The Resurrection Is Real — Erlo Stegen

Thank you, Lord, that we may celebrate this day of your resurrection from the dead. Had you not risen, everything is in vain. We thank you, Lord. Be with us now, Lord, in our midst in your resurrection power, that your name would be glorified.

Amen. Today's service, I'm going to conduct in a slightly different way. I want to arm you, for there are enemies who are fighting against the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some years ago, Muslims said they're going to conquer the whole of Africa.

The Great Commission and the Challenge of Islam

But as you can see with recent events, they are determined not to just grab Africa, but the whole world. Jesus said that we should spread the gospel to the uttermost parts of the world, but because of not fulfilling our commission and laziness, they, the Muslims, are stepping in.

We are guilty before God with that. Taking, sending it to all the world, but now you see violent Islam with their bombs and whatever, who are trying to force it upon the whole world. Now, here in South Africa, there used to be a Mr. Didat.

Didat was determined to conquer the whole of South Africa and other places, and you. And so he held meetings where thousands, 3 ,000 or more would attend. And he would say the religion of Christianity is not right.

It is incorrect. And Jesus did not rise from the dead. He would say, Paul said Jesus had risen from the dead, but he would say that there is no place in the whole New Testament where Jesus said that he had died.

He would arrange mass meetings where he would debate these issues. And so one of the meetings or debates was held in the Westridge Stadium in Durban, and so he sat on his stage as a hero like Goliath, and then he would state Jesus never said that he rose from death.

It was just Paul and them that made such claims. There was silence, and the Christians didn't know what to answer. But one man stood up. His name was Josh McDowell. So he stood up to answer, and he said, did I hear you correctly that you said Jesus never said in the New Testament that he had died and rose?

And did I say yes? Then he said, doesn't it say in Revelations chapter 1, in verse 18, but let me start at the end of verse 17, where he said, do not be afraid, the words of Jesus, I am the first and the last, and I'm he who lives and was dead.

That verse, the words of Jesus, I was dead, I'm the living one now, that caused Dida to not be able to answer. There were many Indians in the audience, and they cheered wildly because the ball had been kicked into the goal.

Dida never raised that point again. He never mentioned the issue that Jesus never said when he was dead. Now, I say this to arm you. I want you to be armed with the word of the Lord. If you meet Muslims, there are answers.

Answering the Three Days and Three Nights Objection

Another point which they like, which they use a lot, they say, Jesus said, like Jonah, who was in the stomach of that fish for three days and three nights. But they say, Jesus was not dead for three days and literally three nights, because he died at approximately 3 p .m. In the afternoon, on Friday, and there was Friday night.

There was Saturday, Saturday night. So, the Muslims say, so they say, it is untrue then that he was dead three days and three nights, for it was only two nights. Why say tea? And so, in reply, that is not our Josh Combring.

Josh McDowell said, but be wise with the Bible. He said, in Esther chapter 4, and in Matthew 20, where he refers to being buried for three days and three nights, he said, the Muslims' claim is incorrect.

Now, Dedat's claim was that Jesus actually never physically died. He was in a swoon, or in a faint, and then he got up. And so, he responded. McDowell responded and said, don't be confused. In the Jewish times, in the Jewish times, they had their own understanding.

Now, as you know already, that in the evening, the Bible refers to the first day. In fact, it was the way we would. The way we refer to time and the way the Jews or the Hebrews referred to it was not the same.

For the Jews, in the Jewish understanding, it would start, the day would start at six in the evening till six the next morning. Now, understand that, because Jesus died at about three in the afternoon.

So, in other words, on Friday, he was dead for three hours. In the Jewish understanding, any part of a day was counted as a day and a night. Even us. Now, that should not confuse us, for even in our own understanding, if a mother gives birth to a child one minute before 12 at night, at night, whatever day, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, whatever, the birthday of that child, considering that a year has got 365 days, one minute, no more two minutes, no more three minutes before 12.

Whether you're born one minute or two minutes before midnight, it doesn't matter, your birthday will be counted as being on that day. Now, Jesus, Jesus died three hours before six in the evening. Now, those three hours counted as the full day.

