Good to see all of you here this evening. Let's stand and ask Lord's blessing on our study this evening. Our glorious King, we come unto thee to beseech thee for thy blessing as thou dost rule, govern thy church, so as a good shepherd thou dost feed us. We pray that thou would nourish our souls this evening as we consider and continue to consider the glorious resurrection of thee, our our Lord and our Savior. We pray thy blessing and thy spirit would attend unto thy word and give to us understanding and the holy desire and affection to apply thy word to our lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, John chapter 20. verses 11 through 18 this evening. Once again, John 20, 11 through 18. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher. and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary, she turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, master. Jesus saith unto her, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my father and your father and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things unto her. So last time, as we compared the various gospel accounts as it relates to the first witnesses who came to the tomb and found the tomb empty, we noted that there were a group of women Among whom was Mary. John's gospel doesn't speak of the other women, it only focuses upon Mary, Magdalene. The other gospel accounts, however, do share and do describe that there were a group of women, and it lists some of the other women's names as well. Putting the gospel accounts together, it would appear that though there was a group of women, Mary must have made it to the tomb before the other women. Because she, according to Gospel of John, she looks into the tomb, she sees that he's not there, she runs off immediately to tell Peter and John. Whereas the other women who came shortly thereafter, they look into the tomb and there are two angels. Those two angels weren't there when Mary came. And so, and we'll see this evening that they, that group of women, they likewise, are told to go and tell the disciples, which they do, and on their way to behold or to tell the disciples, apparently, Jesus appears to them. as they are carrying that message to the disciples. So, there are a number of things that we put together here, but as we noted from John's gospel last time, when Mary goes to Peter and John with his panicked message. She says to them in verse 2, John 20 verse 2, then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, which we understand to be the apostle John. And saith unto them, they have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. So it's pretty clear she was not at the sepulchre when the angels appeared to the other women. She doesn't have that information when she goes to Peter and John. And in fact, as we'll see in the verses that we look at this evening, when she does go back to the tomb, either along with Peter and John or following right behind them, and she looks into the tomb at that point, the angels are there. Whereas, they weren't there the first time that she looked into the tomb, but they are there when she returns back to the tomb along with or shortly after Peter and John are at the tomb. So, we also noted just from last time we were considering John chapter 20. that Peter and John, when they arrive at the tomb, they both go into the tomb at some point. John reaches the tomb first. He looks inside. He steps back. Peter then arrives. He goes into the tomb and beholds the linen cloths that are there that the Lord Jesus was bound with and then comes out and John then goes in to do a much further investigation. And he beholds, it says, the linen cloths, and he believes that Jesus is raised from the dead. Not because an angel appeared to him and told him that, but as he looked at the arrangement of the cloths that bound the Lord Jesus, he is led to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. Not that he was stolen, not that somebody took his body, but he was raised from the dead. And again, I would, as I've suggested in the past, I think that that probably is due to the fact that Jesus, the body of Jesus just exited from the cloths that were wrapped around him And what was left, the weight of the cloths with the spices just collapsed and that probably was... quite amazing to behold. That was the conclusion that John arrived at, and it says that he believed. So out of all the apostles, it would appear, at least what's recorded for us, is that John was the first apostle to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. So continuing now in verses 11 through 18. We come to, first of all, we'll take these in sections, not just a verse at a time, but verses 11 through 13, first of all. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher, weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. So apparently, by this time, Mary, arrives after Peter and John, she had gone to tell them that someone had taken the body. The body's not there of the Lord Jesus. They ran to the tomb. There was no angel when Peter and John were there, or angels. There are angels now when Mary arrives. So there must have been, again, a little bit of time between when Peter and John were at the tomb and when Mary arrived at the tomb. She arrives at the tomb and her eyes are filled with tears as she peers into the empty tomb to see the two angels who now say to her and ask her, why art thou weeping? You know, they've got good news, and the good news is about to be told, but why aren't thou weeping? To which she responds in sorrow, they've taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. Isn't it interesting? It's hard, you know, perhaps in this, at the point at which we live, to think back what could have been going through Mary's mind at that point, because the stone's gone, the grave clothes are there, there are two angels there, and what does she conclude? Somebody's taken the body of the Lord Jesus. You know, why would the angels be there? Think of the signs that the Lord even to Mary and to the other women gave, but they cannot see beyond their sorrow. Their sorrow, their grief has so overwhelmed them that that's all they know. That's all they can see is that somebody has taken the Lord, not that he's been raised from the dead, It doesn't dawn on her that the angels might have something by way of an announcement that is very, very important for her to hear. And so, Mary, as we read and continue reading in verses 14 through 16, and when she had thus said, She turned herself back and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, master. So Mary, Turns away from the angels after the angels ask her why she's weeping. She turns away and she sees this figure, whether it's just the backside of a man, but she sees someone in the garden there. And she sees through, again, the veil of her tears. this image of a man, but she does not recognize him. And again, perhaps it's because the back of the Lord was turned to Mary and the Lord was facing the other direction. But again, it's obviously as we learn, it's her resurrected savior and he has come to dry her tears. He's come to give her the honor of being the first one to see the resurrected Christ. But Mary mistakes Jesus in that situation for the gardener and pleads with him to tell her where the body of the Lord Jesus is if he knows. And Jesus, as we see here, says to her, why art thou weeping? Again, the same message that the angels gave. Why art thou crying? Why art thou in sorrow? Why art thou grieving here? Who are you looking for? And again, she, says something very similar to what she told the angels. You know, they've taken the body of my Lord away. If you know where he is, please tell me. And at that point, the Lord Jesus speaks her name. It's interesting, again, it wasn't When Jesus said to her, woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? That she recognized his voice. It was when he spoke her name that she recognized who he was. It, again, I think is significant. that she hears her name spoken by the Lord Jesus and she believes. She has seen the Lord Jesus, at least the back of him. If not, maybe the side. Again, we don't know exactly what she saw, but she had seen him and did not recognize him. But when he speaks her name, It must have been, again, in a way only the Lord Jesus could say her name. That just hearing the Lord Jesus speak her name, that it caused her to know that that was Him. And again, I think that though I've never heard the Lord Jesus audibly speak my name, he does speak my name before the Father in heaven as he prays for me and as he prays for you. He speaks your name and we're going to yet hear him say as clearly as he said to Mary and spoke her name, one day we're going to hear him speak our name in his presence. And what a glory that will be. to hear our Savior, to behold Him as He speaks our name. As soon as she hears the Lord Jesus speak her name in love, in tenderness, as only Jesus can do, again, she believes, she knows He's alive. And so it wasn't the signs, again, as I alluded to earlier, it wasn't the signs of an empty tomb or the angels or even the sight of Jesus. that brought Mary to the place that she believed that Jesus was alive, that Jesus was raised from the dead. It was the work of God's Spirit in opening her ears to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus and coming unto her and calling her name that brought her to believe that he was alive. You see, again we're going to emphasize this point in a moment with the disciples but let me just say this with regard to Mary at this point. Even we who believe, I mean we understand that unbelievers cannot truly hear the gospel, they can hear with their audible ears, but they can't truly hear the gospel until God sovereignly, by His Spirit, miraculously opens their ears to be able to truly hear and to understand the gospel. That takes the work of God's Spirit. We understand that with those who are unbelievers, but that's even necessary for us to be able to understand the truth of God as believers. Mary was a believer. She needed, again, the Spirit of God to open her ears so that she could, Jesus had spoken to her and asked her, why are you weeping? She didn't recognize it. But at that point when he said