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The Second Coming of Jesus
Psalms 98
April 27, 2025

As we pointed out this morning, when Jesus stood on trial before the chief priests and they forced Him to testify about Himself, He made one bold prediction that ultimately got Him crucified.

Matthew 26:64 “Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

He quoted from Psalms 110:1 and Daniel 7:13

Psalms 110:1 spoke of His ascension where He ascended to take Heaven’s throne.

Daniel 7:13 speaks of His second coming where He descends to take earth’s throne.

Daniel 7:13-14 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”

Even as Jesus was being falsely accused and condemned before men He maintained the joy set before Him and looked to His coming ascension and future return.

We did not do a harmony reading of the second coming tonight and the reason is because there are far too many mentions of it to keep them all straight.

Matthew’s gospel mentions it 7 times and that is without even including the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24 and 25 where Jesus preached on His return for two whole chapters.

John the Baptist was the first:
Matthew 3:11-12 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Jesus spoke of it when He taught on prayer:
Matthew 6:10 “‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”

Or we remember all those parables of the kingdom.
He mentions it in the parable of the wheat and the tares and again in the parable of the dragnet.

When Peter tried to rebuke Jesus for speaking of the cross, Jesus rebuked him saying:

Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

In Matthew 19 after the Rich Young Ruler left and the disciples wondered if they had made the right decision Jesus told them, “Yes”

Matthew 19:28 “And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

And then, as I said there is Jesus entire sermon on the subject which we don’t have time to go all through, but perhaps we’ll just quote:

Matthew 25:31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.”

The apostles spoke of it regularly as well.
And again, time would fail us to read them all.

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 2:14-20; 3:11-13; 4:13-18; 5:1-11
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2:8
1 Timothy 6:13-14
2 Timothy 4:1-2
Hebrews 9:28
2 Peter 3:10
1 John 2:28
Philippians 3:20-21
Romans 8:18-25; 13:11-14

It’s just everywhere.

The most famous no doubt is found in the actual description of His return which we read as our Scripture reading this evening.

Just a portion of it again:
Revelation 19:11-16 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

The New Testament has no shortage of passages which speak of Christ’s return and glorious reign.

But neither does the Old Testament.
It was not so long ago that we finished our study of Isaiah, and hopefully you remember all the chapters which referenced the millennial reign of Christ.

Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

Isaiah 11:1-5 “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

That passage goes on to talk about the wolf dwelling with the lamb and cow and bear grazing together.

Isaiah 65 told us about the old man living out his days and if one dies at the age of 100 he’ll be considered cursed.

Or we remember:
Isaiah 33:17 “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will behold a far-distant land.’

And it wasn’t just His glorious millennial reign.
Isaiah also spoke about His coming and the judgment that comes with it.

Isaiah 35:3-4 “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”

Isaiah 63:1-4 “Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? “I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. “For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come.”

And we’ve already mentioned Psalms like Psalm 2 where God announces that He has installed His King on Mt. Zion.
Or Psalms 110 where the Lord said to My Lord sit at My right hand.

The point is that it’s everywhere.
The point of Christ coming to judge His enemies and reign upon the earth is a really big deal in Scripture.

And, just as we said with events like His arrest or trial or burial or crucifixion or resurrection or ascension, there are many many ways in which we could address this.

We could talk about His judgment of the wicked.
We could talk about the beauty of His restored kingdom.
We could talk about the importance of being ready for such a day.

All of those points are well worth our time and attention, but tonight the aspect we are going to look at regarding the return of Christ is GLORY.

Philippians 2:5-11 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The whole point of the story is glory.

We certainly rejoice that we are partakers of salvation.
We certainly recognize the great love we have received from the Father.
We certainly see that it was for us that Christ died.
We certainly anticipate the resurrection He has promised.
We certainly long for a heavenly home with no more crying or pain.

But don’t fall into the common trap of evangelicals today and allow yourself to believe that all of this is about you.

This entire story of redemption, though we are great beneficiaries of it, is all about Christ and His glory.

The end result is the glory of God.

Do you remember back after the Exodus how the children of Israel rebelled against God and refused to enter the Promised Land because they were afraid of the Canaanites?

Allow me to revisit God’s response to their rebellion:
Numbers 14:19-23 “Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” So the LORD said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.”

God forgave them of that sin.
But don’t assume that equates to salvation.

Jesus forgave those who crucified Him too, but they were not all saved.

These men remained rebels even though God did not immediately kill them for their insubordination.

However, God would not allow them into the Promised Land, which is a picture of the glorious kingdom of Christ.

Why could they not enter?
They did not glorify God and that kingdom will be all about God’s glory.

God said, “all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD”.

We currently have a world that wants the benefits of God without the glory of God.
God will not tolerate that forever.

There is coming a day when this world will be conquered by Christ and then captivated by Christ.

How have we read about it?
Isaiah 13:6-13 “Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man’s heart will melt. They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger.”

We are repeatedly told about this day of coming darkness.
It is a day of judgment.

But what follows immediately?
Matthew 24:29-31 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. “And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”

After the darkness of judgment, Christ becomes the Light!
And “the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD”

Psalms 72:18-19 “Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders. And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.”

Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. “For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. “Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.”

Isaiah 66:18-19 “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. “I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.”

Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.”

That is what you call total coverage.
There is not a crevice in the ocean that water doesn’t fill.
So it will be in that day.

Christ will come and eradicate sinners and His glory will fill the earth.

This current state of empty religion and hypocritical allegiance coupled with widespread immorality and continual blasphemy is not permanent.

Through Malachi God reminded:
Malachi 1:10-11 “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you. “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of hosts.”

That is what we are looking at here.

The second coming and millennial reign of Christ is all about His glory.

This, incidentally, is another reason that I am not an amillennialist.

They are those who see the 1,000 year reign of Christ as a symbolic thing.
In fact, they say we are currently in the millennium.

And no, I don’t break off fellowship with those men, there are some very sound and godly men who hold to that position.

But one of the reasons I don’t is because I do not believe the Bible allows the world that God created to slip off into oblivion without first acknowledging its Creator.

Romans 8 says that creation longs for the revealing of the sons of God.
Daniel 2 promised a kingdom that would crush all other earthly kingdoms.
Isaiah promised a day of peace with the wolf dwelling with the lamb.

Paradise was lost in Genesis 3, and even though we currently enjoy every spiritual blessing in Christ and are currently members of the kingdom of heaven, where Christ is reigning on His heavenly throne.

This world does not currently recognize that and Scripture teaches that God will not allow this world to escape without recognizing it.

