- People rushed out on the streets and began to leap for joy.
- Mothers and dads were thrilled that their sons would be coming home.
- Housewives were leaping for joy because their husbands would be coming home.
- Children were dancing in the streets because their dads would soon be coming home.
After six years of bombing, rationing and great loss of life, it was finally over!
Yet, of all the victories that have been won throughout the ages, none are celebrated with the intensity that we Christians celebrate Easter! None!!!
It is a blessing for us to be able to come to church and hear the gospel preached over and over again. Why? Because of two reasons:
(1) It is a blessing, when you consider the fact that some have never heard the gospel. We are blessed to have heard it preached over and over again.
(2) Another reason is because the more we can hear something, the more we receive from it.
Illus: Normally we read a book one time and than we give it away or put it on our book shelf and leave it there.
But the Bible is different!!!
For example, it is amazing how we can read our Bible over and over again, and continue to see things we have never seen before.
The danger is that anytime we are constantly exposed to something, THE EXCITEMENT WEARS OFF many situations!
Illus: For example, most of us like ice cream. In fact, some of us love ice cream. However, as much as we all enjoy ice cream, did you know that if we ate ice cream every day, three times a day, seven days a week, the thrill of eating ice cream would soon wear off eventually?
However, when we are constantly exposed to something, the EXCITEMENT WEARS OFF EVENTUALLY!
Illus: That is the reason playing sports and GOING HUNTING, FISHING AND GOLFING are so much fun. We do these things every now and then.
But if we were exposed to these things every day of our lives, the EXCITEMENT WOULD EVENTUALLY WEAR OFF.
Illus: I remember when I was a teenager they use to have the top forty songs in rock and roll. Teenagers would listen to them for a few months get tired of them and soon the top forty was replaced with another top forty songs.
But these old gospel hymns Like HE LIVES at Easter tell us about our wonderful Savior WHO CAME AND DIED FOR OUR SINS AND WAS RESURRECTED! We have been singing them for decades and we never get tired of singing such hyms.
Every since we were small children we have heard the story of the gospel and it is sweet to our ears as we first heard it.
I like that song says it get sweeter as the days go by Jake Hess.
Youtube -Sweeter as the Days Go By [Live]
404,110 views
Dec 20, 2012
How could anyone get tired of hearing that our Savior came and died for our sins and was brought to life again.
Illus: John Lennon of the Beatles said: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first - rock and roll or Christianity."
As we know, John Lennon has been gone since 1980 and we seldom hear of him since he was shot at the age of 40 but Christianity is still going Strong!
But for those who do not know about this Savior they have no idea what we are talking about.
The only thing they know about Jesus is they know His name.
Many celebrate Easter ignorantly. They do not know:
• He is their Creator
• He is their Savior
• He is the best friend they have ever had
• He would like for them to spend eternity with Him in His heaven.
THEY DO NOT KNOW HIM!
Illus: A group of four year olds were gathered in a Sunday school class in Chattanooga.
• The teacher looked at the class and asked this question: "Does anyone know what today is?"
• A little four-year-old girl held up her hand and said," Yes, today is Palm Sunday."
• The teacher exclaimed, "That's fantastic, that's wonderful.
• Now does anyone know what next Sunday is?"
• The same little girl held up her hand and said, "Yes, next Sunday is Easter Sunday."
• Once again the teacher said, "That's fantastic. Now, does anyone know what makes next Sunday Easter?"
• The same little girl responded and said, "Yes, next Sunday is Easter because Jesus rose from the grave" and before the teacher could congratulate her, she kept on talking and said, "but if he sees his shadow -- he has to go back in for seven weeks."
But for those who know what the Bible says, celebrate this day as one of the greatest celebration among Christians.
Why?
• Because Easter is the celebration of the greatest battle that has ever been fought!
• That battle was between the two greatest SUPER POWERS that ever existed!
• That battle was between the FORCE OF EVIL and the force of righteousness.
