In the sermon titled 'Alive Forevermore' by Jason Dohm, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is highlighted as a central pillar of Christian faith. The speaker delves into the Gospel accounts of the resurrection, emphasizing the importance of harmonizing different narratives to grasp a full picture of the event. He underscores the devotion of Mary Magdalene and other women who visited Jesus' tomb, illustrating their deep love and commitment despite His death. The sermon stresses that the resurrection should be as integral to the Christian consciousness as the crucifixion, as it signifies victory over death and sin. Dohm notes that the resurrection is frequently mentioned throughout the New Testament, highlighting its foundational role in Christian doctrine. He argues that believers should have a heightened awareness and appreciation for the resurrection, as it assures them of their own future resurrection and eternal inheritance. The sermon concludes by encouraging believers to rejoice in the risen Christ and to live fearlessly, empowered by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.

Please turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter 28, starting in verse 1. Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

But the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who 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, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I have told you." So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples' word.

And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice! So they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." Let's pray. Oh Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the preservation of this testimony, Lord, of Your sons rising from the dead, victorious over the grave.

Father, we thank You that we are called to rejoice in this. Father, we pray that the words that are preached here today, Father, will bring glory to Your name. Father, we pray that hearts will receive them and Father, that You will change Your people, Father, and send us out with great joy in the resurrection. In Jesus' name, Amen. The title of the sermon is Alive Forevermore.

And it's kind of like getting a second Easter Sunday, isn't it? We're in this text, and we get to sing those songs for a second time that really are cheated. We should sing those more often than we do. So what a delight to be singing those hymns for a second time this Sunday. The title is Alive and Forever More, but the topic is the resurrection of the exalted Lord of all, Jesus Christ.

When we last left off, Jesus was dead. The Roman soldiers made sure that he was dead by piercing him through. And there was an outflow of water and blood. So they made sure that he was dead. And then this man that we never see before and we never see after, Joseph of Arimathea, comes and boldly asks Pilate for the body and is granted and he lays the body of Jesus in the tomb and he prepares it for burial.

And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are seated opposite the tomb watching, they are observing exactly where the body of Jesus Christ is laid. And the chief priests and the Pharisees are paranoid because Jesus has said that He is going to rise from the dead, that He is not going to stay dead, and they are worried about fraud and deception. And so they secure the tomb and they post a guard so that there won't be any sleight of hand. This is Matthew's account. Mark's account is almost exactly the same leading into today's text.

In Luke, the women observe the tomb, like Matthew says, they're watching, They see exactly where the body is laid. And then they return and they prepare spices and fragrant oils. And then they rest on the Sabbath. In other words, they get ready to do everything they can. They work as hard as they can until the Sabbath starts.

To make ready to go back and honor the body of Jesus Christ. And then the Sabbath comes and they rest on the Sabbath. That's Luke. In John, we have this shocking scene. And it's as shocking for who is there as it is for who's not there.

In other words, in John, it's not just Joseph of Arimathea, this member of the Sanhedrin. It's also Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus by night under the cover of darkness in John 3. And it's Nicodemus, this Nicodemus from John 3 and Joseph of Arimathea, who were there with a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloe and strips of fine linen to bind the body of Jesus and make it ready for burial. A hundred pounds of myrrh and aloe and fine linen wrapping the body of Jesus according to the Jewish custom. And all the commentators say how preparing the body this way just adheres the grave clothes to the body.

But that's not what we see later in John, the grave closer, just off to the side. Neatly bundled up. In all of the Gospel accounts, There are acts of devotion. There are people who love Jesus Christ. And so, even when He's dead, they want to come and honor the body.

And they want to minister to Jesus. But the ride is over. In spite of all the times that Jesus has said He's going to rise from the dead. No one is expecting that. And so, there are disciples Carrying the body for death, finished.

And there are women coming back to anoint the body with spices and fragrant oils because it's going to be a dead body. And so Jesus is dead and buried in all the Gospel accounts leading into today's text. And there's only disciples who love Jesus but are left to grieve. Now we come to the resurrection text, and I'm so glad we're here for two reasons. The first reason is it is hard to work your way steadily through the text that we've been working our way through and see how Jesus was treated and what was done to Him.

