Let's turn to the Word, read together, Psalm 16 and then John chapter 20. Let's stand to hear the Word. Psalm 16 is an Old Testament prophecy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Particularly, this is clear from Peter's preaching in Acts chapter 2. concerning David, that here he was speaking as a prophet. Particularly in verse 10, the Lord would not leave the Christ, the Messiah, in Sheol, in the grave, nor would the Holy One see corruption. A prophecy of the resurrection of the great son of David. Hear the word of the Lord, a victim of David. Preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, you are my God, my goodness is nothing apart from you. As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another God. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names on my lips. O Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance in my cup. You maintain my law. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore." We move from that prophecy of the burial, resurrection, and ascension of the glory of Jesus to a narrative of the resurrection of Jesus in John chapter 20. I'm going to read the first 10 verses. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. And she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. Peter therefore went out, and the other disciples were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the living claws lying there, yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb, and there he saw the living claws lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the living claws. but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of God abides forever. John chapter 20, the study of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's been a few weeks since we've been in the Gospel of John. As a matter of fact, if I think back, it must be at least four weeks, four Sundays ago, since we were in the Gospel of John. preached on the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ coming in the flesh on December 23rd, on the 30th, and Pastor Hamilton last week ministered the word to us, particularly concerning the ministry of the Spirit from Romans chapter eight. Now we're turning all the way back to the gospel of John in our study of the gospel, the sequential expository preaching from this gospel. We come to our consideration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I imagine a good number of you have taken a history class. I know our children start studying history at a fairly early age, and some of you probably like history, the study of history, and some of you probably don't. Children, when I was young, I confess I didn't really like it that much. a long succession of names and dates that I had a hard time keeping straight and keeping together. But the more and more I study history now over the years, maybe a long arc of repentance, the more I love it and the more you can see actually that this is really the hand of God. When you study history, you're studying the great works of God, the handiwork of God. His fingerprints are all over human history. Every bit of it, every moment of it. It's a good way to think about history. When you study it, it helps you to study history. But when you study history, what do you do? Again, you study often people, famous names, and what? Their dates. Names and dates, and names and dates. Everybody when you study history has a beginning and an end. Then they often have an enduring legacy. If you think about history, you think about the names which really have an enduring legacy, people who have had major and massive influence in world history, the list is not very long actually. Just a few individuals of the millions and millions who have lived and died. But what happens when they die, they just become a name. Nates. Their ideas or political campaigns or military campaigns may have an enduring history, but they die. And the moment they die, for example, Julius Caesar, he was born July 15th, 100 BC, died March 13th, 44 BC. If you lived during his reign as emperor of Rome, his name would bring fear to you. He had ultimate power. He could control your destiny or the destiny of your nation. He can wipe you from the face of the earth with an edict. And now we learn his name and what do we think? Nothing much, Julius Caesar, he has no power. He's gone. The same name that, through his active years as emperor of Rome, brought fear to the whole world, now is just a name for us. We utter it without any fear at all of consequence. Now, if the Gospel of John ended with chapter 19, there's a surreal sense in which we would have another biography with a beginning date and an ending date. But we don't. We don't. We'd have a biography with wise teachings, even remarkable miracles, an admirable life, but it would be marked by a beginning and a final end. But this is not the case. Instead, the Gospels present to us in the Gospel of John of a narrative, a historical narrative, a biography of an utterly unique and exceptional quality, unparalleled. of a man, a true man, Jesus Christ, who very clearly, by the eyewitness testimony of the Gospels, without exception and without any question, dies a real death and is buried, and his dead body is laid to rest in a grave. There he continues under the power of death for a time. But the same Gospels and the rest of the New Testament is universal in its eyewitness declaration that this same Jesus who was crucified, God has raised from the dead. He is risen. He pierces the veil of death and emerges from the other side and never dies. This is different than