Empty Tomb, Fulfilled Promises

If you have a copy of God’s Word, I invite you to turn to Luke 24, the Gospel of Luke, the 24th chapter. I’m aware that many things in the world really don’t change that much, even though many years may pass. Mostly, things stay somewhat similar, not deviating too far. There are some things that change or seem to change, and that includes some of the influence of social media.

What used to be a very private thing, like asking someone if they would marry you, has become a very public thing, or at least in some circles, very public. It’s often streamed live on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or some other platform, and the whole world gets to see the happiness or the misery of whatever the resulting answer might be. And knowing Calvin, I was so surprised he didn’t do that. I thought Calvin would want to publicly have it all out there for the world to see. Of course, I’m joking.

It is interesting. We live in strange days where people, upon receiving news of grief or sorrow, manage to find their phones, begin to record, and then capture themselves reacting to the news. I’m not making light of the sorrow—whatever it might be may be a serious matter—but I feel disconnected from this world sometimes. I wonder what’s going on in people’s minds that makes them feel they need to broadcast or be validated over the internet among strangers. So, I encourage young people: please try to avoid being shaped by this culture.

I’m not saying abandon all social media—not at all. But there are things that become normalized that shouldn’t be. We need to step back and ask, why are we doing this? Why would we want to broadcast everything to strangers—people we don’t even know? And so we need to be careful that we are not shaped by what goes on in the world around us. We can celebrate and rejoice in these things, let people know, post photographs, and all the rest of it; I’m not against any of that. But I’m just offering a cautionary note to step back and ask. You know, my parents didn’t do this, my grandparents didn’t do this, and they couldn’t. So, I wonder, would they have done this if they could have? Maybe it’s a good question to ask.

All right, Luke 24 is where we are. We’re continuing on in our study. I am pushing to see if we can finish. I don’t know if we will get finished by the end of the year. It’s been almost six years, and here we are in the final chapter. So, we will look with God’s help tonight at the opening twelve verses of Luke 24.

We have been moved—certainly, I have been moved—by our studies around the cross. Luke, in the closing part of chapter 23, gives a little insight into the treatment of the body of our Lord and Joseph of Arimathea, who went in boldly before Pilate to obtain possession of the body that he might treat it with the respect it deserves and have Him buried where the rich should be buried instead of in a place where the wicked would be. Our Lord is placed in an unused tomb that would have been of great price and value.

So, let’s read from verse 1 of Luke 24: “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher, and they entered in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. It came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered His words, and returned from the sepulcher and told all these things unto the eleven and to all the rest. And it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter and ran unto the sepulcher, and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.”

We’ll end the reading there at the end of verse 12. What you have heard is the Word of the eternal God, and you are to receive it, and you are to believe it. And the people of God said, Amen.

Let’s pray.

Lord, help us. Help us to see what is before us—words divinely inspired, God-breathed, given to us for our learning, to inform us of the fulfillment of Thy promises, and to encourage us. We pray that as we consider this portion, as it has much to teach us, that something of it—though much will be left unsaid—would transmit to us, to help us live the Christian life, to help us live in the joy of what our Lord Jesus has accomplished, to help us be a better witness, to help us live for Thy glory. We ask now that Thou wilt lead us from merely bringing a sermon to bring a message—a message from God for this people, for this hour. Fill me then with Thy Spirit to this end, we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.

One of the advantages of getting older is developing a bit more history in your life with the Lord. You’re able to look back on occasions, events, and experiences that helped shape you for the future. If you pay attention in life, if you observe what’s going on, you’ll find that you will have definitive moments that shape your understanding and appreciation of the Lord in a way that is fresh and new.

One of the things you learn is to pull back from haste and judgment—the tendency to run rashly to conclusions about things that you see, imagining all sorts of things that turn out not to be true at all. Instead, we realize that in many of these instances, God is doing something. He is doing something that we don’t perceive or understand. We’re lamenting, we’re upset, we’re impatient, we’re annoyed, but God is doing something. He is accomplishing something that will cause us to sit back and marvel as it turns out much better than we could have ever imagined.

We have so many examples of this in Scripture. We have, for example, Jacob’s sons. They’re making their way in the midst of a famine to go to Egypt, hoping that they might get corn for themselves and their families. And they find instead their brother, Joseph, not expecting ever to see him again. Amidst the famine, hardship, and difficulty, and all the circumstances that would have played into that hardship, God forces them into an experience that would exceed what they could have ever envisaged.

