more bitter than you. And so Mary had seen the light. She had seen the Lord Jesus. And how bright he was. But now is gone. How dark. How sweet it was when she accompanied with him and ministered unto him. How dark. How bitter. He's no longer with her. And so you find Mary here. at the supper church. So often you hear the words, the future is dark. Many a time I go onto the hospital and come away saying, the future is dark. You mean no hope, that's it. And how dark is the future if we do not know the risen Christ? If he's not risen, why, how dark things are. If Christ is not risen, there's no salvation from sin, there's no future beyond the grave, if Christ is not risen. There's no trust to be put in the Word of God that Jesus Christ is not risen. Hope began to dawn on this occasion, and that's Matthew who tells us that, it began to dawn toward the first day of the week. And there was something that began to dawn on Mary's mind and heart. The stone was rolled away. Well, that seemed to indicate something. The stone is rolled away. She didn't expect that. And the tomb was empty. She didn't expect that. Furthermore, the grave clothes were still there. And this began to give rise to the possibility that Christ was alive. One thing is certain, the body had not been stolen. For had anyone stolen the body, they would have taken the grave clothes too, because they wrapped the body in about three hundred feet of linen. That's what they did when they buried Lazarus. But here, one thing is certain, the body has not been stolen. The grave clothes would have been taken, but there they are. He could be alive. He couldn't live within those grave clothes. So he must be alive. He would not need those clothes, those grave clothes. He had a garment of night. The Lord Jesus didn't put on a change of raiment, literally, when he rose from the bed. He didn't take on other garments of linen. No, he was rolled in a garment of light and of life. That was evident later on when he appeared in the midst of the disciples, the doors being shut. And all of a sudden he appeared. Now, literal in them wouldn't have gone through. He had a garment of light and light. That's why he said unto Mary Kashmir, touch me not. Over in Revelation where you have the bride, the land's wife, and she's attired in white linen, clean and white. Now we're not going to wear clothes like this linen garment throughout eternity. And yet here is the bride attired in white linen. In other words, if John saw the bride, she was attired in something beautiful. White is light. Eternal light and eternal light. How wonderful. It was undoubtedly something like this that Adam and Eve wore in the garden, and they were not ashamed. And when they sinned, that vanished, and we saw them nakedness. And so here is Mary, and she realizes now he must be alive. But it was still gone. It still wasn't clear. And of course darkness was in the hope, in the hearts too, of the two disciples, James and John. But she saw two angels, one at the head, the other at the feet, on that slab where the body of the Lord Jesus Christ was made. What a picture of the deceit, the mercy seat in the Old Testament in the tabernacle that represents the presence of God. Those of you who will recall Mr. Sheridan's messages on the tabernacle, you have the mercy seat and an angel at one head and an angel at the other looking down upon the mercy seat and the mercy seat was sprinkled with blood how beautiful you have a picture here mary saw that place where jesus had laid and at one end an angel another an angel looking down now there's a mercy seat now we can come to God through Christ because he has at this time vanished death when he was alive. And it's only through a risen Christ that we can come before. So here's Mary and she beholds these angels, indications he had risen. But she did not really enjoy full day and night until she saw him. Oh yes, she had been in the dark, and then there were indications he had been raised from the dead. But she hadn't really seen him yet. There was still dog. But when she saw him, first of all, supposing him to be the cardiner, she says, if you've fallen hence, tell me where you've laid him, and I will take him with. A frail woman. take away the body, the dead weight, from a man possibly weighing two hundred pounds. Love knows no burden. She said, will you tell me where you've laid them, and I'll bear them away. Where was she going to take them? Then he said, Mary, in the moment she recognized that voice, that's the same voice that spoke to me when he cast out the demon. moment he spoke, going through the process of death, have not changed the resonance of his voice. For the moment he said, Mary, oh, she recognized, that's him, but a Buddha, daylight. Everything is clear now. Everything is clear. How wonderful when we pass from darkness into daylight. You know there are two things. and they're very dark in sin and death. But now they've gone. Jesus is alive. He was delivered for our offenses. That's our sin. Our offenses. Christ was delivered and on the cross he