He is going to return and reclaim the earth that is rightfully His.
He is going to reverse the curse.
He is going to rule for a 1,000 years.

And He is going to do it to demonstrate His glory.

And we, as beneficiaries of the first resurrection, are going to enjoy it immensely!

Christ will be exalted on the earth.
His glory will fill the earth like the waters cover the sea!

That day is coming.

Isaiah 11:6-10 “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.”

“the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD”
“And His resting place will be glorious.”

That is what we focus on and celebrate tonight.

This Christ who came to earth as a man.
Born in humility
Taking the role of a servant
Rejected and blasphemed and reviled
He was arrested and condemned and crucified

And that is the last picture the earth has of Him.

But that is not the last picture they will ever get.
There is one more coming.

Next time everyone will see Him.
Next time no one will miss Him.

Revelation 1:7 “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”

No one will miss Him next time.

When He comes back His glory will cover the earth like the water covers the sea.

Every knee will bow.
Every tongue will confess.
Everyone will worship Him.

His humiliation was but for a season, His glory will be for all eternity.

And tonight we’ll look at the 98th Psalm to catch just a glimpse of that.

We studied this Psalm a little over 4 years ago so I’m sure it’s still fresh on your mind.

We called it:
“What A Day That Will Be”

Bill Gaither wrote the song:
“What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see, when I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace; When He takes me by the hand and leads me through the Promised Land, What a day, glorious day, that will be!”

Let’s look at it again here tonight.

Let me just break it down into two points here tonight.

#1 HIS COMPLETED WORK
Psalms 98:1-3

I do want to sort of clarify that point.

For certainly we are aware that on the cross in John 19:30 Jesus cried, “It is finished!”

Jesus spoke there of His earthly mission.
He had fulfilled every requirement.
He had paid for every sin.
He had purchased atonement.

And certainly He was right to declare His work finished.

And yet, there is a sense in which we know that Christ was not finished.

After He rose He still preached to His disciples.
He would soon ascend where He would take His seat at the right hand of God and function as our great High Priest.

So His work of intercession continues.

But even that is not what we speak of here.

Here we speak of the day when the world knows about His work and the full effect of what He accomplished is realized.

Certainly Jesus finished His work on the cross, and yet many have failed to see it or understand it.

We know, for instance, that to this day Israel has also yet to see or believe in Jesus as their Messiah; something that is promised.

What we are looking at here is the day when His finished work has had it’s full effect upon the hearts of men.

We are looking at the day after His return.

Imagine Jesus has just returned this morning and has taken His seat upon earth’s throne.

That is where Psalm 98 fits.

And immediately the cry is raised:
“O sing to the LORD a new song…”

That certainly can be a completely new song, for certainly having just experienced His return and the salvation of His people, it would inspire new lyrics and new shouts of praise.

But it can also simply mean sing another song.
Keep going!
Let His praise continue.

Don’t sing one and stop, let’s sing all night long!

And the grounds for this continued singing is this:
“For He has done wonderful things…”

And here we have a people who have finally realized that.
His work has come to its full effect and the nations have realized it.

Well, what sort of “wonderful things” has He done?

1) “His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.”

Did you see the fallen state of the world?
Did you see them lining up to worship the beast and the image of his name?
Did you see them beheading believers and persecuting Israel?

But did you see what happened when He split the sky with the armies of heaven?
Did you see how they ran?
Did you see how they fell?
Did you see their blood running through the streets?
Did you see Him throw the beast and the false prophet alive into the lake of fire?
Did you see that chain He put on the dragon and how He threw Him in prison?

He won!
The enemy is conquered!

Revelation 19:17-20:3 “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer…”

What a victory!
Called “the dragon” reminding of his cruel power.
Called “the serpent of old” reminding of his deception in garden.
Called “the devil” which is a word that means “accuser”
Called “Satan” which is a word that means “adversary”

And He has been thoroughly defeated.

And we will sing at his fall!
We will celebrate the totally victory of our Lord!

What other wonderful things has He done?

2) “The LORD has made known His salvation”

Have we ever waited for this?

Paul said:
Romans 13:11-12 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

Yes we are those who claim to have been saved.
That means we have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

In a judicial sense, God has wrapped us in Christ’s righteous robe and there is no longer any condemnation for us.

We are forgiven, we are justified, we are saved.

But you also know that there is a sense in which we are “being saved”.
This is sanctification.
We currently war with the flesh and we submit to the Holy Spirit who is the agent of our sanctification.

But total, complete, and full salvation is still in the future for us.
We long for the day when our flesh is destroyed.
We long for the day when we are glorified.
We long for the day when sin is totally in the past.

And that is the day being spoken of here.

Christ has come, and according to the New Testament, we will have been transformed to be like Him.

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

It is the day when salvation is complete.

What other wonderful things will He have done?

3) “He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.”

Right now we know He is righteous, but most of the world does not.
Right now we know He is glorious, but most of the world does not see Him.

2 Corinthians 4:4 “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

They don’t see Him now.
But on this day, His glory will cover the globe and they will not be able to miss it.

All the nations will see His glory.
Psalms 46:10 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

And following His return, it has happened!

What other glorious things has He done?
4) “He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;”

Remember all those covenants?
Remember all those promises?
Remember Romans 11?

Well, even though Israel has been temporarily broken off, we know they will be grated back in again.

We know the day of their salvation is coming.
We know God will pour out the spirit of mourning and supplication on them.
We know they will look on Him whom they pierced and mourn for Him.
We know they are coming to Christ and He will save them.

And on this day, that has happened!

He remembered them.
He regenerated them.
He restored them.
He redeemed them.

And the song is being sung for His great faithfulness to keep His promises!

And the final culmination is this:
“All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”

That is what we will sing as Jesus takes His earthly throne.
Those 3 verses are a foreshadow of what is coming.

And on that day, it won’t be hard to sing.
On that day no one will have to tell you to rejoice.

But we are not yet to that day.

We still live in an evil day.
In our day Satan is not in prison.
In our day the world does not see Christ.
In our day Christ is not on an earthly throne.

We have the promise of that day, but we do not have the presence of it.

So what do we do?

That is what the final 6 verses of this Psalm are for.

His completed work
#2 THE REJOICING CREATION
Psalms 98:4-9

If you’ll notice, there is a verb tense change.

The Psalm goes from talking about what has happened to what will happen.

Verses 1-3 speak as though the LORD already came.
But look at verse 9, that verse says “He is coming”.

