Gould, Joseph: Ministry From The N.T. 049 ~ John 20;11-29

Thank you, brethren, for that ministry in song. Mr. McNeil's pointing to the equipment here. Thank you, brother. That means you'll be able to hear my soft voice. There we go. Turn with me, if you would, in your Bibles to John chapter twenty. John chapter twenty. We're going to commence to read from verse eleven. John chapter twenty and verse eleven. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have led him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast led him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and he had spoken these things unto her. Then the same day at evening, when the first, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you. As my Father has sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples said therefore unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. Shall we pray? Father, we thank you for this opportunity to hear your word. We thank you, Father, that it is a living word, and we ask simply that in the quietness of these moments, you would speak to each heart, that the voice of man might not be heard this morning, but the still small voice of God. Thou who knowest every need, speak to each heart this morning and glorify your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray in his precious name, amen. I want to think with you this morning of the activities of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. There's an empty tomb. The pain, the suffering of Golgotha is over. The victim, in mighty resurrection power, has become the victor. And now the Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, speaks through his actions of his activities in the lives of his children. I want you to see three things this morning that the Lord Jesus Christ was involved with. There were so many things that the Savior could have done when he rose from that tomb, but the three that are brought before us in John chapter twenty, I think are particularly sweet. He comes, and his first activity is in the life of Mary Magdalene, Mary of Magdala, and it is to comfort the sorrowing. The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is interested in comforting his people. And then secondly, in the lives of the disciples as they are locked in the upper room, fearful of the Jews, he comes and he cheers the fearful. For when he appears to them, it says, then were the disciples filled with joy. The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ wants to comfort his people in their sorrow. He wants to cheer his people when they are afraid. And then finally, in the life of Thomas, we see the Lord Jesus Christ confirming the doubtful. Here is one of his children, and they're struggling. They're having difficulty believing. They're having difficulty living out the reality of the resurrected life of Jesus Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ comes to that one and gives to him that which he requires. It's interesting because as you go through the chapter, it's progressive. Mary only needed to hear a word. As soon as the Lord said, Mary, her sorrows were gone. Her heart was filled with joy. She only needed to hear. And some this morning, you just need to hear. But you know, it wasn't enough for the disciples to hear. They had to see. When, when they heard, they didn't believe. You see, the women came back from the sepulcher, and they came into the room, and when they came into the room and they said, the Lord is risen, the disciples thought it was a fanciful story. They were amazed, they were astounded, and they were disbelieving. Oh, in order for their fears to be taken away, in order for their fears to be dissipated, they needed to see. And Jesus comes and sh- appears in their midst. Yet for Thomas, Thomas needed to touch. He said, unless I take my finger and put it into the imprint of the nails in his hand, I will not believe. Unless I take my fist and thrust it into that hole in his side where the spear was piercing, I- I will not. He said, I need to touch. Oh, I- I want you to know this morning that wherever you are in your life, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is committed to meeting your need. Whatever it is that you need, he will meet that need. I want to think about those three activities of the Lord Jesus Christ. The activity of comforting the sorrowing. What a wonderful lady Mary of Magdala must have been. She wasn't always that way. I re- I remember just, uh, I guess it's about two months ago, I was visiting with one of my good friends up in Canada. She's the widow of Jack Noble, who was a missionary to Antigua. And I was talking to Sadie, and I put my arm around her shoulder, and I said to her, sister, you're a trophy of grace. And she said, what does that mean, Tom, that I was a bad woman before the Lord saved me? And I said, no, that's not what it means, sister. It just means that I can see what the grace of God has done for you. But, you know, Mary of Magdala really was a trophy of grace. She was a woman who was an exceedingly sinful woman. She was a woman who was demon possessed. And one day Jesus came and, and touched her life, set her free, made her clean, accepted her, brought salvation to her. We see in Luke chapter eight that first reference to Mary of Magdala, but you know, I choose to believe that there's a reference to Mary of Magdala before Luke chapter eight. I believe that she's the one in Luke chapter seven. who anointed the Lord Jesus Christ. She's the one who came in the house of Simon the Pharisee and wept at the feet of Jesus and wi- wiped his feet with her hair and anointed him with ointment. Oh, here the Lord Jesus Christ could look at this one, this woman in in Luke chapter seven, and he can say to Simon, it's because she has been forgiven so much that she loves so much. Mary of Magdala, she met the Lord Jesus Christ, and her life was changed. Turn with me, if you would, to the Gospel of Luke in chapter twenty three. Mary of Magdala became one of those ladies, one of those women who followed after the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew chapter twenty seven in verse fifty five, it speaks of the women which followed Jesus from Galilee and ministered unto him. