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Matthew 28

Taught on | Topic: resurrection | Keywords: commission, resurrection, Christ, disciple, tomb

Jesus' resurrection: great news for His disciples—troubling news to his enemies. As the chief priests grappled with a cover up, the disciples met with the risen Lord and were commissioned to "Go and make disciples of all the nations." As we consider our text, we discover the good news for ourselves: Jesus is not dead—He's alive and has all authority in heaven and earth.

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Matthew 28
Matthew 28
Skip Heitzig
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Jesus' resurrection: great news for His disciples—troubling news to his enemies. As the chief priests grappled with a cover up, the disciples met with the risen Lord and were commissioned to "Go and make disciples of all the nations." As we consider our text, we discover the good news for ourselves: Jesus is not dead—He's alive and has all authority in heaven and earth.
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40 Matthew - 2011

40 Matthew - 2011

From its opening genealogy through its careful record of Old Testament prophecies fulfilled, Matthew's gospel forms a bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In this in-depth study by Pastor Skip Heitzig we'll consider Jesus' ancestry, birth, public ministry, death, and resurrection, and we'll gain a clearer understanding of Jesus as both Messiah and King.

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Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. Lies
      1. "A lie can make it around the world while truth is still lacing up her boots." Mark Twain
      2. New ideas, new theories
      3. Scholar Ernest Renan influenced by Immanuel Kant and George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel wrote The Life of Jesus
        1. There was no literal resurrection
        2. Disciples mentally unstable
        3. Mary Magdalene only "thought" it was Jesus
        4. No facts just a Theory he made up
        5. Sold 60,000 copies in the first month
      4. 1966 Hugh Schonfield wrote The Passover Plot
        1. Jesus knew prophecies and set himself up to "look" to fulfill them
        2. Jesus conspired with Joseph of Arimathea to take a drug to put Him into a death-like coma
        3. Really didn't die
        4. Only thought he was dead
        5. A fake resurrection
        6. Plot foiled when the guard put a spear in His side and he really died
        7. The academic world paid it no heed
        8. Sold 100,000 copies in the first month
    2. Credentials of Jesus Christ
      1. His impact on human history
      2. Fulfilling Old Testament Prophecy
      3. His resurrection from the dead
      4. Jesus unique among all people and faiths
        1. Most religious ideologies are based on the philosophies of the founder
        2. Only four world religions based on personalities
          1. Judaism
          2. Christianity
          3. Islam
          4. Buddhism
        3. Only Christianity claims a resurrected founder
  2. Jesus' Resurrection from the dead
    1. Mary Magdalene and other Mary came to see the tomb
      1. Hearts burdened
      2. Gather spices to anoint the body of Jesus
      3. Dawn
      4. Customary to visit loved ones after their death
        1. Represents the last contact with them
        2. Some believed the spirit lingered for 3 days
      5. Had to wait for the 1st day of the week
    2. A great earthquake
    3. An angel of the Lord
      1. Rolled back the stone and sat on top of the stone
      2. Not a surprise that an angel would attend the resurrection of Jesus
        1. Angels involved
          1. Incarnation
          2. Temptation
          3. Affliction
          4. Resurrection
      3. Greek: ἄγγελος, angelos - a messenger from the Lord
      4. 34 books of the Bible mention angels
      5. Most times they are invisible; but sometimes they are given a body so they can relate to human beings
        1. 3 men—2 were angels came to Abraham and ate with him (see Genesis 18)
        2. Sometimes they came in more brilliance (see Matthew 28:3-4)
      6. Belief in angels
        1. God sends us angels (see Hebrews 1:14)
        2. Some of us need more angels than others
        3. Don't carry it too far
    4. Stone rolled away
      1. Did they roll the stone to let Jesus out? No!
      2. Rolled the stone to let people in so they could see the miracle that He was no longer there
    5. The angel's countenance
      1. Guards shook
      2. Adrenaline – fight or flight?
      3. Fainted
    6. The angel spoke to the women
      1. They expect to find a corpse
      2. Who is going to move the stone
      3. Love doesn't ask questions it just goes
      4. Problem solved
      5. God goes before us to solve the problems
      6. Jesus is not here, He is risen
        1. Proves that none were pre-disposed to His resurrection
        2. Jesus' resurrection is a fact of history that is discounted by Renan, Schonfield and many others today
        3. Ludwig Feuerbach – wish fulfillment
      7. Come, see, go, tell vv. 6-7
        1. Come into the tomb
          1. Scary—what's in there?
          2. Come is a great word of the gospel—Jesus told people to come
          3. When asked where He was staying, He said, "Come and see." (see John 1:38-39)
          4. Come, walk on the water (see Matthew 14:28-29)
          5. Bid little children to come (see Matthew 19:14 and Mark 10:14)
        2. See, greek word ἴδετε
          1. Check it out
          2. Humility of Christ (see Phillipians 2:8)
          3. Reality of sin
          4. Victory of life
          5. See: nothing's there
          6. Cocoon of bandages (see John 20:3-7)
        3. Go and tell
          1. Don't stop with come and see
          2. What do you do about it?
          3. Turn fascination into proclamation
          4. The message
            1. Your salvation—your personal story
            2. Victory of Jesus over death
            3. Glorious life changing gospel of Christ
            4. Don't wait for some level of maturity or for all your problems to be fixed
    7. Jesus met them and says, "Rejoice!" v. 9
      1. What's up?
      2. Howdy!
      3. Mary and Mary were not expecting this
        1. Theologically they are wrong
        2. Devotionally they are right
      4. Sometimes believers get so hardened and tight with their theology, sometimes you are so right, you're dead right—there's no real life in us
      5. Jesus told the church at Ephesus "You have left your first love" (see Revelation 2:1-6)
      6. Jesus will show up to those who have their devotional life right time and time again and say "Howdy, it's me!"
      7. Best if you can marry both—theology and devotion
    8. Jesus says go and tell my brothers v. 10
      1. Who?
      2. Those who denied him
      3. Those who ran away
      4. So gracious
    9. Guard reported what happened vv. 11-15
      1. Consulted with the elders
      2. Elders gave the soldiers money
      3. Elders preoccupied with keeping the truth from getting out
        1. Illegality of the trial
        2. The mob psychology
        3. Blatant bribery
        4. While slept the disciples stole the body—illogical
        5. Commons myths about what happened
          1. The disciples stole the body
            1. They were afraid
            2. They ran
            3. They were in the upper room behind closed doors
            4. They were in no mood
            5. Roman guards lose their lives if they sleep on duty (see Acts 16:27-28)
            6. Quietly move a 2 ton stone?
          2. The Jews stole the body
            1. Ridiculous
            2. In the next few weeks 1000's of Jews become believers
            3. All they had to do was produce the body in order to refute the resurrection
          3. The women went to the wrong tomb
            1. Many tombs, easy to get to the wrong tomb
            2. Tears in their eyes
            3. There were several women
            4. Peter and John came and checked it when the sun was up
            5. The guards went to the wrong tomb
            6. The Jewish Sanhedrin went to the wrong tomb
            7. The angel went to the wrong tomb
            8. What about Joseph who owned the tomb?
          4. The swoon theory—Jesus didn't really die
            1. The coolness and dampness of the tomb revived him
            2. People beaten nearly to death don't get better in a cold, damp tomb
            3. How did he get out of those tightly wound grave clothes?
            4. How did he roll a 2-ton rock uphill?
          5. The hallucination theory
            1. Hallucinations are never corporate
            2. 500 people at one time saw the risen Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:6)
            3. People with all different dispositions seeing Jesus; Peter who is sorrowful, Thomas who is doubtful, the disciples on the road to Emmaus who were unhopeful (see Luke 24:13-27)
          6. Right tomb, Jesus was there, Joseph sealed the tomb, but then changed his mind, went back, took the body of Jesus and placed it somewhere else—Stupid!
    10. If disciples new the resurrection was a lie, they would have broken down and told the truth rather than face suffering and death for them and sometimes their families—this is the greatest evidence to the truth of the resurrection
  3. The great commission
    1. All authority given to Jesus
    2. God has exalted Him—given Him a name above all names (see Philippians 2:9-11)
    3. Later He will come back to take His church
    4. Later still He will come back with His church to rule and to reign (see Daniel 7)
    5. Go out with the authority of Christ
      1. You have the commissioning authority of Christ
      2. You can go with boldness
    6. Make disciples v. 19
      1. Main word
      2. Greek; μαθητεύσατε, mathéteuó - I make disciples, make into disciples
      3. On your way, "disciplize," reproduce yourself in others
  4. Closing
    1. If you are a believer, "go"
    2. If you are an unbeliever, "come"
    3. Influenced by William Sangster, voice to shout "He is risen"
    4. You have a voice, go and tell
    5. If you're an unbeliever, come and see, give your life to Christ and see what He will do
    6. Years ago Muslim in Africa converted to Christ—take direction from the living, not the dead

