Sermon for Lord's Day July 23, 2023 Headline from the Graveyard Gazette

The Resurrection as Our Only Hope

Lord, as the psalmist declared and as we just sang, we come to you today as our rock and as our Redeemer. Lord, we recognize a confident declaration to you, Lord, that there is none else beside.

You that we come.

We come before your throne this morning with boldness, not based upon who we are or anything that we have done, but simply and solely based upon what you have done. That you suffered, that you bled, that you died, that you rose and that you ascended and that one day you are coming again.

We pray with confidence unto you, Lord, knowing that you hear our cries. We praise you for the prayers that you have answered, that you have answered according to your holy will. We pray for grace to understand and accept the prayers that may not have been answered the way that we desire them to be answered, but that we may lean more fully and totally.

Upon you.

And Lord, it is as we enter upon this text today, I recognize that I am not able to do justice to this passage today, O God, and I know it is not possible to have this passage that we're going to be looking at this morning any more full of life than it already is.

But Lord, I would just ask you humbly and graciously show us your glory. Lord, my prayer today is that you would burn away the dross from the cold hearts. Dear God, that you would fan the flame of your power and of your glory in your church.

That you would excite the saints of God over this one thing that you have been raised from.

The dead.

And God, that you would burn this upon our hearts and in our minds, that we might take what we hear today and not just rejoice in it and of it ourselves, but that we would take it, that we would declare it and that we would proclaim it to this world that stands.

In need of you.

O God, today, please bring joy and encouragement from the preaching of your word this morning. Please, O Lord, for it is in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Stand with us, if you would, to honor the reading of God's word. We're going to be reading Luke chapter 24, verses 1 through 12 in your hearing. These are the words of the living God. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared, and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel, and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead?

He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified. And on the third day rise, they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

Now, it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. These words seemed to them as idle tales, and they did not believe them.

But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in. He saw the linen clothes by themselves, and he went home marveling at what had happened. Thus far as the reading of God's word, you may be seated this morning.

As we consider this resurrection account today, let's be quick, let's be swift to understand that the doctrine of the resurrection is truly beyond our grasp as far as having full knowledge of it, and of, I can only speak for myself, way beyond my grasp of having ability to articulate it in such a way that we can take a hold of the theological depth of the doctrine of the resurrection.

But as we consider this passage today, let's briefly take a step back for just a moment, just in chapter 23, what we read in chapter 23, what we see in Matthew and Mark and Luke and John's gospel, all alike, was Jesus' cry from the cross.

Believe it is in Matthew we have it where Jesus cried, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. And then he cried, it is finished. He hung his head and he gave up the ghost. We have it in John, him crying, it is finished.

Particularly, I want us to take a step back as we enter upon this text today to consider Jesus' cry from the cross and what took place according to the gospels themselves in relation to the graves being opened and some of the saints rising from the dead and going into Jerusalem after Jesus' resurrection.

Strangely enough, there was a fantastic article in Our Daily Bread from what year, I'm not sure, but the article spoke about the earthquake and the rocks being rent and the graves being opened in particular.

And in this article, it said this, the reason is because there is a significant distinction between just the rocks being rent and the graves being opened. The splitting of the rocks was an evidence of force, while the opening of graves was an evidence of God's design.

The splitting of the rocks did not by itself foretell anything to come. But the opening of the graves, the opening of the graves, however, was like the first budding of the coming resurrection glory. As an event, the earthquake was not simply the means to open the graves, but it was an independent miracle with its own distinct meaning.

In the same way, the opening of the graves was not simply the logical result of the earthquake, but it was an event with its own unique meaning and importance. The opening of the graves was the instantaneous result of the earthquake in the same way that the earthquake was the instantaneous result of Christ's shout of victory from the cross.

And like the earthquake, it occurred in response to that shout. The moment Christ died, the graves were open. According to the gospel text, we have this to be true. Now, some may say, why do we continue to preach and proclaim and take time verse by verse, line by line to go through this text that seemingly the church has heard forever?

