LOOKING AT THE RESURRECTION;
HIS;  THEIRS, and OURS
Matt 27:62-66, 1Thes 4:16-18, 1 Cor 15:50-52

62 Now on the next day, which is {the one} after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate,    63 and said, "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I {am to} rise again.'   64 "Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest the disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse than the first."
65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it {as} secure as you know how."    66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone. (NAS)

1Thes 4:16-18
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of {the} archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.   17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.   18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (NAS)

1 Cor 15:50-52
50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.    51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,    52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and
the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (NAS)

INTRODUCTION
Here is a letter written to a local advice column along with the response:

Dear Eutychus:
Our preacher said, on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely,

Bewildered

Dear Bewildered:
Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy strokes, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his side; embalm him; put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens. Sincerely, Eutychus

I want us to look at three Resurrections today.

1. Looking at . . His Resurrection.

2. Looking at . . Their Resurrection. .

3. Looking at . . Our Resurrection.
 

A.    The Stone . . did not stop His Resurrection.
 

B.    The Seal . . did not stop His Resurrection.
 

C.    The Soldiers . . did not stop His Resurrection.
 

ILLUSTRATION
When the Garden Tomb was discovered in 1885, the godly General Gordon was convinced that this was the place where the body of Jesus had lain. There is a traditional tomb inside the wall of modern Jerusalem, but no certainty attaches to the site.

The Garden Tomb, hidden for centuries, was covered with rubbish twenty feet high. When they first cleared the spot, with great caution they gathered all the dust and debris within the tomb and carefully shipped it to the Scientific Association of Great Britain. Every part of it was analyzed, but there was no trace of human remains. If this is the real tomb of Christ, then Jesus was the first to be laid there and he was also the last. -- Alliance Weekly

APPLICATION

WEe serve a risen savior.   Because He lives we know we can live a productive life.
 

A. There will be a . . Vocal Shout from Heaven. v 16 a
 

B. There will be a . . Victory Sound from Heaven. v 16 b
 

C. There will be a . . Vacating Sequence from Heaven. v 16 c
        1. I'M Out of here.
        2. The dead in Christ go first because they are 6'-0" more to go.

ILLUSTRATION
A person is not really ready to live until he is ready to die. It was a dark night in Marshfield, October 24, 1852. Daniel Webster was dying. He was ready. His physician, a very sensitive man named Dr. Jeffries had ministered as much medicine as he could and as was practically possible. He realized that death was near and he chose to be a friend rather than a physician at that moment and he picked up an old rather well worn hymn book that Webster had often sung from and he chose to read the words of one of his favorite hymns:

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

He read every stanza, when he got to the last, Webster's lips were moving, though no sound came:

When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave,
then in a nobler, sweeter song,

And he looked at Webster, their eyes met, and Webster uttered 3 final words: Amen, Amen, Amen!
 

APPLICATION

Those who have died in the Lord will be raised (bodily) before any of those who are alive.
 
 

A. We may be . . Caught away. 1 Thes 4:17 a
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together. . . "

John 10:28-29 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish;
and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.    29 "My Father, who has given {them} to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch {them} out of the Father's hand.  (NAS)

Acts 8:39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.  (NAS )

B. We may be in the . . Clouds. 1 Thes 4:17 b
        ". . . with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, . . . "

    1. My granddaughter, Savannah, no mommy clouds are up there that's smoke.
    2. Rod Parsly "I want to stop about Six Feet up and say "I told you so"
        to several people.

C. We can be. . Comfort Givers. 1 Thes 4:18
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
 

ILLUSTRATION
Her little girl was late arriving home from school, the mother began to scold her:
"Why are you so late?"   "I had to help another girl. She was in trouble."

"What did you do to help her?"   "Oh, I sat down and helped her cry."
 

D. We will be . . Changed 1 Cor 15:51-52
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet;
for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we
shall be changed. (NAS)
 

ILLUSTRATION
An old legend tells of a parish priest who found a branch of a thorn tree twisted around so that it resembled a crown of thorns. Thinking it a symbol of the crucifixion of Christ, he took it into his chapel and placed it on the altar on Good Friday.

Early on Easter morning he remembered what he had done. Feeling it was not appropriate for Easter Sunday, he hurried into the church to clear it away before the congregation came. But when he came into the church, he found the thorn branches blossoming with beautiful roses.

RESURRECTION  will happen for all.  Some to life and some to death.
In Christ we will have life without Christ there will be death.

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