Lazarus, for example, who was raised from dead, but he's not walking around anymore. He died again. Jesus rose again from the dead, and he ever lives, the writer of the Hebrew says, to make intercession for us. And this historical reality, J.C. Rao puts it this way, is a cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith, second to none in its value. and its power. So we're gonna study the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which has been given in the Gospel of John, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and believing have life in his name. We're gonna look at the eyewitness accounts in verses one through 10 of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The context, of course, is the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. We've studied that in the past weeks. The eyewitness testimony in chapter 19 is incontrovertible. Jesus died on the cross. He said it is finished. He gave up his spirit. The Roman soldiers tested that as they pierced his side with the spear, blood and water flowed out. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus down from the cross and carried it and laid it in a grave and the tomb was closed and sealed. But now it is the third day, the first day of the week, which will be notable. We'll get to that in a moment. And on the first day of the week, eyewitnesses go to the tomb. They go to the tomb. And there's a theme here of eyewitness account. There's a theme of seeing. In verse two, we're gonna see that Mary came and saw something, Mary Magdalene. John is emphatic in all of his writings that what he is communicating is eyewitness. In 1 John 1, he talks about Jesus with these words, that which we have seen and heard and handled. The word of life. Against the Gnostic heresy that Jesus was a phantom or a spiritual being, that he wasn't really God in the flesh. No, John's interest has always been the word became flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father. And so here, with the intensity of eyewitness testimony, we have the first accounts of what is found after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The eyewitness verses of Mary Magdalene, she is identified here. by that full name that reminds us that she was one of Jesus' devoted disciples. She was delivered from demonic possession by the power of Jesus Christ. She believed in him. She was one of the last with him at the cross. She is one of the first at the empty tomb. She is doggedly devoted to her master, Jesus Christ, surely heartbroken that he has been crucified. She comes here. Now the other Gospels tell us that she was also accompanied by Joanna, Mary the mother of James and Salome, and either she came a little ahead of them or before them and then went back and got them, but clearly here she is on her own. In her eyewitness testimony, the first mention of seeing in the text is very simple. She saw, while it was still dark, early in the morning, that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. The stone, which has been rolled in front of the grave, closing the door to the grave, which was sealed with the Roman seal, is now dislodged, and the grave is open. This is unusual, for graves were to remain sealed for a lot of reasons. The stone was heavy, Mark tells us that in Mark 16. It would be unclean for a Jew now to enter that grave. It would be a crime under Roman law to rob a grave. And so she's concerned. She ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, that's the Apostle John, and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. Her conclusion is that the body of Jesus Christ has been taken. Her eyewitness is this simple fact, the stone is rolled away, the door is opened, the tomb, there's access in and out of the tomb. That's what she sees. Her conclusion is the body of Jesus Christ has been taken. But the eyewitness testimony first is that the stone has been rolled away. And notice she doesn't immediately conclude that Jesus has been raised from the dead. We just have the eyewitness testimony as it happens. Now, the second eyewitness testimony is that of the two apostles. She came to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and that's the way John refers to himself in the gospel. We looked at that in chapter 13 and here in 19 and chapter 20 and 21. John repeatedly refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. His eyewitness, or their eyewitness, so they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first, and he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen claws lying there, yet he did not go in. And so we have the race between the two apostles. All kinds of people have, all kinds of ink has been spilled on what this race symbolizes, and the early church fathers just said John was younger and he ran faster, and he made it there first. Peter, on the other hand, looks in first, and he sees the linen claws. Now this is significant, why? Because these linen cloths were formerly wrapped around Jesus. As a matter of fact, if you look just a little earlier, in verse 40 of chapter 19, two men who they would have known, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, they had just taken the body of Jesus, bound it in strips of linen with spices, as is the custom of the Jews to bury. And they had taken that wrapped body and they had placed it in the new tomb in the garden, which no one had yet been laid. There they laid Jesus. So the linen cloths that were just a few days earlier, wrapped tightly around Jesus with the spices intermingled, were no longer wrapped