Again, you can imagine them lamenting, “Why the famine, Lord? Why are you bringing us into this difficulty and hardship?” But God is governing, teaching them again not to be hasty in their judgments. You can think of Moses lamenting at the stagnation in his life, tending sheep, seemingly not doing anything for God. All of his hopes, all his desires, believing as a younger man that God had positioned him to deliver His people—none of it has transpired. It hasn’t come to pass. He finds himself stuck in the middle of nowhere, tending sheep, thinking, “This is it. This is the rest of my existence.” And it’s there in the wilderness where God meets with him. He is never to be the same again. God puts him on a path that is forever remembered as one of the most pivotal moments in all of human history.

You have little indications of it, smaller in terms of their impact in some ways, at least to them personally. Think of Ruth, who made the decision to be among the people of God: “Thy people shall be my people, thy God my God.” And there she is with Naomi, but she now needs to work herself for food. She needs to scrape out a living, do her best, gleaning in the corners of the fields, hoping to get enough to enable her and her mother-in-law to survive—just trying to get by. And there, as she labors in the field, it’s God’s provision—not just in terms of grain, but in her future husband, Boaz.

The woman of Samaria goes out one day to fetch water, possibly, as some have suggested, going out in the middle of the day when no one else is there, maybe in part because of shame. We don’t know. But she’s not expecting that she’s going to have a confrontation that day that would change her life forever, where she comes into contact with the living water that would quench her thirst forever.

Well, the women that we have in the opening of Luke 24 are somewhat similar, in that they have made preparation in anticipation of wanting to contribute to the treatment of what they think is a decomposing body. Their Master, their Lord, is dead, and they have seen what Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea have prepared and done, and they want to enter into it as well. They want to add their own touch. They want to contribute, but it’s too late for them to do anything on the day itself. The Sabbath has pushed on, and they can’t do this on the Sabbath day, but they will be ready to do it, well, even before first light on the first day of the week.

They are expecting to find a corpse, expecting to find a body to treat, and instead, they find out that God has accomplished something that would transform them and all people, especially those who believe. So, as we look at these verses tonight, I’ve titled the message “An Empty Tomb Means Fulfilled Promises.” An empty tomb means fulfilled promises. They were not expecting to come to this. They had all sorts of ideas in their minds, but God had other plans.

And I want us to consider here, with the Lord’s help, first of all, the well-intentioned ministry of these women. Verses 1 through 3: “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher, and they entered in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.”

They are well-intentioned. We touched on this the last time. These women are filled with love for Christ. They love the Lord. There’s nothing that gives them more joy than to serve the Lord, to be in His presence, to obey the Lord.

Note their devoted preparation. They came very early in the morning to the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared. They had made preparation. They had squeezed in at the close of the day before the Sabbath, getting ready so that they didn’t have to get up and do this in the morning. They had foresight, planning ahead. The words “very early” suggest the deepest hours of the morning—a time when most are asleep, still just about struggling out of their beds. But these women are already prepared, up, dressed, and ready to go to serve the body of the Lord Jesus.

They have a heart of devotion, of love. They are moved by what He has done for them. Their lives have been given wholly to Him, and they want to live out for His glory, do what they can for His praise and honor. They spare no expense, investing in these burial spices, pouring in what they have to procure and prepare them—all out of their love for the Lord.

And yet, their love was held back in one sense, or the expression of their love was held back by obedience to the commandment. At the end of chapter 23, they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. There’s nothing they want more than to go in and treat this body as they had prepared and envisioned, but they would not break the commandment. They would obey God’s Word. Their love for God found no inconsistency; it harmonized. And so, as they considered what God’s Word required of them, they assessed that this was not necessary to do on the Sabbath day.

Now, just pause and consider that. This was not necessary. In their view, in their estimation, this was not necessary for them to do on the Sabbath. If you think about it, you begin to understand something of the thinking and mentality of our forefathers. I don’t know how far back you have to go in Greenville, South Carolina, but in my childhood, I remember how it was for one day of the week within my community. Everything stopped. Now, as an unconverted, unregenerate, uninfluenced-by-any-form-of-Christianity-in-any-significant-way young boy, I really struggled with Sundays. I did; I struggled with them. Because everything just closed down. The streets were dead. People were going nowhere except to church and home again. I’m not that old. I mean, I’m just over the other side of 40. And I remember that distinctly.

