If you have a Bible, turn very quickly to Matthew. I'm not going to take much time on this glorious resurrection day.
I thank the Lord that He has risen indeed, and it fires up my soul every time I think about it.
I don't know about you, but I hope so.
And the message that I have this morning is darkness to light, the power of the resurrection.
I just want to share four or five thoughts on the resurrection this morning.
But in Matthew chapter 28, we read the resurrection story in verse 1 where it says,
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 for 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 guard shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
But the angel answered and said to the women,
Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here, for he is risen.
We were a little slow.
Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here, for he is risen.
He is risen indeed.
Ka-ching.
As he said, come see the place where they lay the Lord.
And go quickly and tell the 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.
I did my job.
He's risen from the dead.
I moved the stone for you.
You gals would have had a hard time moving this rock.
And the Lord sent an angel to do that.
Notice, it wasn't to let Jesus out.
Right?
It was to let them in.
Because the resurrected body of Christ, it wasn't bound by things.
Think about our resurrected body.
Think about the things that your body is bound by right now.
From what I can see, it's gray.
Right?
Yeah, that means we're getting old.
We used to could, but we can't no more.
Right?
And, but this new body we're getting, and for us who are getting older, it's just, I just
get plum giddy about it.
Right?
I'm going to be giggling on my deathbed, you know, with both hits replaced or amputated.
I don't know what's going to happen.
I've been so horrific to this carcass of mine.
But the new one is going to be glorious.
And Jesus wasn't bound by that.
This resurrected body could pass through mass and objects and appear.
And we're going to have a body like his.
Can't you wait?
Right?
It's going to be so exciting.
But it, the power of the resurrection.
This morning we look at it, the pinnacle of our faith is the resurrection of Jesus.
I love what Billy Graham said.
He says, the resurrection blasts apart the finality of death, providing an alternative
to the stifling, settling dust of death and opens the way to eternal life.
Listen, if you're not born again, if you're not confident that you have eternal life, at
the end of the service, I'm going to invite you to come forward and to receive that.
Because you receive it.
And some people say, well, I believe in God.
Yeah.
But have you had a moment when you've been born again?
Because that's what Jesus called Nicodemus to do.
He says, listen, you must be born again.
You've got to be born of the spirit.
That's what is born of flesh is flesh.
You have a physical birthday.
You need a spiritual birthday.
That is when you come to Christ and you say yes to Jesus.
And mark it on your calendar.
I remember I was, I was 23 years old.
It was November 1st, 1985.
And I said, yes to Jesus.
I surrendered my life to Jesus.
And things have not been the same since.
This eternal life that I've tasted because of this powerful resurrection.
And it's, it is to transform our lives.
This, this resurrection.
And this power wasn't just introduced in the New Testament,
but it was foreshadowed or hinted at and even revealed in the Old Testament.
That's why we need to read the full counsel of God from Genesis to Revelation.
To pick up everything in the Old Testament that is about our eternal hope.
This resurrection.
The, the coming of Jesus and the dead in Christ to be raised.
And, um, in, in the Old Testament, it, it foreshadowed that.
It, it spoke of that.
It suggested that.
You remember the, uh, the old patriarch Job.
Some think he's the oldest.
It's the oldest book of the Bible.
This book of Job.
And, and, and Job had this knowledge.
He says, I know that my Redeemer lives in Job 19, 25.
And that in the end, he will stand on the earth.
I myself will see him with my own eyes.
I, and not another.
Job had this sense that this wasn't it.
Good thing, right?
Cause he had just lost all his buddies, his servants and his, we got a little group that's
going through the book of Job and, and his 10 children were all gone.
Just talking to a couple this morning that lost a child.
What would it be like if you did not have the hope of the resurrection?
Really?
What would be the use of this life?
And yet Jesus came to give us that, to give us that hope, to give us excitement, even in
the face, even in the face of death.
And so Job is suffering, declares a future hope, a bodily resurrection.
Despite his, his pain, he clings to the promise of seeing God in his flesh.
And we have the same hope.
We, we see it in the body of Jesus after it come back from the dead.
Abraham and Isaac.
You remember that story where Abe is going to, God says, I want you to take your only
son and I want you to sacrifice him.