around Jesus. And this is what Peter saw. This is what Peter witnessed. There's also a contrast here between the resurrection of Lazarus. Remember, he came out with the grave claws wrapped around him still. It's clearly not the case with Jesus. The body's not there, the tomb is open, and the linen claws are laid behind. So that's what John sees. And then, finally, the third witness is Simon Peter, who follows John, goes into the tomb, And he sees the linen cloths as well, but he adds another detail. And again, it's seeing. The detail he adds is the handkerchief that had been around his head was not lying with the linen cloths, but then listen to this, folded together in a place by itself. Again, this is detail, particular detail. The handkerchief that would have covered the head of the dead Jesus, the body of Jesus, has been removed, and not just removed and thrown in the corner, but carefully folded and put in a place by itself, that there is something orderly and intentional about what happened in this grave. The third mention of seeing. The fourth mention of seeing is in verse eight. Then the other disciple, John, who came to the tomb first, When looked in first, he went in also, and he saw the fourth mention of seeing. So they see this together. Three simple seeings. The stone rolled away. The linen claws left behind. The handkerchief carefully folded. Mary, John, Peter, and then finally Peter and John see it together. This is the scene of the empty tomb as relayed to us by the apostolic witness, John. Now this is just the beginning of the apostolic witness to the resurrection. And you might think to preach a sermon on the resurrection from chapters, from verses one through 10, how could that be pertinent because no one has yet seen Jesus alive? We'll get to that in a moment. The rest of the narrative of John chapter 20 gives no doubt that Jesus is not in the tomb because he is alive. As a matter of fact, in the next verses, we read that Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting. And she has a conversation with them. And she's asking about where the body of Jesus is. It's been taken away. And in verse 14, after she had said this, she turned around and she saw Jesus standing there, did not know that it was Jesus. And then in verse 19, the apostles are commissioned because Jesus appears to them. And then in verse 24 and following, Thomas sees Jesus. And then in chapter 21, there's that breakfast by the sea where Jesus appears to the disciples and then he restores Peter. And the rest of the New Testament witnesses that Jesus is alive. In 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul gathers together or puts a summary statement of this eyewitness testimony to a risen Jesus Christ. For I deliver to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, this is a very important phrase, according to the Scriptures, but then the eyewitness, and that He was seen by Cephas, and then by the Twelve. After that, He was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. In other words, you can find these people and talk to them, they saw Jesus. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles, then last of all, he was seen by me also as one born out of due time. And this is the witness of the New Testament to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The New Testament emphasis on the historicity of this event is complete. Unified, coherent, and powerful. What we have in verses one through 10 is just the very first few moments, the first clues that will point to the full glory of the reality of a living Christ. Historical events in detail testified by very many witnesses. Famously, an evangelical Anglican named Simon Greenleaf, he actually was at Harvard Law School. He's a professor at Harvard Law School. And there he wrote a treatise on the law of evidence, which is still apparently a significant legal work today. And the treatise he wrote was how you could use evidence in a court of law to prove certain facts. So this is what he did. This is what he did for a lifetime. This was his living. This was his expertise. And what he did is he sought to apply all of those years thinking about how eyewitness testimony functions in the pursuit of truth. And he took that and he applied it to the gospel witness, the gospel narratives. And when he did, his conclusion was there was more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ than almost any other fact that he could find in human history. And we know that we believe these things. We get to that a moment because the scriptures testify to them. The Scriptures testify to them in historical evidentiary fashion. We believe historical facts. They are well corroborated. Mary saw the son, John the Linen, Peter the Face Cloth, and later Mary saw him, then the disciples, then Thomas, then all the disciples. This is the drumbeat of the New Testament. This is the historical record. Christ is risen indeed. How about the implications? The very first thing is that even from verses 1 through 10, before we get to Mary seeing Jesus and the disciples seeing Jesus, you have every reason to believe that Jesus is risen and risen indeed. If you have your Bible up to John chapter 20, verse 10, We already have that in the narratives in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But in other words, if you don't have farther in the resurrection narrative than this, than where we've read so far, you would already have every reason to believe that he is risen and risen indeed, every confidence to believe the gospel. And we'll see how this