This reading today is found in the book of Matthew chapter 28. Please follow along as I read God's Word. Now after the Sabbath, towards the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of Him, the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the woman, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead. And behold, He is going before you to Galilee, There you will see him. See, I have told you. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, Greetings. And they come up and took him a hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, Tell people his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep. And if this comes to the governor's ear, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. baptizing Him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. This is the Word of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated. Let's pray, shall we? Our Father, as we come into Your presence on this resurrected Sunday, how we thank You for Your love and Your kindness and Your grace and Your mercy that You've shown to us by sending Your Son to this world to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. Our Father, the hymn writer, says it really well. Living, He loved us. Dying, He saved us. Buried, He carried our sins far away. Rising, He justified us freely for Him. Father, Jesus did that because that was the plan before the foundation of the world. That He would come so man could be justified, so man could be redeemed, so man could be justified, redeemed, and sanctified, so man could spend eternity with You. What we lost in the garden will be replaced with the new heavens and the new earth. And so, Father, as we look into your Word today, we ask that you would speak to our hearts, that our hearts would be soft and pliable and be ready, our Father, for the seed of the Word of the Lord, and that that seed, our Father, would take root and grow and produce much fruit. So, Father, we believe your promise. Your Word will not return void, so do with it what you want. In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, today is what most people call Easter, right? But around here we call it Resurrection Sunday. Now, we know that the Bible contains four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But if you've noticed that all those Gospels culminate with the Resurrection. It's all about Jesus rising from the dead. Now, this is historical. Jesus really did rise from the dead. The resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. In fact, there would be no Christian faith without the resurrection. And that's the reason why we said the Apostles Creed this morning. So this morning we're going to look at Matthew's account of the resurrection. And as we look at that account, there are two great questions that attach themselves to the subject of the resurrection of Jesus. Question number one, did it really happen? And then question number two, what difference does it make? So the first question is huge, but sometimes we can get so occupied with it that we don't answer the second question, right? And so this morning I'm going to take Matthew and the Bible and its Word. And I want you to notice that Matthew doesn't try to spend his time trying to convince you that indeed Jesus had been resurrected. Why? Well, the main reason is that he personally experienced Jesus. And then secondly, he wants you to know the truth. and he tells us the truth. So question number one is important. Matthew expects us to believe what he says. So, I want you to look back at our text this morning, and I want you to notice that in this little passage of scripture, five times the angel of the Lord and the others tell us about the resurrection. Notice with me, if you would, please, in verse 6. In verse 6 it says, He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. And then notice the second part of verse 6. The angel said, Come and see the place where He lay. And then notice with me, if you would, verse number 9 in our text. Sorry, I'm going to have to find it. I don't know what I did with my sheet. Somebody stole it. The dog's got my homework. Matthew 28 and verse 9. It's in here. He says, And behold, Jesus met them and said, Greetings, And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him. And then we notice verse 10. He says, Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee, and there you will see them. And then notice with me verses 16 and 17. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him. But some doubted. And then if you would read the other accounts of the resurrection and the Gospels, what you would learn is that 500 plus people saw the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You say, well, what's your point, pastor? Well, Matthew was telling us that Jesus really rose from the dead. There is no doubt in his account that indeed he has risen. Now just before we move on, let me just say this. There is really great evidence for it, alright? Because it's easy to say, yes, it's in the Bible and leave it at that, but you know, Tacticus, the Roman historian, tells us about the ministry of Jesus as well. And he doesn't actually say he was resurrected. But what he does is, is he gives us a bunch of things that actually happened, and he says, why or how would they not do that if less than Jesus was alive, you see? And think with me, 11 disciples, all right? Out of that 11 left, they're going to choose another one, but 10 of them were crucified, and they went to the death saying that, indeed, Jesus rose from the grave, and that's why I'm willing to die as well. And then the other one was what? He was cast off into an island and there he wrote the last books of the Bible, you see. So we see then that the resurrection is real. It's a big thing, it's a big deal, you see. It's okay, alright, to just understand that Christ is rose. Now, the second question, what difference does it make? And the answer is, it changes everything. Okay? And what I'd like to do this morning is, is I'd like to mention three things for you that it changes. Number one, the defeat of death. Number two, the offer of resurrection life. And then number three, a reason for living now, for you in your life right now. So let's start with then the defeat of death. Jesus' victory over death gets passed on to all those who are united to themselves in faith in Christ Jesus. Now we've been in the Gospel of Mark and I said to myself, I don't want to go there, but I have to. So if you would, just turn back with me to Romans chapter 6 for a second. And