And you know, Abe, he was a, he was a obedient boy.
He was going to do it.
But we don't get the story in Genesis.
But when you read about it in Hebrews, that he actually believed when Abraham is willing
to sacrifice, he actually believed that God would raise him from the dead is what it says
in Hebrews chapter 11.
That God had that power.
You remember when Sarah had been barren for so long and Abraham, the Lord says, is there
anything too hard for the Lord?
And then we have Elijah who raises the widow's son, which would be a type of resurrection.
We have Ezekiel's vision of dry bones.
These dead, dry bones come back to life.
We know that today is the nation of Israel has been reborn, resurrected.
But the ones that I like, you might want to write these down.
The ones that I like is Daniel 12, two and Isaiah 26.
So I'm going to turn to Daniel 12, two real quick and just read it to you.
It says, this is Daniel, right?
This is several hundred years before Jesus, before the resurrection happened.
It says, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.
Some to everlasting life and some to everlasting contempt.
What camp are you in?
Are you in the camp of everlasting life or everlasting contempt?
And then over in Isaiah, the 26th chapter is probably my favorite reference to the resurrection
of the dead or could we be more specific and say the rapture of the church?
Where it says in 26, Isaiah 26, verse 19, it says,
and your dead shall live together with my dead body.
They shall arise, awake and sing you who dwell in dust.
For your dew is like the dew of herbs and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Come my people into your chambers and shut your doors behind you.
Hide yourself as it were for a little moment until the indignation is past.
For behold, the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth and for their
iniquity. The earth will also disclose her blood and will no more cover her slain.
This is specifically talking about Jesus and the rapture of the church, which is a part of the
resurrection. The resurrection's in parts.
Right? Jesus was the first one to come back to life, never to die again.
Now we see others that had come back to life, but they died.
They were regenerated.
They weren't necessarily resurrected.
I'm talking about the resurrection.
I'm talking about life forever.
I mean, who doesn't want to spend forever in heaven?
I heard a story of a Irishman that preacher was standing up.
He says, how?
Who wants to go to heaven?
Stand up.
And they stood up.
He sat him down.
Who wants to go to hell?
Stand up.
One little guy stood up.
He said, surely you don't want to go to hell.
No, pastor, but it looked like you were very lonely up there.
So I didn't want you to feel alone.
I didn't want you to feel alone.
The dust is going to give up the dead that are in them.
And so we see that in the Old Testament.
It's pointing to what Jesus is going to come and do.
And then we see, secondly, so first we see the resurrection spoken of or prophesied or foreshadowed in the Old Testament.
And then we see the resurrection of Christ Jesus fulfilling those types.
Right?
Jesus said in Luke 24, 44, everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms.
And this was prophesied.
Some 300 Old Testament prophecies.
And Jesus has fulfilled almost all of them.
His resurrection wasn't a prize, right?
It was the climax or the ultimate of the redemption story.
That he would come back from the dead.
And that death would not have a hold on him.
When I speak at funerals, I ask people if they've taken the cure.
Because Jesus is the cure for death.
Have you taken the cure?
And that's what he challenged at the funeral there in John chapter 11.
I'm the resurrection and life.
He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
And then it finishes with the question, do you believe this?
Romans 6, 9.
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again.
Death no longer has mastery over him.
Nor those who are in him.
Because the Bible says that we've been crucified with Christ.
And if we're crucified with him and go into the ground, then we're raised with him also.
The resurrection proves three powerful truths.
And that is, Jesus is who he said he is.
The payment of sin is accepted.
And death is no longer the end.
Amen?
C.S. Lewis said this.
The New Testament writers speak as if Christ's achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe.
He is the first fruits, the pioneer of life.
He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man.
And the Lord pointed to this in Genesis chapter 3.
There's going to be coming this one.
Right?
And there's going to be this battle.
And the serpent is going to try to destroy him.
But the son, the seed of the woman is going to crush his head.
And in fact, that's what we see happening.
You know, it's interesting that Lewis there mentions first fruits.
And it's really a powerful thing in Leviticus chapter 23.
It was in our Bible reading this week.
