The Victorious King

look at us running on calvary time so uh good morning uh go ahead and ask you guys to stand with us we'll pray and we'll get started father god i just thank you for the day god thank you for who you are and how much you love us um god just ask that you would uh just bless this time lord help us to sit everything else aside that's going on in life lord and just to focus on you this morning because it's all about you lord it's all about you god and we know that you're coming again soon lord to take us home to be with you uh so lord just help us just to remember that keep that in mind and and just to simply focus on you today father uh we love you we praise you in your precious and holy name amen you guys can go and have a seat if you

like and we'll continue on so that you're coming soon lord but god during this time of waiting lord just just encourage us lord just to help us to keep focused on you this morning until you come for your bride lord you anxiously and expectantly time help us just to continue to get your word out there lord letting people know that you are coming and that we need to be ready for you lord lord if there are any here this morning god that do not know you or come to know you lord savior i just put it today would be that day the sun sets free oh it's free yes i am father god thank you god that you have a space enough for us lord in your house god that only applies guys that if if we accept you or if we if we ask you

to be our lord and saviour lord and then if there's any here this morning god just pray that god that today would be that day lord if there's any here that i've not that i've never know you or that i've never began that walk with you that relationship with you lord i pray that today would be that day lord just pray that your holy spirit will move in a mighty way this morning give us some hope for those who work in the good the one who do that i want you to be with us live it in the name of the firstborn image that appearing in you

lord just pray that your holy spirit will move in a mighty way this morning god and i pray that you're here in this house make sure we are hearing your name and i will coffee you right here and we're doing the best in heaven and in the new ». God, do a mighty work. God, I just pray that you would, that you would fill Pastor Ryan with your Holy Spirit, God. Overflow him with your gift of teaching. Give him the words to speak, Lord.

Lord, it just help us to sit everything else aside and just to listen, to listen to your word, Lord. He who has ears, let him hear, Lord, your word. We love you, Father, and we praise you, and we thank you, and in Jesus' name, all God's people said, amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Good morning. If you could begin to locate your seat, grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. Glad you're here this morning. If you would grab your bulletin, a few things to take note of on the left-hand side of your bulletin, as always, are the things going on throughout the week, so lots of places to get plugged into. Over in the

bulletin, a couple of things to pay attention to. Number one, starting in February, February the 5th, the youth group had an idea. I just want you to know this was the youth group's idea. I didn't come up with this myself. This was theirs. They wanted to start doing some sort of a coffee fundraiser, so they are going to start February 5th selling some coffee, specialty coffees back

in the back room there. I love the name of the thing that they came up with, the blessed bean, and their slogan is, he brewing it. Man, that's all them. That's all the kids. I didn't come up with any of that. Tristan may have come up with some of it. I don't know. That's pretty good. So Tristan's going to share a little bit more about that next week as he gets a few more things together. And then there's going to be a

new small group starting up in February, towards the end of February, that Joe Palmer is going to be leading, and he's going to share more about that next week as well. And then one thing that

we're going to do next week is we're going to be doing some shirts that we made last year. And so we are going to do another order of those, whether it be the Your Life Has Value shirt, the He Is My King shirt, or just Calvary Chapel. So Sandra's going to be in the hallway, right straight out the door there after the service, if you're interested in ordering any of those. So that's what's going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And this morning for

our unison reading, as it's going to be, we're going to be in Psalm 52. Psalm 52. Looking at the New American Standard, if you need a copy, there should be one around you. Although I do know that I need to get more of them because they're disappearing, which is a good thing. It means people must be taking the Bible and using it. As you're turning to Psalm 52, if you would stand in

the honor of the reading of God's Word. Psalm 52, for the choir director, a mascal of David, the Edomite, came and told Saul and said to him, David has come to the house of the Himalak. And if you would, please read with me. Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The loving kindness of God endures all day long. Your tongue devises destruction like a sharp razor, O worker of

deceit. You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking. What is right? Say law. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue, but God will break you down forever. He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent and uproot you from the land of the living. Say law. The righteous will see and fear and will laugh at him saying, behold, the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance,

of his riches and was strong in his evil desire. But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the loving kindness of God forever and ever. I will give you thanks forever because you have done it. And I will wait on your name for it is good in the presence of your godly ones. And father, we do thank you that your loving kindness

endures forever and that the hope that we have in you is a living, eternal hope. And so father, as we spend time in your word this morning, I pray that you would, by the power of your Holy Spirit, make that hope well known to us. Father, that we would really take in the truth of the hope that we have because you live. Father, we thank you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles, to the book of Matthew chapter 27, Matthew chapter 27, the title of this morning's message is the victorious King. We've looked for the past few weeks about into the sacrifice of the King as the sacrifice was prepared and all of the things that Jesus went through. I won't go through all of that again. You can go back and listen online, which by the way, if you ever want to go back

and listen to any of the past studies, you can go to our website, the book of Matthew chapter 27, website, uh, Calvary chapel, arc city.org. And you can go back and listen to lots and lots of different studies, uh, that are on there. And so you can go back and listen to our study on the crucifixion. But today we come to the victory, the victorious King, because we're going to see that he will be victorious over death. And so we're going to start in chapter 27 and we'll move into

chapter 28. We'll really cover everything except for the great commission. And I'll tell you why, because next week we are going to spend some time talking about, the great commission. I really debated whether I was going to throw all that into one study. And I thought, if I have to say, throw all that into one study, it means I need to slow down and take a little bit smaller of a section. But tonight, today, what we want to look at

is the victorious King. And so there's three things really that we're going to see this morning. We're going to see the burial, the resurrection, and then the victory. And so we start off in chapter 27, verse, uh, 57 with the burial. It says when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who himself also had become a disciple of Jesus.

