Well, good morning, folks. We're glad that you're joining us. I would much rather have you here setting in the pews, but we'll work with what we got for now. We are here at First Baptist Church in New Berlin, and I'm Pastor John Wooden, if you're joining us for the first time. We're in a series here in our Sunday school lessons and looking at the Gospels looking at the Lord Jesus Christ and Actually, we're on the last of that series one story it's one story through the Gospels and yet we're looking at the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ and And next week, Lord willing, we'll be starting a new series. We'll be looking at the book of Philippians that's entitled Rejoice. We could probably use some things to rejoice about these days. Our memory verse for the day is actually found in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 20 to 22. It says, now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Now, if you were with us last week, we were looking at the cross and we were looking and listening to Jesus' last words there on the cross. And so we kind of pick it up from there and we see that Jesus is buried. We find in Galatians chapter 1 verse 4 it says, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our father. Key that we're looking at here is he gave himself. Galatians 2.20 says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And so what we see in these passages is the fact that Jesus Christ gave his life for us. in those last words there on the cross were, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And the scripture tells us that he yielded up his spirit. That idea of yielding up means to send away. And none of the gospels say that Jesus died, referring to what was taking place on the cross. He wasn't executed. No human took his life. Yes, they put a spear in his side, but he was already dead at that point. He didn't die as others die, defeated, but rather we see he had victory over sin. And as we'll see, death. He gave himself for our sins. And we see that there were several men that took charge of caring for Jesus' body. There in Matthew chapter 27, verse 57 to 60, It says, when even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple. He went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own tomb, in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher and departed. And so we see here one of Jesus' followers, that of Joseph of Arimathea, he gets help from Nicodemus, another one you may remember had come to Jesus by night, and they take his body and put it in Joseph's tomb. And there in Matthew, as we look on there in Matthew 27, verse 62 to 66, it says, now the next day that followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together in the Pilate, saying, sir, we remember that the deceiver, and they're referring to Jesus, the deceiver said while he was yet alive, after three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day. Lest the disciples come by night and steal him away and say to the people, he has risen from the dead. So the last error be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, ye have a watch or guards, go your way, make it as sure as you can. And so they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch or having guards there. And so they put guards up, they sealed up the tomb. They wanted to do their best to make sure the disciples didn't steal the body and then claim that he had resurrected from the grave. And we see that these religious leaders were relying on the Romans to help them out in this, to make sure that Jesus' claim of resurrection didn't take place. They didn't want any, I mean, today we talk about fake news. Well, they didn't want any fake resurrection back in their day. But we see that didn't keep Jesus from rising from the grave. We see that Jesus did rise from the dead. And this is kind of a story. You know, sometimes you're watching a program on TV and they're kind of switching from one person to another. There are several things going on at the same time. That's kind of what's going on here. There are a number of different people involved. They're going and coming to the tomb. We'll see the men on the road to Emmaus, and we'll try not to get lost in all of this, but to see how the point here, too, we want to see is that how all these Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, They're written from different people, different times, and yet it all comes together and it all fits together. It wasn't like they all sat down in a room and say, let's see if we can come up with a story that people might believe. No, this really happened. And as we'll see, there was a lot of witnesses to the risen Lord Jesus. Well, we see Mary Magdalene and some of the other women, they're heading out to the tomb, and they're wondering who's going to roll away the stone because they still wanted to do more preparation for the body with spices and all. And yet when they, by the time they got there, the earth, they had an earthquake, the ground shook, and an angel, interesting enough, we'll be talking about that in our morning service at 1030, an angel appears, rolls back the stone, and had once sealed the entrance to the tomb. It says in Matthew 28-2, and behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door that sat upon it. And so we see here, it was a great earthquake. They didn't roll back the stone to let Jesus out. He was already gone. He was already risen and out of there. It was to let other