Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 27 verse 55. Matthew 27 verse 55. If you're using the black Bibles that were provided on the back chairs there, that's page 835. Page 835. We've been working our way through Matthew chapter 27, or really through the gospel of Matthew, and today we're We're on Matthew 27 verse 55 and we're going to study God's Word through Matthew 28 verse 15. So I'd ask the congregation to stand please for the reading of God's Word. I'll read the text that we want to consider this morning. Let's hear God's Word beginning in Matthew 27 verse 55. There were also many women there. looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how that imposter said while he was still alive, after three days I will rise. Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead, and the last fraud will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can. So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Now after the Sabbath, toward 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 women, 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 came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. 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 a 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 ears, 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. Thanks be to God for his word. Please be seated. At our Good Friday service, we studied Matthew's account of Christ's suffering and death on the cross. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, who had become a man as well, truly man, truly God, there on the cross died a shameful, agonizing death because he took the sins and the guilt of his people upon himself. While on the cross, Jesus literally bore his father's holy wrath against the sins of his people. And so right before he died, Jesus cried out, it is finished. Nothing more needed to be done to pay for sins. Everyone who turns to Jesus in repentance and faith receives forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Christ's death fully satisfied God's holy wrath for the sins of all who are united to him through faith. And the Bible says we know that God's wrath has been satisfied because of the resurrection. God raised Jesus from the dead as proof that he was accepting Christ's payment for our sins. So today is a day of celebration. Today is a day that with joyful hearts we remember the resurrection. And today we're studying Matthew's account of Christ's resurrection from the dead. And I've organized our time in God's Word today around two headings. You'll see those in the notes section of the bulletin. The two headings are Witnessing Christ's Resurrection and Considering Christ's Resurrection. I first want us to notice from God's word here in Matthew's account how there were eyewitnesses to Jesus' death, to his burial, and to his bodily resurrection. Then at the close of the sermon, with that second heading, I want us to consider together the implications of Christ's resurrection. So we begin with witnessing Christ's resurrection. And what I want us to notice is that each component of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection were witnessed by people up close, right there on the front lines. I've listed those as four different components. Number one, a buried corpse. A buried corpse. When Jesus died on the cross, verse 55 tells us, there were also many women there looking on from a distance who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. These women watched Jesus die on the cross, and later we're gonna see a couple of these same women witness Christ's burial and his resurrection. Then in verse 57, we learn what happened to Christ's body. He's died there on the cross. Look at verse 57 with me. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb which he had cut in the rock and he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there sitting opposite the tomb so you see what This rich man named Joseph asked Pilate, the Roman governor, for the body of Jesus. And we learn from other gospel accounts that this Joseph was actually a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. They were the ones that hated Jesus for the most part. I mean, most of them hated Jesus. And they're the ones that had condemned him to death. But obviously, and again, the gospel tells us that this Joseph of Arimathea, he was not part of that decision. He was a disciple of Jesus. God had given him the eyes of faith to see that Jesus was the promised Messiah. And so not all the religious leaders rejected Jesus. And so what's beautiful about this is, again, we're reminded that most of Jesus' disciples at this point are off running and hiding. But yet God moved in Joseph's heart here to make public his devotion to Jesus. I mean, he was going against his Sanhedrin brethren there. And he goes and publicly asks Pilate for the body. Joseph loved Jesus and he did not want to see Jesus's body just thrown into a common grave. He did not want to see it mistreated in any way. So he bravely approached Pilate and asked for the body. And it's interesting, in doing this, already we see God starting to honor His Son. Oftentimes, crucified bodies were just thrown into a common grave, or thrown onto the trash heap of Gehenna, where, again, they could be mistreated by scoundrels, they could be, you know, damaged by animals. But as we heard, God had promised to not let His Holy One see decay, And so God orchestrates this to where the precious body of Jesus is safe and secure in a brand new tomb with a stone rolled over it. It's interesting, by the way, when Joseph goes and asks for the body from Pilate, Mark's account of this tells us that Pilate asked the centurion who was there in charge of the crucifixion, is Jesus dead? Has he in fact died? and the centurion confirms it. He confirms it to Pilate, and then