This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. And he laid it out in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb. And he went away. Magdalene was there and the other Mary sitting opposite the grave. And on the next day,

after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate. And they said, sir, we remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said after three days, I am to rise again. Therefore give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal him away and say to the people, he has risen from, the dead. And the last deception will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you have a

guard, go make it as secure as you know how. And they went and made the grave secure along with the guard that they set a seal on the stone. Now, as we come to this last section of chapter 27 with the burial, of course, we know that Jesus has breathed his last. He has had the spear thrown into his side. And we know for sure that he, he's given up the ghost and he cried out those famous words. It is finished. And at that point

in time, we're told that the veil of the temple was torn into from top to bottom, signifying the fact that access had now been made because of the blood of Jesus Christ for us to go directly into the throne room of God. But now the body is hanging there. And as the bodies are hanging there, the Sabbath is drawing near and they need to do something with the bodies. The Jewish people didn't like for there to be bodies, hanging, although usually when one was crucified, that would happen for quite some time. As a matter

of fact, it would not be uncommon for bodies to hang for days on a crucif on the cross after a crucifixion. However, they were sensitive to the Jews religious holidays. And so they granted that the bodies would be taken down. Now you have to understand, usually when a body was taken down, it was thrown into a valley, the valley of Hinnom, where they would burn the bodies.

That's what would happen to those that were crucified. And so, it's significant. While we may not think about it, it's significant to the Jewish mindset that was alive at that point in time to point out the fact that Joseph of Arimathea were told that he was a rich man and had become a disciple of Jesus. And actually in the book of Luke, we're told that he was a member of the Sanhedrin who had not cast his vote against Jesus to put him to death, had actually tried to defend Jesus and the things that were going on. That this Joseph of Arimathea,

as he saw his, I don't know what I can do. Perhaps I'll just give him a proper burial. And with Joseph being a wealthy man was able to approach Pilate and say, would it be okay if I took the body and at least gave some form of burial so that things are done properly. And so Pilate granted the request. And we're told that Joseph took the body and said, I can't let his body be thrown into the valley to be

buried. And so Pilate took the body and he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and he laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. I find it interesting the way that the body is referred to in this section. I don't know why it stuck out to me and maybe there's no significance, but in my own mind,

there was a little bit of significance. It said, Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And so Joseph of Arimathea was able to take the body and he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and he Joseph wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and it was laid in the tomb. Have you noticed that about the body? It's not referred to as Jesus. It's referred to as his body because who Jesus really

is, was very much alive, right? We're, we're told that he went down and set captives free, led captivity in a triumphal procession. This was just the body. I'll point out why that's important here in just a little bit, as we get to the end and we talk about the victory. But he took this body and he laid it in the tomb. Now the tomb of course would have been a

cave that was hewn out of the rock and it would have had several different compartments. Although it was a brand new tomb and it was owned by a rich man. Interestingly enough, in the book of Isaiah, we're told that his death would be with the criminals, but that his burial would be among the rich. The criminals of course were crucified with him. And the rich was Joseph of Arimathea

who provided a tomb for the rich. And the rich were crucified with him. And the rich was Joseph for him. Many speculate, had Jesus gone to Joseph of Arimathea ahead of time and said, Hey, this is what's coming. Can I have the tomb that you're going to be in? I don't know if that's true. We're not told that in scripture. So I have a hard time making that leap. I believe that this

Joseph knew that what had taken place was wrong and wanted to do anything he could to make it right. And so he volunteered. This was his, this was his little drummer boy moment. I don't have much that I can give, but I can give. Give him a proper burial. So he laid the body in the tomb, wrapped it in the clean linen cloth, and then something significant takes place. I think it's significant because of what we see

with the resurrection. A large stone was rolled in front of the tomb. Now we need to understand this wasn't unique just to the grave of Jesus. This was what they did with any grave. There would have been some sort of a trough that was set just in front of the tomb so that this large stone would have a place to roll to. And it would have rolled downhill just a little bit and a

stopping point at the end so that it could rest. So that there would be no grave robbers. It sealed the tomb. Now perhaps you're asking the same question I did. Why does Matthew go into the detail about the burial of Jesus? Have you ever asked that question? Each of the gospel accounts talk about the fact that they buried Jesus. It's a significant statement and you may not realize this, but I want to point out why it's

significant. I do a good number of funerals. It's kind of part of my job, but I also am on the list at the funeral home. So I do a good number of funerals. I do a good number of funerals. I do a lot of services and I've overseen a lot of what they call internments. That's where you go to the graveside and everything's taken care of there. Do you know what I've never seen? I've never seen

them put someone alive in the ground. The person that they put in the ground is always 100% of the time dead. I don't say that to be crude. I don't say that to be humorous. I say that because there's an interesting point that needs to be made here. Jesus actually died. You say, Ryan, we just talked about that a couple of weeks ago. I think we all know he died. No, not everybody does.