• That battle was between JESUS and SATAN, and when Christ rose from that grave, He was the VICTOR!
We do not just celebrate that victory one day out of the year. The fact is, we celebrate it world-wide once every week.
For example-
Illus: In the Old Testament, the people of God worshipped on the Sabbath, Saturday; but once Christ won that tremendous victory the New Testament church changed their day of worship from Saturday to Sunday.
They began worshipping on the first day of the week Sunday, to celebrate Christ’s resurrection.
In essence every Sunday is an Easter Sunday, celebrating Christ’s victory over death.
His great victory was not just for Himself. It was for all of us. He said of His victory, “...because I live, ye shall live also.”
This takes all the fear of death out of us.
Illus: A lady called me on the phone recently. She was a high school friend. She wanted to know if I could tell her something about death. I told her according to the scripture I can tell her this…WE NEVER DIE! We are all eternal beings. I told her the body in which we live will die but the moment a child of God dies they go to be with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
It is a great comfort for us believers to know that once we leave this life we go to be with the Lord Jesus.
Jesus said it clearly, “...because I live, ye shall live also.
Yet, even as many are celebrating this great victory, there are some who question it. Let’s look at two questions:
I. DID CHRIST REALLY DIE?
According to the Word of God, yes; He really died!
Those who claim this was not true have several different explanations as to what could have happened that made it appear that Christ died.
You see, there are documented cases on record of people who appeared to have died, but who were revived.
For example-
Illus: Remember the story of the young man from a small town in South Carolina, Jackie Bain. During the Viet Nam war he was shot. The medics pronounced him dead. He was placed in a truck to be transported to the morgue when something very strange happened. As he was in transit, he revived. He began to make some noise and almost scared the driver to death.
The driver stopped the truck, jumped out and opened the door to investigate. Upon checking in the back, the driver could see immediately Jackie was not dead. He slammed the door and instead of heading to the morgue, he went to the nearest hospital. When they arrived the doctors began to give Mr. Bain the medical care he needed. In a few weeks he walked out of the hospital.
The doctors explained that when Jackie was pronounced dead, he was probably so close to death that life could not be detected. It could be that his heart even momentarily had stopped beating while he was in the ambulance, but as they traveled on the bumpy road, the bumps jarred his heart and caused it to begin beating again.
Could that be what happened to Jesus?
Some surmise that something similar did happen, and that He actually did not die.
There are all kinds of theories being put forth by ungodly people as to what happened to Jesus.
Listen when the impossible take place many have a difficult time believing it has really taken place.
Illus: For example, in July 20th, 1969 hundreds of millions on earth watched over their TV, the first man set foot on the moon and Neil Armstrong stepped down on the lunar surface and said “That’s one small step for man—one giant leap for mankind.”
We all jumped for joy in this great achievement in our space program, but did you know there are people who do not believe it really happened.
I have talked to people who have told me this did not really happened…IT WAS A SET UP for NASA to get more money!!!
And there are many today who have a hard time believeing that Christ died and rose again.
They explain it this way…
A. The thief theory. These would have us believe that instead of Jesus having been raised from the dead, His body was stolen from the tomb. After the body was stolen, then the apostles began to preach the lie that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
B. The swoon theory. Would have you believe that Christ did not actually die on the cross. Instead, He fainted. Then later, He mysteriously became conscience and appeared to the disciples. They began to spread the lie that He had been raised from the dead.
C. The hallucination theory. Those who believe this say that rather than actually seeing the risen Lord, the disciples simply imagined they saw Him. That is, they wanted so much to believe He was risen from the dead that they allowed their imaginations to control their reasoning.
D. The wrong tomb theory. These simply say that the Lord’s body was placed in the wrong tomb. Instead of being put in Joseph’s tomb, He was put into another tomb. Therefore, when they arrived at Joseph’s tomb, they found it empty because Jesus’ body had never been placed there from the beginning. Then they claimed that the disciples went everywhere preaching about the empty tomb.