For the Jews in that time, counted any partial, any part of the day as being a day and a night. Even if you read some of the ancient scriptures like the Talmud, or the Babylonian Jerusalem Talmud, any part of the day, and onan is what they used, is counted as a full day.

So, on Friday before 6 p .m., according to the Jewish reckoning of time of that era, it would have been counted as a day and a night. Therefore, It was indeed true that it was three days and three nights, for any part of a day was reckoned as a day and a night.

So, it's Friday. They counted that as a day and night. Saturday too, day and night. Six to six. Until the evening. And then the next, from six, counting from the evening as in our time, 6 p .m., they counted it as a day, and going to the next morning, it was therefore reckoned as a full day.

Then, in my own foolishness, I could have considered it like this, that the sun, remember, was darkened. It was like night from 12 to 3. But the Jewish understanding was different. Now, if you look at the last verses of chapter 4 of Esther, and the first verse of Esther chapter 5, you will see their understanding of a day and a night.

So, you see that any part of a day that was there was counted in the Jewish understanding of a day as being a full day and a full night. Now, I've given this to give you weapons. Use the scriptures. So, if you meet with a Muslim who objects and says it's untrue because it was Jesus said three days and three nights, and yet it didn't happen, no, they don't reckon with the understanding, the common understanding of Jews at the time, that any part of a day was regarded day and night.

And so, even in our own understanding, if a child is born at maybe 11 o 'clock at night, when a child, then it's the day before the birthday, if it goes across the hour of 12 at night, midnight, then it's already their birthday.

And if you fill in even any government form that you have to fill in your details and your date of birth, you count it as your birthday, even if it was at night. Don't be confused by things that are obvious.

The Debate with Didet and the Warning Against Blasphemy

Didet was in his chair. As arrogant as Goliath, claiming that Jesus himself never used the words, I was dead and rose again. And though Didet was very arrogant in inviting any Christian debater to come and debate him, but this single verse from Revelations, which Josh McDowell used, was like that single stone that David used to fell Goliath.

Now, in Durban, the Indians there, and I love them, and I also love their food, their curry and rice. Now, Indians in Durban wrote a letter to Didet, and these pastors said, Mr. Didet, stop mocking our Lord Jesus Christ.

Leave him. You're welcome to propagate Islam, your own religion, and we will propagate our faith, Christianity. And if you don't stop blaspheming, we hand you over to God that he will do what he wants.

See these Indian pastors? Okay, good. Didet read the letter and laughed, and he continued. Soon afterwards, he had a stroke. Not just a minor stroke, a major stroke that affected his brain, at the back of his brain.

He never uttered a word again from that day for years. For he did not listen and heed the warning. He did not listen to God's warning, and God was the one who sent that, and closed his mouth. I visited some friends and relatives of Didet.

It was before that stroke. I said, won't you invite him? He can come and bring a suitcase, and he can stay in my home and visit us. I will not preach to him. I'm not going to fight him. I just want him to come and observe my life.

Let him see how I behave when I'm with my wife, how we get on together. I want him to see how I am with my children. And let him look at Kwasi Zabantu as to how we live here. So, I said, invite him. I'd really wanted him to visit, and stay for some days.

I'd said, I don't want to preach to him. I want him just to see the life that I live. But it didn't happen. It was overseas when I received the news that he had had a stroke. I sent a message to his relatives that I'd like to visit him in hospital, or in his home, wherever he is.

The king of Saudi Arabia sent a jetliner to fetch him, and take him to the best specialists available. So, they fetched him with their jet, and they took him to the best specialists available. Now, there are many rumours.

Now, there are many rumours, and I'm not quite sure of this, but I was informed that he was even flown to the best specialists in Germany, but even they could not help him. So, I said to his relatives, I would like to visit him, even if he's not able to speak.

I would like to visit him and see him. But they said to me, well, the marvellous thing is, even if he can't speak, his eyes are shining and sparkling. I said, fine, I want to see him. But I was very sad when I heard that he had died.

And he died still standing for his religion. I don't know what he is going to answer the judge of judges, the Lord Jesus, the one who said, I was dead, and behold, I am alive. Now, that's the first point.