There's actually theories out there from opponents of the gospel that say that Jesus didn't actually die. That actually what happened is they just put him in the tomb and then the disciples came and they nursed him back to health. The disciples couldn't nurse anything back to health, let alone Jesus after everything that had taken place. Listen, you don't bury alive people. You bury

dead people. Jesus very much experienced death. And it's important to the message of the gospel. Because if he didn't really die, then our sins weren't really forgiven. And then he really couldn't raise from the dead, which would guarantee victory over death and sin. And so each of the gospel accounts spends at least some time explaining that Jesus was actually buried. So they roll the stone in front of the tomb

and they go away. But notice who sticks around verse 61. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, who according to many believe that this is Mary of Bethany, the one that sat at Jesus's feet while her sister Martha was cooking the meal. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting opposite the grave. You can imagine what it was like. They just sat there. They just sat there and stared,

perhaps in stunned silence, not knowing what to do with the fact that the person that had meant so much to them was now dead. Many of us have found ourselves in that place, have we not? Where we sit in stunned silence because we don't even know what to do with the fact that the person that we cared about so much is now gone. And they sat there in stunned silence across from the tomb, wondering what was going to happen next. Of course, it was nightfall, so it was time for

them to go home. And then we see something interesting take place. A guard is going to be requested. It says on the next day after the preparation, the guard is going to be requested. The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate and said, we remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said after three days, I'm to rise again. Isn't it funny that all of Jesus's disciples had forgotten that he said,

I'm going to rise again. How many times did he tell them that? Like almost ad nauseum, right? Like, listen, evil men are going to take me. They're going to crucify me. Right. That was all they heard. They heard the crucifixion part, but they didn't hear the rise again part. They didn't hear the crucifixion part. They didn't hear the crucifixion part. But every time what he actually said was, and then I'll rise again on the third day.

But they never heard that part. You know who did hear that part? All of his enemies. They were like, Hey, listen, here's the thing, Pilate. Jesus liked to make these wild outlandish claims, right? One of them was like, I'm going to rise again on the third day. After all, how did they accuse him? They accused him by saying he would tear down the temple and raise it again in

three days. They knew what he said. They clearly knew what he meant. And so they go to Pilate and they say, Hey, this is what Jesus said. Isn't it unfortunate when we get rebuked by the world, when the opponents of the gospel know more about the gospel than we do? I think that there should be a real charge here to us to make sure that the opponents of the gospel

don't know, don't know more about what God's word has to say than we do. Well, so they go to him and they ask for this. They said, so here's what we want. We want you to set a guard around the grave. What they don't know is the very guard that they're asking for will actually be one of the greatest proofs of the resurrection. And so they say, just set a guard around the grave. Otherwise they're going to come.

They're going to steal his body. And the last deception will be worse than the first. You can imagine Pilate by this point in time, right? He had had a bad day the day before, right? He had all of the Jewish people upset with him. He had all of the true believers upset with him and his wife was mad at him, right? Remember what his wife said? Have nothing to do with this man, with this righteous man. I suffered many things in a

dream because of him. You know what we never talk about? What was the conversation like when Pilate got home, right? Fellas, you hear me here? He gets home and his wife goes, so that Jesus guy, what'd you do with him? Remember I sent that message to you about the dream that I had? And he's like, well, I mean, and then, I crucified him. You did what? Did I not tell you about the dream? He had a long night, right? So he

shows up the next day and they're like, set a guard. And he's like, I don't care what you do. Set a guard. Everybody's mad at me. He's like, fine, set a guard. But I love, I love Pilate's statement. Pilate said to them, verse 65, you have a guard, go. And if you're an underliner, this is a great one to underline. Make it as secure as you know how. Basically he's like, I guess do the best

that you can. Because the guy's going to rise up and he's going to do the best that you can. And he's going to rise again. There's only so much you can do about it. Kind of makes you wonder like, what's going on with Pilate at this point in time? Make it as secure as you possibly know how, because no matter how secure they made it, it still wouldn't be enough for Jesus. It reminds me of what Paul

said when he was in prison in one of the prison epistles. And he said, I am chained here because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but the gospel remains unchained, right? Like the world can do what they want to, to try to, to do what they want to, to try to do what they want to, to try to stop the gospel. But ultimately the gospel always remains unchained. He said, listen, you secured as

best as you know how. So they went and they made the grave secure. This would have been a Roman battalion of soldiers, probably a good number of Roman soldiers that were placed there. And then notice also that says along with the guard into verse 66, they set a seal on the stone, a seal so that if it was rolled away, someone would know that it was tampered with. And so the scene is left for

Jesus is dead. The disciples have fled. The women are all upset. And there's a guard in front of the tomb and everything felt hopeless. Chapter 28, the resurrection. It says now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave and behold, a severe earthquake had occurred for an,

an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, do not be afraid for. I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here for he has risen.