people look in and find that he wasn't there. And what happened to the guards? Well, we see that they weren't an awful lot of good. It tells us there in Matthew 28, verse three and four, talking about the angel, says, okay, so there's already been an earthquake and the angels roll back the stone. And it says, his countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow. I mean, it must have really been an awesome thing to see. And yet it tells about the guards there in verse four, and for fear of him, talking about the angel, the keepers did shake and became as dead men. They were just kind of frozen in place. And so they didn't keep anybody from going into the tomb. They didn't keep the angel from rolling back the stone. That was really kind of useless for them to be there. We see that they run off and they tell the chief priests, they tell the others, the religious leaders, look, the stone's moved, he's gone. And so, you know, basically, what are we gonna do now? How are we gonna explain this? And we see that this is spoken of there in Matthew 20, 11. It says, when they were going, behold, some of the watch came or the guards, the watch, came into the city and showed under the chief priest all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave large money to the soldiers." Okay, so they're paying off the soldiers, you know, to say what they want them to say. Saying, "'Say ye, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept.'" Well, Supposed to be sleeping on the job if you're a guard? No, I don't know. How are they gonna know that the disciples took him if they were sleeping? There's a lot of things that don't fit together, but that's what they were told to say. And if this come to the governor's ears, okay, so again, the Roman soldiers get caught sleeping on the job, you're a dead man. And so it says, if the governor hears about it, we will persuade him and secure you. And so it says they, the soldiers, took the money and did as they were taught and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. And so we got the religious leaders, they're not interested in the Lord, they're not interested in Jesus Christ personally. They're pretty much self-focused. They're trying to preserve their own power, their own authority. That was the most important thing to them at that time. Kind of sounds like some of the politicians in Washington today. Well, the women come to the tomb. They notice it's open. Mary Magdalene turns around, runs back to tell Peter and John about this. And others of the women went in, and once they get inside the tomb, again, angels there tell the women that they don't need to fear, that Jesus has risen from the dead. It tells us there in Matthew chapter 28, verse five and six, and it says, the angel answered and said unto the women, fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said, come, see the place where the Lord lay." So the angels tell them that Jesus Christ is risen, they're able to see the grave clothes there. We see here that this ought to be starting their minds to roll and to click and to think about some of the things that Jesus said, but they're still kind of in shock over all that's going on, and you probably would be too if you'd seen an angel. But we see now Peter and John get to the tomb, along with Mary Magdalene, and the disciples, they go into the tomb, they see the grave clothes, but apparently the angel is not there at that particular moment, and John believes, he believes that Christ has risen, and yet Peter's still kind of wondering about the whole thing. It tells us in John chapter 20, verse eight and nine, it says, and then went in also the other disciple, and that'd be referring to John, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw and believed. For as yet they knew not the scriptures that he must rise again from the dead." They needed a memory jolt, a reminder that, oh yeah, Jesus said that he was going to rise again. So now there's people involved here. There's different ones that have seen that the tomb is empty, that Jesus is not there. And the grave clothes are there for them to observe. But Jesus, the body, is gone. Well, we see next Jesus appears to his followers. We see this, first of all, to Mary Magdalene. She stays at the tomb. John and Peter have left. Mary Magdalene's still there. She's weeping and looking at the tomb and, again, wondering what in the world is going on. Kind of like maybe you've wondered here lately what's going on in our world. Well, she sees the two men, the angels, and they're sitting by where Jesus had lain there in that tomb. And they say in John chapter 20, verse 11 to 13, it says, but Mary stood out at the sepulcher weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher. And seeing two angels while they were sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they said unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? And she said unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. She's still looking for the body of Jesus, wondering what did they do with it? Well, about that time, she turns around and sees Jesus. Now, at first, she doesn't know who he is, thinking maybe he's the gardener or something there. But Jesus reveals himself to her, and she clings to him. And we see here that she returns to tell others about what was taking place. And she's been told by Jesus to give him a message that he would be ascending to the Father, and she can see that he's risen, there's living proof And so we see here, people are finally picking up the pieces of the puzzle, putting this together to begin to realize Jesus is indeed risen from the grave. We come along next to a couple of travelers. The two fellows that are on the road to Emmaus, they're followers of the Lord Jesus. We got Cleophas and his companion, they're traveling down the road to another city. And Jesus joins them. And it says there in Luke 24, verse 15 and 16, And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. So he kind of joins with them as they're walking down the road. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. somehow they were temporarily blinded in the sense that they couldn't recognize who Jesus was, at least to begin with. So they're traveling down the road. But ultimately, again, Jesus reveals himself to them and lets them know of who he is. But he's listening to them. What are people thinking? And the people are pretty shook up. They're puzzled as to why he didn't save himself, why he didn't speak up when he was questioned. He remained silent. Looks to them like all hopes for the kingdom is gone. And they've heard reports about the angels and such, and yet it still hadn't quite clicked in their mind that Jesus had risen from the dead. And they hadn't heard about people seeing him as yet. It takes a little while for, not everybody has a cell phone, they weren't texting back and forth to communicate. Back then it was teleperson, and they hadn't made those connections just yet. Well, Jesus reveals himself to them and they go back to Jerusalem to tell that they've seen Jesus. Well, now we're getting several reports coming in here now that Jesus has risen. And we see the next thing is that Jesus appears to the disciples. Now they're gathering together in Jerusalem and Jesus appears to them. And suddenly, he's in their midst. They're terrified. They thought that, hey, this is a spirit of some kind. And we pick this up as we see there in Luke chapter 24, verse 38 and 39, but he's addressing their doubts and their fears. He says, and he said unto them, why are you troubled? That's kind of putting it mildly. Why are you troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet. that is I myself, handle me, and see, for the spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." Now, he could read their minds, he knew what they were thinking. He says, okay, here, look, touch my hand, see, you can see it, you know, there's flesh and blood here, there, it's not, you know, Casper the Ghost or something like this. And so they see the resurrected Christ and he tries to catch him up to speed as to what all is taking place. And we see here that they're kind of on the fast track. They got to learn quickly, pick it up and move ahead. And again, as we mentioned at the beginning, there's kind of this harmonizing here. of the accounts were Jesus' resurrection. And we haven't taken the time to read and see this being spoken of in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, but we see how they all fit together. This is an authentic account. Lots of times when you're trying to talk to witnesses, maybe of an auto accident or something, and you listen to people and you get three people and you got three different stories as to what happened. Here, it's all coming together. All the pieces fit together. Some of you may have put puzzles together and you're getting down towards the end. You're thinking this piece ought to go, but it doesn't quite fit. Well, you know, if I push on it hard enough, maybe I can make it fit. You don't have to push on this to make it fit what we want to take place. Nobody fabricated their account. It's, again, different people, and yet it all comes together. And we can believe it. It happened just like Jesus said it would. Well, we see there's a commissioning that takes place. And we pick this up there with Luke chapter 24. And verse 46 and 47, and again, Jesus speaking, he said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And so Jesus telling him, this is what, you know, my work is pretty much finished here. Now it's, we're passing the baton off to you. you're gonna have to take this message on and to spread it throughout the world of that day. We see in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 14 through 19, it says, And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain or empty. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God, that he hath raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is Christ not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, and you're yet in your sins. In other words, Christ didn't rise from the dead, we're still dead in our sins. There's no hope, there's no help, we're in the same mess we were before he ever went to the cross. And he goes on to say, and then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we're of all men most miserable. So if he didn't rise, we're in bad shape. But we know that he did rise from the grave. We've got witnesses, and Jesus tells he wants his disciples to be witnesses, not witnesses of the gospel, but also witnesses of his resurrection. Their lives are gonna be changed. forever because of Christ's resurrection. And we see that the appearance, it's not just 12 guys saying this, or 11 if we eliminate Judas, but we see that he appeared to over 500 people at once, at the same time. So, you know, he's not a figment of somebody's imagination that they had a dream and they thought this happened. No, these