me please to Job chapter 19. I come back to read this often for this is a remarkable statement. For a man who'd never seen Jesus and didn't know anything about the crucifixion resurrection, but Job 19, a man who is in the depths of bitterness and sorrow and despair, he is terminal. They said he would die. In terms of every known medical factor that day, he was going to die. Under those circumstances, Job 19, beginning in verse 23. Any of you like a Bible, please hold up your hands and the usher will see that you have one. Job 19, 23. Oh, that my words were now written, that they were printed in a book, that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever. For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, Yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, not another, though my reins be consumed within me. Now turn with me please to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 for the reading from the epistles. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. beginning in verse 3. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time." Now let's go back to John, the 20th chapter. When we began the study of John as a congregation that many months ago, we did not know that it was going to work out in such a way that chapter 20 would be today. But I believe that God has worked it out. John chapter 20, beginning in verse 1. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher. So they ran both together. And the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying, yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre, weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. And Jesus saith unto her woman, Why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabbona, which is to say, Master. And Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not. for I am not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my father and your father and to my God and your God. So Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things unto her. 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 showed them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus saying to them, to them again, Peace be unto you. as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. The same day at evening, being the first day of the week, came Jesus, and he stood in the midst, and he said unto them, Peace be unto you. And then again he said it to them in that 22nd verse, peace be unto you. As the Father has sent me, so now I send you. You know all days are not equal. There are some days that are just more important than other days. You ladies would understand this. your wedding day. When you waken that morning, or when you will waken that morning, you have one name. But during the day, you change that name, and you will never again be the same. You men, when you waken that day, you are one. But by the end of that day, you are, too. The day of your surgery, the day they cut off Charlotte's leg, she knew when she wakened that day that she would never again be the same. And some of you have been through that same thing. The day of a funeral, a death, Bob told me three weeks ago about how his brother had called to say, I'm just calling to say goodbye because I will not go on with that dialysis. And in a very short time, very short time, he was gone. the day of a funeral, the day of graduation, you knew when you wakened that day that you would never again be the same. And that fact, multiplied millions of times, was more true of the resurrection day than of any other day that the world has ever known. The day that Jesus rose from the dead, The whole world would never be the same again. Not the day of creation, not the day of judgment, but the day of Jesus' resurrection. The most important day that the world has ever known. And children, there are just two points to everything I'm saying here this morning. First, the people who were there that day. Watch for the people who were there that day. They were never the same again. and second, what that resurrection then means. They saw that he was dead. They knew that he was dead. Those two Marys knew that, probably watched him bleed to death there and die moment by moment on the cross. And they had stayed near the tomb as long as they could the evening after the crucifixion and the burial. It was so terribly, terribly, terribly final. He in whom they had hoped for so much was gone. And this was final. But then they'd had to go back to their own homes to wait out the Sabbath Passover, which would have been the same as our Saturday. But then Luke tells us how on what we know is the first day of the week that is our Sabbath this day here they hurried out to the tomb again now with the spices to complete the burial procedure they may not have known about the guards that have been posted there but Mark tells us that on the way they were asking each other about who they would find to be able to move that terribly heavy stone so that they could get into the body. And what they did not know was that Jesus was already out. That the guards had been blinded so that they could not see. The most important thing that had ever happened in the history of the world, those guards were blinded. They were there to guard and see, but they hadn't been able to see Mary of Magdalene seems to have seen it all first. Amazing fact that Jesus would have arranged it that she out of whom he had cast seven devils would be the one who would tell Peter. It wasn't Peter telling her. It was her telling Peter. The tomb was open. The tomb was empty. And she could think of only one possibility. That body had been stolen away. That's the way she took it to begin with. And Mary races off then immediately to find Peter, the big fisherman. If anyone could do anything about this, it'd be Peter. He'd be the one who would take it in hand and do something about it. But she's so shocked that she just burts it all out in front of him. They have taken the Lord out of the tomb. They've taken the body. And we don't know where they have put it. What a terrible mistake she was making. and a whole series of mistakes. She'd come to embalm a dead body. She didn't realize that no death could keep him dead. She had come to bring something to make his body smell good. She didn't realize that the father had already anointed his body with the oil of everlasting gladness. She'd come thinking that he was the victim of men and their cruelty. She didn't realize that he was the victor who