Just as he said, come see the place where he was lying. 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. And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to his disciples and behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of

his feet and they worked and they worked and they worked and they worked and they worked and they worshiped him. And Jesus said to them, don't be afraid. Go and take word to my brethren to leave for Galilee. And there they will see me after the Sabbath day, very early in the morning. I just love these ladies, right? They're, they're just the best. They'd seen what had happened. They

were the last ones at the tomb and they're going to be the first ones to show up. Can I just, there's just, there's just something that needs to be said about the dedication of these women, albeit misinformed dedication, because they should have known that that was what was going to take place, but dedication, nonetheless, dedication that will ultimately be informed. And I would always be interested in, to my knowledge, we don't know very much past this about Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and some of these women that found themselves going to the tomb first thing in the morning. But do you know who I'm going to want to talk to in heaven at some point in time?

I'm going to want to talk to you about Mary Magdalene. I'm going to want to talk to you about these ladies and find out the rest of the story. I want to find out what the rest of their lives look like in their service to the Lord, what the rest of their lives look like in the stories that they continued to tell. But these women are the first ones that show up at the tomb. Now it's

really significant that the women were the first ones to show up at the tomb because women were not considered credible sources at that point in time. Now, listen, before anybody starts throwing things at me, I didn't say that. History says that. Women were not viewed as credible sources to spread stories. As a matter of fact, women and shepherds were not allowed to testify in courts of law because they weren't considered

credible witnesses. And yet, who are the first people to show up that are going to see Jesus alive for the first time? It's going to be the women. I think it's twofold. I think there's two reasons why the women are the ones that are allowed to be the first to hear the news of the resurrection of Jesus. First of all, because if I was going to spread a lie, I would choose incredibly

credible sources. I would choose incredibly credible sources. I would choose incredibly credible resources. I would choose the most credible witnesses possible so that they would be the ones who told the story. Everybody trusts what they say. They'll be the ones that spread the lie. That's what I would do if I was going to spread a story. I don't know if anyone in Washington's

listening right now, but that's what I would do. But the second reason why I think that it's significant that these women are the first ones to know about the resurrection of Jesus is because they were the first ones. They were the last ones at the tomb, and they were the first ones to know about the resurrection of Jesus. They were the first ones to show up at the tomb. Brothers and sisters, we don't live by a system of

works, but may I say that God rewards those who seek. Matter of fact, we're told in the book of Hebrews that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. We're told in the book of Jeremiah that if you seek me, you will find me when you search for me with all of your heart, and I promise I'll be found of you. I just think that there's something kind of interesting that we need to pay attention to about this. And I say this because I'm not a Christian. I'm not a Christian. I'm not a Christian.

I'm not a Christian. I'm not a Christian. I'm not a Christian. I'm not a Christian. I'm not a Christian. I think sometimes it's easy for us to stop seeking. Like, oh, well, I tried. I tried, but it was scary, so I ran off, right? That was probably the story of the disciples, right? Why didn't all of the disciples get to be the first ones to know about Jesus?

Because they weren't the first ones at the tomb. They were the first ones to leave, and they were the last ones to show up. Now, God used them powerfully. Don't get me wrong. But I just think there's something really special about these ladies. And what was really special about them? It was their dedication and their seeking of their Savior. I just think there's something

we should pay attention to about that. Some of the most amazing people that I know are the people that seek God the most, because there's a humility about them, there's a dedication about them, and there is a spiritual quality about them that few people have. And so these ladies show up at the tomb where they're on their way to the grave. They come to the grave.

But meanwhile, at the tomb, they're on their way to the grave. And they're on their way to the grave. At the grave, a severe earthquake, verse two, had occurred. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. This is the second time we've read about an earthquake in as many chapters, isn't it? Remember the other earthquake that

we heard about? When Jesus gave up the ghost, when he cried out, it is finished, says that there was an earthquake, and that one knocked open tombs and people went walking around. We said we didn't fully understand that yet. But anyway, as in the other, earthquake that we saw, it was almost like earth could not take everything that was being poured out on Jesus, but also the victory of Jesus was so great that it shook the entire earth. Earth could not handle the glory that had just descended upon it because of the resurrection

of Jesus Christ. I always wonder what that scene would have been like. Like, were the ladies on their way and they were like, you know, earthquake, right? Growing up in Kansas, I've shared this with you before. I've shared this with you before. I've shared this with you before. I never felt an earthquake, ever, my entire life, at least not that I know of. I moved away to

California, and there was one while I was there in Joshua Tree, California, and it did shake the dorms that we were living in. We were about an hour and a half away, two hours away from there. But I slept through the whole thing. I didn't feel that one. I didn't actually feel an earthquake until I moved back to Kansas, right? It's kind of amazing to think that that's what's happening.

