WEBVTT

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 Let me add my word of welcome. It's lovely to see so many visitors. You're very, very welcome.

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 One of the things I love about the Bible is I've been studying the Bible, reading the Bible for the best part of 30 years.

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 And one of the things about the Bible is there's always something more, there's something fresh.

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 And this week I discovered a verse. Let me read it to you. You'll see it on page 7 of the service sheet.

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 It's a great little verse. I'd not spotted it first. It is the explanation of the resurrection.

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 Unto you first, God having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you.

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 I think that is, if you're to put a gun to my head and say give me one verse in the New Testament that explains the resurrection, I think that verse does it.

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 God having raised his son, his child Jesus from the dead, sent him to bless you.

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 And so often as Easter time comes around, somebody turns the resurrection actually into a problem.

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 It's often the annual event in churches.

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 When Easter came, problems came.

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 So some cleric or some bishop might question whether it was really a bodily resurrection or not.

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 And so there comes talks on the problem of the resurrection.

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 But when you read the Bible, you find that the resurrection is not a problem.

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 It is a blessing.

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 God having raised his son Jesus from the dead, sent him to bless you this morning.

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 Not a problem, but a blessing.

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 And I think that's the emphasis of Matthew chapter 28.

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 So if you would turn to Matthew chapter 28 in the Bible in front of you.

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 Matthew chapter 28, which is on page 835.

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 I want you to see, you probably know this already, that nowhere in the New Testament is Jesus' resurrection described.

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 At the moment when his heart began to beat again, his eyes opened.

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 We're not told about that.

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 What we're told about is the effects.

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 The effects of the resurrection that it has on people.

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 The tomb is found to be empty.

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 And the disciples, the followers of Jesus, meet him, the risen Lord.

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 In this chapter, there's no doubt there's an element of Christian apologetic.

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 It gives you the evidence to support the claim of Jesus' resurrection.

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 But the emphasis is not so much on factual proof for the non-Christian or for the skeptic.

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 But the emphasis is on the impact of this incredible event.

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 This incredible truth on Jesus' bewildered and frightened followers.

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 How it turns their fear into joy.

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 Their doubt into assurance.

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 Four times in the passage, I don't know whether you can spot it.

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 Jesus says, or Matthew says, behold.

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 I don't know about you, but I never use that word.

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 I never use the word behold.

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 I tell my children to stop.

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 Look.

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 Listen.

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 I rarely say, in fact, I don't think I've ever said, behold.

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 I don't know how any of us use it.

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 But that's what the word means.

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 It means, da-da.

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 It means stop.

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 It means look.

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 It means listen.

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 It means this is important.

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 Four times.

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 And so why don't you behold this morning?

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 Out of this passage, I've put three or four verses to give us a starting point.

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 First verse is in verse 6.

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 Can you see it?

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 Matthew 28, verse 6.

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 It's very simple.

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 It's very simple.

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 It's very simple.

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 He is not here.

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 For he has risen.

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 As he said.

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 That's our first Easter fact.

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 It's the fact of the empty tomb.

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 You don't need faith to see that.

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 A tomb is empty.

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 All you need is a pair of eyes.

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 That's not a problem, is it?

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 And the tomb was empty.

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 Next verse, verse 7.

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 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, disciples and his followers, that he has risen from the dead.

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 Risen from the dead.

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 Death was not able to hold its prey.

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 Jesus, the Lord of the empty tomb, is the conqueror of death.

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 An empty tomb.

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 Secondly, a victorious Lord.

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 A victorious Lord.

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 And then in verse 8.

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 Can you look there?

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 They departed quickly from the tomb.

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 That's the women.

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 They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy.

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 And they ran to tell his disciples.

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 And behold, our word again, Jesus met them and said, greetings.

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 Hi.

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 And they came to him.

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 And took hold of his feet.

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 And worshipped him.

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 And then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid.

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 And out of those verses, I just want to pick out some words.

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 Here it is.

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 They departed quickly from the tomb with fear.

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 Jesus met them and said, do not be afraid.

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 They departed quickly from the tomb with fear.

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 Jesus met them and said, do not be afraid.