Pilate says, okay, fine, you can have the body. That centurion, he was right there. He knew that Jesus had died. And again, if you look at John, the Gospel of John's account of the crucifixion, it tells us that they, remember Jesus was crucified with two others, or in between two other criminals, and it says that They actually started going around to break their legs to kind of speed up the death. But when they got to Jesus, they didn't need to break his legs because he was already dead. So again, you have these experienced executioners recognizing Jesus has died. He's dead. They confirm it. They don't break his legs. They confirm it to Pilate. Matter of fact, they even stuck a spear in his side, which caused blood and water to flow out. sign, another medical indication that he was dead. So back to our Matthew's account here in verse 57, Joseph acquires the body of Jesus in the evening, which for us that would be like late afternoon, the way we reckon time. And according to Jewish law, the bodies could not be left on the cross overnight, plus this was a Friday right before the beginning of Sabbath, so sunset on Friday marks the beginning of Sabbath. where you can't be doing labor, and especially you can't be handling a corpse. So I say all that to say there's an urgency here. Things need to move quickly. Jesus had to be quickly prepared and buried before the Sabbath begins. So that's what we see Joseph doing, quickly prepping the body, wrapping it in linen cloth. Ordinarily, at that time, the body would be anointed with spices, but again, because it was almost Sabbath, there was no time to do that. which is why the two Marys are going to be coming later on Sunday morning to anoint the body as a sign of honor and affection. So Joseph places the body of Jesus in his own new tomb, closes the tomb with this large stone, and again Matthew tells us in verse 61 that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus saw the tomb where Jesus was laid. They wanted to know where he was buried because, again, they're planning to come back after the Sabbath and to do whatever else needs to be done in their eyes for a fitting burial for Jesus. So you put all this together and you realize there are many people who witnessed Jesus dying on the cross. The fact that he actually died, the fact that he was dead, right? The women saw him die on the cross. Again, the centurion firsthand saw and personally confirms it to Pilate. Joseph and wrapping the body and preparing it. I mean, you know, he can tell that that body's not breathing. It's dead. I mention all that to say because now years later, those who wish to discredit the resurrection of Jesus will say, well, probably Jesus didn't die on the cross. He just fainted. And then later, you know, was revived in the tomb, you know, kind of came to in the tomb. And see, that doesn't hold up. That doesn't hold up to the eyewitness accounts and the word of God. There are several reliable witnesses to the actual death of Jesus, and it's gonna be interesting, by the way, as we go through this, that even the enemies of Jesus, those religious leaders who had rejected him, who didn't believe in him, even they don't try to say, oh, well, he didn't die. No, instead, they try to make up a different story about his body being stolen. So there were witnesses to this death, to this, as I've kind of crassly said, I guess you could say, this buried corpse. Second component then that we have eyewitnesses of is a secure tomb. A secure tomb, look in verse 62. The next day, it's like we have a shifting of scenes here. We've been seeing Joseph and the Marys and the friends of Jesus, well now it goes back to the enemies of Jesus. The next day, that is after the day of preparation, so now it's Saturday, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how that imposter said while he was still alive, after three days I will rise. Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead. And the last fraud will be worse than the first. So see, they knew Jesus's words. They had heard his teaching and his predictions, that Jesus had said he would be raised from the dead. And so they wanna make sure that no disciple, no zealous follower of Christ tries to come and steal the body and then make up the story that he has risen from the dead. And so Pilate, verse 65, I'm sure he was pretty much tired of these guys by now. He's like, you have a guard of soldiers, there you go, go make it as secure as you can. So that's what they do in verse 66. Look, they make the tomb secure by sealing the stone. In other words, they put this large seal over the stone that covered Jesus' tomb. That way, if anyone did move that stone, it would break the seal and you'd be able to see that the stone had been moved. And then they also posted a guard of Roman soldiers there who would stop anybody who was trying to steal the body. So again, we see the plans of the enemies of Christ just scheming and trying to do everything they can in their power, but it's not gonna thwart God's plans at all. And that's what we see as we continue on now into chapter 28, we come to our third witnessed component, and that is an empty tomb. Empty tomb. The Sabbath ended at sunset on Saturday. So Matthew says in verse one, now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. So early Sunday morning, the two Marys are going to the tomb. And like I said, the other gospel accounts tell us that they were going there to anoint Jesus' body with perfume and spices as an act of devotion. But as they're heading that way, Something amazing happens back at the tomb. Look at verse 2. 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. Notice the power of even this angel. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men. And when I read that, it just reminds me of the, not so much the power of the angel, but it reminds me of the power and glory of God. God created the angels. God has legions of angels at his disposal. And God who created this world and sustains it caused a great earthquake on that first Easter morning. Interesting, on Friday we noted that there was a great earthquake when Jesus died on the cross. And now we have another earthquake on Sunday pointing to the significance of what is taking place. Again, this one angel is so dazzling, so powerful that these hardened, tough Roman soldiers are literally scared to death here and just paralyzed by fear as they fall down. So again, that just reminds me of the glory of God. You think about if one of God's messengers could do that to these Roman soldiers, think how glorious God is. In Isaiah, we see a vision of the throne room where these angelic creatures are having to hide their eyes as they go around, circle around and worship God saying, holy, holy, holy. It reminds us of the splendor of our God. So this amazing display of power, the stone has been rolled away and sat upon, right? If that's not kind of like showing triumph, right? These Roman soldiers who, you know, it's the Roman soldiers who were mocking Jesus and beating him and crucified him. Now they're like dead men. And these plans, these schemes of the religious leaders, they're just falling apart real fast. And so we see God sovereignly carrying out his plan. But as amazing and powerful as the earthquake and the angel is, what's even more amazing that has happened is that Christ has been risen from the dead. God has powerfully raised Jesus bodily from the dead. Because when the two Marys arrive at the tomb, they find First of all, they see this scene. I'm sure they're like, what is going on? These Roman soldiers are kind of like in comas or whatever they are, groveling over there. And they see this stone, they see this angel. In verse five, the angel says to them, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. The angel knows why the women have come. He knows that they're looking for the dead body of Jesus to anoint it. with spices, they had witnessed Jesus die on the cross, they'd seen him be buried, and so now they're coming expecting to find a corpse. And notice the angel himself also acknowledges that Jesus had in fact died. You're looking for Jesus who was crucified, who was killed by crucifixion. But he tells them Jesus is not here. And why is he not there? Did the Marys, was their memory off and they found the wrong tomb? Or had someone beaten them there and stolen the body first? No, he says he is not here for, here's why he's not here, he has risen. He's risen from the dead. And that verb points to the, it's a passive verb points to the fact that God has raised him from the dead. I know you came looking for Jesus's dead body, but he's not here because God has raised Jesus from the dead. That's the news he announces to them. And again, that's incredible news, but the angel kind of reminds them, really, this shouldn't catch you by surprise, Mary. He has risen as he said. Remember, he was telling you guys that he was gonna die and rise again on the third day. We've seen that as we went through Matthew, that several times Jesus has explained to his disciples why they were going to Jerusalem, what was gonna happen to him, and some pretty vivid detail about being delivered over to the Gentiles and being mocked and beaten and crucified. But he'd also often added, and be raised on the third day. So he had prepared them for this. It's interesting, by the way, isn't it, as you read this, that who is it that took Jesus' words more to heart about that? It was his enemies, right? They're the ones that seem to have remembered that he said that and wanted to try to, you know, put the guard there so that someone didn't pretend or, you know, steal the body and pretend that he had been raised. But apparently Jesus' followers were so grief-stricken that they hadn't been thinking about that or understood that. So, not only has the angel announced this, but look, he points to the empty tomb. He says, come and see the place where he lay. Come, look for yourself and see that the tomb is empty. His body's not here. His body's no longer in the tomb because he's alive. He's been raised from the dead. By the way, that's the whole reason for the stone being rolled away, right? It wasn't so Jesus could get out. I mean, the resurrected, glorified Jesus can walk through walls, right? Let alone, he could have moved that stone himself if he wanted. The stone was rolled away so that the eyewitnesses could see that the tomb is empty. so that the Marys could see it. Then he's announced this in verse six, Jesus of Nazareth, who you saw die on the cross, this same Jesus is alive, look at his tomb, it's empty, God has raised him from the dead, and now then in verse seven he gives them instructions. Go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. See, I have told you." So he tells them, take this good news, this good news that Jesus has been raised from the dead. You take it to the other disciples who are in hiding right now. Tell them about the empty tomb that you saw. Tell them about what I've told you, that Jesus is alive. Tell them that he's risen from the dead. Tell them that they're gonna get to see him personally, the risen and glorified Christ. He's gonna meet with them in Galilee. So you can imagine the Marys, you know, I mean, again, their heads probably spinning, but they're so overcome with joy and excitement at this, right? They've got great news to take to the disciples. So the text says they departed, verse 8, they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. And that brings us to our final witnessed component here. They witnessed the empty tomb, but now in verses 9 and 10, they get to witness the bodily resurrection. The bodily resurrection. Look at