And I know there's lots of explanations for them. I kind of, I wonder if God's moving, but that's just me. But there's this earthquake that takes place. So the earthquake, the earthquake occurs. And then an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled the stone away and sat upon it. So here's what I want to know. This is my question. What caused the earthquake? Did the earthquake happen when Jesus rose from the dead?

Did the earthquake happen when the stone was rolled away? Did the earthquake happen previous to both of those two events? It's an interesting thought. It doesn't really say. It just says a severe earthquake occurred. An angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled the stone away and sat upon it. Can you imagine? Everybody does the same thing when they see an angel, right? You know how I know that? Because

every time an angel shows up, what's the first thing they say? Don't be afraid. Everybody tells it with their face. And so this angel shows up and rolls the stone away, which by the way, was probably not hard for the angel, just something that the angel did. And then just perched itself up and sat on top of the stone. Can you imagine the look on all these guards' faces? Right? They're

just sitting up there on top of the stone. Anyway, why did he roll the stone away? Because Jesus needed to get out, right? No, we know better than that. Jesus is all like walking through walls and stuff, right? Because we know that one of the times when Jesus appears to the disciples, they're inside the upper room with the doors locked. And yet Jesus shows up right there

in the midst of them. Why do you roll the stone away? Because they needed to get in and see. Everybody needed to be able to see that Jesus had risen from the dead. So they roll this stone away and notice what happens to the guards. I love it. It says, and the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The word shook means to violently tremble. That's what they did. They

start shaking. Now we need to remind ourselves again, that these are probably some of the same Roman guards that were playing cards at the feet of Jesus. They were playing cards at the feet of Jesus. While he was being crucified on the cross. These are not mamby pamby sort of guys, right? These are, these are men. These are hardened warriors that have seen horrific things in their life and yet

continue to be the warriors that they are. They're not scared of anything. And this angel shows up and they are totally terrified. And it describes the angel for us. It says that his appearance was and his clothing was as white as snow. And they sit there and look at him and they become so fearful that they start shaking violently, trembling violently. And what do they do? They become like

dead men, right? Like they all just start hitting the, hitting the deck because they're all totally terrified at what's going on. You see, you can set a guard, but it's not going to stop. Jesus, right? And so it says that these guys all pass out. They become like dead men. And then notice what happens. The women show up and they're going to receive a message. So the angel, verse

five says to the women was first thing, do not be afraid. Isn't it interesting? Okay. Again, sidebar that needs to be pointed out. All of the guards passed out, but the women did not. I just think it's interesting. I think it's interesting. I think it's interesting. I think it's kind of an interesting thing to why I don't know, perhaps God gave them a little bit of grace to be

able to hang in there. It says, do not be afraid for. I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. I know what you're here thinking. You're going to see, I know what you think is in the grave. Don't be afraid. I see. I think this don't be afraid was not only because there was an angel standing there, but because in general, because of what had happened to Jesus, their hearts were filled with great fear.

And so he says, don't be afraid. I know what you're here looking for. I know that you're looking for Jesus. Who's been crucified. I know that you're looking for your savior, for your best friend that you think is dead, but he's not here. Notice what it says. He, he's not here for he has risen. And then I love this next little part. Just as he said, come see the place where he was lying. He says, I know that's who you're looking for,

but that's not who's here. You see, he has risen just as he said. I think oftentimes we're just like all of the disciples of Jesus. We're still looking for a dead savior, a savior that doesn't have all the power that he has. And we need to be reminded that he's alive. Just like he said that he has all of the power, just as he said. And then he says, come and see the place where he was lying. I love this about the story of

the resurrection is none of them were to take it for face value. None of them were to have their faith based only on the word of the angel. They could all have their faith based on what they actually saw. And that's important because those witnesses, which by the way, there's more witnesses. To the resurrection of Jesus than a good deal of other historic events.

Those witnesses were the most powerful testimony to the truth of the resurrection of Jesus. He says, come and see, you can imagine, right? Like you show up. First of all, there's guards passed out everywhere. I don't always take that into account. When I think about the ladies showing up to the tomb, I picture them being gone by that point in time. And they're walking into the tomb

and they're looking and do you remember what's laid out? Other gospel accounts tell us what's laid out. There's a stone slab of a room in there. And on that stone slab was simply laid all of the cloths and the shape of the body of Jesus only deflated. And then there was a napkin that would have been placed over his face. Remember how the napkin was found folded up, right? I actually

think I'm going to use that part, that verse later to tell my kids, what would Jesus do? Right? Fold your clothes. Anyway, so, um, so that's what they find in there, you notice what the angel says. He says, come and see the place where he was lying. He doesn't want them just to take his word for it. He wants them to discover it for themselves. And then what does

he say? Go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. A quick point that needs to be made here. You notice the progression of things, come and see, go and tell, come, come and see for yourself what Jesus has done. And then go and tell what Jesus has done. Brothers and sisters, we need to take those two steps in our lives, right? Don't take somebody

else's word for it right now. What I'm doing to you is I'm telling you the things that God has shown me that I have learned in scripture. This is stuff God has shown to me, but I don't want you to go and tell everybody what he showed me. I want you to go and tell everybody what he showed you, you come and see, come and see for yourself. Don't just take my word for it. Don't be satisfied