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ was continuously surrounded by people, and most of them were looking to receive some blessing from the Lord Jesus Christ. They were looking to receive healing, or they were looking to receive teaching. They wanted to be with Jesus because of some blessing that they might receive. But these ladies, these women from Galilee, they traveled with the Lord Jesus Christ, and they ministered on to him. The, the heartbeat of their heart was, what is it in my life that I can give to Jesus? How can I serve him? How can I work in order that he might be blessed? And there's a small group of women who minister to his needs, and as he travels, no doubt, they cook, and, and there are daily needs which the Lord Jesus Christ has, and, and these women are seeking to meet those needs. They're giving, not receiving. And we begin to see these women who have traveled with the Lord Jesus from Galilee in Luke. And in Luke chapter twenty three and verse forty nine, we find these women again. And it says, and all his acquaintance and the women that followed him from Galilee stood afar off, beholding these things. In Matthew chapter twenty seven verse fifty five, they're ministering, they're working. Here in Luke chapter twenty three and verse forty nine, these women are watching. Where are they? They're at the cross. They've come with the Lord Jesus Christ, and they've traveled with him from Galilee, and they've come to Jerusalem, and they've seen him hailed as the mighty king, declared to be the Messiah. But now they've seen him arrested, and they've seen him stand before Pilate, and they've seen him wrongly accused, and they've seen him as he's brought forth, beaten beyond recognition and hardly recognizable as a man. And they've wept as they walked behind him all the way to Calvary. And now there he hangs between heaven and earth, and there they stand watching him. They're watching, they're looking, and need I say, their hearts are breaking. There must have been tremendous confusion in their minds. They must have wondered, how can this be? How can one who has brought such blessing, how can one who has brought such joy, how can one who has given of himself so greatly and has displayed so much love, how can that one be hanging upon a cross? Let me make a couple of points for you here. When we look at that cross this morning, I want to remind your hearts, as I remind my own heart, that in order to be obedient to God, we need to make adjustments in our life. Oh, we go through life and we don't want to be inconvenienced. We want to go through life and, and, and have our routine and have our ritual and fit God into our day, and somehow or other we think that that's what the Christian life is all about. But as I look with you this morning at the cross of Calvary, I want to say to you that in order to be a servant of God, it requires major adjustments in our life. And if we are not willing to make those major adjustments, if we are not willing to make major changes, then we cannot. It is impossible to serve God. If you look into your life and say, I serve God, but there are no crises in my life, there are no major adjustments that I have to make, there are no changes that are major in my life that I have to make in order to cha- serve God. You are fooling yourself. Not even the Son of God could be obedient to his father without making major changes. Not even the Son of God. What changes did he make? He left heaven and came to earth. That's a major adjustment. Hm? In order that he might be obedient to the Father, he left heaven and came to earth. In order that he might be obedient to the Father, he who was rich became poor. Now that's adjustment. Would you be willing to give up your riches today and become poor for the sake of Jesus Christ? Sometimes that's what obedience requires. Not only did he leave heaven and come to earth, not only was he who rich to become poor, but he who was absolutely holy was made sin. On the cross of Calvary, God took all of his wrath against sin, and he poured it out upon his son, and he made him to be sin who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. In order for the Lord Jesus Christ to be obedient to the Father, there had to be major adjustments. It's going to be the same with you and with me. And if we're never willing to make the adjustments, we'll never walk in obedience, and we'll never enjoy his presence in all of its fullness. But let me remind you of something else as we look at that cross this morning. As those ladies who have followed him from Galilee, ministering to him, look at the cross, they find something else about obedience. They find that obedience to God is more costly to the ones that we love than it is to us. Let me say it again. Obedience to God is more costly to the ones we love than it is to us. If you are going to be obedient to God, it will cost your family something. They will have to pay the price of your obedience. When we look at the cross, and as Jesus looks at those women standing afar off, they are paying the price of Christ's obedience. Their hearts are breaking. There is a pain there that seems will tear them apart. The Lord Jesus Christ, as he suffered on the cross, both the physical agony and the spiritual suffering of being made sin, understood exactly what was happening. He comprehended that in order for God's redemptive plan to be accomplished, he must be crucified. He must shed his blood. He