Easter Sunday (4-17-2022) Pastor McCool “Who Will Roll the Stone Away?”
by Mark McCool
April 17, 2022 · First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Mark 15:37-47, Mark 16:1-3, Matthew 27:62-66, Luke 24:8-12, Acts 2:38, Titus 2:13-14

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/mark-mccool--easter-sunday-4-17-2022-pastor-mccool-who-will-roll-the-stone-away
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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hallelujah what a mighty presence of the lord we feel in this house i'm going to let you move to your seats we greet you in the precious name of jesus and we welcome you to resurrection sunday here at first apostolic church we say welcome to all of our guests who are here in house thank you for choosing to worship with us what a mighty crowd of believers are here i welcome all those who are joining us on all the multimedia outlets facebook and all of the different connections that's allowing us to minister to our region and yes around the world and i want everybody to know just what a great family of believers that you have joined with today please know that in the last 24 hours or better crossing time zone after time zone crossing borders and countries crossing oceans crossing political views crossing those who are oppressed and even in trouble there are people gathering around this world crying out the name of jesus celebrate it's not just in this house but it's around the world we're part of a great big family i talked to our missionaries again this week to germany i talked to brother and sister krauss and their connections in our european services and ministries and yes even with all the turmoil and tumult that's going on in this world there is a jesus name apostolic church in kiev ukraine that was planning on having easter service you think we ought not to be worshiping the lord today you think we should be praising jesus that he's the resurrected savior we're praying for those folks we're praying for the protection of those who are oppressed but i'm thankful today that i have the freedom to shout jesus aren't you glad we can shout jesus today oh hallelujah hallelujah well lord bless you you can be seated again this resurrection sunday is quite wonderful and quite special and i thank you for joining with us i have no news story to tell for the greatest story has already been written but every day we celebrate it but especially the christian world around the world celebrates resurrection sunday and easter sunday so today i do not plan to posture myself as having some new revelation but i think if we would revisit the story once again we would find some guidance that would guide us and protect us and give us courage and strength we celebrate today and yes there is service tonight here at 6 30 and i want everyone to be here we're going to have another great time still celebrating the resurrected savior but today i want to take you to the book of mark the 15th chapter the book of mark the 15th chapter and as you're turning there i would give no apologies but i would give explanation to our young folks and all that just attended our district youth retreat what a mighty time we had at our district youth retreat what awesome preaching what awesome singing what awesome worship friday night excuse me thursday night friday morning and friday night and pastor sean garnett from the great state of north carolina preached mightily to our young folks as did pastor perez our hispanic ministry pastor here at first apostolic church but in particular on friday night pastor garnett preached an incredible message that he entitled this is a no stone zone and the young folks know what that's about and i could not nor need not re-preach it but suffice to say i had already prepared my message in its final stages for easter sunday morning and before his message was over he quoted from a passage of scripture that i'm going to use as our text so you've heard it before young folks but act like it's the first time this weekend you've heard it okay the book of mark the 15th chapter we're going to begin reading at verse number 37 mark 15 37 we read and jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost and the veil of the temple was rent and twain from the top to the bottom and when the centurion which stood over against him saw he so cried out and gave up the ghost he said the centurion said truly this was the son of god there were also women looking afar off among whom was mary magdalene and mary the mother of james the less and moses and celemy who also when he was in galilee followed him and ministered unto him and many other women which came up with him unto jerusalem and now when the eden was come because it was the preparation that is the day before the sabbath joseph of armathea an honorable counselor which also waited for the kingdom of god came and went in boldly unto pilate and craved or desired the body of jesus and pilate marveled if he were already dead he asked is jesus already did and calling unto him the centurion he asked him whether he had been any while dead is he really dead and when he knew it of the centurion he gave the body to joseph and he brought fine linen and took him down and wrapped him in the linen laid him in a sepulchre which was shown out of a rock and rolled a stone to the door of the sepulcher and mary magdalene and mary the mother of hoses beheld where he was laid going to chapter 16 to complete the reading and when the sabbath was passed mary magdalene mary the mother of james and selamay had brought sweet spices that they might come anoint him and very early in the morning the first day of the week they came into the sepulcher at the rise and the sun and they said among themselves who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre i would