The Lord is Risen! Matthew 28:1-10

Jesus Christ, let us shout with joy to the rock of our salvation. Sing this together. Christ the Lord is risen today.

Here we go.

Christ the Lord is risen today.

Happy Resurrection Day. What a great day this is. We're glad you're here to worship with us this morning. We have great hope because of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. We want to share that hope with you this morning.

I want to open up with a word of prayer. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we're thankful this morning for our Lord Jesus Christ and His wonderful, great resurrection from the dead and the life that we have through that and the hope that we have in our resurrection.

Just pray that you will bless us this morning as we worship and bless your word and be with us this morning, we pray, and we ask all this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

In terms of announcements, we continue to trust God during the coronavirus outbreak. We will not meet together for worship on Sunday and have our Bible studies until the government and the state restrictions are lifted and it is safe to meet.

We do not want to put anyone's health in jeopardy and we want to be a good witness to our community and our government. We know that God will use this for good and we are looking forward to meeting again as a church for fellowship and encouragement.

In terms of prayer, pray for the doctors, nurses, and medical workers who are on the front line of the battle with this virus. Pray for wisdom and God's blessing on our state, country, and the world to defeat the virus and that people will give God the glory and come to him at this time.

Pray that God would encourage and bless our church to get the word of God out and to minister and be a blessing to others. At this time, we're going to have some special songs. Many wonder, is there a purpose in life?

Is there a God? How can I know God or can I know God? Those are good questions and this morning we're going to answer those questions. There is a God and we can know him and he has sent his son Jesus Christ into the world to die for our sins so that we can now know God and be saved.

That's why the Lord sent Jesus Christ to the cross. But the really, really good news is that that wasn't the end of it. Jesus Christ rose gloriously from the dead. He is alive and that's our hope. We now serve a risen Savior and we have hope as well that we as believers in Jesus will rise and we also have the great assurance that as Jesus Christ has overcome the world that we too will be able to overcome all things through him.

So this morning we have a great message of hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and we really need hope right now in these times. So look with me at Matthew chapter 28 verses 1 through 10. Matthew 28 1 through 10.

I'll read these verses.

Now after the Sabbath as the first day of the week began to dawn Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb and behold there was a great earthquake and an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it.

His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow and the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the woman do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

He is not here for he is risen. As he said come see the place where the Lord lay and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead and indeed he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him.

Behold I have told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples behold Jesus met them saying rejoice.

So they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him. And then Jesus said to them do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me. Wow how wonderful. The first thing is we consider the Lord is risen is that we have a living hope.

The Reality of the Resurrection

Verses 1 through 6. And we want to look at the reality of the resurrection. Verses 1 through 4. The great thing is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is real. He really rose from the dead. There were many witnesses to the fact that he rose from the dead.

As a matter of fact you couldn't disprove it in a court of law because there were so many witnesses. And so that's what we want to look at first. That Jesus Christ really historically rose from the dead.

And we see that in these first verses. We see the women coming to the tomb and they were good Jewish women because they came after the Sabbath because you're not supposed to work on the Sabbath and they came to anoint our Lord's body.

And what's interesting is they came on the first day of the week on Sunday. The Lord did a new thing. He didn't rise from the dead on Saturday. He rose from the dead on Sunday. And they came at the very beginning of the first day right before it dawned.

And we see how greatly the women loved Jesus and how greatly the Lord uses women. We look at Matthew chapter 27. The women were the last at the cross and the first at the tomb. Oh how they loved Jesus.

And we see that in verses 55 and 56 of Matthew 27. And they came very early in the morning on that Sunday morning. And we see in all the Gospels that it was Mary Magdalene who came, Mary the mother of James, Salome and Johanna.

They came to anoint our Lord's body there. And we see in verse number two how incredible and glorious an event this was. That there was a great earthquake and an angel of the Lord came down and rolled back the stone.

Now he didn't roll back the stone to let the Lord Jesus out because the Lord Jesus had already risen. He let the stone, rolled the stone away to let the women and the disciples in so they could see that the Lord was risen.

And we see that the women, we see in Matthew chapter 16 verse 3 thought that the Lord Jesus was still dead and they came to the tomb and there was a big rock, big stone there by the tomb and they wondered how they would roll away the stone.

They didn't realize that it was already rolled away. And so we see that another thing to understand is there was two angels. We see that in Luke chapter 24 that there were two angels but Matthew is focusing on one angel here.

And this is so glorious. It is very significant that the Lord would announce the resurrection of Jesus Christ with an angel because he's the Lord from heaven. He's the royal king. And remember, our Lord's birth was announced by angels and now his resurrection is announced by angels.

Such a glorious thing. This resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest, most glorious thing this world will ever see and has such great power. And so we see that this angel, verse number 3, was so glorious that he was showing forth the very glory of God.

