Theological Implications of the Resurrection #5

Introduction and Prayer for Illumination

0:06 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, August 12, 1990, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:19 Now may I urge you to follow with me in your Bibles as I read two portions of the Word of God this morning. One, that probably for the last time we shall read together in the context of our expositions of Mark, Mark chapter 16, 1 through 8. And then a brief section from the 28th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Mark chapter 16, verse 1.

1:12 They were saying among themselves, Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the tomb? And looking up, they see that the stone is rolled back, for it was exceeding great. And entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, arrayed in a white robe, and they were amazed. He saith unto them, Be not amazed.

1:40 Ye seek Jesus the Nazarene, who hath been crucified. He is risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid him.

1:51 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall ye see him as he sat unto you. And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling in astonishment had come upon them. And they said nothing to anyone.

2:12 For they... Were afraid.

2:15 Now Matthew chapter 28, verses 11 through 15.

2:25 Shortly after the conclusion of the incidents recorded in the verses from Mark that I've read in your hearing, we read in verse 11 of Matthew 28, Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city, and told unto the chief priests, all the things that were come to pass. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave much money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, his disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

3:06 And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and rid you of care. So they took the money, and did, as they were taught. And this saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continueth until this day. Now let us again bow before the Lord, and ask God by the Holy Spirit to do as we have sung, to show Christ to us from his own holy word.

3:39 Let us pray. Our Father, though we have come, some of us, hundreds and even thousands, of times to your word, we feel as keenly this morning as we did the first time we came, with any serious desire to know your mind, that apart from the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, we will consider the words of Scripture in vain. And therefore we pause to beg of you, to plead with you, that according to your promise, you would give the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit,

4:21 even to this congregation that now corporately calls upon you, that he would be sent among us as the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of illumination, the Spirit of faith, the Spirit of conviction. O Lord, send the Spirit so to attend the word, that Christ himself shall come to us, in the setting forth of his own truth. Amen. Amen.

4:49 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

4:49 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

4:49 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

4:49 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

4:49 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

4:49 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

4:50 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

4:50 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

4:50 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

4:51 Amen. Now, those of you who have been following us in our expositions of the Gospel of Mark, well know that we have considered the fact of the resurrection and the empty tomb as recorded in the 16th chapter of Mark, verses 1 through 8. Having done that, we spent several Lord's Days opening up various passages of the Word of God in which the implications of the resurrection and the empty and open tomb are set forth for our instruction. We examined the implications of the resurrection for the Lord Himself.

The Sanhedrin's Attempt to Deny the Resurrection

5:37 Then we considered the implications of the resurrection for us and for our salvation. And finally, we contemplated the implications of the resurrection for the world. At large. Now, this morning, we turn to an incident recorded only by Matthew, in which an attempt was made to deny the validity of the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and therefore to undercut all of the implications of that resurrection for Christ Himself, for us and for our salvation.

6:19 And, in this particular passage read in your hearing, we have the record of how the facts of eyewitness testimony are replaced by flimsy and ludicrous lies, buttressed by a bag of money, and promoted by unprincipled religious leaders. And if I were forced to give a title to the world, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say,

6:57 would be this, the ludicrous and lying attempt to deny and cover up the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. The ludicrous and lying attempt to deny and cover up the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. Now in opening up the passage, we shall consider the four groupings of the facts as they very naturally unfold in the text itself, and then I trust to have time to draw out four

The Report of the Soldiers

7:34 very vital applications from the passage. We have first of all then in the passage itself the report of the soldiers, verse 11 of Matthew 28. And while they, that is the disciples, were going,

7:55 I'm sorry, the women, while they were going and making their way back to the rest of their group, some of the guard came into the city and told unto the chief priest all the things that were come to pass. Now these verses will make no sense unless we recall what was previously set before us in verses three and four of Matthew 28 and the last paragraph of Matthew 27. You will remember that on the Sabbath day itself,

8:36 the Sanhedrin remembered the words of Jesus while He was yet alive, saying that after three days He would rise from the dead. And remembering those words and having a sneaking suspicion that they might just come to pass, they secured from Pilate, a military guard, to make sure that the disciples would not be able to come and take his body away. And verse 66 of chapter 27 reads, so they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, the guard being with them. And so the members of the Sanhedrin actually accompany the

9:21 Roman guard that is turned over for their use by Pilate, and they see with their own eyes that the official seal of the governor is placed upon the door of the tomb, the stone that covered the entrance. They see that the guard is posted in full military garb and in military fashion, and they feel a sense of security that they can now leave assured that in no way, will the body of Jesus be removed from the tomb. However, on that first day of the week,