draw my thought and our message this morning from that last statement who's going to move the stone who is going to move the stone let's pray savior we love you we're grateful you're for your word we're grateful that we are in this house today lord i thank you for the praise and worship that has already gone up for the wonderful audience of believers who gathered today and the lord i pray that as we revisit this mighty story that you would minister to our hearts encourage us strengthen us and most of all let us realize that you are our savior this day for all this we're grateful and thankful in jesus name we pray who is going to move the stone the events leading up to and including jesus arrests his mock trial his crucifixion and his burial had likely been quite traumatic for mary magdalene joanna mary the mother of james and the other women who had been with them because jesus was their friend and their teacher they knew him personally the one they had hoped for the promised messiah now has been crucified even though they were standing a distance away they likely had seen the roman soldier pierce's side and they had witnesses the blood and water flowed from the wound on the cross and on the ground every conceivable emotion had rocked their very existence the emptiness of losing a loved one the disappointment of the dash dreams that they had the anger at the roman soldiers who had killed him they were even confused over the teachings they had heard from him they didn't understand there was hopelessness it seemed that their faith was dying there was possibly even bitterness of the wasted time and energy and monies that they had spent following jesus before because jesus was now crucified and was dead they were likely emotionally spent and exhausted yet on the dawn of the first day of the week they would carry spices to the tomb of jesus understand they went to anoint jesus to finish preparing him for his burial it is apparent that they had rationalized jesus is dead all of the other things that they had heard of him they were rationalizing because they were going through the motions of doing what you did when someone died they were not seeking a resurrected savior instead they were looking for a dead jesus they carried spices to anoint his body to mask the stench of a decaying corpse they hadn't truly understood all his words they had in a last attempt an act of love for jesus decided they could at least perform this courtesy by anointing his body with spices you see the one thing that was on their mind as we read the scripture was not is jesus going to be alive is do we have a resurrected savior that he prophesied but the one thing that was on their mind was this who's going to move the stone there was a man-made obstacle that stood between them in their natural thinking and a way to give their final respects to jesus remember to the unbelievers the stone had been put in place not to keep a resurrected savior in but to keep the living out the nagging question for mary the mary's and joanna and the other women as they climbed that rocky trail they weren't looking for jesus resurrected they were saying how can we get the obstacle the stone out of the way so we can minister to a dead jesus well why would they be stressing well i did a little study the biblical archaeology studies say that the tomb belonged to joseph of armathan scripture bears that out who was a wealthy member of the sanhedrin and but he was also a follower of jesus and he had a new unused tomb that had been hewn out of limestone and it had a stone seal the biblical archaeology studies say the stone may have been circular like a wheel but it was probably square or cork shaped as they were much much more common in that day than the round circular ones because of concerns of the jewish religious leaders around pilate had ordered the tomb sealed that process involved stretching a string across the stone covering and sealing the tomb after the appropriate authorities inspected it to ensure the body was secure scripture explains that the guards were commanded to stand at attention at the tomb matthew 27 62 says now the next day that followed the day of the preparation the chief priests and the pharisees came together into pilate saying sir remember that that deceiver speaking of jesus said while he was yet alive after three days i will rise again command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day lest the disciples come by night and steal him away and say unto the people he's risen from the dead and the last error shall be worse than the first pilate said unto them you have your watch you have your guards in other words go your way so they went and made the sepulcher shure sealing the stone and setting the watch historians tell us that the roman guard that would have likely been placed in front of the tomb was a 16-man unit that was governed by strict rules each member was responsible for six square feet of space see they had social distancing even back then the guard members could not sit down or lean against anything while they were on duty if a guard member fell asleep he was beaten and burned with his own clothes but he was not the only one executed the entire six-man guard 16-man guard unit was executed if one member fell asleep while on duty i believe they had some incentive to stay awake don't you so let's review these women as they were approaching the tomb get the picture know what the limitations were know the barriers that they were considering in their mind because you see they were thinking they were going to see a dead jesus there's a sealed stone with government seal there's a huge stone that a few women likely weren't going to be able to move there's a 16-man roman guard standing watch what gigantic obstacles what impossible barriers horrendous hindrances