03-28-16 Easter Sunday (Luke 24)

Turning Point Wesleyan Church

Pastor Dan

I greet you this morning as “Easter People” because that is who you are.

For an Easter person, Every Easter Day is not only the most important day of the year; But the Very First Easter was most certainly the most important day within all of history.

Christ’s Resurrection is the Capstone and Cornerstone of our Faith.

Billy Graham once declared, “If I were an enemy of Christianity, I would aim right at the Resurrection because that’s the heart of Christianity.”

St. Paul felt the very same way. He said, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (I Cor. 15:14)

Dr. Luke, one of the Gospel writers, within his writings of Chapter 24, tells us that the first “Easter People” were a band of women who came to Jesus’ tomb on the first Easter morning.

What an honor that was.

To be the first to discover the Easter Miracle!

Have you ever Wonder WHY God chose a band of women to be the first?

Now I am sure there has been some thought of why was it this way.

Since God wanted to spread the Good News FAR AND WIDE, He must have asked Himself, “Who talks the most and who cannot keep secrets?”

·        And on that basis of that, God chose a band of women.

Although we may like to poke fun with that type of stuff, but I most certainly do not believe “that” was the reason God chose the women. Not at all.

·        The women made the discovery simply because they were the FIRST to Honor the Lord.

·        They were the FIRST who tried to render a humble service to their crucified Lord.

·        They went to the tomb to anoint the body with spices, because that was their custom of their day, and in doing so, they discovered that Jesus had risen.

Incidentally, the fact that women were the first Easter people is another piece of true evidence for the truthfulness of the Bible.

Think about it.

If the Da Vinci Code were correct in its claim that the four New Testament gospels, the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, that they were:

·        Just propaganda documents,

·        That the 4 Gospels were just dreamed up, written by someone with a very wild imagination,

·        That they were just fiction stories about a man that they called Jesus Christ.

·        That the early church came up with this strange plan,

·        That these stories were to be written just to “sell” or “market” the thoughts and beliefs that Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God,

·        And their intent on doing this was just to form bonded servants to serve them within the church.

·        If this was the intent, they most certainly would not have chosen women as their choice of The “First Witnesses” to the Resurrection.

In Jewish law of that time, women could not be better than a ‘second-class’ citizens.

Let me try to paint what being a ‘second-class’ person was really like.

As like many of our ancestors, when my great, great grandparents came over on the boat, the women and the children, my Great-Great Grandmother and my Great Grandfather (as a child) were listed on their travel manifest as ‘Cargo’. The men were listed by name giving honor to them as men but women and children were cargo. That means the women and children were considered to be no better than their travel trunks and their other possessions!

Do we understand what that really means?

They had no, zero rights as people like what many of us just take for granite today.

They were nothing.

And because of that nothing status, a woman’s testimony was totally unacceptable. It was worthless.

So, if the four gospels were fabrications, would it not be better to have it written were Simon Peter or John or some of the other disciples would have come to the tomb?

Skeptics have always had trouble with the thought of the Resurrection.

They ask, “Do you really want me to buy into and to believe that a dead man walked - out - of his grave?”

And the Skeptics are not along because that was the very same type of attitude that was found by all of Jesus’ disciples when the women first shared the Good News.

Luke 24:11 & 12 read “But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it. However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.”

Even after Peter heard and then saw with his very own eyes, he still didn’t believe.

But, you know, a skeptic of God may find an even tougher job then collapsing the news of the Resurrection when it comes to trying to deflate the news of what happened just a short time thereafter.

Something earth-shattering happened.

Within a seven-week period following the death of Jesus, a little band of depressed, cowardly men were transformed into a militant, boisterous, high-spirited team of evangelists who Boldly spread the Resurrection News across the world.

·        Did you know that Ten of the original disciples were executed for their beliefs.

·        And their lives would have been spared if they had just denied that Jesus rose from the dead.