her name, the Holy Spirit opened her mind, her ears, so that she understood who it was that was speaking to her. There was insight, there was understanding. And so I think the point I'm trying to make is, and I'll emphasize it again in a few minutes, but we still need the Holy Spirit to open our ears. We can't take for granted because we're believers that we can just sail through our Christian life without the work of God's spirit to open our ears so that we hear, truly hear Jesus speaking unto us through his word. And so it's just, again, I think a reminder how much we need the Lord because we're no different than Mary. We struggle. with doubts. We struggle in sorrow. She was in sorrow. We struggle in many, many ways. And the Lord Jesus is speaking to us, but we, without the Holy Spirit, we're not gonna hear him. Without the Holy Spirit opening our ears, because the Bible is filled with Jesus speaking to us, promises that he has given to us. And he's uttering these promises, but if our ears aren't opened to him, even as Christians, we're not gonna hear our name, this is for you, Greg, this is for you, this promise. And so it just reminds us how much we need the Holy Spirit to open our ears. I think as he did in this case with Mary. But Mary, as we noted last week and as was true of the disciples that we noted last week, Mary was weak, but she was not obstinate. There is, again, I emphasize that difference. May God keep us from being stubborn and obstinate to the Lord Jesus. We may be weak. We may be, again, wrapped up so much in our sorrow, our grief, our trials, our afflictions, that we don't hear the Lord Jesus. We don't recognize him when he appears to us in a spiritual way. But nevertheless, the Lord is patient, as he was with Mary, as he was with the disciples. in our weaknesses, not in our rebellion and saying, I'm not going to follow you, Lord. I'm not gonna do what you tell me to do. I'm just going to do my own thing, go my own way, and I don't care what you think or what you say or what you command. That's rebellion. That's being obstinate. But when we are struggling, we want to believe, we want to follow the Lord. but due to, again, various infirmities of the flesh, infirmities of the soul, that we struggle. The Lord is patient. That's not to condone our weakness and just to say, well, let's just continue in our weakness, but God is patient. And we need to recognize our weaknesses so that we can cast our weaknesses upon the Lord and not be weak in those areas, but grow in those areas, not justify our weaknesses and remain there. And And the first witness then, again, is Mary Magdalene. And isn't it remarkable that Mary, who had been delivered from demonic possession of seven devils, is the first witness to the resurrected Christ? Why wouldn't that honor, being the first witness, have been given to his mother? Mother of the Lord, Mary. Or to Peter. The Church of Rome gives a very special place, even calling Mary a co-redeemer with Christ. But it wasn't to Mary, the mother of Jesus, that Jesus first appeared. It wasn't to Peter, whom the Church of Rome claims to be the first pope. It wasn't to Peter that the Lord Jesus first appeared. It was to a woman who had been delivered from demonic possession. that Jesus first appeared to. And we ask, why this woman? Why was she the first to whom the Lord Jesus appeared? We don't know for sure, but knowing how the persons of Mary, the mother of our Lord, and Peter would be blasphemously exalted and abused by the Church of Rome, I think that Mary and Peter, if they have knowledge of what is going on here upon the earth at all. They may not. They're not omniscient, but I don't know what the saints in heaven know as far as things that happen here upon the earth, but if they do know, they're horrified at how blasphemous they are being treated by by the Church of Rome. They're not rejoicing in that type of treatment. But I would suggest that perhaps Jesus appeared to Mary, Magdalene, rather than to his mother, Mary, or to Peter, In order to show that, again, that kind of superiority that is given by the Church of Rome to Mary and to Peter is something that he does not approve of, that Jesus does not approve of. He came to one who clearly had been forgiven much and therefore loved much. She again had been at the crucifixion of the Lord. She had also been at the burial of the Lord and she had gone to add further spices and honor the body of the Lord and the Lord again I think looks upon that honor, that love that she had and I think is kind of honoring her and her being the first one to witness the resurrected Lord Jesus. And so, again, before moving on to verse 17 here, I just want to apply this further to us. Has our love for Jesus waned in certain recent days or in recent weeks? Because we have forgotten what the Lord has delivered us from. The sin, the misery, the condemnation. I think Mary knew what she had been delivered from. That's why she loved much, because she was forgiven much. Have we forgotten what the Lord has delivered us from? You see, when we forget what the Lord has delivered us from, we don't appreciate what