I don’t know how far back you have to go here to see that kind of intentional living. Looking at it now, I almost envy those days. I remember the debates and the arguments over certain businesses wanting to be open on a Sunday, and the government bringing in certain limitations, allowing it, people protesting, upset about it. But the government said, okay, we’ll allow them to be open from 1 to 6. Why 1 to 6? Because by 1, people have been to church, and it’s not intervening with them going to worship God.

I remember that. I am old enough to remember those discussions. And if you go back farther, you hear about the preparations of people before Sunday—how they would polish their shoes on Saturday, lay out their clothes on Saturday, iron their shirts on Saturday, and do all the little things they needed to do on the day of worship, having them all prepared ahead of time. And as I’m reading over this and thinking on it, I can see why our forefathers held to this.

Some of it is more scruples in terms of each individual trying to understand how they best can apply it, sure, but there is a broad principle here. And as I said earlier, about being shaped by culture in terms of what becomes normalized on social media and so on, the same is true in the lives of Christians living in a world that has abandoned any semblance of encouraging people to give one day of their week to worship God.

We’ve abandoned that, and we have gone along with it. I don’t know if others detected it, but when the seniors met recently, one individual was quoting some older saint two generations ago. It was Bob Jones Sr. who was quoted, saying something about giving up the Sabbath. And because of present company not believing in that, you know, there was a little awkwardness in the atmosphere. And I’m sitting there going, oh brother, bless you, but not everyone sees this the way you do.

There was a time when everyone, by and large, in the church understood this. Despite their grief, these women held back from doing what they wanted to do, because they wanted to obey God, to obey His law. And so, to return to the tomb had to be done at another time.

So they come, as John’s account tells us, while it was yet dark. It’s like they’re just anticipating, like a child waiting for you to give the nod to go. You know, they’re excited to go somewhere or do something, asking, “Can I go? Can I go yet?” They’re just waiting for that, “Now you can go,” and off they go. These women were like that, waiting for the first moment where they could go. At the rising of the sun, Mark says. I don’t think they understood, but there’s something symbolic in all of that, isn’t there? Symbolic in the sense of what was going on: they stood in a world going from an incomplete redemption to a complete redemption. Even the redemption done 99% of the way but not fulfilled is still darkness. It needed to be finished.

That dawn came in and was greeted with the finished work, the accepted work of our Lord, risen from the dead. So they come on the first day of the week, which has now become and would become known as the Lord’s Day. The early church, by and large, from my assessment, used the Jewish Sabbath as a day of evangelism. They went into the synagogues to dispute. That’s how they extended the church—to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. They would go into new regions, into new territories; they would enter the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as opportunity arose, to teach the Word, to explain the Word, and to point to Jesus Christ as the Messiah. They were engaged in evangelism.

But on the first day of the week, they gathered. They gathered on the first day of the week, and there are a number of instances in Scripture where you can see this pattern, and it continued. I was giving a lecture this past week. My classes have finally finished—this week is exam week, so I’m glad to have those ten weeks of teaching now complete. And I trust that the brethren, the young men, have learned something from it and that they will do well in their exams. You can pray for them this week.

But I was giving a lecture on the Sabbath, and I dealt with it really briefly. I was letting them know that the fourth commandment is going to be one of your biggest pastoral struggles in our current day. You’re going to have people who are shaped by the culture who are going to resist it. They’re going to resist it; it’s not going to be palatable to them. They don’t want to comply, they’re not going to see its merit, and they’re going to resist it and keep on resisting it. And you’re going to find it to be a struggle.

And I was encouraging them to be patient. Be patient with them. Don’t get frustrated. The culture is pressing one way; you just keep teaching the Word the other way. Focus on the joys of it. Focus on the fact that it symbolizes a people who are no longer in bondage, a people who are free. Are people constantly taken up with business seven days a week? Or are people in slavery? Focus on the joy of it, the liberty of it, what Christ has given to us.

As I was thinking about this message, I wondered, how do I simplify this? I can’t get into a long discussion about the Sabbath and one day in seven. But here’s a syllogism I’ll leave with you—a simple reasoning for why this is important.

