THE RESURRECTION, THE
BEGINNING OF THE AGE OF GRACE
Hosea 6:1-3, Luke
24:1-12
A. The best thing you can do is return to the Lord.
1. If we look
back over our lives, I would be willing to bet that most of our troubles
have been caused
by us.
a. Poor
decisions we made in the past, leads to trouble in the future.
b. Failure to
save money leads to an empty bank account.
c. Failure to
follow God's commands leads to His chastisement.
d. Failure to
study, leads to poor grades.
e. Failure to
take advantage of the opportunities God places in front of us, leads to
an
unfulfilled life..
2. When we turn
to the Lord and confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive.
B. God will tear us
apart, to put us back together again.
1. Sometimes God
has to let us fall and put us into a position that we can't get out of
by ourselves.
a. When we
can't do it on our own, we will realize we need to reach out to God.
b. God is our
present help if we trust Him.
2. Because of our
disobedience, God sometimes causes our troubles to bring us to
our right mind.
our right mind.
V:2 . "After two days he will revive us; on the third
day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence."
A. The body of Jesus was in a dead state for two
days, but on the third day He was
resurrected.
1. Once we ask for
forgiveness of our sins, God will restore us to right fellowship
with Him.
2. God does not
hold grudges. His forgiveness is immediate.
3. It should be our
desire to stay in the presence of the
Lord in right fellowship.
B. There is no better
place to be, than with Jesus.
1. We must live
with Jesus while on this earth so we can live with Him in heaven.
2. Obedience leads
to a successful life.
V:3 "Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge
him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the
winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."
A. It is our duty to
give God praise and honor.
1. We honor the
Lord by proclaiming His presence in our lives.
2. The
proclamation of His presence should be continuous.
3. When we
continuously acknowledge the Lord, our focus will be on what is right.
4. The more we
acknowledge Him, the closer we will be to Him.
B. We are assured of God's presence in our live,
when we give Him praise
and worship.
1. God inhabits
the praises of His people. Psalms 22:3
2. If we abide
in His Word, He promises to abide in us.
C. Farmers need the
winter rains to plant their fields.
1. Farmers need
the spring rains to promote their harvest.
2. Jesus came in the
flesh to redeem us from the world.
a. We need
the Word to establish faith in Jesus.
b. We grow to
spiritual maturity by our continuous study of the Word.
4. The farmer will come in due season to
harvest his crops.
a. Jesus will
come again to harvest His Church.
Luke 24:1-13
V:24. " 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."
A. No matter the
circumstances , a good servant never cease to serve
the Lord.
1. The women stood
by helplessly watching their Lord and Savior die on the cross.
2. They saw his
body taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb.
3. For them, the
one who gave them joy, peace and a reason to live was gone.
4. Knowing that
His body had not been prepared for burial properly before
sundown on
Friday, they came Sunday morning to complete the job.
5. Even though Jesus
was gone, they still found a way to worship Him with
their service.
B. The women went
boldly to the tomb early in the morning.
1. The women were
not worried if it was known that they were
disciples of
Jesus.
2. Where were the men?
a. Where were
the 12 disciples who walked with Him daily?
b. Judas was
dead. He hung himself because he betrayed Jesus.
c. The rest of
them were scared. They were hiding out.
d. Peter
denied knowing Jesus three times to save his neck.
e. The other
10 apostles also feared that the Roman solders would tie them to
Jesus.
Jesus.
3. Fear will cause
us to be stuck in an immovable position.
a. God has not
given us the spirit of fear, but power, love and sound mind.
b. Fear causes
us to forget to God.
c. It takes
courage to trust God in troubling situations.
4. A devotion to
God overrides our fears.
V:2. " They found the stone rolled away from the
tomb."
A. The women went to
the tomb looking for a dead Jesus.
1. They came to
pay their final respects.
2. They came to
give Him their best for the last time.
3. When you are
devoted to following Jesus, you find the unexpected in your life.
a. They came
knowing that there was a large stone rolled in front of the entry
to the
tomb.
b. They may
have come knowing that Roman soldiers were posted at the tomb.
c. They had a
problem. How to get inside the tomb.
d. They had a
problem. The problem was how to roll away the stone.
B. When you don't
know what to do, you need to turn it over to the Lord.
1. What do you
do when you don't know what to do? Just stand.
2. Faith is
moving past our fears and attempting to do for Jesus what we can't
do for ourselves.
V:3. " But when they entered, they did not find the
body of the Lord Jesus. "
A. When the
women got to the tomb, they found the unexpected.
1. The
Roman guards were not there.
2. The
stone had been rolled away.
3. Jesus
can roll away the stones in your life.
4. Jesus
can remove folk in your life who try to prevent you from doing
God's
work.
B. The women
looked into the tomb and did not see Jesus.
1. They knew
He died on Friday.
2. They knew
He was placed into the tomb.
3. They knew
when they got to the tomb, Jesus should be there "dead."
C. The Lord does
not operate by what we think we know.
1. The Lord
does not operate according to the normal.
2. The Lord
can do exceedingly and abundantly more than you can ask or
conceive.
conceive.
V:4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men
in clothes that gleamed
like lightning
stood beside them."
A. We should
always be in wonder in what the Lord is going to do for us next.
1. Jesus was
not there and two men suddenly showed up.