I want to remind you of something that we've read for the last three months. Romans 6. Starting in verse 3, he says, Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, We shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. So Jesus' victory over death gets passed on to all that unite themselves to Him in faith. Now most of you know that the Bible speaks of death as the last enemy. But what I want you to see this morning is that Jesus willingly entered into death so that dying He would defeat death. Let me put it another way. Christ defeated death, and He did this on purpose. Now if I was to ask you the question, who is responsible for the death of Christ? How would you respond? You know, over the years, some blamed it on the Romans, alright? Others blamed it on the Jewish people. But who truly is responsible for Jesus' death? And the answer is what? He himself, correct? Do you remember when they were arresting him back in the Gospel of John chapter 18? And Judas comes up and the people are with him and then they ask him the question, are you Jesus the Son of God or the Messiah? Do you remember his response? He says, I am. And Hannah's response, what happened to the people? They all fell on their backs. And then they get up and they ask him again and he says, I am, and then they arrest him. Now what was Jesus doing in that moment, ladies and gentlemen? He was letting them know that he's in control of the whole situation and that he was going to his death because that's what God the Father has decided that he would do before the foundation of the world. So if you identify with me, Jesus says, I will give it to you, you see. And folks, listen, this is important. Why? Because this identification with God is awesome, alright? Because being united to Christ, being in Christ, is the same thing as being born again. Now let me just illustrate that with the Passover. Most of you are familiar with the Passover, correct? Listen, God said that if you would follow my word, everything would be alright. Because the people of Israel were still in Egypt, and God was throwing out the plagues to get them to let the people go. And that last and tenth plague was what? That the first born child would die in every family, in every barnyard, in everything. But he said to the people of Israel, listen, when that death angel passed down, here's the point. If you would take a lamb per family, or a small family, then get a couple of families together for the lamb, because you've got to be able to eat it before you go. And then you would kill it on the right day and shed its blood, and then you would take that blood and you would put it on the tops of the post in your doorway. that when the death angel passes by, he'll pass by you, and he'll only get the ones that the blood is not there, you see. God had said that if the Israelites followed His Word, they would be saved from the tragedy. Now do you recall how the Israelites were to sacrifice the Lamb? Who is Jesus? Remember what John the Baptist said? When Jesus was come to get baptized, behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. So if you are in Christ, there's no need to fear. Because you are safe, because you have followed what Jesus has asked you to do. Now let me ask you, do you really hear that? Are you really safe? Listen, the Bible says He has taken the sting from death. Listen to what He says in 1 Corinthians 15. He says this, O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Death will not be for you what otherwise it would be for others without Christ. Let me remind you of another passage of Scripture. I'm going to read it real quick so if you can get there, go for it. If not, no problem. But I'm going to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And I want to start reading in verse 13. He says, But we don't want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring him with those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. And then at the very end of that passage he says, therefore encourage one another with these words. And so listen. We need not fear death. Why? Because the Bible tells us that as humans that are saved, absent from the body, present with the Lord. And listen, if we're still on this earth and the Lord returns, we're going to catch those who are dead and meet them in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. You do not need to fear death. Ever wondered, had one of those kind of crazy moments where you kind of just was thinking, I wonder how I am going to die? You know, I can tell you the worst way to die, and that's to be in some tight little place when you can't breathe. That's the worst. You think I'm claustrophobic? You're right. All right. But then I think, well, you know, all my family dies of cancer. That's my deal. What about a heart attack? Just be gone. Be out. You know, I used to say I wanted to die in the pulpit. My wife said, don't do that because everybody will feel bad that day. Old age, alright? Drooling to death somewhere in a nursing home. Folks, listen to me. We can face the reality of death in calm confidence because that is what the Bible says. Hebrews 2.14, he says, Since therefore the children are in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death. That is the devil. Listen, that is a real big difference that Jesus Christ was resurrected. He says in 1 Corinthians 15, 20, but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. What difference does it make? Wow. I don't have to fear death. Jesus has taken it away. The second thing I want you to see is the offer of resurrected life, or let me put it this way, life after death. Now I want you to think with me about this little phrase. And just let it mull around in your mind for a second. I read this this morning from Spurgeon. And he made this statement. We are not far from home. A moment will bring us there. A moment will bring us there. Now just as God gives us the conquest over death, He gives us the resurrection life, you see. And He does some wonderful things, alright? And this is for all those who identify with Him by faith, who come to Him and trust for their sins, you see. Listen, the Bible says that God actually gives resurrected life. We're going to live forever. Let me just throw a couple of passages of scriptures that I'm sure you're familiar with, but it's worth repeating them. The first is in 1 John 3, 2. He says, Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been appeared, but we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And so when Jesus appears, we'll be like Him, we'll be in our glorified bodies, everything will be the way it's supposed to be, you see. Listen to what He tells us in 1 Corinthians 15, 51 and following. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishable, and the morty body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. And ladies and gentlemen, listen, we know this with absolute certainty. Let me throw another verse out at you. Philippians 1, 6. He who began a good work in you will continue it until the day of Christ Jesus. Right? And so Jesus begins a work, He's going to finish it. We'll be resurrected one day. But why? Alright, what was His plan? What is His motive in all that? Well, I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles and turn with me for a moment to the book of Ephesians chapter 5. And if you would, look with me at verses 26 and 27. Well, we better go to verse 25 to get the context. It says, Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. Why? That He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, so that He may present the church to Himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. that she might be holy and without blemish. Ladies and gentlemen, that's the resurrection. That's the resurrection body. That's the goal of God's ministry in our lives, is that one day he's going to present us holy and perfect like a bride in her white dress. Now, folks, listen. If you're there this morning and you're sitting and thinking, well, wait a minute, that's not describing me. I'm way far from perfect, you see. I got good news for you, alright? And the good news is this, the righteousness that you're going to have and the dress you're going to have is going to come from Christ. You see, we are not righteous. We need a righteousness, an alien righteousness, a righteousness outside of us. And when we repent of our sin and put our faith and trust in Christ, what happens is, is that Christ then gives us His righteousness. He closes with His beauty and His glory and with His splendor. And He makes us then able to be presented at that last day, you see. And so it makes a big difference, this resurrection, you see. Now I said there was one more reason I wanted to bring up, and that's the reason for living now. Something real, to connect your life to something that transcends just you. Because we now live for something big, something real, something that lasts forever. And I want to read the last three verses of the passage of Scripture in Matthew chapter 28. Somebody return my sheet. Listen to what it says in verse 18. And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the world. Isn't it interesting that right after the resurrection, Jesus throws at us the Great Commission? I'm about to leave and here's what I want you to do until I come again. Now listen, the great tragedy of the human race is that we are made to find infinite joy in living for God. But we have been so blinded and so fooled that we spend our energy pursuing things in this world to satisfy and to give us meaning. Even though we know it doesn't work, We might have found something temporary, but it's not going to last forever. Let me ask you, has something like this ever happened to you? I remember when I wanted to have my first brand new car. Man, I got that bad boy and I was on a mission to get it. I'm telling you, my wife was like, honey, we really can't afford that. Honey, it's about time we got us a new car. Back in those days, I wasn't smart enough not to borrow money for something that depreciates, so that's another story. And so I got that brand new car, and I was in all my glory for about 30 minutes. And you know, that new car didn't mean anything to me in the long run. In fact, I have no idea where that car is. All right. Probably in another car, a piece of steel for something else. Maybe not. I didn't have much steel come to think of it. But but listen, all right. I thought that was going to satisfy me. But it never did. And it never will. And I have counseled people who have made money like you cannot believe. are not happy. Why? Because the world, or let me put it the way I like to, the glitz, the glamour, and the gold doesn't bring happiness, does it? The only thing that brings happiness is the joy we find in serving the Lord. So if your life is like that, it's because you have not grasped the importance of the resurrection. Jesus said, come to me. You remember that? Let me just read that for you. In Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through 30. Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. I will give you rest. I will give you life and a reason to live now. Setting you free from self. And notice Jesus says, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. He's saying literally, I will be with you all of every day. And He can say this because He is The Risen Lord. Now what I thought I would do is I thought I would give you an illustration of what that looks like in a local church. So if you would take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to the book of 1 Thessalonians again. Now I want to start reading in verse number 2. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 2. God's Word says, We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith, and labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers, loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit, and full conviction, you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us, and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything." For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath of God. Now, I love this passage of Scripture, and the reason I do is, is because Paul says, I know you're the elect, I know you've been chosen by God, and here's the reason why, because your life's changed, and you're making a difference in the community in which you live. And you know, this little passage of Scripture is the very first passage of Scripture that God ever led me to, to get a little nugget on my own. instead of reading it out of a commentary. Alright? And so I'm up there and I'm reading verse 3. He says, Remembering before our God, the Father, your work of faith, your labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. And then I began to read down in verse 9, and I found out that that work of faith is you turn from God to idols. And I thought, wow, faith always works, doesn't it? Real biblical faith always does something, you see. And then I read, your labor of love, and then I went down to verse 9, to serve the living and true God. And