·        But they would not give in

·        They didn’t give in even unto death.

·        Let me ask you. Are people who fabricate a story willing to die for that lie?

According to Dr. Luke’s account of what happened on that first Easter morning, two men in dazzling apparel met the women at Jesus’ tomb.

·        As the women bowed in fear and in awe, the men (who really were angels) gave them certain instructions.

·        It seems to me that they told the women and us exactly what is required in order to be Easter People.

1.   FIRST, AN EASTER PERSON IS ONE WHO SEARCHES FOR JESUS.

·        The angels told them that they were looking in the wrong place for a live person.

·        But at least the women were searching.

·        That is more than we can say for the disciples. They were inside, huddled down with fear and despair behind locked-sealed doors.

There is a great promise in the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah about those who search for God. In Jeremiah 29:13 ESV, we find God sharing: “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

I have heard the argument that all people die. Even the greatest people do. So what is the difference?

Did you know that there should be a Huge difference between the way we treat a dead hero and Our Living Lord?

We honor the memory of a dead hero.

And for this example, let’s think of President Abraham Lincoln. He was a great man, trying to make a great difference.

·        We salute him with a respectful nod of appreciation on each President’s Day.

·        We might even visit his memorial in Washington.

·        We try to remember and teach his principles.

Now, if Jesus Christ were nothing more than a dead hero, perhaps an annual visit to a church would be sufficient.

But if He is Our Living Lord, that’s not enough.

If He is Our Living Lord, then it seems fitting to join with His people and worship Him continually.

Our priorities should change and be shifted.

At least every Sunday would be the minimal amount of time to give Him Tribute.

How often do you really truly seek Him, and in visiting His Church is evidence of your commitment, are you believing Him to be a dead hero or Your Living Lord.

2.   SECONDLY, AN EASTER PERSON IS ONE WHO REMEMBERS GOD’S WORD.

The angels said to the women on Easter morning, “He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."(Luke 24:6-7 ESV)

Jesus himself said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Mark 13:31 ESV)

His words are delivered to us in this Holy Bible. Jesus prayed for all of us believers with these words: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17 ESV)

The Bible has always been under attack as it is today.

A.  Dan Brown’s novel, “The Da Vinci Code,” published in 2003, continues to be on the New York Times best-seller list.

·        It claims that almost everything in the Bible taught about Christ is false.

·        The book claims that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they had a daughter named Sarah whose descendants became kings of France.

B.   Then next roles out the movie, “The Da Vinci Code” as it is still offered as a main movie today so that it is very easily for people to watch it.

·        It claims that Jesus never claimed to be God and that he was never resurrected from the dead.

C.   And then there is another book on the best-seller list which is entitled, “Misquoting Jesus.”

·        It claims that mistakes by ancient scribes distorted the original message of the Bible.

·        In hearing these fabrications, we should wonder if the author had even ever heard of the Holy Spirit.

·        We believe that the Holy Spirit has protected the Bible, that He has protected God’s Words from any noteworthy type of error.

D.  And then the National Geographic channel presented a program called “The Gospel of Judas.”

·        It claims that Jesus instructed Judas to betray him.

·        This is based on an ancient 13-page papyrus document written in Egypt in the Coptic language.

·        Church leaders have been aware of this as well as other “false gospels” as early as 180 A.D.

·        Church leaders denounced these false gospels as being untrue.

That is at least 4 widely seen and attempts accounts of trying to discredit our God since just 2000.

The only antidote for lies is the truth of God’s Word.

So with having that knowledge,

·        Do you read the Bible,

·        Do you read the Bible more than once a week?

·        More than twice a week?

Why is reading the Bible so important?

And the answer is - Because the more familiar we are with His Word, with the four genuine gospels, the less helpless we will be to the teachings of some type of false gospel.

We can find great rest in the fact that within 2000 years, no one, not even a single statement within the Bible has ever been proven to be false?! Not one.