The Heavy Stone and the Empty Tomb

The second point, in Luke 23, verse 53, it says there that Joseph of Arimathea donated his sepulchre, his grave. There it is. The three ladies peering in. Look at that grave. The graves were not... The graves of rich people were unlike ours.

It was the sepulchre where they had dug into the side of the mountain. It was like a little room in the rock. Look at the round, what looks like a wheel. They could not pick it up. Because it is said that it was over three tons in weight.

It was rolled to close the door. Although the grave wasn't... The grave wasn't exactly as this one is depicted. We were once in Jerusalem and we saw his grave. The gravestone at the door was extremely heavy, could not be just lifted by a person.

It had to be pushed and rolled till the door closed. Those women on the way were speaking to each other, who will roll the stone away for us? When they got there, they found it already open. And so they entered in.

And the angel said, he is not here for he has risen. I'd wanted you to see the picture just to get an idea of what the graves were like. It wasn't like ours are today. Thank you very much. Oh, Joseph.

Now, Joseph, of course, it was a grave dug into the side and in that room on the right hand side, there was like a ledge where they would lay the corpse. The women came with spices. And Nicodemus in John 19, verse 39.

He also came with spices. Not just a little dish of it. This, the weight was 100 pounds, 45 .359 kg. You don't work in imperial system anymore, but it's 49 .359 kilograms. A heavyweight. Joseph came also with linen.

Nicodemus came with 45 .5 kg. These spices, which was 45 kg. To anoint or to embalm the body of Jesus. Many Jews didn't do that. Many Jews instead simply washed the corpse and would put a nice scent on it.

But they came rather with, Nicodemus and the others, came with embalming spices and linen to wrap him in. We could liken it to a cost. We say in South Africa, plaster of Paris, where a person has broken their arm, they would wrap it in this cast and these bandages which then harden to plaster of Paris.

The Egyptians did that. They didn't want a corpse to putrefy. They wanted to embalm it so that the corpse would last for thousands of years. I think the men that came also wanted something like that, because he was such a hero to them.

They wanted to embalm him so that his body would not rot. They forgot that the Bible said his body would not see decay or corruption. So when they brought these things, they saw it as the final death.

It was forever. And they wrapped him around the head, and also to the neck, and to the shoulders, and to the arms, and the legs, and to the feet, and to the feet, and to the feet. And not only that. They all came to him.

Also, then more alloes, then wrapped it more, then more of these spices, and again, I'd wanted to bring you a slide that you could see for yourself what it would have looked like. And so, that's what they did.

Wrapping his body, like I've illustrated, a doctor today would put plaster of Paris, they'd wrap it around until it becomes hard. Now, if I say that it was 45kg, just imagine how heavy those that embalming and bandages would have weighed.

And how thick it was. Then the next part, they would start at the neck, and start with the fresh bandages, and then the spices going right down legs and feet. Then these women that came were sent back to the disciples to tell them, he is not dead, he has risen.

John and Peter, they ran with speed. They wasted no time. You know what Peter was like? He was very forward and quick to do things. And he would be hasty, but on the way, John overtook Peter and got there to the grave first.

Remember that Peter was quite a bit older than this youngster, John, and that is why John could overtake him. If I run today, even my grandchildren can overtake me. And so John got to the door of the grave and peered in.

But when Peter came, he went right in to look. Now, rumour was going around that he had not risen, his disciples had simply stolen. And Peter observed that the embalming bandages were just as it had been.

You cannot just take your head out of such a thing. It is tightly closed. The only way humanly possible is to cut it with a saw or something to get through it. So the head cast, and then from the neck down to the feet.

Then this cast of myrn, aloes and these bandages. And then linen again, more spices, more linen, more spices. Three days in the grave. It had hardened, so this embalming had hardened. If you wrap plaster of Paris around your leg, it doesn't take long for it to harden.

And the body from the neck down. When Peter went in, he saw the head cast lying there on its own. And then from the neck downwards, the other part that was lying right there where his body had laid. Peter knew instantly the body was not stolen for this cast.

Nobody could just extract it. For this cast was like a shell by this time. You would have to come with something very sharp, like very sharp scissors, and you'd cut. And it would be difficult to cut. Then you'd start with the cast from the neck down and have to cut through it.