And to see what you deserve and what I deserve done to Jesus Christ who never deserved any of that, who was so gentle in his life on earth and so full of compassion, have no compassion shown to him and to be nailed to a cross and to suffer as he suffered. It has been hard to work through those texts. Secondly, I'm glad we're here because The resurrection is not nearly top of mind enough for the people of God. It isn't. The resurrection should be top of mind.

Now we think about the cross, and I'm not here to devalue the cross. That's not what I'm talking about. Let's think about the cross and let's have the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ be top of mind. But tied with that and given equal place with that and given equal honor with that is the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead. When we think about the death of Jesus Christ, we should think about the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead.

It's interesting, when Scott and Dan and I interview anyone for baptism or for membership, and we ask, could you just explain the Gospel to us? The part that almost always gets missed is the resurrection. It's not top of mind. So I've started cluing fathers in when their children, make sure they don't forget the resurrection. It's not that you'll flunk and we won't baptize you, but it's just an integral part of the Gospel.

And so Yes, Jesus died for sinners, but the victory is His resurrection from the dead. The victory over sin isn't in the death, it's in the resurrection from the dead. And this is actually what we see in Hebrews 6, verses 1 and 2. Listen to Hebrews 6 verses 1 and 2. Therefore, leading the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, Let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

The author of Hebrews, when he's talking about the elementary principles of Christ, the ground floor doctrines that you ought to be able to lay and have them be so solid that you can go on and moving to other teachings. The author of Hebrews puts the resurrection of the dead right there with faith and repentance and eternal judgment and baptism right there on the ground floor. It's an elementary principle of Christ. That's what the author of Hebrews says. So to the extent that the cross is top of mind, that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is not top of mind.

We are out of step with the Gospel writers, with the other writers of the New Testament, and therefore we're out of step with the mind of God. When you look through the New Testament, you will see the resurrection everywhere. Each of the four Gospel writers gives lavish space to it. And Paul mentions it over and over and over again. And Peter mentions it, over and over again.

I'm not sure you can find a New Testament writer that doesn't repeatedly talk about the New Testament. So if we're to have the mind of God on the elementary truths, we have to be thinking about this text and Jesus rising from the dead. In fact, Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 says, if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead, you're still in your sins, you're still there. So it's a vital importance. So I hope this morning that we can at least get a glimpse of the beauty of this doctrine.

Let's pray. Father, help us. God, I pray that you would send your Spirit among us to help us. To acquire an increased sensitivity and awareness and love for the doctrine of the resurrection. Awaken us, O God, to the beauty of Jesus Christ raised and exalted.

Father, I thank You for the power of the resurrection, The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and now is in operation in those who have called upon Your name, who have repented and believed the Gospel. Lord, I pray that You would come and help us. That You would come and work in the hearts of Your people to teach us, to help us, to conform us to Christ. I ask it in Jesus' name, Amen. So I've purposed to do three things during our time.

The first is to talk about harmonizing the Gospel. The Gospel accounts. Each of the Gospel writers has a resurrection account, And you have to pull these together. The second is to give an exposition of the text in Matthew in two sections. So I'll be dividing it into two parts.

And we'll work through it and talk about what it means. And then, lastly, I want to just set aside the last portion to talk about the implications of the resurrection for those who are the children of God. So First, harmonizing the Gospel accounts. There have been a couple of times in the last two years, as we've been working through Matthews, two years and three months or something like that now, there's only been two or three times where it was really difficult work to take the different gospel accounts and to have them match up so you can preserve the integrity and truth of each one of them and not have what you think about one account encroach on the truth of another account. This is one of those weeks.

I bet there have only been three weeks like this for me in the last two and a half years in terms of harmonizing the Gospel accounts. This one, you have very different accounts, particularly with regard to the Gospel of John. And so there's work to do to take all four of these Gospel accounts and to begin at this point, they're all true, 100% true, down to the comma, down to the dot of the I, down to the cross of the T. And Matthew never violates John, and Mark never violates Luke. So we're going to take these and see how that can be, that these match up in a way that preserves the truth of all four of the Gospel accounts.

As in many other places that we've come across, Matthew is compressing almost to a brutal extent in the resurrection account. Matthew is boiling this down and only relating the things that serves his purposes as an inspired gospel writer. And so he compresses it a lot, and he's very selective of the material that he pulls out of the truths of the resurrection to serve his own purposes. And that's not a problem, as long as you realize he's done it. When it comes to harmonizing, it's not a problem that he's compressed and been selective.