Because it is very, very important that you do not forget it. It is very important, as Luke wrote to Theophilus, so that you might have a more excellent understanding of what Jesus Christ has done so that in having that understanding, you and I might be able to go out those doors back there when we go to eat, when we go to talk with our friends, when we go to work to tell everybody what Christ the Lord has done.

Charles Spurgeon said this, leave Christ out of the preaching and you will do nothing. He said this. I love his wit. He said only advertise all over London, Mr. Baker, that you are making bread without flour.

He was equating preaching without preaching the gospel. He said, go ahead and put it in the papers. Bread without flour, bread without flour. And soon, Spurgeon said, you may soon shut up your shop for your customers will hurry off to other tradesmen.

A sermon without Christ at its beginning, in its middle, and as it ends, Spurgeon said this, is a mistake. It's a mistake in conception and it's a crime in execution if Christ be not there. And I mean by Christ, not merely his example, not merely the ethical precepts that we learn from the gospel and Jesus teaching, but particularly his atoning blood, his wondrous satisfaction made for human sin and this grand doctrine of believe and live.

Folks will say the church hour is not an hour of evangelism. It is an hour of evangelism. It is an hour of sanctification. It is a period of time where we grow in grace and in knowledge. And my friend, you begin your growth in Christ by being born again.

Have you been born again? Are you saved by the grace of God? Do you know Christ or better yet, does Christ know you? We preach the gospel continually. We preach the gospel promiscuously everywhere for this reason, because people are wicked.

There have been a great many wicked men and women. There have been a great many, believe this or not, wicked boys and girls. Some of you may have been that wicked little boy or girl.

Amen.

And you might be lying if you disagree with that. In fact, all people whom Christ has saved have been wicked people. And what do wicked people need more than anything?

They need the Evangelion.

They need the gospel of Jesus Christ. So Paul said this in 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 15, the Apostle Paul writes to young Timothy and he makes this declaration. This is a faithful saying and this is worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.

Sin is a reality, therefore the gospel is a necessary need in the world in which we.

Live.

Vance Habner, an old country preacher, Kenny and I like Vance Habner. Kenny likes him, I think, because Kenny's so old now. But Vance Habner said this. Vance Habner said, I remember when the Titanic sank in 1912.

He said it was the ship that was supposed to be unsinkable. But Habner and his country charm and wit said all it ever did was sink. When it took off from England, he said all kinds of passengers were aboard.

There were millionaires, there were celebrities, there were people of moderate means, there were poor folks down in the steerage. But it was only a few hours later when the report came to the Cunard's office in New York that it carried only two categories of people and those categories of individuals were lost and saved.

Many souls died that day. Many souls were lost that day, but there were some who were saved. Another, Alexander McLaren, one of the contemporaries of Charles Spurgeon, he said this, social reform needs this lesson.

Now, keep in mind, keep in mind, Alexander McLaren preached around the time of Spurgeon. This is in the 1800s. This is what he said at that time. It's still a needful truth for us to hear today. Social reformers need this lesson, McLaren said.

Many voices proclaim many gospels today. Cultural, economical and social reconstruction is trumpeted as the panacea, but it matters comparatively little how society is organized if its individual members retain their former natures, their evils will come back, whatever and however it is organized.

The only thorough cure for social ills is individual regeneration. Christ deals with men singly and he remolds society, not by reshaping the lot but by remaking the individual man, woman, boy and girl into new creatures.

McLaren said this, the most elaborate machinery may be used for filtering sewage. What will be the good of that if the fountain of blackness is not sealed up or rather purified at its hidden source? Make the tree good and its fruit will be good.

To make the tree good, you must begin by dealing with sin and dealing with sin is what Christ did when Christ came, lived a sinless life, suffered the indomitious death of the cross, hung there between heaven and earth, taking upon himself the wrath of God.