The Sabbath is a moral commandment instituted at creation and inscribed by God on stone, indicating its lasting significance. In fulfilling the law, Christ set aside ceremonial obligations but upheld and modeled obedience to moral commandments, establishing a standard of righteousness for His followers. Therefore, as those called to follow Christ’s example, we are to honor the Sabbath as part of God’s enduring moral law. That’s the bottom line. You can’t be Christ-like and ignore this. He didn’t. One day in seven was observed by Him, or we would go to hell. We are to walk even so as He walked.

It’s not about arguments over the day change and all. I’m not going to get into all of that. We have believers in places where they, not by choice but by obligation and the circumstances they find themselves in, worship on a Saturday. It’s not their choice, it’s not what they want, but it’s what they have to do because of the way their week is structured. There’s really no way for them to get out of that.

But one day in seven, beloved, I encourage you, I encourage you in God’s name, don’t just dismiss it because the culture has pushed you into a certain view. At least study it. But ask yourself, how can I be like Christ, who must fulfill this law? It’s not ceremonial. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be written with the finger of God in stone. It’s as permanent as “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” The principle—one day in seven, given to God.

We are surrounded by churches that worship only once on the Lord’s Day. What’s the pressure? You’re going to work with these people, and you’re going to start asking yourself, why do we meet in the evening? You’ll begin to push back. You won’t say it to me straight away, but eventually it’ll start to filter. In some way, I’ll begin to see that you’re being conditioned. A generation ago you wouldn’t have thought to argue the point. You just turned up. Evening service. It’s what we do.

In one sense, we could spend the whole day in worship and praise and fellowship, but practically, we understand that it can be exhausting, right? We have to rest too. And so we gather, then we go and rest, then we gather again. It’s what’s been going on for many, many years.

I could say so much more, but I encourage you to be thoughtful. Question the condition of the church. Ask yourself, why did these women stop everything? Why wouldn’t they go and do this? Because God’s Word stands clear—not to be argued with, but to be applied. “Call the Sabbath a delight,” is what the prophet records.

To think of it, that I get to step aside from usual labor and responsibilities and even other forms of recreation and just enjoy something of what awaits me eternally. Gathering with the saints, being in His presence, enjoying His Word.

Note also the discovered absence. In this well-intentioned ministry, there’s a discovered absence—not only their devoted preparation, but they also found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. And they entered in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. So, they make a discovery here.

The stone, first of all, is rolled away. The construction of the Greek, the grammar here, shows that someone else had moved the stone. Someone had been there and moved this stone away—not any hand of man, either. God had intervened. And not only did they discover the stone rolled away, but they also found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

That’s what they were coming looking for—the body of the Lord Jesus. This is the first time Luke uses the title “Lord Jesus.” We spent six years going through Luke, and not once has he referred to Jesus as “Lord Jesus.” And as you go into the book of Acts, where he continues his narrative, recording for us what he was giving to Theophilus, you’ll find that Luke uses the title “Lord Jesus” somewhere around nineteen times in Acts.

So it’s here. What does that say? What is it saying to you? That as a result of the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, He is Lord. He cannot be anything else. He is Lord. If a man is raised from the dead, if he does so by having prophesied it, saying that this is what’s going to happen, indicating that He must indeed do this, and He rises from the dead, He earns the right to be called Lord. And Luke is putting that emphasis, placing it upon what he’s going to continue—again, around nineteen times in Acts, he refers to Him as “Lord Jesus.”

Now, this is important—that you move from referring to Jesus as simply “Jesus” or even “Jesus Christ” and that you begin to understand Him, look at Him, and call Him “Lord Jesus.” Now, I’m not making a rule that every single time you must refer to Him as “Lord Jesus” because that would go beyond Scripture. But if you find difficulty in assigning to Him lordship, in recognizing His lordship, and the devotion implied by recognizing His lordship, then you’re at odds with His will. It is on all of us to see that He is Lord. He is Lord. There is no one over Him, no one higher than Him, no one more powerful than Him, no one more elevated than Him, no one more precious to the Father than Him. He is Lord.