he has given to us. We are not going to be as anxious to hear from him, anxious to take up his word, to spend time with him, when we don't remember what he has saved us from. And some of us may not have lived in such a way, outwardly speaking, to delve into all manner of wickedness and sin and things of that nature, but we know in our heart of hearts, we know inwardly the sin that we have fallen into. We know the secret sins that we have fallen into apart from, as I indicated, the sins that people especially want to emphasize, even our self-righteousness, as those who may have grown up in Christian homes, to think that we haven't been rescued and saved from all manner of sin in our hearts that we have committed against God is a mistake on our parts. And so, I again emphasize that Mary, I believe, recognized what she had been rescued and saved from. She loved much, and I believe the Lord, in this particular instance, honored her by way of appearing to her as the first witness of Christ's resurrection. 2 Peter 1.9, I think, helps us to understand this truth as well, 2 Peter 1.9. I need to begin with verse 5 and then we'll come to verse 9. And beside this giving all diligence add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse nine, but he that lacketh these things is blind. In other words, when one is not growing and seeing these things growing in their life, these fruit that are mentioned here, But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off, and hath, notice, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. When we forget, and that's why I emphasize in my preaching, it's important that we don't forget what God has saved us from. We don't want to live in the past. We don't want to live in the sins of the past. We don't want that to preoccupy us. But I think that there is a healthy way in which we must remember what God has saved us from in order for us to be thankful for what we now have in Christ. And so I think Mary was that kind of a person. that she had that knowledge of what the Lord had rescued and saved her from and was a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, weak, not obstinate, as it came to certain doubts now that are confronting her due to her sorrow, the weakness of her sorrow and of her grief. Verse 17. Jesus saith unto her, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father. But go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my father and your father and to my God and to your God. So Jesus commands Mary here not to touch him when she finally does recognize him. And it's important that we understand what the command is here. I don't think that the command is, you know, don't touch me, you know, don't put your, don't lay a finger on me because I've not yet ascended. I don't think that's what Jesus is saying. The way that the verb is, in a negative and then in the present tense and yet it's in the negative, it literally means stop clinging to me. Stop clinging to me or stop fastening yourself to me. Stop holding me. is really what the Lord Jesus is saying. Don't touch me, don't even, with your fingertip, touch me. He's not saying that, I don't believe. But rather, you are, you're grabbing me. Stop doing that right now. That's what he's saying. You see, we'll talk about why the Lord Jesus would say that. Mary was holding on to the Lord Jesus and Jesus commands her to stop doing so. Why? Not because he could not be touched before he ascended into heaven. Not because he couldn't be touched in his resurrected body because in Matthew 28 9 he allows the women Apparently, he first appeared to Mary. At the tomb, you remember I said earlier in the study that the other group of women left the sepulcher and they began going back to tell the disciples what the angels had said. And as they were going, and I believe it's after he first appeared to Mary, but as they were going, the Lord Jesus then appears to them. In Matthew chapter 28, verse nine, Verse eight says, and they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy and did run to bring his disciples word. This is after the angels told them that he was risen and to go tell the disciples. And then verse nine says, and as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, all hail. And they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. So they were holding him by the feet. Now in that particular instance, he doesn't say to the women, don't touch me. They were holding him by the feet. And you'll also remember, which we'll eventually get to in John chapter 20, that he actually commands Thomas to touch him. He commands Thomas, put your hand in my side where I was pierced. Put your fingers into the nail prints where the nails pierced my hands and my feet. So he actually commanded Thomas to touch him. So that's why I don't think that what Jesus is saying to Mary is don't touch me. But rather, in that particular instance, he's saying, stop clinging to me. Stop holding me. And we still need to understand why he would do so. And I think that He was saying to Mary, Mary, you want everything to be like it was, but it's not going to be like it was. You have