9:58 that first Lord's Day morning, there was a great earthquake at that tomb, and an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. Verse 3 of Matthew 28, his appearance was as lightning, his raiment white as the snow, and for fear of him, the watchers did quake, same word used for the earth quaking, and became as dead men. So these soldiers posted by the tomb of our Lord, the earth shaked beneath them when a great earthquake

10:40 occurred, and they saw this mighty angel of the Lord who was present. They saw the stone rolled away. They were witnesses to the great earthquake. And so they went and made the sepulcher sure, these various miracles that accompanied the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. There is no indication that they actually saw the Lord himself, though there is every

11:09 indication to believe that they heard the message of the angel who spoke to the women saying, he is not here, he is risen, come see the place where he lay. Well, part of this contingent of the soldiers, how many, we do not know, they make their way quickly back into Jerusalem, and in a very real sense, they become unwittingly the first public witnesses of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the text says, while the women were going to their own groups, some of the guards were going to their own groups, and some of the

11:52 guards came into the city and told unto the chief priest all the things that were come to pass. So these excited soldiers who have just come from a situation in which for a few moments they appeared as dead men, so struck were they by this miraculous earthquake, this visitation of the angel, this rolling away of the stone from the mouth of the sepulcher, that they hastened back to Jerusalem, back to the Sanhedrin. For remember, they were loaned to the Sanhedrin by Pilate, and that is why they went to the Sanhedrin rather than go to the military or to the civil authorities, and they

12:36 reported everything that they had seen and heard. They were eyewitnesses of the miraculous and strange events which surrounded the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. And one can only imagine the sense of horror when these Roman soldiers, with nothing to gain and everything to lose, for in not keeping charge over the body in that sepulcher, they were

13:13 liable to capital punishment. With nothing to gain and everything to lose, they report precisely what they have seen. They report precisely what they have seen. They report precisely what they have seen.

13:24 Into the ears of the chief priests, the leaders of the Sanhedrin. So that's the report of the soldiers. Now notice, secondly, the response of the Sanhedrin to this report. Verses 12 through 14.

The Response of the Sanhedrin

13:45 And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave much money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept, and if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and rid you of care. The high priests, the leaders of the Sanhedrin, gathered the other members of the Sanhedrin together when it says they assembled with the elders, as we've seen in our studies in Mark, that is technical language to describe a plenary gathering of the Sanhedrin.

14:28 They gather them together, and they have mutual discussion as to what they will do in the light of this report to them brought by the soldiers. And after the deliberations of the keenest minds of these religious leaders, the best thing they can come up with is a proposition that involves saying, Do you see them there in the text? Number one, they bribed the soldiers with a large sum of money. They had taken counsel, then they gave much money, much silver, unto the soldiers.

15:11 So the first thing they do is very liberally grease the palm of the soldiers. They bribe them with a large sum. Sum of money. Secondly, they frame a lying cover-up and put it into the minds and upon the lips of the soldiers.

15:32 This is the lying cover-up. They gave them much money, saying, Say ye, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept. They concocted this lying notion out of the stuff. Of their own perverse, lying, Christ-hating, truth-hating, devil-like hearts.

16:02 They bribe the soldiers, they frame a lying cover-up, and then thirdly, they promise immunity to the soldiers should the story come to the ears of Pilate. See the language? And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and rid you of care. You see, they knew.

16:27 If Pilate heard that some of his soldiers slept while on duty, his natural reaction would be to summon them before a military tribunal, condemn them to death, and execute them. But they said, don't worry about Pilate. We've already learned he can be handled. You see, in the whole complex of events surrounding the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, they had learned Pilate was an unprincipled, Pilate could be bought off with their shouts.

16:59 For though Pilate publicly declared Jesus innocent, and even went through that ritual of washing his hands, he could still be manipulated by this very crowd. And so they said, have no worries. If this comes to the ears of Pilate, and Pilate consults with us, we'll take care of the matter. We know he's the kind of man that we can manipulate.

17:26 And Philo, the secular historian, says that just as Felix, and this is recorded in Scripture in Acts chapter 24, Felix was a man who welcomed brides. Remember he said he wanted to see Paul, hoping to get his palm greased by Paul? And Philo, the secular historian, says that Pilate was made of the same stuff, and he was known to be a man that could be bought off quite easily. By anyone who sought to manipulate him.

