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morning everyone welcome to free grace Baptist Church just a few announcements before we begin worship this morning first just for parents for parents and kids parents with kids and specifically for those kids stay stay out of the the bushes if you're if you're going outside I don't venture into the bushes there can be a strength it things there such as implements to cut yourself on and that sort of thing so if you can stay stay away from the bushes and just you know stay with your parents and wherever they say you can go parents just don't say go in the bushes so secondly the baptism of Chloe Butler will be next Sunday so we look forward to that it's always nice to have baptisms here at our church and that will go well with the preaching from Matthew 28 and the Great Commission so you can be you can encourage Chloe and we look forward to next Lord's Day in the baptism lastly the Annual General Meeting is on February 24th that Saturday February 24th at 7 p.m. many of you will have received a financial package there just a list of the financials and that sort of thing that will be discussed then but we look forward to that as well AGM February 24th at 7 p.m. well let's begin our worship then if you'll turn in your Bibles with me to Psalm 2 that will be our call to worship a reading of Psalm 2 um 2 beginning in verse 1 this is the Word of God why do the nation's rage and the people clawed a vain thing the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Christ saying let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us he who sits in the heavens shall laugh the Lord shall hold them in derision then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure yet I have set my king on my hill of Zion I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me you are my son today I have begotten you ask of me and I will give you the nation's for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession you shall break them with a rod of iron you shall dash them to pieces like a Potter's vessel now therefore be wise o Kings he instructed you judges of the earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed are all those put their trust in him amen let's stand and sing hymn 12 in your look in books that's him number 12 [Music] let's throw our God in prayer let us pray a righteous and Heavenly Father we come to you now in prayer as the gathered saints of Christ rejoicing in Father Son and Holy Spirit rejoicing in our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ singing the praises of Amazing Grace we do pray that you help us now by your spirit to praise you or to worship you as we ought as we pray each and every lord's day for these things we pray yet again that your name would be hallowed in this place we pray Lord God that your name of the earth that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven and we would ask God that you would give presence of mind and a raising of spirits to your people in this place that we might sing your praises that we might rejoice in you our God and that we might have the presence of mind by your spirit to the cast off thoughts that would intrude upon those thoughts that ought to be attuned to you we do pray that you'd help us to be focused to be attentive and to be true now in worship we thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ are saved we know that we are not saved by deeds of righteousness which we have done were saved solely and alone by virtue of the the deeds of the Savior the doing the dying and the rising the son of God we thank you that you did send him in the force of the times to come into this lower world to save sinners since we reflect upon the gospel of Jesus Christ knowing that he lived that life of perfect obedience in the place of all who believe in his name we rejoice in the cross death and in Calvary and that the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ upon Calvary's cross bore the punishment do for all who believe in his name that upon that tree he bore in his own body our sins that we having died to sin might live for righteousness we do pray Lord God that you would help us rejoice in that truth that for his people Christ bore stripe upon stripe that by His stripes Lord God his people are healed we rejoice in that truth and in that death upon Calvary's cross we sing the praises of the resurrection we rejoice in the fact that he rose again the third day in power and might and in great victory and we rejoice that he has ascended to your right hand where he now lives to intercede for all of those for whom he died we thank you that there he rules and he reigns over his enemies and we thank you Lord God that he subdues the hearts of his elect drawing them to himself by powerful by amazing by victorious grace we do pray that you'd help us to reflect with great joy on these things and as we engage in worship we pray that our hearts would arise to two high thoughts and joyful thoughts of so great a salvation we do pray Lord that you'd be with those who need prayer for sickness for illness for disease and injury and all those ongoing things that afflict your people we do pray that you bless each and every one of your dear Saints we pray Lord God for all afflicted with disease and illness in our church and and all of those things god affecting the physical body just strengthen them help them and heal them we do pray as we pray each and every Lord's day might it be genuine each and every time that Lord God in the midst of affliction and physical suffering you would uplift your people and cause them to rejoice in you in the midst of these things and lord help them to look with eyes of faith upon a risen Christ and find in him their confidence and in their courage and help them to be resigned to your will in all things we pray that you would uplift those who are struggling spiritually Lord that you'd strengthen them in the inner man it caused them in the midst of that spiritual suffering Lord to be strengthened to be nourished by your word and for your Glory's sake we do pray that you would lift them up and return to them the joy of their salvation that they might have strength and the grace of endurance in this lower world we do pray God that you'd be with those who rule over us we are faced so often with the the horrors the the disappointments the the grief that comes with with looking upon the political landscape we do pray that you'd raise up rulers to rule and righteousness to rule in justice to rule with a with a proper equity and Lord God that you would cast down those who would seek to hurt the nation's and an uphold vice rather than virtue in the lands we do pray that you would just do a mighty work throughout the world Lord that by your gospel by your spirit and for your Glory's sake you would cast down error and wickedness and madness and you would raise up many and save many Lord God from the darkness of sin bringing them to life and light in Christ that they might sing your praises and that throughout the earth Lord God more and more men and women boys and girls would rejoice in the gospel would bend a knee to the King of Kings and to the Lord of lords we do pray for unto that end throughout the world for the preaching of the gospel for the preaching of the gospel in churches and and from the mouths of missionaries as they go forth to proclaim the glories of Christ we pray that you would watch over your people your ministers and your missionaries throughout the world help them Lord God to preach well the