His countenance was like lightning, really showing forth the Shekinah glory of God. And his clothing was as white as snow. And the unbelieving guards that were standing there, they shook in their boots.

They were terrified. So terrified, it says in verse 4, that they became like dead men. Now, the word shook in verse number 4 is the same word for earthquake that's used in verse 2, which I find to be very interesting.

And that word in the English is our word seismic. There was great seismic activity going on, not only with the earthquake, but with these guards. They were shaking with fear. You see, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a glory to the saved, but to the unsaved, it's terror.

And so we see the reality of the resurrection, verses 1 through 4. We see that the women here are witnesses of Christ's resurrection, and so many others are too. And we see the announcement of the resurrection, verses 5 and 6.

And the angel said to the woman, do not be afraid. And that is so special because they were believers. And what the angel is saying is really that the resurrection of Jesus Christ banishes all of our fear.

Now we no longer need to fear life. We no longer need to fear death because Jesus has conquered,.

Conquered the world.

He's conquered sin, death, and hell. And he's rose victorious. And we know that we will rise as believers in Jesus Christ. And we know that he's with us. So how important that exhortation is to us now.

We're all very fearful at times now with what's going on in the world right now, the virus. But we know the Lord Jesus Christ is greater than all this. He's Lord of the world, and he has risen from the dead, and we do not need to be afraid.

So that's so very important. Also, look what he says in verse number 6. He is not here. For he is risen. He's risen. As he said, come see the place where he lay. And what an important exhortation that was.

The angel's saying, come and see. He's telling the women, come and see that the Lord has risen, that he has risen from the dead. And they went in to the tomb, and we see that in John chapter 20, that they went in and they actually saw his grave clothes, and they saw the napkin that was around his head that was near the grave clothes folded very neatly because the Lord had risen, and they had seen that.

How glorious.

And they knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus was Lord and he was risen. And see, this exhortation applies to us. We first have to come and see. The Lord has to show us, Christ, that he's Lord, and that he rose from the dead, and we need to know that he is Lord, and he is risen from the dead, and we need to have come to that place in our life where we understand that we are sinners and put our faith in Jesus Christ alone, and we will be saved.

And so how important it is to come and see. Come and see that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus rose from the dead, and you can have eternal life now. And then, once you are saved, you are now to go and tell.

Go and tell. Second point, we're living witnesses. Verses 7 and 8. Go and tell. Verse 7. You see, in order to be a witness for Jesus Christ, we first have to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Savior, and then we can be witnesses to him.

Then we need to go and tell. All of us, as believers, are to be witnesses of Jesus Christ, the great salvation that he's given us, so that others might come to know him. It's also our purpose as a church, is that people will come to know Christ and get saved, and that we will build them up in the word of God, and so that they will in turn serve God and be witnesses for Jesus Christ.

And so, go and tell. The angel said, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed, he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see, and behold, I have told you.

What a wonderful thing. The women were the first to the tomb. The women were the first ones to see the risen Lord Jesus Christ. How glorious is that? And they went out. They were to go out and tell the disciples what they had seen, that he was risen.

Unfortunately, the disciples didn't believe them. And then they went to the tomb, and they saw that he was risen.

And then they knew.

But we are to go and tell like them. It's especially important in times like this, where people need hope, and there's so much fear going on. We have, as believers, the message of hope. We have the gospel.

We have the word of God. And we need to tell people that Christ is risen, that Christ is Lord, and they can have eternal hope and salvation. And there's more to this life than what we see. And Christ holds everything in his hands, even this virus.

This virus is going to stop one day, praise God. And we need to live in faith and not fear. And that's what the resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us. It gives us hope, a living. And so we see the wonder of the resurrection, verse 8.

I love this verse. I could just put myself in the shoes of these women. They were so excited. It reminds me of when I received the Lord Jesus in college, and I trusted him, and my sins were forgiven, and I was a new creation in Christ, and I had such joy on my face that I couldn't wipe off the smile.

And everybody, when I went to class, after I had trusted in Christ, people were all looking at me like, what happened to him? Well, I had just received Jesus as my Savior. No better day than that. And these women just saw the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That he lives.

And they were so excited. And that's what I see here in verse 8. They went out quickly is the idea. Man, you couldn't stop them. Their Nikes were just counting along, man. They were going so fast. They ran from the tomb with fear and great joy.

You see, that's what the resurrection of Jesus Christ does for us. We now know God, and we now serve him in godly fear and reverence.

We know him.

And they went out with this kind of fear and reverence and great joy. It's because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we have great joy in our lives. A joy that's not based on our circumstances, a joy that's not temporal, but a joy that's eternal, born of the Holy Spirit.

And so Paul could say in Philippians 4, 4, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. So we rejoice in the Lord, not in our circumstances. And we have great joy now because we have new life through Christ and his resurrection.

It says in 1 Peter 1, 3, and let's turn to 1 Peter 1, 3, that we now have a living hope.