Not at all. He's an inspired gospel writer. But if you're expecting to see everything and you find out that he's left out more than he's kept in, and as we look across the breadth of the gospel account, that's what we're going to find out. Matthew left out more than he included. If you want to keep yourself out of panic mode, you're going to have to realize he's compressed this down and only plucked out a few things that served his purposes as an inspired gospel writer.

Now here's a key question. You always have to come to the Scriptures with this question, if you're going to interpret it rightly. What does the text require? Most texts have all manner of things that they could mean. Multiple things that they could mean.

And if you just look at the text in isolation, you'll say this text just by itself could mean A, B, or C. But it doesn't mean A, B, and C. It's got to be one of these. But there are things that a text will require. Not possible meanings, but absolute meanings.

And so when we come to the text, we need to be able to differentiate between the two, right? Between possible interpretations and things that the text absolutely requires. Well, when we come to the gospel account of John, we find that that Gospel account requires Mary Magdalene to make two trips to the tomb. John chapter 20, verse 18, it requires Mary Magdalene. In other words, there is no other way that you can understand that Gospel account.

It's there in black and white. It's explicit as it can possibly mean. It cannot mean anything else. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb not once but twice, and it requires that two separate reports are brought back to the disciples by Mary Magdalene as a result of her two trips to the tomb. You cannot get around either one of those things in the Gospel of John.

So you better, If you're going to harmonize, you better bring those facts, those things that you'd never be able to wiggle out of in John, you better bring that to your view of Matthew as you're trying to understand how it relates to the other Gospel accounts. Now, that said, let's go to Matthew and let's look at the first seven verses of Matthew chapter 28. I'm going to read it again. This is the third time we're reading it this morning. The first time was in the recitation, the second time was the reading of the text before the sermon, and now we're going to read it again.

Good. We need it. Repetition is always helpful. Matthew 28, verse 1. Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who 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. And indeed he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him.

Behold, I have told you." In this portion of the Scripture, The women and the guards have a very different encounter with this angel. They don't even resemble each other at all. A very different encounter with the angel. Verse 1 sets the stage. The Sabbath is past.

This time where there was all this activity, the coming of the day of rest just puts an end to it all and there's a day with nothing but normal Sabbath activities. So the women have been preparing spices and fragrant oils all the way up until the Sabbath starts. And then they stop and they worship God and they rest in God for a day. And then when the Sabbath is over, that very next morning, when the sun is coming up, they come. The text in Matthew here in 28, verse 1, says, Mary and the other Mary.

This is Mary the mother of James and Joseph who has been mentioned in the prior chapter. Both having been at the cross, both having been at the burial to observe where Jesus was laid, and now coming back to the tomb to minister to His body. Mark 16 verse 1 puts in another name, Salome, who was also at the cross, is now at the tomb. They go to the tomb and they are going to minister to the body of Jesus. So Jesus is dead, but devotion to Jesus is alive and well in Matthew 28.

These women who have been at the cross, these women who came to see where Jesus would be buried have come back to minister to the body because they love Jesus. That's why they're here. Think a minute about our day in time where people are happy to be called Christians until it costs something. And then they're not happy to be called Christians at all. Why is that?

What's the difference between these women who would come before the sun is even up to minister to a dead body? What's the difference between them and so many comfortable professing Christians? Who when it's time to bear His reproach, want nothing to do with it. It's this. Here's the difference.

Mary Magdalene was freed from seven demons. Jesus set her free and she's been forgiven much and so she loves much And the degree of her love is coming out at the cross and at his burial and the morning of his resurrection. Her life's just demonstrating what's in her heart because Jesus set her free. She was bound up. She was a slave.

Not just a sin, She was possessed by seven demons. And at some point, Jesus had set her free, and now she loves Him. And Jesus had said, those who had been forgiven much, love much. This is Mary! Forgiven much, helped much, A lot of mercy towards Mary Magdalene.

And so she loves much. And I fear that we betray what's in our hearts by how much we love our comforts, and how much when it's time to bear the reproach of Christ, We don't want to be found bearing His name. I fear that it says something about how we think Jesus has ministered to us. How we think about Jesus having mercy of us. How we think of the freedom that Jesus purchased for us, we don't think it's very much mercy.

We don't think it's very much freedom. We don't think we've been forgiven much. But Mary, this woman who'd been set free from seven demons, doesn't think that way. She thinks a lot of mercy has been shown to her. She thinks she had many sins and they were great and Jesus has set her free.