He who knew no sin became sin for us. This is the gospel and the grim reality of life is this, that all, not some, but that all have sinned and that all come short of God's glory. But the great reality today of God's amazing grace is this, that you too can be saved from your sin.

Some might say, why such a basic gospel message? We don't come to church to hear these light things. My friend, if you think the gospel is a light thing, you are misunderstood. The gospel is the most weighty of issues.

We teach, preach and proclaim this week after week so that you might hear it and that you might not only be hearers of the word, that you might be doers of the word, that you might take this to a world that is dying, to a world that is lost, and to a world where the gospel might not be saved.

We must all realize that we have two major problems in life. One first major problem in life that you have is that you are under God's wrath because of sin. And the second major problem that you have in life is that because of sin, we all die.

So the most important knowledge that you as an individual may gain will come not from the preacher, but it will come from God himself. And God's word is clear. God's word is plain concerning the character and the nature of God, who God is, that he is high, that he is holy and that he is lifted up, that he is exalted and that we.

Are not.

Not even close, not in the ballpark, not in the universe, not in anything. There is no comparison. There is God and holiness and there is sin and unrighteousness. It is those two things and understanding this dark reality and the consequence of our sin is most necessary for you and I as individuals to take hold of.

For it is by this knowledge that we come to the end of ourselves and that we come to terms with the fact that we need salvation. We need salvation from God's wrath. We need to be delivered from death.

God provided the means and the ends for our salvation by sending his son, Jesus, who himself, Jesus, bore out God's wrath on our behalf so that we might have the forgiveness of our sins and so that we might be rid of the problem of death.

Death is a problem because men fear it. Death is a problem because men do everything they can to escape it. But for the Christian brothers and sisters today, death is not the end. For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

And we have not only that hope, but we have a hope of a glorified, resurrected body one day after a while. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we read what the preacher writes, what Solomon writes. He said, all this I laid to heart, Ecclesiastes chapter nine, all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how both the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hands of God, whether it is love or whether it is hate, man does not know both are before him.

It is the same for all. Since the same event happens to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him who sacrifices and to him who does not sacrifice as the good one is, so is the sinner and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath.

And Solomon writes, after having searched for meaning in life, says this, this is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil and madness is in their hearts while they live.

And after that, they go to the dead. So as we get ready to enter into the text, you say, preacher, that was heavy. That does not necessarily make me want to rejoice. That does not make me want to, as we sung in the song, shout to God.

And it would be dishonest of me to say it is that it is absolutely necessary that we know the heaviness and the darkness of sin and our unrighteousness so that we can truly rejoice in the goodness of our God and of our Savior.

The tone of chapter 22 and chapter 23, as we've gone through them, had been very somber. They've been very sad. They've been very heavy, to say the very least. But here in chapter 24, in verse one, reading the first words of chapter 24, it is like the sun shining through the storm clouds, its rays and its beams glisten and they glow with radiance, dispelling the darkness of death with the marvelous and the glorious light of the resurrection of our dear Savior.

This people, when I speak of this in context, this people that we have read about in the Gospels, this people had the absolute unique privilege, unlike anybody before them and unlike anyone after them.

They had the absolute unique privilege of having God in their midst. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, these people chose intentionally to have Jesus crucified. And all the while, the Sanhedrin, assuming that they were doing God a favor by killing the Prince of Life, they were simply playing the fools, for it was by, according to what Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, it was by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God that these wicked men were allowed to do what they did when they did.

And what these people did was evil. But God turned it for his own glory and for the good of those who will believe in him. So let's move into the exposition of the text as quickly as we can here. If we are to be honest, if we are to be sober minded, it is very reasonable that anyone giving a good reading, and I'm talking about a good reading of the gospel accounts, would notice variations from one gospel account to the next, meaning there would be little things that might be different.

So concerning the synoptic accounts, concerning John's gospel of the resurrection itself, we see being a little bit different from one another. We see specifics inserted in the text.

