Amen. Right, Matthew 28. I'd like to look just at the first few verses again from verse
1. Matthew 28 and verse 1 reads, In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to draw toward
the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And
behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven
and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was
like lightning and his raiment white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake
and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye, for
I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. And I want to focus on this last verse, now
verse 6, our verse of the week, which reads, He is not here, for he has risen as he said.
Come see the place where the Lord lay. He said, for he has risen as he said. And the
title of my sermon today is Twelve Prophecies of Easter. Twelve Prophecies of Easter, I'd
like to pray before we continue. Father, thank you, well, thank you for this day that we
think about. We've got 2,000 years to go now. Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for us to
be there. What that means for us is not only how amazing it is, but how amazing it is that
it was preside about so many times previously, and it was clearly fulfilled in the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Please help me to preach this message just clearly and accurately
and boldly today. Help everyone to have a tent of peace. Please fill me with your spirit
please Lord as well, in Jesus' name I pray all this. Amen. So if any of you were here
at Christmas, you might have remembered a sermon called The Twelve Prophecies of Christmas,
and in that sermon, yeah, it kind of went off a little bit, the twelve days of Christmas,
and I don't know, I'm not going to be breaking into song this time, but it was, we looked
at some different prophecies of Christmas, and twelve for me is a nice round number in
the Bible, and so I thought we'd focus on the twelve, twelve of the many prophecies
of the resurrection. We're going to look at twelve very clear ones today, because we serve
a risen Savior, don't we? And that resurrection was also prophesied too, which like I said,
makes it much more amazing, doesn't it, that it was also prophesied, which is one of the
reasons that the resurrection is such a key part of our faith, isn't it? Such a key part.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 15, without the resurrection there would be no saving faith, and you would
be yet in your sins. Okay, the resurrection isn't just sung, oh isn't it great that you
rose from the dead, it's key, okay? It's a fundamental doctrine, it's a fundamental part
of our faith. 1 Corinthians 15, verse number one, 1 Corinthians 15 and verse number one
says this, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you,
by which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye
keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. So we're saved by
the gospel, if you've really trusted Christ for your salvation, then you know that you're
saved, you'll remember that you're saved. Ah, I just, I can't even remember, am I saved
or not? No, you're going to know, okay, unless you have believed in vain, unless you haven't
really believed, you haven't believed in the truth there. For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures, that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures. That's the gospel, isn't it? He died for our sins, he was buried and rose
again the third day, and it was all prophesied according to the scriptures, yeah? You could
add though that the resurrection was witnessed, he was seen. Verse five says, and that he
was seen of Cephas and of the twelve, after that he was seen of above five hundred brethren
at once, of whom the greater part remained unto this present, but some have fallen asleep.
After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen
of me also, as of one born out of due time. So, Jesus Christ's resurrected body was seen
after his death and burial by all of these different people, because it's an essential
part of the gospel, isn't it? Okay, that's why, it wasn't, well, I just know this one
guy reckoned he saw him, no, it was essentially appeared to many people for that reason. Jump
forward to verse twelve now, verse twelve there says, now if Christ be preached that
he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
These are unbelievers in the Corinthian church, okay? Verse thirteen, but if there be no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching
vain and your faith is also vain? Yea, and we have found false witnesses of God, because
we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that
the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ, sorry, then is not Christ
raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, yea, yet in your sins. So,
if Christ is not raised and the apostles and the scriptures are in error, we wouldn't be
able to trust this Holy Bible, would we? Okay, if he wasn't raised, we can't trust any of
this really. And if Christ isn't raised, then we wouldn't have the hope of our resurrection
either, would we? And go back to Matthew twenty-eight with that in mind. But what's interesting is
that Jesus Christ himself would have been a liar too, as he prophesied his own resurrection.
Okay, if he had never raised from the dead, Jesus Christ's a liar. Okay, Jesus Christ
is a liar, everyone, we can't trust a word of this, how can you trust salvation? Verse
six where you were in Matthew twenty-eight says, he is not here for he is risen as he
said, come see the place where the Lord lay. He said it out of his own mouth in the gospels
and he said it out of the mouth of his prophets in the Old Testament too. Okay, Jesus Christ
prophesied it many times through his own mouth in the gospels and through the mouths of the
prophets. And today we're going to look at some of these and just to keep things different
in case you're thinking, man, he's just rehashing this Christmas one, I'm going to work backwards
this time. Okay, so instead of starting with the oldest one, we're going to start with
the most recent prophecy and we're going to look at his last prophecy first. So turn back
to Matthew twenty-six. Matthew chapter twenty-six, there's going to be a bit of Bible turning
today, but we're a Bible-believing church, so I hope everyone doesn't resent that. We're
going to be turning a bit, Matthew chapter twenty-six and verse thirty says this, Matthew
twenty-six thirty, and when they had sung a hymn, Matthew twenty-six thirty, they went
out into the Mount of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, all ye shall be offended because
of me this night, for it is written I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock
shall be scattered abroad, but after I am risen again I will go before you into Galilee.
