The Stone Was Rolled Away

The Stone was Rolled Away.

1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

(KJV)

There are three ancient enemies of the human race: fear, doubt and defeat.

Fear which robs the soul of the drive to plan and to execute that which is necessary, Doubt; which invalidates the highest aspirations of the soul and defeat, which denies the consummation of sound plans and valid purposes.

A dreaded triplet whose power displayed put bleakness in the atmosphere of life and turns to darkness and futility all the light of confidence and endeavor.

After the crucifixion of Jesus the disciples seemed to have fallen into the worst depression into which any group could fall.

They dared to hope that Jesus was the Redeemer of Israel.

They dared to believe that he had the power to establish an earthly Kingdom, where they would be the Prime Ministers, secretary of State, and treasurer.

They thought they had seen in Him life

They thought they had seen in kingliness,

They thought they had seen in Him achievement

But now he was dead. Jesus was dead, and their beliefs were well night obliterated by His death.

Hope had vanished, confidence destroyed. The end was at hand; at least so they thought.

To the followers of Jesus, the ancient enemies had come, invincible and destructive.

Fear robbed their souls of the drive to plan and to execute that, which is necessary. Doubt invalidated their high aspirations.

Defeat denied them the vision to see that all that Jesus had promised was true,

All that Jesus promised was sound and all they needed to do was obey his words.

Fear, doubt and defeat were victors. Why, because the disciples were not aware that the stone had been rolled away.

The obstacles had already been removed.

God had already, in advance provided a solution to their problems.

Think of the three women, who probably loved Jesus the most.

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salomne.

Jesus was dead.

It was over with them.

The dream that had broken into their lives and changed them was gone, and all they had left was a memory, which would never die.

His living, loving spirit was gone, except what they had caught of it in their hearts, like an imperishable flower.

But there was something still they could do.

They could cherish the memories of Jesus.

So off they set. As soon as the sun had risen they started out to that place where they had laid the body of Jesus.

It had not occurred to them until they were nearly there that at the mouth of the grave, was a great stone which would need to be rolled away.

Suddenly it struck them.

Who will roll away the stone?

For a moment they were at a standstill because it was a staggering thought.

Who will roll away the stone?

That massive structure compressed mixture of sulfur and other mineral matter.

Who was there that was so strong, that they would dare to attempt to push aside that massive rock which had been placed there with the expressed purpose of sealing forever in that tomb the Son of God?

Who would roll away the stone?

They did not know, but the Bible says, they did not turn back, they went on.

In the face of the obstacle they went on.

In the face of the impossible they went on.

When going on seemed like sheer stupidity, they went on.

They would not fear,

They would not doubt,

They would not accept defeat, they went on, and when they came to the sepulcher, they looked, and they found the stone had been rolled away.

What had happened?

The night of the first day of the week had worn slowly away.

The darkest hour just before daybreak had come. Jesus was still a prisoner in that narrow tomb.

The great stone was in place.

The Roman seal was still unbroken,

The Roman guards were keeping their watch.

But there were unseen watchers around that place.

Host of evil angels had gathered there.

Had it been possible, the prince of darkness with his apostate army would have kept forever sealed that tomb that held the Son of God.

But a heavenly host was also there.

Angels that excelled in strength were guarding that tomb.

Waiting to welcome the prince of life.

Then behold there was an earthquake:

The angel of the Lord descended from heaven.

The brightness of Gods glory illuminated His pathway.

The panoply of God was his covering.

His face was not the face of a mortal warrior; no it is the face of the mightiest of God’s angels.

It was he who had taken the position of Lucifer, that fallen angel.

It was he who on the hillside of Bethlehem proclaimed Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will towards men, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord.

The soldiers see him moving the stone as he would a pebble

The hear him as he declared, "son of God, come forth, your Father calls.

And lo there stands Jesus, coming forth out of the grave.

In majesty and glory He comes> Angels bow before Him in adoration and praise. In my minds eye I see him. I can see, can you see him this morning, Calvary?

I can see him; he has nailed scarred hands,

I can see him; light and powerful angels surround him.

I can see him and he has the key to death and hell in his hands.

I can see him standing in all his glory and his power.