with a Sunday. Hand me down. Go and see for yourself. Don't just take my word for it. Don't be satisfied with a Sunday. Hand me down. Go and figure it out for yourself. This should be the starting point to spur you to dig deeper so that you will come and see. Then after you've come and seen, go and tell. We'll talk a little bit more about that next week when we talk about the great

commission, but that's what he says. Go, come and see, go and tell, tell them 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, oh, the great joy of the Lord. Go and see for yourself. Don't just take my word for it. Don't enjoy the great elation. And so what happens? Verse eight, they left the tomb quickly with fear

and great joy. And they ran to report it to the disciples and behold, Jesus met them and he greeted them. And they came up and took hold of his feet and they worshiped him while they were on their way out after they had seen where his body was, but he was not any longer. They came across Jesus. And what'd they do? The same thing you and I are going to do the first time that we see Jesus.

They fell at his feet and they worshiped him. And what a glorious scene that would have been. What a great moment that would have been for them to see their risen savior standing right there in front of him. By the way, nail piercings in his hands, nail piercing in his feet. They fall at the feet of Jesus. What's the first thing that they see when they fall at his feet?

The scars. It's really him because they watched those scars be made and they simply worshiped him. What's the first thing Jesus says to them? Don't be afraid. Because how had they left the tomb? With great fear. He says, don't be afraid. Go and take word to my brethren to leave for Galilee and there they will see me. Tell my, tell my brethren it's okay for them to go home.

I'm going to come see him. Everything's going to be okay. Well, then Matthew's gospel account doesn't go into any of the other detail that the other gospel accounts do, which by the way, here's your assignment for sometime this week. Read every other gospel accounts of every other gospel writers account of the resurrection of Jesus. There'll be some differences, but it's interesting to see what

each one points out. Matthew simply points this part out. Really he gives a not as detailed account. Luke and John actually give the most detailed accounts. Of, of the resurrection and the things that took place shortly thereafter. Go and read all of those different accounts and see some of the differences, but also give yourself a fuller understanding of exactly what Jesus did after he rose from the grave. But the last thing that we'll look at

before we talk about the victory is I want to look at the, uh, the conspiracy. Notice what it says in verse 11. Now, while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers. And they said, you are to say his disciples came

by night and stole him away while you were asleep. And if this should come to the governor's ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble. And they took the money and did as they had been was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day. Yesterday morning at men's breakfast, we were talking about some of the conspiracy theories that are floating around. Hey,

this is one of them, right? It's an interesting conspiracy that takes place. The ladies leave, the angel leaves, the guards start to wake up. They're like, no, this is not good. The body's gone. The seal is broken. We passed out. We're in trouble. So the first thing they do is they go and find the guys that initially put them there, which are the chief priests. They tell them the story. They told them everything that

had happened. And so you can imagine another meeting of the Sanhedrin takes place. They've got to gather everybody together. Guys, we have a problem. The body is gone. These knuckleheads respectfully fell asleep, passed out, whatever happened. And now the body's gone. It's okay. We have a plan. We have a plan. We'll pay you guys a large sum of money to hide the laptop. And after that,

we'll pay you guys a large sum of money. And this is the story that you're going to tell. You're to say his disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep. The numbers of holes in that story start to mount up quickly. First of all, Roman soldiers were never supposed to all be asleep at the same time. They had a rotation where some would sleep, some would stay

awake. There was always a time when they were asleep. They had a rotation where some would sleep, to be a portion of the guard that was to be awake. Number two, these are just the three main ones that I think are important to point out. Number two, if the Roman soldiers were asleep, how they know it would have been the disciples. You know what I find when I'm asleep? I don't know who came and

did what. Number three, and I think this is really the most important one to be made. If the Roman soldiers had fallen asleep and failed at their job, they would have all been asleep. They would have fallen asleep and failed at their job. They would have all been asleep. They would have all been executed. I know that not only because of history, but there's another very interesting

story in the book of Acts that's pretty similar to this, and it's the Philippian jailer. Remember the story? Paul and Silas were in jail in the middle of the night singing praises to the Lord because they were hurting so bad from getting beaten so bad. And so they're singing praises to the Lord, and all of a sudden there was an earthquake. Seems to be how God works, right?

There was an earthquake, and their stocks fell off. All the prison doors opened. The Philippian jailer thought everybody was gone, so what was he about to do? He was about to kill himself. Why? Because he didn't want to stay in trial for the fact that he didn't do his job. You see, there's lots of holes in this story, and it caused all kinds of issues, and yet they paid enough money, and they said, listen, if this comes to the governor's

ears, because you can imagine what's going through the soldiers' minds. I ain't telling somebody I fell asleep and somebody stole the body. That's how I lose my head, right? This is a bad situation. They're like, listen, if it comes to the governor's ears, we'll take care of you. We'll make sure that you're safe. Again, if I'm one of the guards, I'm going to be like, you mean kind of like you did with the body, right? That's what I would

think, but I'm not one of them. And so this story gets spread all over the place. It is interesting that even when Matthew writes this gospel, that story was still floating around. The guards fell asleep. The conspiracy had been laid out, but Jesus is alive. Well, as I was thinking about this, this resurrection of Jesus Christ, I, of course, am reminded of the fact that we oftentimes do not

spend enough time talking about why it's so important that Jesus is alive. As a matter of fact, we spend more time talking about the death of Jesus than we do the resurrection of Jesus. We spend more time talking about what his death means for us than what his resurrection means for us. Now, I don't want to diminish the death of Jesus because it absolutely was important.

