Miracle of Resurrected Saints

In this part of the sermon: The focus shifts to Matthew 27:52-53, detailing the facts of the miracle: tombs were opened, many bodies of saints were raised, and they came forth from their tombs. Martin…

Martin contrasts a general earthquake causing tombs to cave in with the text's description of tombs being 'opened' in an orderly manner, arguing this points to a divine, selective act rather than a natural side effect.

And as we read in verse 60 of this very chapter, the sepulcher in which our Lord was placed was hewn out in the rock. And so our text leads us to believe that no sooner does our Lord yield His Spirit into the hands of His Father, that while the earth is shaking, and the rocks are being sheared, and the attention of people is being directed to these various phenomena, they also see that the stones which close over these above-ground graves or tombs or sepulchers hewn in the sides of rocky structures, that those graves are being opened. Now some commentators very carelessly attribute this to a k...

14:21 - 15:44 Read in full sermon

The point: If we are ever to come to any solid assurance of our acceptance in Christ and any well grounded assurance that will enable us to look straight into the grim eye of death and the reality of the cold earth of the grave and…

He uses the analogy of Adam not acting as a private person but with all humanity 'piggybacked' on him, to explain how Christ stood as the head of a new humanity, with God's elect 'piggybacked' on Him in His life, death, and resurrection.

in other words it was no strange thought that his work was to have virtue and efficacy for all of his people however there was nothing about his appearance which would indicate that he sustained such a relationship to all of his chosen ones that his life his death and his resurrection were the life death and resurrection of the head of a whole new humanity now this truth is fully explained in Romans 5 12 to 21 there the great apostle opens it up in language that cannot be misunderstood that it is as Adam did not act as a private person in his first transgression but stood with the whole human ...

34:11 - 35:39 Read in full sermon

The point: If we are ever to come to any solid assurance of our acceptance in Christ and any well grounded assurance that will enable us to look straight into the grim eye of death and the reality of the cold earth of the grave and…

Martin asks the listener to imagine standing with the centurion, witnessing the earthquake, shearing rocks, and then the orderly opening of tombs and saints emerging, to grasp the immediate connection between Christ's death and their resurrection.

and as through the one death came upon all so through the one life will come to the all who are given to him piggybacked upon him joined to him there the truth is fully explicated and set before us in a more condensed form we find it in 1 Corinthians 15 45 and 49 but it's the same truth but now take yourself back to the cross and see how this truth though not set forth with the clarity of Paul's didactic words in Romans 5 surely God is making the message clear by his deeds there you are standing with that centurion and your fellow soldiers and the devout women who are off at a distance looking...

35:39 - 37:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Until this immolated, bruised, contused Christ, rejected by man, lying under the anathema of God under darkened heavens, until He becomes to you the pearl of great price, for which you're willing to sell everything else,…

Martin reflects on singing 'Time like a rolling stream bears all its sons away,' contemplating his own mortality and future grave, but finding confidence in the promise of resurrection based on Christ's conquest of death.

For which you're willing to sell everything else. You are yet bound to your sins and you have no real hope in life, death, in the grave, or in the day of judgment. But blessed be God when we have seen in the bowed head and in the self-giving of the Lord Jesus in death God's own pledge to us that in His death He conquered death. And secured infallibly the resurrection of all His own. When we see that, then we sing as we did this morning, time like a rolling stream bears all its sons away. When we sang that verse, you know, it went through my mind, if the Lord tarries, I said, God, in a few shor...

53:17 - 54:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third message is that the miracle constitutes a convincing validation of Jesus' personal claims, particularly 'I am the resurrection and the life.' The appearance of the…

He creates a vivid scenario of a long-dead uncle appearing at one's door after Christ's resurrection, to illustrate the shock and convincing validation of Jesus' claims that the raised saints would have provided to Jerusalem's inhabitants.

When He saw, when He saw what happened, there was a convincing validation of the personal claims of Jesus. Well, just try to relive. What happened after Sunday morning, Christ is raised from the dead, and the news spreads through the believing community, and shortly thereafter, your uncle that you buried ten years ago shows up at your door.

57:33 - 58:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third message is that the miracle constitutes a convincing validation of Jesus' personal claims, particularly 'I am the resurrection and the life.' The appearance of the…

The story of Peter knocking at the door and the believers thinking it was his ghost is used to show that people in that era believed in an 'open universe' and the supernatural, making the appearance of raised saints even more impactful.

You talk about a little excitement. You remember what happened in the book of Acts with a bunch of believers when they're praying for Peter. James had had his head knocked off, and they're praying for Peter. And the little maid comes up to Peter.

58:04 - 58:21 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third message is that the miracle constitutes a convincing validation of Jesus' personal claims, particularly 'I am the resurrection and the life.' The appearance of the…

Martin recounts a personal moment of revelation while driving to church, realizing the connection between Lazarus' raising and Jesus' 'I am the resurrection' claim, leading him to shout 'Hallelujah' in excitement.

And it was driving here to church today as I was wrestling. Lord, there's still one more key that brings us all together. Lord, what is it? What is it?

60:43 - 60:55 Read in full sermon