Open for Examination

verse 5 of matthew chapter 28 but the angel answered and said to the women do not be afraid for i know that you see jesus who was crucified he is not here for he is risen as he said come i want you to come inside this tomb and see the place where the lord lay the angel told them the tomb is open and it's open for examination that's my theme today open for examination god bless you and please be seated christianity stands on the premise that our founder jesus christ was god in flesh he died for our sins was buried in a tomb and rose from the dead on the third day god came in flesh jesus of nazareth he presented himself as the savior of the world but was roundly rejected by insincere religious people he came to his own but his own received him not the condemned version of the end goes like this the jewish leaders were not interested in being saved from their sins they would have welcomed a messiah who delivered them from their oppressors so in the end their passion for political power moved them to plot the death of jesus christ the jewish leader stirred up the common people who joined them in demanding the death of jesus christ the roman governor pilate found no fault in jesus at all but with the insistence of the jews he delivered jesus to be crucified at the hands of his soldiers who were experts in execution jesus was crucified he died was buried on the eve of the jewish passage passover the bible said that jesus died surrounded by two thieves one on either side these men were still fully alive when jesus laid down his life it was not taken from him as an insurance policy to his death a roman soldier came and plunged the spear into his side probably on the right side penetrating the heart cavity and out of that wound ran blood and water which is a fascinating study in itself two members of the jewish ruling body called the sanhedrin had become followers of jesus christ joseph armathea and a man named nicodemus he first came to jesus by night they went to pilate and they begged the body of jesus christ they wanted the privilege of burying the one they were following they took the body of jesus respectfully bound it up with about 75 pounds of burial spices they wrapped it in strips of linen and joseph of armathea put the body of jesus christ the clinically dead body of jesus christ in a tomb that he had had hewn out of a rock for himself with sundown approaching joseph and nicodemus acted expeditiously making sure that jesus was buried before the official start of the passover i can see joseph and his friends breathing a sigh of relief as the sun set over the western hills of judea and passover commenced but the tomb was closed that large stone across the aperture was there set in place the gospel writer mark wrote of this then he brought fine linen and took him down and wrapped him in the linen and he laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock and rolled the stone against the door of the tomb and mary magdalene and mary the mother of joseph observed where he was laid notice that at least two women witness the place of the burial of jesus christ on saturday the jewish sabbath and the annual passover feast was celebrated callous roman soldiers were trying to wrap their warped brains around what they saw during the crucifixion three hours of darkness and earthquake the centurion would say surely this was the son of god they had never seen anything like it pilate the politician washed his hands of the entire debacle jewish leaders rejoice that the threat to their religious monopoly had been eliminated and i think that satan somewhere smiled a devilish grin at the thought of thwarting the ki the plan of god the son of man was dead but they were nervous and it showed they were worried about what jesus said destroy this temple and in three days i will raise it up he had claimed at least seven times that he would rise from the dead on the third day the jewish rulers persuaded the roman officials to seal the tomb it was common to have a stone there but not to seal it so they did the entrance of the tomb was cemented shut and a 24-hour guard was posted there there was a fear that the christians the followers of jesus would come to the tomb at night roll away the stone steal the body of jesus and fake a resurrection and no one would know whether it was true or whether it was not jesus died and he had told his disciples that he would rise from the dead but the trusted remaining 11 apostles were nowhere to be found they fled when jesus was arrested and only john as far as we know was at the cross the rest followed from afar off other followers of jesus sat in stunned silence doubting the promise of the resurrection i envisioned the devil pacing incessantly back and forth bracing himself for the inevitable i'm sure he remembered what god had spoken back in genesis that first prophecy of a messiah to come that a descendant of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent he knew it was coming and he feared that it would happen on the third day early in the morning it happened just as jesus said a chronology of the event seemed to go like this there was first the earthquake there was the descent of an angel whose face shined with light there was the opening of the tomb and the resurrection of jesus christ early sunday morning before dawn a small group of devoted women made their way toward the tomb as they walked they discussed