It's what set me free, but his resurrection is what set me free. I don't want to diminish the death of Jesus, but it's what guarantees that I'm free. And so as I was thinking about this, I was thinking about the fact that ultimately what Jesus has won for us is the victory, right? And so I want to spend a few minutes talking to you, the last 15 or so minutes here together, talking to you about the victory. As a matter of fact, there's five things I think that we learn about the victory

that Jesus won for us. Some of these you've probably written down before, but write them down again because they cannot be overstated. Number one, the victory that Jesus won proved that he was the son of God. It proved that he was the son of God. It tells us that in Romans chapter one, verse four. Remember, Jesus made a good number of claims, a good number of claims that only the son of God could make, that only one who actually was God

could make. And that was the thing that they accused him of and said that he was blasphemous in speaking. This guy makes himself equal with God. And so as he made these claims, the only way that they could be proven true is if he really did rise from the dead. Remember what he told them? Earlier on in the book of Matthew, they said, give us a sign. If I remember correctly, it was Matthew chapter 12. They said, give us a

sign. And he said, I won't give you a sign. The only sign I will give you is the sign of, do you remember prophet Jonah, who was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish? And so the son of man will rise again on the third day. That was the only sign that he would give them as to proving who he was as the son of God. Therefore, when Jesus rose from the dead,

according to Romans chapter one, verse four, he was proved to be the son of God with power. So the next time you get a call from those fellows that ride their bicycles around your community, hey, did Jesus ever say he was God? Well, he said, I'll give you the sign of the prophet Jonah. And then we're told, we're told in Romans that God raised him from the dead. Therefore, it proved him to be the son of

God with power. And if it proved him to be the son of God with power, then it means every other claim that he made is true. Number two, he won the victory. And in so doing the sacrifice for sin was accepted. The sacrifice for sin was accepted. We're told in Romans chapter four, verse 25, that he was delivered over for our transgressions, but he was raised up for our justification.

That word justification can be broken down like this comes from the root word justified, which means just as if I'd never sinned. And the fact that he raised from the dead guaranteed that God had accepted the sacrifice for sin. When Jesus declared from the cross, it is finished. We said that meant paid in full. We said that meant paid in full. We said that meant paid in full. We said

that meant paid in full. We said that meant paid in full. Well, the fact that God raised him from the dead meant that he accepted the payment that had been made in full. And so when God raised him from the, from the dead, not only did it declare him to be the son of God, but it declared that you are no longer in your sins as a believer in Jesus Christ. Remember what Paul said in first

Corinthians chapter 15, there were many who were saying there was no resurrection. He said, if there is no resurrection, then Jesus is not raised. And if Jesus is not raised, you remember the result? You are still in your sins. Nevertheless, Jesus has been raised from the dead. It guarantees the fact that the payment for sin was accepted. And I got to tell you, there's very few things in life that make me as happy as knowing

the fact that the payment for my sin was accepted by God, guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because when all of my sins were laid on him on the tree, it has taken a great burden off of myself. The burden of sin that I, I carried for way too long. The sacrifice for sin was accepted. Number three, his victory means that we have a living high priest. We have a living high priest. As a matter of fact, I want you guys

to turn to this one, go over to the book of Hebrews. And I want you to look at chapter seven verses 24 and 25. It says in Hebrews chapter seven verses 24 and 25, but Jesus on the other hand, as opposed to Matthew, he was raised from the dead. And he was raised from the dead. And he was raised from the dead. And he was raised from the dead. And he was raised from the dead. And

my words not, not there. He continues forever. He holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. You see the job of the high priest, the job of the high priest within the nation of Israel is that he not only represented God to the people, but he represented God to the

the people to God. He went before God on behalf of the people to make sacrifice for sin, to intercede, to go on behalf of another for the people. And that's what it means that we have in Jesus Christ, because he lives, we know that he lives forever to make intercession for us. Because you see, Satan is constantly accusing us. And I've brought this up lots of times, but again,

it can't be overstated. Satan is constantly accusing us. And the problem with most of his accusations is that they're right. The best thing that we can do is say, he's right. I'm guilty of all of those things, because that is when our living savior steps in for us and says, but he belongs to me, but she belongs to me. The sacrifice that I made for sin covered theirs too. Therefore, I will go before you on behalf of the people to make sacrifice for us.

On behalf of them and say, they belong to me. And because Jesus lives, he forever is making intercession for us. He can save us forever. As a matter of fact, we're told in scripture that he saves to the uttermost all who call upon him. We have a living high priest making intercession for us. Number four, the victory means that we now have power for Christian life.