They discover He’s not there. And this becomes the great perplexity. What’s going on? What’s happened? And this becomes the foundation of our hope. It reassures us. Think about it. Our Lord went through His ministry, making prophetic statements, declarations, teaching truth, reassuring that if you believe in the Son, you have life. If you believe not in the Son, you will not see life; the wrath of God abides on you. But if you believe in the Son, you have life—life! “God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Here we’re talking about one who’s promising salvation and deliverance, not from temporary difficulties, but from the problem of standing before the living God, guilty, with no righteousness, with no obedience—a whole catalog of damning sins. He’s saying, “But if you believe on Me, you will have life.”

How can we know He’s telling the truth? How can we be sure that He can impart life? Because He rose from the dead. That tomb was vacated by Him, as He said, giving validity to all His words, all His teaching, and undergirding the hope of the people of God—that all He said must be taken as true. And this is how we can be sure, then, that we have life through Him. He has power over death. He conquered death.

This whole theme of the resurrection, the doctrine of the resurrection, needs its own message, its own focus, its own teaching. Here, we’re dealing with the historical account, so I’m not going to go into all of that, but this is a wonderful thing—that they came and found that tomb empty. They came wanting to serve, wanting to be an encouragement, as it were, to honor God, to honor His Son, His body. Instead, they discover something they hadn’t imagined; it didn’t sink in. That’s why we sang Psalm 16: “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” I mean, they imagined His body was going to decay like anyone else’s body. And just like Lazarus, after four days, he stinketh, as the record has given. But not Jesus. He is preserved divinely, miraculously preserved, raised from the dead.

Secondly, the divinely sent messengers. Not only the well-intentioned ministry, but the divinely sent messengers. Verse 4: “It came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.” Now, “as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

So you have, firstly, here an appearance—an appearance. As they stand there by the tomb, bewildered, trying to figure out, “What do we do now?” two figures in shining garments appear right there. “Behold,” Luke says. “Behold.” Pay attention. See this. God’s getting their attention. Two men stood by them in shining garments. These garments are intended to reflect that they are distinct; they are not ordinary men. These are messengers sent from heaven, clothed with garments that reflect something of the glory of their habitation. They have this strange appearance to help convey the message, to get the attention of the women, to help it carry into their hearts, to help persuade them that God has done something.

And there’s two of them, Luke records. Why two? Maybe, again, to add validity to what they’re saying, to their testimony. They’re here to give testimony. If you were to see this as legal testifying, then there needs to be two or three witnesses. And so God has sent two witnesses to verify what has happened. Two witnesses from heaven, clothed in gleaming garments intended to convey to the hearts of these women that God has fulfilled His Word.

There’s not only the appearance, but there’s also the question. See the question that they ask? “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” These men ask, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? Why would you do this?” I don’t know, did they understand the women’s confusion? Probably. But instead of condemning them, they simply frame it in this question. They interrogate their minds. “Why would you do this? Why would you seek the living among the dead?” The term “the living” here is a present participle in the Greek, suggesting the continuity of life. He is one who is currently living, He is ongoing life. Why would you seek one who is living in a place where only the dead should be found?

That’s a subtle rebuke for sure. The Lord uses questions to help us reflect, and He sends messengers with questions to help us reflect. When our Lord Jesus meets with Mary, He asks her the question, “Woman, why weepest thou?” Interrogating the mind, helping us to rationalize what we’re doing. “Why am I weeping?” Or, in this case, “Why are we here at a tomb?”

Of course, this is followed up with a reminder—His appearance, the question, and then the reminder. What is the reminder? The Word of God. “He is not here, but is risen. Remember…” I love this. I love how they state the testimony. They’re there to give testimony, but they don’t just fall back on their own testimony. They call to remembrance what the Lord had said: “Remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

This is good for us to see how to address people who may be in distress, or troubled, or discouraged, or in any scenario really. We can give our own testimony. We can share something personally, and we can testify to something that we know to be true. But don’t just leave it there in the power of our own testimony; undergird it with Scripture.

There are many things, as you counsel people or as parents talk to their children, and your children have questions—questions about God, questions about things that have happened in the family, questions about matters relating to their own assurance, questions about other aspects of the Bible. Children have questions. And in some cases, you might be able to speak and testify to something you know, something you’ve experienced, something that God has done for you. You might remember a time when X, Y, and Z happened, and you pull them through your own testimony, you testify to it, and it can be ratified by other witnesses. “This actually happened,” you can say. But don’t leave it there. Then come alongside and say, “Remember.” Open up the Book. Point to the Scripture. Show them the promises of God. Let them read it for themselves.

