Quote from Forum Archives on February 26, 2004, 10:26 am

Posted by: henkf <henkf@...>

With all the news surrounding Mel Gibson's Movie "The Passion of the Christ"

I thought it better to focus our attention today on what happened AFTER the Cross.

Check also my answers to those who have questions after seeing the movie

at  http://worldoutreach.ca/pierced

 

IT IS THE RESURRECTION THAT SPEAKS TO US TODAY!

TEXT:  Matthew 28:1-10

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

A.  On a glorious Lord's Day morning nearly 2,000 years ago,
    a group of faithful women visited a tomb that had held,
    as they had believed, the cold and breathless body of
    their beloved leader, teacher, and friend.

 

B.  They went to the tomb that morning in the same frame of mind
    with which we go to cemeteries to lay out our own dearly beloved
    ones to rest -- their hearts were full and heavy.  How exceeding-
    ly difficult it was for them to reconcile themselves to the fact
    that they had been separated from Jesus, the Lord.

 

C.  when they reached the sepulcher their discovery greatly disturbed
    them.  They saw that the stone had been rolled away from the open-
    ing to the tomb, and they hastily concluded that the body had
    been removed.  Impelled by grief, they stood within the rock-
    hewn burial place to behold a vision of angels who were clothed
    with dazzling garments.

 

D.  As they stood there in their sorrow a voice spoke to them and
    said, "Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was
    crucified.  He is not here; for he is risen, as he said, Come,
    see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly, and tell his
    disciples that he is risen from the dead" (Matthew 28:5-7).

 

E.  The Resurrection still speaks to us today.  What does it have to
    say to modern disciples?  What does it have to say to people who
    have lost their way?

 

    I.      THE RESURRECTION SPEAKS OF A LIVING LORD

 

        A.  It was not Christ's death that proved His mission or
            His Messiah-ship.  Had the Lord remained in that grave
            and returned to dust, our darkness would be as deep as
            that which reigned for three hours after the crucifixion.
            There would be no hope for deliverance from sin or death.

 

            1.  Death could not conquer Him!
            2.  His resurrection was His triumph.
            3.  It was proof of all that He claimed to be, the token
                that His work was accepted by the Father.

 

        B.  There is not record in history more firmly established in
            the word of trustworthy witnesses of these facts that
            Christ died, was buried, and arose from the dead on the
            third day.

 

            1.  Men and women of unimpeachable character have borne
                witness that they saw Him, knew Him, ate with Him,
                walked and talked with Him as He moved among them
                in His resurrection body.
            2.  Luke, the beloved physician, says, "He shewed himself
                alive after his passion by man infallible proofs"
                (Acts 1:3).

 

    II.     THE RESURRECTION VALIDATES CHRISTIANITY

 

        A.  If would be difficult to account for the life of Jesus
            Christ if we found the record in any other book than the
            Greek Scriptures.

 

            1.  But, Christianity has grown our of the soil of the
                historical past.
            2.  Its mystical revelation evades human invention.
            3.  Christ's entire life was attended by the miraculous.

 

        B.  The disciples did not believe that they would ever see
            Jesus again.

 

            1.  They believed that he was dead.  Dead dead!
            2.  However, their minds and spirits experienced radical
                change during the three days that accompanied this
                history altering event.

 

        C.  Ultimately, of course, the disciples did believe that
            Jesus had arisen from the dead.  Their faith in the
            reality of the Lord's victory over death is to us of
            greater significance than many other forms of evidence.

 

            1.  To say that they spent their lives enduring hard-
                ships, suffering privation and even death just
                to support some exquisite fable is an insult to
                human intelligence.
            2.  The foundation of the early Christian movement
                is Christ crucified, buried, and risen in glor-
                ious and matchless power.

 

                a.  1 Corinthians 1:23-29
                b.  1 Corinthians 2.-8
                c.  2 Corinthians 13:4
                d.  Galatians 2:21-22
                e.  Galatians 6:14
                   3.  If it was effective for them, and without a shadow
                of a doubt, it was, then why aren't we being suc-
                cess?  Could it be that we have forgotten that this
                is the centerpiece of Christianity?

 

    III.    THE RESURRECTION GUARANTEES OUR REDEMPTION

 

        A.  The argument of the apostle Paul is this:  "If Christ
            be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your
            sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17).

 

            1.  If Christ is not risen, then the chief cornerstone
                is taken our of the Christian faith and the hopes
                that men and women have built upon Jesus crumble
                to the ground.
            2.  The faith that saves rests solely on the historic
                foundation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
                the dead - Romans 4:25

 

        B.  Who is Jesus Christ?  The God-man -- the most unique
            Person who ever lived.  The "totally awesome" Son of
            God.