verse 9, right? This is as they're heading back, and behold, Jesus met them and said, greetings. I think that's kind of funny, isn't it? Hello, how's it going? And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. What an amazing response, right? What a response that we'll all have when we get to see the glorified Jesus. To just fall at His feet and worship Him. To be overcome with joy and gratitude for our Savior who died for us. So they've witnessed personally the resurrected Jesus. You could say they've come face-to-face with him, but it wasn't face-to-face for very long. It was kind of face-to-feet, right? And I'm just thinking, you know, how it says they took hold of his feet. And I'm thinking about how earlier on the cross, a couple days ago, they had seen those feet pierced with nails. They'd seen those feet. painfully struggling to push up for every breath. So while he's suffering there on the cross, but now they see a glorified body. Now they're clinging to Jesus in joy and in worship because Jesus is alive. So they've seen the whole gamut here, right? They've seen him die, they watched his body being wrapped and buried, and now they see and feel that he's alive. Again, this is no vision, this is no wishful thinking on their part. Jesus is alive in a physical resurrected body right before them. And they're worshiping him. And he accepts that worship, right? angels who will say, don't worship me, right? Jesus accepts it. It's appropriate. He's God. He's worthy of worship. He's the Lord. Then he proceeds to reassure them and repeat what the angel had told him. Verse 10, then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me. So Jesus is going to appear to the rest of the disciples. And so now the Marys have even more news to tell, don't they? Not just what the angels said, not just the empty tomb, not just the guards and all that crazy stuff that was happening. They have seen Jesus and touched Jesus themselves. And so you can imagine how fast they took off to tell the disciples. And then we kind of, this gets closed, this account gets closed off, you'd say, by back to the enemies of Jesus. Verse 11, what are they, how are they going to handle this news? While they were going, the Marys, behold, some of the guard, right, some of the guard that had been there at the tomb and, you know, saw the angel, fell over. Some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. So they're reporting back what's happened, right? The powerful earthquake, the glorious angel, the empty tomb, what perhaps they heard the angels saying. So how are the chief priests gonna respond to this amazing news? Is it gonna change the minds of the religious leaders? Would they maybe reconsider their rejection of Jesus? Would they admit and say, wow, you know, we were wrong, we thought he was an imposter, we thought he was a blasphemer, but he really is the Son of God, he really is the promised King of Israel. Sadly, that's not how they respond. Even with news of God's powerful workings, even with this report of all that's happened, they continue in their hardened unbelief. Look at verse 12. When they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, right, they've heard the reports and now they're all back together. What are we gonna do about this? They gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers, verse 13, and said, tell people His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep. That's what they want the guards to say. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we'll satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. Verse 15, so they, the guards, took the money and did as they were directed. And this story's been spread among the Jews to this day, Matthew writes, as he's writing to Jews, right? I'm sure his readers are like, oh yeah, we've heard that story, how someone came and stole the body. But you see what the chief priests did? They doubled down on their unbelief, on their rejection of Jesus. They come up with, they're still scheming, right? Their schemes keep getting thwarted, but they're still scheming. Now we're gonna bribe the soldiers and say that they fell asleep on the job, which could have them killed, right? Say that someone stole the body while you were asleep. And don't worry, if it gets back to Pilate, it probably won't, but if it does, we'll cover for you. And we know, like Matthew says, that this made-up story of disciples stealing the body of Jesus did spread because the historian Justin speaks of it still being repeated by the Jews in the middle of the second century. But again, if you're into proofs and facts and what do they call it, apologetics and stuff like that, it's interesting, no one could ever produce the body of Jesus. That's all they would have had to done to show that he didn't raise from the dead. Okay, the disciples stole the body. Well, let's find it. Let's produce it. Let's bring it forth. That would have disproved the whole thing about the resurrection. But no one could because that was not true, right? The falsified story. Jesus had been raised from the dead. And again, I was struck and saddened and at the same time, I'm filled with gratitude when I think about the hardness of their hearts. Even face to face with the facts about the resurrection, they still refuse to believe and submit to Christ, choosing rather to fabricate a story. Oh, how hard is the heart hardened by sin. And that's how we all are by nature. That's why we need God to graciously give us new hearts. and eyes of faith to believe and receive the word of God as it really is true. And so for any of us here today who love Jesus and believe that he died and rose again, praise God. God in his grace and power broke through our hard hearts, which is no trouble for him to do, right? Let us keep praying for our loved ones who have hard hearts. that