had conquered the world and all the men in the world. She thought she had come to put the final touch on his earthly remains, that this was the end of everything. She didn't realize that this was the day of resurrection and life and the beginning of everything. But please, please don't be too hard on Mary because we make these same mistakes today, you and I do. We're sorry and we're afraid about the very things that we should be able to rejoice in. We're having to give this person up. We're having to leave that person behind. We're going to be so lonely now that she's gone. now that he is not here with us on earth anymore. We'll never see that loved one again here. But all the while, the fact is that the thing that we're leaving behind has no place in heaven. The loved one who has gone on ahead of us is now enjoying a new life so much better than the one that they did have here on earth. And we miss the blessing of God's greatest blessing of all just the way Mary did when she jumped to the conclusion someone stole him. He's gone. The body's missing. The loss of the physical body disoriented her thinking. She lost her bearings. She did not know where she was and she did not know where she was going. She couldn't conceive, it never entered her mind, the possibility of a resurrection. I remember once making that same kind of mistake. It was a night navigational flight out over Texas and Oklahoma. And it was a dark night when we couldn't see the stars and we couldn't see the moon. But I knew because of the way that I had planned for the plane to fly that we were to fly just south of a very large city. The lights of that city were to be on our starboard side, on our right side. And I asked the pilot, I ordered the pilot to come down to where we could see because there was that much cloud cover. But the lights didn't show up. And the lights didn't show up. And the lights didn't show up. Oh, I saw some lights out here on the left side, but the lights that were to be on the right didn't show up. And I was disoriented. I didn't know where we were lost. And then gradually it dawned on me the plane had drifted out of the course that I had set for it, and the lights that should have been on the right were now on the left. And the minute I saw that, then I knew exactly where we were, and I knew exactly where we were to go, and that's the way it was with Mary. That's the way it was with Mary. Too often today Christians miss God's greatest blessing. The blessing of His resurrection. Because we keep looking for His physical, literal body. The new Jerusalem. Especially in this millennial year. We keep looking for that and saying, if only we could see that. Then we could get our bearings. then we could know where we're going. Hal Lindsey said that, and he even went ahead to set the date, which is long past now. But so many people are feeling that they have to have that physical appearance and presence in order to get their bearings and know where they're going from there. The other Gospels tell us that when the other women arrived that morning and saw the tomb open and empty they went on in and they saw the angel he said don't be afraid you're looking for Jesus who was crucified he's not here he is risen as he said come see the place where he was lying and then go quickly and tell Peter and the others and they looked and then left quickly with their news But meanwhile, Mary had found Peter and John and told them. And Peter and John had run together back by another route to come to the tomb. John was the younger. You remember John was the youngest. And so, of course, he outran the older, probably heavier Peter. And he came to the edge of the tomb and he looked in. But being young, he didn't go on in. Peter caught up with him then after a little. and never stopped. He went right straight on in there, as Peter would do, you would expect him to. And both men now saw the evidence. The body was gone. The tomb was empty. But it had not been vandalized by enemies, or gone into by friends. Because linens, neatly folded, laid aside, had been left there. Jesus simply had no longer needed them. He had taken them off and folded them neatly and left them behind him because he didn't need them no longer. But even after Peter and John have left, Mary is still, she can't take it all in and she's standing there crying by herself. And even the voices of the angels can't really comfort her now. But finally something causes her to turn and look behind her. She's talking to the angels in front of her. Something causes her to turn and look. Chrysostom said it was probably an expression of love or awe on the faces of the angels who were talking to her as they looked beyond her that caused her to turn. But still she thinks that the man who's behind her is the gardener. And so she pours out her tale of woe to him again until he stops her with a single word. Mary, she recognized his voice. Before she recognized his appearance, she recognized his voice. And in one blinding flash, it all became clear. Rabona, she said. And she throws herself at his feet. to hold him tight. Never, never, never to lose him again. And again, Jesus has to tell her, it's not that physical person and being and presence. That's not it, Mary. Let me go. Let me go. I have to ascend. You go and tell the others. And tell those people in Indianapolis. Did you catch the one practical little point there? She recognized His voice, the voice of the resurrected Christ. He does have that voice that you have learned to recognize, haven't you? Well, haven't you? Through your daily study of the Word, haven't you? Learn to recognize that voice. While you were here on earth, during these years haven't you learned to recognize that the others are all beyond our earshot right now for a while but one day we will hear them again one day in heaven we will recognize those who've gone on beyond us by their voices they'll have bodies then that we can touch that we can feel and so will we that they can resurrected bodies Jesus resurrected body they could touch and feel and know and recognize but it was his voice that was the first point of contact and recognition and so it will be with us how long's it been since you've heard her voice or his voice that loved one remember it you'll need to recognize it and It was Mary. It was Mary who went and told all the others then. It was Mary that he sent to tell all the others. Somehow or other, the depth of her sin had become the height