Death, what is it, and why do we fear it? We all are born in our time, and we all will die in our time. However, different religions have different viewpoints on death, but one thing we all agree upon is that death is inevitable.
The Buddhist believes that when a person dies, he’ll be reborn again with a new life according to how he lived. The Hinduist believes death is a natural process where the soul somehow leaves the body and travels to another world to return someday and continue its journey on earth. The Muslims believe that death is a spiritual journey to another dimension of existence. Christians believe that death is where the spirit leaves our earthly bodies and enters into heaven or eternal damnation.
But in all cases, there is a time to be born and a time to die. We will all someday die. AMEN
• It doesn’t matter how physically strong you are.
• It doesn’t matter how rich you are.
• It doesn’t matter how popular you are.
• It doesn’t matter how powerful you are.
Death is foreseeable for all of us. No one is exempt from death! Will you be ready.....
Ecclesiastes 12:7 states: “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
But there was one that death was not his final destiny. That one was Jesus Christ. But, Jesus was not just someone. He was God in the flesh.
As you remember, the baby Jesus would not have a human father. He would come to save us, and death would have to move over, for what God has declared, and no man could truly prevent.
Death would have to move over and let go, because the will of God was stronger than death. Death would have to bow down in the presence of the power of Jesus Christ. AMEN
My message today is...... Yes he Died, Yes he Arose!
A Long, long, long time ago, on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, there were some faithful women that believed in Christ and truly mourned his crucifixion. Just as we pay honor to our dead, these women were doing the same when they decided to take spices they had prepared, and traveled to the tomb of Jesus.
But when they got there, they discovered that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, and when they entered, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.
LUKE 24:1-3 states: "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
Now, this in itself, caused a bit of curiosity for the women. But while they were wondering about why the stone was removed, and Jesus’ body was not there, two men suddenly stood beside them. Their clothes seem to flicker like flashes of light.
When they saw this, they were afraid, so they bowed down with their faces to the ground. But the men said something that would peak their curiosity even more. The men said: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!
Their eyes were probably very wide by now, but the men would go on to say: Remember what he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee. He told you “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men. He would be crucified. Then on the third day he would be raised again.”
The words told to them became clear as they visualized the empty tomb.
LUKE 24:4-8 states: "And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words.
Today we celebrate Easter, a celebration of Christ, the one that died for us, yet rose to continue his God given mission!
So, today we’re gonna try to talk about the tales, and beliefs, the stories and the truths. Did he or, Did he not!
AMEN
So, let’s first talk about the resurrection.
There’s one thing that separates Jesus from all of the other religious leaders of the world like Mohamad, Buddha, and Confucius, just to name a few. What separates Jesus from them is the fact that, death couldn’t hold Him. He arose for us. He arose for you and He arose for me too. Thank God!
Let’s think about this for a moment….
• Death didn’t move over for Muhammad.
• Death didn’t move over for Buddha.
• Death didn’t move over for Confucius.
Or shall I ask, have you seen any of them around lately, or heard someone say they “just” saw one of them?
The answer would be no. Their religious teachings may have made an impact on the world, but they died, just as we will, never to be seen alive again.
But to this day, hundreds of millions of people put their faith in men that died long ago.
• Not only did they die, they would not be seen again.
• Not one of them rose from the dead.
• Not one of them ever claimed that they’d come back from the dead.
• They were only human, just like you and I.
But Jesus was more than a great teacher, and more than a man. He was the son of God. He proved His superiority over all religious teachers by conquering the grave. And he did it all for us. For us Brothers and sisters, For us!
Of all the great spiritual leaders who walked the earth, Jesus is the only one who died and then rose again from the dead. (My My)
Rom. 6:9 states: “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Brothers and sisters, Jesus’ resurrection is the most important and crucial part of our faith. If the resurrection didn’t happen, then the claims of the New Testament wouldn’t be true. We would still be under the Law of Moses, and still doing things that were unclear even to the most intelligent of men.