the dilemma that they had that the tomb was closed i'm not sure they knew it was sealed and they asked the question who will roll away the stone from the door they had come to anoint the body of jesus with spices but when they arrived the bible said that mary magdalene first came to the tomb and discovered that the tomb door had been rolled away the other women in that group arrived and an angel gave them words of hope in matthew 28 5 and 6 our scriptural reading for today but the angel answered and said to the women do not be afraid i know you seek jesus who was crucified he is not here for he is risen as he said but i want you he said to come in this tomb is open for examination there is evidence it is clear that jesus who was dead is now risen i want you to come see the place where the lord lay the gospel of mark also records this i want you to see this from a couple perspectives mark 16 6 the angel but he said to them do not be alarmed you seek jesus of nazareth who is crucified he is risen he is not here see the place where they laid him i told you that the jewish leaders feel felt and were afraid that the disciples of jesus would feign a resurrection that they would rob the grave hide the body tell everyone that he was alive but god had a plan to prove that jesus christ was no longer dead in the borrowed tomb the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead was not shrouded in mystery it was open for examination based on the scriptural account depending on how many women were in that group two mary's and some others peter and john came to the tomb and went inside on resurrection sunday morning to prove seven witnesses at least there are five to seven witnesses that jesus was no longer there amen it was open for examination they returned to the tomb it gives the list mary magdalene joanna mary the mother of james and other women with them and then peter and john entering the tomb john chapter 20 verse 3 tells about peter and john racing to the tomb the women told them he's alive he's not there go see for yourself verse 3 peter therefore went out and the other disciple now this is john writing about himself and he refers to himself as the other disciple or the disciple that jesus loved so peter and john they are going to the tomb and they both ran together and the other disciple outran peter and came to the tomb first i just want to make a note that you know this is two guys because john makes sure you know that he's faster than simon peter he got there first he peeked inside but he didn't go in and he went to this tomb and he saw the leading clothes lying there and the handkerchief that had been around his head not lying with the linen clothes but folded together in a place by itself then the other disciple john who came to the tomb first went in also and he saw and he believed that tomb was open for examination now let's go over this again they saw the grave clothes lying in the tomb wrapped around nothing they saw the linen napkin wrapped by itself in another location jesus reminding us that you should always make your bed jesus was not there and the evidence was clear he promised that he would rise from the dead and in the book of revelation he looked back on that event and said i am he that am alive and was dead and behold i am alive forevermore and i have the keys of hell and of death amen now in the bible over and over you see the phrase that god is the great i am he is a self-existent one he is the one that was and is and is to come the almighty god he is the i am and there's only one thing that you could say about god that he ever was he was dead but he is alive forevermore and he is the great i am that i am the self-existent eternal almighty god we should celebrate him right now [Applause] amen the tomb was open for examination but so was the resurrected body of jesus christ i told you in the beginning that the most important fact under girding our faith is reality of the resurrection so after his resurrection jesus remained on earth for 40 days to show himself to his disciples that he was indeed risen from the dead he appeared to many people providing irrefutable evidence that he was alive and paul wrote in first corinthians 15 that if christ is not risen from the dead then our preaching is vain and their faith is vain in other words if jesus was not raised from the dead then i'm wasting your time and my time and your faith is foolish but because jesus did resurrect from the dead our faith has given us hope in a future in an eternity in the presence of almighty god so jesus appeared to people post resurrection the very first one was mary magdalene the bible is careful to tell us out of whom jesus cast seven devils she was a known woman of irrepute a demon possessed woman delivered by the power of jesus christ jesus did not appear first to john or peter or any of the preachers he appeared first to a converted woman who was a sinner i think it's important for you to know that no matter who you are what you've done where you've been how much you've fallen how badly you failed that jesus christ will appear to you today he loves you he died for you he wants you to know that he is alive amen talk to mary magdalene and all the other sinners in the house he is alive he loves you and his resurrected body is open for examination he appeared to other women as they left the tomb they were there the angel spoke to them and as they were walking away