Easter - The Gospel

1 Cor. 15:3,4,

Of all the events of history no event is more tremendous than the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Without Christ's resurrection His crucifixion would have been in vain.
You and I would have been without hope.
These two fundamental facts cannot be separated.
Christ's cross, proposed from all eternity and prophesied through the ages, found its compliment in the empty tomb.

Christ Died!

The unthinkable had happened.
Christ was dead!
The disciples had never believed it would end like this.
But here He was nailed to a cross - dying.

The unnatural position made every movement painful.
The lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant agony.
The wounds which were inflamed by exposure gradually gangrened.
The arteries, especially at the head and stomach, became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood.
While each variety of misery continued and gradually increasing,
there was added the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst.
All these physical complications caused and internal anxiety which made the prospect of death a sweet release.

And Christ cried out with a loud voice, " It is finished!"
They pierced His side with a spear and the blood and water was proof positive that Jesus was already dead.
Everybody, remembering that dread day, when the sun went down at noonday
behind a blood-splotched cross on a bloody hill, said, "He is dead!"

The curious crowd, stupidly unaware of the eternal value to things, said "He is dead!"
The prating and precise Pharisees and the smug elders,
whose hypocrisy He had condemned, said, " He is dead!"
The Sadducees, ignoring the supernatural and denying the divine hope to the travail of the ages,
said, "He is dead!"
The head-wagging mob, mocking His dying agonies, said, " He is dead!"
Mary, the prophetic sword of Simeon, piercing her soul, said, " He is dead!"
His disciples, dumb, stunned, staggering under Golgotha's horror, said, "He is dead!"
All those who knew him and the women who followed Him from Galilee,
beholding Him from afar, said, "He is dead!"
The soldiers, who surprised the crucifixion butchery, said, "He is dead!"
He was dead and Joseph of Arimathea was allowed to take the body for burial.

He Was Buried!

The kingdom, about which the disciples had dreamed, had shrunked to the narrow dimensions of a grave.
The regal robes, they had hoped to see Him wear, were now a shroud.
The throne, they had hoped to see Him occupy, was now a tomb.
He was buried and His disciples murmured and wept. (Mark 16:10)
They were weeping because they had faith in Him.
They had been with Him. They had believed in Him. They had left all and followed Him.
They had heard Him preach and teach. He had won their hearts.
They saw Him work miracles. They believed that He was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.

Now He was dead and buried.
They had intense sorrow as they thought back to what He had meant to them.
You might imagine them talking:

You might hear John say, " I saw them pierce His side and out came blood and water."
And Simon Peter: " I saw them scourge Him. I could not bear to watch."
Another would say: " From a distance, I heard Him cry, ' I thirst.' "
Another : " I heard Him cry, ' My God why hast Thou forsaken Me?' "

Then they must have thought of how they had treated Him:

" Oh, how we must have grieved Him when we disputed among ourselves as to which of us should be the greatest."

Then, Simon Peter would cry, " But it was I who with oath and curses denied that I ever knew Him."

As they all were weeping, they would say, " But, Simon, remember, we all deserted Him and ran away in fear."

John: " I was asleep in the garden that night when He asked, 'could you not watch with Me one hour.' "

One after another would cry out: " Why didn't we rally around Him."

" Why didn't we stay with Him when they took Him away.

At least, why did we not stand with Him around the cross and whisper comfort. We could have done that."

When you and I think of the death of Christ, must we not also feel much the same as those disciples?

"Twas you, my sins, my cruel sins,
His chief tormenters were;
Each of my crimes became a nail,
And unbelief the spear."

It was our sins that put him on the cross and in the grave.
We ought not to have treated Him as we have, even we, who have known Him the longest.
What poor excuses as Christians we have been.
How little we have given Him.
What little we have done for Him.
What few hours in prayer we have spent with Him.
How few have been our testimonies.
I, for one, feel so ashamed, and say:
" Thus might I hide my blushing face,
While His dear cross appears.
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness
And melt my eyes to tears."

Three days have past and then came Sunday!

George Creel puts these words into the mouth of a Roman soldier who stood guard at the tomb,
as he related to his wife what had happened:
" This morn, it was, just ere dawn,
The heavens parted wide;
the whole earth shook; with palsied tongue
Our grief could not be cried.

And when at last we raised our heads,
The stone was rolled aside;
The ponderous stone was rolled aside;
The angel sat thereon:
The glory of his countenance
Like lightning shot the dawn.
We pierced the tomb with streaming eyes,
And saw His body gone."

This is the truth that floods our souls with joy - He is alive!
Mary came with the best of news to the disciples: " I have just seen Jesus!"
" First, I saw an angel, and he told me that Christ was not there for He is risen;
and I ran to tell you that good news, and I saw Him. He is alive!"

He arose a victor from the dark domain, proving His words:
" I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen;
and have the keys of hell and of death."

His resurrection is the foundation of Christianity.
It is the greatest evidence of Christianity.
It is the greatest truth of the Gospel.
His resurrection is a fact that is mentioned more than one hundred times in the New Testament.
It is a fact that is as fully attested as any other historical fact in all history.
He was on earth for forty days after His resurrection.
He made as many as thirteen public appearances.
He appeared to as many as five hundred at once.
No question: He lives! "Now is Christ risen from the dead."
His resurrection is a pledge of our resurrection.
Jesus said, " I am the resurrection and the life; he that beliveth in Me shall never die..." ( John 11:25)

Daniel Webster, in the delirium of his last moments said to those
who stood around his bed and wiped the death dew from his brow, slowly, but distinctly uttered the words: " I...still...live!"

And the Christian in the assurance of victory over sin and death can say to all who weep at his bedside:
"I still live!
As the Christian crosses death's cold, sullen stream he can whisper, " I still live!"
As the Christian places his feet on the evergreen shore, he can shout, " I still live!"
As he walks the with Christ the streets of the city where sin and sorrow and death are no more,
he can shout, " I still live!"
And when he greets again the redeemed loved ones gone on before, he can say, " I still live!"

I still live with the Christ whom I trusted and who died for me and who rose again.
And throughout ten thousand times ten thousand years bright shinning as the sun,
the Christian can join with the blood-washed throng and sing: " I still live!"

The resurrection of Jesus confirms our lining forever. " Because I live," Jesus said, " Ye shall also live."

The need of the hour is to make the resurrection, not simply a historical fact,
but a real reality in the heart and conscience,
manifested through a heart trusting the crucified and risen Saviour.

Romans 10: 9-10: " That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thy shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Believe! Confess!
Look away from this present world which is passing away and set your eyes upon the world to come.

Come to Christ!
He will take away your death and give you life!

You have said, " Tomorrow, I will confess Christ."
Today is that tomorrow. It is here!

You have said, " Because I have trusted in Christ, I will be obedient to Him and follow Him in baptism."
That day is here.
You have said, " Tomorrow, I will let the world know I am not ashamed, nor afraid to confess Him before the world."
Tomorrow is here.
Do It now!

Hundreds saw Jesus after He rose from the dead.
They could not be deceived.
They knew Him.
They saw Him.
They told the world of His death and resurrection, and many died because of their testimony.

Let us like Mary and these many witnesses tell the glad news to others as often as we have the opportunity.
Tell your children!
Tell your loved ones!
Tell your friends! "Christ is risen!"
He will save them.
He will give them a life that never ends

" The Lord is risen indeed
The grave has lost its prey
With Him is risen the ransom'd seed
To reign in endless day."

Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White