people saw the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ over a period of 40 days. It wasn't just a one-time thing. And so we see there in Luke chapter 24, and verse 40, well, I guess we already read that, in 1 Corinthians, rather, chapter 15, verses four to seven, And it tells us, and he was seen of Cephas, or Peter, and then of the 12, and after that he was seen of about 500 brethren at once, so 500 people at one time. And then he goes on to say, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. He's saying there's 500 people, most of them are still alive, you can go and talk to them. There's some of them that have died by now, by the time Paul is writing this in 1 Corinthians, but he says, most of them are still alive. you can go and ask him, you can talk to them. And then he goes on to say, and after that, he was seen of James, and then of all the apostles, and of last of all, he was seen of me, talking about Paul, also as one born out of due time. And so there's ample evidence, tremendous amount of evidence, that Jesus Christ rose from the grave. And we see that he meets with his disciples one more time, and he meets with them on a mountain, And Jesus claims, again, to have all authority. It's been given to him. And based on that authority, he gives a commission to his disciples. He says, I want you to be a disciple to all nations. I want you to go and tell them the truth about the gospel, the fact that Jesus Christ was born, he lived, he died on the cross for you as your substitute. He shed his blood that's capable of cleansing away of your sin, if you will believe, that he was buried, that he rose again the third day. And then to baptize people, to get people to identify with Christ's death and burial and resurrection as they are baptized. And so we see here that he gives them responsibility. He commands them to go and to do this. And we think about oftentimes the great commission that's found there in Matthew. chapter 28, verse 19 and 20, Jesus said unto them, or spake unto them, he says, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you. And lo, I am with you always. even until the end of the world. And so we see here, Jesus Christ gives them their marching orders. Well, that wasn't just for them, folks, that's for you and me today. We are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we too are to tell other people about the Lord Jesus Christ. And he tells them, he goes on further to say, to say to them there in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, he says, "'But you shall receive power.'" Because they're probably thinking, how in the world am I going to do this? Well, God knew that we couldn't do it by ourselves. We're going to need help. We're going to need power. And so he gives us the Holy Spirit to indwell us, to empower us, to do things that we wouldn't be able to do otherwise. And that's what he's telling the disciples there in Acts chapter one, verse eight, but you shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. You notice how it works here? You're to be a witness in Jerusalem, right where they're at. and then to the next city out to the county there to Judea, and then on to the next cities to Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. And that's what the Lord wants us to do too, that we are to tell those close around us and then to spread out, go beyond that to friends and relatives and others that may be far away from us, but we have tremendous ability to communicate nowadays with others, and he wants us to take advantage of that. And so that's the responsibility of the church today. Now we see here that Christ ascends into heaven. He meets with his disciples there on the Mount of Olives, It tells us there in Acts 1.9, and when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And after he's gone up, we see that there's a couple of messengers, a couple of angels, tell the disciples what's going on here. He says, Verse 10, and while they looked steadfastly towards heaven, and when he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into the heavens? This same Jesus, which was taken up from you into heaven, shall come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. And so we see they observed the Lord Jesus Christ ascending back into heaven. At this point, the disciples returned to Jerusalem, and they're waiting, as it turns out, for 10 days for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit did come upon them. He empowered them, and it changed their lives. Jesus' resurrection turned their lives around or upside down, however you want to look at it. They were never the same. Now before this, after the death of the Lord Jesus, as he's died on the cross, he's been buried, we see that at first they flee from him as he's arrested. They're fearful. They didn't know if they're going to be next. And Peter denies him three times. And when the news comes that, yes, he's been crucified, they're hiding behind closed doors for fear of the Jews. Their leader is gone. They're disorganized. There's nobody else kind of taking charge at this point. And they seem to be kind of at a standstill as far as any ministry is concerned. Their future seems pretty limited. With Jesus gone, now what do we do? We see they observed the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see here that they've been taught during those 40 days. But after the resurrection, they become bold. Now they have the Holy Spirit to empower them. And