So Jesus prophesied that he would rise again and meet them in Galilee and that was on the
back of another prophecy that they would all be offended as well. Okay, and this is then
followed if you remember by Peter's famous bold words, but what's remarkable is that
Jesus told them multiple times as recently as the night before he died and within a few
days they'd forgotten, hadn't they? Within a few days they'd forgotten. But before we
get too critical of the disciples, how often do we forget the promises of Christ when we
go through trials? And I don't want to re-preach this too much because hopefully everyone here,
if they weren't here, has listened to when I preached through the Gospel of Matthew,
but we do, don't we? When we feel alone, we feel alone, we often forget the promises of
Christ. When we feel abandoned, we forget the promises of Christ. When we feel ashamed,
we forget the promises of Christ. Hebrews 13.5, you don't have to turn and it says,
let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have,
for he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And he's really talking about
a promise made to Joshua, which was clearly applying to all of us. He will never leave
thee nor forsake thee, yet how often do we forget that? So we can get critical of the
disciples. How can they not even remember that? How often are you choosing or at least
maybe not even choosing, just forgetting all those promises of Christ when we go through
hard times in life? The disciples have been through a hard time here, haven't they? So
let's keep going though. Turn to Mark chapter 10. We're looking at 12 prophecies of Easter,
sorry, 12 prophecies of Easter. Wow. Nearly re-preaching the old one. Number one is the
night before he died. Number one night before he died. So in Mark 10, they're on their way
to the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This is Mark chapter 10 and verse 32 now. Mark
10, 32 says, and they were in the way going up to Jerusalem and Jesus went before them
and they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the 12
and began to tell them what things should happen unto him. We're in verse 33 now of
Mark 10 saying, behold, we got to Jerusalem and the son of man should be delivered unto
the chief priests and unto the scribes. And they shall condemn him to death and shall
deliver him to the Gentiles. And they shall mock him and shall scourge him and shall spit
upon him and shall kill him. And the third day he shall rise again. Jesus made it clear,
didn't he? Condemned, delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, scourged, spat on, killed will rise
on the third day. So like he didn't leave it sort of open to interpretation, did he?
He just spelled it out to them. Why didn't they remember? Why didn't they remember? Verse
32 says they were afraid. They were afraid. It also says they were amazed earlier as well.
They were amazed and they were afraid. And fear clouds our memory, doesn't it? When you're
in fear, often your memory kind of goes a bit. It closes our ears. But again, the fearful
times are when we need to remember his promises most, aren't they? They're the times when
we need it, but so often that's when we forget what we've been promised by God. In Joshua
chapter one of verse nine again, you don't have to turn there. He said, have not I commanded
thee, be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the
Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest. And as we saw earlier, that promise
to Joshua was repeated in Hebrews for me to all believers. And the same thing when we're
looking at it in Joshua one nine, he said, the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever
thou goest. And again, something we can remember, can't we? And with these, I'm not going to
be doing this with all of them. I just think these first ones out of the New Testament,
there's some application we can get here. Turn to John chapter 10. We're looking at
12 prophecies of Easter. Number one was the night before he died. Number two, on the way
to Jerusalem. So on the way to Jerusalem, this is again, a pretty short time before
the actual resurrection. John chapter 10 is when Christ was in Jerusalem the second time
during his ministry. And it says here in John 10 and verse 14, I am the good shepherd and
know my sheep. So this isn't the last time. This isn't the final part in Jerusalem. This
is the second time he went to Jerusalem. He said, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep
and have known of mine. As the father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must
bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. And obviously
referring to the Gentiles here. Verse 17, therefore does my father love me because I
lay down my life that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down
of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received my father. And by the way, if you're going, didn't God raise him? Well,
he is God. Okay, he is God. But he said, no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself.
I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again. He said in verse 17, I lay
down my life that I may take it again. That's a little more cryptic, but again, we know
it's talking about the resurrection, don't we? Okay, he's talking about the resurrection.