17:58 So the response of the Sanhedrin, or the high priest to the report, is to call a plenary meeting of the entire Sanhedrin, discuss their options, and then come up with this proposal, in which they bribe the soldiers, frame a lie, and put it in the mind and upon the lips of the soldiers, and promise them immunity from any, any further and subsequent problems with Pilate. So here we have the highest governing body in Israel, conspiring and making an official decision

18:38 to cover up the fact of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And they attempt to do it with a ludicrous lie, with base bribery, and the confidence that they could, if necessary, manipulate an unprincipled Roman governor. Well, having looked at the report of the soldiers, secondly, the response of the Sanhedrin, now notice, thirdly, the reaction of the soldiers to this proposal. The reaction of the soldiers to this proposal.

The Reaction of the Soldiers and the Result of the Transaction

19:19 Verse 15a. So they, that is, the guard, called here the soldiers, took the money, and did, they were taught. With a kind of sickening simplicity, Matthew sums up the reaction of the soldiers in two statements. They took the money.

19:46 While they could never scrub from the walls of their memories that they felt as they kept, their guard. While they could never erase from their consciousness and from their minds the visitation of the angel of the Lord that struck them dead, nonetheless, for the sake of a handful of silver, they agreed to carry out and perpetuate this lie. They took the money, and secondly, they did, as they were programmed.

20:29 They did as they were taught. Probably not until after Pentecost, and Peter and the other apostles, and the people of God began to bear witness to Jesus and the resurrection. Some would want to know whether or not there was validation from this guard. And when anyone would come and say, look, weren't you one of the soldiers who was there?

20:54 Yes, I was. Well, what really happened? Well, we fell asleep and the disciples stole his body. And so they did as they were programmed.

21:04 They took the money, and then they kept their end of the deal. They propagated this lie whenever they were pressed to do so. That was the reaction of the soldiers. Then fourthly and finally in the passage, what was the result of the whole transaction?

21:22 The result of the whole transaction is summarized in the last part of verse 15, and this saying was spread abroad among the Jews literally until this day. Two things were the result of this transaction. Number one, this ludicrous lie was extensively propagated among the Jews. When our text says they took the money, did as they were taught, and this saying was spread abroad, that word spread abroad is exactly the same word used in Matthew 9 and verse 31.

22:07 But they went forth and spread abroad his fame in all the land. So we are told that the result of this transaction was that this ludicrous lie was extensively propagated among the Jews. This implied is, that many believed it, and as always happens when people believe a lie, they pass it on as though it were a fact, based upon the credibility of an eyewitness. Weren't the soldiers there?

22:47 And if the soldiers were there, and they say that the disciples came and stole away his body while he slept, then surely they must be in the know. And so when the soldiers passed it on, those who embraced it and believed it, and did not see through the ludicrous nature of that lie, because of the prejudice of their own hearts, one told another and another, and as so often happens, the lie spread from 1 to 2, 2 to 4, 4 to 8, 8 to 16, until in a matter of days we are told, this saying was spread abroad among the Jews. Wherever you went among the Jews, you'd find someone if you were to preach and speak and witness,

23:31 concerning the resurrection of Christ, ready to raise his hand and object, say, that cannot be so. It is reported from the soldiers who were there at the tomb, that the disciples came and stole away his body. But not only was the ludicrous lie extensively propagated among the Jews, the second thing we are told as to the result of this transaction, this ludicrous lie was continually propagated, even until, until some 30 years after the fact. Matthew wrote his gospel approximately 30 years after these events, and so Matthew could write,

24:13 this saying was spread abroad among the Jews, until this day. Until probably into the early 60's, or 60 A.D. itself, Matthew could write, this saying crops up wherever you go attempting to witness among the Jews, this saying will confront you.

24:39 It was not only extensively propagated among the Jews, immediately following the resurrection, the coming of the Spirit and the preaching of Christ and his resurrection, it was continually propagated, and if Matthew were writing today, he could say, and it continues until this day. For periodically in the history of the church there have been those who have picked up a lie such as this, or concocted lies similar to this, right down to Schoenfield in the 20th century,

25:16 seeking to say that the empty tomb has nothing to do with a supernatural resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, but it has to do, with a concentrated act of deception on the part of his disciples. Well that basically is the content of these verses. We have seen the report of the soldiers, the response of the Sanhedrin, the reaction of the soldiers to the proposal, and then the result of the whole transaction. Now what are we to learn from this passage?