jesus met them and and greeted them and told them to go tell the apostles that he was alive jesus appeared to two disciples who were walking away from jerusalem back to their hometown of emmaus discouraged defeated disciples who had given up on the idea of a resurrection they heard that it happened and i say to discourage people today who have given up on your faith that jesus will reveal himself to you he loves people even doubting believers [Applause] amen jesus appeared to 10 of his disciples judas was dead thomas missed church that day don't ever miss church you never know what you'll miss he missed jesus and his buddies the other disciples saw thomas and said thomas you won't believe what happened today we saw the lord and thomas said i don't believe it i doubt it that's why we call him daddy thomas right and thomas told his friends i mean these are the apostles their names are on the foundations of the new jerusalem he had been with them for three years plus and he doesn't believe them he says to them well that's what you say but unless i see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and put my hand into his side i will not believe now you would think that god would tell a person like that tough luck you had your chance you missed your opportunity so long but god loves you more than that and he's more merciful than that amen eight days later eight days later the disciples are still huddled in fear the doors were shut the windows were locked and while they are there suddenly jesus is just in the room he doesn't come in a door there's no open window he's on the outside and now he's miraculously on the inside and thomas is there he doesn't say anything to peter james and john he looks thomas right in the eye and says thomas reach your finger here and look at my hands and reach your hands here and put your hand into my side to not be unbelieving but believing my message to you today is that you may have doubt you may have fear you may wonder about all this but god loves you so much he'll give you a second chance he'll say i want to show myself to you my resurrected body is open for examination [Applause] praise god thomas said my lord and my god jesus said thomas because you've seen me you believed but blessed are those like the people here today and watching online who have not seen me with their own eyes and yet they believe the bible they believe the report of eyewitnesses they believe that i am real and that i have been raised from the dead so i tell you today to reach the finger of your faith let your hand reach out to the lord today don't be faithless don't be unbelieving don't go home in your doubt but if you will reach out for the lord if you will feel after him you can find him he is not far from any one of us today it's open for examination [Applause] amen praise god you have the choice today you can examine the evidence of god's existence or you can deny the existence and die in your sins eternally separated from god john told the story of thomas and then in the same chapter he turns his attention on all of us john tells us in john chapter 20 verse 30 and truly jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in the book this book in another place he says if everything jesus did was written down even the world itself could not contain the books it should be written but here john said but these are written these select things are written for a purpose amen so that you would believe that jesus christ is the son of god jesus is the christ the son of god but it's more than just intellectual assent i'm not preaching just an apologetic sermon today to convince you intellectually to believe that jesus is real that he rose from the dead but john said but in your believing that you may have life through his name i'm preaching this today so you will not die and go to hell i am preaching this today so that you can have life through the name of jesus christ that's why i'm telling you it is open for examination you can know him jesus appeared to seven disciples on the sea of galilee he appeared especially to simon peter he appealed to many of his disciples at his ascension the apostle paul writing back about those 40 days say that says that jesus appeared to have more than 500 people at one time possibly in galilee god gave us indisputable evidence for the basis of our faith in his open tomb and in the resurrected body of jesus christ that were open for examination now you can be willfully ignorant you can ignore evidence or you can embrace evidence and believe that jesus christ was god in flesh died for our sins buried in a tomb raised on the third day ascended into heaven and sent back his spirit to save us amen the bible said in acts chapter 1-3 that he presented himself alive after his sufferings by many infallible proofs being seen by them during 40 days of speaking of things pertaining the kingdom of god today i invite you to examine the evidence it is open for examination now our christian faith is based on faith the belief that god exists and that he will reward those who diligently seek him everything in your walk with god must be undergirded by faith but it is not blind faith it is not faith in the face of no witness or evidence it is believing the evidence that god has given us and the bible is true that god has always revealed himself to us not for his sake he knows who he is but for our sakes that we could be saved the bible is clear