Without the reality of the resurrection, our Bible would just be a collection of stories about the law God gave Israel, the ups and downs of Israel’s history, poetic views of sorrow, hurt, pain and love, and the Prophets who challenged the rebellious people to return to God. Understanding would not be revealed in the New Testament.
Jesus died for our salvation, and his resurrection is important to our faith. It’s what guarantees the absolute validity about who Jesus was, and the truth of His teachings.
If there was no resurrection of Christ, then our faith would be based on the teachings of a mere man. My, My, My
But what if ? What if the resurrection of Jesus is just a fable?
• If there’s no resurrection then there’s no life after death.
• If Jesus stayed in the grave, then so will we.
• If His work on earth ended at the cross, man would not be saved.
• If man didn’t get salvation, our lives would be consumed by sin.
• If there was no resurrection then there’s also no forgiveness of sins.
• If there was no resurrection then there’s no real meaning in life itself.
1 Corinthians 15:17-19 states: “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If, in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
Brothers and sisters, if you’ve been listening, you probably acknowledge by now that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is absolutely essential for us to have any hope at all. There’s no hope for a meaningful life without it. AMEN
? Now, let’s discuss the integrity (truth)of the resurrection.
If we believe the resurrection of Jesus is so important to our faith, then we shouldn’t have any doubt that it happened just as it’s depicted in the Bible.
So let’s talk about a few details, to see if there is evidence that supports the truth of the resurrection. Afterwards, I think you’ll be a bit more knowledgeable, and you’ll decide for yourself, that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it urges acceptance, and leaves little room for doubt!”
(Remember Thomas? We don’t want to be a doubting Thomas.)
But first, let me tell you a story I read by a fellow Christian. The story is about a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa. “Some of his friends asked him, ‘Why did you become a Christian?’ He answered, ‘Well, It’s like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didn’t know which way to go, and there at the fork in the road were two men, one dead and one alive. Which one would you ask which way to go? “Just Saying”……… “AMEN”
Now, I know it’s pretty hard for some people to believe that a person could come back from the dead. So, let’s talk about four confirmations that point to the validity of the resurrection:
First, consider the testimonials of the empty tomb. It’s hard to deny the fact that Jesus’ tomb was empty. No one was ever able to produce a body.
But to be fair, just because the tomb was empty it doesn’t conclusively prove that Jesus rose from the dead. You might be doubting just like the DecipleThomas. “He just didn’t believe, because he wasn’t there”.
People who deny that the resurrection happened may have several explanations for the empty tomb, other than the resurrection.
Some say that Jesus really didn’t die on the cross. They say that Jesus merely collapsed from the torture, pain, and exhaustion of the crucifixion. They say that when they took him down from the cross, his body merely looked like he was dead.
They literally claim that Jesus was buried alive. Then after three days, without the benefit of food and water, he was revived by the cool air of the tomb, disentangle himself from about 70 more or less pounds of tightly-wound grave cloths, move a huge boulder that covered the tomb, and walked out under his own power, and then overpowered the armed Roman guards that was stationed near the tomb.. (Oh my Lord!)
But the scriptures state in 1Corinthians 15:3-4 “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: AMEN
Others say that the disciples stole the body. This theory was first proposed by the Sanhedrin council. Now, just in case you don’t know who the Sanhedrin was; they were an ancient Jewish court system that was held as the supreme religious body in the land of Israel during the time of the Holy Temple. I don’t think they needed an all-powerful being stepping on their turf.
Anyway, the chief priests on the Sanhedrin council supposedly gave some Roman soldiers a large sum of money, telling them to say that Jesus’ disciples came during the night and stole him away while they were asleep. The soldiers supposedly took the money and did as they were instructed.
However, the theory that the disciples stole the body has several weaknesses: (Listen up, you don’t wanna miss this)
First, Roman soldiers didn’t sleep on duty. If Roman soldiers were known to be asleep on duty, they would face the death penalty.