Greek terms: ἄγγελος; Angel, an angel, messenger; ἴδετε; see, I see, look upon, experience; μαθητεύσατε, mathéteuó, I make disciples, make into disciples
Publications referenced: The Life of Jesus, by Ernest Renan; The Passover Plot, by Hugh Schonfield
Figures referenced: Mark Twain, Ernest Renan, Immanuel Kant, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hugh Schonfield, Ludwig Feuerbach, William Sangster
Cross references: Daniel 7, Matthew 14:28-29, Matthew 19:14, Matthew 28:3-4, Mark 10:14, Luke 24:13-27, John 1:38-39, John 20:3-7, Acts 16:27-28, 1 Corinthians 15:6, Philippians 2:8-11, Hebrews 1:14, Revelation 2:1-6

Transcript

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Now, would you turn in your Bibles to Mathew Chapter 28. Well, tonight, we've finished the Gospel of Matthew. And before you have any doubts in your minds that that could happen, you'll notice there are only 20 verses. That's doable. Not 66 verses like the previous chapter, just 20.

I love Wednesday nights. It's my favorite of all the activities in the week. It's something I always look forward to doing. It's unique and how we gather together in such informal cruisy kind of a format. Sitting down, Bibles open, going verse by verse through the book. I always call this our living room. This is a large living room perhaps, but this is where we just in a simple way gather together and go through the Bible. We're a family and we're a family in a living room, but every family also has rules. You remember growing up and your dad and your mom had certain things you couldn't do in the house after certain times at certain times.

So, couple of rules, number one, that you stay awake during the study. Number two, that you don't get up and down, move around during the study week. Don't want any distractions, you could become a distraction if you decided that you just wanted to go somewhere else and get a burger or go home early. If you feel that you won't be able to stay for the entire Bible study, we respectfully ask that while we bow our heads in prayer, you would move to the very edge of the auditorium that is at the very back and then you are moving wouldn't be noticeable except to me, but not anybody else. Let's pray.

You're our father, Lord. You're the father of this family and you have adopted us as sons and daughters into the body of Christ, the kingdom of God. We're already experiencing and tasting what it's like to be in relationship with you through the ups, the downs of our lives. We've been able to see how faithful you are and how much in control you are. And I pray that as we close out our time in this great Book of Matthew's Gospel, that we will be encouraged to not hold back any trust that we might be holding onto that we would have no reserve in entrusting you with our future, our family, our concerns. You promised in the Psalms that you will perfect that which concerns us. You are trustworthy. And in that faithfulness that we know you to be and have, we entrust not only this evening but our very lives. And help us Lord not to be distracted by other concerns but to focus on what the spirit of God is saying to the people of God through the agency of the Word of God. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.

Mark Twain a.k.a. Samuel Clemens, one of America's great authors, made an interesting remark when he said that a lie can make its way halfway around the world while truth is still lacing up her boots. Lies seem to travel faster than truth. Sensationalistic ideas get the press, make headlines, make news. New ideas, new theories get people's attention.

Back in the 1800s, there was an author by the name of Ernest Renan. You may have heard of him. He was trained as a Catholic priest. He was a scholar, all be it. He became a very liberal scholar and he was influenced by the writings of Immanuel Kant and Georg Friedrich Handel. And with those philosophical world views in mind, he read the scripture and interpreted the scripture according to those philosophical ideals.

So, when he came to the resurrection, he then sought to explain it a way by saying there really was no literal resurrection. Jesus didn't rise physically from the dead but rather the disciples who were emotionally imbalanced had hallucinations. They thought they saw Him. They loved Him so much, and being mentally unstable and in a high emotional — highest strong state. They simply imagined that they saw Jesus alive from the dead, but it was simply a hallucination.

And Mary Magdalene, who will be mentioned here on our text, she thought that she heard Jesus speak her voice or her name, saying, "Mary." But it really wasn't Jesus at all. It was a gardener but she thought it was Jesus. Actually, the scripture says just the opposite. Mary thought it was a gardener when it was actually Jesus. Now, when Ernest Renan wrote that in his book, The Life of Jesus in the 1800s, he had no evidential reason to do that. There was no hard science behind it. He had no real good facts at his disposal which is a theory that he made up based on his philosophical world view. And yet, within the first month, that writing sold 60,000 copies. Amazing!

Fast forward in 1966, when another author by the name of Hugh Schonfield, wrote a book called, The Passover Plot, where he said that Jesus was aware of some of the prophesies in the Old Testament about the Messiah's death and resurrection. And so, Jesus sought to manipulate Himself the events in His life and the people in His life to fame His own death and a supposed resurrection to get people to believe in Him. It was all a plot said Schonfield.

So, in Colossian with Joseph of Arimathea and a couple of other guys, he persuaded them to give him a drug that would put him into a deathlike comma, but that he really wouldn't die. And then later on, while he's on the cross, he would be able to make it, he would suffer but then, being placed in this comma, they thought that he would be dead and then later on, he would get up and it would be a fake resurrection.

But says Schonfield, the plot backfired when the Romans spear went through Jesus' side and out came blood and water. So, they killed Him and the plot fell apart. But the disciples went on to believe in a resurrection.

What's amazing about the book are two things. Number one, the academic world paid it no heed at all, because it wasn't based on any good hard evidence. But what was most amazing is that within the first few months, Schonfield sold 100,000 copies.

Back to what Mark Twain said, "A lie can make its way halfway around the world while truth is still lacing up her boots." It seems that if you want to write a best seller these days, just write about vampires or weird sexual exploitations, or some new fangled theory on the life or death or resurrection of Christ. And it seems to be a winner because time and time again, these things keep coming up with no real good, factual evidence and yet, they sell over and over again.