I got to thinking, well listen, love is the evidence of true biblical salvation, right? If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And then I read Steadfastness of Hope and I went down again to the end of the verse and it says to wait for His Son from Heaven. And then I said, wow, hope, waiting for Jesus to return is a beautiful thing. And then I went to 1 Corinthians 13, 13 which says, so now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love. And I said, wow, what a church that is, alright? These folks cared about each other. They were ministering to each other. They were caring about the people around them. The gospel was being taught and preached and lived in front of everyone else, you see. And I said, that's what true Christianity looks like. But where does that come from, my friends? It comes from Living a resurrected life, isn't it? God, when we are saved, seals to us with the Spirit of God. And then He begins to work through us. In fact, let me just ask you to turn to one more passage of Scripture. But go with me, if you would, to the book of Philippians, please. Chapter 2. Let's look at verse 12 and 13. Paul says to that church, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. And so what happens is, as we get right with God, we receive Him, then all of a sudden He begins to change us from the inside out as we read the scriptures, and then He begins to do His work through us. And here we have that God's sovereignty and man's responsibility just beautifully laid together. And it's all God, but He uses us, doesn't He? And what a beautiful thing that is. In a way, what a beautiful thing it is how God used the people there in Thessalonica. So, what's the application to all of this? Well, the application is this, alright? The basic message of the Bible is that we were made by God and for God. Listen to what he says in Revelation 4.11. Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. What this verse says is that we owe Him our existence and our allegiance. But we know way back in Genesis chapter 3, our spiritual parents, Adam and Eve, rebelled. And basically what they said is, God, we want to be our own God. Thank you very much. We can decide what's best for us, you see. And whenever I'm dealing with someone and talking to them about salvation, I always ask them, after I teach them this point, I ask, how's that going for you? And they're all like, not so good, alright? Everything's not working out like we're supposed to. But we sinned, alright? And the wages of sin is death. But in love, God sent His Son. And Jesus took on flesh and blood. He became a man. And He did for us what we could never do for ourselves. And eventually he was crucified, he was buried, and then he rose victorious from the grave. And now what he does is he offers us life, does he not? You tired of trying to do it your own way? Then turn from idols and turn to the true God and say, I'm going to do it your way, God. Repent of your sin and put your faith and trust in Jesus and His finished work on the cross of Calvary. Do it His way and find the joy that comes from living the resurrected life, you see. You know, in the Gospel of John chapter 3, most of us know John chapter 3 verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. But you know that in the context of that passage of scripture that what happens is, is they go back to the Old Testament to a time in numbers when the people of Israel were living in the wilderness. And they had disobeyed God, and God sent some snakes, and they were biting them, and they were venomous snakes evidently, and they began to die. And the people of Israel said, hey, wait a minute, this is no good, we repent, we need God's favor once more. And so God told Moses, He said, Moses, I want you to take and make a bronze serpent, and I want you to put him on a pole. And if they look at that pole, they will live. Wow. That's it? You mean I don't have to do anything? All I have to do is look and live? And ladies and gentlemen, is that not a wonderful picture of Christ offering us salvation? There is nothing that you and I can do to appease a holy, righteous God. Jesus did it all. And the message of the Gospel is, is quit trying to do it yourself. Turn from idols unto the true God. And just say, I believe. Jesus, You are the Son of God. You lived a perfect life. You took my place. You are my substitute on the cross of Calvary. You died. You were buried. You rose again. And if I put my faith and trust in you, I'm gonna do what the scripture says, and I believe, then you'll give me eternal life. And ladies and gentlemen, you know how many people are here sitting today can say that's true? Why? Because of the resurrection. Living, He loved us. Dying, He saved us. Buried, He carried our sins far away. Rising He justified, just as if we've never sinned, freely forever. And one day He's coming. And listen, those that are in Christ are going to spend eternity with Him because of the resurrection. But those who are outside of Christ are going to have to experience the wrath of God for all eternity. And Jesus says, look, don't do that. I've come, I've given you grace and mercy and love. All I want you to do is look and live. If you're here without Christ, would you look and live this morning? Wouldn't that be great to be able to say next year, it was Easter 2025, that I repented and believed and put my faith and trust in Christ. But brothers and sisters in Christ, listen, Christians, let us live the Christian life and believe and act like we believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Remember our church axiom? God is most honored and we are most happy when we worship him, serve one another, and take the gospel to the nations. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this passage of scripture. Thank you for the resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Thank you, our Father, for the promise that if we look, we can live. We ask now, Father, that if there be someone here in our midst that has never trusted you, that they're trusting in something outside of Jesus's finished work, that they would see that that's impossible, and that this morning they would repent and believe and trust in you for eternal life. They might look and live. And then, Father, for those that are here and know you and love you, we rejoice in the resurrection. Help us to live that resurrected life, our Father, the rest of the year. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen. Let's all stand together and sing a hymn of reflection.