Matthew 28:1-9 NKJV Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. (2) And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. (3) His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. (4) And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. (5) But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. (6) He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. (7) And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” (8) So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. (9) And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.
This is the Word of the Lord, Amen?
- For the past couple of Easters I have been listening to two songs.
- One we sang this morning “Sunday’s coming”.
- The other I was turned onto by Deacon Jerry and Anita, it’s called He’s Alive by Don Francisco.
- Both of these songs have the same feel… they start with the darkness of the death of Jesus… but end with this triumphal call “He’s Alive! HE’S ALIVE! Hallelujah He’s alive!
- And when I listen to these songs, and it get’s to the “HE’S ALIVE” part it always brings me to tears…
- Mind you, I am NOT a crier… almost nothing makes me cry… but these songs do… tears of joy, tears of awe…
- Because something stirs inside of me… something burns inside of me as I sing “He’s alive!”
- I think about how powerful that moment must have been when the disciples one by one realized that Jesus wasn’t dead, but that He was alive…
- When Mary talked to the Gardner… when Thomas felt the holes in Jesus’ side and hands, when Jesus revealed Himself to the men on the way to Emmaus…
- Man the JOY! The AWE they must have felt! HE’S ALIVE! HE’S ALIVE! Why are you looking for the living amongst the dead? MY JESUS IS ALIVE!
- And then I remember when I went from death to life…
- When I gave my life to Jesus… when it all became real… When Jesus came to me, when He saved me, when He forgave me… That joy I felt… that Awe to be in the presence of a risen savior.
- And as I was rejoicing these past two weeks that Jesus is alive… THAT HE IS RISEN… that death is defeated, that sin is defeated, that Christ is EVERYTHING He said He is… That He truly is God… that the schemes of man could not stop Him… that no power of hell could not overcome Him.
- THEY KILLED HIM AND HE GOT BACK UP! That’s my Jesus! He’s alive!
- As I was just contemplating that joy and that awe as I sing these songs… as that joy and awe would overtake me again and again…
- I suddenly became convicted… Why do I only feel this way around Easter?
- Why do I have this extreme reverence, and joyful worship during Easter… a joy that can only be found in the realization that Christ is ALIVE!
- Shouldn’t I live in that Joy, shouldn’t I live in that awe?
- You see what I realized church is this: I never seem to forget that I serve a living Savior… but I often forget that I serve a RISEN savior.
- Like I know that my God is alive, I don’t worship some dead god like many false religions do… I never seem to forget that…
- But I often forget the joy of serving a Risen savior… Not only is He alive… but He was killed and yet lives! THEY MURDERED HIM and He ROSE AGAIN.
- He’s Alive!
- Here is my goal for you this Easter Sunday… I want you to live your life remembering the Joy and the awe of the Resurrection…
- Let’s start with this simple reminder: Remember the Joy.
Point One – Remember the Joy
Matthew 28:8-9 NKJV So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. (9) And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.
- They went out quickly from the tomb with great joy… and they ran to tell the disciples…
- On their way Jesus meets them and they grab him by His feet…
- I bet they didn’t want to let Him go! He tells them “Rejoice”… literally to be full of exceedingly great joy, so much joy it overflows.
- They are holding on to the legs of the living Savior and He says “REJOICE!”
- Probably the easiest command Jesus ever gave someone!
- And this is where the “He’s ALIVE” Chours starts playing in my head!
- Can you imagine being one of those woman, running to the disciples and busting into the doors and shouting “HE’S ALIVE! HE’S ALIVE! HALLELUJAH HE’S ALIVE!”
- Can you imagine that overwhelming amount of joy that would be in your heart… that would be reflected in your voice… as you shout out “HE’S ALIVE!”
- Some of the disciples will be excited from the news, and they will race to the empty tomb… other’s will doubt until they see the living Jesus… still others will doubt until they themselves can put their finger through the holes in Jesus’ hands…
- BUT NOT YOU! YOU SAW THE EMPTY TOMB!
- You saw the angel! “Why are you looking for the living amongst the dead?
- You saw Jesus… You held onto His feet… You heard His voice. He called your name! He told you to rejoice!
- He’s Alive!
- You know it is not hard for me to imagine this joy! BECAUSE I KNOW THIS JOY FIRST HAND!
- When I was RADICALLY SAVED at 16… It all became true… Jesus talked to ME! I, me, Christian Shields… talked WITH JESUS! He changed ME! He saved ME! He entered ME!
- The Holy Spirit lives in ME because JESUS IS ALIVE.
- I am forgiven of my sins BECAUSE JESUS IS ALIVE.
- I am free of shame because JESUS IS ALIVE!
- I am a walking bag of miracles because JESUS IS ALIVE!
- Love Joy Peace Patience Kindness Goodness Faithfulness Gentleness and Self-Control… all mine, because JESUS IS ALIVE.