Living hope.

1 Peter 1, 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope. Through what? The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Praise God.

So we were born again through the abundant mercy of God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So we now have new life. We have a living hope. It's a wonderful thing. Let's go back to Matthew chapter 27.

So we also serve a living Savior. Verses 9 and 10. We worship a living Savior. Verse number 9. So we're to come and see, go and tell, and now we are to serve. We serve a living Savior. Look at verse number 9.

And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice.

I love that.

They were going to tell the disciples the good news about Jesus Christ and his resurrection, that he was resurrected, and what happened, Jesus met them on the way. They saw him, the first witnesses of the resurrected Lord.

And that's the same for us as believers. We serve a risen Lord, and he meets us on the way, on the way in our life, in the midst of our cares, in the midst of our trials, in the midst of our service. He meets us, and he strengthens us, and he gives us encouragement when we need it.

The great thing that we see here, and for me, the greatest thing in life, is to have sweet fellowship and communion with Jesus Christ. We now have wonderful communion with the living God, and that is the greatest joy.

We, as believers in Jesus, though we may suffer and go through a lot of trials, we have the sweetest life because we know God, and we have sweet fellowship with Jesus Christ, with God. And he said, rejoice.

Isn't that wonderful? He told them to rejoice. And that is the whole meaning of the resurrection. We can now rejoice. I like what it says in John 16, 33. These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation, but, what does it say? Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. And here our Lord tells us the way it is, that in this world we're going to have tribulation and trouble, but we have peace in him.

And we can now be of good cheer, or good confidence is the word, because Jesus has overcome the world. So, that's a wonderful thing. Going back to Matthew chapter 28, we see that the women had sweet fellowship with the risen Lord, and so do we as believers.

They came and they held him by the feet. The word held in the Greek means to hold strongly or to hold fast to his feet. They held fast to the risen Lord in his feet, and they had sweet communion with him.

You know, the way we can be strong in life, and even now in the situation that we're in now that's so difficult, is to be strong in the Lord. When we're strong in the Lord, we can be strong. That's what we see here.

And so we are so blessed to be people who know the Lord and have sweet fellowship with the Lord. He walks with us and he talks with us, right? Along life's narrow way. And so, we also see that Jesus Christ will keep us in the palm of his hands and no one will ever pluck us out of his hand.

So, we serve a living Savior. Also, we are to encourage the brethren. Verse number 10. It says, Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.

Wow, what a blessing, what a privilege it was to be the first witnesses of the risen Lord. And they went and they told the brethren, they told the disciples. By way of application, let us encourage each other.

Let us encourage the brethren. Whatever gift God has given you, use it, serve. Seek to encourage each other while the day is approaching when Christ is going to come again. We have little time and let us make good use of it.

Let us seek to build one another up in the word of God and in Christ. And let us seek to reach a lost world for Jesus Christ. We read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 through 18, that Jesus Christ, our Lord, is going to come again for his church, to rapture his church.

And he is going to rapture us and take us with him. And that's our comfort. We are to comfort one another with these words. So let's encourage one another. We see the virus is a very hard thing for us, for everybody nowadays.

But we need to have a long view, a long view of life and realize that the Lord Jesus is going to come again and he's in control of everything. And let us be about his business, doing his will, encouraging one another, being merciful to others, showing the love of Christ to people, especially now who really, really need it.

And I believe that God will use even this crisis for his good and that he will be glorified. And so let us take the opportunities that God is giving to us now as a church and as an individual, to do good and to glorify him and let us serve.

Let us seek to serve other believers and build them up. So this morning we see the glorious truth that Jesus Christ is risen. He has risen. And there were many witnesses, not only the women who came to the tomb, but the disciples.

And it also says in 1 Corinthians 15, that over 500 brethren saw the risen Lord at one time. And so we have a living hope in Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Come to the tomb and see that it's empty and see that he has risen.

We need to come to Christ and see by the grace of God and through the word of God that Jesus Christ is Lord and he has risen from the dead and he will give us new life and we need to put our faith and trust in him and become God's children.

And after that, we need to go and tell. We need to tell others that there is hope, that there is a God, that he loves us and there is a way out of our sin. It's through Christ and his work on the cross and his resurrection that he has risen.

There is hope, my friends. We have eternal hope. We have a living hope and it's through Jesus Christ. I want to close in a word of prayer. Let's pray. Our Father, we are thankful for the greatest gift, the Lord Jesus Christ and his resurrection, that now we have new life and we have a living hope.

Oh, let us live in that hope and let us rejoice in you and find our joy and comfort in you and let us be people who will spread the good news, the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a world that so desperately needs it, Father.

I pray for your blessing upon all the hurting right now and all those that are discouraged and fearful with what's going on now in the world and I pray that you will lift them up and lift us up, Father, and help us to serve you and may the joy of the Lord be our strength.

Amen.

At this time, we're going to have our closing song.