There are three credentials to Jesus Christ and His life. Number one, His impact upon human history. Number two, fulfilling Old Testament prophesy. And number three, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

In Chapter 28, the 20 verses speak about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This makes Jesus Christ absolutely totally unique among all men, all people. And all faiths, though they share certain things in common, the resurrection of Christ sets Christianity apart. For you see, most belief systems, most religious ideologies were based the religion upon the sayings, the teachings of the founder, the philosophical postulates of the founder. They are categorized. They are written down or they're in oral form and they're passed on. The most religious systems are based around those sayings or teachings of some founder, some charismatic leader.

There are only four world religions that squarely are based upon personalities. And that is Judaism, especially with Moses as the chief personality giving the law and a few others, Christianity with Christ, Islam with Mohammad, and Buddhism with Buddha. But of those four religions that based their belief systems squarely on personalities, only one claims of resurrection from the dead for its founder.

So, let's see what the document say, not what Schonfield or Renan or others have postulated, but what the scripture say. Verse 1, Chapter 28 of Matthew now, "After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary — we think the other Mary to be Mary, the mother of James, the last and Joses, who is mentioned in the previous chapter, we already covered that, that is probably the other Mary. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

I imagined that Mary Magdalene and this other Mary got really no sleep that night. I think they tossed and turned on their cot. The events of the last few days, the crucifixion of Jesus, seeing Him come off the cross, Joseph of Arimathea placing Him in His tomb. Every little noise, every dog barking in the neighborhood, they'd wake up. Their hearts were so burdened. Then finally, they get up really early, get some spices together. The Bible says to anoint the body of Jesus at the tomb.

So off they go in the darkness, just as the light is coming up and it's still kind of dusky and shadowy around town. And they go looking for the tomb where Jesus was placed that they might anoint His body. It was customary and still is customary to visit the grave of loved ones after their death. You might wonder if you've never had the experience of somebody close to you dying. Why is that? Why do people go back to a cemetery? The person isn't alive. The body is simply placed in the ground, because that symbolizes their last contact with that individual.

Still, when I'm in town in California, I go visit my father, my mother and my brother's gravesite and I think back to their life. I think back to the funeral. It's bitter-sweet. It's accompanied with tears but it represents that last contact that we had with that person as we paid them that respect and buried them.

Now, according to the Jews, not all of them but there was a belief that among some of the Jews, they held that the spirit of the deceased hovered over the tomb for three days. In fact, some people believe — no, I'm not saying Mary Magdalene believed but she might have, that the spirit was hovering over the tomb seeking to reenter the corpse. But that after the fourth day, when decomposition began to set in and the body becomes more — well, not recognizable, that's when the spirit departs.

That is why those first few days, Jewish relatives, family and friends will amass around the grave to pay their respects until the fourth day. Early in the morning, she is coming. And it says, "Behold. There was a great earthquake." Now, let me just back up. The reason she comes on this day is because she couldn't go the day before because the day before was the Sabbath. And according to the Jews, you could only take a Sabbath Day's journey. Remember what that is? It's anything up to two thirds of a mile. So because Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were obviously staying at a greater distance than that, they couldn't walk that far on the Sabbath so they had to wait for the first day of the week. So off they go. Behold. There was a great earthquake. And you remember in the previous chapter when Jesus died on the cross, there was a huge earthquake. After many earthquakes, there are subsequent earthquakes often that follow but that that really wasn't — what was the cause of this? This is because something happened to the tomb site. Behold. There was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it.

Don't you love to read that? I'm tickled by it. The idea that Matthew gives us this little detail that the angel didn't just rolled back the tomb — the stone but they'll got on top of it and just sat on it. I just like to picture an angel doing the work and then just like, "Okay, that's done. I'm just going to sit here now." (Whistling) and just kind of hanging out — why would the angel do that, because the angel wants to scare off some people. His continents was like lightning, his clothing as white as snow and the guards — you see the Roman guards shocked for fear of him and became like a dead man.

Now, consider a few things, we're not surprised that angels are attending the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We would sort of expect that to happen I mean this is the greatest event of all. All of heaven has been anticipating, all of heaven has been very interested in the resurrection. Could that call even back up and say, "All of heaven and hell was very interested in the event surrounding the life death and question mark resurrection of Jesus." We're not surprised because angels showed up at the incarnation of Jesus. They we're surrounding the skies in Bethlehem, singing his praises or I should say speaking forth his praises.

At the temptation of Jesus, the angels were there for after Jesus was tempted 40 days in the wilderness. Remember Mark's Gospel tells us the angels came and ministered onto him. So at the incarnation, at the temptation — number three, at the affliction of Jesus when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane facing his greatest earthly trial. Jesus was in agony. The Bible says, God sent an angel from heaven to minister to him." And then, fourth and finally, here at the resurrection, so we're not surprised. We would expect it. The word "Angel," Angelos in Greek means a messenger. Did you know that 34 books of the Bible mentioned angel — 17 in the Old Testament and 17 in the New Testament mentioned the ministry or the presence of God's angels.

Now sometimes, many times, I would say most times, angels are invisible but sometimes the Lord for his own purposes gives them a physicality, a temporal body, a corpus so they can relate to human beings.

Sometimes they look like typical human beings. Like in Genesis Chapter 18, when three men came to Abraham's tent and he entertained them and cook them a meal with his wife Sarah. Two of them we find out were angels but they look like "Dudes" They were angelic dudes and they ate a meal with Abraham.  What do you cook for an angel? Well, I guess angel food cake would work, right? That's sort of a no brainier but — sometimes however, they came in more brilliance and the body that they assume wasn't just a human body but it was enough to scare the pa-jabbers out of you.

Like here, it says they're shook like a dead man or they shook for fear of him and became like dead man. I believed in angels. I believe I have experienced the ministry of angels. The Bible says that God sends us angels to minister to those of us who inherit salvation. Isn't great? Now, some of just by the way you live, you probably have a few more angels than some of the rest of us. I think sometimes I do in some of the activities that I engage in is like, "Lord, thank you for angels. You have been so faithful."

At the same time, I don't carry it too far and I am sometimes suspicious. In fact, I would say frequently suspicious when somebody will come up and say, "I saw an angel." How do you know? And I remember years ago, I used to hear these reports of people out on the freeway and their car stopped, and it was sort of the same rendition told in a few different ways of somebody who — their car pulled over and an angel showed up and — angel sightings are sort of like Elvis sightings. When somebody they saw Elvis, I get suspicious when somebody says they saw an angel or encountered an angel. I don't deny their ministry, I'm just a little bit reserved because I've seen that idea and the stories abused.

But this was an angel that came out of heaven and he sat on the tomb. Why did the angel roll the stone away? Was it to let Jesus out? No. Jesus didn't need anybody to move the stone. If he can supernaturally rise from the dead out of those tightly wound bandages that we told you about, he can — and go through walls later on. He could just go right through that stone.

So the stone was rolled away by the angel not to let Jesus out but to let people in so they could see. This is a miracle. He's gone. He's no longer here. I love this rendition. His continents, what he looked like was like lightning — just so bright. His clothing as white as snow blinded. And the guards, that is those Roman guards — remember we told you their between 10 and 16 — well-armed, well-disciplined Roman soldiers. The guards shook for fear of him. The word for shook is the same word previously in the Chapter 4 for earthquake. So the Earth shook and hears the man shock and became like dead man. Have you ever been so shaken up at something that happened that you literally shake your body? Ever wonder why you do? Why do people shake when they're afraid?

Well, it's interesting in your body you have two glands attached to your kidneys called the adrenal glands and they secrete that chemical adrenalin. And the reason adrenalin is secreted during times of psychological trauma like that, is to enable the fight or flight mechanism that is in you.