- In His song, He’s Alive, Don Fransico writes about Peter finding out for himself that Jesus is alive… Peter see’s the empty tomb but returns home confused… doubting… not sure of what happened?
- But then Jesus shows Himself to Peter… here is how Don Fransico describes that moment:
But suddenly the air was filled
With a strange and sweet perfume
Light that came from everywhere
Drove the shadows from the room
And Jesus stood before me
With his arms held open wide
And I fell down on my knees
And I just clung to Him and cried
Then He raised me to my feet
And as I looked into His eyes
The love was shining out from Him
Like sunlight from the skies
Guilt in my confusion
Disappeared in sweet release
And every fear I’d ever had
Just melted into peace
-He’s Alive, Don Fransico
- The very next line is Peter shouting “HE’S ALIVE!”
- I love this song, because I can distinctly remember these very things happening to me when Jesus saved me. I can remember the Joy!
- I remember when I felt the warmth of Jesus flowing over me, in that warehouse in Kent Washington…
- I remember the voice, the sweetest, yet most powerful voice, calling me to salvation.
- I remember the shadows leaving my life… I remember my surrender.
- I remember how my shame and guilt and confusion all melted away.
- I remember feeling safer, closer, more loved than I have ever felt.
- Then we worshiped… and I remember the JOY! The first time I think I ever experienced joy in my life… sure I had experienced pleasure and happiness before… BUT NOW THAT I AM SAVED I CAN REJOICE!
- Joy that comes from a Risen is Savior is like nothing I can even describe… pure, unadulterated JOY!
- David wrote about this, because David knew what it was like to be saved by God!
Psalms 51:12 NKJV Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
- In other words David says “REMEMBER THE JOY!”
- Remember what it felt like when you, once and for all, knew that Jesus is risen and that Jesus is Lord!
- I think it is CRAZY that this verse needs to be written… I think it is so bizarre that this prayer is so relevant and necessary… “Restore to me the joy of my Salvation”.
- How could we FORGET that Joy?
- What darkness has overtaken us, that we forget the Joy of knowing HE IS RISEN‽
- What depression ails us that is stronger than the fact that HE’S ALIVE!
- What loneliness threatens to undue us when the Living Lord calls us by our name?
- What fear can ever haunt us know that we know, now that we have seen with our own eyes, that DEATH IS DEFEATED.
- Y’all I am never going to die because Christ Is Alive and He is Alive in me!
- Sure my flesh might die, but my spirit will live forever! What do I have to fear when I remember the Joy of my salvation.
- Here’s one: What sin is so pleasurable that it can tempt me to leave the joy of my salvation?
- See this is a nugget that God gave me last year when prophesying over a young woman…
- We don’t have a doubt problem, we have a remembering problem.
- We don’t have a loneliness problem, we have a remembering problem.
- We don’t have a sin problem, we have a remembering problem.
- We don’t have a fear problem, we have a remembering problem.
- We doubt when we forget the Joy.
- We get lonely when we forget the joy.
- We sin when we forget the joy.
- We are afraid when we forget the joy.
- I have never been in the joy of the Lord… just full of Joy, y’all born again know what I am talking about… I have never been in that moment of full joy and rejoicing… like at the altar worshiping… and in that moment was tempted to sin… no, why would I seek the temporary pleasure of sin when I HAVE THIS KIND OF JOY… I have never been afraid in that moment, I have never doubted in that moment… I have never felt lonely in that moment…
- No, it is when I leave the altar, it is when life comes screaming back… after a long day of suffering from back pain, and trying to raise kids, and dealing with church problems… it is in those moments of exhaustion… or in those rote moments of every day life… that I forget…
- I never forget that I serve a living God… but man sometimes I forget that I serve a RISEN God… that death and sin and guilt and shame and fear and loneliness and doubt… THEY WERE DEFEATED ON THAT SUNDAY MORNING SOME 2000 years ago!
- I forget the joy, an everything else comes rushing in…
- So this Easter Sunday, church, I want to encourage you to remember the Joy!
- When the doubt comes, Remember the Joy.
- When the fear comes, Remember the Joy.
- When the loneliness comes, Remember the Joy.
- When the temptation comes, Remember the Joy…
- When the darkness comes, Remember the Joy!
- HE’S ALIVE! What else do I need?
1 Peter 1:8b-9 NKJV …Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, (9) receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
Philippians 4:4 NKJV Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
- Now let’s move on to point two: Remember the Awe.
Point Two – Remember the Awe
Matthew 28:8-10 NKJV So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. (9) And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. (10) Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
- Mary and the other women see the Angel, the Angel says “Jesus is not here, He is risen!”… they believe the angel and leave with great joy and great fear…
- Now base off of that verse I was going to make this point “Remember the fear”… except in the very next verse Jesus says “Fear not”.