Application 1: The Frightening Power of Willful Unbelief

25:56 What does all of this say to us? Well let me first of all urge you with me to behold in this incident the frightening power of willful unbelief in the face of overwhelming evidence of the truth. Behold in this incident the frightening power of willful unbelief in the face of overwhelming evidence of the truth. These Jewish leaders, the high priests,

26:39 and their scribes, witnesses of many of the miracles of Jesus. You remember on one occasion, they had seen such a miraculous demonstration of the power of Christ, they could not deny what they had seen, but they said the only way he can do it, he's in league with the devil. And that witnessing of the miraculous power of Jesus, before these religious leaders, reached its apex in the miracle that precipitated the, from the Jew's standpoint, the premature crucifixion of Christ.

27:21 It was the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. For it was these leaders who said, the whole world is going after him, we've got to do something. And they couldn't deny that miracle. There were too many witnesses who said, we saw Lazarus dead and wound in his grave, he'd been in his grave for four days.

27:42 And now Lazarus was a lie, and telling people what Jesus had done. You see, they did not attempt to deny the miraculous that was done by Jesus. They tried to trace it to a different source. They tried to trace it to a different power.

27:59 They tried to say that people who reasoned from his miracles, to his messianic identity, were ignorant and didn't know the scriptures, but they couldn't argue with the power, but they had a plethora of evidence. And you see, it was this very thing that was working in their consciences and in their memories, when after he was placed in a grave, though the disciples did not yet remember the saying, he must rise from the dead, they remembered it. They remembered it, and they said in the language of those latter verses of Matthew 28, we remember that that deceiver said when he was yet alive, after he was placed in a grave, after three days I'll rise again.

28:42 Command, therefore, the sepulcher be made sure. You see, the disciples at this point were full of heaviness. Remember the two on the road to Emmaus? Countenances downcast, hearts full of sadness and heaviness.

28:56 We had hoped that this was he who would redeem Israel, but now it is the third day since all these things came to pass, and his life was violently taken away at the hand of the Romans. They had not yet remembered the word, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. But the consciences of these Sanhedrists, in the midst of all of their hatred of Christ, they remembered his word, they remembered his miracles, they had beheld him in the dignity and majesty of the horrible treatment heaped upon him in conjunction with his trials,

29:38 they had seen him scourged and spat upon and mocked and jeered, they had seen him impaled upon the cross, and if that activity of our Lord caused even heathen leaders to be filled with amazement, how much more these who were behind it, heaping it upon him, wishing with all of their being they could provoke him to something that would discredit him. But all of the light, that they had, and all of the heat of conscience was only intensified through all of the activities leading up to his death, so that they want to make sure, they said,

30:21 that we don't have a situation that makes matters worse, make sure the sepulchre, make sure the sepulchre. Having done so, one can only imagine whether or not they had much rest through that Sabbath, and when that next day came they could calculate according to Jewish reckoning, this is the beginning of the first part of the third day since all this came to pass. I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, I wonder. And all of a sudden the door burst open, and in come soldiers who don't flinch

31:04 when they pound nails into people's hands and hang them up on crosses, and their faces are blanched white, and they're trembling, and they said, we've just come from the tomb, and then there was an earthquake, and then there was a chill, and Jesus is not there! Now the light, the heat, in the conscience of these religious leaders is turned up to such a pitch, they must do one of two things, they must fall upon their faces and say, Oh, look how Nazarene you have conquered us.

31:46 Or they must with obdurate, with that flimsy, and that's the best they could do to try to cover the tracks of a resurrected Christ. Why? There's only one explanation. It is the frightening power of willful unbelief.

32:26 When these Roman soldiers who have no desire to propagate the religion of Jesus, who have no reason whatsoever to gain a thing by bearing their witness, they come as it were as the first witnesses of the fact of His resurrection to these Jewish leaders, and their willful unbelief reaches its apex, and in place of yielding to the truth, they concoct a ludicrous lie. And then they float it out into Jewish society on the flimsy bark of some shekels of silver

33:09 and some unprincipled soldiers. You say, how in the world do people get that perverse? Hear me, it didn't get that way overnight. Willful unbelief that acts as theirs did, never, never comes to that kind of full flowering in a moment, in a day, in a week, in a year, often not even in a decade.

33:49 But this is the cumulative effect of refusing to yield to light and to the conviction of conscience. No one can do what these men did as they did it, who has not been given over to a hard heart of unbelief as the result of willfully rejecting light and the overwhelming evidence of truth. They had to harden their hearts against those first reports of the fame of Jesus of Nazareth.