works in a moment. The resurrection is the definitive sign of the reality of the mission of Jesus Christ and his triumph in that mission. When Jesus was asked for a sign, he told the Jews that they would receive the sign of Jonah. He was pointing to his resurrection. In John chapter 2, when Jesus was said that he would destroy the temple and build it again in three days, people mocked him for that. He was speaking of the resurrection and the temple of his body. He repeatedly prophesied that he would be crucified and rise again from the dead. He had spoken the word. And if he were not to rise, then they were not to believe in him. Deuteronomy chapter 18, because he would be a false prophet. Paul picks this up, the centrality of the resurrection, to our faith in Jesus Christ. If he is not risen, our faith is in vain. We are of all people the most miserable. The whole of the gospel hinges on the resurrection, the historical reality of the resurrection. The tomb in the gospel must be preceded by the crosswork of Jesus Christ. But the crosswork of Jesus Christ is vindicated by the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus. And the resurrection, it's in the resurrection that we see the public unveiling and exaltation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Romans chapter one, declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The resurrection rial is the completion of the work of redemption. It proves, publicly testifying to the glory of Jesus Christ, that the ransom is accepted, that the victory over sin and death, proclaimed in the words, it is finished, has been gained. This is how the apostles preach. Acts chapter two, Peter, this same Jesus whom you crucified. God has raised up from the dead and made him both Lord and Christ. It was not possible that death should hold him. Paul in Acts chapter 13, the same thing, preaches the resurrection. Again, Paul, if Christ was not raised, your faith is in vain. Here is a central doctrine, historical reality on which Christendom either stands or falls. And if you ever hear anybody claim to be a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ who does not believe that he is risen from the dead and lives now, That is no preaching and no gospel at all. You need to be careful. No church at all. Christ died for our sins, Romans 4.25, and was raised for our justification. The triumph of the resurrection is inextricably linked to our own redemption. If it is so important, how can I be certain that it's true? On what basis do I believe that Jesus is risen and risen indeed. Our text teaches us that we can have complete confidence in the resurrection of Jesus Christ without seeing with our own eyes of flesh the resurrected Jesus. What do I mean by that? We're going back to the text with a deliberate record here. Look at verse 8. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first, so John who had stooped down and saw the little claws and Peter saw the handkerchief and they both went in together. At the moment they went in together and John surveys the whole scene. He passes through the opening made by the stone rolled away, and he has seen the linen cloths, and now he sees the handkerchief folded. Something happens in the mind and heart of John at that moment, and this is important. When did he believe? He believed when he went in, he saw. He believed. What did he believe? Has he seen the risen Christ yet? What did John then believe? He believed the scriptures. He believed the word of God concerning the resurrection. He says in John chapter 9, verse 9, the same apostle says, For up to this point they did not yet know or comprehend the Scriptures. There's a better translation of that verb. It's not that they didn't just know what was in it. But they didn't understand. That the pieces of the puzzle were not put together in their hearts and minds yet. That there was still a veil over their faces. It's like the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke chapter 24. They're wondering about all these things that happen in Jerusalem. And Jesus has to go through all of the Scriptures and point to them. They testify of Him. And as He preaches the Word to them, the Scriptures, which is here the Old Testament Scriptures, at a certain point, their eyes are opened and they see Jesus. John here believes You see, up to this time, the disciples did not understand the Scriptures, but it's at this point where it seems that John comprehends in a moment there the full sweep of divine revelation, the purposes of God for the Messiah, and the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's the moment that the pieces of the puzzle come together. As if they are in the tomb, he has flashbacks of all the word that he has come to know and learn from his childhood and the full sweep of the ministry of Jesus Christ, the living word, preaching the word. And he remembers that Jesus said that, destroy this temple and I will raise it up again in three days. He remembers that Jesus said that I need to be lifted up, and I will draw all men to myself, that his death was prophesied. He remembers that Jesus said that I will die and rise again from the dead. He has flashbacks of the whole ministry of Jesus. He remembers that Jesus says that in the mighty works of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he has been working, and my father has been working till now, and I and my father are one. He remembers that Jesus taught in John chapter five that there's going to be a final resurrection and a final judgment. And Jesus says, I'm going to be