While verses 1-3 are a promised reality, verses 4-9 are a present one.

BUT…

We are supposed to presently live in a light of a future reality and that is what this Psalm calls for.

This Psalm calls the church to start their singing now.
Let the worship begin as though He were already here.

Look at it
(4-6) “Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.”

I hope you caught the references.
“Shout JOYFULLY”
“sing for JOY”
“Shout JOYFULLY”

Grab your “lyre” (guitar)
Pick up your “trumpet”
Take up your “horn”
Limber up your voice

And sing to Him the loudest, most glorious, most joyful song you can sing!

For He is coming!

He is coming so that His glory might fill the earth, and it will because on that day they will finally see Him.

But church we already see Him and we already know He is glorious.
Our singing can already begin.

And it’s not just us.
(7-8) “Let the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy”

Paul taught us that creation currently groans and suffers the pains of childbirth.

Jesus taught us in the Olivet Discourse about the beginning of birth pangs which are earthquakes and famines.

We see creation groaning as she seeks to throw off her sin and return to her previous state of glory.

Well the Psalmist even asks the sea and the rivers and the mountains to for a moment lay down their grumbling and burst out in praise.

And might I suggest that we see that occurring even today.

Oh I know we went through a week of thunder storms and floods and hail and tornadoes.

And it is easy to see creation groaning in such moments.
We saw devastating earthquakes recently.
We know about sandstorms.
We know about droughts.

We know about the groanings of creation.

But have you ever heard creation sing?

Sure you have.
Go out in the morning and watch a peaceful sunrise and listen to the landscape “sing together for joy”

Walk out after the rain, when the flowers straighten up and the grass greens up and the air smells clean and listen to creation “clap their hands”.

Take a peak at a mountain scene…
Go smell the air at the beach…
Sit on your porch in the cool of the evening while the sun sets…

You’ve heard creation singing.

She groans, but she also sings, because she knows that one day Christ will return, conquer the foe, and set her free to return to glory.

They sing (9) “Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.”

They know He will come and set things right.

And that is where we find ourselves tonight.
We let the worship begin now.

For sure we have our days of groaning.
Like Lot, our soul is oppressed by evil men.
Like Job, we taste the bitterness of this fallen world.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”

We live in a tent that groans and suffers, but for the bride of Christ it should not be all groaning.

There is coming a day when He will return and set it all straight!
And the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Psalm 98 calls us to look at the second coming of the Lord and to start singing now.

Today we have a Christ who reigns in the heavens.
He sits sovereign upon the throne of heaven.

But very soon He will descend and take earth’s throne and His glory will be seen across the globe.

“Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.”

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The Ascension of Jesus
Ephesians 1:18-23
April 27, 2025

We spent the last several weeks building up to Easter, and last Sunday
We had a wonderful time celebrating the resurrection of our Lord.

We looked at His arrest, and His trial, and His crucifixion,
And His burial, and His resurrection.

And it just occurred to me not to stop there,
But to examine two more very important events in the life of Christ.

• THIS MORNING we will look at “The Ascension of Jesus”
• TONIGHT, “The Second Coming of Jesus”

I WOULD START OFF BY REMINDING YOU THAT
These events were on Jesus’ mind even
While He was being arrested, tried, crucified, and even resurrected.

Do you remember the trial of Jesus?
• I’m referring specifically to that second one that occurred in the middle of the night in the house of Caiaphas.

Do you remember how they were finally able to condemn Him?

Matthew 26:63-64 “But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

• They threw all sorts of false accusations against Him and He said nothing.
• But when the chief priest illegally ordered Jesus to testify against Himself
• And to answer whether or not He was “the Christ, the Son of God”,

Jesus said this:
“You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

At that moment Jesus quoted two Old Testament passages
To reveal His identity.

Psalms 110:1 “The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

• Incidentally, it was the same verse Jesus used to silence the debaters when He
was teaching in the temple in Matthew 22:44.

But when they wanted to know who Jesus claimed to be,
He said, “I am the One who will soon be seated
At the righthand of God ruling over His enemies.”

But He didn’t stop there.
He also quoted Daniel 7:13-14

Daniel 7:13-14 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”

That passage reminded that He would also return with the clouds of heaven and would rule this world.

So even when Jesus was being tried,
He was bearing testimony to His ascension and second coming.

We understand why His focus would be there.

The writer of Hebrews taught us:
Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Even as Jesus endured the cross
His focus was beyond the suffering,
Which He despised or thought little of.

His focus was on “the glory set before Him”,
That He would set “down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Jesus found strength in His suffering by looking beyond it
To the glory of His ascension and second coming.

That was at that second trial at the house of Caiaphas.

But then we came to that third trial
• That was done publicly to cover the bases at the council chamber.

Luke 22:67-69 “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I ask a question, you will not answer. “But from now on THE SON OF MAN WILL BE SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND of the power OF GOD.”

There He doubled down and reminded them again that as God’s Son,
He will soon be seated at God’s right hand.

Or how about when He stood before Pilate?
John 18:36 “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

You can see that the ascension was important to Jesus.

But it wasn’t just at His trial where we see a focus on His ascension.

Do you remember the words He spoke as He hung on the cross?

Luke 23:42-43 “And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Even while dying Jesus welcomed that thief into the joy of His suffering
And admitted Him into the kingdom which Jesus would soon be enjoying.

Or how about at His resurrection?
• Peter and John had run to the tomb, but didn’t see Jesus and then went home.
• Mary Magdalene however stayed there weeping.

And then Jesus revealed Himself to her:
John 20:16-17 “Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”

Even there Jesus was reminding Mary of what He had taught them the night before.
• He was going away.
• Clinging to His earthly presence was the wrong mentality.

Do you remember what He taught them Thursday night?

John 14:1-3 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”

John 14:28 “You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”

John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

John 16:28 “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.”

And even in His high priestly prayer:
John 17:11-13 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.”

That has been His focus the whole time hasn’t it?

Jesus continually looked past the suffering to the fact that
He would very soon be sitting on heaven’s throne.

No man, regardless of their scheming,
Would be able to thwart God’s eternal decree
That Christ would sit on the throne.

As we have often referenced:
Psalms 2:6-9 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

Jesus had certainly come to suffer and die
And give His life as a ransom for many,
But He was also aware that the story did not end there.

He would very soon be exalted to the throne of heaven
Where He would sit at the Father’s right hand.

That is the event we want to examine this morning.

Now, before we get into the point I want to leave with you,
I do want to give you (similar as the way we did when discussing His burial)
Some of the theological realities of His ascension.