There are three things recorded in this portion of the text. And they read like they happen simultaneously, but the text does not require that they happen simultaneously. So, again, we're bringing the same question to Matthew that we brought to John. What does the text require? It reads like they happen simultaneously, but the text does not require that.

Here are the three things. First, there's an earthquake. There's an angel descending from heaven, rolling away the stone and sitting on it. Don't you wish you were there to see that? He rolls away the stone and then he just sits on it.

Why did he do that? The text does not say. But it's magnificent. And in verse 3, that's verse 2, in verse 3 it says that his countenance is like lightning and his clothes are as white as snow. And this is one of those spots where the inspired writer is grasping for a way to communicate this to you.

What is an angel like? Well, his face is like lightning. Do you even know what that means? Really bright, I guess, and flashy or lightningy and his clothes are as white as snow. Secondly, in verse 4 we get the impact on the guards.

They are completely paralyzed by fear. They are turned into dead men. They are completely immobilized by fear. And then finally in verses 5-7 we see what the angel says to the women. He declares that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and He gives them instructions.

Now at this point I want to go to the book of John for insight. In John 20 verse 1 it says that Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb while it was still dark. Now remember, in John chapter 20, we have two visits to the tomb. In Matthew, he only gives us one, so you've got to figure out which one it is. But in John, it gives two.

And The first one is Mary Magdalene. The text doesn't require that she's alone, but it doesn't mention anyone else, so she might have been alone. And she comes while it's still dark. And she finds that the stone has been rolled away and there's no talk of a guard and there's no talk of angels in the book of John. So you don't know whether the guards were still there or she saw an angel then, but it's very unlikely in the way that John unfolds.

Mary Magdalene in John chapter 20 then, seeing that the tomb is open and that the stone has been rolled away, goes to tell Peter and John. She runs to tell them and they run back. They race back to the tomb. This is John 20. And they go into the tomb.

They find that Jesus is not there. They find that the grave cloth, which had been applied with strips of linen and a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloe are off to the side and the face covering is folded up in the corner. Not the work of thieves. Okay, if thieves come to steal the body, they don't take off the linen that has been bound to his body with a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloe, and fold the head covering neatly in the corner. Not the work of thieves.

This is what they find. They're perplexed and they leave. Peter and John in John 20 have not seen an angel and have no contact with the guards at least as far as the text tells us. Mary doesn't leave. Peter and John leave.

They're perplexed. Mary does not leave. She stays by the tomb, and she's weeping. This is what John 20 says. She's weeping outside the tomb.

And I believe this is where we pick up in Matthew. She's there at the tomb. The stone has been rolled away and she's weeping outside the tomb. And the other Mary is there as well. Salome is there as well.

They've come to the tomb. Mark 16 says they're expecting for the stone to be a problem. They don't know what they're going to do about the stone, but they come and they find that the stone has already been removed from the grave. And we see how the stone has been removed. Matthew is giving us visibility to that.

Actually, Mark doesn't say anything about an angel removing the stone or terrifying the guards. Luke doesn't say anything about an angel removing the stone or terrifying the guards. John doesn't say anything about an angel removing the stone and terrifying the guards. Only Matthew gives this portion. And he's telling us what happened to that stone.

The women were coming expecting it to be a problem, but they come and they find it hasn't been a problem. Why not? Because an angel descended from heaven, and there was an earthquake, and the tomb was opened to let Jesus out. No! To let witnesses in.

I don't even know if Jesus was in that tomb when they removed, when the angel descended from heaven to remove the stone. The text does not say that Jesus didn't need that angel. The resurrected Jesus Christ did not need an angel to descend from heaven to remove that stone. Of that, I am sure. There are two barriers to witnesses seeing the empty tomb, a large stone and soldiers.

And This is how God determined to remove the two obstacles from the witnesses. An angel descends from heaven and there is a mighty earthquake and the barriers to the witnesses of the empty tomb are handled. In John 20 verse 19, this is subsequent to anything in our text today. After that, the disciples are assembled, the doors are shut, and Jesus just comes into their midst. Jesus could have gotten out of the grave in the same way.

Jesus is going to be coming through walls. How does that happen in a resurrected body? I do not know. I only know what John 20 verse 19 says. The door is shut, the disciples are assembled, Jesus is in their midst inexplicably.