Why didn't his disciples remember this one? Well, although it was a little obscure, perhaps
it's because of the division it caused. Look at verse 19. There was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these sayings, and many of them said he hath a devil and is mad.
Why hear ye him? Others said, these are not the words of him that have the devil. Can
a devil open the eyes of the blind? And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication,
and it was winter. And it's often the parts of God's word that cause division that many
Christians choose to forget, don't they? So often it's those bits of God's word that cause
the division in our life that we then kind of conveniently forget about, and we just
remember the ones that don't cause division, yeah? And maybe there's something in there,
right, with these guys. It caused division, so they just quickly kind of forgot that bit,
you know? Because we don't seek, most people don't seek division. Most people are seeking
to get on with people seeking, seeking to not cause problems. So when there's things
in the word of God which cause division, we often forget them. Many seem to forget
the scriptures, for example, one that many people seem to forget nowadays, like Revelation
chapter 3 and verse 9, behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say
they are Jews and are not, but do lie. I will make them to come and worship before thy feet
and to know that I have loved thee. How many so-called Christians seem to forget scriptures
like that? When it's much easier to worship and to call anyone an anti-Semite that dares
to claim that the Bible's true when it says there are people that say they're Jews and
they're not. When the Bible's very clear who the Jews are, it's believers now, yeah?
Scriptures such as Matthew 19, 9, I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except
it be for fornication, and shall marry another, comitteth adultery, and whoso maryeth her
which is put away doth commit adultery. And again, how many people just seem to forget
that? Cut it out, no, no, no, it's fine, it's fine. I'll go along to the family's remarriage.
I'll go along to the divorcee's remarriage. But he said it's adultery, it's celebrating
adultery. And Jesus said where we were, this commandment have I received of my Father.
Okay, this commandment have I received of my Father. Turn to Mark 9. We're looking at
12 prophecies of Easter. Number one, the night before he died. Number two, on the way to
Jerusalem. Number three, second time in Jerusalem. And Mark 9, this is now long before when they
were in Galilee. So Mark 9 is in Galilee. And verse 30, it says, and they departed thence,
there's a bit of a jump in, in Mark's Gospel, but in Mark 9 are in Galilee, and they departed
thence and passed through Galilee, and he would not that any man should know it. For
he taught his disciples and said unto them, The Son of Man is delivered into the hands
of men, they shall kill him, and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
But they understood not that saying and were afraid to ask him. Why were they afraid to
ask him, do you think? Was it that Jesus Christ was going to bite their heads off? I don't
think so. The parallel passage, you don't have to turn there, you can if you want, but
don't worry. Matthew 17, 22, 23 says, and while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto
them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, they shall kill him, and
the third day he shall be raised again, and they were exceeding sorry. It says they were
exceeding sorry, we just saw that they were afraid to ask him. Basically, for me, they
didn't like the sound of it, so they didn't ask him, they were afraid of the truth. And
again, how many Christians do that? Often we swerve truths in the Bible because we fear
them. There's a truth in the Bible that we know if we just put a little bit of study
in, we could get to the bottom of, but we don't want really that truth, so we don't
really look into it. We don't really want to hear it. We're afraid to know the truth
about something, aren't we? And many Christians are like that. But if we really want the truth,
he's going to give it to us. Matthew 7, 8 says, For everyone that asketh, receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. If you really
want the truth, you can find it, can't you? Yeah, but so many hide from the truth. There's
so many truths in God's word that we avoid and that we swerve. Turn to Matthew 16. We're
looking at 12 prophecies of Easter. Number one, the night before he died. Number two,
on the way to Jerusalem. Number three, the first time in Jerusalem. Number four, back
in Galilee. Now, Matthew 16, this is now just before, outside Galilee. This is just
before where we've just looked at, now he's outside Galilee. Matthew 16 and verse 20 says
this, Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised
again the third day. Why didn't they believe it this time? Well, look at verse 22. Then
Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from the Lord, this shall not be
unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence
unto me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
So sometimes we openly reject the things of God. We even rebuke him because we don't like
the truth, don't we? We don't like it so we reject it. We don't like the truth that all
that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So then when it happens, we start
to complain. Why, God? You know, why are you letting this happen? And we start to basically
rebuke him because we don't like that truth, do we? We don't like the idea of following
the Lord and taking up our cross. So we then complain about the Christian life. But who
said that the Christian life was going to be easy? Yet we complain and we don't like
that truth, so we don't remember that truth. We don't want to know that truth. Jesus said,
For thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. And sadly
that's a lot of people out there, isn't it? They savour us not the things that be of God,
but those that be of men. Turn to John chapter 2. We're looking at 12 prophecies of Easter.