things of Jesus Christ to preach the strong and saving gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ and Lord that you would bring forth many by your grace from the darkness of sin to life in Christ we do pray God that you'd be with the persecuted Church help our brothers and sisters who are under the heavy hands of opposers and tyrannical governments and wicked countrymen and we do pray that you'd watch over them that you would encourage them in the midst of opposition and Lord that you would deal with those who persecute them that you would save many and that you would cause those who remain in opposition to stumble to fall to be taken out of the way that violence no longer would be brought upon your church we do pray that throughout the world Lord God your name would be vindicated and now as we worship in this place help us to worship a right as we've already prayed might you be honored and glorified in this place we pray that you give pastor Butler strength to preach your word that central act of the worship of the triune God we pray you would give him aid in this pulpit and that he would proclaim with confidence and courage and with clarity the things of your word and that we might receive them well by your spirit that your Saints would be edified that sinners would be saved and that this whole exercise of worship would be to the high praise of Father Son and Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord amen let's stand again and sing this time it'll be 369 if you'll stand with me 369 [Music] you turn in your Bibles for the New Testament scripture reading to Luke 7 Luke chapter 7 beginning in verse 1 Luke 7 verse 1 to verse 17 once again the Word of God now when he concluded all his sayings in the hearing of the people he entered Capernaum and a certain Centurion servant who was dear to him was sick and ready to die so when he heard about Jesus he sent elders of the Jews to him pleading with him to come and heal his servant and when they came to Jesus they begged him earnestly saying that the one for whom he should do this was deserving for he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue then Jesus went with them and when he was already not far from the house the Centurion sent friends to him saying to him Lord not trouble yourself for I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to you but say the word and my servant will be healed for I also for I also am a man placed under Authority having soldiers under me and I say to one go and he goes and to another come and he comes and to my servant do this and he does it when Jesus heard these things he marveled at him and turned around and said to the crowd that followed him I say to you I have not found such great faith not even in Israel and those who were sent returning to the house found the servant well who had been sick now it happened the day after that he went into a city called nain and many of his disciples went with him and a large crowd and when he came near the gate of the city the whole dead man was being carried out the only son of his mother and she was a widow and a large crowd city was with when the Lord saw her he had compassion on her and said to her do not weep then he came and touched the open coffin those who carried him Stood Still and he said young man I say to you arise so he who was dead sat up and began to speak and he presented him to his mother then fear came upon all and they glorified God saying a great prophet has risen up among us and God has visited his people and this report about him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region amen a number of things here first off we see the the proper Christian posture here don't we this ought to be something that should humble Lawson this is indicative of what our Christian posture ought to be our our position our status our our place before God notice in the end of verse 6 and going into verse 7 Lord do not trouble yourself for I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to you but say the word and my servant will be healed you see this is the posture that we are to have before our great God if we know the doctrine of sin if we know our own hearts even as redeemed Christians and if we know our God Father Son and Holy Spirit the one who is infinite eternal and unchangeable in all of his beauty a beautiful and glorious perfections we ought to be brought to a place like this therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to you but say the word and my servant will be healed a wonderful posture and instructive for us as some who can be so full often of Pride and of self-righteousness we have this wonderful reality here with respect to our Christ that the miracles that he does are done from a place of compassion we see in verse 13 when the Lord saw her he had compassion on her and said to her do not weep it's not wonderful when we cast our eyes upon the word of God disclosing to us the the heart of the Savior the Heart of Jesus Christ here faced with faced this Widow she had lost husband of course being a widow now lost her only son and the Lord sees her and says do not weave and commissions that the young end arrives we see this report in verse 16 that a prophet has risen up among us and God has visited his people as we hear today as Christians taking in the worship of God this is our God and this is our Christ God has visited his people he's here with us as were gathered together in his name the triune God with us Christ Himself walking among this his lampstand let us have our hearts rise to worship to joy and to earnest service to our dog let us pray Heavenly Father thank you for your word we rejoice you're a revelation to the sons of men and we thank you for this account of our compassionate Savior might we now in worship before our triune God have the heart of this man the posture of this man as counting ourselves not worthy and yet nevertheless blessed to be able to count ourselves the people of God and to be in your presence worshiping you be with us now and help us to have true hearts in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen let's stand and sing together our final him before the preaching is 2:16 that's two one six let's stand and sing together [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 28 Matthew chapter 28 or focused this morning will be verses 11 to 15 but I do want to begin reading in verse 1 read to the end of the chapter Matthew 28 beginning in verse 1 now after the Sabbath as the first day of the week began to dawn Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb and 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 his countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow and the guard shook for fear of him and became like dead men the angel answered and said to the women do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified he is not here for 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 is going before you into Galilee there you will see him behold I have told you so they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and raised to bring his disciples word and as they went to tell his disciples behold Jesus met them saying rejoice so they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him then jesus said to them do not be afraid go and tell my brethren 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 priests all the things that had happened when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers saying tell them his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept and if this comes to the governor's 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 then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted and Jesus came and 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 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age amen let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for the power of the gospel and we would pray to this morning that the Holy Spirit would come and make these things real and alive in our own hearts and minds may we marvel at the glory of the the empty tomb and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and may we marvel at the depravity and the wickedness of men who seek to cover up the facts with wise God we praise you and we thank you for opening our hearts to this truth we thank you for the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him and we would pray today that as the gospel is preached more and more sinners would hear this wonderful news and that more and more would come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior may that occur here father by the power of the Holy Spirit may those who have entered into this place dead in their trespasses and sins may they leave praising the God of unrivaled unparalleled grace and mercy we ask that you would forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions and help us by your spirit to understand your word and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well in the 16th century I'm sure all of us are aware there was what was called the Reformation and of course the Reformation is something we trace our theological heritage to we are reformed Baptists owing to a theological conviction about certain truths that were not this begun in the Reformation period but were rediscovered as it were well shortly after the Reformation the Roman Catholic Church engaged in what was called the Counter Reformation in other words the Protestant reformers came they emphasized the authority of Scripture justification by faith alone and Romanism doubled down they had this Counter Reformation well we see something like that in this particular passage we're all familiar with the end of Matthew's Gospel and what is called the Great Commission well what we find in verses 11 to 15 is a counter mishit it is something that contrasts with the Great Commission and it's something that we ought to give attention to to consider the fact that there is such error see that was developed in the first century and it unfortunately continues on into the 21st century now in verses 11 to 20 we have two basically parallel sections we have two sections of five verses each in 11 to 15 Jewish leaders meet with soldiers in Jerusalem and they command them to go out and tell a lie in verses 16 to 20 Jesus Christ meets with his disciples in Galilee and he commands them to go out and tell the truth so we have the Great Commission here we have the countermission and I want to consider first of all this morning the explanation of the soldiers in verse 11 and then secondly the creation of the false narrative in verses 12 to 15 but let's look at the explanation of the soldiers if you go back for just a moment to chapter 28 and verse 4 these are the same soldiers / guards those men that were keepers or custodians of the of the tomb notice in 28 for and the guards shook for fear of them and became like dead men so we go back to chapter 28 verse 11 it says now while they were going behold some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened it is an interesting contrast that we see there the women obey the angel according to verse 7 he had told them to go and tell the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee the women also obeyed Jesus they meet him according to verse 9 and in verse 10 Jesus tells the women to go and tell his disciples to meet him in Galilee so while they're going with this trembling and great joy now the soldiers go back to the chief priests probably with their heads hung low probably filled with shame probably filled with terror because falling asleep on your post or rather not fulfilling your particular job is a failure dereliction of duty and most sort of military settings that is a that can be a capital offense and so these men don't run with great joy but rather with heads slung low they go and report to the priests now we ask the question or if it's asked why do they report to the chief priests because they were put at the chief priests disposal go back to 27 chapter 27 specifically at verse 62 this is important and essential background for our section here in Matthew 28 but if you notice in 27 62 on the next day which followed the day of preparation the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate saying sir we remember while he was still alive how that deceiver said after three days I will rise for command that the tomb be made secure until the third day lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say to the people he has risen from the dead so the last deception will be worse than the first so Pilate said to them you have a guard or go ahead and take a guard and make these make it as secure as you know how so they went and made the tomb secure sealing the stone and setting the guard so when the tomb is empty now the soldiers go back to the city of Jerusalem and they addressed the chief priests France says the opening clause while they were going some of the soldiers went to the chief priests the opening Clause invites the reader to compare two groups hurrying away from the tomb with a message to deliver the women are the apostles to the apostles to tell them that Jesus is risen and there to meet him in Galilee these men however are to go to the chief priests and say that the tomb is now empty and that is precisely what they report notice they reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened if you weren't here last week you'll know hopefully by reading chapter 28 what those things were there was an earthquake a great earthquake an earthquake attended the crucifixion and earthquake attends the resurrection there's not only this earthquake but there is descent of this angel and he rolls away that rolls the stone back from the tomb and then he sits upon it and when the soldier saw this they were greatly afraid they fell as dead man and so they report these things to the chief priests and they the chief priests really should have listened in fact I think this underscores just how committed these men are to the Opposition of the Lord Jesus Christ they are fundamentally presa presuppositional II opposed to the Lord Christ these Roman soldiers see a supernatural thing in terms of angelic descent the rolling away of the stone and him sitting upon it now the text does not mention it but I would bet that the soldiers went into the tomb to investigate it for themselves it would be foolish not to I mean they might have thought well at least the body still in there we could deal with this rock thing in just a moment but they no doubt went in and investigated the tomb and found that it was now empty so they come back to the chief priests loaded with loaded to to tell them specifically what had happened and these chief priests don't want to hear it they're absolutely contrary to this particular message it's like it doesn't even register in their minds or in their hearts and it really demonstrates the wickedness and the evil of the religious leadership at the time of our Lord Jesus Christ who did he have problems with when he went from place to place to place it wasn't the horse