Second, the disciples had to get in unnoticed, remove the stone, and then carry Jesus’ body out of the tomb before the soldiers could stop them.
Thirdly, Jesus’ tomb was heavily guarded, and when Roman soldiers were told to guard something, they did it with precision. These soldiers were some of the best fighting men in the world.
So it’s kinda hard to believe that the eleven remaining disciples (minus Judas) could have gotten by, gone through, or around the soldiers, and stolen Jesus’ body. (think about it!)
Matthew 28:12-15 states: “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
Then there are those that say the disciples were hallucinating. They wanted so much to believe that Jesus was alive that they saw something that really wasn’t there. Again, this theory has its problems:
First of all, the disciples weren’t expecting Jesus to rise from the dead. When reports of the resurrection first came to the disciples, they did not believe them, but they did believe that Jesus was the all-powerful Christ.
Secondly, the same hallucination couldn’t possibly occur to hundreds of people in several different locations over a period of forty days. If anything, such a consistent report from that many people is confirmation FOR the resurrection, not a hallucination.
Mark 16:11 states: "And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
The best explanation for the empty tomb, is NOT that Jesus didn’t die, or that the disciple stole the body, or were hallucinating; The best explanation is simply that God raised Jesus from the dead.
You may have to jump through some pretty big hoops to really explain it any other way. It’s much more rational to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. AMEN
Now that we have talked about the empty tomb, this brings us to that second confirmation, The testimony of the eyewitnesses. A lot of people saw Jesus alive after His death.
Now, when I’m playing basketball, and I hit two or three “3 pointers”, at my age, I would no doubt brag about it. If people didn’t believe me, I’d call up some of the guys that played with me that day, and have them confirm my story. “Other people saw me do it”
Any practical person would believe a report confirmed by several witnesses. The Bible reports that Jesus appeared not just to a couple of people, but hundreds of people, during the forty days after his resurrection, and each of them told similar stories about their experiences.
• He appeared to Mary Magdalene.
• He appeared to two men walking to the village of Emmaus.
• He appeared to the disciples (who couldn’t believe their eyes).
He even had to say to them, “Why do you doubt who I am? Look at my hands and my feet. “You can see that it’s really me!”
In Luke 24: 39 Jesus says, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
But, the most convincing report of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances is given to us by the apostle Paul, as he says, that the resurrection of Jesus didn’t happen in a corner somewhere. A whole lot of people saw Him alive:
• in different locations,
• at different times,
• in different circumstances
• over a forty day period.
1 Corinthians 15:6 states: “After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
Brothers and sisters, if every person the Bible identified as being an eyewitness to Jesus’ resurrection were called to testify and describe their seeing the Christ Jesus, it would probably take more time than we can realize to hear the testimony of just those people. But we’re given the ability to be able to read the words as depicted in the Bible. But we hesitate, we avoid, and we steer around the truth. My, My
The third confirmation is the transformation of the twelve disciples.
What else would account for the changes in the lives of the disciples except the power of the resurrection? There are things that happen in our lives that will change us. Those things are eye opening and profound. AMEN
The eleven remaining disciples (minus Judas), were hiding in a room after Jesus’ death. They were afraid the same thing that happened to Jesus would happen to them. They were hiding like cowards. But after seeing Jesus alive again they became bold and courageous.
Belief strengthened them and belief strengthens us!
Matthew 26:56 says: “But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.
As we know, Peter denied Jesus three times because he didn’t want to be arrested with Jesus. A servant girl recognized him, and he said I don’t know him. Then somebody else saw him and said, you are one of them, and he again said not me! Then another said yes you are, you are a Galilean, and Peter said “man I don’t know what you’re talking about.
So what changed? After the resurrection, Peter is now boldly preaching about Jesus to a crowd of thousands of people. What would change Peter so quickly, except for the fact that he had seen Jesus alive? He had a boost to his faith!