And as I was looking at it, I'm just thinking, man, this is pretty cool.
Because it breaks down the feast.
It goes, you know, like Sabbath and unleavened bread and Passover and first fruits.
Or Passover, unleavened bread and first fruits.
These three feasts.
And Jesus filled all three of them in three consecutive days.
But it wasn't necessarily three consecutive days that they fell.
It only happened so often.
Because Passover was always on the same day.
It was on the 14th day of Niason.
The month in the Hebrew calendar.
It was always on the 14th day.
But Good Friday happened to be
Passover.
Good Friday happened to be Passover.
The beginning of it.
So then you have consecutive the very next day.
So Good Friday and Sabbath was unleavened bread.
But the first fruit was always on the first Sabbath after Passover.
So Passover, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
Passover could be.
And first fruits was always on the first, the first day of the week after Passover.
First day of the week.
What day is that?
Sunday.
That's why we worship on Sunday.
Jesus rose on Sunday.
And know that it's the evening and the morning, right?
This is what's, this is where I got my darkness to light thing.
Always evening to morning.
It's always darkness to light.
Not the other way around.
It's always darkness to light.
It's like, it's like God could for, for see into the future.
Imagine that.
And then it would be darkness before it would be light.
Your life and my life.
Isn't it darkness before it's light?
Right?
Paul tells the Ephesians, right?
You are all once darkness.
There's no light in you until you're born again.
And then God comes and he, he lights you up, so to speak.
And that's what happened at the cross.
Six hours of darkness before the light came.
The light of the resurrection.
It's interesting that Mary, the Marys were going to the tomb
right as the sun was starting to come up.
But they saw something much brighter than the sun.
A light.
Really powerful stuff.
Thirdly, how the resurrection affects our lives.
Peter, 1 Peter 1.3 tells us we have a living hope.
He has given us a new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Our hope, it's not in circumstances.
It's in a living savior, a person.
That's why we hear people talking about the,
a personal relationship, right?
It's almost getting like a cliche,
the personal relationship thing, right?
Because we see it in other religions too.
They're talking about it.
Well, you got to have a personal relationship with the savior.
Well, who's the savior?
I'll guarantee you he's not the spirit brother of Satan.
Right?
He's not a man who became God.
He's not Michael the archangel.
No, he was God who became man.
He became like us and offered himself.
It's a living hope.
He's alive.
He's risen.
And then what's wild is,
is, is, is how it affects us is,
is the fact that the resurrection power is,
is available to us.
If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead
is living in you,
you have resurrection power.
That's the power that raised Christ from the dead.
So many people have this power available to them,
but they won't draw on him.
Because why?
Because he's come in and he was removed.
He's removed this whole death thing.
He's removed it from us.
If you have a Bible,
turn very quickly.
I should have called this astronaut preaching
because I read a text,
departed from that text,
never to return to that text.
But that's,
we're trying to keep the theme the same thing here.
But in,
in Hebrews chapter two,
it's,
it's so powerful.
I,
I share this scripture a lot at funerals,
mainly verses nine,
which says that,
that he,
he tasted death for everyone.
Jesus did.
And,
and then in,
in,
in verse 15,
but I'm,
I'm just going to read,
I'm going to read 11 through 18 to you here in Hebrews chapter two.
And verse 11 says,
for both he,
Jesus who sanctifies and though whose are being sanctified,
that'd be you and means are all of one,
for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren.
Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters.
Not cool.
That's just like,
uh,
Lord,
I think you should be ashamed to call me that.
Cause I know what I be.
And I know it's not good saying he's saying here,
I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly.
I will sing praise to you.
We see that,
uh,
the night he was betrayed.
They,
they,
after the last supper,
they sang praises.
Can you imagine being sitting next to Jesus?
Think he's saying off key.
I don't think so.
Sing praises to you.
And again,
I will pour out my trust in him.
And again,
here am I and the children whom God has given me in as much.
Then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood,
that's you and I,
we have this human experience of flesh and blood.
He himself,
likewise shared in the same.
Jesus became a man like us that through death,
he might destroy him who had the power of death.
That is the devil.
That's the squishing of the serpent's head.