it wasn't the public it wasn't the sinners it was the self-righteous proud arrogant men who thought that they were good with God and brethren I think that we ought to make this observation when we survey our Lord's ministry the problem that he had was more so with the self-righteous proud and arrogant than with the vile and the wretched sinners I think at times it's very easy for us and I know that I do it often you say crack dealing and and visiting prostitutes is sort of an illustration of great sin if you're here this morning and you are not a believer in Jesus Christ and you are trusting in something other than Jesus Christ you're as bad as the crack dealer you're as bad as the prostitute you see it's not the case that God looks upon self-righteousness and says well they're a little better off than those wretches that are living in the bushes they're a little better off than those who are shooting up in the bushes no they're not in fact in some regard I would submit that they're worse I think Gerstner was right it's not so much her sin that God has a problem with he sent his son to deal with that the problem is your wretched good works this idea that somehow you can merit God's favor based on your own doing based on your own abilities based on your own law-keeping if that's you this morning you're in league with these chief priests they couldn't even consider the fact that Jesus rose from the dead they couldn't even consider the fact that these truths of the gospel were in place no they go into damage control mode and they have to create the narrative I think that this is paradigmatic for much of the political scheme that we see going on today as well it's the best way to refute facts well lie about it it's the best way to deal with the truth well you just generate amer and propagate heresy and distort and attack and assassinate the character of those who bring the truth I mean isn't that precisely what we see going on in the book of Acts these men don't ultimately repent and bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ so they raw tell about the situation a note the creation of the false narrative verses 12 to 15 we've already looked at the background the background is in verses 62 to 66 in chapter 27 now isn't it ironic the very thing they allegedly are afraid of and they use as a means by which they get Pilate to authorize guards the very thing they are allegedly afraid of happening is the very thing they say happens because they don't like the alternative let me explain that in Matthew 27 when they come to Pilate they say can we have extra guards can we make the tomb extra secure because we don't want it to be the case that his disciples come along and steal the body because if they steal the body then they'll claim that he had Ray's been raised from the dead this is the very narrative that they are now creating why because the alternative is worse what's the alternative that he actually rose from the dead it's pretty pathetic isn't it damage control mode you take what was your alleged fear and now you stamp that with your approval and make that the official narrative because the contrary is just inconceivable the thought that he actually rose from the dead will really destroy these chief priests will really destroy their stronghold upon the people of Israel in the first century it will really upset the applecart if this man in fact rose from the dead so we can't allow that we got to go into damage control mode I mean it's it's it's it's so common it's so typical it's so much the way things still are you see fats or you hear truths and and then the media typically tells you just the opposite it's like how do these things happen well one you've got wicked people at the helm and - you've got foolish people that pay attention to them just incredibly foolish people I mean that this got traction in Judea in the first century is pretty unfortunate but such is the case so that's sort of the background and I think when we look at this particular chapter it shows the lie of these religious leaders in Matthew 27 at verse 42 remember when Jesus is on the cross in Matthew 27 42 he says or they say he saved others himself he cannot save if he is the king of Israel let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him no you would not you most certainly would not it also confirms the truth of Jesus words in Luke 16 remember the parable of die v's or the rich man and Abraham what does the rich man say Abraham go send word to my my brother's my father I don't want them to perish and end up in this horrible place and what his father Abraham said they have Moses and the prophets if they're not gonna listen to Moses and the prophets they're not gonna listen to somebody who comes back from the dead and I submit brethren in Luke 16 the primary target audience was unbelieving Israel they have Moses and the prophets who testified concerning Jesus and they've rejected and resisted that they're certainly not going to listen to a man who's come back from the dead this confirms that and it illustrates that and it highlights that very clearly and of course before we actually proceed to their plot note the meeting itself in verse 12 the very beginning says when they had assembled with the elders whenever anybody assembles with these religious elders it's never good or when we see these religious elders assembling together in the Sanhedrin which is the official Council of Israel at this particular time there are several instances where we see them assembling together and it's not typically good they assemble together to plot how to kill Jesus they assemble together with Judas in order to pay him to betray Jesus they assemble together in various in various locales with various wicked and nefarious ends and it reminds us of the song that pastor Porter read at the outset of worship the rulers take counsel together against Yahweh and against his Christ and you see this is how the Apostles applied Psalm 2 in their prayer in Acts chapter 4 they saw the situation confronting our Lord Jesus in his first comment and this opposition mounted by Pilate by Herod by the religious leaders of Israel and they apply Psalm 2 to this they take their stand together against God Most High and against his Christ against his anointed against his Messiah and that's precisely what's happening here now note their plot in verses 12 B to 14 first of all the bribe how do you get done what you want to get do you pay for it money talks you've all heard that I don't think this is the first sort of time you've ever been introduced with that concept we see money talking very loudly here and you know just by way of a corollary that I'll probably revisit later these soldiers are fools to actually believe for a moment the integrity of these will make you safe will make you secure yeah right I would not trust men with my life that engaged in this kind of activity but no they offer to bribe now this bribe or this payoff or paola is reminiscent of the religious leaders paying Judas to betray Christ these men have no problem spending money when it comes to advancing the cause of wickedness these men have no problem spending money when it comes to advancing the false narrative these men have no problem spending money when it comes to the to the murder of a good man the Lord Jesus matthew henry made this comment concerning the expenditure of money here he says let us never starve a good cause when we see a bad one so liberally supported just read that again let us never starve a good cause when we see a bad one