certain expectations for me. And those particular expectations that you have, which was, I think, the same expectation the disciples had, that he would crush the Romans right then and there, that he would also set upon a throne in Jerusalem right then and there, that he would begin an earthly reign, a political reign at that particular point in time. Jesus is saying, stop clinging to me. I'm going to ascend to the throne at the right hand of God. I'm going to not be here with you. Your expectations, what you want to happen, whether to go back to the way things were before or your expectations of what you think I will be doing here upon the earth by way of an earthly reign. I think that what he's saying is you can't hold on to that. You can't hold on to the past as if that's what is going to be in the future. You see, many times we want things to be just like they were at some previous time in our lives. We very often do not like change. Change often reveals our own fears, our own insecurities. Change is uncomfortable. at times, particularly when the change is not for the better, but in our minds for the worse. We don't like that kind of change. But our Lord Jesus, He knows what we need. He doesn't change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. God says that he's not a God who repents, a God who changes. I change not. But we are subject to change, and again, we might, like Mary, want it to go back to the way it used to be, a certain point in our life we look back to when we're going through very hard times. difficult trials and we have to be reminded that the Lord is upon the throne. He brings changes into our life so that we do not cling to that which we can't hold on to in this life. He brings changes to show to us that only he changes not so that we again cling to him, the eternal God who changes not. And he does this because he loves us, not because he despises us. And he wants us to see him as a glorious and great and loving savior who is always going to be with us in all manner of changes. Whatever we're going through, He's going to be with us in the midst of those great changes. And we have to ever keep our eye upon Him and our ears listening to Him and His word, His promises. He knows what's best for us. regardless of what we're going through, he knows. He knew what was best for Mary. And what was best for Mary was not to continue to hold on to him in that particular state because he was going to ascend into heaven and to take up his reign from the throne of God over all of creation, particularly in a very special way over his church. And so again, an encouragement to us to ever keep in mind just that the Lord is with us through all the changes. Verse 18 says, Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, that he had spoken these things unto her. Matthew 28, which we looked at just a moment ago, we read verse 9, but we didn't read verse 10. The Lord Jesus, when he meets the women that are have left the tomb after the angels have told them to go tell the disciples and Jesus greets them. Verses nine and 10, and as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, all hail. And they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. Then said Jesus unto them, be not afraid, go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see me. And then in Mark 16, again, just the parallel accounts here, fill in information that we don't have in just one particular gospel, but in Mark 16, verses nine through 11, now, when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils, And she went and told them, that is the disciples, that had been with him as they mourned and wept. The disciples were in a state of mourning and weeping themselves. And verse 11 says, and they, when they had heard that he was alive and had been seen of her, of Mary, believed not. They would not believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead. the testimony, the women told the disciples, the angel said that he's been raised from the dead. Jesus appeared to them as they were on their way to tell the disciples. Mary, again, has Jesus appeared to her, and all of these witnesses are saying the same thing. And yet, what did the disciples do? They believed not. They will not believe that Jesus has been raised from the dead. Again, I think that this is not obstinacy on their part. I believe it's, again, a weakness. And it's a weakness due to a kind of sadness, discouragement that has overwhelmed them. mourning, grieving, it says weeping and mourning. This discouragement I think had become so strong that they could not truly hear again. It's the Holy Spirit that opens one's heart and one's ears, spiritual ears to be able to hear the truth and to receive it even as Christians. But the circumstance they were in was one of that it was so dark, I think, to them at that point. They couldn't see the light. The darkness of their sorrow, the darkness of their discouragement was so great that they couldn't actually receive the testimony of Mary and the other women. You see, again, I think they had been waiting in confident hope of Christ reigning upon an earthly throne, they