Number 1, the night before he died. Number 2, on the way to Jerusalem. Number 3, first
time in Jerusalem. Number 4, back in Galilee. Number 5, outside Galilee. Now John 2, having
just whipped the traders out of the temple. If you remember they're trading in the temple.
Just a quick thing on trading in the temple. Clearly God doesn't want trading in the house
of God. People trying to organise work, work with people in the house of God. People trying
to talk about, you know, oh well I'll pay you this for this or this or that. God hates
that. God whipped them out of it for it. People coming to church at the house of God to try
and discuss work and getting people involved in your businesses and things like that. That's
wicked. You need to get your priorities right. You've got something to talk to someone about
when it comes to money and cash and work and business. Do it outside of church. Do it away
from a Sunday please. Otherwise you start to get to the point where you just covetous
or something. You come in a trade in the house of God. Is that what your goal is when you
come to church? It's wicked. Let's keep going with that. But John 2, having just whipped
them out of the temple, verse 18 says, Then answered the Jews and said unto them, What
signs showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest he sings? Jesus answered and said unto
them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty
and six years was this temple in building. Wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he
spake of the temple of his body. And this is the one that they were accusing him with,
wasn't it? And we've looked at this in depth in our Matthew Bible study, but really they
understood it. Okay, really they did understand it because Matthew 27, 63, they say to Pontius
Pilate saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive, after
three days I will rise again. So they're claiming even at the end, they're getting these false
witnesses to come forward saying he said that, you know, he's going to destroy this temple.
But deep down they knew exactly what he's talking about. Okay, sadly, a lot of these
people are these accusers, these people that want to try and accuse men of God and obviously
here it's the Lord Jesus Christ, they know exactly the truth, but they want people to
assume the worst of it. It says here, it says here in verse 22 where you are though,
when therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said
this unto them and they believed the scripture in the world which Jesus said. So this is
the one where they did remember. Okay, this they remembered, it just needed a bit of fulfilment
to jog their memories, didn't it? And sometimes it's the same with us, isn't it? We need a
bit of Christ coming through for us to remember the promises. Yeah, often, look, sometimes
you bemoan the fact you're going through a trial of tribulation, but Jesus Christ comes
through for you and that helps you to remember the promises. Okay, and here they remembered
once Jesus Christ rose to the dead, they went, I remember him saying that now. You know,
and sometimes it actually helps us when we go through stuff, in fact, it always helps
us. That's why Romans 5, 3 to 4 says, and not only so, but we glory, we glory in tribulations
also, knowing that tribulation work with patience and patience, experience and experience hope.
You get experience when you go through tribulation, you get the patience and going through it
and with that you get the hope, don't you? Okay, and look, as hard as it sometimes is
at the time, it's good for us, isn't it? We're looking at 12 prophecies of Easter, number
one the night before he died, number two on the way to Jerusalem, number three second
time in Jerusalem, number four back in Galilee, number five outside Galilee, number six third
time in Jerusalem. Okay, or at least it's the first time in Jerusalem. So they were
nice clear prophecies out of the physical mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ, weren't they?
Yeah, they were nice and clear, but there were some slightly more cryptic ones in the
Old Testament too. I don't know if anyone's ever looked into some of these before, and
there are actually many, but these for me are probably the most clear ones, some of
which are then explained in the New Testament as well. And the first one that we're going
to look at, Jesus Christ explained the Gospel of Matthew before the event. So go to Jonah
chapter one, where Jonah, if anyone has never kind of looked into this before, is an obvious
picture of Jesus Christ being sacrificed for the men on the ship. He's cast into the
sea and they're saved as a result. Okay, they're saved as a result of Jonah giving his life
for the men on the ship, yeah. Jonah chapter one and verse 17 says this, Now the Lord had
prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three
days and three nights. Is that a coincidence that Jonah was in the belly of the fish three
days and three nights? Obviously not. And by the way, this wasn't a Pinocchio-style
fishing trip, okay. This wasn't, you know, he got swallowed by this huge monstrous whale
and was there kind of fishing and hanging out there going, one day I'm going to get
out, you know. Just a bit of a shame that all we've got is these fish to eat, let's
hope we don't end up with scurvy. No, Jonah was burning in stomach acid, okay. He was
burning in the stomach acid of a whale as close as a picture of hell you can get, pretty
much. Can you imagine being swallowed by a whale and burning in the acid in that whale's
stomach? This is what really happened, okay. And all these stupid stories they try and
come out with, there was a guy that was once swallowed by a whale and he had like, I heard
this once, there was some news article, he came out and he had white hair all over. Now
he'd probably come out and be absolutely burnt and fried and everything else, okay. Don't
listen to that stuff, this was horrendous. Jonah went through something horrific, okay.