so liberally support it i've often thought that garry north is absolutely right americans love their religion and I might extend it across the border there we love our religion but we love it cheap it's an amazing thing how many people can spend so much on home repairs or hobbies and yet when it comes to a good cause say the advancement of the gospel through faithful churches or missionaries eats a lot of money we just don't have it we're just not led you see that's not my spiritual gift everybody's got the spiritual gift to teach and preach but not many have the spiritual gift to dig down deep into their pockets and kapha I've always wondered that why in the distribution of the spiritual gifts why so many feel themselves called - you know gospel ministry in China and yet you know it's just not my thing to cut checks for those who go to China I think that Matthew Henry is right let us never starve a good cause when we see a bad one so liberally supported but with reference to this payment to the soldiers as I said it's reminiscent of the payoff to Judas whereas Judas has been bought to make use of what he knew these guards are to be bought off to suppress what they knew so they paid Judas to find out or rather to use his bank of knowledge they pay these shortlist soldiers to just keep quiet - just shut their mouths we're gonna create the narrative for you we're gonna tell you what it is you need to say we're gonna concoct this story about a stolen body theory but never tell anybody about the descent of this angel never tell anybody about this earthquake never tell anybody about the fact that the tomb was empty because that would pull the rug out from underneath this false narrative you see they pay them off CH Spurgeon comments for money Christ was betrayed and for money the truth about his resurrection was kept was kept back as far as it could be now it is intriguing that this payoff shows us something that have touched on it earlier it is a construction of their hatred for Jesus isn't it I never think there was just you this bit of a skirmish between these religious leaders and and Jesus you know some people stumble or struggle with Jesus denunciation in Matthew 23 when he pronounces woes upon these scribes and Pharisees and he calls them bags of snakes and hypocrites well my oh my Jesus that's a bit harsh isn't it you don't realize but this is a trigger to them they may go home and need some therapy because you said some very harsh things to that Jesus would not be welcomed on the modern university campus if it was populated with Pharisees and scribes oh no you can't come here and call them bags of snakes you can't come here and call them hypocrites you can't suggest it that they strain out the the net and they swallow the camel brethren you can see why precisely Jesus dust announced in that way these men hated him all the way back in Chapter 12 after the Sabbath Wars what does it say they plotted how they may destroy him this was an ongoing thing 26 3 to 5 we need to take him by trickery and kill him but we can't do it during the fees because everybody follows him and lights him and it won't go over well if we take the national hero at least to some degree and we execute it and that's when Judas comes along and they pay him the money to betray the Lord Jesus these men are opposed to Christ not just competing religions it's not just well you know they're they're doing their best they absolutely positively despise the Lord Jesus Christ their payoff as well demonstrates their love or rather their hatred for the truth I've often thought this if you ever had a job as witness come to your house and they give you literature and then you try to give them something do they accept it if you're saying yes you've not had the same ones I it's almost like you know you're passing them a disease well let me just give you cancer oh no no I don't want that I took your thing debunking Oh allegedly the doctrine of the Trinity let me give you this little booklet perhaps on setting forth the truth of the chain my thought is the truth has nothing to fear brethren it has nothing to fear whatsoever it's why the angel tells the women come inside and look at the tomb these men demonstrate their hatred of the truth they oppose Christ they oppose truth I think it reveals something of their own power play and their own struggle to maintain dominance in religious life in Israel at the time they are threatened if Jesus is the real deal if Jesus is who they say he is then we're going to lose our power base rule lose our our power structure we're gonna lose our hold over the minds of people they are threatened and it shows in their reaction and the payoff demonstrates just how far they will sink in their depravity this is it that way you kind of read Matthew's Gospel you see in tuam chapter 12 they plotted to destroy it and if you're a new Bible reader you didn't know anything about this Jesus of Nazareth and you started in Matthew's Gospel say wow this man only ever does good takes I mean he's a he's a great guy he he just goes from place to place healing raising feeding and helping and curing blind people and giving them them ears to hear and and that whole difficult or debacle rather how every say that particular word in Matthew chapter 12 has to do with Jesus showing kindness and mercy and yet they plot to destroy him I wonder if new Bible readers ever say wow these guys are really you know high on themselves they need to back it down they need to chill out this is this is nuts and crazy as we move on in the narrative we see only opposition we see only hatred we see it culminating in the religious leaders stirring up the very people themselves all Israel as we're told to cry out away with him away with him crucify em he's hung up on a cross he is executed as a common criminal he is treated the worst riffraff in that particular context he's ultimately buried he does raise the third day and they're still opposed it's almost like you want to say oh right already he won he beat you he is actually who he says he is you need to throw in the towel you need to cry uncle you need to tap out because you're engaged in folly and you're opposed to the God of heaven and earth and His Christ it's a terrible terrible situation these men find themselves in and then notice the particular narrative that they weave or they conceive at verse 13 tell them his disciples came at night stole him away while we slept now again this is pretty ironic in that this is what they allegedly feared so what they allegedly feared would happen and that the disciples would capitalize on this and they would say that he had risen from the dead they've really changed their story RT France points out the irony here he says now that something much worse has happened the actual resurrection of Christ it is better to pretend that their plan to thwart Jesus disciples had failed than to admit the reality of the resurrection they knew his disciples would now claim as fact and and I think that as we look at verse 13 here we're gonna notice some big problems with it in just a moment but before we actually look at the the big problems consider the wickedness of it I mean again we Bible readers we don't really stop to smell the flowers and the good sense and we don't stop to sort of smell the rotten flowers and this is some rotten stuff that we find in this particular passage in the first place they Patrol portray the soldiers as derelict in their duty because the narrative involves them claiming that they were asleep again for those