• We covered these before, I think, when we studied Luke’s gospel, let me give you them quickly again.

• We can’t spend long on them, so if they grab your curiosity you’re going to have to go home and dig them out on your own.

• But let me just quickly give you the theological significance found in the fact that Jesus ascended to the Father.

1) CERTIFICATION OF MINISTRY

The ascension, just like the burial of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus,
Also served as a tremendous proof that His ministry was from God.

You may remember John 6 where
• Jesus began by feeding the 5,000
• That night He walked on water to the other side of the sea
• The crowd found Him and wanted more bread

It was there that Jesus gave the famous sermon that
He was the bread from heaven.

• But the people balked at the notion that He had claimed to come from heaven
• And that they should eat His flesh and drink His blood for eternal life.

John 6:60-62 “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? “What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?”

There Jesus said that His ascension
Would be a sort of verification of His ministry.

You don’t believe Him when He says He came from heaven
Well perhaps you’ll believe Him when you see Him go back.

2) COMMENCEMENT OF PRIESTHOOD

We already noted how Jesus quoted Psalms 110:1 in regard to His ascension, but that is not the only significant verse in that Psalm.

Psalms 110:4 is also very important.
Psalms 110:4 “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

The 110th Psalm teaches us that Jesus is ascending to the Father
And He is ascending to fulfill His role as our great High Priest.

In reality that verse inspired the entire book of Hebrews
And comes with much more depth than we can address here.

But it suffices to say that
If Jesus is going to intercede as a priest on your behalf before the Father,
Then He will need to approach the Father.

His ascension marks the beginning of that ministry
Which SECURES YOUR SALVATION.

Hebrews 9:24 “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;”

Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

3) CLARIFICATION OF HIS RETURN

Do you wonder what the return of Christ will be like?

There is an entire eschatological view today called preterism
That says Christ already returned, and that it was a spiritual return.

But we don’t buy that.
Because Jesus gave us a picture to know exactly what His return would be like.

Right after Jesus ascended into heaven we read:
Acts 1:11 “They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

• Jesus didn’t spiritually ascend and He won’t spiritually return.
• It was a physical ascension and it will be a physical return.

Revelation 1:7 “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”

4) CREATION OF OUR EXPECTATION

Not only does the ascension give us a picture
Of what to expect at His Second Coming,
But it also clarifies what we can expect to happen in our future.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

There are those today who also deny that the rapture is real.
• They say that there will be no event in which believers are caught up in the air to meet Christ.

But Paul told the Thessalonians that this is exactly what will happen.
Just as Christ ascended so will the church.

5) COMPLETION OF THE PLAN OF GOD

Think about all that God has determined from the beginning.

Ephesians 4:10 “He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.”

• That is to say so that He might “fulfill all things”
• That He might bring all things to their fulfillment.

Currently Christ reigns in heaven,
• From which He has sent the Holy Spirit to equip His church.
• He is saving and sanctifying His bride, preparing her for the great wedding
feast.
• He is interceding for her and securing her to Himself
• And once His bride is home, He will return to destroy the wicked.
• His ascension is a necessary part of that plan.

So there’s 5 important realities about Christ’s ascension.

But I didn’t give you the most important one.
That is the one I want us to think on a little bit more this morning.

The most important theological reality of Christ’s ascension is this:

THE CONFIRMATION OF HIS REIGN

When Jesus ascended, He ascended to the throne.

That is what He told the Jews at His trial.
• He quoted Psalms 110:1 that He would be seated at the right hand of power.

He told His disciples when He met them in Galilee:
Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

And you might remember that this was the message
Peter preached even at Pentecost.

When Peter stood to explain the appearance of the Holy Spirit,
Peter taught that His arrival meant that the King had taken His throne.

Acts 2:32-36 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.” ’ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Peter told the masses who had rejected the Lord
That He was now seated at the right hand of Power.

• He is now Lord and Christ.
• God has raised Him and God has exalted Him.
• And you made a grave mistake in crucifying Him.

HIS ASCENSION CONFIRMS HIS REIGN.

And that is WHAT WE WANT TO THINK ON
In the remainder of our time here together this morning.

Namely that after Jesus was raised from the dead,
He ascended to take His seat on Heaven’s Throne.

TONIGHT we’ll talk about how
He will one day descend to claim Earth’s Throne as well.

But let’s discuss the current reign of Heaven’s King.
1 Corinthians 15:25-27 “For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.”

And I want you to know that this is an interesting quote by Paul.

Paul states that Christ must reign until all His enemies are destroyed.
And to support that He quotes Psalms 8:6
“He has put all things in subjection under his feet.”

But that is an interesting quote from Paul.

WHY?
Because Psalms 8:6 is clearly about humanity.
• It is the Psalm where David contemplates the grace of God to humanity.

Psalms 8:4-6 “What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,”

David marvels that God has treated humanity so graciously,
Even giving him dominion over the earth.

Now the writer of Hebrews jumps on that train as well.
The writer of Hebrews uses Psalms 8:6
• To remind us of the sting of the fall
• And how man, because of sin, is not currently in his rightful position.

Hebrews 2:6-8 “But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”

So the writer of Hebrews quotes that Psalm and says,
“but we don’t see it happening.”
• Man is not currently ruling over all things.
• Something is wrong.
• Something is out of order.

But he does not stop.
Hebrews 2:8-9 “YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

The writer of Hebrews said we don’t see all things subjected to man,
But we do see “Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels”

And what do we see now?
“because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor”

The writer of Hebrews speaks of Jesus
As the man who came to fix the problem.

Jesus came and suffered as our sin demanded,
Now He has ascended to put things back in their rightful order.

That is why Paul quotes that verse about Jesus.
Jesus is the ultimate man, now reigning on heaven’s throne.
“He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”

For a little while lower than the angels, but now exalted above them.

And I want you to understand THE DEGREE OF HIS AUTHORITY.
To do that, let’s return now to the passage we read to open the sermon.

BACK TO EPHESIANS 1:18-23

This is Paul’s prayer that
The church will understand all that is theirs in Christ.

Just look at the prayer in verses 18-19a
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”

• I want you to know the HOPE that is yours.
• I want you to know the RICHES of your inheritance.
• I want you to know the greatness of His POWER toward you.

I just wish you could catch a glimpse of how powerful Christ is.

And then Paul strives to explain Christ’s power.
(19b) “These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead…”

Now there’s your FIRST indication of power.
It is RESURRECTION POWER.