Listen,
this is the powerful part.
And release those who through the,
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
People who are afraid to die are crippled or shackled.
You're all bound up.
For indeed,
he does not give aid to angels,
but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
That would be you and me,
the seed of Abraham.
Right?
Because of faith.
The,
the faithful,
the father of faith,
Abraham,
whose children we are,
the Bible says,
if we believe as though he did.
Therefore,
in all things,
he had to be made like his brothers,
that he might be merciful and faithful,
a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
For in that,
he himself has suffered being tempted.
he is able to aid those who are tempted.
So Jesus came.
He's like us.
He,
he has this,
this,
this flesh that never gave into temptation.
Right?
We shared,
I shared Wednesday night,
Jesus never sinned in,
in thought,
word or deed.
He never sinned.
And yet he was tempted in all points like us.
And so then he faces death.
he overcomes death and therefore gives us this confidence that,
oh,
we're,
we're in him.
All who are in Christ Jesus are new creations.
You're actually,
when Jesus comes in,
he,
he gives you heavenly citizenship,
right?
Right?
Your citizenship now is in heaven.
And so when people go there,
why do we mourn?
Because we're selfish.
That's why.
That's why we mourn.
No,
no,
I want,
I want him here with me.
You know,
you hear all the time,
people are in a better place.
Well,
they're in a better place.
Listen,
they're not in a better place if they don't know Jesus.
Right?
Now,
if they know Jesus,
they're in the best place.
and why would we want to bring them back?
Cause they ain't wanting to come.
I guarantee you that.
Isn't it amazing?
Even in that,
the death of a loved one,
we can be selfish.
Cause they're satisfied.
They're complete in him.
They're with him.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
said,
the resurrection is a fact better attested than any event recorded in history,
whether ancient or modern.
And it is the cornerstone of our faith,
but don't just believe in the resurrection.
But we live by the power of the resurrection,
right?
We have that power available to us.
fourthly,
it's our hope.
It's our hope.
When you come to those,
those,
those funeral services,
right?
The hope that I,
I see in people.
I was over at,
uh,
Rose Hill Cemetery the other day,
uh,
with a little,
little,
uh,
you know,
intimate family group.
And,
uh,
and just talking to them and,
and telling stories.
and,
and I knew this lady.
Well,
you know,
uh,
she was already,
they had already made her dust,
right?
She was cremated.
They had already put her in the dust form.
And,
um,
but,
but the hope and,
and the joy and the,
the ability to speak freely to each other.
because one thing I've learned about doing funeral services over the years is you need to be brief.
You need to be truthful and,
and,
and you need to be sensitive,
right?
You try to balance all three of those things.
It's hard sometimes,
but,
but when somebody has been,
uh,
transformed,
when somebody has the hope of the resurrection,
it's like,
I mean,
it's almost hard not to do the little leprechaun,
you know,
click your heels together.
kind of a thing.
I would try it right now,
but I would embarrass all of us.
So,
but first Corinthians 15,
20 tells us Christ was indeed,
has indeed been raised from the dead.
The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
He is that first fruit.
The resurrection started with him.
And it will end when he brings that last believer to himself.
So really for the believer,
death is not a period.
It's a comma.
Right?
It's a comma.
yes,
this is a,
this is a powerful thing.
This resurrection from darkness to light.
And I see that in,
in people's lives that,
that,
uh,
when the lights get turned on,
it's so powerful that a,
uh,
person can be in such a desperate place in that place of darkness.
But when they come to the Lord Jesus,
it's,
it's a powerful transformation that we see.
That's why people's testimony is so powerful.
Something you can't argue with.
It's a,
it's a,
it's a changed life.
It's a,
it's,
it's being born again.
And I remember in my own life and I still get excited about it,
that,
that God reached down in the darkness and he,
he pulled me into the light.
The conclusion of this is really this,
uh,
the resurrection is a historical fact.
It's spiritual power for us.
It's that,
that hopeful future for every believer.
Are you living with that confidence?
Do you have the confidence?
of the resurrection?
That,
that this is a,
a truth and a power that it,
it,
it can't be,
uh,
it can't be stopped.
It's unstoppable.