34:34 They had to harden them further when they saw the multitudes hanging upon His words of grace and kindness. They had to harden them further when they saw the mighty deeds of the Son of God. They had to harden them further in all the events leading to the crucifixion. And now that hardness reaches such a place that pagan soldiers with no reason but to tell the thing in their presence and tell them everything, the earthquake, the angel,

35:19 to the pressure of facts. And my friend, in the light of that, you better take these words seriously. Beware. I'm quoting the Scripture now.

35:34 Lest there be in any one of you an evil of unbelief. Today, if you hear His voice, not your heart. As I prayed over and meditated upon this passage, I thought particularly of you, dear children and young people who have been born and reared in the very womb of God's truth. And the evidence is that God's truth is indeed God's truth are so manifold to you

36:19 that you know in your heart of hearts that you cannot deny the validity of what you've been taught from your mother's womb concerning God as your Creator, you as His creature accountable to Him, God's law. You have been taught that you are a sinner, that Christ is the only Savior of sinners, that you have no right to run your own life by your own rules and your own standards, that you must repent of sin and you must entrust yourself to the dear Lord Jesus to have Him wash your sins in His blood, to have Him put His perfect record

37:02 to your account and live for Him and serve Him and all your days have your life marked by being the bond-slave of Christ. And then in the day of judgment have Him say, Come ye blessed of my Father. And the evidence is that those things are true presses in on your young conscience day after day. Every sin you commit would be so much easier if only you could rid yourself of the evidence that these things are true.

37:38 But you can't any more than these Sanhedrists could. They remembered His words, After three days I'll rise from the dead. Say any man that can cast out demons with a word, that can still the seas with a word, that can raise a dead man with a word, he just might come out from the dead himself. We better set a guard.

38:03 You see, this in itself is an admission that conscience was active. Oh, dear children, listen to me. Sitting here today you say, Well, Pastor Martin, I'd never make up wicked lies about Jesus. I'd never make up wicked lies about the church.

38:23 I'd never leave this church as an adult and say that, Ah, they're just a bunch of hypocrites. They're just out to get your money. They're just out to do their...

38:32 I'd never make up lies. Oh, listen to me, dear child, dear young person. Sitting there right now, I believe you when you say, I'd never do that. But you don't know what you'll do if you go on in unbelief and keep rejecting light and keep rejecting the pressure of truth upon your conscience because each pressure of light and truth, each tug of the Spirit of God urging you to forsake your sins, give yourself to Christ, get right to His Son, each tug and each overture, each plea from Mom and Dad, each plea from this pulpit,

39:17 you harden your heart a little more, a little more, a little more, and a little more. When you could go out of this place and make up lies as ludicrous as the lies of these religious leaders telling the soldiers that they slept and the disciples came and stole away His body, that's what willful unbelief will produce. Someone who'd rather make up cockamamie ludicrous lies than yield to the pressure of truth. Oh, dear young people, I beg you,

40:01 and I beg some of you that aren't so young, who have sat under the truth for decades, can it be that you've crossed the line?

40:13 You won't yield to truth? You won't yield to the evidence? The evidence of that transformed man, woman, boy, girl, husband, wife? You know there's reality.

40:25 In your conscience you cannot deny it, but in your love of sin you will to go on in your unbelief. I fear for some of you and wonder, have you crossed the line to where God has said, you want unbelief so bad, I'll let you have it for time and for eternity. And the Scripture says in Revelation 21, 8, but the fearful and the unbelieving have their part in the lake of fire. Oh, yes, you come up with very good reasons.

40:59 Well, I know so-and-so in the church did this, and I... Look, look, you know that has nothing to do with you and God.

41:06 And the rest of us drop dead in the next 20 seconds. It's still me.

41:16 What is it?

41:24 You love your sin.

41:28 I fear that some of you may say once too often, not Christ, but my sin. Not the truth, but my lies. And God will say, you shall have them. Behold in the...

41:46 What I know not what else to call but the frightening power of willful unbelief in the face of overwhelming evidence of the truth. But secondly,

Application 2: The Irrational Nature of Unbelief

42:01 behold in this incident the irrational nature of unbelief when compared with the truth. Behold in this incident the irrational nature of unbelief when compared with the truth. Look at the facts. The soldiers are posted by a sealed tomb.

42:26 Each one of them is armed. Probably each of those soldiers able to take on a half a dozen unarmed ex-fishermen and ordinary men. And there were probably at least four of them, may have been 12 of them. Each one knows if he sleeps on duty and it's reported to his superiors, off comes the head.