of her love. And it's still true today that those who owe him the most are the first to recognize him. It was not Peter. who told Mary about the resurrection. Jesus arranged it that it was Mary who told Peter. But now, in quick succession, on the first day of his resurrection, Jesus appeared to all those others. They had not believed Mary. She's only a woman. I don't know why she had told them, but they didn't believe. They couldn't really believe, I guess. The two on the way to Emmaus were probably back there prior to this. But they hadn't believed them either. It was just too impossible. They had to. They had to know by some other means. And there in that upper room that night, it would not have been any usual meal. The doors were locked because they were afraid of the Jews. And suddenly Jesus was there in their midst. And the first thing he said to them, and at least three times in this chapter, he says, Peace be unto you. Peace be unto you. When you really do realize that he's alive, risen from the dead, then he somehow or other needs to say that. Peace be unto you. And he approved himself to them there that night. See the holes in my hands and the holes in my feet. and the hall in my side. Do you see these? I want you to see these." And I think he held them out for them to see. He'd done the same for the two on the way to Emmaus. I told you about that a couple of weeks ago. In the breaking of bread, he was made known to them. When he got his hands up above the level of the table where they can see his hands, then they recognized this has to be the Messiah. This has to be the Savior. This has to be the one who was crucified. And just to prove that he is the resurrected Savior, and in heaven today, he'll still have those holes in his hands, in that resurrected body, and in his side. Staupas, the man who did so much for Luther prior to the time, and at the very time, as a matter of fact, that he was coming to know Christ as his own Savior and Lord, Staupas said to Luther, quote, look at the wounds of Jesus, Luther, for there is no other sign that will give rest to the penitent. Look at the wounds of Jesus, Martin. And Jesus deliberately eats some fish so that we can know that he is real. It's not a spirit. He is a person with a resurrected body. And then he taught them about his resurrection. He opened their minds as he explained from the Hebrew scriptures about his death and his resurrection life and the need for that. Thus it is written. And thus it behooved the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day. And then he commissioned them again, go into all the world and teach, preach the gospel. And he empowered them. with the blessing, a particular blessing there that day of the Holy Spirit. And finally they understood, and finally they believed. But Thomas, Thomas had not been at church that particular Sabbath evening. And he missed a very special blessing because of that. And for a whole week actually, it says eight days. I'm not sure why. I'm not sure why he wasn't there. It was crucial with him. He could have gone the way Judas did. So disappointed, so discouraged, so disillusioned. I just can't believe in him now that he's abandoned us and left us and allowed himself to be crucified. I just can't trust in him. Maybe that was it. I don't know what it was. I know he spent a miserable week. Even when the others told him, he said, I'm not going to believe it. I'm not going to believe that unless I can stick my finger right in that hole and stick my hand right in that hole in his side. And Jesus knew that. He understood that. And so as soon as he saw Thomas, he really almost ignored the others and said, Thomas, here's your chance. Come on. There's my hand. Go ahead and put your finger in there. Here's my side. Put your hand in there. I don't think Thomas did. I don't think he did. I think he may have started to, but then he realized. And he just said those four words, my Lord and my God. And Jesus then said, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. And so many of us are that way. Because we see, we believe. If we can't see it, we're not going to believe it. We demand to see before we believe. But Jesus points out a better way. Just take me at my word, he says. Will you take me at my word? Will you believe in me even though you haven't seen me? We know that he said that he was a king. But until he returns, we actually see him come, this time behaving more like a king. We're not going to really believe that he is a king with a kingdom. Three applications from all this today. Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead and he's alive and he's well today. The evidence is overwhelming. The two Marys made the same terrible mistake of having to be persuaded by sight. They were so prejudiced against it, but they were wrong and they came to know what was right. Peter and John couldn't even think that it could be true, but they were persuaded. The whole group in the upper room saw the holes in his hands and feet and his side and they watched him eat the fish. They heard him tell why, and they everyone believed, even Thomas. A week late, a week he spent in misery, but nevertheless he came to believe. And so from being a little group of beaten, grieving, fearful, defeated men hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, to being the very next day an army of joyful, fearless men whose words ring like iron and who were out to conquer the world and could not be stopped, no matter what happened. What was the difference? What was the difference? They had seen the resurrected Lord. That was the difference. And they were on the spot witnesses. They were on the spot witnesses. I know people ever since then have looked back and said, well, we know he didn't rise from the dead. They were on the spot, but we know better than they did. 2000 years later, we know better than they did. They were disillusioned. They were on the spot. They were eyewitnesses. They said he was raised. He was back from the dead. He was alive. They said that. I prefer to believe them. than all those others, than all those others who do not believe that today. In a survey that was conducted just two months ago, polls, we live by polls, 88% of those who said they were Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Only 88%. What about the others who say they are Christians today? But they do not believe. They've said that, that Jesus rose from the dead. But the shocker in that