lay in front of them just to anoint the body of a dead jesus but could i suggest today that there are many even under the sound of my voice who have issues situations and relationships that you once sought a miracle for but now you've rationalized that thing is forever dead there's too many obstacles for god to ever work that thing out this problem cannot be solved there's too many things there's too much evidence there's too many seals there's too many stones there's too many soldiers for god to ever do a work in my life oh you knew jesus in sunday school you heard a few lessons taught you lived as long as i did before they had media and you saw the stories with a flannelgraph board but now you find yourself losing your faith you find yourself paying a ritual to a dead jesus oh i'm going to go to church just because it seems to be the thing to do but somewhere along the line i've lost my faith i'm not sure there's a jesus that can fix what i've got a problem with it may be an addiction that's blocking your way it may be a wayward mate or child it may be a broken relationship that cannot be mended it may be a healing that you can't get that appears hopeless it may be the emptiness of losing a loved one just like they were it may be a disappointment of some dash dreams maybe it's bitterness of the perceived wasted time and money and energy you've invested up to this point in serving god and now your faith is being blocked by what's in your mind how could we ever get through this stone let me speak to christians it may even be a personal desire that you've mistaken for the call of god let me pause there just a minute sometimes even christians can frustrate themselves by having a personal desire and automatically assuming that that desire is god's will not everyone's called to teach not everyone's called to preach not everyone's called to play or sing or to usher to be a tech worker to be a bus driver a greeter or even a pastor but preacher i read somewhere if i would delight myself in the lord he would give me the desires of my heart you've misunderstood that anything you desire if you delight yourself in the lord that he's going to make that happen what that means is he'll change the desires of your heart and line them up with his divine will sometimes we will set barriers on ourselves we'll roll stones in our way saying if god don't let me do this if i don't get to do that then i'm just going to quit i can't believe god wouldn't allow me to do he might need to change your desire you name it may need to roll a stone away that'll change your desire don't forget how god's healed you before you think he doesn't want your desire don't forget how he healed you don't forget how he saved you and delivered you that's the greatest miracle he can do if he never does another thing for you once he saved you you've enjoyed the greatest miracle that there is don't walk around losing your faith looking for a dead jesus [Applause] maybe you're just needing some peace in your life today it may be that you're needing to revisit your situation on the first day of the week if we would get our minds off of the obstacles and start looking for a resurrected savior a lot of our situations could be taken care of quit worrying and lamenting about what's blocking your path know that there's a resurrected savior in your future and he's gonna meet your need he's gonna provide the stone will be taken care of matthew said it this way i'll give you a preview the choir may even sing about it tonight matthew 28 1 said in the end of the sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week came mary magdalene and the other mary to the sepulcher and behold there was a great earthquake let's let me tell everybody in the house it don't matter what's blocking your way god knows how to shake it up and move it he knows how to send an agent to move whatever obstacle's been in your way of finding a resurrected savior behold there was a great earthquake for the angel of the lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it his countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow you remember those big bad roman soldiers the keepers of the tomb and for fear of him the keepers did [Music] shake and became his dead men 16 roman soldiers got the shakes and passed out right in front of them let me tell you there's no obstacle that man can put in your way if you'll come looking for a resurrected jesus in your life there's a miracle on its way if you'll quit looking at the obstacles and start looking for jesus and the angel answered and said unto the women fear not ye for i know ye seek jesus which was crucified quit looking for the crucified savior start looking for the resurrected savior i don't i need to calm down a little bit i don't need a crucifix on my wall signifying a crucified savior listen i've got a resurrected savior in my life he's living down inside me i don't need a crucifix with a dead croc body on it i want everybody to know the cross is empty he's alive he's resurrected the angel said i know what you came looking for you're looking for the crucified savior so you could anoint his but he made the statement he said he is not here he is not here if you came today looking for a dead jesus there ain't no dead jesus in the house the english is wrong but the message is right on there ain't no dead jesus in this house he's alive he's risen i can take you to an empty tomb [Applause] i had the privilege several years ago of visiting what many of us call the holy land mis visiting the country of israel and oh yeah i did all the tourist treks and walked here and walked there and saw this and saw that i i went to the tomb of the gadarenes and we but man we got to go to the garden of gethsemane and then we got to go to golgotha the place of the skull i got to see the