that in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth and he uses creation to preach about his existence the heavens declare the glory of god and god has created this intelligent design to reveal the intelligent designer behind it every sunrise every sunset the constellations the universe the order of earth and everything that god created testifies that there is a god who did not leave himself without a witness but wanted you to know him so you could feel after him and find him not so you would go and be lost because you denied him over and over in the bible god told us how nature was god's witness and pagan people who never had a bible knew enough to know that there was a god who was worth seeking and finding and if they would feel after him the bible says that they could find him john told us these things were written that you would believe god has given us miraculous power now after his resurrection jesus sent his disciples into the whole world to tell everybody that jesus was real he was the messiah god in flesh resurrected from the dead had poured out his spirit but he didn't just tell them to go share a message the bible says that he went with him and he confirmed their word with signs following in other words they would say who jesus was and they would pray for people and god would demonstrate his reality by miraculous signs and wonders there were people in the bible in the book of acts who were healed who were set free from demonic possession who had their eyes opened who were blinded who had their death ears unstopped all of these things happened in the ministry of jesus christ but they happened in the history of the church and people were even raised from the dead so today i come to you to tell you that the same god who has always had his work his tomb his body his kingdom open for examination that today on easter sunday if you will ask he will hear you if you ask you will receive if you need him to show himself to you he will [Applause] you may be like the man in the bible that says lord i believe but help my unbelief i want to believe but i'm struggling with my doubt i want you to know today that in this house before you go home or those of you watching online that jesus christ is going to demonstrate his power in your life in a miraculous way so you will know that he is real and that he loves you and there is nothing too hard for him i want to get a couple testimonies here today if you have ever been healed or delivered by the power of god i want you to just applaud the lord right now you've been healed you've been set free [Applause] amen now god gave evidence in creation in the empty tomb he gave evidence in the resurrected body of jesus christ he gave evidence through miraculous signs and wonders in the ministry of jesus and in the early church and throughout church history so do you think that god who always gave evidence of his reality of his existence would offer to you salvation with no evidence do you think that he would just tell you to believe and trust or do you believe that the same god who put a rainbow in the sky to remind you he would never destroy the earth by a flood again and the same god that did all the things i preached about today do you think he would tell you to just be saved and hope for the best he gave evidence he gave irrefutable undeniable clear evidence that a person was saved by the power of god it happened on the birthday of the church amen the book of acts chapter 2 verse 1. now when the day of pentecost was fully come they these are disciples of jesus included the 11 included mary the mother of jesus they're praying and waiting for the promise of the holy spirit to come and when the day of pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire and it sat upon each of them and they about 120 people were all filled with the holy ghost and began to speak with other tongues as a spirit gave them a utterance these believers who had believed that jesus died was buried and rose from the dead were waiting for the promise of the spirit they knew what had been prophesied by isaiah 700 years before that was stammering lips and another tongue well i speak to this people they knew what jesus said when a person receives my spirit out of their innermost being will flow rivers of living water they knew it would be like the breath of the spirit when jesus breathed on them and said receive the holy ghost so when they did they began to speak in languages they had never learned as the holy spirit came on them now you might think that that's just for a few select people in a church here and there but i need a testimony today if you have ever spoken in other tongues would you stand and would you testify that it is real and that it happened to you [Applause] go ahead and let it happen again right now [Applause] amen i was eight years old when i received the gift of the holy ghost you may be seated no one told me magic phrases to say nobody tried to coax me to do a certain thing i repented of my sins i was hungry for god i was eight years old i remember vividly at eight years of age praying in english from the bottom of my heart and then just allowing the lord to give me the gift the free gift of the holy ghost i began to speak in a language that i had never learned as evidence that the spirit had come into my life i thank god that it is open for examination you don't have to hope you can know that you've been filled with the