must be made sin. But these women and his disciples didn't understand that yet. They, they only understood it when he explained it to them after the resurrection. And so here is the Lord Jesus Christ in obedience, going to the cross, and as he goes to the cross, and as he is obedient to the Father, what happens? Those women that ministered to him feel pain. Those disciples who had followed him for three years, they're scattered and they're fearful. They're confused. You see, there's a price of obedience. Read the story of Hudson Taylor. Read the story of a man who is called of God to go as a missionary to China. And as he says yes to God, he knows that there is a high probability that he will never again see his aged mother. And so his mother accompli- accompanies him to the boat that will take him to that faraway land, and... and as they're saying their last goodbyes, they go to his cabin, and they take the word of God, and they read the word of God together. Then they pray together, and the announcement is given that it's time for those who are not passengers to leave the boat, and Hudson Taylor accompanies his mother to the gangplank. And as that woman walks down that gangplank, Hudson Taylor hears from her lips the wail of sorrow, the deep penetrating cry that came from her heart and pierced his heart, as his mother, in leaving him, came to that realization that she would never see her son again on this earth. Who did it cost more to be obedient to God, Hudson Taylor or his mother? Oh, I believe at that moment, Hudson Taylor's obedience was more costly for his mother than it was for Hudson Taylor. Oh, dear one, we need to realize, as these women had to realize at the cross, that obedience to God is costly, not only for us, but for our loved ones. For our loved ones. And we see these dear women, and they're watching. When we look further down in chapter twenty three of Luke, it says, and they returned, verse fifty six— and they returned, prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Here we see them waiting. The Lord Jesus Christ has been crucified. His body has been taken down from the cross. It's been placed in a tomb. It's now the Sabbath day, and these women have gone, and they have begun before the Sabbath to prepare the spices and the ointments that they're going to use to anoint the body of the Lord Jesus Christ after the Sabbath. And having done that, then when the Sabbath comes, they rest, and they're waiting. They're waiting. They are preoccupied with the Lord Jesus Christ. They've prepared the spices, but they're waiting to go and anoint the body. You know, we have a, a truth here that we need to apply, I believe, in our own lives. We will only make preparation for the future when we are preoccupied with the person of Jesus Christ. Many of us are living our lives as if there was no future, as if there was no judgment seat of Christ, as if there was no day when we would stand before God, and we're doing it because we're not preoccupied with the person of Jesus Christ. We are like the church at Ephesus, perhaps. We've lost our first love. Have to get back to that place where we renew that love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you wanna, if you wanna be preoccupied with Jesus, if you wanna renew the love relationship with Jesus Christ, I suggest that you do what these ladies did. Get to the cross of Calvary. Stand in front of the cross. Realize again the greatness of the love that Jesus Christ has for you and for me, as we see him dying upon a cross. And here we find them waiting, preoccupied with Christ, longing to anoint his body. And it's at that point that John picks up the narrative in John chapter twenty, because here we find Mary weeping. She has come to the sepulcher, and as she comes to the sepulcher, the stone has been rolled away. And as the stone has been rolled away, Mary of Magdala, this one who has learned so much of the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, and who, in appreciation of that forgiveness which he gave, loves him deeply, she comes and she wa- looks into the sepulcher, and she sees that the place where the body has been laid is empty, and her heart begins to break. I want you to think with me of that first Easter morning, and I want you to think of what happened that morning. Imagine how you would have reacted had you looked into a sepulcher and saw two angels. Hm? That's what happened. She came to the sepulcher, she looked in the sepulcher, and she saw two angels. She wasn't impressed by two angels. Here is a woman whose heart is so overstricken with grief because they have taken away, she believes, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. She is so stricken with grief that she isn't even impressed by the fact that there are two angels in the sepulcher. She just simply turns away from the sepulcher, and there is only one thing in her mind. She wants to find the body of her Lord. She's convinced that he's dead. She's convinced that it's been stolen, and she is so overcome with grief that not only does she not get impressed by the two angels that are in the sepulcher, but she is so overcome with grief that she stands before the Lord Jesus Christ, the one whom she has been ministering to day in and day out for the years of his ministry, and she does not recognize him. I believe the tears were flowing from her eyes. Her heart was breaking. Her mind was preoccupied with only one thing. Where have they taken my Lord? And Jesus comes along. And he speaks to this dear one. And he simply says to her, Mary. And when she hears his voice, she says, Master, the sorrow's gone. You know, it's only the Lord Jesus Christ who can take sorrow away. Our God is the God of all comfort. It's only he who can take sorrow away. I want to remind your heart that if you never knew pain, you could never