Sermon Tone Analysis

Announce about the Nerf Dart exchange that we will be having, next Friday evening, the 10th at 6:00 pm.

There is going to be a table set up in the front foyer, immediately following the service, in which you can get info about the event.

There will be pizza served before the event starts!

You can see Duane Dishman, immediately following the service, for details and a sign up sheet, which will be needed, to know how many pizza’s to order.

PLAN ON COMING!

Invite Robin Wagoner up to the mic to share her testimony!

I was so blessed and honored to get to speak at the graveside service yesterday afternoon, for our dear sister, Peggy Witsell.

It was a really cold and snowy afternoon, but it definitely added to the experience, as John, Peggy’s husband, mentioned right before we started the service, that Peggy loved the snow.

So, it was a “thank you Lord” moment at the cemetery!

I shared something yesterday afternoon, at the memorial service, that I have mentioned before at other graveside services and it is most likely something that I will continue to share, whenever given the opportunity.

And I would like to share that same thought with all of you right now, leading into today’s message.

A few years ago, in speaking at a family member’s funeral service and graveside service, I

In sharing this thought at graveside services, I usually start off by making mention of the open grave which I can see clearly down into from my position, as traditionally, the preacher will stand to the front of the people, around the coffin, and looking at the family and friends.

And when I look into the grave, I purposefully point out that, at that exact moment, the grave is empty.

And in saying that, I go ahead and mention that this “empty grave”, reminds me of another grave site instance that happened some two-thousand years ago, in the area of Jerusalem.

Now, for yesterday’s message, I asked everyone to close their eyes and try to picture what I was describing to them.

So, that being said, everyone please close your eyes right now and try to picture in your mind the Biblical account that I am going to describe to you.

It’s roughly two-thousand years ago in the middle eastern region of Jerusalem and it’s early in the morning; just right before dawn.

Some women are hurrying down the dusty road, to a burial tomb, with the spices that they have accumulated, for the soul purpose of finishing the preparation of a body for its proper burial.

However, this was not just anyone’s body.

This was in fact, Jesus the Christ’s body, which they were hurrying to get to, in order that they could finish preparing His body, which had already been laid into a borrowed tomb, following His crucifixion, two days earlier!

There was not much talk, as they were all heart broken and in despair about the death of their Lord and Messiah!

Probably the only continual talk that would have been heard along the way, was something like, “Hurry, we must reach the tomb soon!”

You, are one of the women hurrying to the tomb and as you make your way in the cool of the morning down the main road, leading to the burial site.

Your heart is broken and despondent from what has taken place, just two days before, as you witnessed, first hand, the horrific crucifixion of the Messiah, Jesus.

Upon arriving at the tomb site, you see something that is horribly wrong.

You notice that the stone which was placed upon the entrance into the tomb, has been rolled away and you also notice that the Roman guards, who were ordered to guard the tomb, are no longer present at their post.

You’re heart is racing and you are scared and apprehensive of what you may find, as you approach the tomb entrance to peer inside.

It is now right at dawn, and the sun has begun to illuminate the morning sky and also the entrance into the tomb of Jesus the Christ!

You are the one whom the Bible refers to, as Mary Magdalene, and you run into the tomb first, frantically hoping to find that your savior’s body is still intact and lying peacefully on the stone perch inside the tomb!

You, are the one whom the Bible refers to, as Mary Magdalene, and you run into the tomb first, frantically hoping to find that your savior’s body is still intact and lying peacefully on the stone bench inside the tomb!

But as the light breaches the inner chamber, you find something is horribly wrong!

It was you after all, whom Jesus cast out seven demons and freed your life from anguish and torture.

And you have followed the Christ ever since He freed you, faithfully and amidst controversy and gossip about who you are and what you used to be!

And now, after the horrific event that you witnessed, just two days earlier, of watching your Lord and Savior be mutilated and tortured as an innocent man, you are grief stricken to run in and find that His body is no longer lying within the tomb!

HOW CAN THIS BE? WHERE HAVE THEY TAKEN HIM? WHAT MORE CAN THE RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS WANT FROM HIM AFTER HAVING HIM MURDERED, JUST TWO DAYS BEFORE!

You stand there staring into the empty tomb through the hazy morning sunlight that is now piercing inside, as your heart is racked with grief sorrow and confusion about what you see.

Suddenly, you are startled by the voice of two men who appear there with you, in bright, dazzling garments.

One of them asks you, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

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.”

5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

6 He is not here, but has risen.

Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

And upon hearing his words and the evidence of the now empty tomb, you know that He must have risen!

It’s John’s gospel that records for us a very interesting bit of information about the tomb account, that morning.

John records for us that the burial linens were lying in their place, but the face cloth, which had covered the head of Jesus, was lying neatly folded in its place, by itself.

There is much speculation about why John recorded this detail of the burial lines and how they were found, aside from the other three gospel writers, but many people say that it has to do with an ancient Jewish custom that dealt with how the master of a house would place his napkin on the table upon his departure.