I can see him and I hear him say, preacher, you are my witness and my servant whom I have chosen.

I can see him, and he say Calvary, its high time to wake up out of your sleep.

I can see him, and I hear him say, Calvary:

You ain’t got long to be here, you’re bound for the Promised Land.

You ain’t got long to be here, you got a ticked in your hand.

And when you look around and see, troubles all around.

You ain’t got time to pay no mind, cause you ain’t got long to stay.

I can see him.

And I hear him declare, "I am the resurrection and the Life, if any man come unto me, though he were dead, yet shall he live"

Calvary, in the supreme moments of life, those who trust God most, is the ones who fear the best.

When our reason and our vision has taken us as far as they can take us,

Our instinct, our trust in God, our faith, must lead us onward into the light.

Why, because we serve a God who is able to roll away the stones.

We need to ask God this morning, Calvary, the remove the stones of indecision indecisiveness that cause us to be lackadaisical about God and the things of God.

We need to ask God this morning Calvary to remove the stones of doubt and inactivity that has kept this church so empty over the years and left the people of Bridgeport in the darkness of sin.

We need to ask God to remove those stone that has cause roadblocks in our marriages.

We need to ask God to remove those stone that makes a husband and a wife to live in the same home and not speak to each other setting an awful example to their children.

We need to ask God to remove those stone that makes our young people look like the world, dress like the world, act like the world.

We need to ask God to remove those stones that keep us locked in the hopeless condition of drug addiction, Sabbath breaking and sexual promiscuity.

Oh God we need to cry today, Calvary, Roll Away the Stones.

After His resurrection Jesus met two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus.

They were both discouraged, for they did not believe he had risen from the dead.

To convince them would have been the simplest matter. Jesus could have drawn their attention to His physical form. He could have shown them the wounds he sustained on the cross.

Their eyes were holded that they should not know Him, and thinking he was a stranger, they confided in Him.

They told Him of their fond hope that Christ was the Messiah and how that tragic weekend had destroyed their dreams.

It was then that Christ addressed them as follows.

Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Christ did not want to establish their faith on something they had seen, but upon the testimony of the word of God.

So instead of showing them the nail marks in His hands, and feet.

Instead of showing Him the wound in His side, and His scarred Mark forehead.

He reviewed the prophetic forecasts of the coming of the Messiah.

He showed what the Old Testament prophets foretold concerning His birth. His life, His ministry and His resurrection.

Thus their faith was not based upon the evidence of their senses but upon the certainty of Gods world.

They went out to proclaim the Christ of Prophecy.

Thus the early Christians saw in Christ the perfect fulfillment of the messianic prophecies.

They recognize His as the one to whom all the Old Testament prophecies pointed and on the bases of fulfilled prophecy accepted Him as the Son of God.

Throughout the New Testament the appeal of the early Christian was based on the same foundation, as was Philip faith:

Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Speaking of the Mighty preacher of Epheuss Apollo says:

For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.

Thousands of People today, see little difference between Christianity and the eastern Religions.

They see little difference between Jesus Christ and Buddha, Mohammed or Confucius.

They have turned from the Bible to the Koran or the Bhagavad Gita looking for answer they think the bible does not have.

But I want to let you know the morning, that the Bible has the answers.

And according to the Bible, all our answers can be found in Jesus.

In the city of Sydney Australia, a repair wizard who ran his own business employed a rather unique sign, it Read "Everything mended here, except broken hearts" And I want to let you know this morning, that this craftsman exception, is the specialty of Jesus. Over the years he has proven to be the heart surgeon, without any equal.

When affliction press the soul, and the waves of trouble roll you need someone

When your body's rock with pain, and you are feeling so ashamed, you need someone.

When the ship of our lives, tosses on the winds of strife, we need someone,

I give you Jesus, He is the peace that passeth all understanding

I give you Jesus, He is that special someone.

"Take the name of Jesus, with you, Child of Sorrow and of Woe,

It will Joy and comfort Give you, take it then where 'ere you go.

Precious name, Oh how sweet, hope of earth and Joy of Heaven,

Precious name Oh how sweet, hope of earth and Joy of Heaven.