Next, we see what the best laid plans of the chief priests and the Pharisees come to. They're paranoid because Jesus has said He's going to rise from the dead, and they're going to make sure there's no trickery. And so they have secured the tomb. What? They have secured the tomb?

The Son of God is in that tomb. You can't post a guard of any size to keep the Son of God in that tomb. They're opposing the will of God with a few soldiers. Why? Because they are used to Christ in the form of a servant.

This is Philippians 2. He took on the form of a servant. And that's the Jesus they are used to. But that's not the Jesus in Matthew 28. That's the Jesus of Matthew 27.

Of Matthew 1-27. But the Jesus of Matthew 28 is a Jesus who has existed from eternity past and will exist in this way to eternity future and was only in the form of a servant for this little, little, little slice of human history. Thirty-three years is nothing to eternity past and to eternity future. Jesus Christ was only in the form of a servant for a little, little slice. And now, he's his normal self.

And you'll not keep him in the tomb by posting a guard. So you See what the plans of man come to when God has determined what will happen. They do what they think they can do to keep Jesus in the grave, but it is the will of Almighty God that Jesus Christ rise from the dead. So the plans of man come to nothing. And this, friends, is the world we live in, where the plans of man come to nothing when God has determined.

Remember when Jesus was being arrested and Peter wants to defend him. And Jesus says, Peter, put away your sword. I could call down twelve legions of angels. I could call down 72, 000 angels right now. Now anytime one angel shows up in the Bible, what is the angel having to say?

Do not fear. Don't be afraid. One angel comes and this troop of soldiers who were brave yesterday are like dead men today because he has the countenance of lightning and his clothes are as white as snow. Consider this. The Unbelieving man has so much bravado.

Isn't this true? Isn't this true of the natural man? To think so much of himself. Think he's smart. Think he's strong.

Think he's tough. And then God shows up. And he realizes he's not smart. He's not strong. He's not tough.

He's laid prostrate. When even one angel shows up, he's laid prostrate, and all of his bravado is swept away. And the unbelieving man is left prostrate. All of his bravado has evaporated before the works of God. One angel, now Daniel 7, says he has 10, 000 times 10, 000 ministering to him.

One shows up, and the best and the brightest are like dead men. Brothers and sisters, Remember that. Next time you encounter an unbeliever who seems to you so full of pride, who seems to you so hardened beyond help. Haven't you had that happen to you? You come to an unbeliever and you can just tell they're too hardened for the gospel.

They're too hardened for help. They're too full of pride. No, God can break that down in a second. If God shows up, if the works of God are there, all of that will evaporate in the next second. All of the bravado, All of the appearance of strength, all of the hardness will fall before His Word.

And this, brothers and sisters, should give us such a holy boldness when we're ministering to those who have not yet received the grace of Jesus Christ. To know that all that that you appear to be confronting, or more often than not, appears to be confronting you, evaporates when God shows up. That's all we need when we're ministering to unbelievers is to have God show up. Because all the hardness melts. All the toughness crumbles when God shows up.

Finally, the angel speaks to the women. Luke and John actually tell us that it's two angels. Matthew and Mark only record the interaction with a single angel, but Luke and John assure us that there are two there. And again, Matthew and Mark don't require one angel. They only talk about one angel.

Luke and John require two angels because they talk about two angels, at least two. The angel says three things. Number one, he's not here. He's not here. The grave is empty.

In Luke 24, the angel says, why do you seek the living among the dead? The tomb is a lousy place to be looking for Jesus this morning. The tomb is a lousy place to be looking for Jesus this morning. Why do you look for the dead, for the living among the dead? Jesus Christ is alive.

Don't look for him in a tomb anymore. Number two, the angel says, He is risen as He said. He is risen, not He has risen. He is risen. He is the resurrected Lord as He said.

Now when I see, as He said, I'm thinking back to the times, the multiple times, the four explicit times that we've already come across in Matthew where Jesus had said, I'm going to rise from the dead. Not a parable. Nothing shadowy, but I am going to rise from the dead in three days, four explicit times. Matthew 16, Matthew 17, Matthew 20, Matthew 26. Jesus tells these disciples, I'm going to rise from the dead.

I'm going to die and be raised. So when I see, as he said, I'm thinking about those times. And that's true, but it's not just those times. It has to be wider than the 11 because the chief priests and the Pharisees knew that he said he was going to rise from the dead. That's why the guards there.