The power that is available to you through Christ is resurrection power.
• The same power that God used to raise Christ from the dead
• Is the power that is available to transform your life as well.

And certainly we could talk about the resurrection and even the resurrected life of a believer as a testimony to that power, but time just won’t permit.

It is the NEXT indication of power I want you to see.

(20b) “and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

LET’S LOOK AT THAT FOR A MOMENT.
Paul not only talks about resurrection power, but REIGNING POWER.

He wants you to understand THE CURRENT POSITION of Christ.

HERE IS WHY.

Look down at verse 22-23
“And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

• Paul says Christ is the head of the church.
• Paul says we are Christ’s body.

• Paul says He “fills all in all”
• And Paul says we are His “fullness”

There is an unbreakable union between the church and Christ.
Just as a man and women get married and become one flesh,
So also are we joined with Christ.

He the head, we the body.
He the filler, we the fullness.

That is why Paul will say in Ephesians 2 that we were made alive with Christ, we were raised with Christ, and we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places.

If I might say it just a simpler way.
We are Christ’s and Christ is ours.
We are united with Him.
We are one with Him.

Now we are understanding why Christ spoke so much about it,
Even in the upper room.
His ascension is a tremendous benefit to us.
This is good for us!

And because we are united with Christ
Paul wants you and I to understand just how much authority He has.

He wants you to know the advantage that is yours
Because you are the bride of Christ.

So when we talk about His reigning power
Let Paul show you just How far He ascended.

Look at it:
(21) “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

I just want you to see Christ’s position.
Because His position benefits you.

One thing I have learned in all my years traveling to Africa
Is how different Africans think than Americans in many different areas.

One of those areas is politics.
• In America you won’t give much thought to the race or ethnicity of a candidate,
• You will be more likely to consider his political beliefs and his platform.

And that’s not to say no one in Africa cares about such things.
But they are far more prone to vote along tribal lines.

Because if a man from my tribe is elected president of the country
That’s going to be good for my tribe.

Well, I want you to think like our African brothers and sisters
For a moment and understand the point.

Here we have Christ, the head of your tribe, your husband.
And I want you to understand WHERE HE SITS.

(21) “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

Let’s examine those words for a second.

“rule”
It is the Greek word (ar-KHAY)

Most of the time when that word shows up
It speaks of the beginning or of origins.

But it is used in a sense of authority because it speaks of
That which has precedent by reason of being there first.

We think of colonization or tradition in this way.
• Namely that the way we did things first seems to have a higher rank of authority
than something new.
• Just as a person who claimed the position first has a certain level of
preeminence.

So here Paul is saying that Christ is seated “far above all rule”
Or any established leader or tradition or way of doing things.

“and authority”
That word is (ex-oo-SEE-ah)

Matthew really likes to use that word.

Matthew 7:29 “for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

Matthew 8:9 “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

Matthew 9:6 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”

This word speaks of judicial power to make decisions.
• It is like that centurion spoke of.
• I have authority to make someone do something.
• He recognizes that same authority in Jesus.

So here we see that Christ is the highest of all judicial authorities.
If you go up the chain of command high enough, it ends with Christ.

Everyone; all authority; eventually answers to Him.

“and power”
That is the word (DOO-na-mis)
• It’s where we get our word for “dynamite”
• It is just raw power.
• Often times the word is translated “miracles”.

But in an authority sense we understand it to speak of
The one who is the strongest.

In a base culture, the strongest guy wins the room.
• If he can physically dominate you, then he gets to be in charge.
• He has the most power and therefore he is in charge.

Well Paul says that Christ is far above all other powers.
There is no strong man stronger than Him.
There is no brute bully that can intimidate Christ and make Him yield.

CHRIST IS THE STRONGEST OF THE STRONG.

“and dominion”
That is the word (koo-ree-AH-tace)
• It speaks of governing authorities and governments.
• In Colossians Paul speaks of “thrones and dominions”

So we are talking about political power.
World governments and all of their power.
Military strength and weapons of war.

Those who rule because
They have the strongest armies and the most weapons.

And Paul says that Christ is far above all of them.
• There is no government that has the dominion that He has.
• There is no army that can compare with His army.

“and every name that is named”
It is simply Paul’s way of saying, everyone.

There is not a human or government or demonic force
Or strong man or judge or power lifter or ninja or navy seal
Or Philistine Giant or anyone who is equal to Christ.

HE IS ABOVE THEM ALL.
• Any way in which you choose to measure power, Christ has more.
• Any way in which you choose to establish authority, Christ is above it.
• Any way in which you choose to talk about control, Christ is at the top.

“not only in this age but also in the age to come.”
And it always will be this way.
• There is nothing coming that will ever unseat Christ.
• He is on the throne and He always will be.

God “put all things in subjection under His feet”

So church, for must a moment
As we talk about the reigning Christ who ascended to His throne
I want you to understand the power and authority that He has.

POWER OVER ALL ESTABLISHED ORDERS
• Every tradition or preexisting rule of government.

The Chinese like to boast that they have been a nation
For over 5,000 years…well good.
CHRIST HAS PRECEDENT.

POWER OVER ALL JUDICIAL DECISION

We see rogue and corrupt judges today
Who make rulings and decisions to seek to defy any and everyone.
CHRIST WILL HAVE THE FINAL SAY IN ALL JUDICIAL DECISIONS.

POWER OVER ALL STRONG FORCES

Rather demons or strong men or even raw natural power.
CHRIST IS STRONGER.
He calms seas, He holds the sun, He quiets storms.
There is no raw power like His raw power.

POWER OVER ALL GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES
• Do we suppose the United States is strong because of our military?
• Perhaps you fear Russia or China or some other military force.

NONE COMPARE TO CHRIST AND THE ARMIES OF HEAVEN.
1 angel came and destroyed 185,000 Assyrians outside the walls of Jerusalem,
And Jesus has myriads of myriads of angels at His disposal.

There is no governmental power like Christ’s power.

POWER OVER ALL IMPORTANT PEOPLE
Who has the right to give orders and be in control?

The pope in Rome claims that his word is infallible,
But he found out recently it’s not.

CHRIST’S WORD IS FAR HIGHER THAN HIS.

Church I simply want you to understand that Christ reigns.
He is sovereign over all.
He is the High King of Heaven.

When governments become corrupt or judges go rogue.
When strong men threaten or demons about.
Do not fear, Christ is over all.

HE IS YOURS AND YOU ARE HIS.
Nothing can happen outside of His sovereign control
And all things must happen according to His divine plan.