42:50 So here are armed soldiers, disciplined in military self-denial. They know what it is to keep awake at their post while on duty. And yet this lie is concocted. While we sleep, disciples come and take away his body.

43:13 Now I don't know what's more amazing. The inability of the Sanhedrists to come up with a better lie or the gullibility of the people that believed it. Let's try to think what it was like. Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost.

43:30 This Jesus whom you crucified God raised him up. And there's someone who happens to know one of those soldiers in virtue of a place where he did business. And that soldier used to come by and get his groceries. He says, I'm going to ask him.

43:46 So the next day he asked him. He said, you know, Peter was preaching that God raised up Jesus. You were one of the soldiers by the tomb. What's your account?

43:53 Oh, what really happened is we all dozed off and the disciples came and took him away while we were sleeping. He says, good. Good explanation. Thank you, friend.

44:05 And he walks away. The next day, another man who has a contact with another soldier comes to him and says, you know, I heard Peter preaching that the Jesus who was crucified was raised from the dead and appeared unto certain witnesses over the space of 40 days. Weren't you one of the soldiers by the tomb? Oh, yes, yes, I was there.

44:24 Well, tell me what happened. Oh, well, I tell you, we all dozed off and while we were sleeping the disciples came and stole him away. He stops and says, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. While you were all sleeping the disciples came and stole him away.

44:42 You mean they could all come, break the seal, roll back that huge stone silently with no more noise than a cat treading on a plush carpet? Wait a minute, man. You mean to tell me they could roll back that stone hundreds of pounds of stone grinding on stone and you guys were sleeping? You must have really belted down a lot of booze before you dozed off.

45:18 You don't really expect me to believe that not a one of you was awakened and not one of you then gave the shout of alarm and pounced upon those disciples and did them in quickly. Come off it, man. Your story doesn't wash with me. And one can feel the redness come up to the back of the neck and into the ears and upon the cheek of the soldier.

45:43 Well, I'm just telling you like it is. Telling you like it is. Oh, excuse me. I got some business to attend to.

45:50 Then the third day after someone comes to another person who happened to be one of the soldiers and says, hey, weren't you there at the tomb? Oh, yes, I was there. Tell me, tell me. Peter's preaching that this Jesus was raised from the dead.

46:04 What happened? And he comes up with the same story. We all just nodded off and the disciples came while we were sleeping and took them away. He says, hey, wait a minute now.

46:14 Run that by again. I don't think I heard you right. While we were all sleeping the disciples came and took him away. Oh, while you were sleeping.

46:29 Did they leave a notice? Do you see in your sleep? Do you identify people's faces? In the darkness?

46:44 While sound asleep? Come off it, man. I may look like a simpleton, but you're trying to get me to believe that while you and all the soldiers are so sound asleep that you can't hear any of the noise and any of the rumble of the stone and any of the whispers of these men carrying off a body. Come off it, man.

47:08 Your story doesn't work. I'm just telling it like it is. I've got some other things to do. You see how ludicrous it was?

47:19 How a five-year-old child could see through the absolute folly of that lie. And yet the text says this saying was spread abroad among the Jews and it was believed as a fact right up until the time Matthew wrote his gospel. Can't you see the irrational nature of unbelief when compared with the truth? What is the truth?

47:53 The truth is that these pagan soldiers came to the members of the Sanhedrin and said, while we were keeping watch, the angel came.

48:12 They told exactly the same story that the women told. And all it means is that we're prepared to accept the combined and the consenting testimony of humble women, of grown men, of pagan soldiers. That there's nothing irrational in it, nothing self-contradictory in it, whereas unbelief is prepared to swallow the camel of that horrible, wretched attempt to cover up the fact

48:57 of the resurrection of Jesus. Behold in this incident the irrational nature of unbelief when compared with the truth. And you see it's that same spirit that has caused the whole of this world into being. And that everything about us is smothered with its fingerprints, is rational and self-consistent.

49:32 But to believe that everything emerged out of some pool of slime all on its own over millions or billions of years, how utterly irrational that out of chaos and disorder should come a world that from the macrocosm to the microcosm bespeaks the wisdom and the power and the handiwork of a wise and almighty God. Why do men believe the lie when it's filled with such irrationality? It's because the lie allows them still to live in their sin. This is the condemnation

50:16 that light has come into the world and men love what? They men love darkness rather than light. Doesn't say they love non-truth. They love darkness.