So do you fight or should you run? So adrenalin is pumped into your bloodstream and that causes your heart to beat faster that causes more oxygen to be available to your muscles, your pupils dilated in your eyes so that if you're in darkness you'd be able to see better to know should you stay or run. Secondly, glucose that is stored in your body is released into the muscles to give them necessary energy in case they have to do extra work in that fight or flight mechanism. So the person begins to shake and all that is, is your muscles are warming up. In case you need to start working that dude over or run like the wind.

So your muscles are warming up and they demonstrate that by shaking violent. Now you lose fine motors skills during that — you wouldn't be able to like write something with the pen but you would be able to do some extraordinary things. So they're shaking — the adrenalin is kicking in. But this was more than just a little bit of psychological trauma. They fainted because of it. For it says they became like dead man. They just collapsed. So if you see an angel, I would think on some occasions you would certainly know. But the angel answered and said to the woman. Now, obviously the woman didn't have the same response for whatever reason we're not told. "Do not be afraid." Maybe they started getting afraid and angels had to say, "Don't do that. No need to." For I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here for he has risen as he said. So put yourself into the thinking of this woman. They get up early in the morning, they bring the spices or going to the tomb.

What do they expect to find? A corpse! Not a resurrected saviour but a corpse, a dead body. Now, when they left home with the spices, they didn't really think through all the possible problems that would arise like, "How are we going to move a two ton stone to get into the grave?" Mark's Gospel tells us that as you're going, one of them said, "Who's going to role the stone away?" But love doesn't ask those questions. Love is more, "I got to respond." You get up, you love Jesus, you get those spices, you've got to go to his side, you got to go to the grave and you want to perform an active love in preparing his body for burial. Nobody did that, they want to do that. And so they go. When they go, they find that whatever problem they were thinking about has been solved.

Now, just learn this lesson, you will discover as a Christian so many times the problem is all up here. You can cut the problem — "Oh no, this is going to get really bad, I can't see any way out of this. There's no way that stone is going to be moved." And then you'll get there and you discover God's already gone before you and solved the problem and you just spent a night worrying for nothing.

The angel was there, the problem was solved and the angel said, "I know that you see Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen as he said." I'll stop right there. This proves something, sometimes — and I'm saying that some of these things tonight because we're dealing a fact of history that is attested to over and over again but is this counted by people like Hugh Schonfield, like Ernest Renan, and many others to this day. And they try to trap Christians. I just want to give you some answers and some ammunition.

Years ago, a German philosopher by the name of Ludwig Feuerbach started something that really caught fire. It's called "The Christian Religion and wish fulfilment. That is all the Christian religion is, is wish fulfilment that people like Mary had a wish that Jesus would be raised from the dead so they would hallucinate or they would mistake the tomb or a number of explanations because they're trying to bring to pass what they really want because they sense something deep inside. It simply wish fulfilment. Here's where that argument breaks down. By the record of all of the writings we have extent from that time all of the text tells us that the apostles or the women. None of them were predisposed to any resurrection. The fact that they would take spices to anoint the body of Jesus for burial proves that they didn't expect to see a raised human being. But a corpse, that they would perform one final active kindness toward.

There was no predisposition, there was no wished fulfilment, they just came and unexpectedly saw what they what saw. Now, verse 6, "He's not here, he has risen." As he said, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay and go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and indeed, he's going before you went to Galilee.

There you will see him behold, I have told you. There are four words on what you didn't notice in the text that we just read. Come, see, go, tell! Those were four words that every Christian should follow. Four words for Easter. Come, see, go, tell. Consider the first word "Come" — angels trying to invite them into the tomb. Well, tombs can be scary. They're seeing an empty tomb or at least they're seeing a stone rolled away and there is that that tomb opened up when the last time they saw the tomb it have been closed by Joseph of Arimathea and then guarded by soldiers, there's an open tomb. Who is hiding in that tomb? Are there grave robbers in there? There'll be enough to keep them out to not have them come but the angel invites them to come.

Now, did you know that the word come is one of the great words of the Gospel? Come, Jesus never told people, "Go away, you bother me." He told people to come. To the early disciples who were disciples of John the Baptist when they saw Jesus at the Jordan River and he said, "Master, where are you staying?" He said, "Come and see." When Peter and the others were in the boat when Jesus walked on the water on the sea of Galilee and Peter said, "Master, if it's you bid me to come." And Jesus said, "Come." The children that try to see Christ and the disciples try to push them away. Jesus said, "Don't forbid the children to come unto me for have such as the kingdom of God." That's always the first word "Come" yourself, come.

Second word is see. The word for see here is the Greek word, Eido, which means to experience or to perceive, to enter into an experience and to understand or perceived something. Come and check it out, we might say.

So what would they — if they were coming into the tomb, what would they see? They would see a few things. Number one, they would see the humility of Christ. The humility of Christ, this is the extent to which God would go and Christ would go and obeying the Father in coming from heaven assuming the body of a human being coming to this earth and dying on the cross and being placed in that tomb. That friends you can see the humility of Jesus. Look how humble he is to leave heaven and be put in that rock grave. Paul says in Philippians he humbled himself and became a man subject unto death.

So you see the humility of Jesus. Number two, you see the reality of sin. You want to find out how bad sin is? You ever think about — I'm going to toy around with his little activity for awhile. I know some people call it sin but how bad could it really be? Look at what it did to Jesus, it killed him. He lost his blood. He lost his life and was placed in that rock tomb for sinners. So when you come, you see, you check out, you perceive the humility of Christ, the reality of sin and finally you'll see the victory of life because you know what the angel was trying to get them to see? Nothing. Come and look, nothing is there, that's the point. He isn't here. All John says was there was the cocoon from the bandages unruffled that the body just moved through them and it just flattened out like a tire would flatten out when air release. There was no unwinding, there was no struggle, he was just gone. Come, check it out.

Now, this is the next two words, go and tell. Once you come and once you see, you perceived, you experienced, don't stop with that and here's where many of us do stop. They go, "Wow, that's cool man. Okay I believe he's raised from the dead." Okay? What are you doing about it? "Well nothing, I've come and I've seen and I believe." Okay? What are you doing about it? See, the angel wants to turn their fascination into proclamation. Go, tell, and announce it. Come, see, go and tell. We must never reduce the empty tomb to some religious relic or to some place that we save up thousands of dollars to take a tour to Israel, to go see and go, "Wow that was really moving. Wow!" All you have been shed a tear, yeah that was so awesome. Great, once you come and see, now go and tell.

You're on a mission, you have a message, the message includes your salvation but also the victory of Jesus over death that insures you everlasting life in heaven with him forever. You got the message of messages. Better than any messages in election for any candidate who will not save American, no one will. You have the message of the glorious life-changing gospel of Christ. Come, see, go and tell. See his humility and see his victory and tell people what you've seen. Tell people what you've seen in terms of changes in your life and changes on other people's life. Your personal testimony, your personal story is what you should go and tell.

I'm making a deal out of that. An issue out of this because there is this idea and it's prevalent among many Christians and some churches in particular that — well you really can't go and tell until you reach some level of maturity. An academic stature and once you really get it or — well I've got so many personal issues in my life and problems, but once I fix that stuff, then I can go and tell. I'll be free to go and tell. Listen, Jesus is telling this to a woman who was just right now starting to figure out the resurrection. You think she has her theology down path? Nope, but what she is going to discover is good enough. Take what you see and you go and you tell. Four words; come, see, go, tell.

