The Hope of the Resurrection
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Luke 24:1 – 10
Luke 24:1 – 10
Introduction: Many years ago...
In one of his
lighter moments ..
Benjamin Franklin....
penned...
his own epitaph.
Now...
he didn't profess...
to be a born-again
Christian...
but....
it seems that...
he must have been influenced....
somewhat...
by the Apostle Paul's teaching...
of the resurrection
of the body.
because.
here is Franklin wrote..
as his epithet...
he wrote
the Body of B. Franklin...
Printer...
Like the Cover of an old Book...
Its contents...
torn out....
And stripped...
of its Lettering and Guilding...
Lies here...
Food for Worms...
But the Work...
shall not be wholly lost...
For it will...
as he believ'd...
Appear once more....
In a new...
and more perfect Edition...
Corrected and amended...
by the Author.
and you know...
Benjamin Franklin....
had something...
didn’t he?
see..
one day...
all those...
who truly believe...
will be changed....
the Bible says...
we will...put off...
these mortal bodies...
with all their flaws...
and all their frailties...
we will then....
be given....
a glorified body....
having been amended...
and corrected....
by the Author...
of our Salvation.
The Lord Jesus Christ
And...all of that...
WILL take place...
because of what happened...
on Resurrection Sunday...
some two thousand years ago.
And with that in mind
Let’s read our text
For this morning
The Bible says
In Luke 24:1–10 “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words, And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.”
Let’s pray
(Pray)
Now then
This morning
I want to share with you
About the hope
Of the resurrection
I. The reality of our hope
The dreadful truth
But
Before I share
This morning
The wonderful reality
Of the hope that we have
In the resurrection
of our Savior
It is important for us
To understand
The dreadful truth
About our Lord’s death.
See
The fact is.…
Three days
Before the events of this chapter.
The Bible records
That the Lord Jesus Christ died.
The Lord Jesus Christ
Was In fact
Crucified.
As
A matter of fact
Look back one chapter
To chapter 23
And let’s read together
Verse 33.
Luke the beloved physician
Tells us
(Luke 23:33 “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.”
See
Immediately following
A rigged trial…
The Bible tells us
That
They crucified Him.
The Jewish religious leaders
And a Roman garrison
Crucified
The Son of God.
Now
We talked about that
This past Wednesday evening.
We talked about
How the Savior
Hung on the cross
For several hours…
Eventually
Succumbing to death.
In fact
We are told
In verse 44
Here in chapter 33
(Luke 23:44–46 “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”
That phrase
By the way
Gave up the ghost
is derived
from
Old/Middle English
where "ghost"
means spirit,
and it represents
a peaceful passing
or a voluntary
relinquishing of life
and
in
Our Savior’s case
it highlights
the voluntary,
purposeful surrender
of His life .…
rather than simply dying …
unexpectedly.
But anyhow
The Lord Jesus
Dismissed His Spirit.
Jesus then
Passed away…
As the cruelty
Of a Roman cross
Came to a climax.
And do you remember
What we said Wednesday?
We said that
Before death came
To the Lord Jesus…
He suffocated
In agony.
He labored to even breathe.
His physical strength
Was abated..
Jesus drew
That
Final breath…
And He died!
And obviously…
The Lord Jesus Christ
Died
For a specific reason.
And again
I know this
is all review
If
You came to church
Wednesday evening.
Or listened
Online.
But in either case…
It is still fresh in your minds.
But you will recall
That the Bible says
in
Isaiah 53:5
With regards to Jesus…
It tells us there
the reason Jesus Christ died.
It says
(Isaiah 53:5–6 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Now think about that.
The Lord Jesus Christ
Was
Wounded
For our transgressions.
That word wounded
By the way
Means to be pierced through.
Jesus’ body
Was pierced through…
For…
Or because
of our transgressions
He
Was bruised…
That is…
beat with the fist
Until He was bruised…
He was struck with a reed
Until Jesus was bruised…
All because
Of our iniquities.
He was chastised
With
The cat of nine tails
Receiving many stripes.
And the reason why
is...
God was laying on Jesus
The iniquity…
Of every one of us.
Now…
Imagine that.
The Lord Jesus Christ
Who
According to the Scriptures
Knew no sin.
That is
He had never sinned.
And Jesus couldn’t sin...
Because He was God
In the flesh.
But yet
God
the Father
Laid our iniquity
Upon Him.