There are those today who will believe anything rather than believe what this Bible tells us about the resurrection of Christ.
Why do men so bitterly detest the resurrection of Christ?
Because, they know if He was really resurrected from the dead it validates everything He said about Himself being the Savior of the world. They then will have to repent of their sins, or they will have to stand before Him on Judgment day as sinners.
Did Jesus die? Look at Matthew 27:46-51, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, YIELDED UP THE GHOST. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.”
The Bible tells us Jesus “...gave up the ghost.” That means that JESUS DIED!
While some do not accept this fact, still there are many who do believe it, and have no problem believing that He died.
What many have a problem with is whether or not Jesus lived again.
II. DID CHRIST REALLY RISE FROM THE GRAVE?
This same Bible that tells us Jesus died also tells us He rose again.
Now if you have a hard time believing He died, you will really have a hard time believing He was raised from the dead.
Illus: A priest was giving his flock a sermon on the Gospel, and he mentioned how with five loaves of bread our Savior fed five thousand people (Matthew 14:21); but instead of saying five thousand, he said five hundred.
The altar boy told him that he had made a mistake, because the Gospel says five thousand. Whereupon, the priest said to him; “Be quiet! They already have a hard time believing five hundred.”
Did He rise from the grave? Yes, He did rise from the grave!
Let me give you the Biblical response to men’s foolish theories just mentioned.
A. A response to the theft theory. Remember, this was the claim that the disciples stole Jesus’ body from the tomb. As it happened, the Jewish religious leaders had feared this.
To make sure this did not happen, they requested the Governor to station guards at the tomb’s entrance. Look at Matthew 27:62-66. We read, “Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.”
Their orders were specific, “Make it as sure as you can.”
The Roman squadron certainly had no motive for taking the body. They realized that to do so would only give the disciples an opportunity to claim Jesus had risen from the dead.
Not only that, the soldiers would have been jeopardizing their lives. Why? Because any soldier who failed in his duties, in this case to guard this tomb, would forfeit his life.
So we see, this THEFT THEORY has no legitimacy to it whatsoever.
B. A response to the swoon theory. Those who would have us believe this theory also ask that we believe Jesus just fainted, revived, and escaped.
Do you know that liberal preachers across this land that do not believe the Bible to be the infallible Word of God today will be used of Satan more than anytime this year.
While this should be a time of great rejoicing because of the great victory that Christ won, there are liberal preachers today who are standing in pulpits across America who are trying to explain away the resurrection of Christ with so-called explanations as “The Swoon Theory.” They, being used of Satan, are telling their congregations that Christ did not literally die.
Such was the case of the preacher mentioned in this letter.
Illus: Dear Eutychus:
Our preacher said, on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health.
What do you think?
Sincerely,
Bewildered,
Dear Bewildered:
Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy strokes, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his side...put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens.
Sincerely,
Eutychus
Those who promote the SWOON THEORY ask us to believe Jesus survived such obstacles as:
-The crucifixion.
-The thrusting of the spear into Jesus’ side.
-Escaping the wrapping of the burial bandages and spices.
These people ignore the questions of:
-How was Jesus able to escape the grave clothes without unwrapping? They were like a glove with the hand removed while still retaining the shape of the hand.
-How was the stone rolled away from the front of the tomb?
-How did He escape being detected by all of the professionally trained guards who were outside the tomb?
Is it reasonable to ask anyone to believe this?
No. All the evidence is that He did not faint...He was dead.
Look at John 19:31-34. We read, “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was DEAD ALREADY, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
The Bible tells us the enemy themselves was convinced He was dead. This is why they did not brake His legs.
C. A response to the hallucination theory.
This theory says everyone hallucinated an image of Christ.
-Hallucination does not present twelve people at the same time hallucinating.
- 500 people seeing the same thing.
-Neither does it take into account the 15 different appearances.
-The Lord appeared to hundreds of people over seven weeks.
