Seeking the Living

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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.

2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

5 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?

6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

8 And they remembered his words,

1Now 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. 2And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 4And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8And they remembered his words,

Tension

Testing Faith

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Engage
One of the headlines I have seen this week was from the Associated Press; it read “In a test of faith, Christians mark Good Friday in isolation”.
This headline lines up with what we are seeing across the world as people struggle to align their religious practices with a world, that at least for a time, has chosen isolation as a defence against a dangerous illness.
This is certainly a time for the testing of faith, but we should be testing our faith according to scripture.
In every medical TV show. In order to create tension they will pan over to the electrocardiogram, that monitor that shows the patients heartbeat. While you see the mountains and valleys with the corresponding beeps, you know that the patient is alive. But once the line is flat, and you here that solid tone ringing out, you know that the patient has died.
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Mecca
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It may be that our faith is tested in this time. To see if it is dead or alive. And just like doctors have physical tools to determine physical life, God has given us spiritual tools to determine spiritual life. And in the book of James, chapter 2 we find the younger brother of our Lord speaking to these tools:
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The Haredim, the ultra orthodox community in Israel has been hit especially hard by COVID-19. Reports indicate 40% of their population have been infected

14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

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In Me
Now reading this I would be careful to clarify that v16 is an analogy. It is a picture being painted by James to illustrate a spiritual point. Though they are good and needful things, this isn’t a mandate to feed or clothe those in need.
The point being made by James is that we may have great intention, and we may say great spiritual things but until action is put to those intentions and sayings there is no life in them. This is God telling us the advice that our parents had been giving us while we were growing up. Actions speak louder than words.
So in considering the testing of our faith on this Easter morning, our message this morning is entitled “Seeking the Living”
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Tension
Pray

A Sad State of Affairs

Tension

Faithful Women

As opens it follows who the gospel of Mark points out is Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James, and Salome. The came to the tomb of Jesus as Luke points out, very early in the morning. Mark here again goes into greater detail in saying that this was just at the rising of the sun. 6:14AM.
Jewish law prescribed that deep mourning was to last for seven days. The first 3 of which were the days of weeping reserved for deepest mourning. The chairs in the house were reversed and people would sit on the ground. They were forbidden to wash, to annoint themselves or even to put on shoes.
This is the reality for these 3 women as they made their way to the tomb. There world was dissaray, they were unwashed and they were mourning. Still all there heart could have them to do was to serve their master, even in his death by bringing spices to anoint him.
They set off faithfully, and they didn’t really even have a complete plan
says

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

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Typical Expectations

You can’t but say that these women were faithful, to their greatest ability. Clearly they were struggling with the claims Jesus had made about his resurrection, More than anything I think they just didn't understand. But remember that while the bulk of the disciples ran and hid themselves, they were at the foot of the cross.
But they came with the expectation of a body. A body that had been in the grave for days. A body that had been executed upon a cross, a body that was scourged. Of this body the book of Isaiah says this in Chapter 52 verse 14

14 As many were astonied at thee;

His visage was so marred more than any man,

And his form more than the sons of men:

In other words, he was so disfigured by the ordeal he suffered that he wasn’t recognizable.
But,

Finding Death

Truth

A Visit to the Tomb

On that morning though, around 2000 years ago, the expectations of three faithful women where shattered. says they were “much perplexed” . In other words, they had absolutely no idea what was going on.
Just a Isaac in asked
The stone that they were worried about removing the entrance to the tomb. It was rolled back already.
They expected that the weren’t going to be able to access the tomb. says they were
They expected to find a body to anoint. But what the fou
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Instead of the Roman guards at the tomb, there were two men in shining garments, and in v3 we learn that the body of their Lord was nowhere to be found.
In their terror, the women fall to their faces and I want to stop here on what these angels tell the women: “Why seek ye the living among the dead”

The Dead

The question perfectly sums up what religion had come to for the Jewish people. They lived under the guidance of the scribes and Pharisees.
Turn with me to Matthew 32:27
Where we find Jesus spoke of the death that these religious leaders brought, rebuking them in Matthew 32:27-28

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Something that I don’t think we see depicted very well in pictures that illustrate Jesus tomb is that the outside was likely painted white. At the time of passover the Jewish people would whitewash all of the tombs. It was a warning sign to pilgrims as they came into town to keep away.
The appearance was not unlike if we go to many cemeteries today you would find well kept gardens and beautiful buildings. Spring Grove is renown worldwide for its beauty. But the beauty is only on the surface. Photographers go to this cemetery to capture what is present on the surface, the man made effort at covering up the rot and death that lies behind the walls and beneath the surface.
This is exactly what the Jewish religion had become. If you are still in look up a few verses earlier to v23

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

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The scribes and Pharisees didn’t care about people. What does our bible tell us? They were concerned about making sure that outward religion was being conducted. But what was omitted? Look at the end of v23: Judgment, Mercy and Faith.