The God of heaven
Transferred
The sins of everyone…
Of every person
Ever born…
Upon
The life
Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The sin
Of every murderer
Every drug dealer
Every human trafficker
Every liar
The sin of every Lewd person
God
Laid on Jesus
Every impure thought
Every curse word
Every act of covetousness
Every act of idolatry
Every act of adultery.
God laid all of that
On the Pure
Perfect
Spotless
Holy Lamb of God.
see
Jesus didn’t die
For His transgressions…
Which means literally
Perverseness.
He wasn’t bruised…
For His iniquities.
No
The Lord Jesus Christ
the Lord of glory
Died
For the sins
Of the entire human race.
Because the truth is
Every one of us
Has gone astray.
So
God laid upon Him
The iniquity
Of us all!
Is just like the apostle Paul said
In 2 Corinthians 5:21
He said about God
In relation to Jesus
That
(2 Corinthians 5:21 “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Discussion
But
Why would God do that?
You might ask?
Why would God
Transfer
Every vile sin
To the Holy Son of God?
Well
That’s easy.
Because
God said
(Ezekiel 18:4 “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
In Ezekiel 18:4
see
Sin against God
Is punishable
By death.
And
Just as a reminder
Death
As described here
Does not simply mean
Physical death.
Because the truth is
Everybody dies
Physically.
But
The death
Describe in Ezekiel
Means
Spiritual death.
That
Just as the body
Is separated
From the spirit
At the time of death.
Well
In spiritual death
The soul
Is separated from God
And that
For eternity.
So what Ezekiel was saying
Was that
The soul that sins
Well
That soul
Is relegated
To an eternity
Apart from God.
What an awful fate…
That is!
There could be no worse fate…
Than to forever…
Live
Separately…
From our God.
Particularly
In view of the fact
That God is in heaven.
And those who are
Separated eternally
From Him
are
Relegated
To a place called hell.
See
That’s the condemnation
The Lord Jesus
Was talking about
In John 3:18
Where he said
(John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
But
The soul that sinneth
It shall die
The Word of God says.
But let’s be honest
We are all sinners
The Bible says so
(Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
And if that is true
And it is…
Then
According to the Scriptures
We all deserve
The condemnation
Of our sins.
Oh but
Because of God’s great love
For all of us…
God
Made Jesus
sin
For all of us.
God laid upon Jesus
The iniquity
Of us all.
And when He did…
And by the way
That
Happened
On Mount Calvary.
But when He did
Jesus died…
He suffered…
Our condemnation.
Jesus paid
Our sin debt.
But
The fact is
Jesus died!
By the way…
Everybody Dies
Don’t they?
In fact
We are told
In Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”
So
Everybody
Dies
At some point in their life.
And it doesn’t matter
How good you are
How healthy
You might be
It doesn’t matter
How
Much you exercise
How good you eat
How much money you make
The kind of job you have
The circle of friends
You possess
It doesn’t matter
Who you are
Or
Where you are from!
Everybody
Without exception
Dies!
And we know from our Bibles
That the Lord Jesus Christ
Died as well.
But
the
Big difference
Between Jesus
And every other person is
That
And I love this
The big difference
Between Jesus
And every other person
Is that
The Lord Jesus
Did not stay dead!
He arose…
From the grave!
And listen to me this morning
Because Jesus is God
And
Because Jesus
Rose from the dead
We have hope!
Deliberation
But
I have to tell you
That when Jesus died
On the cross of Calvary
The disciples
Were devastated.
As a matter fact
They were devastated
at His arrest.
Turn
To the gospel of Matthew
If you would please
to chapter 26
And listen please…
Or read with me
Verse 56.
As Jesus was arrested…
The Bible says
(Matthew 26:56 “But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.”
Man
They were
So devastated
By their Lord’s arrest…
That they ran away!
Because see
They never expected
That this would happen.
By the way
Had they known the Scripture
Better
They might not have been
Nearly as devastated.
But when it happened…
Every one of them
Ran away
Like a scared child.
But
Not only were the disciples devastated
When the Lord Jesus
Was arrested.…
By the Jewish religious leaders.
But at the same time too...
They were devastated
At His trial.
see
The Pharisees
Accused the Lord Jesus
of blasphemy.
And according to their law
He should die
In fact…
We are told
In John 19:7 “The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
So the Lord Jesus
Was
Brought to a trial…
Held…
By the Pharisees…
And the chief priests.
But it tells us
In Matthew 26:58
That
As that trial
was taking place...