F .F.

Bruce gives insight to this fact and he says this, what Matthew wants to do is underline the miraculous and also to explain a rumor that the body of Jesus was stolen. What Luke does is stresses the fulfillment of the words of Jesus and yet the disbelief of the apostles, which that's one of the things we're going to see here shortly.

John, by focusing on a single character in her intimate discussion with Jesus, points out that in the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus, the promises of John 13 through 16 are fulfilled. It comes down to this, Jesus cannot be held, for it is better for him to go to the one who is not only his father, but is also now our father.

It is when we look at the resurrection through such eyes, informed by the perspectives of each of the gospel writers, that we see not simply a miracle nor even just the fact of the resurrection, but we see the message the church has believed that God wanted to communicate in and through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his son.

So some questions, if you're taking notes today, if you're taking notes and you want to put a header on the top of your notes this morning, I will share with you what I've placed on the top of my notes.

Again, keeping in mind in Luke, as we move toward the end of Luke, keeping in mind that Luke, unlike Matthew, Mark and John, Luke's gospel is as though he is a reporter taking eyewitness testimony accounts and putting them down.

And so with that being in mind, in light of where we're at, I imagine if there ever was a graveyard that put out a newspaper, it might have as its editor here, Luke. And we might call this, and what I put on the title of my notes is this, in quotes, as a headline, but on the first day of the week.

This might be the headline from the Graveyard Gazette on the first day of the week. And what we're going to look at answers to and we're going to answer these questions today as best we can. Number one, what took place?

What took place in the text? Verses 1 through 12, what took place? Number two, we're going to very briefly and I'll just go ahead and cover it as we as I give you the question. Very briefly, this might be the most obvious and the most intense question that we'll think about today.

It is likely a question that theologians and scholars have set for years, lost sleep over, argued about. The obvious question that might be asked would be this one. Was the stone round and disc shaped or was it square and cork shaped?

Like I say, I'm going to go ahead and give you the answer to this question. It could have been either or, but in both cases, either or the stone was moved from the door of the tomb. So there, that question is settled.

And lastly, third, we want to look at why these things took place. Why did these things take place? Did Jesus need to have the stone removed in order for him to come out of the grave? And was there of necessity a purpose for the seal to be broken and for the door to be opened?

Was there of necessity a reason for the seal to be broken and for the door to be opened? So let's begin with a brief timeline here. We notice, but on the first day of the week at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

Now, we read in verse 56 of chapter 23, the scripture says this, then they return, or I'm sorry, verse 55 of 23, the women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb from where his body was laid.

Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandment. This is important because it's very easy for us, for individuals, for us, for anyone to get tripped up on this terminology that's used.

It's important that we understand that there were more than just the weekly Sabbaths, but there was the high and holy day, the Sabbath that was set aside for the feast of unleavened bread. So we're going to see this in this timeline.

So Nisan day 14, if you just want to take this down very quickly, Nisan day 14, and we're considering this on an evening to evening basis. So maybe from from sundown to sundown the next day. So Nisan 14 was likely Tuesday to Wednesday, our days.

And what took place was this, the preparation day for the annual, not the weekly Sabbath, the annual Sabbath, the preparation was. And it was this morning that Jesus was brought before Pilate as they go into the garden.

They come take Jesus. He's he's betrayed by Judas. He's taken. They have the mock and the sham trial. Then early, early during that day after the sun comes up, they have a quote unquote official trial, which is still a farce.

We see Jesus taken before Pilate, before Herod. Jesus is crucified. And about 3 p .m., about the ninth hour, he hung his head. He gave up the ghost. And it was at this time where Joseph of Arimathea comes and he begs the body of Jesus from from Pilate.

He takes the body of Jesus down. They put Jesus in the grave. The Sabbath takes place. Nisan day 15, Nisan 15, which would be Wednesday to Thursday. What happens this day? It was the first annual Sabbath or high day.