2. They were
not ordinary men because their clothes looked like lightening.
3. They were not
ordinary men because they had a glow about them.
B. When we follow
the Lord, we will be blessed.
1. When we
follow the Lord, we can expect the extraordinary.
2. God can
place extraordinary people in your life.
V: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? "
A. There are some
things the Lord will do that will frighten us.
1. The lightening
and thunder can get so close to you that you will be frighten.
2. When ever you
stand in the presence of the Lord, you should bow down before
Him.
3. The Lord is
to be feared at all times.
B. Sometimes God will
use His messengers to enlighten you.
1. Sometimes God
has to make us review His Word.
2. There are
times when we are so blinded by our circumstances that we can't see
Him or His
Word.
3. There are times
when we need a refresher course in Jesus.
C. Why do you look
for the living among the dead?
1. I think there
are times when we think Jesus is absent from our lives.
2. When our
troubles are long and our suffering seems unbearable, we may
wonder why
Jesus is not acting on our problems.
3. When we live
in fear, worried about tomorrow, we are acting like Jesus
is dead.
a. When our
focus is on the world and not on Jesus, we are living like
Jesus is
dead.
b. When we
seek advice from everybody but Jesus, we are living like Jesus is
dead.
V:6. " He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he
told you, while he was still with you in Galilee ."
A. Jesus is not dead,
He is alive in your life.
1. Jesus is not
silent, He is active.
2. You are not on
your own, Jesus is on your side.
B. Sometimes we have
to be reminded what Jesus said.
1. We have to
remember that Jesus keeps His promises.
2. We have to
remember that there is no time limit on the Word of Jesus.
V:7. "The Son of
Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the
third day be raised again."
A. "The Son of
Man"
1. Jesus
describes the mission of His life on earth.
2. He clothed
Himself into human flesh to take on the office of the Son Of Man.
a. He was not
the Son of any man. He is the Son of God.
b. He has a
human nature (Son of Man).
c. He has a
divine nature (Son of God).
3. His mission
was to die at the hand of evil men to redeem all men from their
sinful
nature.
4. He accomplished His mission by allowing
Himself to be crucified on the Cross.
a. His blood
shed on the cross became the covering for the sins of all men.
b. His
stripes became the healing source of all men.
c. While Christ
was dying on the cross, God was reconciling the world to
Himself.
Himself.
B. The evidence of
the success of His mission is His resurrection on the third day.
1. His
resurrection is the victory over death.
2. Oh death, oh
death where is your sting.
V:8. "Then they remembered his words. "
A. It did not
take much to convince the women at the tomb that Jesus had risen
from the dead.
from the dead.
1. Faith in
the Word, ends the agony of life.
2. They came
to the tomb in sorrow with broken hearts.
3. Having
been reminded of the Word, their sorrow turned to joy and their hearts
were
healed.
B. It is a great
reward to stay in the Word because the world is filled with sorrow and
sadness.
1. It is a
greater reward to have an unyielding faith in the Word.
2. Faith in the
Word is the comfort in times of trouble.
3. Faith in the
Word is the assurance of the success of the promises of God.
V:9. " When they came back from the tomb, they told all
these things to the Eleven and to all the others."
A. The first to learn
the Gospel of Jesus Christ were the women disciples of Jesus.
1. The first to
proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ were the women supporters of
Jesus.
2. It is the
mission of every believer to proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior.
3. It is the gift
of believers to comfort other believers in their sorrow.
B. The Eleven were the remaining Apostles. Judas
was dead.
1. In Jesus
circle was 120 disciples.
2. The women were
instrumental in lifting the spirits of the grieving disciples.
V:10. " It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother
of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles."
A. God never forgets
the labor of the faithful.
1. What a great
honor it is to be mentioned in the Eternal Word as laborers for
Jesus.
Jesus.
2. It was a labor
of love that drove these women to the tomb early Sunday morning.
B. Christ casted out
seven demons from Mary Magdalene.
1. Mary, the
mother of James the little, was the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus.
2. Joanna was the
wife of Chuza . Jesus cured her of some diseases.
C. Christ gives
eternal honor to those He loves.
V:11. " But they did not believe the women, because
their words seemed to them like nonsense. "
A. Having the witness
of several women, the eleven apostles would not believe what
they heard.
1. They belittled
the testimony of the women as nonsense.
2. The Word of God
is foolishness to none believers.
B. The disciples having heard the word of Jesus resurrection
would not believe.
1. Their unbelief
added additional sorrow to their lives.
2. Instead of
being joyful at the witness of the women, they were stuck in their grief.
a. We need to
be careful not to discount the witness of others regarding Christ.
b. Everyone has
an important testimony about Jesus that should encourage others.
3. Human logic
will always lead to unbelief in the Word.
V: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."
A. The witness of the woman caused Peter to run to the tomb
to check their story.
1. Once in the
tomb he had more evidence that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
2. Even with new
evidence, Peter still would not believe.
3. Having the
testimony of the women and his own view of the empty tomb,
Peter remained
in his state of unbelief.
a. His unbelief
blinded Him the to Words Jesus taught about His resurrection.
b. Unbelief
blinds us to the glory of God.
c. Unbelief robs
Jesus of His praise and worship.
d. Unbelief
blinds us to the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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