(Matthew 26:58 “ Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.”
Man
Think about that.
Peter was so devastated
By all of this…
By the arrest
Of the Lord Jesus Christ…
And by the trial
Of our Savior…
Where He was being accused
A blasphemy.
Peter
Was so devastated
By all of this…
That all he could do
Was to follow Jesus
From afar.
He just didn’t want
To get too close…
At that time.
And
Sadly
People sometimes
Still do that today.
Don’t they?
They follow Jesus
From afar.
For whatever the reason.
But see
The disciples were devastated
When Jesus
Was arrested.
They were devastated
At our Savior’s Trial.…
As He was accused of blasphemy.
Oh
But ultimately…
Those
Who had followed Jesus
Were completely devastated
at His crucifixion.
As they watched the Lord
Die.
In fact
Look again
In Luke 24
And
Read with me
The story
Of two of the Lord’s disciples
On Resurrection Sunday
We are told
In Luke 24:13–21 “And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.”
Now
When I read that
I get the sense
That
These two disciples
Were devastated.
They were sad…
It says in verse 17.
And they were sad…
Because they expected
The Lord Jesus
To win their freedom
From the Roman Empire.
But
when He died…
They realized
That freedom…
Would not come.
Things did not go
As they expected it to.
So they were...
Devastated
When Jesus was crucified.
Oh but
Not only were...
They devastated
When Jesus was arrested
And when Jesus was tried for blasphemy.
And then not only
Were they devastated
When the Savior was crucified.
But
They
Were no doubt
Totally devastated
When Jesus died.
Because for them…
All hope
Was then lost.
Their Savior
Was gone.
And
By the way
Sometimes in this life
We face devastation too
When things don’t take place
The way we expect them to.
Or the way…
We think they should.
That can be devastating.
Like
For example
When an unexpected illness
Comes upon us.
When you are diagnosed
With some disease.
Or will you lose
A loved one.
Or
When
Financial hardship
Comes upon you.
For some Other reversal.
Those things
Can be devastating.
But let me just
Remind you
That
We serve
A risen Savior
And His word tells us
In 1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
I’m so glad He does..
But be that as it may…
As the disciples
Felt defeated
And even
As
Those women
We read about
In our text this morning
Came to a grave
Totally defeated
And were surely demoralized
Their hopes were dashed…
On the jagged rocks
Of reality……
Yet
(Luke 24:5–6 “And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,”
Man
What a statement
That was
That was made to them.
Look at it!
He is not here!
The angel said
Jesus
Is alive.
He is not in the grave.
He is risen…
Just like He said!
By the way…
Let me read you
What Jesus
Had already told them
Even before He died.
In John 2:19–21 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.”
Man
Think about that
He told them
If you crucify me
If you destroy my body
I’m going to rise again.
And He did!
And according
To another gospel
When
Those women discovered
That Jesus was alive…
Hope…
Sprang up in their hearts!
It says
(Matthew 28:8 “And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.”
And think about that.
When they learned
That
Although Jesus
Had died
Yet
He Had risen again …
Just like He said…
They were filled
With great joy.
They Words joy means
replete
With hope.
So
the Truth of the resurrection
Brought them great hope
Determination
And
May I say that
This same truth
That the Lord Jesus Christ
Has risen.
That even
At this very hour
He is sitting
At the right hand of God
Making intercession for us.
Well
That same truth
That evoked great joy
And hope
In those women
Ought to bring joy
And hope
To every man
Woman
Every boy
And every girl!
What
I’m saying is
Because of the resurrection
We have hope!
II. The realization of our Hope
There is hope for the faithful
And
Let me say that
There is hope
For the faithful
In the Lord’s resurrection
How we praise God!
But there is hope
For the faithful.
In fact
Notice
Our text again
In Luke 24
Again it says
In verse one
(Luke 24:1 “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.”
Now the word they…
Describes
“Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them”
According to verse 10
These women
By the way
Were followers of Jesus
Faithful followers
I might add.
And incidentally
Mary Magdalene
Before trusting Jesus
Had been a wicked person
She had been filled
With wickedness
In fact
Keep your place
Here in chapter 24
And turn back
To chapter 8
And read with me
Versus 1 – 2
We are told
(Luke 8:1–2 “And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,”
So
Think about that.
She literally
Had the devil in her.
Oh but
The day she met Jesus…
He changed her!
He gave her
A brand-new life!