Looking for Life

Application
The Associate Press headline I mentioned we first began read “In a test of faith, Christians mark Good Friday in isolation”. This is true, but only where people are looking for "the living among the dead”
I don’t need to go into the details; you know that many religions have placed high importance on pilgrimages, worship and veneration of things and locations they have deemed sacred. Most often these are the possessions, tombs or locations significant to those long since deceased. But people look for life among these relics of the dead.
And if people
This is true, but only where people are looking for life
But even Christians can be lured into this false way of thinking. Pastor Bill Prater who is a good friend of Pastor Love wrote this on his Facebook wall the other day and it really registered with me:
Each year 900,000 Devotee’s in India gather for Puri. An annual pilgrimage where they visit the temple and throw parades for their idol Jagannath, a form of Vishnu.
One thing this pandemic has reminded me of yet again today as I was preparing my message for Sunday, is how thankful I am that my salvation does not depend on my maintaining some weekly religious ritual. My salvation is in Christ and Christ alone! He saved me and He keeps me saved. And then I thought about this. If those religious things are expendable during a pandemic, then how necessary are they on a weekly basis? I mean seriously, think about that. If this pandemic has you worried because you’ve not been able to maintain your weekly religious ritual that you have been convinced you need to observe to stay saved, perhaps this would be a good time to consider giving your heart to Jesus and quit relying on your own good works to get you to heaven.
One thing this pandemic has reminded me of yet again today as I was preparing my message for Sunday, is how thankful I am that my salvation does not depend on my maintaining some weekly religious ritual. My salvation is in Christ and Christ alone! He saved me and He keeps me saved. And then I thought about this. If those religious things are expendable during a pandemic, then how necessary are they on a weekly basis? I mean seriously, think about that. If this pandemic has you worried because you’ve not been able to maintain your weekly religious ritual that you have been convinced you need to observe to stay saved, perhaps this would be a good time to consider giving your heart to Jesus and quit relying on your own good works to get you to heaven.
And even today some adherents of Catholicism venerate the the bones of dead saints in order to gain favor and intercession from the previous and dead owner of the relic.
It is so easy for us to think of our religion and our faith as part of a weekly ritual. Don’t get me wrong, gathering together each week is of the utmost importance.
Application
and 25 read:

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together

24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together

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We are instructed not to forsake our assembling. The word forsake in the greek literally means “to leave behind” or to desert our church family. it is important for us to consider the context in v24, to provoke unto love and good works. And Christians need to be that provocation for eachother now more than ever.
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For a time we are doing things in unusual ways. This Sunday is definitely not the norm. But it can work because this hardship is built upon a foundation of relationships that to paraphrase what Paul wrote in Galatians, are relationships of sharing one another’s burdens…We can’t do church on our own.
But it should be no test of faith for us to be deprived of our social interaction for a time. And on this Easter I think specifically of

5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

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As Christians we have no mandate to celebrate holy days above any other day. If we were to look at the biblical position we should be gathering to remember the resurrection of Christ at the beginning over every week not just on a Sunday in April.
But even to that point. Our faith doesn’t reside in a building that we visit as if it were entombed with the bones of some long dead deity. We can’t find a living God among the dead.
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Rest

The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

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In the commandment regarding the Sabbath Reads

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

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We no longer require a day of rest
Inspiration
The reason Christians don’t worship on a Saturday sabbath like what was once commanded of God is because of what that day represented.
We find Jesus, as recorded in instructing us that:

The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

In the commandment regarding the Sabbath Reads

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

We no longer require a day set apart for spiritual rest.
But even studies done by today’s scientists point that we need rest per how God’s word says we are designed. People with prolonged weeks, just 60 hours a week after about 8 weeks show that they are no more productive during that week than someone who works 40 weeks. In fact, in most cases they are less productive and that number skyrockets for those who work 70-80 hours a week. People get burn out and suffer health impacts if they don’t rest. Depression, Heart attacks and heart disease.
But let me read to you about spiritual rest in

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

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Living Faith

Action
I hope that these times have not been a trial for your faith. An inconvenience, certainly. But, hopefully not a trial. If ritual and location are at the foundation of your hope then I have good news for you.
We don’t serve a God in isolation. Christ is no more confined within the walls of a church building than he is confined within the walls of a grave.
If you are hearing this today and you are struggling with your faith. If you are having trouble making since of things lately. If you feel spiritually beaten. We can’t do an alter call of a video stream, but I can assure you that there is a living God and a savior that wants to meet you where you are today, wherever you are watching this. A first step might be to send a message to us in Facebook messenger because you have questions, or it might be to just reach out to God in prayer today.
For those of my brothers and sisters in Christ who are stuck at home today, or isolated except for a quick trip out here or there. Don’t let this be a time for your faith to be harmed.
If you want to know more, it’s as easy as sending
We seldom have such an opportunity of quietness in our lives to meditate on God’s word, and to pray for one another.
Seldom are our communities looking for life wherever they can find it, and most of our neighbors are seeking the life among the dead.
We are so blessed to serve a living God but I am afraid so many are mourning what we have lost we have lost sight of what we have. It would be so easy for us to see only the bad in this bad situation, let’s take this opportunity to focus on the good.
Personally. Week after week I go to church and it has become my habit. During our life explored course the other day I was relating that I often fail at taking time to appreciate God’s creation. I am so surrounded by it that I take it for granted.
It’s often only when I get the opportunity to see a different aspect of God’s creation that I truly appreciate it. When I see the stars in a clear night without the lights of the city dulling them. When I see the mountains or the desert or the ocean. But you know, when people live near the mountains or the ocean, it become common for them and they start to forget how amazing the view is.
I am not a fan of this time away from church. But I look forward to coming back with fresh eyes to seeing those who I love in Christ. I look forward to a sweet time of fellowship. The next time I walk through the doors of my church will certainly mean more to me than did the last time.
Pray
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