Introduction
Let me begin with a discipleship question: how will you follow Jesus in prayer and dependence on God this week?
Main Points
In this lesson shaped by Calvary Boise's teaching on A Living Hope - Mark 16:1-7, Christ invites us to receive truth with humility, practice repentance, and walk in faithful obedience.
Faith and Obedience
we're gonna look now at what the Bible tells us about this moment that God raised his son from the grave to give us. what it says is a Living Hope it says in first Peter chapter 1 that by the mercy of God he has given us. a Living Hope through the resurrection of his son and one of the challenges for an Easter service and specifically an Easter sermon is. twofold one of them is this many of you who have come here are part of the crowd and oftentimes in a service like. this not everyone is taking part in the joyous worship of this morning so we're gonna preach to explain to why us believers consider. this the first day of the rest of our lives and the second challenge is we're gonna look at a moment in history that. actually happened the Gospels give this account as historical event something that we look to filled with evidence to give us reasonable faith that. this actually happened pointing us to the God that is alive and in our midst but the challenge is how do we make this. alive for our time because the word says it is a Living Hope it isn't something we're supposed to look back on to find. hope for what he did or look forward to hope that's on its way but hope for today and so what I'd like to. do is look at the Gospel of Mark chapter 16 in this account we are going to get some answers for the people that. first experienced the empty tomb and answers for our own lives and it starts in verse chapter or chapter 16 verse 1 it says. this now when the sabbath was passed Mary Magdalene Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices that they might come and anoint. him very early in the morning on the first day of the week they came to the tomb when the Sun had risen and. they said among themselves whom will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us but when they looked up they. saw that the stone had been rolled away for it was very large and entering the tomb they saw a young man clothed in. a long white robe sitting on the right side and they were alarmed but he said to them do not be alarmed you seek. Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified and get ready for it He.
Faith and Obedience
is risen praise the Lord and we're gonna work on that as the services go on because we prepped it you're going to get. some chances throughout the service to do that again when I say he is risen you say praise the Lord and then it says. he's not here see the place where they laid him but go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you into. Galilee there you will see him as he said to you what I find in this passage of Scripture are three things that give. the purse the people that came to this tomb to see the end at the empty tomb that were very alarmed but their frightening. fear will turn into great joy three things that give them hope and three things that give us hope for our debt and that. is this and this is what we're going to look at this morning that we would leave here with confidence that we have a. Living Hope in the resurrected Christ the first thing is that addresses the problem of their mourning it addresses the problem of our mourning. the second thing is it points them to the power and finally it reminds them of the promise and those three things living in. harmony of their lives and your life today are what gives you Living Hope in the love of God to give you a future. and a hope in resurrection and so first we look at the problem that is hanging over their heads it says again as we. read this that these women come to the tomb and as they're going they stopped by to get something on their way because they. want to honor the Lord it says they bought spices they might come and anoint him now what this tells us is twofold one. the Easter tradition is not blind faith people are not going to this tomb as we do on Table Rock and Boise Idaho expecting. to service to see the Sun Rise what they are doing is expecting to see the Lord and the Savior they had hopes for. in the grave and that is why they have bought spices to anoint the body these are embalming spices but it points us to. a deeper problem still because I want to share with you what one commentator says specifically about these spices he says these spices were. brought and they were used not for mummification this was.
Faith and Obedience
not a Jewish custom but to offset the odors of decomposition and what this tells us is that the few followers that Jesus had. left remember his disciples that range from 12 to 72 over a hundred throughout his ministry they've all scattered some of them are now. hiding behind closed doors they lost hope in him as the Savior and now we have a small group of women who have come. to continue to seek Him and their very best effort to honor him is to cover the decay of his body to overcome the. smell of death because they cannot themselves do anything about his current state and that is the truth of what hangs over our heads. this morning and all of the things that we do to put on our Easter best and by the way you all look wonderful. there is a shadow over the sanctuary this morning and that shadow is the alarming statistic that we try our best not to think. about that all of us eventually the Bible says are appointed once to die and then comes judgment but we do everything we can. to avoid that truth in fact there was an article that I was reading this week it said the number one thing that people. lie about when presenting themselves in this digital age of online dating is very telling about the insecurities of humanity the first thing that. is lied about as we try to present ourselves more strong and able than we are is our age and I can offend half. the audience this morning by walking up to you and asking you your age because there's something about that reminds us of the shadow. that hangs over our head this is what the article said at some point you take that hard look in the mirror and realize. that the years spent go by fast and suddenly you are no longer 20 suddenly you're no longer 30 suddenly you're no longer 40. now the article stops there but I could keep reading a lot of people want to be thought of as young and beautiful but. that will not last forever and all of a sudden one day celebrating your birthday becomes the least pleasant day of the year and. so the youthful lie begins because there is a shadow hanging over all of us that even 21 centuries after we read this ancient. account of what they would do to cover the smell of.