We now have power for Christian living. I ask this question every now and then of Jesus. And he always takes me back to the same thing. People come to me and ask this question. How can I have what it takes to live the Christian life? How can I overcome sin? How can I obey? How can I live the way that God wants me to live? Well, it's because the living savior is alive. Therefore he has

blessed us with that Holy spirit. We're told first of all, in Romans chapter six, verse four, that, that, that he was, that as Christ was raised, we were raised with him, that we can walk in newness of life. We were united with him in his death. We are also united with him in his resurrection. Therefore that same resurrection power flows through us to walk in newness of life. And then

in Romans chapter eight, verse 11, it says, he who raised Christ from the dead is also giving life to your mortal bodies. How can I live the way that I'm supposed to live? How can I live the way that I'm supposed to live? How can I live out the Christian life? The way that scripture tells me I'm supposed to live it out. I live it out through the power of the risen savior living

through me. That is the power of the risen savior live through me. He lives through me by the power of the Holy spirit. A few weeks ago on January 1st, at the end of the message, I said, if anyone feels like they need the power of the Holy spirit to continue to live out what we've talked about here this morning, I just want you to stand up because I'm going to give you a end up because I want to pray that God would baptize you afresh with this Holy Spirit.

And I don't think there was hardly a person sitting in this entire church. It was a beautiful thing. But being filled one time is not enough. You must continually be filled with that power of the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, Paul in the book of Ephesians prays that we would know and understand that power that works in us, the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead

that would work in us. Jesus being alive means that we have that same resurrection power in us, but it's in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. And so you must pray to continually be filled with that spirit and continue to understand the power that you have through the Holy Spirit. And then the last thing, number five, it means that death has been conquered.

We have hope beyond this life. I got to tell you, this one means a lot this week. I want you to go here with me real quick. Go over to second Corinthians. I try not to play Bible Olympics with you too much, but this is a good one. Second Corinthians. And I want you to look at chapter four, verse 14, second Corinthians, chapter four, verse 14 says this, knowing that he who raised the Lord, Jesus will also raise us

with Jesus and will present us with you. Jump down to verse 16 because it's just so good. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though our outward man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day. I pointed out in the beginning of our study this morning that it used some specific language when talking about the body of Jesus. It referred to it not as him, but as it, because that old earthly

body that he had, that tent was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest.

It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. It was put to rest. body is not really who we are. This body is a physical expression of who I really am.

It allows me to animate what God has on the inside of me. Therefore, when I die, my body is just my body. You can put it in the ground. You can burn it. You can do whatever you want to with it because I'm not there anymore. I will have a new body, eternal in the heavens. Not made with hands. And it'll never go away. And I got to tell you, knowing that we have laid

to rest a good loved one this last week, a family member, as he went home to be with Jesus, I am so well aware of the fact that when he left his earthly body on Friday evening, he entered a new heavenly body that is no longer bound with the cancer. That doesn't experience a-fib. He can hear out of both ears perfectly well. I was sitting on the couch with my wife when I got the call. So I got myself ready to go and everything. And as I was putting my shoes on,

I looked at my wife and I said, I wonder how long it took him to go find Mark. That was my first thought. And so I'm just, I'm filled with so much hope because the resurrection gives us so much hope that this is not our home, that this is not it for us. These bodies that we wear that are wearing out, this is not it for us because we know that because he is the first fruits of the resurrection, that he is the first fruits of those who are resurrected. And may I point out to you

the fact, and I think I did this before, there's a difference between resuscitation and resurrection. Many in scripture were raised from the dead, but they were resuscitated. They came back in their old bodies that were still bound by sin. Jesus did not come back in the body that he was crucified. In the scars were only there for us. He came back in a brand new body that was not bound by any of

the things of earth to show us exactly what it's going to be like for us. And we have hope beyond this life because death has been conquered. What are we told? Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, death, where is your victory? Death has been swallowed up in life because the last enemy to be defeated is death. Jesus defeated that when God raised him from the dead. Brothers and sisters, it wasn't just a simple

act that we celebrate on one day a year. It's life that we should celebrate every day of the year because he lives. I can face tomorrow because he lives. All fear is gone. And I know that there is a future and life is worth the living just because he lives. Amen. Let's all stand. And if you would bow with me. Lord, what a beautiful hope that we have in you.

What a great victory that we have in you. Lord, I thank you for Jesus. I thank you for his death. Lord, I really thank you for his resurrection. That we have a living hope that we hold on to. A living hope that keeps us going. A living hope that we look forward to. And so, Lord, I just pray. That as we go into this week, that living hope, that victory would become very real to us.

Lord, that you would draw us near to you. That you would give us a deeper understanding, Lord. Father, that we would know and comprehend the power of God that raised Christ Jesus from the dead that works in us. We just thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

We give you praise, Lord, for how great you truly are. God, thank you for your son, Jesus. Thank you for what he's done for us on the cross. Thank you for the new life that we have in him. Lord, I just pray that as we leave here today, that you would give us a new life. Lord, I just pray that as we leave here today, Lord, I just pray that your Holy Spirit go with us and continue to strengthen us

and guide us and build us up in you, Lord. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. Lord bless you.