May 1, 2011
Morning Worship
Text: Luke 24:1-12
Subject: The Resurrection
Title: Will You Let Jesus Rise
The greatest event in the history of mankind was celebrated last Sunday – The resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We all know the significance of the resurrection. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15 that without the resurrection, salvation is incomplete. 12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Well over three hundred verses are concerned with the subject of Jesus' resurrection in the New Testament. We are told that this event is a sign for unbelievers (Matthew 12:38-40); cf. John 20:24-29) as well as the answer for the believer's doubt (Luke 24:38-43). It serves as the guarantee that Jesus' teachings are true (Acts 2:22-24; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20) and is the center of the gospel itself (Romans 4:24-25, 10:9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Further, the resurrection is the impetus for evangelism (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 10:39-43), the key indication of the believer's daily power to live the Christian life (Rom. 6:4-14, 8:9-11; Phil. 3:10) and the reason for the total commitment of our lives (Rom. 7:4; 1 Corinthians 15:57-58). The resurrection even addresses the fear of death (John 11:25; 1 Corinthians. 15:54-58; cf. Hebrews 2:14-15) and is related to the second coming of Jesus (Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7). Lastly, this event is a model of the Christian's resurrection from the dead (Acts 4:2; 1 Corinthians. 6:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and provides a foretaste of heaven for the believer (Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Peter 1:3-5). Gary R. Habermas & J.P. Moreland, Immortality - The Other Side of Death, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992, p. 245.
Let me ask you a question. Do you believe in the resurrection? Really? Do you really believe in the resurrection? Today I want to take you through some scriptures and show you some things and when we are done I want to ask you this same question again. Do you believe in the resurrection?
Luke Chapter 24 verses 1-12,
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Lord, open my eyes to see and my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
As we study the resurrection today I want to look at three things.
1) The response of those immediately connected to the resurrection of Christ…
2) The response of the early church…
3) The expected response of God’s chosen people – the church…
I. THE RESPONSE OF THE ELEVEN AND THE WOMEN… look at verses5-7, 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” The women who had gone to tomb to basically “embalm” or anoint Jesus’ body with spices didn’t understand what had happened. But as soon as the “men” (they were angels) spoke to them they remembered what Jesus had said. Does that mean that they understood? No, they just remembered. While they were wondering about this... Now the next group that we come to is the eleven. Of them, Luke says, 11 But they did not believe… If they didn’t believe then what would you call them? Wouldn’t they be unbelievers? What was it that they didn’t believe? They didn’t believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Now, if they did not believe this then in reality they didn’t believe the word of God, for Jesus told them what would happen. The prophet Isaiah told them how the Messiah would suffer and die. The Psalmist wrote that God would not allow His Holy One to experience decay. 11 But they did not believe… Now, out of the eleven, according to the gospel of John, only two of them – Peter and John – went to the tomb to see for themselves. And even then only Peter was willing to go down into the tomb at first and see for himself. John went down after that. But here is Peter’s response …he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Now, let’s turn over to John 20. I’m not going to condemn the disciples just yet. There is a reason that they didn’t get it. At this stage they were not yet able to receive revelation from the Spirit of God because they did not have the Spirit. Now for believers today, what happens when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? The Holy Spirit takes up residence in you. So at that time there is a spiritual resurrection that takes place in you. Your dormant spirit man now is raised to life in Christ Jesus. So now we are able to understand the significance of the resurrection in the same way the disciples did after they received the Holy Spirit.
II. THE RESPONSE OF THE EARLY CHURCH… Turn over to Romans chapter 1. I want you to make the connection between the resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit. 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, I want you to pay special attention to verse 4…4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. The word power is what? dunamis…and it means… 1 force… 2. (specially) miraculous power… 3. (usually by implication) a miracle itself… OK, so what is the resurrection directly connected to? Holy Ghost power… Acts 1:8, 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The word “witness” refers to one who testifies as in court. The early church understood that they had resurrection power at work within them to be witnesses. Mark 16:19-20, 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. How did those signs happen? Through resurrection power. 1 Corinthians 2:4, 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power… How did Paul get his message across? By demonstrations of resurrection power… The early church trusted in resurrection power to heal, preach, and cast out demons – led by the Spirit, taught by the Spirit, and connected in power with others through the Spirit… They allowed the promises of God that their forefathers had allowed to die to be resurrected in power…
III. THE RESPONSE OF THE CHURCH TODAY… Think about it if you would. How do you think the Father wants you to respond to the resurrection? Well, obviously He would want everyone saved and then baptized in the Holy Ghost. But I believe He wants to resurrect His word in you so that you can allow that word to rise up in you in power. He wants to resurrect in you the power and authority that was given Adam – the authority that he relinquished to the serpent. Psalm 68:1, NKJV 1 Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered… Do you see your responsibility here? “Let” God arise. Eventually God will rise and all His enemies will be scattered. But for the believer, if you are going to scatter the enemy you have to allow God to arise within you – His awesome power that is at work within you – You have to be willing to allow doubt to be resurrected in you as faith… Next, Psalm 22:3, 3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel… Psalm 88:10, Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Who does God show wonders to? Who is it that will stand and praise the King of kings and Lord of lords? It is those who allow their spirit man to be resurrected – to worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Psalm 57:11, 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. Isaiah 60:1, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. Your responsibility? Arise and shine… Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10, 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection… 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
What is your response? Are you willing to let the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit raise you to a life of power? It is up to you. What are you going to do with it? For too long the church has been trying to do the work of God in the flesh without allowing the resurrection to play itself out in our personal lives. For too long we have refused to be led by the Spirit. Oh, we say we are a Pentecostal people – but the truth is that it seems that we are more satisfied with what God has done in the past than we are with what He wants to do right here and right now. When will allow His glory to rise up? When will we allow His power to take hold in us? When will we refuse to be forced into a corner by religious tradition and begin to walk in resurrection power? Look into the tomb. Is Jesus still there? Have the grave clothes been cast aside? Are you wondering what has happened to His body? You are His body and it is time for the resurrection of the body of Christ. Rise up and praise Him. Let His glory rise among us. Let the resurrection power begin to well up in you
An American was showing his visiting English friend the Niagara Falls when he said to his friend, "Come, let me show you the greatest source of unused power in all the world." He took him down to where the falls thundered into the river below and said, "There it is. The greatest unused power in the world." The Englishman immediately replied, "Ah, no, my friend. The greatest unused power in the world is the power of God in the life of the average professing Christian."
A W Tozer wrote, Let us be confident, Christian brethren, that our power does not lie in the manger at Bethlehem nor in the relics of the Cross. True spiritual power resides in the victory of the mighty, resurrected Lord of glory, who could pronounce after spoiling death: "All power is given me in heaven and in earth." The power of the Christian believer lies in the Savior's triumph of eternal glory! Christ's resurrection brought about a startling change of direction for the believers. Sadness and fear and mourning marked the direction of their religion before they knew that Jesus was raised from the dead-their direction was towards the grave. When they heard the angelic witness, "He is risen, as He said," the direction immediately shifted away from the tomb "He is risen, indeed!" If this is not the meaning of Easter, the Christian church is involved only in a shallow one-day festival each year. Thankfully, the resurrection morning was only the beginning of a great, vast outreach that has never ended-and will not end until our Lord Jesus Christ comes back again!
The church is not relegated to being like the eleven on that Resurrection day. Do you believe in the resurrection? Are you willing to let Jesus out of the grave?
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen!
And He has risen in power…