The first day of unleavened bread, what's taking place here? The tomb is guarded and the tomb is secured by having the seal placed on it and guards in front of it. Nisan 16, which would be Thursday to Friday evening.

What takes place? The annual Sabbath is now over and the women bought and prepared spices for anointing Jesus' body. Nisan day 17, the weekly Sabbath, the actual regular weekly Sabbath takes place. The women rested on this weekly Sabbath day.

And it was on this day that Jesus arose around sunset because this makes three days and three nights after the burial to fulfill what Jesus said concerning the son of Jonah, that the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish.

And then on Sunday, Nisan 18, the women brought the prepared spices early in the morning while it was still dark. And when they arrived, guess what they found? An open grave. And so we see the timeline very briefly.

And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Notice in verse one, these ladies were not deterred from doing what they had set out to do. They set out to do what their custom was, which was to honor their deceased loved.

Ones. J .C.

Ryle commented on this. He said, let it be noted that this early visit to the sepulcher is a strong proof of the love and the affection of these holy women. MacArthur said this, understandably, they desired one last opportunity to demonstrate their love because the Jewish people did not embalm the bodies of the dead.

Anointing was an act born of necessity to mitigate the powerful odors of a decomposing body. This is why they brought spices to anoint the body of Jesus. Matthew Henry said, unlike the Egyptians, the Jews did not attempt to embalm bodies, but simply encased them in strongly perfumed burial cloths to help mask the stench of decay.

These women didn't know when they came that the stone was going to be rolled away. How do we know this? I'm glad that you ask. The scripture tells us this. They did not know the stone was going to be rolled away because we have it in Mark's account of the gospel.

They actually are asking themselves, who will roll the stone away for us? In Matthew's account, we have it that, behold, there was a earthquake and the stone was rolled away. And then in John's gospel, we have it that the stone had been rolled away.

Now, what can we infer from gathering information from all four of the gospel accounts? We can deduce that the stone was rolled away. So, yes, the stone was rolled away. And now the question is, how was the stone rolled away?

The scriptures answer this in Matthew chapter 28, Matthew chapter 28, verses one through four. The scripture says this. Now, after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb and behold, there was a great earthquake for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and he rolled back the stone and he sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became as dead men. So as a result of this demonstration of God's power, the earth shook.

And so we continue in the text here. We clearly see that the tomb was open. And now we must ask the question, was Jesus alive before the door was open? And if so, how would he have escaped from Sheol, the place of the dead, if there was no way out?

And then lastly, why was the door of the grave open? The answers to both questions, brothers and sisters, today are not as difficult as you may think, for if we simply return to the scriptures, we have the answers given to us in Matthew chapter 17, verse 22 and 23.

The scripture tells us, gives us the account again of what Jesus continually told the disciples and they were gathering in Galilee. Jesus said to them, the son of man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.

They will kill him and then he will be raised on the third day. And the scripture says they were greatly distressed. In Mark's gospel, chapter 9, verse 30 and 31, they went on from there and passed through Galilee.

And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him. And when he is killed, he will rise again.

In Matthew chapter 12, for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the son of man be in the heart of the earth. In John chapter 2, verse 19 through 22, Jesus answered them, if you destroy this temple, I will raise it up again in three days.

The Jews said it's taken 46 years for Herod to finish this temple. And you say that you're going to build it again in three days. But the scriptures tell us Jesus was not talking about the building. He was talking about his body.

And when, therefore, he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this and they believed the scripture. As a result, they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Lastly, in John's gospel, we see Jesus when Lazarus dies, Martha goes and she runs to Jesus and she says, Lord, if you had only been here, my brother would not have died. Jesus said, your brother will live again.

I know, Lord, he'll live again on the last day at the resurrection. And Jesus looked at her and he said, I am the resurrection. And he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. So from the text of scripture here, we see the answers to those questions that we just asked.