It's really almost,
um,
uncomprehendable.
Uh,
it's,
it's indescribable.
The scripture says that thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.
we should be the most happy,
giddiest people on the face of the earth because of what Jesus did that Sunday morning.
And today,
like I,
I said that at the,
at the beginning,
that if,
if you,
if you haven't come to that place in your life,
uh,
where you need to,
where you need to know,
you just need to know.
Maybe you're guessing.
I hope I'm a good person.
Let me tell you,
you're not a good person.
There's no such thing.
Let God be true in every man.
A liar.
Here we are.
All of us.
The chief of liars standing before you.
I said that this last week to some people and they looked at me like a calf at a new gate.
Like,
what are you talking about?
You're incriminating yourself.
Mom,
my granny always told me if the shoe fits,
wear it.
But my hope is not in my righteousness,
not in my goodness.
It's in his.
And just as he was clothed with this resurrected body,
we too will find ourselves in that place coming with him.
On that last day.
Maybe he's calling you today.
Maybe he's calling you to nail down your relationship with him.
Come to me,
Jesus said,
all you who are weary and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
You'll,
you'll have rest for your souls.
And in that day,
in that day,
when we're facing our last breath,
it's,
it is,
it is an absolute fascinating thing to watch a Christian die.
It's fascinating to me.
those who are really confident of this,
this resurrection thing.
It is like,
whatever.
Right?
It's no big deal.
They realize that it's not in the here and now,
that the here and now is so temporary,
that eternity,
eternity is coming at us like a freight train.
So if he's calling you today,
and you're thinking,
I know I need something bigger than myself.
You may not even put,
be able to put your finger on it.
Can I just encourage you?
It's Jesus.
It is the risen Christ.
that you're desiring in your heart.
It is the risen Christ that will make you complete.
Because he lives,
we can face tomorrow.
Because he rose,
you can have the confidence that you're going to rise.
And that he is going to take away all fear and shame.
from death itself.
Let's pray,
shall we?
Father,
I just want to come before you,
thanking you for your incredible truth.
This incredible power,
Lord,
though they expect you to save yourself from the cross,
Lord,
and let you knew that you had to endure it for us.
And yet you went into the grave,
head on,
you faced death,
and then you conquered it.
And you walked out.
That it's final.
That
last enemy.
The one who has the power of it,
this,
this Satan,
whom so many fear.
And Lord,
greater is you that is in us.
Greater is this resurrection power in us.
Than he who is in the world.
That this hopelessness of,
of death and dying.
And sin,
overwhelming people.
The chains have been broken.
Lord,
you've set us free.
We praise you.
I pray for anyone,
Lord,
who is,
who is yet to come to that place,
Lord,
where they've just,
they know that they need you.
And I pray that they would have the boldness to cry out to you.
If that's you today,
I just,
uh,
I want to pray this prayer with you.
If you've never prayed and asked Jesus to come into your life,
just pray this prayer.
It's,
it's so simple,
but when it's heartfelt and sincere,
it can change your eternal destination.
And if you want your moment to be Easter 2025,
pray this prayer with me.
Say,
Lord Jesus,
forgive me of my sin.
I believe that you came and shed your blood for me.
That I'm washed from my sins because of you.
Because of your sacrifice.
Lord,
I want to turn from those things,
wrong things that I've been doing,
those wrong attitudes,
those wrong habits.
And I want to turn to you wholeheartedly.
Fill me with your spirit.
Empower me with this resurrection power that's been talked about today.
To live this life that you have for those who would place their faith and trust in you.
Come in.
I pray in Jesus name.
Amen.
You prayed that prayer for the first time.
Welcome to God's family.
I'm going to ask the prayer team to come up right now.
They're going to be right over here to my right.
If you prayed that prayer,
can I ask you to just,
while we're doing this song,
make your way up and pray with them.
Or maybe you didn't pray.
You got questions.
Make your way up more during this last song.
And ask these guys some questions.
If they don't know the answer,
they'll find somebody that does.
He is risen.
Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because he lives.
All fear is gone.
Because I know he holds the future.
Life is worth the living just because he lives.
God bless you guys.
Have a great Easter.
God bless you.