He
Washed away all her sins.
And from that day on
she was Faithful
To her Lord.
And just like those other women
In Luke 24
Mary ministered to Jesus
Of her substance
In fact
It tells us there
In Luke 8:3 “And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.”
So then
Every chance those women got
They were with the Lord
And His people.
And my point is
Those women
Had been faithful
To their Lord
They were
In fact faithful
Right up
To the very end.
Because the Lord Jesus Christ
Had saved them.
And
I do hope
That you and I
Are faithful too.
Because
Like Mary Magdalene
Jesus
Has saved us
If we’ve been born again.
He
As
Delivered us
From the power Satan
And has granted us
A precious salvation.
So shouldn’t we too
Like those women
Be faithful
To our blessed Savior?
I mean
They were faithful
To meet with the Lord
They were faithful
To minister for the Lord
Right Up to the end.
So in light…
Of all that our Lord
Has done for us
He
Has given us victory
In terms
Of eternal life.
Should not we then
Be faithful to Him?
And do
As the apostle Paul said
In 1 Corinthians 15:57–58 “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
Well
Whether we are
or not.
The women in our text were!
They followed Jesus
All the way to the cross…
And even
To the grave.
They were faithful!
But
As
I’ve already alluded to.
Jesus’ resurrection…
Gave hope
To these faithful women.
His resurrection
In fact
Gave great hope
To these women
Because again
The Bible tells us that
(Matthew 28:8 “ they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and Great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.”
By the way
The word joy
In that verse
Means gladness.
It is cheerfulness
It is calm delight.
So
The truth is
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead
Gave them hope
For the day.
And it even gave them hope
For all of their tomorrows.
Man
Jesus’ resurrection
Gave these faithful women
Hope.
And
Hear me please
The fact of the resurrection
Still gives hope
To the faithful.
Somebody said
What kind of hope
Does it give us?
Well first of all
Because
Jesus rose again
We have the hope
Of endless intercession.
In fact
The apostle Paul wrote
In Romans 8:34 “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”
By the way
The word intercession
There
In that verse
Refers
To the Lord Jesus’ role
His ongoing role
As mediator
At the right hand of God.
Where Jesus pleads
Defends
And
Acts as the advocate
For the believer.
And all of that is ours
Because the Lord Jesus Christ…
Rose from the dead.
What hope we have
As those who are faithful.
But
We not only have
Intercession.
But as believers
Because Jesus Christ
Rose from the dead.
We have indwelling.
We had the indwelling presence
Of the Holy Spirit of God.
In
Rom 8
The Bible says
In verse 11
(Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
And my dear friend
That same Holy Spirit
Has sealed us
To the day of redemption
All because Jesus
Is risen.
Oh
What hope we have
In the resurrection of Christ.
Jesus
Is making intercession for us
And the Holy Spirit
Is indwelling us.
And because He is…
We can’t lose!
Which
Reminds me
Of my favorite song
Oh, victory in Jesus,
my Savior forever
He sought me
and bought me
with His redeeming blood
He loved me 'ere
I
knew Him
and all my love
is due Him
He plunged me
to victory
beneath the cleansing flood!
But what hope we have
In our resurrected Savior.
There is hope for the faithless
But
Because the Lord Jesus
Rose again…
Not only
Is there hope for the faithful
But at the same time too.…
And this is important…
But there is hope
For the faithless.
In fact
In a parallel gospel
Parallel that is
To Luke 24
The Bible tells us
About the keepers
Of the Lord’s grave.
see
When Jesus died
The
Religious leaders
Of the Jews
Set a watch.
They posted guards
Keepers
If you will
At the tomb of Jesus.
And…
They were there
To
Make sure
No one came into the grave
And stole the body.
Oh but
On Resurrection morning
An angel came down
And rolled the stone away
After an earthquake.
And
When those keepers
Witnessed that…
The Bible says
In Matthew 28:4 “And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.”
By the way
Those keepers
Were nonbelievers
They didn’t believe in Jesus
They
Didn’t trust
That He was the Messiah.
The fact is
They were Faithless.
Much like the Roman guards…
These keepers
This Jewish sentry...
Was faithless
And
Maybe you too
Have not yet
Put your faith and trust
In the Lord Jesus Christ.
Maybe you haven’t accepted Him
As your Savior.
Well listen please
The
Resurrection
Of the Lord Jesus Christ
Paved the way
For all men
All women
For every boy and girl
To be saved.