of you who've been in the military those of you who have served in that particular capacity they don't like it when you fall asleep on duty I know it's crazy but it's not like you know I don't to pick on any other job and say it's okay for you to go take a nap in the afternoon I don't want to say that but it kind of has to be said you're soldier armed guarding something and you fall asleep what can happen you could be killed the thing you're guarding could be seized every sort of thing could be compromised so when a soldier fell asleep fact you see instances in this in the book of Acts it was a terrible thing for a soldier in a claim or tell that he had fallen asleep I think you know speaks to the wickedness of these soldiers again money talks I'd rather have more money than you know and then have a good sort of reputation as being a decent soldier but it's also very wicked with reference to the disciples now if I said to you at a fellowship luncheon or I thought yeah if I said to you you know I think you cut in front of me and you took a bun that I sort of had my eyes on you'd be offended wouldn't you I would I you know if somebody said I could take the bond have all the buns I didn't mean to take the bottom but but it would be sort of a of an insult if I were to suggest that you took not even a bonnet cookie the biggest bouquet you took that big cookie and I wanted it which that whole argument makes me sound like the really bad one in that scenario but imagine that accusing somebody of taking a cookie imagine accusing somebody of robbing a grave you know when the scale of sins or crimes or things that you don't want to ever be true of you I I would have to think grave robbing would be a top-five offense in some places in this particular time frame in certain situations it was considered a capital offense grave robbing is horrible I mean at what point has a guy left the reservation when he's actually going in to a grave to take a dead body out the charge itself concerning the disciples is absolutely ratchet then of course what it does with reference to Jesus what it does with reference to his integrity because in chapters 16 in chapter 17 in chapter 20 in chapter 26 and throughout his gospel ministry or throughout the gospel record and in matthew chapter 12 he announced that he would be raised on the third day this was a wicked narrative it was a bad thing it was false and it was evil but as well consider the impossibility implausible kids means that it's just unbelievable it's just outlandish it makes no sense and I think Chrysostom made the good observation he says almost foolish of all men for because of the clearness and conspicuousness of the truth they are not even able to make up a falsehood for indeed what they said was highly incredible the Geneva Bible says the more the Sun Shine ahthe the more are the wicked blinded so it's not only a wicked message but it's a very foolish incredibly dumb stupid message again I realize that language is offensive some of your parents are raising your children and never say such things proverbs 12 and the New King James uses stupid as long as it's explained and used properly such as in this particular scenario it is legitimate these men are fools look at what they suggest in verse 13 tell them his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept now this is implausible with reference to the disciples the disciples were afraid the disciples were timid the disciples had abandoned Jesus at his arrest the disciples for that first week are in a house in Jerusalem sealed up for fear of the Jews according to John 20 now would this 10 band of man actually roll away a stone remove a dead body from the tomb after having removed the body from its clothes folded the grave clothes and put them on the bench and then went out and took this body now I've been a law alive long enough to realize just about anything is possible and people are really foolish but this is an incredibly difficult thing to surmise but then consider with reference to the soldiers imagine if you went to court and they call the star witness up again up to testify against you and your lawyer says what did you see on the night in question well I was asleep but I saw such and such and such and such and such and such it doesn't take a star lawyer to realize that evidence is useless you see sleep is the opposite of consciousness and it requires consciousness to see that sort a series of events doesn't it again I think that when we fall in two patterns of sin when we are hardened in sin when we continue to abound in sin it has a nasty effect upon the totality of our lives we certainly see it physically a man that engages in a particular form of sin often times evidence is that in his own body but there's a mental effect there's what's called a noetic effect it affects the intellect of man when you traffic in lies when you've trafficking in falsehood when you engage in this sort of subterfuge it doesn't bode well for your decision-making abilities and this narrative from the outset this false narrative is incredibly ridiculous and just imagine they were all asleep at the same time these trained soldiers that have no doubt seen battle that had guarded more difficult things to guard than the tomb of a dead man they're not on a nuclear silo here this isn't a camper team out in North North Dakota part that that's what they do they have camper dates when the alarms go down North Dakota is one of the largest nuclear resources on the face of the earth they have missile fields and silos and all that sort of thing well when the alarm goes down what do you think they do they send guys out to camp on that site and if one of them is going to fall asleep the other at least stays awake they would never all fall asleep at the same time and just imagine for a moment this narrative they are asleep they didn't hear any commotion then in here 12:00 or rather 11 men pushing a large stone away from a tomb taking a body out and then fleeing the scene and if they were so sure it was the disciples which again from the the unconsciousness of sleep from the other side they are able to know that this is in fact that as I they knew who the disciples were why didn't they give chase why don't they go to their house why didn't they search their quarters why didn't they look for evidence I mean the story is so full of holes it's an amazing thing that these men would even posit such a thing it is terrible it is ridiculous it is folly it is foolish Ness now note they go on to promise these soldiers something big it says verse 14 if this comes to the governor's ears we will appease him and make you secure this in and of itself is just incredible because remember in chapter 27 this was their concern this is why they asked for the guards if the guards had failed in their duty who would have been the most upset it would have been these religious leaders shouldn't that have cautioned or alerted Pilate to the situation wouldn't he have said to these religious leaders why have you changed your tune what's the deal you wanted the guard you boasted the guard the body's gone and now you don't want to blame the guard you want to release the guard and say somehow that they've done fine are done well and I thought this was interesting in verse 14 we will appease him and make you secure we will appease ya what kind of power these guys wielding in the first century well some suggest it was a payoff a bribe well part of it's not this noble wonderful fella just ruling over you know Judea in the first century