God would do the same for them and show the glory of His grace, of His sovereign grace. But what I want us to see, again, in this first section, and trust me, the bulk of our time was gonna be on this first section, so don't be nervous, those of you who have Easter plans. But again, just notice all this in totality. There were eyewitnesses to every aspect of Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection. We're not gonna get to it today, but the next chunk of verses does show Jesus appearing to the disciples as well. And when you put all the gospel records together, you see that Jesus appeared to people at least on eight different occasions after his resurrection. And then in addition, in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul states that Jesus later appeared to a group of 500 men at once. So there are tons of eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. People that saw Jesus, people that touched Jesus, people that heard him speak, people that watched him eat. They saw that Jesus was no phantom, this was no made up story, this was no vision. He had been raised from the dead in a physical glorified body. And God used these eyewitness testimonies of the resurrection of Jesus to spread the gospel in the early years of the church. We heard Peter mention it in the scripture reading in Acts 2.32, God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of this fact. Peter again in the next chapter in another sermon will say in Acts 3 15 you killed the author of life But God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this Peter told Cornelius and the other Gentiles gathered to hear the gospel in Acts 10 39 Speaking of Jesus they put him to death by hanging him on a tree But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear not to all people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead and And this, of course, this is the Word of God. And God used, God through His Spirit, used men to pin Holy Scripture. And this very account we're reading was one of the eyewitnesses. Matthew. These eyewitnesses were so convinced that Jesus rose from the dead, they preached Christ They were beaten for preaching Christ. Many of them were willing to die because of the name of Christ. Does that sound like a made-up story to you? I'm not gonna die for a made-up story. No, the resurrection is real. Jesus really did die on the cross and he really did rise again. And again, that means Jesus is alive today. We know from the Bible that he, 40 days after his resurrection, he ascended into heaven where he rules from the Father's right hand. So this is truth, this is historical fact. The man Jesus died and rose again. Truly man and truly God. Surely we cannot ignore such an amazing truth. It's the only time it's happened in history. That leads to our final heading, and with this I wrap up and close the sermon. Considering Christ's resurrection. We need to consider this, don't we? I mean, we can't just ignore this. Jesus rising from the dead is so awesome, it's so unprecedented that it must not be ignored. Every person everywhere dies. But only Jesus rose from the dead in a glorified body to never die again. Of all the things that grab our attention, this historical fact of the resurrection of Christ must be considered. And there's so many different ways we could go with that and things that'd be fun to talk about. But I decided to just give you two things, two truths to remember. The resurrection of Christ declares important truths about Jesus and today I'll simply mention two of those. Although you'll see I get my money's worth out of them. Number one, Jesus is Savior and Lord. Jesus is Savior and Lord, and by the way, all of this encapsulates, points to the uniqueness of Jesus. Muhammad didn't die and rise again. Buddha's still in his grave. Every other religion, their person of faith that they followed, their guru, only Jesus died and rose again. And that shows that He is Savior and Lord. Jesus is Savior. He has conquered sin and death and evil. Again, that's why His death, that's why He was dying, was to pay the price for sin, the sins of His people. The wages of sin is death. And His resurrection shows that He defeated sin and death. The resurrection declares that Jesus is Lord of all. If we kept reading, we'd see Jesus tell the disciples that he's about to meet in Galilee, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Again, he's raised, glorified, seated at the Father's right hand now, ruling as king of the universe. Jesus is sovereign over sin. He's sovereign over Satan. He's sovereign over evil. He's triumphed over death itself, our greatest enemy. Jesus is Lord. That's the gospel message. Jesus is Savior and Lord. Praise God. That means he's sovereign over every evil that we face today, every trial, every persecution, every sickness, every conflict. Jesus is sovereign over that. Christ is wielding his power now, the ascended, risen, exalted, Christ is wielding His power to accomplish His purposes. He's building His kingdom. He's working all things together for the good of His people and for the glory of His name. And so today, if you've never bowed your knee before Christ, if you've never surrendered to Him and confessed that He is Lord, I urge you to do that today. Because He is Lord and He's coming again and one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. But if you don't do it in this life before he returns, then it'll be too late. But to all who will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord and acknowledge I've sinned against you, please forgive me my sins. I know I've been living for myself, I want to live for you. God is gracious and he forgives. Jesus is a kind king, he's a loving king. And he will forgive you of your sins. And he will welcome you into his kingdom. And then, being in His kingdom, you'll