Don’t just quote Scripture to them; don’t just constantly rehearse Scripture. Open up the Bible to your children. Endeavor to show them where the answers are and say, “What does that say? Who said it? To whom was it said? To whom does it apply? Can you take this? Can you believe this? Is this for you?” Again, asking questions to deepen their comprehension, to help them see what it is God has said—a call to remembrance. In many cases, things they already know.

So that’s what’s done here. And again, when we deal with the world, when we deal with unbelievers, when we deal with work colleagues that may have questions about why we are believers, why we live how we live, and maybe even do what we do, we tend to just immediately go into a discussion about our own testimony. While that is fine and has its place, open up the Bible. Never be afraid to open up the Bible. Open it up and just point it out. “Here, what does this say? Can you read this?” Show it to them. Let them read it for themselves.

You can be almost certain that most people who have seen Christianity, had Christians testify or talk to them, or even condemn them in some instances, have very rarely, with probably very few exceptions, had someone actually open up a Bible and show them. There’s something about this. Now, I know you can open up your phone, and I do it too, but there’s something about the actual physical Bible itself—like being able to just hand this over and say, “Hey, read this.” Seeing it in black and white, in ink on paper, there’s something to it. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about digital screens and seeing words on a screen; they don’t seem to register with us the same way. I’m absolutely certain this is the case, and I think there are studies that even bear this out when it comes to studying and trying to recall information—that what is on paper and what is written and what you’ve engaged with physically cements itself into your mind more than what you merely read on a screen.

So you give them a Bible and just point out, “Hey, read this. Remember.” That’s what we’re doing. We’re calling people to remember, not what we have said, but what the Lord has said. And so this is enough. Look, what’s Luke telling Theophilus? What’s he encouraging in Theophilus? He’s encouraging the one receiving his writing and his historical account of all the events. He’s encouraging him to consider that these women understood. They had heard Him say these words; they could testify, “We heard Him say those words. We know He said that.” And lo and behold, it has come to pass—reminding people of what God has said.

And is that not really the job of the preacher? I mean, that’s largely what we’re here to do: just open up the Word, go through it, draw it to your attention, try to drive it home, try to help you understand it a little more, to help you make necessary connections that enable you to live in a way that more honors God.

So these women knew what the Lord had said. They had forgotten it. How much suffering could be eliminated if we would just remember what God has said? Why read the Bible every day? Are you forgetful? I am. I need to read the Bible every day. I forget. I mean, it’s not like I forget who people are in the Bible or what events happened. I can remember the narratives and the details and even the verses. I can recall them if I was asked, if I was in an exam, if I was quizzed. I could recall these things. But without the daily engagement with the Word, you often will find an inability to apply it in the moment—to your moments of suffering and discouragement and times of unbelief. And yet you neglect the very means that God has given. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Faith builds up, or rather, the Word builds up your faith.

How do I alleviate this repeated experience of depression or discouragement or melancholy that I go through? Be in the Word. It’s not going to eliminate it entirely. It’s not going to remove it every single time, but there’s a lot of suffering, a lot of things we go through, that are in part the outworking of ignoring and forgetting to remember and apply what God has said.

So these angels say to the women, “Remember.” And if they had only remembered before, they would have saved themselves a whole lot of worry and concern. That’s you; that’s me. If we would only remember the Word, we would save ourselves so much in the way of added suffering. There’s enough suffering in this world without adding to it by forgetting what God has promised.

You know, I had a thought on… what day was it? Friday. I was thinking about how much time is wasted in this world because of sin. We often talk about the destructive nature of sin, about how these sins can result in this and that and the other, and we see Scriptural examples of the consequences of sin. But one of the lesser-discussed aspects of the consequences of sin is the catastrophic waste of time. Our lives are so short, and to waste significant portions of it…

Think of eternity. Think of eternity where we will be, because there’s no sin. The eternal state will be far more productive, even though it’s eternal. You know, I was thinking about that. I was thinking, we have eternity to fulfill what honors God and glorifies Him. We have eternity. So in one sense, there can’t be a wastage of time. And yet He eliminates what wastes time.

As I thought upon that, you know what impact it had upon my heart? It made me feel, it gave me a sense of how short life is—that sin is robbing me of life. Sin—sometimes it’s my own, sometimes it’s others’. What a colossal waste of life sin is. And all sin is because men will not remember the Word.