doing all things virtuous in a while he's a wretch so some suggest that the appeasement or this sort of a conciliation with Pilate would be to Greece as Paul but if it's not bribery again what kind of power these guys wielding in the first century it's pretty terrifying and as I suggested earlier these guards should not have followed along the religious leaders would ensure the safety of the soldiers in a criminal hearing that's what what result Pilate would hear about this there would be a criminal hearing with reference to this dereliction of duty and the religious leaders would be right there to say oh no they were fine they did fine they were okay how do you possibly explain what they did was fine they were posted under taxpayer dollars to guard the tomb of a dead man and the dead man was gone it's an incredibly foolish scenario that is put forth here and then notice finally the propagation of the false narrative the soldiers comply money talks and they listened as I said with reference to trusting these people it's akin to 2nd Kings chapter 18 if you were here on Wednesday night you remember what we saw Hezekiah pays off Sennacherib and the Assyrians Cenac would have been the Assyrians show up at the fortified cities of Judah and they want to take them so Hezekiah says let's pay them silver and gold and Sennacherib imposes a large tribute upon him so Hezekiah does what many of the kings did they went to the temple and plundered the gold and the silver there and paid off Sennacherib you think it was a done deal wouldn't you nope Sennacherib shows back up ready to take Jerusalem what you mean we can't trust godless heathen pagan kings in the Assyrian Empire yeah I guess we can't you mean we can't trust religious leaders who are lying thieving conniving deceiving wretched man no you better not I would not put my safety in the care of these wretches with reference to the taking of the money Spurgeon said men none of us ever be affected by considerations of profit and loss in matters of doctrine matters of duty and matters of right and wrong so they took the money and did as they were instructed and this saying not that they met with the religious leaders but this saying the false narrative created by the religious leaders this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day why why did it gained such traction well there's probably some very good reasons why first the scientific difficulty of believing that people raised from the dead this same sort of thing today isn't it I mean when you talk about the resurrection to atheists or those who are not familiar with the Christian faith what do they do oh wow that's great tell me more they just roll their eyes and discount it come on men don't rise from the dead so that was certainly one of them a second thing would be that it would be easier to believe in this lie than in the truth because if God in fact sent his son the Lord Jesus if the Lord Jesus was in fact Israel's Messiah if Christ was the one prophesied by the prophets they all stood in opposition to him they were all antagonistic against him they all raised the fist and set away with him away with him crucify him it becomes easier just to pretend that it really didn't happen then deal with the consequences but then a third reason why they didn't receive it or at least that this had some traction and you know first century Judea the judgment of God it's intriguing you don't find that in the modern commentators this is an act of God's judgement you certainly find in Galvin and Gill for they say this Kelvin says it was the finishing stroke of the Vengeance of God to blind the Jews that the resurrection of Christ was buried by the perjury of the soldiers and that so gross a falsehood was believed gill says to which judicial blindness and hardness of art were they given up as to believe a lie which had no appearance of truth in it now this story continued in it - at least the the 150s it was a man by the name of Justin the martyr he lived actually 110 to 165 and he has a dialogue with try foe the Jew and this comes up it had some traction it's still out there today people would rather believe a lie than the truth and submit to the Lord God Most High well in conclusion we have seen I hope the wickedness of the religious leaders we don't want to ever look at this this you know gospel record and say well you know you got the religion of Jesus versus the religion of these Pharisees it's it's just sort of you know two approaches another mutually exclusive J Gresham machen pointed that out with reference to liberalism in the only part of the 20th century since we have been taught to look at liberal Christianity as a sort of subset of Christianity he says that's not the case they are too dire diametrically opposed the contrary to one another religion of Jesus Christ was the religion of the prophet Isaiah of Moses the religion of the Pharisees was not see we have this sort of idea that the Pharisees were right in so far as it went but if they would have taken this they were godless men that opposed the law just because somebody says law law law doesn't mean they mean it and if they twist the meaning of that law doesn't mean law law law is a good confession see people say oh the the Pharisees there were these legal and they they had all these rules and all this stuff they they had a high view of the law never make that mistake our confession of faith has a high view of the law Reformation Christianity has a high view of the law these men had a perverted view of the law that's what you need to appreciate when you read these gospel narratives it's not Wow they were I with reference to the law no they were wrong with reference to the law when Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says that you have heard that it was said to those of all but I say to you the antithesis isn't Moses in Christ it's Pharisee in Christ it's misinterpretation and Christ he is showing us what Moses always intended in the preaching of the law so these men are wicked secondly we need to understand that the propagation of heresy that means the sending forth of lies isn't confined to the first century the stolen body theory is what we find in this particular section the idea that the disciples came along stole the body and then faked the resurrection there's something called the swoon theory swoon theory simply says that Jesus didn't really die this is the view of Islam he didn't really die he just appeared to be dead he was in a coma-like State so that when he was put into the tomb it wasn't a resurrection from the dead he came out of the coma some form say that he pushed the stone away you know he got power power lifting Jesus pushing stones away and that sort of thing the swoon theory 1970s there was a thing called the Passover plot I think was a movie well this is the swoon theory it's an attempt by God haters to discredit the truth of Scripture that's scientific oh that they've uncovered all this new research really what kind of new research as they haven't uncovered probably the most recent was a to saw I think it was 2007 documentary you know don't you love that I used to work with a fellow you know I was watching the Discovery Channel and you Christians don't know what you're talking about okay so the Discovery Channel and you know the History Channel have now become normal for the proper interpretation of the Bible forget the church you know forget Calvin forget Gil I mean those guys were pikers what do they know you got a handful of Hollywood types up there interpreting