enjoy the peace and fellowship with Him now, and when He returns, you'll be with Him forever. We've all sinned against God. We all deserve His judgment. But Christ died in the place of sinners on the cross, taking the punishment for all who believe in Him. And His resurrection proves that God accepted his payment for sin. The resurrection proves that Jesus is the only way to be made right with God. Mankind tries to find so many other ways to earn favor with God. A lot of us, by nature, have a sense that we're separated from our Creator. We have a sense that we do wrong and sin, and so we try to, oh, if I can just do enough good works, if I can just be a nice person, oh, maybe if I get religious and do some formal things like that, No, the only way we can be made right with God is through faith in Christ. The resurrection is proof that Christ paid the debt in full and that His payment was accepted by the Father. And so that's good news for all of us who, by God's grace, are trusting in Christ alone for our salvation. Romans 8.34 says, who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Like I said in my prayer, reminding the courts of heaven, they're mine. My blood has covered their sins. I've clothed them in my righteousness. Because Christ bore that wrath on the cross, all who trust in Jesus will never have to face God's wrath. 1 Thessalonians 1 10 says, we wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Because Jesus is alive, we know we are forgiven. He is Savior and He is Lord, and we know that like Him, we one day will be raised from the dead. 2 Corinthians 4.14. The empty tomb reminds us that when Christ returns, he will raise us from the dead in perfect, physical, immortal bodies. So that's the first one, Jesus is Savior and Lord. The second one and my last. Second truth that we must consider today. And I pray it's an encouragement to you. Jesus is making all things new. Jesus is making all things new. I kept thinking about the word hope this week. People long for hope today. Have you ever noticed how often politicians or other people from the culture will talk about hope, hope, hope, hope? They long for it, we all long for hope. Is there something better? Things seem so broken, things seem so wrong. Oh, can we just pool together and get hope? Can we just, you know, educate ourselves and get hope? Can we just get rid of all inequalities and get hope? No, hope is found in Christ alone. He is our hope. And here's the good news that the resurrection reminds us of. Jesus is making all things new. When sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, it did leave this world lost and broken. Now there's pain and sickness and death and separation from God and all kinds of sin against each other, right? Conflict, abuse, murder, selfishness, you name it, right? But Jesus came to fix and reverse all that sin has broken. Through his perfect life and sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, Jesus defeated sin, death, and evil, and his resurrection is the kickoff to him making all things new. When he saves us, the Bible says, he makes us new creations. So we get a foretaste of that already now, when he, by his grace, saves us, unites us to himself. He makes us new creations, indwelt with the Holy Spirit, with the promise of future resurrection to come. And God, through Christ, is reconciling people to himself, even now, from every tribe and tongue and nation. And in Christ, we now enjoy reconciliation with God, and with each other, but we still struggle with sin. But when Christ returns, loved ones, he will get rid of sin once and for all. His enemies will be thrown into the lake of fire, and we will be raised with perfect bodies with no more sin, no more weakness, no more divided hearts, and this world that's groaning now under the curse of sin will be remade, perfect. new heavens, new earth, no more brokenness. So be encouraged, Christian. I know we get tired of dealing with the sin and brokenness that's all around us, in our relationships, even within our families, in the body of Christ. Oh, we get so tired. We get tired of dealing with the remaining sin in ourselves. We've grown under it, we've grown at the news, we've grown at seeing all the evil. Be encouraged. How's that hymn go? Lift up your heads, pilgrims are weary, because Christ is coming again, and he is making all things new. Sin and pain will not always be around. Death does not have the final word, because the resurrection declares that Jesus is making all things new. Let's pray. Father, we praise you for your grace and power, Lord, that you did not leave us in this brokenness, in this sin, in our rebellion, in our separation, in our lostness and judgment that we deserved. Oh, but by your great mercy and through your abounding grace and immeasurable love and for the glory of your name, You sent your Son to redeem us and to triumph over everything that sin has broken. And so we praise you for that, Lord Jesus. We praise you for your life, death, and resurrection. We praise you that you are Lord of all, that you've been exalted far above all other rule and power and authority. and that you are making all things new. And we pray that we would increasingly see that, Lord, in our own lives, in our own church, in our own families. Lord, help us grow to become more like Christ. Help us to live out the new creations that we are. And again, Lord, we long for your return. We love to see you, Lord. Yes, we want to be rid of the weariness and the battle of sin, and we want to see you. We want to be able to worship you and love you perfectly. So please come quickly. And please give us daily strength and grace to continue to live for you and worship you in spirit and in truth. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Let's stand together and sing a final song of praise this morning.