tomb that they said this was jesus too now i don't know if they know that or not i do know this just on the other side there was a great big chain-link fence and down below that there was a bus station didn't it just didn't feel real holy you hear those and don't take me as making light for i don't care what they said was the tomb the one thing they did show me was an empty tomb there wasn't anybody in that place and i'm here to tell you i don't know where's to folks can take you to the tombs of a lot of other religious leaders and they can tell you where their body is or where it was but i'm here to tell you there was no dead jesus there and there's no dead jesus here he's alive get your eyes off the obstacles get your eyes off the stone and say i'm looking for a resurrected jesus the women saw the evidence the angel said he's not here he's risen i can show you where he was he said i can show you the evidence where it used to be but he's not here verse 9 and as they went to tell the disciples i got to go tell this let me tell you when you get to really know the resurrected savior you can't keep it to yourself you can't keep it the secret why am i so excited today to tell everybody because you see the resurrected savior came and started living in my life when i was filled with the holy ghost i can't keep it quiet i've got to tell other folks about it and as they went to tell his disciples behold jesus met them saying all hell greetings and they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him then said jesus unto them be not afraid go tell my brethren that they go into galilee and there they shall see me said guys we're getting the bunch back together to tell all the disciples we're all going to get together we're going to come back together we used to sing an old song around here said when all god's children get together what a time what a time can you imagine the celebration but instead you know what happened these women had seen the evidence then they had met jesus as they went to tell it jesus told them to go tell it and the very ones had been following jesus one of the first ones they came to they came to peter and they told peter about let me tell you today believe the evidence believe the evidence if you come today to put the finishing touches on a dead jesus believe the evidence of what you see and what you know stop worrying about the stone that might be in the way when the stone needs needs to be moved he's got an agent he's got an angel he's got something to remove the obstacles that would keep you from finding him if you showed up to pay your respects to a failed miracle on this resurrection sunday i challenge you revisit the tomb and find the stone rolled away if your biggest concern is man-made obstacles that would restrict you from a deceased commitment to christ turn your life back over to him today be one of those who said i know him completely i recommit myself let me tell you the stone's gone the seal is broken the soldiers have fainted and most importantly the tomb is empty peter would also be a witness that day yet at the first report of these women he had a difficult time believing what they reported luke 24 8 it said and they remembered his words and returned from the sepulcher and told all these things under the eleven and to all the rest they're telling all the disciples he's alive he's alive and it was mary magdalene joanna and mary the mother of james and the other women that were with them which told these things unto the apostles now i'll try not to sound like a misogynist or a misandrist here but the women were the first one to get there and witness to it all those men were still ducking and hiding somewhere that didn't cost any extra y'all can you can be seated don't celebrate but when the women came and told them it said in their words seen to them the eleven as idol tales and they believed them not then arose peter ran into the sepulcher stooping down he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves and departed wondering in himself that which was come to pass peter himself had to return and if you read some of the other accounts if you go to john and read about this john refers he tells about returning to the sepulcher as well and john always referred to himself when he witnessed he said the disciple who jesus loved he he wanted everybody to know that jesus loved him he felt like jesus loved him more than anybody else and for some reason if you read the account i i got a little tickled again reading it over again the most important thing that ever happened and you know what john wanted everybody to know he could outrun peter said they both ran but he got there first i don't care who got to the empty grave before me i'm just here to tell you he's alive he's not there the stone has been moved i have no doubt in my mind if you came with doubts get them out if there's anything in your mind that makes you think that jesus isn't real i'm here to witness to it today there's a house full of believers and furthermore there's a world full of believers praise team musicians get ready what's the significance of all we speak of in the resurrection today what truth did peter initially fail to grasp when he looked into the empty tomb and saw the grave clothes didn't really realize the scope of what the resurrection meant to him and to all of us for the death and the burial of jesus was not the end if jesus had not risen from the dead then he would have simply been another zealous religious leader who was martyred and died at the hands of the wicked but by being the resurrected savior he was witness that he had conquered death hell and the grave and that's our example peter would eventually get it and on this sunday i want you to realize here's how i know peter got it because he preached it because on the day