Jonah chapter 2 and verse 1 says, and Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's
belly and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord and he heard me.
Out of the belly of hell cried I and now heardest my voice. Why did Jonah say I cried out of
the belly of hell? Because where he was, was a picture of hell, yeah. For thou has cast
me into the deep in the midst of the seas and the floods compass me about and all thy
billows and thy waves passed over me. And then I said, I am cast out of thy sight yet
I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compass me about even to the soul,
the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to
the bottoms of the mountains. It was a whale kind of eating mountains, no. Was it a picture
of hell? The earth with our baths was about me forever, yet has thou brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord my God. And that's an interesting thing now. And I remember when
we studied Jonah we were looking into the depth of mountains and especially the very
tall mountains. They have roots basically and many things we're looking at. The earth
with our baths about me forever, yet he said, yet has thou brought up my life from corruption,
O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord and my prayer came
in unto thee, into thy holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake thy own mercy,
but I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I'll pay that I have vowed
salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon
the dry land. And that was a picture of the tasting death for every man followed by the
resurrection. Okay, that's what that was. Turn to Matthew 12 where Jesus then confirms
this. Matthew chapter 12 with that in mind. The Gospel of Matthew chapter 12. Jonah said
out of the belly of hell, he said, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The
earth with our baths was about me forever. And Matthew 12 verse 38 says, then certain
of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, this is Matthew 12, 38, saying, Master, we
would see a sign from thee. But he answered, said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign. There shall no sign be given it but the sign of the prophet Jonas.
For as Jonas with three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of
man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. That's as clear as day,
isn't it? That is as clear as day from the Old Testament to the New Testament that he
spent three days and three nights in hell. Yeah. Why would you take that away from him?
Why would you claim it's heresy? Why would you claim it's some sort of Catholic doctrine?
It's not in the Bible. It's clear as day. Without going anywhere else, that's clear
as day, isn't it? But anyway, turn to Isaiah 53 for another prophecy of his resurrection.
He's saying people that say that. They're like, you're trying to say that, you know,
the Lord Jesus Christ went to hell. Yeah. And we're also trying to say the Lord Jesus
Christ died on a cross. None of it's exactly fitting for God, is it? But however, it just
shows the love and the sacrifice that he is willing to give for us. Yeah. And why would
you take that away? But anyway, turn to Isaiah 53 for another prophecy of his resurrection.
So 12 prophecies of Easter. And number six. So in case you're worried, he's going to keep
reeling this out. We're going to start for number six now. And this was number one in
the Old Testament and it's number seven. Sorry, not number six, number seven. But number one
in the Old Testament is Jonah. Okay. Jonah. Isaiah 53 is clearly speaking of the coming
Christ. He says this. Isaiah 53 in verse six. So again, we're just going backwards now through
the Old Testament. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Clearly talking about
Jesus Christ. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought
as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb. So he opened
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment and who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people.
Was he stricken? That's a prophesied death, isn't it? And he made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich in his death. That's a prophesied burial because he had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He had put
him to grief when thou shall make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. And
that's the resurrection. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days and the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Having just said that he'll make his grave with the
wicked and the rich in his death. And when the Ethiopian eunuch asks who Isaiah was speaking
about here in Isaiah 53, Acts 8.35, it says, And Philip opened his mouth and began the
same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. And clearly Jesus Christ, that's the death
burial resurrection. Turn to Psalm 40. So 12 prophecies of Easter. We're into the Old
Testament now. Number seven was Jonah. Number eight was Isaiah 53. Famous passage of the
Bible there. In fact, we've memorized all of that as a church as well. And Psalm 40
is a psalm of David who often pictures the Lord Jesus Christ. So Psalm 40 we're going
to, it's a psalm of David. David is often picturing Christ. And it says in Psalm 40
in verse one to the chief musician, a psalm of David before we start it. It then says
in verse one, I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard my cry.