bore our offenses. But he was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Sin and death are gone. We have life. We're justified before God. And when you see that, you're not in the dark. Nor are you in the dawn, but you're in daylight. How wonderful to see this. Have these things dawned on you this morning? The daylight replaced the darkness in the human heart. Well, that's true if you're not saved. There's darkness in your heart. And God wants daylight to rain, and there's only one way, and that is by knowing Christ. We take the case of Nicodemus, and it's a remarkable story. Nicodemus, if you go turn over to John chapter three, he was in the dark. He came to Jesus by night, and only three times as Nicodemus mentioned in the Bible, in the Gospel. And the first one's in John chapter three. You remember the incident, how the conversation went. Here is a mortal man, a famous teacher, a member of the Sanhedrin, ruler of the Jews. Yet he was in the dark. He didn't know what salvation was. There that night, midnight, when he crept along that narrow street and from doorway to doorway, it was dark. And as he slipped along from shadow to shadow, and he came to the steps of it up the outside, onto the flat roof, where the Lord Jesus was reclining beneath the stars. And when he saw you, the congregation, I don't know how the starry was that. Maybe. Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, and no man can do these miracles, or thou doest, except God be with him. I don't suppose he finished his little message. The Lord interrupted. You must be born again. That's quite a joke. There was no argument. Nicodemus didn't say, but, Master, don't you know I'm one of the leading theologians in Israel? I'm a teacher. I'm at the head of the seminary. I have a knowledge of the Old Testament. I'm one of the Sanhedrin, that August body that leads the nation. He didn't argue this point when the Lord said, you must be born again. What a group. And that's what the Lord said to anyone here this morning. I care not how religious, how educated, how refined, how culture, how honest, how moral you may be. Christ's message is you must be born again. In other words, he's saying this, you need a chain. Nicodemus, you need a chain. What you are now is not sufficient to take you to heaven. You've been born in sin, shaping in iniquity, for that which is born in the flesh is flesh. And Nicodemus, you're just flesh. And that word represents a man with a fallen nature. Poor Nicodemus couldn't understand this kind of language. He said, how can I be born a second time? I'm an old man. Still he didn't understand what the Lord was talking about. The Lord talking about something spiritually. That which is born of the flesh is blessed, Nicodemus. And if you could be born the second time physically, you'd still be a sinner. If you were born again a dozen times, or born in the flesh a dozen times, you'd still be a sinner. You've got to be born of the Spirit. You've got to be born of the Spirit. You do not know how the conversation ended on that occasion. We're not told. It doesn't say that Nicodemus believed. We know the conversation took place. And the next time you find a conversation between the Lord and Nicodemus is over in chapter seven, and it's remarkable, and I want to read this, and it says, And the officers answered, Never man spake like this man, then answered, Then the Pharisees, Are he also deceived? Have any of the rumors of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Now Nicodemus speaks of it. Nothing is said about John three that he got saved. But heavenly something must have happened, because here you see John breathing. He speaks up. And when they said, are any of the Pharisees, do we have any of the Pharisees believe on him? But this people which knoweth not the law of curse. That hit, technically, was pretty high. I'm not cursed. And you'll notice what he said. Nicodemus said unto them, He that came to Jesus by night. Now that all was the label going along with Nicodemus. He that came to Jesus by night being one of them. Do not our law judge any man before it hear him and know what he doeth. He spoke up. Well, something must have happened back there in Psalm chapter three. He come to the defense of the Lord Jesus. Now they turned to him, and they rebuked him. They answered and said unto him, That is Nicodemus. Art thou also of the Galilee? Search and look, for out of Galilee arise at no profit. Every man went to his own home. Something must have dawned upon Nicodemus' heart. But here he had a chance. to who exposed them. They said, you search and see no prophet came out of Galilee. Nicodemus being a ruler of the Jews and not had a knowledge of the Scriptures could have called their hand. There was a prophet came out of Galilee and that's Jonah for he came out of Galilee. But he didn't say it. All we have is Nicodemus depending Christ when Christ was being condemned. He said, if our Lord judge any man who reported here, they shut him up. That was a kind of breaking of dawn, isn't it? But now you