So a lot of people know that Jesus said He was going to rise from the dead. There are two times where the Jews, in a crowd setting, are asking for a sign. Do you remember that? Actually, there are more than two. There are two that I'm thinking of and that I'm going to talk about.

There's a crowd setting. A crowd is gathered. Jesus is teaching a crowd and He's asked for a sign. One is in Matthew 12 verses 38 through 40. It's the scribes and the Pharisees asking for a sign.

And he says, it's a wicked and adulterous generation that asks for a sign. You're only going to be given one sign. What is it? The sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Jesus is teaching.

Now this got used as a false accusation, but somehow these chief priests and these Pharisees knew that Jesus had said that he was going to rise from the dead. So I think it sends us back to Matthew 12 to say, I'm only giving you one sign. And it's the sign of Jonah. Secondly, in John chapter 2, the Jews asked for a sign. And in John chapter 2, the sign that Jesus gives them is, He says, destroy this temple and in three days I will build it again.

And it says in John 2 that He was speaking of His body. Jesus has been teaching that He would rise from the dead to such an extent that the chief priests and the Pharisees have an expectation that there's going to be trickery on the third day because Jesus has been saying, You won't be able to keep me dead. Finally, the angel says, come see the place where the Lord lay. Just come and see. Come and see the empty grave.

And they're given a tour of the empty tomb by angels. Finally, the angel gives them instructions. He says, go and tell my disciples that I'm going before them into Galilee. In Mark 16, verse 7, Mark says, almost the same thing that he dares. He says, go tell my disciples and Peter.

And Peter. And when we last saw Peter, he was doing what? He was weeping bitterly, having just denied the Lord three times. And he goes out and he weeps bitterly. All The gospel writers say the same thing, he wept bitterly.

That's the last time we saw Peter. Now Jesus is raised from the dead and He sent an angel to declare it. And He wants Peter to know that He's going to meet Him. Let's look at verses 8-10. Matthew 28, verses 8-10.

So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring His disciples' word. And as they went to his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice. So they came and held him by the seat and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me." In this portion of the text, the women encounter the risen Lord Jesus. The angel had said, go quickly.

And in verse 8 it says, So they went out quickly with fear and great joy. They went out quickly with fear and great joy. So the angel had the same impression on the women that he had on the soldiers, sort of. They leave with fear and great joy. Not a paralyzing fear that leaves them prostrate like dead men, unable to move, but a fear that recognizes the might of God and gives birth to joy in the heart.

This is what encounters with the ministers of God does for the people of God. It increases the fear and it becomes a fountain of joy for the people of God. Isn't this true with every experience you've had of the presence of God? It causes you to be in awe of His might. This is what you see in the Scriptures any time someone comes into contact with God, isn't it?

Fear, and if it's a believer, joy. Joy. It produces dread and paralysis in the enemies of God. It increases a reverent fear of God. It becomes a fountain for joy in the heart of the believer.

As they're going, they're met by Jesus. In the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 14-16, it says that Mary Magdalene doesn't even recognize Him. She thinks He is the gardener. She thinks Jesus is the gardener, and then He says Mary. And something about the way Jesus says Mary to her, just the saying of her name, causes her to recognize Him.

And Jesus tells the women to rejoice. And they come and they hold Him by the feet and they worship. So this isn't the ghost of Jesus. They are clasping His feet. This is the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, not the apparition of Jesus, but the body of Jesus.

They hold Him by the feet and they worship Him. Brothers and sisters, this should be the effect of the resurrection on us. It should cause us to bow down at the feet of Jesus Christ and to worship Him. He is no longer the suffering servant. He is the resurrected, all-glorious Lord of all.

Every knee will bow before Him, and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of the Father. This is the Jesus of Matthew 28. He says, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee." The angel said, go tell his disciples, go tell his students, go tell his learners. Jesus says, go tell my brethren.

Go tell those brothers of mine, I'm going before them into Galilee, as I said, and I'll meet them there." Listen to what John's expansion of what Jesus said is. John 20 verse 17. Jesus says, Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and Your Father, to My God and Your God. Can you believe this? Now, at the cross, the women devoted to Jesus are there.

The disciples are nowhere to be found. At the burial, Nicodemus is there. Joseph of Arimathea is there. The women are there marking where Jesus is laid. The disciples are nowhere to be found.