there. And I will be the judge of all the earth. John chapter five and verse 28. He remembers that Jesus claims to himself the power of resurrection. That what has been given to him by his father is both this charge to lay down his life and the power to take it up again. He remembers that in John chapter 14, Jesus says that my father's house has many mansions. I'm going to prepare a place for you that you may be with me where I am. And he remembers all of these things against the backdrop of all the Old Testament prophecies of not only the suffering servant, but the triumphant lion of the tribe of Judah, the king of Israel, the Messiah that will conquer the nations and gather the nations to Zion. He remembers. Perhaps Isaac bound on the altar and that Abraham believed that even if Isaac were slain, that God would raise him from the dead because the promises of God could not be frustrated by the death of the son of Abraham. We know that Peter and Paul understood from Psalm 16. And Jesus' body would not see corruption in the grave, but he would rise again. It was not possible that death should hold him. Peter preaches that the tomb of David is still in Jerusalem to this day. Psalm 16 wasn't about David. It's about this Jesus who rose again from the dead. And so John in the tomb sees the stone rolled away, the linen clothes, the handkerchief folded, but not yet the living Jesus. And he believes the word of God. Faith, well-grounded, for Jesus will appear shortly. And this is the reason for our believing the resurrection. The testimony the living and powerful word concerning the resurrection from the dead through the Holy Spirit-inspired eyewitness of the apostolic band, a resurrection that John believed according to the Scriptures, which Paul, as we just read from 1 Corinthians 15, I said a moment ago, but we'll look at it again, which the apostles understood not only to be an event in history, but 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. So the purpose of the gospel of a dying and rising Savior presented to you here again this morning is that you might believe and believe with confidence that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and believing that you might have life, this resurrection life that is in Jesus, through His name. That this Jesus was raised for your justification. But the first thing we learn there is every confidence to believe the gospel on the basis of the word. The second thing is very simple. You will have dealings with Jesus Christ. You will have dealings with him. Earthly kings live and die. Then they're gone. And as I said earlier, there was a day when the name Julius Caesar would strike fear in the hearts of everyone in the known world. And now he's just a name. Not so with Jesus. Because He lives and He reigns. All authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth. He has the name which is above every name, the name of Jesus at which every knee will bow, every tongue confess to the glory of the Father. He lives. And the resurrection is the first step in what we call his exaltation, which includes then also his ascension, his present rule, and then finally his second coming. I am not preaching to you of the influence of a dead man long gone. I'm preaching to you of a living king who conquered sin and death. There's a big difference. This means then you'll have to deal with it one day or another. He pierced the veil, conquering sin and death. The resurrection is a declaration of a ruling king. Psalm 2, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Rule in the midst of your enemies. With the rod of iron, he smashes all of his enemies and he lifts up and gathers and exalts his people. That's what he's doing right now. That's what he's doing right now as you're sitting here. and as I am preaching, because he lives. And you have a solemn choice as you hear the narrative of the history of the resurrection of Jesus. The plea is to believe, that's why John wrote this, that he lived, he died, and after rising, he never died. But He has no dates. He's the Ancient of Days. He's the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is from everlasting to everlasting, and He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You'll have to deal with Him. The time to deal with Him is now. Faith and love. Thirdly, give a great motivation to pursue holiness. Because He lives, we live in Him. and for him. There's a sobriety first in pursuing holiness against the backdrop of the reality of the resurrection. Children, you need to know that the Jesus that you hear about is not limited to the pages of a story Bible. In other words, it's not just a story, this is reality. The Jesus you hear about is living and reigning and coming again, you will have feelings for him. You have to think of him that way. Not as an idea, but as a person. And you know the difference between the idea of children, the idea of authority and rule, and the reality of authority and rule. And let me tell you an example. A little bit of an example comes from this. Sometimes your parents aren't home, right? Your parents have rules. Now, your parents are far away from you. They can also be far away from you in your mind. And what's easier to do? Maybe it's easier then to be tempted to do something that they didn't tell you to do. Why? Because you don't think they're there, they'll never know. When they're at home, maybe when you're with them in the same room, wow, they didn't remember what they told you. But don't forget that Jesus is living and reigning, and because he's the God-man, he