the very people that had, some no doubt, had been crying out, crucify him, crucify him, were now the ones that Peter and others are going to be preaching to there in Jerusalem. And Peter preaches boldly. to these people. And, you know, Peter, again, was the one who was kind of ran off and left Jesus. And he's the one who's denying him and everything else beforehand. But now the resurrection has taken place. He's ready to take a stand. He knows it's for real. There's no doubt about it in his mind. And he's telling people, he's bold. He's not being politically correct in his day. It says there in Acts 2, verse 23 and 24, Peter's preaching here and he says, him, talking about Jesus, being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it." He's saying you took Jesus, you crucified him, but you couldn't keep him down. He's resurrected and he's alive today. And we see that as a result of, well, verse 36 goes on to say, And we see that there was tremendous results of that. The Bible tells us that there were some 3,000 people that came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as a result of that message. And more as time went on, the church is formed. And the book of Acts goes on to describe how other churches are started in other cities. And they are indeed doing what the Lord told them to do. to go into all the world and to preach the gospel. Well, that's what happened. And we see that Paul kind of closes a chapter of the resurrection there in 1 Corinthians 15. He's telling us there's a tremendous victory that has been won. You ought to take a few minutes and look at 1 Corinthians 15. And it's not just a doctrine, not just a teaching, but it's a motivation. Christ arose from the grave. Now, the Bible tells us that he's in the heavens, he's returned to heaven. He's preparing a place for you and for me and for all those that choose to believe in Jesus Christ as their personal savior. And he tells us there in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 58, he says, therefore, my beloved brethren, he's talking to believers now. He says, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." Folks, there's a lot of things that we can spend our time and energy on that are really kind of wasted time. But what we do for the Lord will last. It's not, we may not see immediate results, but the Lord tells us that his word won't return empty or void either. And so we need to share the word of God with other people. Tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, keep in mind, you know, we're looking at the world with all the things that are going on today and you know, how many died in this, this, country and the other, just remember that what separates Christianity from all these other religions of the world is that they have a dead savior and we have a living one. You can go to the tomb of Mohammed and Buddha and all these other ones throughout the world and the dead guy's still inside. Ours, there's an empty tomb. We have a risen Savior. He's in heaven. He's preparing a home for you and for me. Not just He's going to take care of us when we get to heaven, but He's promised to take care of us through this life and on through eternity. but he's preparing a home for us in heaven. I trust you're looking forward to that. One of these days, and that's another lesson, but the rapture, you know, the Lord can come back at any moment. Are you ready? Are you ready to meet the Lord? I trust so. Let's close in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the day you've given us. We thank you for this time to study your word and to see The reality of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, it really did happen. It's not just kind of a neat little story, but it changed the heart and life of these disciples. They never would have went out and preached it if they didn't believe it, because they were afraid before. What if they do to us what they did to Jesus? But they're willing to give their lives, and many of them did. for the cause of Christ. They went out and preached and told people about a living Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, if there be anybody today that's listening that's never trusted Jesus as their own personal Savior, we pray that they might call upon Him today to realize it's not what they've done or are doing in this life that's going to get them to heaven. The Bible tells us it's not by works of righteousness. It's not what we do, it's what Christ has already done. He did what needed to be done there on the cross. He died as our substitute. He shed his blood, the perfect blood that's able to cleanse away our sin. Your blood, my blood can't do that, but Jesus' blood is able to cleanse away our sin. And it's not Jesus died so we all get to go to heaven. The Bible tells us that we need to believe, we need to place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone as our personal Savior. Would you call out to Him today and ask Him to save your soul? Admit your sin in need of a Savior and it will change your life and where you'll spend eternity. I trust you'll be able to be back with us again here next week at 9.15. Lord willing, we'll be starting a new series on the book of Philippians entitled Rejoice. And if you're able to come back online or listen on the phone, we'll be back here again, Lord willing, at 10.30 for our morning message and we'll be looking at a continued study there of the angel of Jehovah. Again, thanks for being with us this morning.