So, they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy. What an interesting mix of emotion and they ran to bring his disciples word and as they went to tell his disciples, "Behold," Jesus meet them saying, "Rejoice." In the Old King Jimmy it says, "All hail." That's because this was a common greeting. It would be like walking by somebody and going, "What's up?" or "Howdy?" So they're running, they're on their way. Jesus shows up and says, "Howdy." What's cool about that? What's cool about that is these women did not have their theology right but they have their devotional life right. Theologically, they weren't on track yet. They're learning the resurrection. They're getting their head, their heart around this whole thing. It doesn't make sense to them. This is not what they expected. They had that work eschatology of Judaism that I had spoken to you about so theologically they are wrong, devotionally, they're right. They love Jesus and what they discover peace by peace are going to go out and tell and Jesus shows up to those ladies and says, "Howdy?"

You know sometimes as believers, we get so hardened and tight and legalistic and ungracious with our theology. I'm all for good clean solid right theology but you can have your theology right and you can be so right, you're dead right. You get my drift? You're just dead right. There's no real life in you. Jesus told the church at Ephesus, "You have it all together theologically, you have discernment, you can't stand those who claim to be apostles but are false apostles but you have left your first love. Your together theologically, you're out of order devotionally. You don't love me like you did at first and I submit to you, it's those people not necessarily you have their theology perfect, but their devotional life is perfect, is right at least that Jesus will show up to. He'll show himself to them time and time again and go, "Howdy? It's me, here I am."

Now it's best if you can marry both. Good doctrine, good theology with that passion and that devotion and that love and that response, but it's interesting that theologically they're not quite there yet but devotional they are right and Jesus appears to them and I believe there is a pattern there. Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me." Oh, the graciousness of Christ. "Go and tell my brothers." My brothers? Who are his brothers? Who were his brethren? Well, Peter, John and all of the apostles who fled, disowned, runaway, will be doubting, who denied him. Go and tell my brothers.

Now if I were Jesus, I might have said to Mary afterwards. "Go and tell those losers I have words for them and I want them alone in Galilee." But that's not our Jesus. Our Jesus is so merciful, so merciful, so gracious, so knowing the failures of all of us, says, "Go and tell my brethren, my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me." Now, while they were going behold some of the guard came into the city and reported to the Chief Priest the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money literally silver to the soldiers saying, "Tell them his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept and if this comes to the Governors ears, we will appease him and make you secure." So they took the money and did as they were instructed and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

Go back in your memory and think about what has happened the last few days and especially how these leaders, these authorities were preoccupied from getting the truth out and all of the Shenanigans, all of the unethical behavior that has gone on in the last few days. Number one, the illegality of the trial before Caiaphas and before Anis the high priest, remember we showed you what the Talmud said and the Mishnah said about how trials were to be conducted and they violated every single one of those tenants, the illegality of the trial. Number two, the mob psychology when they were before Pontius Pilate getting the crowd would have, "Crucify him! Crucify him! Release Barabas," and got the whole frenzy going. Number three, blatant bribery. Okay we got to come up with the plan. This has happened, there's an empty tomb and we're going to give you a lot of money and so here's the deal. We'll give you this money, but you have to say that, "While you slept, the disciples stole the body."

Now can you see the whole in that logic? Think about it, that is the most illogical thing that you can ever say because if somebody says, "What happened to Jesus' body? Well, we were sleeping and they stole the body." How would you know who stole the body if you were sleeping? You see, I don't know about you, but when I'm asleep, I might dream things but I can't give you facts of what happened last night. I'm unconscious. It's perfectly illogical. So go back to what I opened with. What Mark Twain said about the lie versus truth, what Ernest Renan said in the 1800s and Hugh Schonfield said in the 1960s and all of the weird ideas about explaining the resurrection because you see, I challenge anyone to explain what happened to Jesus on any other basis other than a miraculous resurrection from the dead.

Now let me run down what some of the common myths are and the common accusations. Number one, we read it here, "The disciples stole the body of Jesus." What's wrong with that? Number one, the disciples were in no mood to steal the body of Jesus. If I read the original documents correctly, they were afraid, they fled, they ran and presently before Jesus appeared to them, they were in the upper room behind lock doors. They were scared to death because they thought they could be killed, they would be next, they would be butchered. So they were in no mood to confront ten to sixteen well-armed men and move the stone.

Number two let's just suppose that the disciples did steal the body. Now for the disciples to steal the body according to this little bribery scheme, the guards have to be asleep. Well, for roman guards to be asleep, they lose their lives. They would sleep in shifts and if you may remember in the Book of Acts when Paul the apostle was in the Philippians jail and a roman soldier guarded him and the prison was opened and the guard was going to kill himself and Paul says, "Don't kill yourself. Do yourself no harm." The reason he was going to kill himself is because he knew it's either I kill myself or I'm going to be killed for falling asleep on the job. But let's say, the soldiers were asleep and the disciples were sneaking around the grave. "Peter, those big fisherman feet." John, quit burping." Okay, okay we haven't woken them yet. Now let's quietly move a two ton stone."

You see how ridiculous that is? That's going to make so much noise all the neighbors are going to hear. So the disciples stole the body, it doesn't make good sense. Here's another myth, some will say, "Well, here's the explanation for the resurrection of Christ." The Jews stole the body. Now play that out in your mind and see how ridiculous that is because in the next several weeks, according to the Book of Acts, the disciples hit the street in Jerusalem and preach the gospel and thousands upon thousands of Jewish people become believers and Yahshua as the messiah, on the basis that he has been raised from the dead physically. Well if the Jews stole the body, all they have to do is produce the body because the priest became so upset that so many people were believing in Jesus based upon the resurrection. All they had to say is, "Time out." There's no resurrection. We stole the body, habeas corpus, we will produce the body, here it is, here he is, here's the evidence that this is all a fabrication.

So you can check those off your list. Third, lame explanation for the resurrection. Well, the women went to a tomb and it wasn't empty tomb but it happened to be the wrong tomb. You see it was early in the morning and your eyesight isn't all that great in the morning and the sun isn't out and everything is grey and if you know the topography of Jerusalem and this is true by the way there are so many tombs scattered around. It'd be easy to get to the wrong tomb. They had tears in their eyes. They were emotionally distraught so they just went to the wrong tomb. What's wrong with that theory? Well, number one, there were several women, not just two if we put all of the records together we find out there was a little group of women so when you have several people who saw the original event of the execution of Jesus and the tomb he was put in, you have less of a chance they're going to go at the wrong tomb but let's suppose they did.

A couple of the women ran and got Peter and John. Peter and John came to the tomb to check it out. You must then suppose not only did all of the women go to the wrong tomb but Peter and John also later on in the day when the sun was up went to the wrong tomb. Number three, you have to suppose that the guards went to the wrong tomb that the Jewish send Hendren went to the wrong tomb, that the angel went to the wrong tomb and then if all of them went to the wrong tomb, all you have to do is ask Joseph of Arimathea that was his tomb and you'd have to say, "Well he went to the wrong tomb as well." So it's not a tenable explanation to explain a way the resurrection, the wrong tomb theory.