experience the God of all comfort. It's only in that place of pain, it's only in that place of sorrow that we can find Jesus Christ to be the God of all comfort. It's only when our hearts are breaking, and when the burdens are heavy, that we find him to be the God of all comfort. Oh, when we see this dear one, this one who was just a trophy of the grace of God, when we see her in her sorrow, Jesus but speaks her name, and he says, Mary, and the sorrow is gone. Sometimes when I think of Mary of Magdala, I think of a chorus that we sometimes sing. I will serve you because I love you. You have given life to me. Heartaches, broken pieces, ruined lives are why you died on Calvary. Your touch was what I longed for. You have given life to me. Here's one who had felt the life-giving touch of Jesus Christ, and she wanted to serve him, and she wanted to minister to him, and here she is in the depths of her sorrow, and Jesus said one word, Mary, and her sorrows were dismissed. What are your sorrows this morning? What is it that is troubling your heart this morning? The Lord Jesus Christ will meet you at that point of need. The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ wants to bring comfort into your life. In Isaiah chapter forty, God shows to us his heart when he says, Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Oh, that's the heart of God. It's to bring comfort. Here's the activity of God when we see the resurrected Jesus Christ. What's the first thing that we see him doing? Bringing comfort to one of his children who is weeping and who is grieving. Oh, let him be the bringer of comfort to your heart this morning. There are many of God's people, their hearts are troubled and they're grieving and they're anxious. They need to listen for that voice of Jesus, and he'll speak your name, and he'll let you know that not only is he alive, but he that he cares, and he'll bring comfort to your heart. But you know, not only does he bring comfort to those that are sorrowing, but he brings cheer to those that are fearing. Look with me again at chapter twenty of John, starting at verse nineteen. Here we have the disciples. And he comes and he speaks to them, and they see him. And he says, peace be unto you. Here are men who, in one moment, are afraid. Here are men who, in one moment, are hiding. Here are men who are defeated. And Jesus comes, the resurrected Jesus Christ, and he comes and he says, peace be unto you. Now, that's what they needed, wasn't it? Their hearts were in turmoil. They were filled with fear, and they needed peace. And Jesus said, peace be unto you. You know, when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks peace, he speaks peace with authority. It wasn't just a cliche when he said, peace be unto you. When he spoke that evening to them, he brought to them peace in all of its reality. First of all, as they looked at him, there was the peace of an accomplished redemption. They realized for the very first time those words that Jesus had repeated to them many times when he said, I'm going to Jerusalem, and I'm going to be taken by the elders, and I'm going to be put to death, and the third day I will rise again. And now they understood it. Now it all came back with freshness and with power. Redemption has been accomplished. We didn't know what it meant when we heard John the Baptist say, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. We didn't understand what it meant, but now we understand. We didn't understand what it meant when Jesus said, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it again. We didn't understand what it meant, but now we understand. And now, as we look at this resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, the one who bears the marks of Calvary, the one who has the nail prints in his hands. We understand that redemption has been accomplished, and that brings peace to our hearts. Do you have that peace this morning? The peace that comes from a, an accomplished redemption? Can you say that you have peace with God this morning through faith in Jesus Christ? Can you look to the man who has the nail prints in his hands and in his feet and say, he is my peace. It is by him that I have been reconciled to God. Oh, there was a, a stirring in my heart, and my heart was troubled because of my sin, but now I can see that on the cross of Calvary, when he shed his blood, he made it possible for me to be forgiven. He made it possible for me to have peace with God, and this morning I have peace because of an accomplished redemption, because of what Jesus Christ has done. Oh, there's a peace that comes from knowing him. But not only is there a peace of an accomplished redemption, look what it says in verse twenty one: Peace be unto you. He repeats it again. As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. There's the peace not only of an accomplished redemption, but there's the peace of a divine purpose. Those disciples, they've been following Jesus for three years. They must have been in that upper room, and the thought must have crossed their mind, what are we going to do now? What does the future hold? What is life going to be like without the Lord Jesus Christ? And now there is a peace, because Jesus said, as the Father has sent me, so send I you. They knew now what they were going to be doing. They knew that they were going to be the representatives of Jesus Christ upon this earth. They knew that they were going to be those who would proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. They knew that they would be those who would be the glad, bringing the glad tidings of the mighty victory of the man of Calvary. And their life had a purpose again. And with that purpose, there came peace. Do you have a purpose in your heart this morning because you know that Jesus Christ has a, a reason for you to live? I- is