1 Peter 3:22 “[Jesus] is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”

That is why we can read such verses with confidence.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

It is because Christ reigns.
And it’s not even close.
He reigns “far above” them all.

• They are not free to do as they please.
• They will not get away with all that they have done.
• For as we will see tonight, the One who currently reigns in heaven will soon return and reign on earth.

This morning just respond to the ascension of Jesus the way the apostles did.
Luke 24:51-53 “While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God.”

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Countdown to Easter
Easter Sunday

The Resurrection of Jesus
Mark 16:1-8
April 20, 2025

This morning we come again on Easter Sunday.
Every year we focus on this pinnacle event of the Christian faith.

Perhaps Paul said it best:
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

That so perfectly states the importance of this message.
• It is the message that was preached.
• It is the message we received.
• It is the message by which we were saved.
• It is the message in which we stand.

The truth that Jesus Christ,
• Although fully God, came to this earth in full humanity.
• He lived a perfect and sinless life, fulfilling the Law of God and demonstrating by His power that He truly is the Son of God.
• He then laid down His holy life on our behalf by submitting to death on a cross in order to pay the debt of the sins of His people.

But He did not stay dead.
God raised Him from the dead.

That is the wonderful reality we are examining this morning.

For the last 3 weeks we’ve been counting down to this.

WE SAW HIS ARREST –we emphasized that what Jesus did, He did alone.
• No one joined Him, no one helped Him.
• All abandoned Him.
• He fought the battle alone.

WE SAW HIS TRIAL – where we emphasized who He endured this for,
• He suffered for the citizens of His kingdom;
• Namely those who hear His words and obey Him.

WE SAW HIS CRUCIFIXION – where we asked why He did it.
• Because He came to save sinners.
• We saw His love for them.

WE SAW HIS BURIAL –we emphasized how He did it.
• That Christ went all the way into death in order that He might save us.

John 13:1 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”

Jesus Christ came to this world as a man to save sinners
By bearing their sin and suffering the wrath they deserve
On the cross He paid the wage of sin which is death.
He is the only One who did that.

This morning we see Him vindicated as God raises Him from the dead.

THIS MORNING WE LOOK AT HIS RESURRECTION.

As we examined the other events leading up to this,
We always chose one gospel account in order to gain one point about each event.

But this morning as we look at the resurrection
I want us to look at all of them.

Certainly we can’t examine them all fully, but we can look at each of them enough
To gain one more very important point.

THE EFFECT OF THE DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS.

We saw what He did and why He did it.
Now we want to examine the effect it should have on us.

And to do that we need to take a quick look at all 4 accounts.

Now, before we examine how they differ
I think it is vitally important to point out where they are all the same.
• It is beneficial to understand what they all have in common.

And this truth is the one thing they all share.
1. Women arrived early,
2. The stone was rolled away,
3. And the tomb was empty.
That is the truth that all 4 accounts consistently share.

CERTAINLY
Some will tell how the stone was moved…
Some will tell who entered the tomb to verify that it was empty…
Some will tell how the angels explained the empty tomb…
Some will tell about the conspiracy to cover it up…

But THE CHIEF POINT that every gospel account makes clear is this.
1. That stone we saw rolled in front and sealed was moved.
2. The man we saw dead and buried was gone.
3. And God chose to use women as the first testifying witness to the fact.

Every gospel writer shows us that.
The stone was moved, Jesus was gone,
And it was women who discovered it.

The fact that every gospel writer indicate that women were there first is a remarkable testimony to the authenticity of the gospel accounts.
• If these men were making this story up they would have never used women as their chief witnesses
• No one in that day saw women as a credible witness.
• They only would have included that fact if that is exactly what happened.
• They are telling the truth.

AND THE TRUTH IS THAT
The stone was moved and Jesus wasn’t in that tomb.
All four point that out.

But there is information also to be gained
By examining the specific details which each writer includes
That may not show up in every other account.

That is because each man has a different point to make.

So let’s begin by turning to: MARK 16:1-8
#1 THE PHENOMENON OF THE RESURRECTION
Mark 16:1-8

We’ll start with Mark’s gospel because it was the first one written.
• It is also the most curious.

Mark’s details are brief.
He only gives 8 verses.

I know that in your Bible you can also read verses 9-20,

And I don’t have time to go all through it, except to say that
It is obvious that those verses were not in the original manuscripts.
They were not a part of Mark’s original gospel.

• As people made copies it is clear that people added to what Mark had to say,
• Most of which can be found in other gospel accounts, so we don’t fret it terribly,
• But it is clear for a number of reasons that it was not a part of Mark’s gospel.

When you read the 8 verses on the resurrection that Mark includes
There is one thing that jumps out and that is AMAZEMENT!

It may even seem abrupt the way that Mark closes his gospel in verse 8,
But if you’ve read Mark
You know that this is the perfect ending to His gospel.

I first learned this from John MacArthur,
So I don’t want to take credit, but he’s absolutely right.

In Mark’s gospel you see the women approaching the tomb…
And they have one main concern…
• “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?”

• Their biggest concern is how to gain access to the body.
• But to their surprise when they arrived the stone was already moved.

Matthew tells us how it was moved,
But Mark’s point is the response of the women.

(5) “Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.”

You see the phrase, “they were amazed.”

Even when they encounter the angelic messenger
His first words in verse 6 are, “Do not be amazed…”

It is a Greek word that means to be “struck with terror”

The angel then tells them that
• Jesus has risen from the dead, “just as He told you”
• And that He is headed to Galilee to see His disciples.

And then Mark closes his gospel account with this verse.

(8) “They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

And you say, what a strange way to end his gospel, but for Mark it is not.

IN MARK 1, Jesus enters the scene,
• Is baptized, is tempted, and begins His ministry.
• He calls Simon, Andrew, James and John
• They go to Capernaum where Jesus begins to teach.

And we read:
Mark 1:22 “They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

In verse 25 Jesus casts out a demon and then we read:
Mark 1:27 “They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”

IN MARK 2 Jesus forgives and heals the paralytic that is lowered through the roof and then we read:
Mark 2:12 “And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

IN MARK 4 Jesus calms the storm and we read:
Mark 4:41 “They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

IN MARK 5 He delivers the Gadarene demoniac and casts all those demons into the pigs, and we read:
Mark 5:15 “They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened.”

Later in the chapter Jesus heals the hemorrhaging woman, and we read:
Mark 5:33 “But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.”

Then Jesus raises the little girl from the dead, and we read:
Mark 5:42 “Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.”