have Nicodemus and he's in the daylight. In John chapter nineteen, at the end of chapter nineteen, two men come to Lord Jesus. Who are they? Joseph of Adam and Nicodemus. And they get the body of Jesus after taking down from the cross, they get that body and take it and bear it as those of Moses. In John chapter three, there was darkness in Nicodemus' heart. He came to Jesus by night. But you see a little dawn breaking in chapter seven. But now he comes right out in the daylight. He identifies and sent with a crucified Savior. Right in the public eye he goes and he and Tom and they go and they take the body of the Lord Jesus and they go and bury it in Joseph's new tomb. In other words they were secret disciples these two men. In fact it tells us in that part passage of the latter part of chapter nineteen he was a secret disciple for fear of the Jews. at its heart, and also, Mr. Dewey. I wonder, could I be a secret disciple? One time, Citroën Baxter was traveling in the Middle East, and he was visiting a man, a Christian, who was running a printing press, and he needed help with the translation. And so, Mr. Baxter, after... meeting this missionary, a Christian, and chatting with him. This missionary introduced him to a very handsome, intelligent-looking young Muslim. And he said to the missionary, is this young man a Christian? The missionary shook his head. What did they say? I don't think so. I regret for that. So Mr. Baxter turned to the young Muslim. He says, I'm glad to be true. When the young Muslim spoke up, he said, Deep in my heart, I believe in Jesus. Deep in my heart. But he says, I can't confess that. He said, I've already been warned by my superior that I have a future with my gifts and talents, and a warning that he's being associated with a missionary whose religious views are not like the Muslims. And he said, if I were to come out and confess that, But I've told you that deep in my heart, I believe in Jesus. I've accepted him. He said, I could lose everything. And even I'd like to be poisoned. Now he says, Mr. Baptist, what do I do? Mr. Baptist says, well, I'm very glad to hear that you're a Christian. And he said, it's not for me to dictate to you. what you're to do. I just want to ask you one question. He said the time is coming when you're going to die, or the Lord is going to come. And he said, when you meet your Lord face to face, and I meet I. And the Lord looks you in the eye and tells you what he suffered to you. and the price she paid, and how he went to let two o'clock and suffered unto death which he might have liked. What will you say then? Mr. Baxter said from the look of his face, the arrow went home, but he didn't answer. Mr. Baxter knows no more of a story. or how true, what will we say then? Could it be that I could be silent, a secret of silence, not confessing Christ deep in my heart that I trusted him, but I don't care. And then Mr. Baxter said later, he said that young man for his own sake, for the sake of others, that others might be benefited. And for the sake of the Lord Jesus, he should confess his law. It may cost. Yet God could take care of him. His spiritual blessings would be far beyond anything material. How true. Here is Nicodemus. He was in the dark. Then the dawn he come out and made one remark in defense of his law, but at the end he's right out in daylight. He's confessing his association and identification with the crucified Christ. And if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in our hearts that God has raised them from the dead, the Bible says, thou shalt be saved. How tragic when people can be saved and no one knows. How tragic when people are secret disciples, they are ashamed of their law. The Lord says, Who shall, O sir, shall be ashamed of me? Are they ashamed of him in that coming day? Will you hang your head? It amazes me sometimes how Christians put the feelings of friends and relatives before the feelings of the Lord. It's not a Christian question that I'll hurt his feelings. I'll hurt their feelings. I could care less about the feelings of my relatives and friends when it comes to owning my Lord. I'm afraid of hurting his feelings. Here is Nicodemus out in the light. He's publicly confessing his walk. Remember the blind man over in Mark. He was blind, and he came to the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus sat in his face, a humiliating thing that he did. And God generally humiliates a sinner before he saves him, makes him take the load of grace. He's patting the man's eyes and he said, Do you see anything? He said, I see men as trees walking. It's like dawn. I can't see it clearly. The Lord covered his eyes again and removed his hand. He said, Do you see anything? Oh, yes, I see everything too. The first thing he saw was Jesus Christ. Sometimes people live in a fog or a mission. They don't seem to understand the way of salvation. He said, I saw men as trees. He didn't know what was a tree and what was a man, but he got cleared up. And that's the cross, a man and a tree. Jesus Christ named to a tree. Do