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Easter Sermon Notes: You Can't Keep the Son of God Down

by Dr. John C. Martin, Pastor of Victorville First Assembly of God

Acts 2:22-28 “‘Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him: ‘“I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’”

1. Doubters could not keep Him down.
   He was doubted by:
   1. His own townspeople:
      Matthew 13:53-57 “When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impress¬ing everyone. ‘We had no idea he was this good!’ they said. ‘How did he get so wise, get such ability?’ But in the next breath they were cutting him down: ‘We’ve known him since he was a kid; he’s the carpenter’s son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?’ They got their noses all out of joint.” (The Message)
   2. His own disciples:
      John 20:27 “Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’” (NIV)
   3. Has anyone ever doubted you?
2. Death could not keep Him down.
   Jesus did not put an end to death, He put an end to the agony of death.
   1 Corinthians 15:55-57 ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (NIV)
   Revelation 1:18 “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (NIV)
   1. The Impossible Assignment:
      Matthew 27:65-66 “‘Take a guard,’ Pilate answered. ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.’ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.” (NIV)
   2. God’s Response:
      Matthew 28:2 “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.” (NIV)
      God takes the biggest problem in your life and sits on them. They are no problem for the Lord.
   3. Jesus is coming back!
      John 20:6-7 “Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.” (NKJV)
      Sermon quote:
      To understand the significance of that moment, we need to understand Hebrew tradition and culture. For the fact is, that is absolutely important to the text. God made it important that he wanted to put it in his Word. An in order to understand the significance of the folded handkerchief, we understand what Hebrew tradition says to us today. The folded handkerchief has to do with the master and the servant. And every Jewish boy growing up knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and the servant would wait just out of sight, until the master had finished eating. And the servant would not dare touch that table until the master was finished. Now, if the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers and his mouth, clean his beard and wad up the napkin, and throw it on the table. For, in those days, the waded up napkin meant “I’m done”. But if the master got up from the table, and he folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would dare not touch the table, because the folded napkin meant “I’m coming back”. What a powerful statement that is today, for us to know, that the Lord is coming back. As Jesus was resurrected from the dead, all of the linens, all of the strips of linen that were wrapped around him, as they would prepare someone to be buried, were thrown aside, but what was on his head, Jesus took time to fold up that napkin and place it there, to make the statement to everybody coming, “I’m coming back.” And that’s exactly what the Lord is doing for us. He’s coming back, friends. He’s coming back for you and me. He’s back to take us home to be with him. The Bible says that in John, chapter 14, “he’s going to prepare a place for us”, and if he’s going to prepare a place for us, he will come back to take us to be with him.
      
      This illustration came across my desk, not long ago, of the pit, it’s rather humorous. It says, “A man fell into a pit and couldn’t get himself out. The subjective person came along, and said, ‘I feel for you down there.’ The objective person came along and said, ‘It’s logical that someone would fall into the pit.’ The Christian Scientist came along and said, ‘You only think you’re in a pit.’ The Pharisee came along and said, ‘Only bad people fall into pits.’ The mathematician calculated how he fell into the pit. The news reporter wanted the exclusive story on the pit. The fundamentalist said, ‘You deserve the pit’. The realist said, ‘Sure enough, that’s a pit’. The scientist calculated the pressure necessary per square inch to get him out of the pit. The geologist told him to appreciate the rock strata of the pit. The evolutionist said, ‘You are a rejected mutant destined to be removed from the evolutionary cycle. In other words, you cannot produce any more falling pit offspring.’ Go figure…The tax man asked, ‘Who is paying taxes on the pit.' The government inspector asked, ‘Who got the permit to dig the pit in the first place?" The evasive person came along and avoided the subject of the pit altogether. The self pitying person said, ‘You haven’t anything until you’ve seen my pit’. The gambler said, ‘Nine to five that someone else will fall into the pit.' The charismatic said, ‘Just confess that you are not in a pit.' The optimist said, ‘Things could be worse.’ The pessimist said, ‘Things will get worse.’ And Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit. The point is this, that we can look at all sorts of issues, and we have pits in our lives. And we can do all sorts of things to analyze what’s going on with that. But Jesus is the one to reach down and grab you by the hand and to pull you up when you need it most in life.
      
      Jesus is coming back, the response to the impossible assignment that is given, is that no one, and nothing can hold Jesus back. When God wants to accomplish something, he’s going to accomplish it, period, end paragraph.
      
      
3. The evil one could not keep Him down. After the devil lost, the church grew.
   1. The Holy Spirit empowered the Church.
      Acts 2:46-47 “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (NIV)
   2. They had the Easter attitude.
      The Easter attitude that says Jesus is victorious. That we serve a living God, that we serve a God who’s not dead, he’s alive, and he wants to bring victory into your life today…that’s the Easter attitude. We need to develop that within our hearts, we need to see that happen within our lives.
      

Victorville First Assembly
15260 Nisqualli Rd
Victorville, CA 92395
760-243-4343
www.vfassembly.org
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