Yes, Jesus arose on the third day before the door of the tomb was opened. And to the second question, no, he did not need the stone to be rolled away to get out of that grave. As a matter of fact, the stone was rolled away for the benefit of the women and the disciples.

It was rolled away for their benefit. The stone wasn't rolled away because Jesus, quote, unquote, needed to get out of the grave. The stone was rolled away so that we can see in the disciples could see in so that they might understand that death could not hold the Lord of glory for the stone was rolled away.

And according to the scriptures, the angelic announcement was made. He is not here. He is risen and not just he has risen, but he's risen just like he said. So truly, truly the practical application for the verses six through eight as we move through this, the practical application for verses six through eight, he is not here, but he is risen.

Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, that they must be that he must be crucified and that on the third day he must rise.

And they remembered his words. The practical application for verses six through eight is simply to be reminded by God according to his word that he is faithful. There is never been a time where God has been unfaithful intentionally or unintentionally.

This is one of the glories that we have in our great God, that he is faithful and that he is true, that he is unchanging. So by application, what should we do? We should walk in the life that he has given us.

We should live according to the spirit of God. We should, you should today remember that Christ died for you and that Christ's resurrection guarantees your salvation at the last and at the last day of time, as we know it, whenever that is.

And at the entrance of the eternal state, we too shall have glorified bodies. The old song says something like this, some glad morning fly away. That's right. Another one of the old songs says some glad morning.

We shall see Jesus in the air coming after you and me. Joy is ours to share. What rejoicing there will be when the saints shall rise headed for that jubilee yonder in the skies. Oh, what singing. Oh, what shouting on that happy morning when we all shall gladly rise.

Oh, what glory, glory, hallelujah, glory when we meet our blessed Savior yonder in.

The skies.

We have hope beyond this life, church. We had hope beyond this life. Again, I can't fully explain the doctrine of the resurrection. Let me tell you what Thomas Watson said, one of the old Puritans. He said at the resurrection, every soul shall have its own body.

The same body that dies shall arise. It was a custom, he said, in the African churches to say this specifically. I believe in the resurrection of this body. He said, I confess the doctrine of the resurrection is such that it is too deep for reason to wade.

You must let faith swim. Sometimes you can't understand it. Sometimes your feet can't touch the bottom. Sometimes your mind can't always get wrapped around it completely. But we can rest assured in this fact that God's word has said it and therefore it is true because he is true and he is faithful.

Moving down here to the last section here, we see in verse 10, it was Mary Magdalene, Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and the other women with him who told these things to the apostles.

In verse 11, notice very closely here the wording, but these words seem to them to be idle tales. And as a result, they did not believe them. To which it's very easy for us to get puffed up in our flesh and to say.

What is wrong with them? Were they stupid? Were they ignorant? No, they told them repeatedly what was going to take place. And guess what, church? Christian men, women, boys and girls, we have the word of God.

And the best thing that we can do is believe the word of God because he has proved himself true time and time again. Notice what happens here in verse 11. And it seems to be a reality for many of us. Many of us, I'm not excluding myself.

And I would say this to you, take heart, Christian men, take heart, Christian women. Your faith might be very small. Your faith may be weak in comparison to some of the other brothers and sisters in the Lord's church.

But you are not alone. And I'll go another step further and I'll say you are not even unique to this state of mind of feeling faithless at times because we had a great cloud of witnesses to whom we can look individually as believers in Christ.

Men, women, boys, girls who make as bold as lines. Some with faith as small as little children. But what we do know is this. What we do see is this. These disciples, Peter, I don't believe you is what he said.

Go on. I don't want to hear this no more. We're having a hard enough time as it is. No, you guys really need to go look, you need to check this out. And so one of the things that we can take from this, as we see here, the apostle and the other disciples disbelieved.

You know what that means? That is the opposite of believing. That's the opposite of belief. They distrusted the word of the women that was brought to them. And it wasn't until they saw for themselves, it wasn't until they were brought to confidence of the word that the Lord Jesus himself had spoken to them.