What else would possess the disciples to continue to preach and risk their lives if the resurrection didn’t happen?
Would you be willing to stake your reputation, your family, and your wellbeing for an untruth? I don’t think so…..
• It was their belief that restored the disciple’s faith.
• It’s a belief in things that keep us pursuing our goals.
• It’s belief that renewed their strength
• It’s belief that keeps us strong.
Brothers and sisters, almost every one of Jesus’ close disciples was executed for their faith in Him. They died because they believed He rose from the dead. These guys were serious about proclaiming the resurrection because it was all true! Why else would they risk death!
• Peter was crucified with his head down. Some say he died upside down.
• Paul was slain as he proclaimed that he had fought a good fight,
• and John was beheaded in prison.
Matthew 14:10 states: “And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
The fourth and final confirmation is the work of Jesus today. The risen Jesus is still working in our lives today.
• We are not in control.
• Our strength given.
• Our wisdom is provided.
Every year, we understand a little more.
• Yes, there are those that teach an untruth.
• There are those that lead you down a path of unrighteous.
• There are those that teach you wrongly, even though they know what’s right.
• There are those that would ask you to blindly follow them.
• There are those that ask you to believe in man.
Yet, man is not who we follow. We follow the teachings of Christ. We believe the word of Christ. God gave us a mind so that we have understanding. We should use that God given mind! AMEN
In closing…..
I just want to let you know that, all around the world, the gospel message of Jesus Christ is being taught, because we believe. Jesus still touches lives today.
There are those here in this church who will tell you the same thing about their lives. Jesus’ power has touched them in some way.
• Their cancer may have been healed by advances in medical science.
• Their hands weren’t crushed after the 25,000 pound truck bed fell on them.
• That bullet that entered them didn’t kill them.
• That car that spin out of control, landed safely with no one injured.
Why, because their work here was not finished. AMEN
Some will tell you that Jesus’ resurrection power:
• Has freed them from alcohol or drug addiction,
• Has provide them with an inner strength and a will to resist the devils deceptions.
• It has saved their marriages.
• It has brought them out of deep depression.
• It has given them a purpose.
• It has turned their life around.
• It provides them with an inner zest and peace that is second to none.
My oldest daughter fights fires for a living. Some mornings she is at our door in tears, needing our comfort for the sorrows she has seen with young children that senselessly lost their lives through carelessness. We can only say that God is always in control, and his strength will comfort her in understanding.
My middle daughter was stroke by a car a few years ago, while walking across the street. She survived without major injury. We have to believe that God softened her fall.
When my younger daughter was about five, she wandered out of the house to play around the pool. Un-knowing to us, she fell in. She came back in the house drenched. Somehow, she managed to get out. We could only thank God for guiding her.
• No matter how devastating our struggles,
• No matter how deep our disappointments,
• No matter how weary our troubles are,
• No matter what happens to you,
• No matter what happens to your family and friends,
• No matter the depth of tragedy or pain you face,
• No matter how sin stalks you and your loved ones,
The Resurrection promises you a future of immeasurable good.
Everyday, things happen that we can’t understand. Yes, sometimes it hurts, sometimes life events make us angry. But we can either believe in man or believe in the everlasting spirit of Christ. It’s your choice.
• Maybe you need a revival.
• Maybe life has you down and feeling defeated.
• Maybe your chances of passing that test are slim to none, and slim just took the bus out of town.
That’s okay. You can place your hope and trust in the greatest revival of all time: the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Christ returned from the dead to save us from ourselves. AMEN
Through Him you can experience victory both in this life and the next. Death couldn’t keep Jesus Christ down. It had to move over for his mission to save us. And if you’ll truly trust in Him, there’s nothing that can keep you down, either.
The resurrection is the best thing that has happened to us. “Aint” that good news! "Aint" God Great!
And, one other thing.
Romans 6:4-5 states “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” AMEN
Someone once said: “Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every “leaf” in springtime.
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