50:28 They love sin. And that's why they won't come to truth because truth demands righteousness. And unbelief and the lie are always intimate and they are always found in conjunction with each other. And what a horrible but startling example in this passage of the irrational nature of unbelief when compared with the truth.

Application 3: The Horrible Damning Sins Perpetuated by the Love of Money

51:00 But then thirdly, behold in this incident the horrible damning sins perpetuated by the love of money. Behold the horrible damning sins perpetuated by the love of money. It's as though the Lord Jesus is betrayed by money before and after the cross. For thirty pieces of silver Judas is ready to hand him over to the authorities.

51:34 The love of money is what precipitates deicide. And now when our Lord has died and risen from the dead and somehow the religious leaders must cover up their dirty work and try to cover up the reality that Christ is risen. They once again reach into their pockets and they grease the palms of these soldiers with much silver. And so for love of money they are willing to give up their own sense of rationality, their own sense of honor and dignity and live and go to their graves unless they got converted.

52:17 Knowing in their heart of hearts they had perpetuated a lie which humanly speaking had been a barrier to keep multitudes from the truth about Jesus. And if a man does not believe Christ has been raised from the dead he cannot be saved. And that's why I said behold in this incident the horrible damning sins perpetuated by the love of money. Love of money is the root of all forms of evil.

52:59 In the hearts of these soldiers if there was not a prevailing love of money when they came before the Sanhedrists what would they have said when these men proposed to them look for so much money if you'll shut your mouth and spread this story we'll hush hush things and if any word gets back to Pilate we'll hush him as well. If a man had even had in common grace an element of integrity from the love of money he would have said look you guys no amount of money in the world would make me float such a ludicrous lie. I was there I felt the earth shake I saw the earth shake I saw the earth shake

53:40 They negotiate and when there's enough weight of enough shekels of silver in the hand they're ready to take the lie into the ear and propagate it by their tongue. And what made their witness so quote convincing was they were first hand witnesses. They were the only ones at the tomb when it all happened. You see how the devil knows how to give something a surface semblance of credibility.

54:24 Who else was there? Through those hours no disciple was there. They were the only quote present eyewitnesses. And that's what lent a little measure of credibility to the otherwise ludicrous lie.

54:50 We were there. And what was it? It was love of money that caused them to perpetuate a lie that was an instrument to the devil to damn only God knows how many and to harden them in unbelief. And by way of application let me say if the love of money had not been a reigning sin when they came in to talk to the members of the Sanhedrin they never could have been bought off.

55:23 And this is what frightens me. The love of money can be a reigning sin undiscovered for many years in the heart of a man or woman. But the moment of truth will come when the opportunity for the love of money as a reigning sin to find unusual fulfillment will come in head on collision with truth and righteousness. And if the love of money has not been put to death by the death of Jesus Christ you'll do what Demas did.

56:04 For some disciple companion of the Apostle Paul Demas, my fellow worker he calls him in one epistle but because the reigning love of money and things had never been crucified by the death of Christ applied to his heart with power a day came when something or a set of circumstances was there to grease his palm. And he reached out and he sold Christ for a bag of this world's good.

56:45 Having loved this present air for some of you in this place not because there is stamped all over you the love of money and the love of things, no! But because inward during it and it's there and you know it and God knows it always an element of discontent with such things as you have. Envy of others who have more than you have. Grudges against God that he doesn't give you more than money.

57:27 One day a set of circumstances will come and you'll do what these soldiers did. You'll throw off all sense of right and truth and uprightness and honor! You'll be willing to indulge in damning sins and even perpetuate those sins and drag others to hell with you. I tell you there are times when the word of God is almost too much for us.

Application 4: The Frightening Influence of Lies in a World That Loves Them

58:00 It's so sober. Then fourthly and finally behold in this incident the frightening influence of lies in a world where men love lies rather than the truth. Behold in this incident the frightening influence of lies in a world where men love lies rather than truth. I marvel at this.

58:35 This was spread abroad among the Jews and continueth unto this day. You say how could it continue? The kids can see through it. The kids laughed when we spoofed the soldier.

58:49 When someone said wait a minute how could you see it was the disciples? If you were all sleeping if you weren't all sleeping only one of you was awake why didn't he wake up the others and stop them? There's no answer. Fog written all over the face of that lie.

