EASTER SUNDAY MESSAGE 2009

Gospel
Jn 20:1-9

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.

SERMON:
Do you flip flop in your mind with the question if Jesus was just a good and wise teacher and not the Messiah? I ask you this question: Do you believe that He rose from a grave?

His Life poured out for us...the ransom was paid. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

On the third day He said He would rise from the grave...AND HE ROSE FROM THE GRAVE! (Mark 9:31, Mark 16:16)

What? Wait!
Some say that Jesus is just a good and wise teacher or just a prophet!

Good & WISE?
Wise in the context that He said He would rise from the grave?
No, you should say that Jesus is "good" & CRAZY...instead of calling Him good & wise!

A prophet?
No, a Lunatic!
What prophet said that they could rise from the dead?

No mortal man can say that they can conquer the grave...

Good and wise...How could He rise? Either Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the I AM, the Creator...OR NOT!

BUT NO MAN HAS EVER, COULD EVER, OR WILL EVER RISE FROM THE GRAVE ON HIS OWN!

Luke 24:34
and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon."

IF JESUS DID NOT RISE...THEN OUR FAITH IS IN VAIN!!!

Thankfully, Christianity IS BASED ON FACT!

These facts are:

1) BROKEN ROMAN SEAL (Matt 27:66)

The consequences of breaking the seal were extremely severe. If they were apprehended, it meant automatic execution by crucifixion upside down. People feared the breaking of the seal.

2) EMPTY TOMB (John 20:1)

The disciples of Christ did not go off to Athens or Rome to preach that Christ was raised from the dead. Rather, they went right back to the city of Jerusalem, where, if what they were teaching was false, the falsity would be evident. The empty tomb was "too notorious to be denied." Both Jewish and Roman sources admit an empty tomb.

3) LARGE STONE MOVED (Matt 28:2)

On that Sunday morning the first thing that impressed the people who approached the tomb was the unusual position of the one and a half to two ton stone that had been lodged in front of the doorway. All the Gospel writers mention it.

4)ROMAN GUARD GOES AWOL (Matt 28:12-15)

The Roman guards fled. They left their place of responsibility. How can their attrition he explained, when Roman military discipline was so exceptional?

5)GRAVE CLOTHES TELL A TALE (John 20:4-8)

In a literal sense, against all statements to the contrary, the tomb was not totally empty--because of an amazing phenomenon. John, a disciple of Jesus, looked over to the place where the body of Jesus had lain, and there were the grave clothes, in the form of the body, slightly caved in and empty--like the empty chrysalis of a caterpillar's cocoon. That's enough to make a believer out of anybody. John never did get over it.

6)JESUS' APPEARANCES CONFIRMED (John 20:1-31)

Christ appeared alive on several occasions after the cataclysmic events of that first Easter and there where MORE THAN enough witnesses who saw him after HE ROSE TO CONFIRM IT AS A FACT!

7) In Paul's day, there were 500 or so people who personally saw Jesus after He rose on the third day!

These eyewitnesses TESTIFIED to this FACT. 500 people in Paul's day alone! (Acts 2:32)

There are more facts...but a question to the doubter...What more proof do you want?

What more does Jesus have to do in order for you to have faith?
If He did do what you ask, Would it really change your mind or would you doubt what you saw also?

THERE IS ONLY ONE JESUS!

Either He is a FRAUD, a NUT, OR Jesus is the Messiah!

EVERYONE LIVING TODAY MUST TAKE A HONEST LOOK AT THE FACTS FOR THEMSELVES...THE FACTS OF HIS RESURRECTION

DID JESUS RISE FROM THE GRAVE ...OR NOT??

JUST DON'T CALL HIM A GOOD AND WISE TEACHER OR A PROPHET!

This Easter, let us realize the truth found in John 1:10-14:

10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.

11He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.

12 Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed (faith"eth") in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—

13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only,who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth (faith"eth") in Me, though he were dead,yet shall he live:

If you seek a human teacher who will come up with a human philosophy on how to live a moral life and "be good enough" then for heavens sake find some one other than Jesus!

Why believe in a "man" who exorcised demons from people, ran around calling Himself the "I AM" and told people He would rise from the grave?

If you know that there is a spiritual side of this universe, that you are a sinner, understand why we are all sinners, can understand that this is not a guilt trip but a way of humility, seek to be forgiven and hear the call to Christ... then rejoice!!! For the problem has been solved and your faith leads to salvation in Christ who is the only path to eternal life.

Rejoice for the price of your sins past, present, and future has been paid for.

No one comes to the Father unless they come through Jesus...that is the message and that is the Truth.

God Bless you this Easter Sunday.


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