the scripture for the masses and this is where we've fallen brethren there was one produced by James Cameron the lost tomb of Jesus there was actually a tomb found in a construction gig but of course we don't know whose bones are in the tomb except for James Cameron and his people they know that it's Jesus of Nazareth this isn't new or rather this isn't done it continues you know what the best way to combat heresy is to run and hide you might want to but you're not supposed to you're to preach the truth I just you know I have this vision I don't want to sound Martin Luther King ish here but I have this vision the people in our church will be able to answer some of the basic objections to Christianity be able to define that that were justification to be able to give an explanation of the Trinity maybe this vision is too big and I need to make it more modest but I don't think so I think each and every one of you need to be armed and ready I think each and every one of you be it need to be able to take Peter statement to heart first Peter 3 sanctify Christ is Lord in your heart and always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear it does not advance the cause when we say well I know there's answers to this whole issue about the swoon theory or about the stolen body theory I don't have them now there may be things brethren and that's a perfectly acceptable response you know explain to me the intricacies of super lapse Arianism and infra lapse Arianism give me a week I'll get back to you that's okay but if you can't give a fundamental basic explanation of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ then change get smarter get along with God write yourself some notes memorize some passages and pray to God most high to help you to give that reason for the hope that is within you I love Peter statement always be ready not just when you come out of church notice we don't ever get hit by jobless witnesses when we walk out a church so we're coming out uptown grill our bellies are filled with you know eggs and sausage and toast and that's when we get it are we always ready that's what we're supposed to be it's intriguing - in 1st Peter chapter 3 guess what he doesn't do pastors elders teachers doctors reference here's what I want you to do know it's everybody of the way Gordon Clarke used to say Sophie the wash woman ought to be able to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints brethren we live in a day and age where so much of what we believe and so much of what we hold near and dear is under attack it may not be conniving Jewish leaders in this particular setting but it's all around us nevertheless and then finally we need to appreciate the contrast between the missions we have the Great Commission we have this counter mission the religious leaders use bribe money to coerce the soldiers to go out and spread a lie the Lord Christ uses the promise of his presence to tell his disciples to go out and spread the truth this narrative propagated by the soldiers and the religious leaders gained traction in among the Jews the Lord's message according to Matthew 28:16 2:20 would penetrate all the nations it would go forth it would conquer it would be victorious it would indeed do that for which God send it sent it there is a contrast in these patience it is explained well by our brother John Kelvin he says though this falsehood obtained currency among the Jews this did not prevent the truth of the gospel from flying at Liberty to the very ends of the earth as it always rises victorious over all the obstacles in the world and a final observation with reference to the contrast between these two missions these religious leaders they died they ultimately stood in judgment before God Most High what does the master say and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age his presence his power his grace his mercy his goodness his Spirit is with us as we engage in the task the blessed task the privilege the high calling to propagate the truth of the gospel he lived he died he was raised the third day this is the basis upon which our beloved brother Paul preaching and pacinian Antioch makes this call to sinners in fact turn there and see this for yourself before you go home today Acts chapter 13 it's a synagogue of the Jews it's a Sabbath day the Apostle Paul is in there and they asked him do you have anything to say well praise God Paul's not us because we'd say no I don't want to say anything Paul gets up but he brings it he preaches the truth if you notice specifically in acts 13 29 now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb but God raised him from the dead he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem who are his witnesses to the people and we declare to you glad tidings that promise which was made to the fathers now notice and verse 38 he applies his message if you're not a believer here this morning in Jesus Christ please listen to what Paul is saying here in chapter 13 at verse 38 he says therefore let it be known to you brethren that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins if you are not a believer here this morning you are in your sins you are under the just judgment and condemnation of God you are liable for your offenses against God you are liable for your adult idolatry and your blasphemy and your Sabbath breaking and your insubordination and your murder and your adultery and your theft and your lies and your covetousness you are liable to a holy God for those sins but notice what Paul says through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins Christian brothers and sisters is there anything better than the forgiveness of sins no that's the boon that's the blessing that's the joy that's what makes us happy that's what drags us out of bed sometimes that's what makes us to see I was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the Lord a lot of Christianity is misunderstood when we neglect this reality our sins are forgiven can I get an amen I always wanted to do that but through this man has preached to you the forgiveness of sins now notice and by him everyone who what believes not goes out and does penance Allah Romanism not goes out makes a better attempt Allah carnal man not goes out and just tries harder all the natural disposition of all of us by him everyone who believes is justified it's belief for justification from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses if you are in your sins this morning there is one hope there is one remedy there is one answer and that is faith in our Lord Jesus it is look it is a live it is a be saved that is the glory of the Christian gospel he died he was raised and he now is enthroned at the right hand of the Father and all those who come to him in faith will be forgiven well let us pray our Father we thank you so very much for the gospel of our salvation we thank you for the good news concerning Jesus his life is death his resurrection may we rejoice in these realities and may we give praise and glory unto you our great king and may this gospel go forth attended by the power of the Holy Spirit and may today be the day of salvation may sinners believe and know that wonderful truth of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone go with us now we pray and we pray in Christ's Holy Name Amen well let's stand and we'll close our service this morning by singing hymn number seven in your Trinity hymn hymnal hymn number seven [Music] so the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen we'll please be seated you