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 Can you just see from those verses that the resurrection is not a problem.

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 It is a blessing.

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 The risen Lord comes to meet us with all the reassurance that we happen to need at that time.

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 The empty tomb.

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 The victorious Lord.

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 And then the saviour who comes to us.

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 So first of all, I'm going to talk about those three things.

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 First of all, the empty tomb.

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 About 15 years ago, I took a funeral.

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 It was in South Ealing Cemetery.

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 I don't know if you know that cemetery, if you don't know your way around.

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 I had done very few funerals at that point.

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 And I was unfamiliar with that cemetery.

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 There seemed to be little variation in the graves.

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 It was unfamiliar.

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 I didn't know it so well.

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 And there was a new undertaker who I was helping out.

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 And they seemed very, very nervous.

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 I didn't know the family of the funeral that I was taking.

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 I had never really met them before apart from once.

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 And as we gathered round the grave, surrounded by not that many mourners and a very nervous undertaker,

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 we were about to begin the service.

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 The bearers were about to lower the coffin into the grave when one of the family said,

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 This is not our grave.

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 This is not our grave.

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 The poor undertaker looked absolutely horrified.

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 This is not our grave.

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 The undertakers had pointed us four or five places along when it should have gone to the other.

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 It was terribly embarrassing.

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 Terribly, terribly embarrassing.

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 But the graves looked identical.

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 And yet the family knew, this is not our grave.

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 I read a book recently by a friend of mine, Jackie Gibson, called You Are Still a Mother.

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 She wrote it about her stillborn son.

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 And I was reminded of my nephew, my brother's oldest child, who was stillborn.

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 And so when I went back to Swansea last month, I asked my mother,

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 Could we go to Samuel's grave?

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 I'd not been in the cemetery for 30 years.

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 And as we drove in, I knew exactly where the grave was.

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 30 years.

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 And yet I remembered.

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 Because you don't forget a grave, do you?

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 Of someone that is close to you, someone who is meaningful to you.

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 You can remember where the grave is.

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 You can close your eyes and probably go there in your mind's eye now.

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 And I think that is why Matthew is so insistent.

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 That the women followed him from Galilee.

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 Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James.

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 They saw where they buried him.

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 Because Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there watching Jesus be buried on the Friday.

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 And on Easter Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and Mary, they went to see the tomb.

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 Do you see the continuity that Matthew is building into his story?

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 They've been with Jesus all through his public ministry.

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 They watched him die.

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 They carefully watched where he was buried.

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 And 36 hours later, they came back on Easter Sunday morning.

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 It's one of those touches of reassurance that we have that what you're reading in the Gospels is a fact.

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 It is an unmistakable, unchallengeable fact.

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 The women who had come, the women who had watched, the women came back.

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 It's the same women.

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 Back to where their dear, precious Jesus had been laid.

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 If you go to Luke's Gospel, it's even more particular.

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 Luke says they saw the Sackbulker and how he was laid.

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 Because they didn't know that this tomb hadn't been used before.

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 For all they knew, it was a multi-occupancy tomb.

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 Therefore, it was important to these women not only to mark which tomb it was, but the place.

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 How careful they were when they came face to face with an empty tomb.

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 Can you imagine Mary Magdalene getting it wrong?

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 Even more difficult than that.

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 Can you imagine the early church making up a story about an empty tomb if the tomb wasn't empty?

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 Is that credible?

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 It's not as if the women were expecting a resurrection.

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 They came with spices to anoint a dead body.

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 Why?

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 When the apostles were told that Jesus had risen from the dead, Luke says they thought it was nonsense.

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 Literally, they thought it was humbug.

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 That's the word.

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 They thought it was false talk.

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 They were incapable of making up a story of the empty tomb, both on factual and moral grounds.

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 Imagine Peter preaching just a few days later.

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 And he ventured to say to the people in front of him, he said, do you remember the Psalms?

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 The Psalms are an Old Testament book.

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 You sing them.

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 And one of the songs you sing is about David.

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 And David says, my flesh will rest in hope.

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 Because you will not leave my soul in the place of death.

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 Nor will you let your Holy One see corruption.