59:03 But it continues unto this day the frightening influence of lies in a world where men love lies rather than truth because they love sin. When I sit and think of Mormonism the vast empire of Joseph Smith if you've been to Hawaii and visited the famous place run by the Mormons and see their huge complex there and the university if you have any idea of their holdings and their influence you say how in the world can people believe this story about him finding Joseph Smith finding these plates and then God giving them these special glasses that interpret this so-called

59:48 some kind of Egyptian hierarchy. I mean it's so full of nonsense. And yet there are men with earned doctorates in difficult fields who believe every word of it. Cults, Roman Catholicism how a sane person can believe that what he holds and looks upon and knows is bread and what he knows is the fruit of the vine it smells like wine tastes like wine looks like wine but don't believe any of your senses it's the actual blood of Jesus.

60:24 And they believe it. It's consistent with the love of sin. That's why lies have such a frightening influence rather than the truth. You say well why should I be concerned?

60:47 Well listen to these words for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie who receive not the love of the truth. My friend listen to me if you don't receive a love of the truth as it is in Jesus God would be just to give you over to believe lies and sink into hell clinging to lies convinced they were truth. Strong delusion that they should believe a lie or to believe a lie if you won't receive the love of the truth.

61:31 And the text that sobered me this morning in the early hours as I was reading the word of God to tone my own spirit for preaching I often read in 2 Corinthians the passages on the ministry and 2 Timothy particularly chapter 4 and I close with this text that struck me with such fresh force this morning as Paul is charging his spiritual son Timothy to carry on the torch of truth no matter what happens around him look at verse 3 of 2 Timothy 4 the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine but having itching ears will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts

62:16 now notice and will turn away their ears from the truth what do they turn to and turn tables like yours it was the truth but whenever the truth came into the ears and touched the heart it always cried out mortify your lusts deal with your sin repent of your uncleanness repent of your worldliness repent of your pride

63:01 repent of your selfishness truth comes with a dagger in its hand aimed at our lusts now look at the text and what happens why do these people turn their ears away from truth and then listen only to fables it says they'll heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts every unmortified lust is a voice in your heart saying turn your ear away from the truth turn your ear away from the truth by turning away from truth truth will kill me turn away to fables

63:45 there's some of you sitting here who don't believe it but some of us may live long enough to prove the validity of what i say you will believe the most ludicrous lies as ludicrous as the lie of these sanhedrists and the reason is not because you found some discrepancy in the bible oh that's what you'll say you'll read a book by a skeptic who quote proves errors in the bible and you will with triumphalism say oh i'm no longer in that class of trinity church and those people with their simplistic view i have a sophisticated view i see through the errors of the bible no what you've done is you've turned aside to fables

64:29 and you know why you did it not because you're smarter than the people here it's because you had lusts that cried out to be spared and you spared them and now they won't spare you they'll damn you

64:46 folks this is serious business remember the couple that after coming for three weeks and someone asked them why they wouldn't come to trinity anymore they said well it's peak freeing religion referring to that old jingle about peak freeing cookies peak freeings of a very serious cookie they didn't like the serious religion in this place dear folk we're a happy bunch we laugh with each other with our families we rejoice in God's mercy and goodness but i tell you you come to a passage like this and something of the heaviness of the day of judgement comes upon us and it ought it ought because we see in this passage the frightening influence of lies

65:30 in a world where men love lies rather than truth and they love the lie because they love their lusts dear people of God if you've made it to the point where you've given up the lies and you embrace the truth as it is in Jesus surely you would be the first to say with me oh God given what I was by nature I would have sat there in the Sanhedrin and I would have given my consent to that stupid ludicrous lie rather than yield to the Nazarene thank you for grace that has opened my eyes and given me a love for the truth and turned me into the way of righteousness

Call to Repentance and Closing Prayer

66:15 and my unsaved friend what God in mercy has done for us he stands ready to do for every sinner who'll come out of the darkness and say Lord Jesus have mercy on me I've been believing the lie that I could run my life on my own and evidences are all Christ is everything he claimed to be all he claims to be and oh God I'm tired of running from the truth and playing head games have mercy on me and the Bible says he's plenteous in mercy to all that call upon him seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him

66:59 while he is near let us pray our Father we thank you for the truth as it is in Jesus oh how we praise you that you've not allowed many of us to go on believing and living a lie that you've subdued our natively dishonest sin loving hearts and you've brought us to know your son who is the truth and you've given us a desire to walk in the truth and we pray for those young and old alike who sitting here this morning are in a state of willful unbelief oh God put fear in their hearts

67:43 the thought of what they might come to unless they repent and run to your son Lord be merciful today show yourself to be the God who delights in mercy and seal this word to all of our hearts for your glory