Explanation number four, now these have continued on through history. This is a popular one. It's called the Swoon Theory saying that Jesus really didn't die. He just fainted on the cross. He swooned, he was weakened by the lost of blood from the beating, the surcharge and the discharge of blood out of his body and in to his body cavities that he just fainted, he swooned and he was near death but he didn't die. But then he was placed in that cool, damp tomb and the coolness and the dampness of the tomb serve to revive him. Really? Gee! Just a little bit that I know for my little science days and medical days. People who have been beaten severely and are near death don't get better in cool, damp tombs incase like a mummy in wrappings. But, let's suppose that he did, let's suppose that he got better. How did he get out of those tightly round white wrappings? And if he did, how did he manage single handedly to role up hill a two ton stone that had been put in place from the outside?

Okay well, let me think of something else then. Is there anything else? There actually is and that is what I've started with the Hallucination Theory. They hallucinated. They just thought that they saw it. What's wrong with that theory? Couple of things. Number one, hallucinations are never corporate. If we all see the same thing objectively, the chance for collusion is just not high on the probability list. They're not corporate, they maybe individual and psychologist will tell us that people who are predisposed to that certain high strong personalities, emotionally distraught on the ex persons can and often do under extremist, extreme situations, hallucinate, but you have according to 1 Corinthians 15:6, 500 people at one time seeing the resurrected Christ so that's a corporate experience. Number two you have people with all different emotional disposition seeing Jesus. Peter who is sorrowful, Thomas is doubtful, the two of disciples on the Road to Emmaus Luke 24 who were unhopeful and a whole series of people in all different dispositions experiencing in different settings the resurrected Lord.

Let me give me you a close with this because we're about out of time.

There is actually another explanation I heard about recently that is to me, well, it's just stupid. It's that it was the right tomb, the body of Jesus was there, Joseph of Arimathea put it there, sealed up the tomb but later on he had second thoughts. And he thought, "You know what? I don't want Jesus to have my tomb, I want my tomb back. I want it for me and my family, I changed my mind." So that he went back opened up the tomb, took the body of Jesus out and place it somewhere else. So they took the money, Verse 15, and they did as they instructed and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day and it's still is. I've have conversations with some who will still take option number one even though it's not illogical conclusion. The logical conclusion is what we read here and the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them and when they saw him, they worshipped him. Oh, what a worship service that must have been. Unlike any other probably the greatest, most sincere, most emotional worship service throughout history was that worship that day as these disciples now have the reality of all the claims of Jesus Christ. Now substantiated in one fell swoop, he has conquered death like he predicted, he's standing in front of us and they worshipped him.

His divine, he is God in human flesh like he said. I thought my ears were like not hearing that right, but I get it. But then notice what else it says when they saw him they worshipped him but some doubted. I'm saddened by that but I'm glad that's there because it shows me how trustworthy the biographer Matthew was. You see a lot of times people when they want to write biographies of people they just act, ran, dies, the situation and they sensationalize it and it was magnificent and everybody believe and we all lived happily ever after. He pointed out that even after the resurrection that would galvanize the faith. There were some who did not believe. Some still had doubts. I don't know what they thought. It's a trick, it's weird. He said right, I'm seeing things. They worshipped him but some doubted. You know what? That is a description of every church service that has ever existed. Some believe and some doubt. Some have faith and some doubt. A majority might have faith, but there are still some of them. "I don't know. There's something wrong. I want to find out there something else."

Do you want to know what one of the greatest evidences of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is? These disciples. If any of those theories that I mentioned where at all possible or tenable and let's say the disciples knew it, "We stole the body." Let's keep this lie going man. We've come this far." Well we have a problem. Bartholomew was flayed alive, John was boiled in oil. He survived the ordeal and then he was vanished to Patmos. Matthew beaten with the club, Thomas went to India lands in East India with his spear and if you go through the list of all of the apostles, all of them died a violent death except John who was vanished to Patmos and then survived and died in Ephesus.

Don't you think that if they knew this was a lie, that somebody stole the body or any of these things were untenable that one of them would have broken especially history tells us that not only did they die but their families in some case were also killed? Don't you think that's — okay, time out, I've known this is a lie from the beginning. I'm going to break and tell the truth. That consistent testimony that brought the suffering and death of these apostles — history shows us. It's one of the greatest evidences for the tenability, believability, authenticity of the resurrection of Christ in the New Testament. They worshipped him but some doubted and Jesus spoke to them saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Back in Verse 18, here's the idea, all authority. Based on all of the authority that has been given to me — you see the days of Jesus' humiliation are over with. Jesus died but Philippians says, "God having exalted him has given him a name above all names that if the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow, every tongue should confess. Soon Jesus would be ascending to the right hand of the majesty, later on and we're still waiting for it, he will come back, take his church and later come back with his church to the earth to rule and to reign. Daniel Chapter 7, talks about the dominion that was given to the Son of Man in that vision of Chapter 7 of Daniel as the Son of Man stood before the ancient of days.

The humiliation is over, the glorification has come and soon his reign. I can't wait for that day. All authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth. So on the basis of Jesus' authority, we are to go — Verse 19, "Go therefore and make disciples." Go out with the authority of Christ. He told you to do it, do it and when you do it, know that you have the commissioning authority of the Son of God to preach, to teach and to make disciples. That's why you can be bold. You have all of his authority that has been given to him that he passed unto you, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit."

Now I got to tell you something about Verse 19. The main word in that verse is not the word "go". I know missionaries would like to say that it is but it is not. The main word in that chapter, the main verb is make disciples. Disciple, the noun is Mathetes in Greek. The verb form, the lexical verb form is Matheteo and the word here for make disciples is Matheteusate something like that. It means to disciplize and here is how it is to be rendered. Having gone disciplize or on your way, I'm implying that you will be — wherever you go. If you go to your job, if you go across the world, if you go across the street, if you go to your son's bedroom or visit your parents having gone as you go and live your life. Disciplize that is reproduce yourself in others.

You see, never in Jesus' thinking was just simply raising up the hand or the conversion experience to be all end of it. You reproduce yourself so the life of Christ that is in you, you see reproduced in other people as you both follow Jesus together. You disciplize them, all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observed all things that I have commanded you and low I am with you always even to the end of the age. Amen.

Close with this, if you're a believer, go. If you're an unbeliever, come and see and then go and tell. If you're a believer, go, that's the commission. I'm not saying go away, I'm not saying, I never want to see you here again. I do want to see you her again, we're a family. But in the process of you're going wherever you go make disciples of all nations. I've been influenced by a guy who's been dead for over a century. He's name is William Sangster. Great preacher wrote about preaching. William Sangster had a debilitating disease where he was becoming more paralyzed and the paralysis would eventually overtake his whole body and kill him and one Easter Sunday, his vocal chords were paralyzed, he was a preacher. But he had enough strength and ability to write on a note of paper a message for his daughter and the message read this, "How horrible, on Easter Sunday to have no voice, to shout he his risen but far worst is to have a voice and not want to shout, he has risen."

You have a voice, go and tell. If you're an unbeliever, come and see and go and remember I said there are three credentials of Jesus Christ, his impact on history fulfilled prophecy and his resurrection. You get those things aligned and if you have doubts, then come and see and check it out for yourself. Give your life to Christ and see what he will do and I base all of that on the resurrected power of Christ.

