The Message Left In The Tomb - Easter

The Message Left in the Tomb

Various Texts

Powerpoint at:

http://www.gbcdecatur.org/sermons/MessageTomb.html

Said one demon to another: If Christ ever gets out of that tomb, hell help us...all heaven will break loose!

Message inscribed on tombstone of Mr. Solomon Peas:

This ain’t Peas, it’s just his pod,

Peas shelled out, and went to God!

Aren’t you thankful for the resurrection? Christ’s resurrection makes ours possible...He beat death not for Himself, but for us!

Jesus didn’t die to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive!

[On Feb. 27, 1991] In Iraq, it was the height of the War. A woman by the name of Ruth Dillow received the worst message that a mom could ever receive. Her son, Clayton Carpenter, Private, First Class, had stepped on a land mine in the Persian Gulf and he was dead. For the next 3 days she grieved the loss of her son, and although people tried to comfort her, there just isn’t any comfort that can comfort the grieving mom - no words that can be whispered. Three days after receiving the message of the death of her son, the phone rang. She picked up the phone, and on the other end of the line there was a voice that said, "Mom, it’s me. I’m alive." She didn’t believe it. She thought it was some kind of a cruel joke and as he continued to speak, she recognized his voice. Her son was alive! She said she laughed, she cried, she rejoiced - what seemed like a hopeless situation was radically transformed into the greatest day of her life. That’s what news from a graveyard can do like this. What a message she received this time!

Found in the tomb—No body, nobody!…but there were grave-clothes, a napkin, 75 lbs. of spices...& A SERMON?! It wasn’t graffiti carved in the rock, but it surely was a great message, and anyone can find it there today.

4 of the greatest words anywhere in the Bible – Mt. 28:6… “He is not here!”

1. A Message of...Pardon. Rom 4:23-25

________________________________________

Romans 4:24-25

…for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; [25] Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

[This was proof that “the sacrifice was accepted”!]

Romans 10:9

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

A. The Message of Pardon in His…Death. “Father, forgive them”

But also…

B. The Message of Pardon in His…Deliverance.

Conquering death makes Him the only One ever to claim to be God and then prove it! And so it is part of our salvation experience.

2. A Message of…Peace. John 20:19-21

________________________________________

John 20:19-21

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. [20] And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. [21] Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

A. This Peace is a…Pronounced Peace. v 19

Worry is the opposite of peace. Worry is looking at God thru your problems...peace is looking at your problems, thru God!

B. This Peace is to be a…Published Peace. v 21

Illustration

The bathtub was invented in 1850 and the phone in 1875. In 1850, you could have sat in the tub without having the phone ring.

The phone became an enemy to peace!

Illustration

Five great enemies to peace: greed, ambition, envy, anger, and pride. [sin!] Petrarch

Peace from Above

Whenever I am troubled, and lost in deep despair,

I bundle all my troubles up, and go to God in prayer,

I tell Him I am heart-sick , and lost and lonely too,

That I am deeply burdened, and don’t know what to do.

But I know He stilled the tempest, and calmed the angry sea,

And I humbly ask if in His love, He’ll do the same for me.

Then I just keep quiet, and think on thoughts of peace,

And as I abide in stillness, my restless murmurings cease.

-- Helen Steiner Rice

Application

Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God.

-- J. Oswald Sanders

3. A Message of…Purity. Rom 6:8-12

________________________________________

Romans 6:8-12

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: [9] Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. [10] For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. [11] Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. [12] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.