of pentecost when they ask what must we do peter said repent what does repentance mean that means we die out to sin that means we say god i'm sorry for my sinning i want forgiveness of my sins he said repent and be baptized every one of you every one of you means everybody in the house everybody that's under the sound of my voice repent and be baptized every one of you how in the name of jesus christ for the remission for the forgiving of your sin what does that signify repentance was the death baptism signifies that burial oh but i don't want to leave jesus in the grave he said for you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost that's the resurrection when the holy ghost comes inside of you the sin man has been put to death he's been buried in a watery grave he's taken on the name of jesus and now the holy ghost comes in and there's a resurrecting power there's a new man standing with me in this house we died our sins in repentance we are buried with christ in baptism we arise to walk in the fullness of the holy ghost oh this echoes the death burial and resurrection of christ because he rose from the dead in power and victory it gives us this assurance we can live victorious over sin this is not just some ritual that we practice on sundays and wednesdays you see when you take on jesus you start living a victorious life it means you're able to deal with every situation if you call on the name of jesus let me tell you there's too many situations in life that i do not have the vocabulary to be able to solve it but i know i can say jesus i can speak the name of jesus and suddenly something starts to happen to the too much of this sinful world jesus has become a byword he's not a byword for us today jesus is a saving name jesus is a providing name jesus is a delivering name oh yeah i've been in a few of those situations that i might be in my automobile going down the road and there be a perilous situation i don't have time to pray and ornate prayer i don't have time to get into the dictionary and look up some 20 words to say all i got time to say is jesus jesus help me now jesus be with me and suddenly there's a calm suddenly there's assurance i've seen fevered brows of children be cooled when somebody called on the name of jesus i've seen those in pain and agony when there was a terrible situation be able in the name of jesus to find peace came to tell you today the stones moved the seal is broken the guards are gone and in turn i close with this and praise team help me sing in titus 2 we read verse 13 looking for the blessed home i've got a hope in jesus looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great god our savior jesus christ he's coming back for me he said i got to go away after he was resurrected he said i got to go if i don't go away he can come back and get me he's going away because he's coming back for me why he gave himself for us when he died on the cross that he might redeem us from all iniquity i've been redeemed the sin that has been paid by his shed blood i've been redeemed [Music] and then you know what he does after he redeems you the scripture goes on to say purifying unto himself a peculiar people a lot of folks out in this lost world don't understand what we do i mean that bunch is peculiar guilty i'm peculiar if serving jesus makes me peculiar i'm peculiar the world won't understand it it's said and purifying unto himself a peculiar people i want to be his people and then finally the last part of that verse says zealous of good works to be zealous or to have zeal means to have great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective my cause and my objective is to do good things for people to let them know about the jesus i serve i know not your situation today and i realize we have a marvelous crowd of believers but first apostolic church it is our custom this is what we do we are normally dismissed from an opportunity in a season at the altar i don't know what your situation is i don't know how hopeless you might feel yourself today but i've got a jesus that can move the stones that's blocking your way i want to open this altar in just a moment for every believer or everyone or anyone who may be your faith's been a little shaken over some situation there's some relationship that you don't think can be fixed you know what you need to do today you need to step out of your seat unashamed and come to an altar and start speaking the name of jesus i'm just believing jesus wants to do something for somebody today i'll open the altar for anybody that would come right now if you would step out and come first there will be others that will join you would you come speak in the name of jesus hallelujah yeah hallelujah [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] i speak the holy days [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus christ [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus in the darkness over everything [Music] jesus for my family i speak the holy days [Music] every day the holy days [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus we praise you jesus we worship you jesus we honor you this day jesus [Music] church family yes thank you for being with us today i hope as you leave this place you will leave with a fresh determination that jesus is lord over all he has all power over every situation he has all authority and he's going to bring victory in your life if you'll turn it all over to him thank you for being here today i would remind all of our guests we have a special gift for you as you leave uh the the uh ushers and greeters we'll be helping hand those out uh we have uh uh jelly beans and different things for different age groups in their group i invite you back please be back tonight at 6 30. service at 6 30. we're going to continue celebrating