It was not a one time event. Hallucinations don't happen like that.
D. A response to the Wrong tomb theory.
Was Jesus placed in the wrong tomb? Is this why they could not find His body in Joseph’s tomb? No! The women were observing very closely where Jesus’ body was placed so they could return after the Sabbath with some anointing spices to anoint His body. They knew exactly where His body had been placed.
Look at Luke 23:52-56. We read, “And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.”
Every one of the theories that men have offered...all of them would be thrown out of a court of law.
When it comes to the evidence that the Bible puts forth, some of the best legal minds in the world will tell you that based upon the preponderance of the evidence of HIS DEATH and HIS RESURRECTION are overwhelming
Illus: John Singleton Copley, one of the great legal minds in British history and three times High Chancellor of England, wrote, “I know pretty well what evidence is, and I tell you, such evidence as that for the resurrection has never broken down yet?”
We have many eye witnesses who saw Him on numerous occasions.
- He appeared to Mary Magdalene.
- He appeared to the disciples in the upper room.
- He appeared to two men on the road to Emmaus.
- He appeared the next week to the disciples especially to Thomas.
- He met with them by the Sea of Galilee and had breakfast with them.
- He appeared to five hundred people at one time according to the apostle Paul.
This is overwhelming evidence. If you do not think so, just take notice at what is required to win a case.
Illus: If just three credible witnesses had appeared in the O. J. Simpson trial and said, “I saw him kill his wife and her friend,” he would be behind bars today for life.
After the Lord appeared to the discouraged, defeated disciples, they went every where preaching -- HE IS ALIVE!
The men who had been cowards, hiding behind closed doors, went like lions out to transform the world with the gospel of Christ after they saw the risen Savior! They were so convinced of His resurrection they grew from 12 into millions spreading this gospel.
Here is the convincing evidence that really stands out.
All of them except John, gave their lives for spreading the gospel of Christ.
Listen, people will not give their lives to spread a lie. If it had been a lie they would have been quick to recant when it came to the place of having to die.
Eleven of Jesus’ disciples accepted the death sentence passed on them. They would not renounce what they had witnessed and knew to be truth.
The final proof in our society is that millions of people, like all of us gathered here, have come to recognize that they are lost and could not save themselves. In their hopeless condition they have placed their faith in the RISEN SAVIOR and have been born again.
What the world could not do, the RISEN SAVIOR has done. He has saved us from our sins. If He was not the risen Savior, if lost people could not put their faith in Him, then we would not see any changes in their lives.
When Christ was crucified, it was a dark day for the disciples. They were scared and discouraged.
At the time the disciples were in hiding, they could not know the outcome. They had seen Jesus die that cruel death. They had seen from a distance how disgracefully He had been hanged on that cross. Perhaps they had heard Him cry out, “IT IS FINISHED,” and had seen His head fall onto His chest.
There was much weeping among the disciples. After Jesus death, every hope they ever had was shattered.
So it was when Jesus was laid in the tomb on the first Good Friday afternoon. Hope had died, even in the hearts of Jesus’ most loyal friends.
Then, when they came to recognize He was not dead, they went into a mood change that you would not believe. They went berserk, screaming and hollering, “He is ALIVE! HE IS ALIVE!”
Music
Conclusion:
The Bible says that Christ came, He DIED and was RESURRECTED. Now Christ says, “...because I live, ye shall live also.”
Illus: Dr. E. Stanley Jones, the famous missionary, wrote a charming and delightful autobiography called A Song of Ascents. He tells about a layman, a newspaperman, a mutual friend, who was called upon to conduct a funeral service. He wanted to do it properly and in the best Christian tradition. So he turned to the New Testament as the original source and example of how Jesus conducted a funeral. And he found that Jesus didn't conduct funerals at all. All He dealt with were resurrections.
I. DID CHRIST REALLY DIE?
II. DID CHRIST REALLY RISE FROM THE GRAVE?