(Applause)

Some years ago, a Muslim in Africa was converted to Christ. I believe in Egypt. A Muslim is converted to Christ, when some who knew him were angry and wanted an explanation as to how, why would he leave Islam and convert to Jesus Christ. He said this, "If you were walking down the street and you came to a fork in the road and you didn't know which way to go and there were two men who were there, one was alive and was dead, which one would you ask for directions? I would ask the one who rose from the dead, conquered the grave. Come and see and when you do by God's grace you will go and tell."

Father we bow our heads, we bow our hearts in so doing we humble ourselves before you as your mathetes, your disciples, your learners, your followers. We're trying to get this right. We're trying to understand as much as we can about who you are and who Jesus is what he wants us to do because we see this thing as a relationship. Something that is living and real and authentic and we want to follow you, we want to know where you're leading us to go. I pray father for your people, your church just like we saw on that video of some going across the world and others here in this church going across town and sharing. Lord, just put that unction, that urge to just obey you enough to open our mouth this week and see what you'll do with it, even if it's just to invite a person to come and hear a gospel message or to read or to be a part of an event. Give us that boldness. I pray Lord if there's ay here who don't know you tonight that they would come and see and experience who Jesus is.

As our heads our bowed, as you're thinking about your own life, your own experiences so far, you ask yourself, are you satisfied with what you've experience so far in life? Or you're thinking I wish there was something more and I wish that more would include my own forgiveness, newness of life and a relationship with the living God? It can if you come and see that you have to come and you have to see. We often give these opportunities for people to begin their life of discipleship with the decision, perhaps the Lord has been speaking to you of late and maybe more so tonight i don't know but he's been drawing you into a relationship with himself. You're tired of religion it hasn't given you any answers. You're tired of just going to a church it hasn't given you any answers, if you want to walk with the living God and have a relationship with him.

Maybe you once walked closely to the Lord but you're not in fellowship any longer and you want to experience that peace again and you need to come back to him. Then you come and if that describes any of you as we close in prayer and then in the moment close in song, if that describes you, I want you to raise your hand up in the air so that I can see your hand, I'll acknowledge your hand and I'll pray for you as we close this service. Just lift your hand up and say Skip pray me or here I surrender or bless you in the back in the way back I see your hand on my left. Couple of you right here in the middle, right up in the front, on the side by the isle on my right. Anyone else, raise your hand up. Even if you're in the family, raise your hand up, any takers in the balcony, any the receivers in the balcony.