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 Now, said Peter, King David, who wrote that Psalm, he did see corruption.

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 You know where his tomb is.

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 His body is corrupting there.

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 You see, David cannot have been speaking about himself.

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 Being a prophet, he foresaw, he looked forward to the Messiah.

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 That he would not be left in the place of the dead.

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 That he himself would not see corruption.

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 Peter is saying, go to the empty tomb yourself.

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 Do you feel it?

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 In the very place where certainty had to be, they were doubly certain.

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 Peter preached of a body that wasn't there.

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 And had not descended into corruption.

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 Verse 6.

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 Just notice what the angel doesn't say.

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 Look at verse 6.

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 Verse 6, he says,

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 He's not here, for he is risen.

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 As he said, come, see the place where he lay.

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 The angel says, doesn't say, don't look in there.

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 Take it by faith in me.

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 The angel doesn't say, don't ask any questions, just believe.

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 No, the angel invites the woman to check out the facts with sense.

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 Come, use your eyes and use your mind and see what I say is true.

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 And if you're a skeptic, if you're here today and you're not a follower of the Lord Jesus,

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 it's the same invitation today.

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 Come and check out the facts.

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 Look at the evidence that there is for the Lord Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead.

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 Use your mind.

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 See if what you have sung and heard read from the Bible today is true.

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 The empty tomb, it's the first great Easter fact.

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 And then there's the victorious Lord, secondly.

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 The victorious Lord, he was dead.

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 He has been raised from among the dead.

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 He is the overcoming Lord.

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 He is the Lord who left death behind.

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 The Lord who put death into reverse.

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 Death is not like that for us.

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 I remember I'm sitting down for tea when I was a little boy.

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 And my dad took a phone call.

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 And when my dad came to the table, I said to my mum, it's all over.

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 It's all over.

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 And my mum understood to those words.

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 It was about the death of a family member.

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 I didn't realise it at the time I needed it to have explained to me.

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 It's all over.

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 It meant that she had died.

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 It was irreversible.

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 There was nothing more that could be done.

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 And death for us spells a line, doesn't it, across our lives.

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 We can't go back.

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 That's what's so painful for many of you this morning.

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 The past is gone.

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 It's all over.

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 When King David, in the Old Testament, his little boy was very ill, chronically ill, as a baby.

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 And David said, as long as the little boy is alive, there was hope.

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 And therefore, I prayed and I fasted, in case it might be that the Lord might have mercy and heal him.

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 But the little boy died.

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 And David says, now that he is dead, I will go to him, but he can't come to me.

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 It's all over.

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 It's all over.

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 There's no coming back.

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 But not for Jesus.

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 Not for Jesus.

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 We've been going through John's Gospel.

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 And last week, we saw Jesus call Lazarus out of the grave.

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 Lazarus came back to life again.

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 Amazing story.

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 Jesus came back to life again, though, forever.

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 And ever, and ever, and ever, Lazarus had to die again, poor bloke.

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 Jesus says in the book of Revelation, I am the living one.

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 I was dead, but now I am alive forevermore.

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 He's the only one who can say that.

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 And the reason why Easter brings us so much joy,

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 is that the resurrection tells us that death does not have the final word.

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 It is not all over.

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 That there is someone who has gone through death.

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 This morning, I went for a walk, and I went round Greenford Cemetery.

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 Can I really encourage you to do that on Easter Sunday?

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 It's a great thing to do.

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 To see the graves of people who many of us knew.

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 And we have buried them.

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 And to remind ourselves that for those who have trusted in Christ,

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 death is not the end.

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 There is one who has come back from the dead.

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 There is hope in the face of death

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 for those who have trusted Christ this morning.

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 The empty tomb.

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 The victorious Lord.

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 And then there is the way that the story goes on.

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 There is the saviour who comes to us.

00:17:04.120 --> 00:17:05.500
 The saviour who comes to us.

00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:07.980
 We are told, aren't we, that they ran away from the tomb.

00:17:08.620 --> 00:17:09.400
 With fear.

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 They have come face to face with something awesome.

00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:16.339
 Something unique.

00:17:16.579 --> 00:17:17.960
 Something unparalleled.

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 Something downright supernatural.