you see the full, clear meaning of Calvary? Who at home shall pour our sins and his own body on the tree? When you see that according to Scripture, Christ died for me, He shed His blood for me, and suffered for me. He paid my death, and He raised again that I may be eternally justified, and I have accepted him. My sins are forgiven. They are gone. Daniel Medea, how wonderful to be in that day. I'm not in the dark. Men love darkness rather than light. The Bible tells us because their deeds are evil. That's why some people are not saved. There's some evil deeds hidden in the dark. They know they're there, but the others don't know who God knows. men of darkness rather than light because they're kings or people. God knows everything that you deserve. Others may not, but the time of exposure will come. God wants you to get rid of all those things and belong to the dark, that you might have everything open and in the light. that was true of Nicodemus. Dispensationally, these three points can be applied, darkness, dawn and daylight. In the world today it's dark. Getting darker by the hour, world events are traveling at terrific speed to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. everything is falling into place in the middle of the dispensational within the dark we as Christians walk as lights shine as lights in the midst of this darkness showing we're in the dark it's a dark age getting darker and Christians shine as lights in the midst of the darkness when Jesus comes the lights are going to be taken away all Christians caught up only intensifying the darkness that will be on this earth after the church is gone. The salt has been removed, and oh, the corruption that will break forth. The light has gone, oh, the darkness that will fall upon this world. Nevertheless, there will be a measure of light. In the millennium when Christ shall reign, It will be a dawn compared to the day in which we live. Because Christ shall reign. He'll be the only one can set things right. There won't be all these various governments in the millennium. Christ shall reign, but there will still be sin in the millennium. For people shall die. And there will still be twenty-four hours, night and day in the millennium. Well, there's the dawn. Today we're in the dark. The millennium for a thousand years will be the dawn, and then eternity. At the end of a thousand years reign of Christ, the new heavens and the new earth will envelop the eternal light, the light. That will be daylight forever, for there shall be no night there. So here we are, just and ceasely, in the darkness, in the darkness. When Christ comes, those who are saved are caught up out of the darkness. And when Christ reigns, it will be dawn. It will be a wonderful time, but it won't be clear as noon may, because there will be some sin and some darkness on the earth. But eternity, it will be daylight. There will be no night. everything clear and plain and warm and wonderful as a spring without a fall or summer without the fall with it what about it this morning where are you are you in the dark or are you kind of in the dawn or are you in daylight you can see it all it's so plain it's so clear Before Columbus discovered America, they had a motto in Spain on the forearms, and it was, me plus na obta, meaning there is more beyond. They looked out over the vast expanse of water to land it. There's nothing beyond, nothing beyond. But when Columbus discovered America, they dropped the knee out of that on the foot of ours. There is more beyond. More beyond Spain. And Columbus says, I have the strength. Death does not end all. There is more beyond. There is more beyond. and every born-again Christian has discovered it. And because of Jesus Christ, there's a vast continent beyond death, a continent of peace and joy and eternal happiness, that is, beyond death. That vast continent that will take eternity to explore. And the Christian can say, I've explored it, I've found it, I've discovered it, for the Christian has a foretaste by the Holy Spirit running in our hearts. We have a foretaste of that coming Lord. We have a peace limited now, but unlimited then. Ah, yes, we see someone passed away. That's not the end. There's more beyond. It'll either be a vast continent of glory, peace and joy, or a lake that burneth with fire and brimless joy. This is a second death. There is more beyond. It's up to you which you're going to enjoy. How wonderful there is more beyond. The resurrection of Christ has opened up this grand company. The man, the name of Goodyear in England, he was an atheist, as he said, the scot released a religion. His young daughter was a Christian. Finally, she persuaded them to go to church with her. Well, he didn't want to go, but he went. And her surprise, in dismay, the preacher got up and he preached from Genesis chapter five. And in that chapter, you have these words eight times, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. It gives the ages of them. Methuselah, nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died. And the poor