The supposed story says that if the master of the house was leaving the table for good and not returning, then he would wad up his towel and toss it upon the table where he had been sitting, signifying to the servants, that he was done and not returning.

If however, the master was only leaving for a short period of time and was planning on returning to the table, then he would neatly fold the linen and lay at the his place at the table.

Upon seeing the folded napkin at the master’s place at the table, the servants then knew that the master was definitely returning and that he was not yet finished.

Could it be that John was sharing this detail, to show us that Jesus had honored this Jewish custom and folded His face cloth and placed it neatly at the head of the bench, thus signifying that the Master was not finished and was soon returning?!

Be that as it may, all four gospels record the same thing that was found that morning..............the tomb, the grave was empty!

You see, the empty tomb, in and of itself, became a game changer for the religious leaders, as well as the followers of Jesus, in that day and age and for every generation that would come after.

Just as Mary found the grave empty on the third day after the death of Jesus, the grave has been found empty for every believer in Jesus, that has come ever since!

And so, yesterday, as I spoke to the family and friends of Ms Peggy, at her graveside, I made mention of the fact that the grave was empty then, and would forever remain so, because we are not bound to the grave, but have been made victorious over it, by the resurrection of the Christ!

And because He lives, so do we!

To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord!

Hallelujah!!!!

The empty tomb account is the exclamation point to the writings about Jesus’ life here on earth!

And for those of us who call ourselves followers of the Christ, it is the pinnacle of our faith.

Without a risen savior, we are just another religion and we are also hopelessly lost for all of eternity.

Without a risen savior, every burial service would be one of hopelessness and despondency!

And without a risen Jesus, all of the ancient prophecies and writings of the Bible, would be just fairy tales and lies.

But, as it stands, the Bible, as well as other extra-Biblical accounts, tell us the exact same thing, that the burial tomb, the grave, was in fact found empty that morning.

Jesus had defeated the grave and removed the sting of death for all time!

As the Bible says, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

55 “O death, where is your victory?

But the empty tomb does much more than just declare to you and I that we are free from the pangs of death.

It calls us out and separates us from the world.

There are many religions and there are many claims to deity in those religions, but Christianity is the only religion that not only claims that its Lord came and died for His people, but it backs it up with an empty grave account to validate and verify the deity of the Christ and to forever silence the lies of ALL other religions!

(You’re not talking about a handful of people that claim to have seen the risen savior.

No, in fact, Paul tells us that there were over 500 people who saw the risen Christ, many of whom were still alive when he wrote about their testimonies!)

Over 500 people witnessed the fact that the grave was found empty and that Jesus had returned!

O death, where is your sting?”

The empty tomb fulfills what Jesus had said that He was about to do, the night of His arrest, when He told His disciples in , that He was going to prepare a place for them and that if He was going to prepare a way for them to enter into His Father’s dwelling place, He would also return, so that He could bring them into it!

The Way into heaven has been made and the empty grave is our guarantee of it!

And when we receive the TRUTH of the good news of the gospel message and believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God and that He is our Messiah and we confess with our mouth this TRUTH, then we are changed into a new creature, just as I mentioned last week.

And as the empty tomb screams “NEW LIFE” for all believers, it also declares that you and I are to come out of the world and roll up our sleeves and get busy doing the work of the kingdom of God!

The cross of Calvary reminds us of the great sacrifice that was made for each of us and of how we were bought by the precious blood of Jesus.

And thus, the empty tomb reminds us of why we are to spend the rest of our lives serving Him..........because HE LIVES!

And because HE LIVES we also will live with Him!

And this guarantee of eternal life is secure for every blood bought saint of Jesus.

But where is our guarantee, how do we know that we have such a secure eternity?

Well, the Bible answers that for us as well.

In , Paul tells us this, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”

God marked us and labeled us as His own, by placing His seal upon us, which is His Holy Spirit, that He placed within us!

So if you have Holy Spirit living within you, then you are marked and labeled as an ambassador of Jesus the Christ!

Much in the same way as kings of old, used to place their seal in wax upon a letter to show that it was official and that the carrier of that letter walked in the authority of the king whom they represented.

So too, have you and I been sealed with the mark of our creator and we bare His seal as a testimony that we have been bought and are property of heaven and that we carry the full weight and authority of the God of the universe with us.

We are ambassadors of Christ!

How many of you can say this morning, with assurance, that you bare the seal of heaven upon you and as such, you are an ambassador of Christ?

If so, then I want you to say it out loud and with boldness, “I AM AN AMBASSADOR OF CHRIST!”

So, since we are His ambassadors here on earth, what does that mean we are to do?

Well, what is role of an ambassador?

An ambassador is someone who goes out from their homeland and into another foreign land and who walks in the authority of the government which they represent, as they declare their government’s message to the other foreign lands.