3.   THIRDLY, AN EASTER PERSON IS ONE WHO BELIEVES THE GOOD NEWS.

Again, the women of Easter morning make a much better showing than the disciples in their believing.

From the very moment these women heard the Good News that our crucified Lord had arisen, they believed it.

But how was this news with the disciples?

·        The news seemed like nonsense to them.

·        One of the disciples, Thomas, went so far as to make his bold statement that he would not believe it unless and until he could see the wounds in Jesus’ hands and side.

And do you remember when, later, Jesus showed Thomas his wounds and then said, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

Follow along with me with this thought:

·        “Let’s suppose that an unborn infant, in its mother’s womb, is able to reason and speak. Suppose also that someone says to it, ‘Soon you must leave this place and be born. You will enter a different realm’, a different reality. The infant might protest and say, ‘I like it here. I am fed, warm, and I feel loved. I don’t want to leave this place and be born.’

·        But nature takes its course and the baby is born. After he endures a slap on his rear and cries a bit, he looks up into a loving face. The infant is cuddled in loving arms. He soon discovers that he can get anything he wants if he will just cry or coo. So, the infant says to himself, ‘This is nicer than I thought it would be.’

·        The years of childhood pass. Then the child becomes a youth, then an adult, and years later he grows old. Lots of bodily parts begin to wear out and ache. One day the thought of death begins to worry him. He says to himself, “I like this place. I don’t want to leave. Death scares me.”

·        But nature again takes its course. He dies. What happens then? The Bible declares and I believe that each believer is born once more. He looks up into a face more beautiful than that of his mother. Loving eyes look down on him and underneath are the everlasting arms. He is born again into a heavenly realm where there is no more pain, no more death, and no more sin. He is home at last.”

I believe that with all my heart –

I am an Easter Person.

And if you believe it, you are an Easter Person too.

4.   FOURTH AND FINALLY, AN EASTER PERSON IS ONE WHO SHARES THE GOOD NEWS.

The women of the first Easter did just that.

Those women were the first evangelists within all history.

Luke 24:8 & 9 tells us that they “And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.”

Last week we talked about Paul’s final words which were recorded in 2 Timothy 4:7-8. (NLT)

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.”

When we leave here and we are face to face with the Great Almighty,  

·        How will you answer this very important question from Jesus Himself:

o   “Whom did you bring with you?”

I mentioned Billy Graham earlier within this teaching. Let me conclude with a story about him.

Back in 2000, Billy was honored by his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. On that occasion he told a story about Albert Einstein.

Einstein was traveling by train from Princeton to New York. The conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of each passenger. When he came to Einstein, the old man couldn’t find his ticket. He looked everywhere but couldn’t find it. Finally the conductor said, “Don’t worry, Dr. Einstein, I don’t need the ticket. I know who you are.” The conductor went on to the other passengers, punching their tickets. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Dr. Einstein looking everywhere for his ticket. He rushed back and said, “Dr. Einstein, don’t worry about the ticket. I know who you are.” Dr. Einstein replied, “Young man, I too know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.”

Then Billy Graham said, “Look at this suit I’m wearing. It’s brand new. My wife and children kept telling me that I needed to dress a bit more fashionably, so I went out and bought this suit for this luncheon and for one more occasion. Let me tell you about that other occasion. This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately think about the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this—I not only know who I am. I also know where I’m going.”

An Easter Person knows where he or she is going.

That is because of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning.

An Easter Person can recite Robert Louis Stevenson poem with words of their own:

“The stars shine over the mountains; the stars shine over the sea;
The stars look up to Almighty God, and the stars look down on me.
The stars shall last for a million years, a million years and a day,
But God and I will live and love when the stars have passed away.”

Please join with me in that ancient Easter affirmation shared by Christians for 2000 years.

I will say, “Jesus is risen” and then you will respond with, “He is risen indeed!”

“Jesus is risen!”

“He is risen indeed!!!”