IN MARK 6 He walks on water:
Mark 6:51 “Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished,”

IN MARK 9 Jesus is transfigured:
Mark 9:6 “For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.”

Later in Mark 9
Mark 9:15 “Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him.”

You see the words over and over, “amazed” – “fearful” – “astounded”

Mark 11:18 “The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.”

Mark 12:17 “And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.”

Mark 15:4-5 “Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!” But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.”

DO YOU SEE MARK’S POINT?

And then when Jesus is raised from the dead:
(8) “They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

What is Mark showing you?

THE AMAZING JESUS!
• There is no one else like Him!
• There is no one who talks like He talks.
• There is no one who works like He works.
• There is no one with power like He has.
• There is no one with conviction like Him.

And Mark closes his gospel the same way.
HE IS AMAZING!
Nothing can stop Him, not even death!

One of the problems with a routine celebration of the resurrection
Is that the frequency can lead to familiarity
And before long we lose our wonder.

Mark wrote his gospel to point out that
THERE WAS NOTHING FAMILIAR OR NORMAL ABOUT THIS.

Jesus Christ went into death and came out the other side.
No one else ever demonstrated such power over such a foe.

So see the phenomenon of the resurrection.
• See the miraculous nature of it.
• Be amazed, Jesus was dead and now He is alive.

Next, let’s turn to Luke’s gospel (Luke 24)
#2 THE PURPOSE OF THE RESURRECTION
Luke 24:1-12

Certainly there is more to Luke’s account than just the 12 verses we just read.

And some things unique to Luke’s gospel alone:
• Luke alone includes the story of the two men on the road to Emmaus and
how Jesus appeared to them.
• Luke also includes (as does John) the time Jesus appeared to the disciples
in the upper room in Jerusalem.
• Only Luke includes that final commissioning of Jesus before He ascended in
Jerusalem.

And there are a lot of things we could take away from his gospel account,
But as with Mark, reading Luke makes one theme really stand out.

HERE IN LUKE’S GOSPEL,
• The women arrive at the tomb.
• Here they enter the tomb just like Mark said.
• And again, as Mark said, (5) “the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground”
• And, just as in Mark we see an angel directing the women that Jesus has risen.

But the way the angel speaks and what he says
Comes from Luke with a different feel.

(5b-7) “…the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

Here we listen to the angels who sound genuinely perplexed
That these women would be so surprised that Jesus’ body is missing.

“Why do you seek the living One among the dead?”

As if to say,
• “Do you routinely go look for missing people at the cemetery?”
• Is this normal for you to look for people who are alive here?

And the angels say, (6) “Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee”

So there is a now a reference to explain
Why these women should not have been so surprised.

Jesus had told them this was going to happen.

(7) “saying that the Son of Man MUST be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

Indeed, Jesus had said that very thing.
These things were necessary; they must happen.

And then we read in verse 8, “And they remembered His words”

WELL THEN
• The women run to the disciples and tell them what the angels had spoken.
• (According to Matthew’s gospel they had also seen Jesus by this point, but Luke does not include that).

But the apostles don’t believe it.
(11) “But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.”

So there is another case of people who just can’t seem to wrap their minds around what Jesus had already said MUST happen.

And then Luke includes another story, unique to his gospel about these men on the road to Emmaus and how Jesus joins their caravan.

These two men, like everyone else, are filled with despair.

(21-24) “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. “Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”

These men are totally shocked by the announcement of the resurrection,
And they aren’t believing it either.

And notice the rebuke Jesus gives them:
(25-27) “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

WHAT IS THE EMPHASIS THERE?
It is on their failure to read and believe the Scriptures.
• You have not understood Isaiah 53 that the righteous One would bear our sins and our sorrows.
• You have not understood Psalms 22 that they would pierce His hands and feet.
• You have not understood Psalms 118 that they would surround Him like bees, but God would deliver Him.
• You have not understood Psalms 16 where David promised that God would not allow His Holy One to undergo decay.

ARE YOU SEEING LUKE’S POINT?
1. You have women who have forgotten the words of Jesus.
2. You have disciples who won’t believe the testimony of witnesses.
3. You have these two men who have not understood the Old Testament.

Luke shows the root of the problem with all the fear and despair,
It is that they have not believed what the Bible teaches
About the resurrection of the Christ.

And that is a shame because His resurrection, as Jesus pointed out,
Is “necessary”

Jesus had to die and be buried and be raised.

So Luke highlights two main points in his gospel.
1. We believe Christ rose from the dead because the Scripture says He did.
2. We believe Christ’s resurrection was necessary because the Scripture says it was.

And that forces us then to think on the purpose of the resurrection.

What was the purpose?
Why did He have to rise?

Let me give you a few:
1) TO VALIDATE HIS ATONEMENT

Romans 4:25 “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”

Jesus wasn’t raised to justify us, His death did that.
His resurrection proved our justification.
That is to say, the resurrection proved the cross worked.

Because God raised Jesus
We know that He was in fact sinless and acceptable to the Father
And therefore His work of atonement was effective.

2) TO CONQUER DEATH

Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

Is there a greater foe than death?
It is cold, it is harsh, and it is permanent.

There is nothing that grieves humanity more
Than when death shows up uninvited.

JESUS CONQUERED DEATH
The resurrection proves that.

Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

3) TO SECURE OUR SALVATION

There is no doubt that on the cross Jesus purchased our pardon,
And the resurrection proves that.

But Jesus needs to be alive for more than just to prove the cross.
His ministry now is NOT to just go around proving He is alive and that the cross worked.

Jesus needs to be alive to apply the cross.
• He now works constantly as the High Priest of believers.
• He now continually intercedes on our behalf so that when we sin, we do not lose our salvation, but rather are protected by Him.

Hebrews 7:23-25 “The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Surely you understand that a dead priest does you no good.
If you want someone to intercede on your behalf when you mess up
At the very least that person needs to be alive.

Jesus is alive and He holds His priesthood permanently,
And therefore “He is able also to save forever” those who are His.

That is why Paul wrote:
Romans 5:9-10 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

It was His atoning death that brought you to God,
It is His resurrected life that keeps you there.

It is the Scripture that tells us that it happened.
It is the Scripture that tells us why it happened.
It is the Scripture that tells us why it had to happen.

They were all rebuked for failing to believe the Scriptures.

Luke’s gospel emphasizes how important it is for you to study the Scriptures and know the reality and significance of the resurrection.

