The Testimony Of The Tomb

I recently preached a sermon about the Testimony of the Resurrection. Do you realize that the gospel was first preached by the world? The enemies of Christ first preached the gospel?
1. At the cross the Roman centurion declared Jesus dead "truly this man was the Son of God". The soldier who pierced his side instead of breaking his legs also verified his death.
2. Pilate verified his death by giving Christ's body to Joseph and nicodemus to be buried. Also, the scribes bore witness of his death and burial by asking for guards to be posted at the tomb lest Christ's body be stolen.
3. When Christ arose - the soldiers were not killed. They were knocked down and out by the angel's presence and earthquake. Certain of the guards went and reported that Jesus had risen. They were given hush money and a bribe to claim that his body was stolen after the soldiers were "overpowered by fishermen" 🙄
Lastly there is the overwhelming proof of the Apostle Paul who had met the risen Lord enroute to persecute Christians- believers of the resurrection. He killed and incarcerated believers for his hobby. Something drastically changed and that was that he met the resurrected Lord.

I Tim 3:16 BELIEVED ON IN THE WORLD!

The most important fact of the gospel is that he rose again and the World/ lost were the first to believe it- even before the followers of Jesus.

I Can Take You (poetry)

I Can Take You

 

 

I can take you to Bethlehem where Jesus came

I can take you to Galilee where miracles occurred

I can take you to see the man who was lame

I can take you where Jesus spoke His Words

 

I can take you to the Mount where thousands were fed

I can take you to a house in Bethany

I can take you to a cross where my Saviour once died

I can take you to the Hill of Calvary

 

But I can’t take you to the place

 Where his body now lays

For The tomb is Empty

He is living today

 

This world may mock and ridicule

And deny his Holy name

He’ll return with power and every eye will see

That very nail-scarred thorn crowned Lamb

The Son of God who was crucified for me

 

But I can’t take you to that heavenly home

Where I’ll live eternally

On Jesus Christ you must believe

And from sin you’ll be set free

Abandoning The Empty Tomb

Recently, I came across a tract from an area Independent Fundamental Baptist Church which gave a simple plan of salvation. I won’t take the time to type it word for word but in the message it gave the word “repent” but said nothing of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This sparked my thoughts about the last time I actually read a tract which shared the GOOD NEWS of the GOSPEL with the lost and dying world around us. I was amazed at this. What exactly have we done with the plan of salvation that would cause us to abandon the GOSPEL? I have seen my share of tracts which tell us that Jesus died on the cross for our sins; and he did! However, the gospel is not that he died for our sins and thus ends the story. The gospel is the death, burial and resurrection! We celebrate Easter with the reminder of the cross and Christ’s death. We will sing about a risen Saviour but we fail to preach this to the lost and dying world around us. The Apostle Paul said “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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:” (I Corinthians 15:1-4)

So, why is it that we have neglected, forgotten, no ABANDONED the whole gospel?
1.   Focused On A List
We are so result oriented. We live by plans or schedules. Most church tracts have a 4-5 point plan for salvation. A. Admit you are a sinner. B. You can't save yourself. C. Jesus DIED for you. D. Call upon the Lord. We have turned the gospel message into a plan for salvation. Say yes to these four steps and repeat a prayer and "poof!" You have believed the gospel.  The gospel may be contained in the plan but the plan is NOT the gospel. The gospel is the plan.
2.  Familiarity Of The Lord’s History-
A recent study in England gave a statistic that only 17% of the people asked in this poll actually believed that Christ arose.
While talking to a seasoned, mature believer I asked what importance the resurrection was. He said it was a mute point and paled in comparison to the death of Christ. "Of course he rose again but it's old hat. The resurrection was a big thing back then because it had not happened before." We have become so familiar with the facts that we lose focus of its meaning. Someone once said " the meaning of the resurrection is just to prove that Christ's death was the satisfactory payment for sin."

Another article states that only 64% of American adults actually believe that Christ literally arose.

Intellectual assent teaches us that one can have a knowledge of facts and would probably get past the first round of "Bible Jeopardy" but does not indicate one believes in this important tenant of the faith.

Scripture tells us that there were at least 3 rumors or conspiracy theories regarding the resurrected Lord:
A. His body was stolen by the disciples.
B. He arose and inhabited another body (spirit possession)
C. That he didn't actually resurrect.
His resurrection is more than history. Without his resurrection he is a lunatic. He is a liar. He is not Lord.
There has been an increase of several blogs, articles, essays, and polls published in the past decade questioning the veracity of Christ's resurrection.
http://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Feb/2/why-resurrection-so-important/


        3. Forgetfulness Of The Lord’s People
Face it. We forget the importance of the resurrection. We stress the vicariouts death of Christ and his shed blood but we conveniently breeze past his burial and resurrection because it is not important to the modern day sinner. Who doesn't know that he rose again? We do not have time to teach them if they don't know because we have to finish our plan and get on to the next house. I do not intend to say that we need to give them a 10 week long bible institute class on the doctrine of Christ before they can be given an invitation to accept and believe Christ. There is simplicity in Christ for a reason. However, we should be more mindful of the gospel. Why did Christ have to die? Why did Christ have to be buried? Why did Christ have to rise again?
Are we as believers ashamed of the gospel of Christ? Is this why we have substituted it for a plan of salvation? Does believing the gospel make it easier to believe? Many denominations teach the death burial and resurrection. Does it make them right?

The resurrection is the center focus of our faith. Without his bodily resurrection we have no hope. We are yet in our sins. We are believing in vain. His words are void. He is a liar. We have no help. We have no home. Without the resurrection we have no victory over this world and over sin. Death still has a sting and the grave is final. Heaven is a myth and we are above men most miserable.
There is no newness of life. There is no Holy Spirit. There is no comfort, joy, peace, goodness and faith. Prayers are unanswered. Love is sensual and human based.
Paul wrote that desired to know the power of his resurrection and to have fellowship with Christ's sufferings being made conformable to his death.  My friend, the resurrection is more than just a historical fact. It is more than an afterthought of his death. It is the reason why we have faith today.

The gospel in it's entirety must be preached. You can keep your plan of salvation. I don't want to tip your sacred cow but by all means remember the gospel. The plan of salvation spiritualizes and boils down the gospel but eradicates the Saviour from being the center focus.

He died for our sins. He was buried and rose again for or justification. (Romans 4)
The gospel isn't a cultural phenomenon. It is the power of God unto salvation. Let us be diligent to declare the gospel as it is to men as they are.