Father I pray indeed we all pray for those who have raise those hands, those were lives, those were individuals for whom Jesus died on the cross. Oh how deeply you love each one and how you long to wipe the slate clean and give them the assurance of salvation through your son Jesus. Do that Lord, we pray those who are watching by the internet or listening by radio we pray the same thing, in Jesus name, Amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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9/7/2011
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Matthew 1:1-18
Matthew 1:1-18
Skip Heitzig
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As we turn our attention to the New Testament, Pastor Skip explains what transpired during the 400 years of silence since the Old Testament. Our firm grasp of the political setting, language, and Matthew's purpose and perspective establishes a solid foundation for understanding his gospel. In Matthew 1, we see Jesus revealed as the royal Heir to the throne of David—the Messiah, Immanuel: God with us.
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9/14/2011
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Matthew 1:18-2:23
Matthew 1:18-2:23
Skip Heitzig
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Every year people around the world recognize the birth of a poor Jewish child born in an insignificant city. The birth of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the Scriptures, beckons us to worship and obey the King of the Jews. Let's examine Matthew's account of the miraculous circumstances of the nativity and the prophecies it fulfilled.
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9/21/2011
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Matthew 3
Matthew 3
Skip Heitzig
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Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest man among those born of women. John saw himself in the light of who Jesus is: not even worthy to loose His sandal. From the womb, he was filled with the Spirit, continually pointing people to Christ. Let's consider this powerful prophet, his ministry, and the message he preached.
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9/28/2011
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Matthew 4:1-17
Matthew 4:1-17
Skip Heitzig
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Prior to the start of Jesus' public earthly ministry, He was led up to be tempted by the devil. As we review His encounter with Satan, we uncover important principles of spiritual warfare. We consider not only when and how Jesus was tempted, but also how He fought—and the ministry that began on the heels of the battle.
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10/5/2011
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Matthew 4:18-5:4
Matthew 4:18-5:4
Skip Heitzig
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Leaving life as they knew it, the disciples followed Jesus and became intimate witnesses of Jesus' teaching, preaching, and healing. As we dive into this portion of Matthew, we turn our attention to their calling and listen in as Jesus begins the greatest sermon ever preached.
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10/19/2011
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Matthew 5:5-16
Matthew 5:5-16
Skip Heitzig
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The economy in God's Kingdom is quite different from that of the world: it's paradoxical; it's progressive. Let's consider the Beatitudes and discover what kingdom living looks like, and how it impacts those around us.
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10/26/2011
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Matthew 5:17-32
Matthew 5:17-32
Skip Heitzig
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The multitudes listening to Jesus teach were undoubtedly shaken by His powerful statement: "Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). How, then, could one be saved? As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we remember that salvation is not available through human achievement--only by divine accomplishment.
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11/2/2011
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Matthew 5:33-6:8
Matthew 5:33-6:8
Skip Heitzig
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As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we'll grow in our understanding of the contrasts between the world and the kingdom of heaven. Followers of Jesus are called to a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees—a righteousness based on our genuine relationship with Christ, rather than mere outward obedience.
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11/9/2011
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Matthew 6:9-34
Matthew 6:9-34
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Jesus taught His disciples to pray in this manner: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, we learn that when we make God's kingdom our focus, He provides everything we need.
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11/16/2011
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Matthew 7
Matthew 7
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Jesus calls His followers to live differently from the world -- to live a kingdom lifestyle. In this study from the Sermon on the Mount, we consider what kingdom living looks like in both our relationships with others and our relationship with God.
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12/7/2011
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Matthew 8:1-26
Matthew 8:1-26
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Throughout his gospel account, Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah. Building upon the foundation of fulfilled prophecy, Jesus' identity is authenticated by miraculous signs. As we examine Matthew chapter eight, let's consider the compassion and grace Jesus demonstrates.
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1/18/2012
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Matthew 8:23-9:9
Matthew 8:23-9:9
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Matthew carefully crafted his gospel to speak directly to the hearts of his Jewish audience. Through his detailed record of Jesus' genealogy, fulfilled prophecy, Jesus' actions, instructions, and miracles, Matthew proves that Jesus is Messiah. Let's take a close look at several of those miracles, and gain a firm grasp of His Deity.
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1/25/2012
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Matthew 9:10-31
Matthew 9:10-31
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To the Pharisees, tax collectors and sinners were part of a lower, unpleasant class. But Jesus longed for fellowship with all people. He shared intimate meals with them, ministered to their needs, and reached out to the unlovely. As we study this passage in Matthew 9, we learn how we are also called to be heralds of the good news that brings spiritual health and enduring joy.
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2/1/2012
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Matthew 9:32-10:31
Matthew 9:32-10:31
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The Lord calls His followers to proclaim His message to the world—we are appointed to carry out a divine purpose. We learn in this study that we, like the apostles, find abundant life only in letting go of our own ambitions, plans, and comfort.
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2/8/2012
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Matthew 10:32-11:19
Matthew 10:32-11:19
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In His second major discourse of Matthew, Jesus equips and instructs His apostles about going into the world and reaping the spiritual harvest. In this passage, Jesus expounds on the courage needed to complete the mission and warns His followers of certain persecution. He reminds us that while not all who hear will believe, God's wisdom is powerfully demonstrated in changed lives.
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2/15/2012
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Matthew 11:16-30
Matthew 11:16-30
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In order to truly worship God, you must know Him. Speaking clearly and openly in this passage, Jesus proclaims some of His strongest warnings and makes some of His most intimate promises. He reveals the Father to His followers and assures us that life lived under His rule yields peace and rest.
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2/22/2012
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Matthew 12:1-21
Matthew 12:1-21
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Though God intended the Sabbath to be a day of rest, keeping the Sabbath became difficult work by New Testament times. The oral traditions of the Pharisees had become weighty burdens-burdens the Lord did not mean for His people to bear. In this passage, Jesus demonstrates mercy and the true intent of the Sabbath as He and His disciples meet physical needs in the face of strong opposition.
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2/29/2012
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Matthew 12:22-42
Matthew 12:22-42
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Though our current culture embraces a form of spirituality, the biblical view of God, Satan, and good versus evil has been dismissed by most. Ignorance and indifference cause them to relegate Satan to the stuff of fairy tales and myth. In this study from Matthew 12, Jesus demonstrates His authority over the devil and his minions--giving us a glimpse into the supernatural and a reminder that, "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).
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3/7/2012
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Matthew 12:43-13:17
Matthew 12:43-13:17
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Jesus consistently brought His message of hope to the common man: He spoke in parables to bring revelation to His followers and to conceal heavenly truth from the hard-hearted. In this message, we examine parables of our Master Teacher and Holy Judge, and discover that truth can be a blessing, but also a curse--we must be diligent to understand and apply God's Word to our lives.
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3/14/2012
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Matthew 13:18-52
Matthew 13:18-52
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Jesus often used parables to explain spiritual truth to His followers. In Matthew 13, His seven kingdom parables are recorded--word pictures which explain the beginning, opposition, expansion, and culmination of His kingdom. Let's consider His teachings and apply these lessons, so that we may be fellow workers with Him in spreading the good news.
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3/21/2012
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Matthew 13:53-14:36
Matthew 13:53-14:36
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In this passage from the gospel of Matthew, we see powerful examples of the results of both faith and the lack of it. Those who might have known Jesus best failed to trust in Him and missed out on His work in their lives, while others were carried through the storm in His care. As we consider our own trials, we should rest in His hands, knowing He has power to change us and use our lives for His glory.
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3/28/2012
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Matthew 15
Matthew 15
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God is less concerned with the outward appearance than He is with the inward attitude. In this passage, Jesus boldly proclaims truth in a confrontation with the Pharisees, warning his followers to avoid hypocrisy. We also witness His tender response to the persistent faith of a Gentile woman, and His mercy for the multitudes. As we study Matthew 15, let's consider our own approach to Him: Do we recognize that we cannot live without Him?
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4/11/2012
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Matthew 16:1-20
Matthew 16:1-20
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Through stern rebuke, gentle prodding, and powerful teaching, Jesus instructs those around Him about who He is and how we can know and serve Him. Matthew 16 records several lessons in faith - warnings and wisdom which encourage us in our own spiritual journey.
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4/25/2012
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Matthew 16:21-17:27
Matthew 16:21-17:27
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Jesus calls His followers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. From this passage, we gain a clearer understanding of what it means to exalt Him as King in our lives and also get a preview of His future glory, when He will reign over all the earth.
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5/2/2012
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Matthew 18
Matthew 18
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How should sin be dealt with? As we examine Matthew 18, we learn not only to deal radically with sin in our own lives, but also the steps toward reconciliation with a sinning brother.
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6/13/2012
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Matthew 19
Matthew 19
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In the U.S., the lifestyle of Christians often mirrors that of unbelievers--divorce, self-indulgence, misaligned priorities. Using God's Word to teach lessons about divorce and eternal life, Jesus exhorts his followers to enter the kingdom of heaven--to live in wholehearted faith and obedience to the Him. Let's consider what Scripture says about godly living and the reward Jesus promises to His faithful followers.
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6/20/2012
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Matthew 20
Matthew 20
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As followers of Christ, what awaits us in eternity? In this study, we consider not only our eternal home but also our eternal reward. Saved by grace through faith, we must see beyond the circumstances and status of this world, and look toward our future glory.
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7/11/2012
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Matthew 21:1-32
Matthew 21:1-32
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In this intriguing passage, Jesus enters Jerusalem in a precise fulfillment of prophecy. It's an exciting study, where those who know they need forgiveness find refreshment and hope—and those who rely on their own righteousness receive a stern rebuke.
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7/18/2012
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Matthew 21:33-22:22
Matthew 21:33-22:22
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Jesus taught with complete authority, denouncing the misconceptions of the religious leaders of the day. With skill and precision, Jesus uses parables and their own words to silence their challenges and expose their motives. Let's consider His words, heed His warnings, and remember that He alone is righteous and worthy of praise.
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7/25/2012
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Matthew 22:23-23:39
Matthew 22:23-23:39
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In dealing with the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus speaks wisely, uncompromisingly, and with the authority of heaven—His Words shoot straight to the heart. Though many try to fit Jesus into their pre-conceived mold—to accept Him and His Words only as far as they are comfortable—we learn here danger of that the perilous position.
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8/1/2012
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Matthew 24:1-30
Matthew 24:1-30
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In this passage—the Olivet Discourse— Jesus provides a summary of end time events: the future of the world. We look forward to the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus, but those found outside of Christ face unparalleled suffering and judgment. Let's contemplate the wrath of God that's in store for this world—and share the hope of the gospel with those who don't yet know Him.
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8/8/2012
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Matthew 24:31-25:46
Matthew 24:31-25:46
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In this section of the Olivet Discourse, we consider Jesus' Warning Parables. As we examine the text, let's remember that while the church escapes judgment, many are left to suffer the Great Tribulation. We must be righteous, be ready, and be responsible.
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8/15/2012
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Matthew 26:1-30
Matthew 26:1-30
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As Jesus gathered with His disciples to observe the Passover one last time, He brought fresh meaning to a festival which had been celebrated for thousands of years. Rather than a memorial to their physical deliverance from bondage in Egypt, the meal represents His broken body and shed blood—and spiritual deliverance from sin for those who believe.
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8/22/2012
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Matthew 26:31-75
Matthew 26:31-75
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Following the Last Supper, Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane and willingly surrendered Himself to the will of the Father: Jesus was crushed for our sin, abandoned to the Cross, so that we might have fellowship with Him. As we study Matthew 26, we consider the spiritual battle before us, the choices we make, and the ultimate victory that is ours through Jesus Christ.
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8/29/2012
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Matthew 27:1-50
Matthew 27:1-50
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In this message, we see the ultimate demonstration of God's love—the cross. Jesus, the King of the Jews, was betrayed, falsely accused, illegally tried, scourged, and ultimately crucified. As we consider the details of His crucifixion and death, how could we be anything except amazed and humbled?
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9/19/2012
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Matthew 27:50-66
Matthew 27:50-66
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As He hung on the cross, betrayed by his friends and separated from His Father, Jesus declared "It is finished!" Victorious, not defeated—He completed the work the Father gave Him to do. In that dark hour, the grave gave up some of her dead, the earth quaked, and in the temple, the curtain that separated men from God was torn from top to bottom. As we study this text, let's consider the price Jesus paid to redeem us and the personal, intimate fellowship with God now available.
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There are 36 additional messages in this series.
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