Sin and Salvation
death we've got no better plan we've got no better solution for what to do when those we love die and what is our. plan well right now our plan is one of the fastest growing industries in the world it says that by the year 2021 it's. estimated that the anti-aging industry will be worth 331 billion dollars because all of us will leave here with a reminder day by day. that we are inching closer and closer to the day that we cannot do anything but cover the scent of and that is the. problem but the problem goes even deeper still because as we read it says they bring the anointing the spices and their best effort. to honor their Lord is only to cover the scent of death but what it goes on to say as they walk and approach. the tomb very early the Sun had risen and they said among themselves who will roll away the stone from the door of the. tomb for us for it is very large and what they are coming against is a problem that all of us come against and. it isn't simply that we have been appointed once to death for where sin reigns death also reigns but the reality is that there. is something separating all of us from the power of the Living God you were made in the image of a God who breathed. life into creation and in him we move and breathe and have our being and yet there is a divide that exists that we. are finite our days are but grass and they wither away and the question of religion and spirituality and the question on every soul. of human of humanity is what will we do to divide the gap what will we do to overcome this wall that separates us. from God's life and our death and these women look and they realize that there's nothing they can do to roll away the stone. and this is not a problem that we can cover up just in the anti-aging creams of our day this is a problem that. religion tries to cover up with religion and Jesus says that won't work either on his way to Jerusalem to go through that Holy. Week that brings us ester morning he says this to the most religious elite of his day Matthew chapter 23 woe to you scribes. and Pharisees and hypocrites and our day he might say woe.
Grace and Justification
to the pastors and the priests and the worship leaders and the teachers at seminaries and the ones who seem to know the most. about theology watch out for your like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outward ly but inside are full of dead man's bones and. all uncleanness even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness who will roll away. the stone of our lives who will take away what we can wash on the outside and the tombs of our body may look. good to each other and we may come to a church service like this and check it off the list and think well we've. got a touch of spirituality now but what Jesus says is inside you're still dead and those stone has not been rolled away and. now we get the hopeful message of Easter because what we have identified is the problem we're all going to die and the of. life were separated from in a chasm that we'll never overcome and yet the beauty of Easter is what it gives us in the. account that the stone is rolled away on their behalf look what it says in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 28 now after the. Sabbath as the first day of the week began to dawn Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb and behold. there was an earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and. sat on it and his countenance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow and the guards shook for fear of him and. they became like dead man here's what I'll say to those of you who are here as people who are seeking the truth of. who God is there is a thing that separates you it's called sin and unrighteousness that you yourself the penalty of sin is death. and you can never be in the presence of a holy God but because of his great love for you he sent his son. to take on your unrighteousness and to lay it in the tomb and the stone is rolled away not by human hand and not. by human good work the stones power to roll away belongs to heaven alone and that is the gospel good news this morning that. God so loved us that anyone who seeks anyone who knocks.
Grace and Justification
on the door and the stone will be rolled away and He will give life to all who believe and that is why we. believe in the power of Easter as the greatest message that the world has ever heard and now I give a message to a. second audience because like I said I know I preached the two audiences this morning there are some of you who have a stone. on your heart there are some of you who wish in all the histories and the centuries that have gone by that the stone. could have been rolled back on because you don't look at Christ as a savior of the world he's a distraction to your plans. in your pursuits and you wonder to yourself who will put the stone back on the grave and finally silence this message of foolishness. that this man's preaching like a news for you the women at the tomb couldn't move the stone an inch and the guards at. the tomb couldn't stop the stone from rolling and when the stone rolled they fell like dead men and some of you the stone. of the gospel of Jesus Christ needs to fall on your hearts this morning the stone needs to come and put your old man. into the grave and when that stone comes no man can put it back on the grave and for the 21 centuries that we've. been celebrating Easter every century has come and gone and the darkness has tried to overcome but the light prevails and the first church. that was one on Pentecost where three thousand people were saved was the seat of the church was persecution that means when it got. darker and when it pressed on all sides that gospel kept going out and it shined brighter in the darkness and now I say. and I want to pause here and I want the Holy Spirit to move among all of hearts believers and non-believers alike and I'm. gonna pray for the patience and the and the grace to get through this because it moved my heart this morning when I read. it because 21 centuries have come and gone and the gospel of Jesus Christ the light is shining and it's spread to all corners. of the earth and yet people still try to roll the stone back over the grave and if you were like me this morning. you woke up with the joy of Easter on your.
Sin and Salvation
heart you woke up with the anthem of salvation that God has the power to overcome the grave and then so quickly you were. reminded that we still live in a fallen world and if you haven't heard the news is that in our in Sri Lanka our. brothers and sisters in Christ have been attacked by the enemy called death I'm so grateful they haven't identified a certain camp yet because. you know who did this it's the camp of sinners who did this and there were reports coming out and I'm sure I won't. be able to give exact numbers but the report is that a number of churches were bombed last night as we slept and they. celebrated their Easter service people came and tried to roll the stone of Christ back over the grave and I read that and for. a minute I wondered Lord why what's happening in our world and then I remembered that it's Easter and they picked the wrong day. to mess with the church because I want to share a verse with anybody who would listen of what we are celebrating today for. all the brothers and sisters that were lost to the destruction that sin reminds us of in this world and death tries to. overcome life and darkness tries to overcome light or it'll read to you 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 55 Oh death where is your. sting o Hades where is your victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be. to God who gives us the victory through the risen Lord Jesus Christ and today we stand not in defeat today we stand in. victory and I'm gonna say it again that I want you to shot it with me now he has risen praise the Lord and. that is the power of the grave and I want to say one more thing about the power of the grave before we end. with this reminder of the promise you see the stone was rolled away and so many of us think of that as this glorious. moment where the Lord shines forth and walks out and on his glory to now further his kingdom as the first fruit among those. who are born again but I want to remind you of something and this is a strange theology probably for another sermon and a. deeper revelation for the day that God has in his perfect.
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.