there a peace in your heart because you know that God has a purpose for your existence? That it is to serve him? That it is to represent him? That it is to be an ambassador for Christ? That it is to be a living letter? That it is to be a light in a dark place, that it is to be salt on the earth. We have a purpose, a purpose to live. He bought us in order that he might represent himself or reproduce himself in us by the Spirit of God and show the world what Jesus Christ is like through you and through me. What a purpose in life. Oh, that brings peace to the heart. You know, you shouldn't have a midlife crisis. I have to be careful, I might have one one of these days. Haven't so far. There is no midlife crisis for the Christian. We know why we're here. We're not building for this life, we're building for eternity. And if we understand that, it brings a peace in life. There is no crisis of identity. I'm a child of the king. There is no crisis of purpose. I'm serving Jesus Christ. It's like one lady answering a question that Stuart Briscoe asked her. He said, what do you do in life? He was asking, going round, you know, one of those icebreaker questions, and he said, what do you do in life, young lady? And she looked at him and she said, I am the, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, carefully disguised as a machine operator in a vac- in a factory. She got it right, didn't she? I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, carefully disguised as a machine operator in a factory. It's a purpose to represent him. Oh, there's a peace that comes from the knowledge of an accomplished redemption. There's a peace that comes from having a purpose, but there's also a peace that comes from having an imparted power. You see, Jesus breathed upon them, and he said, receive ye the Holy Spirit. And you know, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, as he comes to you and to me, he says, I want you to have the peace of an accomplished redemption. I want you to have the peace of a divine purpose, but I want you to have the peace of an imparted power. For you, dear child of God, nothing is impossible that God wants you to do. Jesus said, all power is given unto me in heaven and on earth. And then he imparted that power to you and to me. And he, he sent to dwell within us the blessed Holy Spirit of God. Now that brings peace. We find ourselves often in the place that Moses was in, Lord, I can't. We find ourselves in the place where Gideon was in. Lord, I can't. Lord, I'm, I- I- I'm so sure that I can't do it, that I'm not even sure that it's you, God, that's speaking to me. Let me put out this fleece, God, to make sure that it's you that's speaking to me. I can't believe that God would ask me to do such a thing. Me, the least of my father's side. And when God asks us to do something, he asks us to do something that we cannot do in our own power. When God gives us a job, when God gives us an assignment, he gives us a task that is too great for us. But when he gives us that task, he reminds us that there is imparted to us the very power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. And he says, now do it, not in my power, not in your power, but in my power, so that I, the Lord, will get the glory. Oh, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, he brings comfort to the sorrowing, he brings cheer to the fearful, and he brings confirmation to the doubting. Look at Thomas. Don't criticize him too greatly. He only asked the Lord to show him what the Lord showed every one of the other disciples. Let me just say, in closing, these words. There is a difference between doubt and disbelief. There's a difference. Doubt, you see, is the attitude of heart that comes when there is a lack of evidence. What To- what Thomas was saying is, I need more evidence than I have now. I have the evidence of your witness, fellow disciples, but I need something more than that. I need the evidence of seeing the resurrected Christ and touching the resurrected Christ. What Thomas was saying is, I don't have enough evidence, and therefore my faith isn't great enough. That's doubting. Disbelief says, I refuse to believe in spite of the evidence. The evidence is overwhelming, as is the evidence, for instance, of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as is the evidence that Jesus is the Son of God, as is the evidence that Jesus is the only Savior of the world. That is overwhelming evidence. You cannot look at the life of Christ, you cannot look at the death of Christ, you cannot look at the resurrection of Christ and say, I don't have enough evidence. God has given you all the evidence that you're ever going to get. And so if you refuse that evidence, it's unbelief, it's disbelief. And what God does with the unbelieving is to cast them into hell. And so I want to encourage you today, if you think about Thomas, that if you're doubting, the Lord Jesus Christ will come, and he will minister into your life that which is required to strengthen your faith. But if you're unbelieving this morning, if you've never come to Jesus Christ for salvation, do it this morning. For God, as I've already said, has a fiery hell waiting for those that continue in unbelief. Shall we pray? Father, thank you for the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you that he's the one who comforts the sorrowing. Thank you, Father, when our hearts are fearful, he speaks to us, peace be unto you, and brings joy into our lives. Thank you, Father, that when we are doubting, he comes along. Sometimes it's with a mild rebuke, but he comes along and strengthens our faith. Oh, blessed God and Father, thou who knowest each of our hearts, would you minister to each heart this morning according to that need and be glorified in our lives, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.