 

            1.  "Some time ago a lady wrote a true story of an
                event that happened:

 

                A kindergarten teacher was determining how much
                religious training her new students had.  while
                talking with one little boy, to whom the story
                of Jesus was obviously brand new, she began
                relating His death on the cross.  When asked what
                a cross was, she picked up some sticks, and fashioning
                a crude one, she explained that Jesus was actually
                nailed to that cross, and then He died.  The little
                boy with eyes all downcast quietly acknowledged,
                "Oh, that's too bad."  In the very next breath,
                however, she related that He arose again and that
                He came back to life.  And his little eyes became
                as big as saucers.  He lit up and exclaimed, "To-
                tally awesome!"  (as told to Chuck Swindoll)
            2.  You don't know the full identity of Jesus if your
                response is "Oh, that's too bad."  You know His
                identity only if your description is "Totally awe-
                some!"

 

    IV.     THE RESURRECTION IS THE FOUNDATION FOR THE HOPE OF LIFE
            BEYOND THE GRAVE

 

        A.  Our Lord's resurrection is the promise of other resur-
            rections.

 

            1.  It is upon this truth that the future is to be
                understood.
            2.  It proclaims with finality that life here and life
                beyond the grave is one and continuous.  It is
                unbroken by death!
            3.  The same Jesus who was taken from the disciples
                by death was given back to them by the Resurrection.

 

        B.  When our loved ones die and pass into that strange and
            silent land, what hope do we have that we shall see them
            again?

 

            1.  None but the words of the risen Christ, who said,
                "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth
                in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and
                whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
                die" (John 11:25-26).
            2.  The voice of God still speaks today through His
                word to the followers of the living Lord.
                a.  "Go quickly, and tell...that he is risen from
                    the dead" (Matthew 28:7).
                b.  The very foundation of the message we proclaim
                    to a world that has lost its way is found in the
                    assurance that we worship and serve a risen,
                    living Savior.
                c.  Like our brethren of old who went everywhere
                    preaching and teaching "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 scripture" (1 Corinthians
                    15:3-4), so should our passion be.

 

CONCLUSION:

 

A.  Again and again our hearts need to be reminded that the resur-
    rection is the only assurance of eternal life.  Like all mysteries
    encompassed in the supernatural power God, we may not understand
    them, but we can embrace them for our comfort and peace.

 

B.  No greater joy can come to the heart of a Christian that that
    sacred moment when an unbeliever confesses his or her faith in
    the saving power of the risen, living Lord and is baptized
    into His body, the church.

 

    1.  No greater challenge can inspire the spirit of a believer
        than the opportunity to share the hope of the gospel with
        others.
    2.  To hear, "Lord I believe and I obey," is till the reason
        d'etre, the reason why we would never fail to offer to lost
        people the assurance of salvation in the name of the living
        Lord.

 

C.  In a cemetery in Hanover, Germany, is a grave on which were
    placed huge slabs of granite and marble cemented together and
    fastened with heavy steel clasps.  It belongs to a woman who did
    not believe in the resurrection of the dead.  Yet strangely,
    she directed in her will that her grave be made so secure that
    if there were a resurrection, it could not reach her.

 

    On the marker were inscribed these words:

 

        "This burial place must never be opened!"

 

    In time, a seed, covered over by the stones, began to grow.
    Slowly it pushed its way through the soil and our from beneath
    them.  As the trunk enlarged, the great slabs were gradually
    shifted so that the steel clasps were wrenched from their
    sockets.  A tiny seed had become a tree that had pushed aside
    the stones.

 

    The dynamic life force contained in that little seed is a faint
    reflection of the tremendous power of God's creative power that
    will someday call to live the bodies of all who are in their
    graves.  He will also bring back every person drowned at sea,
    cremated, or destroyed in some other way.

 

    1.  This is no problem to the One who made something out of
        nothing when He spoke the universe into existence.
    2.  Unbelief cannot deter the resurrection but faith in the
        risen Savior opens the door to blessings that His resur-
        rection guarantees -- a glorious new spiritual body and
        eternal home with Him and all the redeemed of all
        ages.
    3.  In our new incorruptible bodies we will be reunited with
        saved loved ones to live forever.
             

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all the news surrounding Mel Gibson's Movie "The Passion of the Christ"

I thought it better to focus our attention today on what happened AFTER the Cross.

Check also my answers to those who have questions after seeing the movie

at  http://worldoutreach.ca/pierced

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.595 / Virus Database: 378 - Release Date: 2/25/2004