knows where you are and what you're doing all the time, every moment. He's not an idea, he's a person. The Holy Son of God lives, and by faith, we have a real relationship with a real king and savior. And he lives, and he says, live for me. Submit to my rule. But there's a deeper motive than just knowing that he lives. It's that because he lives, we live. This gets to the power for sanctification. What Christ accomplished in His death and resurrection, He did for us. We're buried with Him in baptism, raised with Him to newness of life. At this moment, which already happened here in the narrative, this moment when the dead body of Jesus Christ was animated by divine power, by the Holy Spirit, Romans chapter 1, in which Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power. Paul says this same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is at work in you. And that because he lives, we who have died to sin in Christ, we also live to righteousness in Christ. But the same animating power is at work in us. We rise to holiness. Matter of fact, the privileges are so great that the Bible doesn't stop with just resurrection life. It says we're seated with him in the heavenly places in our union with Christ. that we rise to holiness, that we've been raised with him. Romans 8, if the spirit of Christ who raised Jesus Christ from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. And so the power for holiness and new life is traced back to this moment of the victory of Jesus Christ. So when you believe in him, You not only have this truth that he was raised for my justification, that the seal on the propitiatory sacrifice is complete, but that everything I need to be sanctified to live a holy life is also in him. And this is why Paul longed to know more of Christ and the power of his resurrection. This is motivation for holy living. If then, Paul says, Colossians chapter three, you have been raised with Christ, seek those things which are above. Set your mind on things above where Christ is, for your life is hidden with Christ in God. I mean, these are astonishing categories of truths. And they describe the present life of the believer, regenerated by the Spirit, by faith united to Jesus Christ, which means the pursuit of holiness isn't onerous or frightening. but it's part of the victory sealed at the resurrection for believers. Fourth, you have an unshakable hope for eternity. The Bible says that the resurrection of Jesus is the first proof of your resurrection. Not only the spiritual newness of life, but one day, if Jesus tarries, if he waits, and you die before he comes, The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the guarantee, the firstfruits, that your body will one day rise again. His rising is the certification of our rising again, for as in Adam all died, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, and afterwards those who are Christ's at his coming. So we don't even need to fear physical death. and raised a new spiritual life in Christ. But though he slay me, yet will I love him and bless him, because I know that my Redeemer lives. And with these eyes, I will see him at the last day. Why? Because he rose and I will rise again. The power of an incorruptible life belongs to believer body and soul. And then finally, a motivation for worship. Why are we here today? On this day, verse one, because on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early and she saw the stone rolled away. And then Peter and John ran to the tomb. John got there first and he saw the linen cloths. And then Peter. went in and he saw the handkerchief folded. And then later Mary came to see Jesus, her Lord and her God in the flesh, risen again. The reason there's a worshiping community of believers gathering on the first day of the week traces all the way back to what happened that day long ago. That's why we're here. That's why every single Lord's Day, you know it's tradition, Christian tradition is once a year, particularly for the resurrection, somewhere in March or April. But really there's a deeper Christian tradition which is to remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ and everything that pertains to that glorious victory every single Lord's Day with the same fervor, the whole thing. That's why we gather. That's why the Apostolic Church gathered on the first day of the week and they called it the Lord's Day. The course of that day, there were five appearances of Jesus to his disciples, and he communed with them, declaring to them the reality and the victory that was his, remains his, and is ours through his resurrection from the dead. Let's pray. Lord God, we are here on your day believing But your word is testified to us concerning your victory. We pray that this would again motivate us to worship, to holiness, to a deep sense that we will have dealings with you because you live and reign and rule. Lord, fill us with joy in believing the testimony of your word, inspired word, the eyewitness testimony of those who were there and saw the details and lived through those days of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lord, help us to believe that he died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he rose again from the dead according to the scriptures and that you have proclaimed these things to us again here today with certainty tailors 2019 So that we might believe and believing we might have life Life through the name of Jesus the exalted risen Lord Pray for grace all these things the grace that you give so abundantly to us in Jesus name. Amen. I