Wouldn't you think they'd be singled out for rebuke here by the Lord Jesus? No. Go and tell My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and to your Father, and to my God and to your God." Open your Bibles to Hebrews 2. Hebrews chapter 2. The author of Hebrews takes up just this subject in Hebrews chapter 2.

Beginning in 10, Hebrews chapter 2, we'll read 10 through 15. For it was fitting for Him, this is God the Father, for it was fitting for God the Father, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to you. And again, I will put my trust in him.

And again, here am I in the children whom God has given me. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." In this text, the author of Hebrews in verse 10 starts talking about the glory of God the Father by saying that All things are for Him and all things are by Him. In other words, He's the purpose and the source for everything. And He says that this God who deserves all glory, there's something fitting for Him. And here's what he says is fitting for him to make the captain of the salvation of all those who would be redeemed perfect through his sufferings.

And to make them one. To make the one who sanctifies and the ones who are being sanctified. The one who sanctifies is Jesus Christ. The ones who are being sanctified are those who repent and believe the Gospel. They're made one.

And the writer of Hebrews says, it's fitting. It's fitting. And so he's not ashamed to call them his brethren, his disciples or you or me. He's not ashamed to call us brethren, but He's made us one. They do go and tell.

And Mark and Luke both record that they are not believed. They obey the angel, they obey Jesus, they go and tell what they've seen. And even so, they are not believed by these brethren of the word Jesus Christ. And these men who did not initially believe that the resurrection had happened, Even when they heard it from the lips of credible witnesses, they become the boldest preachers of the resurrection, and many of them become martyrs. They'll believe in the resurrection.

There are going to be many, many sightings of the resurrected Lord, and they'll get to see Him with their own two eyes, and they'll get to put their finger into His hands and into His sides. All right. Lastly, I want to talk about the implications of the resurrection for those who believe. The implications of the resurrection for believers. This is not an exhaustive list, but it is obvious things in the New Testament.

I have seven of them. Number one, Jesus has been declared to be the Son of God with power. This is what Paul says in his introduction to Romans, in Romans chapter 1 verse 4. He says that Jesus has been declared to be the Son of God with power through the resurrection. The reason you know that Jesus is who He said He is, is because God has raised Him from the dead.

God declares Him to be His Son with power by the resurrection. John MacArthur actually catalogs the appearances of the resurrected Jesus in the New Testament. And he's trying to eliminate instances where there could be overlaps. So he's trying to come up with the smallest number you can come up with. And he comes up with ten.

Ten appearances. Separate appearances. By multiple authors of the resurrected Jesus Christ. J.C. Rao comes up with eleven.

But we're going to be conservative and go with John MacArthur. Ten separate appearances of Jesus Christ after He raised from the dead. It's more certain than almost anything in the New Testament with ten different. It's certainly more certain than that Caesar lived and died. Number two.

For the believer, you are forever the brother of the risen, exalted Lord Jesus Christ. Forever the brother, forever and ever the brother of the exalted, risen Lord Jesus Christ. This is right out of Hebrews 2 where we just were. Number three, you no longer need to fear death, because Jesus has conquered death and the devil. That was also right out of Hebrews 2 where we just were.

You don't need to fear death anymore. Above all things, men fear death. Believers don't need to fear death. Because Jesus has conquered death. And He proved it by rising from the dead.

Number four. Believers, you will be raised in kind. You will have a bodily resurrection just like Jesus did. This is the whole argument of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. In 1 Corinthians 15, there are people among them who are saying the dead aren't raised.

And Paul says, oh yes they are, Jesus was raised so we can know we will be raised. If Jesus hasn't been raised, then we're still dead in our sins. And so Jesus' bodily resurrection is a down payment. It's a guarantee. It's a promise that those who are in Christ will also be raised again incorruptible.

He was, so you will be. That's the argument of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15 verses 17 through 20. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins.

Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Jesus Christ is the firstfruits from the dead. He's just a little deposit.

His resurrection is a promise of the future resurrection of those who trust in Him. Number five. If you're a believer, you've been begotten to a living hope and an incorruptible inheritance. This is what Peter says in 1 Peter 3 verses 3-5. You've been begotten to a living hope.

Why a living hope? Because Christ is your hope and Christ is alive, so you have a living hope. And you have an incorruptible inheritance. You have an inheritance waiting for you after death. Jesus didn't stay dead, and you won't stay dead.