That is
To
Be rescued
From the condemnation
Of their sins.
The Lord Jesus’ resurrection
Made it possible for you
To be born again.
To have a personal relationship
With God the Father.
And to have
Every sin forgiven
And to be the possessor
Of eternal life.
By the way
If you’re in
the Gospel of Matthew
And particularly
Chapter 28
You’ll find the words
Chief priests
In verse 11
Now
The priests
In that day
Were adherents
To Judaism.
And as such
They did not accept
That Jesus was the Messiah.
They were faithless
Where Jesus was concerned
But
Let me show you
The power
Of the resurrection.
in Acts 6
Turn there.
But in that chapter…
You find that…
As the church in Jerusalem
grew
Which
Was not that long
After Jesus had died
And rose again.
And as a result
Of the spreading
Of the Word...
The Bible says
(Acts 6:7 “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
I
Just want you to see
That the resurrection of Christ
Provides hope
For the faithless.
Now sadly
Many of the faithless
In Jesus’ day
Died lost.
They
Did not accept Christ
As their Savior.
But you can
This morning.
Because the resurrection
Of our Lord Jesus
Gives you the hope
The settled assurance
That
(John 1:12 “ as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
But
My point is
There is hope
In the resurrection
Hope not only
For the faithful
But there is hope
For the faithless
As well.
Deliberation
But
And if you’re still in Matthew’s gospel
We also Find
That because of the resurrection
There is hope
For the fearful.
The angel told those women
In Matthew 28:7 “And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.”
Now
Do you remember
Where the disciples were
When all this
What is taking place?
Well
They were hiding out in fear.
In fact
The Bible says
In John 20:19 “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”
But see
The disciples were fearful
And their fear was based
On misplaced trust.
See
They were depending
On the arm of the flesh
They were depending
No doubt
On their own strength.
But
Their fear was based
Likewise
on misplaced truth.
But because they were fearful…
It left them powerless
As they sat hiding out
For fear of the Jews.
But
Their misplaced trust
And misplaced truth
Likewise let them pitiful
In terms of their resolve
To know what to do…
Next.
And maybe this morning
You too
Are fearful.
Well
Let’s be honest
There are lots of things
In this world
Of which to be afraid.
Things like
Economic instability
Physical ailments
Political unrest
Or even rogue regimes.
but friend
I want you to know
That even if life
Has made you fearful.
Well listen please
There is hope
Because Jesus Christ
Is alive!
In fact
In another parallel passage
The Bible says
In John 20:19–20 “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.”
And the point is that
In the face
Of the risen Savior
Hope revived
In the hearts
Of the fearful.
And
For all of us
Our Lord is alive too.
So
We don’t have to fear
Anything.
Because Jesus will never leave us
Nor forsake us!
But see
Because of the resurrection
Of the Lord Jesus Christ
There is hope for the faithful
Hope for the faithless
Hope for the fearful
Determination
But
Let me add
One more thing
There is hope
For the faltering.
That is
There is hope for those
Whose faith is wavering
Just a little.
In fact
Back in Matthew’s gospel
In chapter 28
Shortly after the resurrection.
The Bible says
In verses 16 – 17
(Matthew 28:16–17 “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.”
That is a reference
No doubt
To doubting Thomas.
see
Like Christians even today…
Thomas’ faith
Had wavered just a little.
And maybe you too
Because of your circumstances
Maybe your faith
Is faltering some.
Well
There is good news
For you.
Jesus is alive!
And even though Thomas
Doubted
After hearing
That Jesus had risen from the dead
Yet
When he saw the Lord…
The Bible says
“Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. “
In John 20:28
And
The point is
When you see what Jesus
Is doing
And has done
For you
That should give you hope.
The calm assurance
That everything
Will be Okay!
Oh listen
There is hope
In the resurrection
Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is hope
For the faithful
And hope
For the faithless
There is hope
For the fearful
And hope
Even for the faltering
The
Resurrection
Of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ
Gives us hope.
Hope for salvation
Hope for security
Hope for sustenance
Hope for our souls
Now then
Do you need hope
This morning
As a believer?
Why not come to altar
And bring your cares to the Lord.
If
You have not yet placed your faith
In Jesus Christ…
Why not come to Jesus
Today?
And if you’re not sure how…
Then
When the piano begins to play
Let us show you from the Bible
How to find hope
In Jesus Christ
Conclusion: Let’s close in prayer.