were overcome by sorrow and discouragement because their expectations were not realized. They had certain expectations of what Christ was going to accomplish and do. And it didn't happen the way that they thought it was going to happen. And because it didn't happen that way, they were overwhelmed. They were overwhelmed with discouragement. And as we come to close the study this evening, let me just, for my sake as well as yours, because I'm as susceptible to discouragement and sorrow as you are in the Christian walk. But if we do not nip in the bud our sorrow and discouragement over unfulfilled dreams, unfulfilled expectations that we had, we thought it would be different than it is. We thought it would be more joyful, that more happy at the present time than it is, that we wouldn't be struggling in our marriages, that we wouldn't be struggling in our finances, we wouldn't be struggling with certain sins and weaknesses like we're struggling. We thought it would be different. And if we're not careful, again, as with the disciples, we can be overwhelmed by our discouragement to where our discouragement leads us to unbelief, leads us to doubt the very promises of God. And we won't hear when he calls our name. We won't hear. Mary did hear. And that's, again, what we I think should by way of application take from this the doubting the unbelief of the apostles was because they were so discouraged so wrapped up in their sorrow. You see, one of the greatest enemies of the Christian is, I believe, unchecked sorrow and discouragement, which leads to forgetting who God is, who Christ is, what Jesus has done for us. Leads then, once we forget, leads to doubt, leads to discouragement, leads to sense of hopelessness and unbelief. You see, it's a chain reaction along the way. That's why we have to get off that train. Before it starts going at a speed that's going to be pretty hard to get off of it because It is devastating to us in our Christian walk if we allow that to happen. And it doesn't have to happen in our lives. I understand our weaknesses, but the fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead tells me I don't have to go down that road of discouragement. I don't have to be on that train, and if I am, I can get off before it gets roaring down the track. Because Jesus is alive, he's powerful, he's mighty. And again, the disciples didn't have to be there. By way of God's providence, yes, it was determined. But as far as their own responsibility and accountability, they were responsible and accountable not to fall into that kind of discouragement. They're responsible and accountable not to fall into that kind of unbelief. They couldn't justify their unbelief. They will not be able to say at any time, nor can we, Lord, I disbelieved because I was so discouraged. And that be acceptable to God as far as an excuse for unbelief. God, again, is merciful with us, his children, but it's not a justified reason. And so, rather than heading down that track, God has given us a remedy, and that is to see and behold and to hear the resurrected Jesus, that he's alive, and there's no situation that's hopeless. There's no situation that in our minds is so bad that he's not there, that he's not walking, that he's not in the midst of that, walking with us, and he will carry us through every one of those trials. If we'll simply look to him, if we will cast our cares upon him, our sorrow upon him, rather than carrying it ourselves, Yeah, we grieve, we sorrow, like unbelievers, but, you know, Paul's talking about the death of loved ones in that case in 1 Thessalonians 4. We grieve and sorrow, but not as unbelievers. We have hope. In every situation, we have hope. And that's where the enemy wants to take us down that path to say there's no hope. Just give up, surrender, throw it all away. That's what the enemy wants, and if you've heard that go on in your mind, recognize the source of it. The source of it is the enemy of our soul. The source is not the Lord, the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus speaks to us and says, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. And I will be with thee. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. That's what the Lord says to us. So let's not be overcome. Our faith in Jesus Christ overcomes the world. Please stand with me in prayer. Thank you, Lord, for we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. We thank thee, our God, for our resurrected Savior. who brought hope to Mary and the women who were so filled with sorrow and grief. Upon hearing the Lord Jesus come and to declare unto them that thou art risen, their hope did shine forth through the darkness of discouragement and grief and sorrow, and so it will. In our life, if we will look to our resurrected King and Savior in all that we pass through in this life, thank Thee, our God, for the truth of Thy Word and for the ministry of Thy Spirit. Open our ears. that we would hear, Lord, in thy word that these promises have our name attached to them. Because we are thy children, because we belong to thee, we are united to Christ. In whose name we pray, amen.