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 They ran from the tomb with fear.

00:17:22.900 --> 00:17:23.940
 We can understand that.

00:17:24.180 --> 00:17:26.519
 We might say, you look like you have seen a ghost.

00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:28.240
 Ghosts don't have feet.

00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:28.420
 Look at verse 9.

00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:32.839
 They took hold of his feet.

00:17:34.940 --> 00:17:36.059
 Ghosts don't have feet.

00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:39.700
 Think of Caspar the friendly ghost.

00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:42.099
 They don't have feet.

00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:45.599
 They grab hold of his feet.

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 This is not their imagination.

00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:52.659
 They have met a man who they saw die two days ago.

00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:54.699
 And they are terrified.

00:17:56.639 --> 00:17:59.539
 Do you remember how our selected words from verses 8 and 9 went?

00:17:59.539 --> 00:18:01.559
 They ran from the tomb with fear.

00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:05.079
 But Jesus met them.

00:18:07.180 --> 00:18:10.980
 They thought they were coming to a tomb to meet him.

00:18:12.700 --> 00:18:15.259
 They came to meet with a dead body.

00:18:15.859 --> 00:18:17.859
 But they found that the situation was the other way around.

00:18:17.859 --> 00:18:21.699
 There was a living saviour.

00:18:22.579 --> 00:18:23.899
 Who had come to meet with them.

00:18:25.459 --> 00:18:27.919
 They ran from the tomb with fear.

00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:30.659
 And Jesus met them.

00:18:31.959 --> 00:18:33.559
 And Jesus said to them.

00:18:34.259 --> 00:18:34.719
 Don't.

00:18:35.859 --> 00:18:36.779
 Be afraid.

00:18:36.779 --> 00:18:42.660
 The risen Jesus in all the accounts of the resurrection.

00:18:42.859 --> 00:18:45.299
 In Matthew and Mark and Luke and John.

00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:47.200
 Takes the initiative.

00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:51.660
 He is the one who comes to his people.

00:18:51.819 --> 00:18:52.379
 To his followers.

00:18:53.819 --> 00:18:55.220
 He appears to Mary.

00:18:55.660 --> 00:18:59.599
 He draws alongside the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

00:18:59.779 --> 00:19:00.879
 He meets the women.

00:19:00.879 --> 00:19:03.420
 He appears to 500 people in his resurrection.

00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:06.840
 The risen Jesus comes to meet us.

00:19:08.600 --> 00:19:11.400
 The living risen Lord Jesus Christ.

00:19:11.800 --> 00:19:14.800
 Has his eye of love on his disciples.

00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:16.060
 All the time.

00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:18.880
 He knows your situation.

00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:21.180
 He knows your need.

00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:23.420
 He knows your fears.

00:19:24.340 --> 00:19:25.240
 He knows your worries.

00:19:26.100 --> 00:19:26.900
 He knows your weakness.

00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:31.420
 And because he is the living loving Lord.

00:19:31.420 --> 00:19:34.420
 He comes to meet us.

00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:38.800
 And wherever there is the slightest need.

00:19:38.980 --> 00:19:42.000
 There is the victorious Lord.

00:19:42.100 --> 00:19:43.980
 Who is the saviour who comes to meet us.

00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:45.200
 Close enough to touch.

00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:49.779
 Do not be afraid.

00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:53.880
 God having raised his son from the dead.

00:19:54.019 --> 00:19:55.060
 Sent him to bless you.

00:19:57.160 --> 00:20:00.320
 I wonder if you know what the most common command in all the Bible is.

00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.439
 The most common command in the Bible.

00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:05.859
 Is not thou shalt not.

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 And it is not do this.

00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:09.819
 It is.

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 Do not be afraid.

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 It's given twice in Matthew 28.

00:20:15.399 --> 00:20:17.240
 It's given there in verse 5 and verse 10.

00:20:17.419 --> 00:20:18.960
 Do not be afraid.

00:20:21.500 --> 00:20:23.399
 We live don't we in a world.

00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:25.579
 I'm wracked with fear.

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 Fear.

00:20:26.179 --> 00:20:26.579
 Fear.

