Luke_24-1-7 It aint over till its over full page

Text: Luke 24:1-7 Title: “It Ain’t Over Until It’s Over”

Intro: Yogi Berra was a Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees from 1946 - 1963. He went on to coach for the Yankees and the Mets. However, his claim to fame is for being one of the most quoted figure in the sports world. You’ve heard many of his yogi-isms.’ Here are some of his quotable quotes.

“You better cut the Pizza in four (4) pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six (6).”

“Baseball is 90% mental – the other half physical.”

Little League baseball is a good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.”

Some once told Yogi that he looked cool and he replied, “well you do look so hot yourself.”

But he is also credited with coining the simple term, “It ain’t over until it’s over.” Yogi first uttered that phrase in 1973 about the National League Pennant race. His team, the Mets, were a long way out when he said it but they rallied and came back to win the National League Pennant.

“It ain’t over til it’s over” It cautions people against making a premature judgment call because in spite of the odds, the situation still might turn around.

And that is the central message of Easter. God can bring life out of death, victory out of defeat, resurrection out of crucifixion.

So, don’t close the book on a life too soon. Don’t throw in the towel prematurely. Don’t walk away from a problem before you ought to. If God is in it, it’s not over until it’s over.

From His birth Jesus was on a Collison course with death. When the announcement of Jesus’ birth came to King Herod, Herod ordered all male babies two years and under in Bethlehem to be put to death – Herod was out to take Jesus’ life even at His birth.

The shadow of death was always hanging over Jesus. Jesus said to His disciples, “the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give His life a ransom for many.” As Jesus neared Jerusalem, in the closing days of His life, He said. “And I, if I be lifted up (speaking about his death on the cross) will draw all men unto me.”

The cross never took Jesus by surprise. It was always before Him.

Then that day came. Good Friday. But it was the darkest day in human history.

Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one of His closest friends. The most respected religious leaders delivered Jesus over to Roman governor Pontius Pilate and demanded that Jesus be crucified.

So, Pilate consented to their wishes and sentenced Jesus to die.

He was nailed to the old rugged cross like a criminal who was deserving of capital punishment.

And finally, His lifeless body was laid to rest in the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.

If you had interviewed people on the streets of Jerusalem at sunset on Good Friday and asked, “Is it over?” they would have said, “Yes, it’s over. It’s all over.”

Ask His followers, “Is it over?’

Well, let them answer for themselves…. On the road to Emmaus one of them responded, “We trusted that He was the One to save Israel (Luke 24:21). Notice their hope was in the past tense.

They were no longer trusting that Jesus was the savior. They once did, but no longer are.

The reason? They are sure it’s all over.

But, we know it wasn’t over. The disciples took Jesus’ lifeless body down from the cross, buried it in Joseph’s tomb, and rolled the stone over the tomb’s entrance.

Early Easter morning some of the women made their way back to the tomb. But when they got there, they found the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty.

The angel greeted them with the best news of time and eternity, “He is not here. The Lord is risen.”

CPS:Then they knew first hand the central truth of Easter: it ain’t over until it’s over.Nothing is over until God gets through with it, He specializes in turning Calvaries into Easter mornings.

Because of Easter, there are just two things I want us to remember today.

I. Sin is defeated (No guilt in life)

Romans 3:23.

Imagine that to get to heaven you have to jump from here to the foyer in one single leap. We could all try. Some would leap further than others, but we all would fall short. The good news is that Jesus died on the cross and the cross is the bridge that spans the distance that we couldn’t jump across.

Col. 2:14 says Jesus took our sins “out of the way, nailing them to the cross.” But if Jesus had never come back from the dead, our sins would still be in the way.

1st Cor. 15:17 says, “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

Not only the cross, but also the resurrection of Jesus is necessary for our sins to be forgiven.

Romans 10:9 says “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that Jesus raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

The only way you can be saved is to believe in your heart the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It doesn’t matter how deep in sin you have fallen, how far away from God you may have wandered, how many scars may be on your soul….. it’s not to too late for you or your loved one.