girl, she was so disappointed. She wanted her up to hear that, a good gospel message. But why did the preacher preach on such a chapter? And he died, and he died, and he died. She didn't say a word all the way home. And neither did he. The next day he went to work. He hadn't let him up through the night. And the next day he couldn't get out of his mind. And he died. And he died. And he died. And he had to get off work in his home. But he read that chapter. And he started going through the New Testament. And he came across this text. He that believeth on thee shall never die. And he found Christ. The little girl didn't know the Lord was going to answer a prayer like that. She thought the preacher had made a big mistake. No, God knows what arrow is going to go home. And I hope this arrow will go home. You're going to die. And he died. I won't fear if you live to be nine hundred and sixty-nine years of life. And only when you come to know Christ will he send. He's a good friend. And that'll be daylight. I wonder, how about you this morning? The wife of a doctor, her husband died. You know what she put on the coffin for the public to see? She put in something like this hanging at the doctor's house with a vaccine. In other words, he's dying. But he's coming back to get that body. And that body is going to be glorified. The doctor has asked people back to. That's a good thing, wouldn't it? And I wonder when you look on the body of a loved one, you look at it that way. Well, she's out of the love while. You're back to her. Because you're going to either come back to get that body as a Christian, you're going to come back to get that body to suffer in it. For he is going to be able to cast both soul and body in him. And that body that shared in your sinner will share in your punishment in the future. It bore me on. When the tomb was stolen in a cemetery, strange epigraph, it had plenty. An exclamation mark. As if someone called. Yes, Father. Did someone answer? The little boy that died. And the Lord said, Freddie, I will take you home. And Freddie responded, Yes, Father. Yes. Yes. And then the chief said to a missionary, we're trying to lead him to Christ. He said, I'm going to hold the Indian way all my life. He said, I believe in the Indian way, and I'm going to follow Indian way all my life. But the one after the Indian was dying, the Indian chief, he sent for the missionary. The missionary came, and he said, can I turn to Jesus' way now? He said, my road stops here, and I don't see any path through the valley. Can I turn to Jesus' way now? Indian chief way only stop here. The missionary says, yes, you can turn to Jesus' way now. You'll receive it. Then you'll have a path through the valley and there's a way through it. There's more beyond. So many think that death ends all. Lord, are you living in that atmosphere of darkness as it is true? Or is something beginning to dawn on your heart and mind that you're lost? You need Christ. Maybe a little light has shone in, a little trickle of truth, and a dawn beginning to dawn. settle upon your heart. For of these things are true. I am a sinner. Jesus died for me. But I'm going to accept them as my Savior as the one who shed his blood for me on the cross. I'm going to accept them right now as my Savior. Then you'll know they love. It's all clear now. When I was in England many years ago right after the war, I was staying with a doctor, Dr. Packer. He told me some harrowing experiences during the war when those big beddies, they call them, came over, gawking out. One place he took me where all was left was the pavement of a school where two hundred and sixty-nine people, women and children, old folks. And one of those big beddies and good friends came over, made a direct hit. He said, Brother Wilson, there wasn't one thing. And he said, when the sirens sounded, everybody made for that chariot shot. And he never saw him. No lights were allowed to be seen. He gave the light to the day, praying for him. Oh, there's a lot of things for him. But he said, how welcome people would be in there. He would meet them and drag them any minute, were exposed. And then all of a sudden, all the hearers sounded that have a special sound that made it plain all to you. He said, Friend, it's night, and here we all hear this night. Viny, grumbling at darkness, hiding in the dark, trembling and fearful of what the future of you. And then to accept Jesus Christ, says all of you, I see. I listen to you. For Jesus Christ we meet with all my sins. I put heaven in, amen. Amen. Amen. Our Father in heaven, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we commence with thy presence. We ask thy blessing and thy service, and thank thee for thy peace. How wonderful it is. We have talked with someone this morning, who entered this chapel in the dark, and thus they have dawned upon me, and they'll leave in daylight. Nothing thanks to is the little word, and they'll live with him. where there'll be a journey of light and energy. That's why we're here. I mean, we have to let Jesus know.