spirit of god multiple times in the early church in the bible book of acts we have examples of this happening acts chapter 10 to cornelius and everyone in his household acts chapter 19 disciples of john the baptist who opened their hearts were baptized in the name of the lord jesus and filled with the gift of the holy spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues at that initial sign that they had been saved this is the evidence of salvation and it is open for examination for you to desire and you to receive today before you walk out those doors it can happen to you and it will change your life but before you receive the gift of the holy spirit you have to get rid of the stuff that is not holy and every one of us do over and over so right now i'm going to invite you to do what i'm going to do and that's ask jesus christ to forgive you of your sins every thought every deed every attitude all unforgiveness everything that is not like god would you ask him to forgive you for your sins right now we've come today not to just have a program not for me to give a speech but for people to be transformed by the resurrected jesus christ everyone everywhere would you lift your voice and let's pray out loud right now that jesus would forgive us of our sins jesus i pray god right now that here on this easter sunday afternoon i pray right now lord that you would give us faith that if we will repent god if we will ask you to forgive us that you will forgive us of our sins lord and you will wash us god i pray in jesus name that you would let this evidence of the relief of sins being forgiven occur in this house right now i pray god i pray for people that are loaded down with guilt i pray god for people right now who came in here today with habits that they cannot break with fear that they cannot overcome god but the hurts of abuse that they've never been able to get past i pray today in jesus name oh god would you cry out to the lord right now that's it if you're ready to get past being superficial and you're ready for something transformational to happen in your life would you talk to jesus right now just talk to him tell him tell him about your trouble tell him about your pain tell him about your fear tell him about your doubt tell him about your sin ask him to forgive you jesus i said pray now if you would oh god i'm inviting every spirit-filled person to pray in the spirit of intercession right now jesus jesus i feel the lord right now in a very strong way early in this service while we were worshiping the lord we had a nine o'clock service i preached this message but in that worship service i felt just a powerful spirit of prayer come on me of intercessory prayer i don't know if it's for one or ten or a hundred i don't know but i felt such a very deep burden of prayer that someone today is dealing with a desperate situation and that god is reaching for you today he's wanting to do something in your life he's wanting to deliver you he's wanting to dispel your doubts he's wanting to save your soul it does not matter how difficult it may seem to you if he can rise from the dead if it is impossible for death to hold on to the body of jesus christ it is impossible for sin to hold on to you today it is not possible for satan to destroy you if you turn to jesus to deliver you i know this is not real pretty right now i'm not trying to give a speech i'm trying to reach somebody and pull you out of the fire and save your soul from hell [Music] praise god if he would look this way for a moment i want you to think about something with me for a minute after jesus was resurrected from the dead and i think he could have done it before but when the disciples were there with thomas jesus can walk right through the walls so when jesus was raised from the dead he didn't need them to roll the stone away for him to get out the stone needed to be rolled away so they could get in i want you to know that he did it for you that it was open for examination so you would know and you would believe and you would have life he did not come to earth to prove that he loved you for his sake but he came for our sake he opened the tomb so you would know [Music] would you stand to your feet but you pray but you open your heart to the lord jesus christ would you let him come in would you let him come into your life right now oh hallelujah thank you jesus whether you celebrate the resurrection of jesus christ no matter what you're dealing with he has the power today to heal you [Music] that said i want you to believe the lord right now that work right where you're standing that jesus will heal your body right where you're standing he will help you with your fear right where you're standing he will deliver you from your depression right where you're standing right now right now jesus christ will break the power of addiction in your life if you will ask him he will he will [Music] that's it he's entitling us handle me and see touch me reach me right now i'm inviting you to step out from where you are to join these others down here at the front of the sanctuary at this altar i'm inviting you to come as close as you can leave room in the aisles for others to come no matter what your need is you may not be part of our church family but you're welcome to join us or you're welcome to stay where you are but right now we're turning this sanctuary into a giant prayer room to a deliberate room amen oh hallelujah