In other words, how amazing is this matter of the Lord Jesus. We take the Bible, we read it so superficially. In English, there are certain insects which can make themselves a cocoon into which they die.

And when the transformation happens, it has to eat its way out of this cocoon. And when the transformation happens, it has to eat its way out of this cocoon. Nothing could eat its way out of this cocoon in which the corpse of the Lord Jesus was.

You see, the resurrection of Jesus is historical and undeniable. Now, Peter was convinced. He knew that the body was not stolen for there was the full shell of the embalming. It was right there. Jesus was able to suddenly appear in the locked room of the disciples where they were hiding.

He didn't have to open the door, climb through the window. He could just be right there. The same now with this cast. He could just go right through it. Now, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus in bringing the linen cloth and the spices to embalm him, they did a wonderful thing for it just made the case watertight.

It cannot be true that his body was stolen. I don't know, friends. Is this understandable? Is it? If it's not clear to you, then you're welcome to visit me in my home. I can sit down with you and show you the proofs.

Otherwise, you need to go back to school for the basic knowledge. The resurrection of Jesus is exalted, marvelous, indescribable in human words, and so that is why we are commissioned to spread this good news to all the earth.

Woe to us if we do not fulfill this commission. Now, leave that point. Let's leave it. Isn't it enough? I have spoken an hour and a half about this and I haven't yet even started with my sermon. Now just in short, let's bow our heads and we pray again.

The Commission to Proclaim Christ's Suffering, Death, and Resurrection

Lord Jesus, your matter is so wonderful. Nothing can be compared to it. Indeed, Lord Jesus, we should have feet that are swift to spread the gospel everywhere so that people would understand how great this is about you.

To tell the news of your suffering, your death, and your resurrection. Lord, bless us as we read your word. Amen. Some are confused and say, how can a God of love ever lock up a person in hell forever?

Hell, Judgment, and Refusal of the Gospel

I say, indeed, there should be a hell and seven times hotter too. I say, indeed, there should be a hell and seven times hotter too. If you refuse to believe the basic, obvious facts of the gospel, that you can sit here for this weekend and hear all this and yet go into your sin again, a girl going back to her boyfriend and the other way, selling the Lord Jesus for their love affair, indeed, hell should be there and it should be seven times hotter too.

Fellowship with Demons and the Occult

Let's get back to the word of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 20. I say, indeed, there should be a hell and seven times hotter too. Rather that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God.

And I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. Do you hear you people who still follow the occult or ancestral spirits? You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons.

Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? Do you hear whether you're white, coloured, Indians, doesn't matter what type, don't dare to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.

Don't have fellowship with the table of demons and the table of the Lord. You can look at it this way, like a person who doesn't observe that. Instead he says, well, I used to drink out of my beer pot.

Now I need to be more civilized. And now you say, well, it's all right if I drink from a bottle that's more civilized. Now, whether it is irritability, anger, grudges, losing your temper, all these things, these are the demonic things.

Do not partake of the Lord's table and those things. Are we stronger than the Lord? Are we able to provoke him and we think we can get away with it? We need to tremble and fear the Lord. Then chapter 11, from verse 23.

The Lord's Supper and Unity in Christ's Body

And for I received from the Lord that which I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat.

This is my body which is broken for you. You do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. Verse 27. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

For this reason, many are weak and sick among you and many sleep or are dead. For if we judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world.

Isn't it clear? Does it need any explanation? Now, it says, we who are many who partake of the bread, one bread, and though we are many, we partake of a single bread, meaning that believers, Christians, are one together in one body.

If, however, I partake of this bread and I'm not one with my brother in the Lord, I'm bringing death upon myself. I can become sick. I can even die. If we take and partake of the single bread, signifying his body, believers in Christ are his body and are one.

They are united. Not many breads, but one bread. The bread. The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin. If I drink the cup, which is symbolic of his blood, I am only taking death into myself. Rather let the cup pass by, get right with God first.

One day we will truly drink of this cup in heaven where we will praise the lamb who died on the cross. Jesus said, I will not drink of this cup until I'm in the kingdom of heaven.