Finally, we come to the urgently shared mission. There’s an urgently shared mission here. Verse 8: “They remembered His words, and returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter and ran unto the sepulcher; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.”

First, you have an awakened memory. Verse 8: “They remembered.” That’s good. That’s why you come to church, in part, to have your memory awakened. I’m not saying much that’s new; I own it. I’m not up here to be novel. I hope that we learn, and I hope that God’s Word has a learning element to it, but I’m not aiming at novelty. There are things that need to be said and said and said and said over and over again. So you come to church. Why do you go to church? “I go to remember.” That’s a good reason. You go to worship God and to remember. It’s one of the themes of Deuteronomy: remember, remember, remember. It even ties in with the fourth commandment: remember.

So, they have their memory rekindled. They take it to heart. And that moves them then to announce the message. Verse 9: “And returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.” And we’re given the list of their names. But the apostles didn’t believe them; their words seemed like idle tales, and they believed them not. So these women didn’t keep it to themselves. They told these things unto the eleven and to all the rest.

All right, these women, given this favorable experience, are sent to preach for the first time the doctrine of the resurrection. I can’t read that without remembering someone I’ve mentioned many times—Albert McCauley. Albert used to talk about whether it was right for women, on certain occasions and in certain contexts, to teach and preach. Of course, some have different ideas about that, but in their context, Albert said, “They were the first. Women were the first to preach, to proclaim a risen Christ.” It has to account for something.

Now, we’re not talking about places of authority and putting them in pulpits or making them elders; I don’t mean that. But there’s something to it. There has to be a context for women to share, to testify. Is it right for a woman to share the gospel? Yes. This is what these women are doing; they’re the first to do it. Isn’t it amazing when you think about it? How would you have done it? You would have had one of the apostles discover it first, wouldn’t you? That’s how I would have written it. We’re talking about something that is impossible for people to believe, except that they give proper consideration to it and the Spirit works in their hearts. And they were living in a culture in which female testimony was almost nothing.

So, if men had ordered this, if men had orchestrated it, if this had been manipulated by men, the apostles would have assigned one of themselves to be the first to discover and tell the news. Because to go to the world and say, “Well, who first saw? Who saw these angels? Who heard this word?”—the women. “The women?” Yes, the women. That in itself would have been cause to dismiss the testimony.

You see, God doesn’t work the way we work. God upends things. He does things differently. And actually, it adds to the credibility. It adds to the weight that this is the way it happened because no one writing this narrative and making it up would have done it this way. Except God. That’s how God did it. It keeps the men humble, too. It reminds us that God uses women, He empowers them, and He delights in their service in the church and to the body of Christ.

So, we’ve seen the awakened memory and the announced message. Now, note the apostolic investigation. Their words seemed to the apostles as idle tales; that’s how they took it. They believed them not. These women had credibility. They had been following; they had been ministering unto Jesus and the apostles of their substance. These women had been putting food on the table for these men, right? They’d been following along for a long time and helping them with various tasks and responsibilities. The men were out preaching, and the women were asking, “Jesus, what can we do for you while you’re out there? What can we do?” “It would be helpful if you did this, that, and the other,” and they were ministering. That’s what Luke records in Luke 8—they ministered unto Him with their substance. These were women of means, some of them. And so they invested their means in ways that they could. They weren’t called or anointed in that way to go and preach or raise the dead like the apostles were.

But these women weren’t believed. Idle tales, they said. “They believed them not.” It’s quite something to imagine that all these women are just making something up. “Oh, you’re delusional. You must have misunderstood. Maybe it’s an attempt of the enemy to deceive us. Maybe they’re trying to lure us in. Some plan here…”

Well, Peter does the right thing. Of course, John gives us the account that John and Peter both ran to the tomb, but Luke just gives the account of Peter. He goes, he runs to the sepulcher, stooping down, beholding the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. He goes to investigate.

Again, John’s account is more detailed here. He gives very specific language in the way that John goes and sees and understands and perceives. It appears to me, if I’m reading John’s account, that the language John uses when he details them going to the tomb indicates that John saw and believed. Peter doesn’t seem to have that same perception—not the way that John did, at least not initially. So John has more spiritual perception, but Peter goes. And he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. Now he’s doing the Mary thing, pondering those things in his heart, wondering, “Is it true? Has it happened? What’s occurred here?” Assessing the whole thing.