Now go to John’s gospel (John 20)
#3 THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION
John 20:1-17

John’s gospel is also a lengthy account.
John is enamored with all the times Jesus manifests Himself to the 12.
• He shows twice when Jesus did it in Jerusalem
• Then takes you to Galilee and shows you one there too.

But one of the interesting aspects of John’s gospel is
How he really focuses on the story of Mary Magdalene.

When we put the gospel accounts together it becomes more clear what occurred.
• All the women set out together on Sunday morning, but Mary Magdalene obviously ran ahead.
• She got to the tomb when it was dark, while we read that the other women got there after sunup.
• Mary also didn’t enter the tomb or see the angel.
• All she saw was the stone was moved and she immediately assumed the worst.

John focuses on her despair and pessimism.

(2) “So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

She sees the stone moved and comes to one conclusion:
Someone must have taken the body.

Now you know
• The story of how John and Peter ran to the tomb, and it is clear that Mary ran with them.
• You know how John outran Peter but stopped at the doorway and how Peter barreled right on in.

But Peter and John left, but Mary stayed in the garden weeping.

That is when two angels show up.
(11-13) “But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

Unlike the other women, Mary seems unphased by the angels,
HER GRIEF IS TOO GREAT.

But when they want to know why she is weeping she says it a second time, (13) “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

Again Mary’s only conclusion is that His body has been stolen.

And then Jesus Himself approaches Mary,
But like the men on the road to Emmaus, she doesn’t recognize Him.

He also asks here why she is weeping, and we get her for the third time, (15) “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

There is no other possibility for Mary
Other than that Jesus body has been stolen.
She is overcome with grief and despair.

BUT LOOK WHAT HAPPENS.
(16-17) “Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”

There is the power of the resurrection!
Grief turned to joy!

Jesus had said that earlier hadn’t He?
John 16:20-22 “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

The resurrection is what grants the power to turn grief into joy.

EVEN NOW FOR US, WHEN A BELIEVER DIES,
We are sad for the immediate separation,
But we do not grieve without hope.

For Jesus said:
John 14:19 “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.”

THAT IS JOY!

AND IT’S NOT JUST MARY.

Where do we find the disciples during all of this?
(19-20) “So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.”

There they were in fear, huddled with the door locked.
But Jesus entered and peace and rejoicing entered the room.

But of course Thomas wasn’t there, and he DOUBTED it all.
(26-28) “After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

DO YOU SEE THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION?
• It took grievers and turned them into rejoicers.
• It took the fearful and gave them peace.
• It took doubters and made them believers.

These disciples were locked in a room for fear
But the resurrection turned them into
The boldest and bravest witnesses the world has ever seen.

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST HAS POWER.
IT CHANGES LIVES.
John wants you to see that.

And one final account, turn to Matthew 28
#4 THE PROCLAMATION OF THE RESURRECTION
Matthew 28:1-10

Now there are some things here that only Matthew shows you.
• Matthew tells you about the earthquake.
• Matthew tells you about the guards becoming like dead men.
• Matthew tells you about the conspiracy to cover up the resurrection.

But Matthew also has a unique focus
On the necessity that this message must be proclaimed.

When the angels speak to the women in the tomb.
(7) “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

When Jesus appears to the women as they are leaving.
(10) “Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

Then Matthew emphasizes the necessity of a true testimony
For he talks about a false testimony that is circulating all throughout Israel about how Jesus’ disciples supposedly stole Jesus’ body.

And then Matthew gets right to the point.
(16-20) “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

MATTHEW’S FOCUS IS PRETTY CLEAR ISN’T IT?
GO AND PREACH THE RESURRECTION.

And can we just point out that this is exactly what they did!

Acts 2:24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

Acts 2:32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.

Acts 3:14-15 “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.

Acts 4:2 “…they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”

Acts 4:10 “let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.”

Acts 4:33 “And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.”

And we could go on and on and on, but you get the point.
THEY PREACHED THE RESURRECTION.

As we look at all 4 of these resurrection accounts,
We begin to understand the effect it is meant to have on your life.

So let me ask you a few questions
To see if the resurrection has rightly effected you.

1) Does the resurrection of Christ amaze you? Mark wants it to.
• Are you blown away by the fact that this righteous man died upon a cross and God raised Him from the dead?
• Are you amazed at all that Christ can do and all that Christ did in order to save you from your sin?

2) Do you believe and understand the resurrection of Christ? Luke wants you to.
• Do you believe what the Scriptures said about His death and resurrection?
• Do you understand why He had to die?
• Do you understand why He had to rise?

3) Has Christ’s resurrection changed your life? John wants it to.
• Has Christ given you hope instead of despair?
• Has Christ given you peace instead of fear?
• Has Christ changed your view of the world and of life and of suffering?
• Do you now overcome the world because of what He did?

4) Are you a proclaimer of Christ’s resurrection? Matthew wants you to.
• Is it the most important thing that has ever happened to your life?

One thing you cannot deny about the writers of the gospels is that
THERE WAS NOTHING BIGGER TO THEM
Than the fact that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead.

1. Nothing else amazed them like that.
2. Nothing else was as important as that.
3. Nothing else changed them like that.
4. And they didn’t want to talk about anything else.

AND THEN WE COME TO THE CHURCH TODAY

We are captivated and amazed on a daily basis,
• But is it with Christ or is it with the flashing lights and sparkling trinkets of the world?

There are plenty of things that are important to us,
• But where does the resurrection of Christ rank on our list?
• Is it more important than politics, than the economy, than our favorite sporting event?

Where does your joy rest?
Where does your hope reside?
What gives you peace?

And honestly, we’ll know the answer
To those first three questions by examining the last one.

WHAT DO YOU TALK ABOUT?
WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE?

“Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Or as Adrian Rogers put it, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket”

One thing is certain about the apostles.
The resurrection had a profound effect on their life.

IT SHOULD ON OURS AS WELL.

1. Jesus Christ is fully God who became fully man.
2. He lived on this earth, perfectly obeying the Law of God and earning a righteousness that far surpasses anything we ever did.
3. He then offered that righteous life up to God on our behalf and He gave Himself up to death to cover our debt.
4. And God raised Him from the dead indicating that His death was successful and our redemption is secure.

Nothing matters more than that.
That fact should change your life.

IF IT HASN’T, ASK YOURSELF WHY NOT?
• Ask yourself if you really believe it?
• Ask yourself if you have ever confessed the risen One as Lord of your life?
• Ask yourself if you have been raised with Christ?
• And then commit your life to Him.

And this morning we simply want to close
Rejoicing that our salvation is secure because our Savior lives.