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00:20:26.579 --> 00:20:26.579


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 Fear.

00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:28.579
 Fear.

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!

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 And he comes to you.

00:20:57.059 --> 00:20:58.379
 And he says trust me.

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 Do not be afraid.

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 Come this morning to him with all your fears.

00:21:06.899 --> 00:21:07.759
 And all your doubts.

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 And all your burdens.

00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:11.399
 And all your sins.

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 And all your troubles.

00:21:12.819 --> 00:21:17.599
 Some of you will know this call to worship.

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 That's used in some churches.

00:21:19.399 --> 00:21:21.740
 To those who are spiritually weary.

00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:22.980
 And seek rest.

00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:25.279
 To all who mourn.

00:21:25.439 --> 00:21:26.419
 And long for comfort.

00:21:26.819 --> 00:21:27.919
 To all who struggle.

00:21:28.179 --> 00:21:29.039
 And desire hope.

00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:30.319
 To all who sin.

00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:31.480
 And need a saviour.

00:21:31.700 --> 00:21:32.879
 To all who are strangers.

00:21:33.139 --> 00:21:34.019
 And long for fellowship.

00:21:34.399 --> 00:21:35.439
 To all who hunger.

00:21:35.619 --> 00:21:37.000
 And thirst after righteousness.

00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:38.700
 And to ever will come.

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 This church opens wide its doors.

00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:42.720
 And offers welcome.

00:21:43.080 --> 00:21:44.660
 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

00:21:48.860 --> 00:21:49.920
 The resurrection.

00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:53.400
 Tells us that the death of Good Friday.

00:21:54.100 --> 00:21:55.100
 Wasn't the end.

00:21:56.700 --> 00:21:58.180
 That on the cross.

00:21:59.460 --> 00:22:00.360
 Jesus took.

00:22:01.299 --> 00:22:01.700
 My sin.

00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:02.420
 Our sin.

00:22:02.620 --> 00:22:03.460
 And our rebellion.

00:22:04.059 --> 00:22:05.580
 He took the curse.

00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:06.860
 For our wrongdoing.

00:22:06.859 --> 00:22:09.139
 And it was laid on him.

00:22:10.379 --> 00:22:11.939
 The price has been paid.

00:22:12.059 --> 00:22:13.319
 The punishment has been born.

00:22:13.419 --> 00:22:14.339
 For all who will trust him.

00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:16.259
 And he was laid in the tomb.

00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:18.399
 But death couldn't handle him.

00:22:19.259 --> 00:22:20.799
 And the grave could not hold him.

00:22:21.979 --> 00:22:23.299
 And he rises.

00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:25.279
 In resurrection power.

00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:26.539
 Never more to die.

00:22:28.219 --> 00:22:29.899
 And he invites you.

00:22:30.939 --> 00:22:32.319
 And he comes to you.

00:22:32.979 --> 00:22:34.939
 And he offers himself to you.

00:22:34.939 --> 00:22:36.659
 And so there is an empty tomb.

00:22:37.859 --> 00:22:40.000
 And there is a victorious Lord.

00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:43.219
 And there is a saviour this morning.

00:22:43.339 --> 00:22:44.500
 Who offers himself to you.

00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:47.039
 Says to you amidst all the difficulties of your life.

00:22:47.819 --> 00:22:49.139
 And all your sorrows.

00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:50.179
 And all your struggles.

00:22:50.879 --> 00:22:51.379
 Do not.

00:22:52.139 --> 00:22:52.879
 Be afraid.

00:22:54.279 --> 00:22:55.979
 You do not have to live in fear.

00:22:55.980 --> 00:23:00.160
 You see the resurrection is not a problem is it?

00:23:01.360 --> 00:23:02.839
 It is an enormous blessing.

00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:05.620
 And so accept him.

00:23:07.140 --> 00:23:07.839
 Receive him.

00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:10.480
 Fold at his feet.

00:23:12.059 --> 00:23:12.839
 And worship him.

00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.099
 Let's bow in prayer.

00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:15.139
 Let's bow in prayer.

00:23:15.580 --> 00:23:15.720
 Let's bow in prayer.

00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:15.720


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