the resurrected Lord.

A. Note the manner of forgiveness.

It is absolutely free. Anyone can have it.

Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by his grace.”

A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma’s back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell .

The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day, Grandma said, "Sally, let’s wash the dishes." But Sally said, "Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?" And she whispered to him, "Remember the duck!” So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, "I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper." Sally smiled and said, "That’s all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it." Again she whispered, "Remember the duck." Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and his sisters, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed the duck. "I know, Johnny," she said, giving him a hug. "I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

Don’t let sin make a slave of you come to Jesus today and accept His forgiveness.

B. Note the medium of forgiveness

There is no forgiveness outside of Jesus Christ- “through this man”

C. Note the measure of forgiveness

“justified from all things”

In a dream, Martin Luther found himself being attacked by Satan. The devil unrolled a long scroll containing a list of Luther’s sins, and held it before him. On reaching the end of the scroll Luther asked the devil, "Is that all?" "No," came the reply, and a second scroll was thrust in front of him. Then, after a second came a third. But now the devil had no more. "You’ve forgotten something," Luther exclaimed triumphantly. "Quickly write on each of them, ’The of Jesus Christ God’s son cleanses us from all sins.’"

II. Offers the hope of a peaceful life

The resurrected Lord offers a life of peace. Now I am certain that there are people who will say you don’t know what’s happened this week or what is going to happen this week to me. You don’t know about the things that could cause me a lack of peace. That’s true, but I know this.

There is peace in Jesus Christ. He can give you peace. The resurrection of Christ offers peace. See Matthew 28:10.

The emphasis of the resurrected Lord is one of peace. You can have peace regardless of the situation you are in. Regardless of what is facing you, regardless of what might come, there is peace in the resurrected Lord.