The Lord is going to have a very particular message just for Peter. You see, Peter’s discouraged. Peter is looking for a lifeline. He is a man who is swallowed up with a sense of his own disappointment to the Lord. He is discouraged. He’s questioning his call. He’s wondering whether there can be anything for him to do in ministry. “I denied the Lord with oaths and with cursing. I did that which I said I would never do. If anyone deserves to be shelved and not used, it’s me.”

But his heart can’t help but be inquisitive. His heart wants to know. His soul desires to understand. But there is this feeling, this torment of his past, that’s no doubt like a cloak all around him. And I’m going to say something to you: the devil makes great use of our failures. He does. He’s a master at taking your failure and making it bigger and more significant than the power of God’s grace to forgive.

Let me tell you something: Jesus is better at forgiving than you are at sinning. And Peter’s going to learn that the Lord still has a work for him to do. And he’s going to take that second chance with both hands and be a mighty instrument before God.

Maybe there’s someone here tonight and you’re wondering, is there a second chance? A second chance at life? A second chance of making use of your life for God? A second chance to serve God, give your life for God, glorify the Lord? The whole questioning of it all is a misunderstanding, ultimately, of what goes on in our lives.

There’s a church not far from here called Second Chance Church. It’s called that because the pastor of the church fell into sin in a way that disqualifies him from ministry, but he didn’t want to stop. And so he started another church, Second Chance Church. If this man had any comprehension of the gospel, he would understand that we’re not dealing with second chances with God. It’s like every day—every day—He renews His grace, doesn’t He? We awake every morning with new mercies.

We’re not dealing with second chances; we’re dealing with… what? How many days have you been alive? How many days have you been on this earth? And He is constantly lavishing upon you new mercies, the pardon of your sin, forgiveness, acceptance. You’re still adopted, a child of His, and so on and so forth.

Time has gone, but, O beloved, comprehend the free, full pardon of the Lord to forgive. Yes, even in the instance I just gave, you can disqualify yourself from certain positions. Your sin can have ramifications that eliminate the right to carry on as normal. You can sin in a way that will change your life forever. You can sin in ways that remove you from places you’ve been, from positions you’ve held, and you have no right to stay there because of your sin. I’m not just talking about the pulpit—there are other things this could apply to.

But even there, even in the depths of that despair, there’s still a place where you can receive the pardon of God. There is an answer for you, like Manasseh, who led the nation into sin, bringing more judgment upon the land than perhaps anyone else in the history of the nation. But he lifts up his eyes, cries out to God, and God saved him.

So if you’re here wondering if He will save you, let me underline and underscore this: the One who rose from the dead did so in order to communicate the absolute confidence that His work is sufficient, that His blood shed can deal with all sin, and His resurrection undergirds for us the confidence that He has been accepted by God. And if I am joined to Him by faith, if I believe in Him and am united to Him by faith… You say, how do I get united to Jesus? You believe on Him. That’s the way. You believe Him. You trust Him.

Children, you just trust Him. You believe Him. You trust Him. You confess your sin. You turn from it. You believe He can save you, and you’re joined to Him. And because you’re joined to Him, you will never perish. You can’t. You’re joined to life itself. “In Him was life.” And you partake in that life when you are joined to Him.

May the Lord help you. If you’re not saved, seek Him now, this very night.

Let’s pray.

Are you saved? I’m not asking if you go to church. I’m asking, are you saved? Have you been born again? Do you possess the principle of life—the transforming influence of the Spirit upon a man, which Scripture describes as being translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son? Are you saved? If you have any doubt, any concerns, do not trifle with the reality of eternity. And if I can be of any help to you, please let me know.

Lord, bless Thy Word. In the frailty of our frame, we know by faith to simply give what has been said over to Thee. What is of Thee, let it remain. What is of man, let it, as chaff, blow away in the wind. Use Thy Word. Extend Thy kingdom. Please, O God. Men sit in darkness, dying, not coming to the One who is the giver of life. Please, O God, save them.

Bless our fellowship. Bless the week before us. May we live joyfully in Your presence. May we be able to see Your hand as it governs over the nation. And may You be pleased to hear the cries of Your people and extend Your kingdom in these days.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be the portion of all the people of God now and evermore. Amen.