Remember, the message of Easter. “it’s not over until it’s over.”

1st John 1:9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Romans 8:1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,

Illustration: Horatio Spafford said it best, “My sin – oh the bliss of that glorious thought, my sin not is part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul”

In the New Testament world, who is the least likely person to have been saved?

It was the apostle Paul. He had such a fanatical hatred against Christians that he said “I used to wreak havoc in the Church of God and tried to destroy it.”

He also called himself “The chief of sinners.”

He said He blasphemed God,

persecuted God’s people, and was a violent man

but while on the road to Damascus to imprison Christians, Jesus appeared to him and he was saved.

After he became a Christian he became the greatest missionary the world has ever known.

If the apostle Paul could be saved anyone can be saved. His life is proof positive that no one has to stay the way he is.

You might be a blasphemer like the apostle Paul was,

a murder about to be executed on death row like the dying thief on the cross beside Jesus,

a promiscuous sex addict like the adulterous woman was – you’re not so far away that Jesus can’t get to you and change you.

Illustration: A seminary professor used to remind his students, “Young men, when you preach, never leave Jesus on the cross or the prodigal son in the far country.” God can bring His Son down from the cross. God can bring His son from the grave. And he can bring the prodigal out of the pig pen and back from the far country.

Death is Defeated (No fear in death)

Toward sundown on the Friday Jesus was crucified, the roman Soldiers took an iron mallet and broke the lower legs of the two thieves beside Him. With broken legs, the victims could nolonger push up to breathe, so they soon suffocated.

But when the soldiers came to Jesus, He was already dead.

To certify He was dead, they thrust a spear under His rib cage, causing water and blood to flow out of His side.

It was official. Jesus was dead.

But the Bible says early on Sunday morning the women arrived at the tomb and saw an angel which said to them, “why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He is risen!”

Easter isn’t a time to sit in quite reflection and meditative repose.

Easter is a time to shout at the top of your lungs that Jesus is alive!

Death is dead, Satan is defeated, the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty, and Jesus is alive.

Death is a fact. But while everybody has to face death, we don’t have to fear death.

Psalm 23:4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Standing in the cemetery Jesus announced, I am the resurrection, and the life. (John 11:25)

Jesus has transformed death from a conclusion to an introduction; from an ending to a beginning; from a period to a comma.

We don’t die, we relocate to heaven.

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.John 14:1-3

No matter how final death may look, remember God raised Jesus from the dead and one day He will raise us up also. Because of His resurrection we can live until we die and after we die we still live forever!

John 14:19Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

Illustration: Just because you may not believe in God or an afterlife will not change the fact that there is something beyond the grave.

Imagine a conversation between two twins in their mother’s womb, the female twin, Sandy, says to her brother Andy, “I believe in life after birth, do you?” Andy replies, No this is all there is.” Later, Sandy says to Andy, “I’ve got something else to say, and you probably won’t believe it either, but I also believe in a mother.” Her brother says, “what?” What are you talking about? “We’ve never seen a mother! I tell you this place is all there is. Why do you want more? We’ve got everything we need here.”

For a while, Sandy doesn’t say anything else. But finally, she can’t stay quiet. She blurts out, “but don’t you hear those muffled sounds? I think there’s another world waiting for us that’s much more beautiful than where we are, we will see our mother face to face.” Andy is so fed up he doesn’t even answer – after all, to him the womb was all there ever was and all there ever will be.

But some time later – the twins were born. And boy Andy was surprised! For Sandy, it was even better than she imagined!

Do you believe in life after birth? Do you believe in life after death?

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?John 11:25-26

Conclusion: It is just like God to bring life out of death. God has a way of turning Good Fridays into Easter mornings, crosses into crowns, and hurts into hallelujahs. That’s why we ought not to give up on person. That’s why we ought not to despair even in the face of death.