- Now the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom.
- Fearing God is a good thing… God says “I have set before you blessings and curses, chose blessings. I have set before you life and death, chose life!”
- Wisdom starts with “God means it when He says ‘death’, God means it when He says ‘curses’… I fear that if I don’t chose to follow and obey God the He will do what He said He was going to do!
Proverbs 1:7a NKJV The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…
Proverbs 9:10a NKJV “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…
- Fear of the Lord is consider a good thing! In fact, it is a way of describing true follows of God, true worshipers, true Christians… we are “God fearing, Bible Believing Christian!”
- But here, in the garden in front of the empty tomb, Jesus says “Do not be afraid”.
Matthew 28:9-10 NKJV And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. (10) Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
- Do not be afraid… The empty tomb defeated sin, it defeated death, it defeated the plans of the enemy, it sealed the fate of Satan and his minions…
- But the empty tomb did not defeat YOU! It was not intended to defeat mankind, it was intended to SAVE mankind.
- You see I am afraid of a police officer when I am the one in trouble… when I am driving 15 over the speed limit and the cop pulls out behind me… some of y’all know that abject terror of watching your review mirror… is he going to light me up and pull me over… you start to sweet… your heart beats high…
- When you are the one in trouble, it is scary to see the police lights behind you…
- But when you are the one BEING SAVED… those very same police lights and sirens bring you such joy and relief…
- Fear not… Jesus says… but that doesn’t mean we can’t be in reverent awe.
- I am not afraid of a Risen Jesus, I am on His side after all, I am not afraid of Him… but I sure am in awe of Him.
- He was dead but now HE’S ALIVE!
- WHAT‽
- He was in the tomb for three days… BUT NOW HE’S ALIVE!
- WHAT‽
- What Kind of power is this… to raise yourself from the dead?
- Everything I thought I knew about life, and death, and the universe, IMMEDIATELY CHANGED FOREVER.
- One of the reasons Jesus needed to rise form the dead was to prove that there was life after death…
- There was a large argument at the time amongst Jews of “Is there life after death”. Jesus put an AWESOME end to that argument when He rose from the dead. REMEMBER THE AWE CHURCH.
- I was talking to Pastor Matt about this and he told me something very interesting…
- When Pastor Matt was studying the early church for his book “The Church is an Ark” Pastor Matt discovered that for hundreds of years after the resurrection the early church would focus on the Resurrection every Sunday.
- The teachings, the worship, the times of communion… all centered around the resurrection… it was all anyone could talk about for 100’s of years…
- AND OF COURSE IT WAS… It was history changing… it was ETERNITY changing…
- But for some reason in America we forget the Awe of the resurrection.
- We look for the next big thing… Yeah, the resurrection was cool for it’s time… we experienced that awe… but what is next?
- What new prophecy?
- What new movement?
- What new event?
- What new revival?
- What is the next spiritual high that we can ride?
- Church, was the resurrection so lame that it’s awe can only take us so far?
- Was it so mundane that it is only worth aweing over for a few weeks, or a few months, or a few years, or a few centuries…
- I MEAN CHRIST WAS DEAD AND NOW HE IS ALIVE!!!
- What could possibly be more awesome than that?
- Pastor, what about the blood moons, what about the red Heffers in Israel? What about this prophecy and that prophecy?
- I mean, all of that is interesting… BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT JESUS WAS DEAD AND YET HE LIVES?
- But Pastor what about this revival that is happening? What about that movement? Pastor have you studied this new thing, it is so exciting…
- I am sure it is exciting… BUT LISTEN MY BROTHER IN CHRIST. JESUS IS ALIVE! DEATH IS DEFEATED! SIN IS DEFEATED! HE HAS GONE TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR ME!
- I have seen the goodness of the Lord, walking out of the tomb and CALLING MY NAME! What else do I need? HE’S ALIVE!
- If we discovered aliens, would that be more world shaking to you then the fact that Jesus is alive?
- If documents were released that showed that 9-11 was an inside job, would that consume your thoughts more than the fact that Jesus is alive.
- Do you spend more time thinking about the arguments and doctrines of dead men, then thinking about the face that HE’S ALIVE?
- There was no greater moment in theology, there was no greater moment in history, there was no greater moment in science, there was no greater moment in theoretical physics… THEN THE MOMENT JESUS WALKED OUT OF THAT TOMB.
- IT IS THE DEFINITION OF AWESOME. Remember the AWE!
- Now I am not saying you can’t be interested in some of this stuff… but it should be nothing compared to the awe you should feel at the fact that JESUS IS ALIVE.
- And when Jesus asks you to do something… remember that awe!
- “Forsake not the gathering of the brethren” – I don’t want to go to church today… and Jesus dind’t want to go to the cross… If He rose from the dead then I can rise from my bed and get to church.