particular survey was that 32% of those who say they are not Christians do believe that He rose from the dead. They don't believe in Him. They don't trust in Him. They've said they are not Christians. We have to take them at their word. 32% of those who say they are not Christians Nevertheless, believe that he did rise from the dead. John Macefield, in his drama called The Trial of Jesus, records a striking scene in which Longomanus, who was the Roman centurion, who according to some history and more imagination, were the one who commanded the Roman soldiers who actually nailed Jesus to the cross. That Longomanus, the centurion, is reporting back to Pilate afterwards. And after his report is finished, Pilate's wife, who is sitting there, leans forward and she says, how did he die? And after he has told her that, she says, do you really think that he is dead? The Roman centurion answers, no, lady, I don't. Then where is he now, she asks. Longimanus answers, a very interesting one, let loose in the world, lady, where neither Roman nor Jew can ever stop his truth. And so what difference does this make to you and me today, the overwhelming evidence from friends and from enemies? was that he did rise from the dead. He is alive today. And Jesus said, because I live, ye shall live also. If you've trusted in me and in my word, then you will have the kind of life that I have that goes on after death. It cannot be stopped by death. There's something about his life that just could not be stopped. It couldn't stay dead. His kind of life wouldn't be killed. And there's something about his love that would find a way out of that tomb, and it did. And there's something about his sinless perfection that would never be conquered by death. It's just not possible, as Paul said it, that he should be holden of death. And so, as we look at the whole book of John, and this is the next to the last chapter now, we find him saying in that first chapter, I want you to trace my life. I want you to trace it from before I came to earth. In the beginning, I was with the Father, and I was the Father. I was God. I was there. I was there in heaven, and then I left. Secondly, I left that in order to come down and live among you, to be one with you, Emmanuel, God incarnate, to live and love and die on that cross for you, to pay your penalty for the sins you have done and the penalty you should have paid, and then to rise again from the dead and return to the Father in heaven in order to be able to return now. And this is the third stage. in order to be able to return now and live my life again in and through you. That's a rapid outline of the entire book of John as you are studying it in your families and as you are reviewing it. The most important fact in the history of the whole world, the fact that he didn't stay dead but now he comes back to live his life in and through you and me. But John Calvin at first alerted me to that. I didn't know John, but I read in his book. But John loved to expand on this point that so long as Jesus was here on earth, he needed a body and he had a body that would take him from place to place to place to accomplish his purposes on earth and to relate him to us. Finally, to take him to the cross itself. Then John would, in one way or another, put in that question. Do you think he accomplished the purposes for his physical body during those 30-some years that he lived here on Earth? Do you think he accomplished everything he intended to? Yes. Then do you think he will accomplish the purposes that he has planned out for us as his body on Earth today? Yes. I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. I am the risen Christ. Peace be unto you." Father in Heaven, we thank you now for explaining so carefully in such detail the very people to whom you appeared over a period of 40 days in order to cause us to know that they weren't able to kill you, that your life wouldn't stay dead, and your love would not stay in that tomb, and your standards of right and wrong would never be terminated. God, thank you for allowing us to see your son, Jesus the Christ, in that resurrected body, with the details, even to the recognition of his voice. that cause us to know today that he is with us. God, I pray that you would cause every person here to have those words echoing in his or her ears. Peace be with you. Because I live, ye shall live also. As you trust in me and in my words to you, ye too shall live with me in my heaven for eternity. God grant that every soul here today would understand that and would find themselves trusting in you even though they hadn't seen you in the flesh. God bless us now as we would live out the remainder of this day and the remainder of our lives knowing that this was the most important day in the history of your world. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, in closing, I'd like us to sing from Psalm 118c. These were the words that Jesus himself sang just before he went out to be crucified, 118c. He sang them there in the upper room. I shall not die, but live and tell Jehovah's power to save. I'll never stay dead. What a blessing for him to be able to sing those words which had been written specifically for him to sing before he went out there that day. These were the Psalms, the chapters that he was singing. I shall not die but live and tell Jehovah's power to save. The Lord has surely chastened me and of course he had been leading up to that crucifixion. He had been chastened but spared me from the grave. And then going on into the 10th through the 14th verses. And he is the stone in the 13th verse, is made head cornerstone, the one builders despise. This is the doing of the Lord and wondrous in our eyes. I'm going to ask that we would, Dean, if we could do this, we'll sing stanzas 10 through 13 and then pause for the benediction and then right after that, don't close your book, we'll sing the 14th stanza right after the benediction. Let's rise to sing. O home, I shall not die but live and tell Jehovah's guard to stay. The Lord has lordly chastened me, but spared me from the grave. Oh, said He, open unto me the gates of righteousness, Then will I enter into them, and I the Lord will bless. This is Jehovah's gate, by it the just shall enter in. I'll praise He who answered my prayer, and at my day He lives. Now may the grace of God, the love of Jesus Christ, the communion and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you all now and forevermore. Amen.