You have a living hope and an incorruptible inheritance. And it makes you a citizen of a different country. So you stop setting your affections on the things in this world because your affections are on that incorruptible inheritance of that better country. Number six, if you're a believer, you can know the power of the resurrection. This is what Paul says in Philippians 3 verse 10.

He wants to know the power of the resurrection. The power that would raise Jesus Christ from the dead. That would not allow Him to stay dead in the tomb. That power can be known by the people of God now. The Holy Spirit has been sent and it indwells the believer and we can know the power of the resurrection.

Brothers and sisters, this should make us absolutely fearless in the service of God. Absolutely without fear. Paul prayed because he knew that the people of God can experience the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. And he wanted it. Do you want it?

I hope that I can awaken a hunger and a thirst to know the power of the resurrection by preaching the resurrection taste. At least a little hunger, at least a little thirst of it, because Paul is hungry for it in Philippians 3 verse 10. I want to know the power of the resurrection. Lastly, number seven. If you are a believer, you have a risen Lord, and you say, well that's just, that's not an implication, that's the definition.

I use raised from the dead. It's also an implication. Here's what I'm getting at. Jesus Christ is not the Christ of the crucifix. If you have any, get rid of them forever.

Not only are they an image of Jesus Christ, You'll never see Jesus Christ looking like that. He did bear the sins of sinners. He was like that for a few short hours, but when you see Him, His face will shine like the sun, and He'll have a Two-edged sword coming from His mouth. You'll never see Jesus of the crucifix. Never.

He only looked that way when He was playing your part at bearing your sins and getting what you deserved. He wasn't that way from eternity past. He will not be that way in eternity future. You will never see Him that way. We serve a risen Lord, not an emaciated figure on the cross.

And all power and authority has been given to him. And the nations are being made his footstool. His enemies are being made His footstool. The nations are going to be disciples because all authority is His. And so to always be thinking of Jesus as crucified is so unhealthy.

To have that be your symbol of our faith. That is not the symbol of our faith. Listen to Paul in Romans 8, verse 34. Romans 8, verse 34. Who is He who condemns?

It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. This is why it matters that we have a risen Lord, because now He is seated at the right hand of the Father, His work is finished, and He is interceding for His people. If you are a believer, you have a risen Lord who sits at the right hand of God Almighty and He intercedes for you. This is why the resurrection matters. A few concluding remarks.

Count your blessings. This is what we've been doing actually, is counting our blessings. The implications of the resurrection are blessings to be counted, things to be savored for the believer that Jesus Christ left an empty tomb. He rose from the dead and now He is seated at the right hand of the Father and He is interceding for His people. He is praying for you that your faith would not fail and His prayers will be answered.

Count your blessings. As Jesus said, rejoice. Ladies, stop crying. Mary, stop crying. Other Mary, stop crying.

Salome, stop crying. There have been days of weeping. There have been days of weeping for Jesus. We go to a nursing home outreach on a Tuesday night. I personally go to the room of one woman there, and Every week I find her within three feet of the obituary of her husband on her bed.

So it's not on the shelf. I know she's been handling on it because it's on her maid bed. And every week, all she talks to me about when I'm taking her down the hallway is how she can't believe that her husband has been put in a different nursing home than her. And she can't understand why they're not in the same room, in the same nursing home. Even though I know she's had the obituary in her hand all day long.

That kind of Grieving is over for Jesus Christ. And He says to His people, Rejoice! Rejoice! These women have been grieving like that for three days. But Jesus comes and gently says, Stop!

Stop! You don't need to grieve like that for me anymore. Rejoice. As the women did, we should find ourselves at the feet of Jesus Christ, worshipping Him. If you never knew He was worthy before, come to the empty tomb and know that Jesus Christ is worthy, that we would humble ourselves before Him and worship Him.

Let's pray. O God, you are a God to be worshiped. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to you, and we praise you. And we thank you for the resurrection text and these many appearances to eyewitnesses that you could not remain dead but that you did just as you had said and you rose from the dead. Oh God, cause rejoicing in the hearts of Your people today.

I thank You for the rejoicing that is brought on by a contemplation of the resurrection. May it be on the top of our minds. Yes, may we love the cross, Lord, but teach us to love the resurrection. Teach us to think about it every day. Teach us to hunger and thirst that the power of the resurrection would be seen in our lives, O God.

We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for watching!