- “Give a tithe of all your income to the Lord” – I don’t know if I can live on 90% percent… but then again, Jesus lived after being dead for 3 days… If the living savior tells me to give, then I will give and I will live.
- “Be not unequally yoked, hate not your brother, forgive others, love your enemies, don’t lust, don’t gossip, don’t steal…” THE GOD WHO DIED AND YET IS ALIVE IS ASKING ME TO DO THESE THINGS… THE GUY WHO ROSE FROM THE DEAD IS TELLING ME TO DO THESE THINGS… Should not the awe of the power of God displayed in a risen savior make obeying easy‽
- You know one of my friends, who is one of the smarted and influential Christian men I know, said this on Facebook:
“Some of the best leaders in America are pastors whose churches are organized with predominantly volunteers. They must lead through motivation, inspiration, vision, and sheer influence. When there are no paychecks at stake, leadership takes on a whole new perspective. -Facebook Post
- The sentiment he is getting at, as he explains later in this post, is that it is hard to convince people to do things without the motivation of a paycheck.
- Like I ask people to wake up before the sun on Sunday mornings to come and run the computer, or the soundboard, or be on the worship team, or pre-service prayer.
- If I was paying them, if their livelihood depended on it, it would be easy to say “I need you to come in early to work on Sunday”… but without the influence of a paycheck, it is much more difficult.
- But here is the thing… It shouldn’t be more difficult. THE AWE OF SEEING CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD SHOULD BE FAR MORE MOTIVATING THAN A PAYCHECK.
- The early disciples remembered that Awe to the grave! They were told to denounce Christ or they would be boiled alive in oil, ran through with a spear, or crucified upside down…
- Livelihood MEANT NOTHING TO THEM! They SAW CHRIST ALIVE! What was death.
- Our employees believe the greatest motivator is money, because money is how we buy things to stay alive and comfortable.
- To the Romans, and the Pagans, the greatest motivator was death. They thought at the threat of death people would do anything! Because people inherently want to stay alive.
- But to Christians these things mean very little to us… BECAUSE WE KNOW HE’S ALIVE!
- And it should be the AWE of a risen savior that motivates us…
- The Awe of eternal life.
- The Awe of eternal love.
- The Awe that Jesus would not just die for me, but rise for me!
- He’s alive so I can show up to church early to serve, even when I don’t feel that good, even when it’s been a long week, even when I was up all night with my children… Not because of a pay check… that’s easy to get! But because HE’S ALIVE.
- Any employer can write a pay check, but how many can rise from the dead‽
- It is the AWE of the resurrection, it is the AWE of an empty tomb, it is the AWE of a defeated grave that drives me to a deeper enthusiasm, a deeper obedience, a deeper worship.
- It is not because of a paycheck that I am jumping up in down in worship…
- Heavens no! I have horrible back pain, and that makes it worse…
- It is not because of a paycheck that I am a full-time pastor…
- Heavens no! I was doing just fine as a Systems Analyst in Seattle, Washington.
- It is not because of a paycheck that I visit people in the hospital, or take phone calls at 9pm at night, or deal with issues that really demand a psychiatrist and not a pastor… it is not because of a paycheck that I deal with all the church drama, and family drama, and interpersonal drama…
- IT IS BECAUSE HE IS ALIVE! IT IS BECAUSE I REMEMBER THE AWE… AND THAT AWE DRIVES ME TO LOVE, IT DRIVES ME TO FAITH, IT DRIVES ME TO WORSHIP, IT DRIVES ME TO PRAISE, IT DRIVES ME TO OBEDIENCE.
- If the guy who rose from the dead is asking me to do it, THEN YOU BETTER BELIEVE I AM GOING TO DO IT!
- This easter Sunday, Church, Remember the Awe!
- Let me conclude with this verse, this prayer from Ephesians…
Conclusion
- When writing to the Ephesians, Paul outlines his prayers for them, in this prayer of thanksgiving, Paul says this:
Ephesians 1:18b-20 NKJV …[I pray that] that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (19) and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power (20) which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
- Church I pray that you would know the hope of His calling… as He is calling you to salvation, if you are not saved, as He is calling you to obedience, as He is calling you to ministry, as He is calling you to be more than a Conqueror… I pray that you know the hope of His greatness as proven by the power of the resurrection.
- I pray that you know the riches of His glory, the riches of joy, the riches of peace, the riches of life and life abundant… according the the working of His resurrection power!
- I pray that you know the EXCEEDINGLY GREAT POWER OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST JESUS.
- And that you remember the AWE of that Resurrection and you remember that JOY of that Resurrection!
- Never forget Church! HE’S ALIVE!!!!
- Gospel Call
Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God.
Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids
2808 Schaeffer DR SW,
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
www.CedarRapidsChurch.com
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