And he brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet
upon a rock and established my goings. Now, how do we know that this is prophesying the
resurrection? Now you could go, well, maybe he's just talking about David kind of was
in a bit of a bad situation. He said he brought me out. He brought me up also out of an horrible
pit. Well, firstly, the pit is a name given many times to hell. Revelation 9, 2, you don't
know what it is. It's a psalm of David. It says, in Psalm 40, he opened the bottomless
pit, rose a smoke out of the pit, there's a smoke of a great furnace in the sun, the
air was darker by reason of the smoke of the pit. But secondly, in Psalm 40, we see the
result of the pictured resurrection. Look at verse 3 in Psalm 40. And he has put a new
song in my mouth, even praise unto our God, many shall see it and fear and shall trust
in it. And that's the end of the resurrection. It was a gospel going out to many, many went
out all over the world, didn't it? Okay, so turn to Psalm 16, 12 prophecies of Easter.
Number 7, Jonah, number 8, Isaiah 53, number 9, Psalm 40. And Psalm 16, like we said with
David is another psalm of David. Psalm 16, and we're going to look from verse 8 here.
So Psalm chapter 16 and verse 8 says, I have set the Lord always before me, because he
is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices
and my flesh also shall rest in hope. This is Psalm 16 and verse 10, for thou wilt not
leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt
show me the path of life in thy presence is fullness of joy at thy right hand, there are
pleasures forevermore. That's the prophecy of Christ in hell and the resurrection explained
clearly in Acts 2. So if you turn to Acts 2, he just said, for thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. And Acts 2 again
explains this, and so often in the Bible, there are, you know, passages in the Old Testament
will be explained in the New Testament. We should always try and look for that when we're
trying to interpret them. Acts 2 and verse 29 is Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost.
He says this in Acts 2 and verse 29. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of
the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried and his sepulchre is with us unto
this day. So David's body hasn't been resurrected yet. Verse 30 says, Therefore, being a prophet,
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according
to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit in his throne, he seeing this before spake
of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did
see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. So in Psalm
16, David was prophesied in Jesus Christ's resurrection. Okay, and what was the resurrection
from? From hell. From hell, clear as day again in the Bible. And you know when these people
kind of get all angry about this, what were they really saying? They were just saying,
we don't believe the Bible. That doesn't fit into our doctrine. Yeah, or we don't even
know the Bible. It's one of those, isn't it? Okay, but the Bible's clear about it, okay.
So turn to Psalm 2, 12 prophecies of Easter. Number 7, Jonah. Number 8, Isaiah 53. Number
9, Psalm 40. Number 10 was Psalm 16. And Psalm 2 is another psalm of David, according to
Acts 4. So if you're looking at going, when does it say it's a psalm of David? Well, Acts
4 actually states that it's a prophecy of David and it's a prophecy of the conspiracy
to kill Jesus. Acts 4 makes that clear. Psalm 2 says, Why do the heathen rage and the people
imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel
together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands
asunder. Whose is anointed? Here it's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ and cast away
their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh. The Lord shall have them
in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex him in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill in Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord
has said unto me, Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Now the begotten son,
in case anyone's ever wondered about this, is referring to his regeneration from the
dead. Okay, it's not that he was a generated son. This is a prophecy of the resurrection.
So turn to Acts 13 while I read Revelation 1-5. You turn to Acts 13. Revelation chapter
1 and verse 5 says, And from Jesus Christ there is a faithful witness and the first
begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved us
and washed us from our sins in his own blood. That was the day that Jesus Christ was begotten.
This isn't talking about some day of birth. Jesus Christ always was, wasn't he? Okay.
He was in the beginning. All things were made by him without him was not anything made that
was made. It was being begotten from the dead. That's why he's the only begotten son. And
in Acts 13, Paul is preaching a synagogue in Antioch, Pisidia, and he gives them a history
lesson. This is another Antioch, by the way, not the Syrian one. And he gives them a history
lesson before speaking of Jesus. He says this in Acts 13 and verse 29, And when they had
fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in
a sepulcher, but God raised him from the dead. And he was seen many days of them which came
up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who were his witnesses unto the people. And we
declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God
hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he raised up Jesus again, as it is
also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. So
what's the begotten talking about, being begotten from the dead? He has raised up, it said,
God hath fulfilled the same, this is verse 33 again, unto us their children, in that
he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my son
this day have I begotten thee. That's what was being prophesied in Psalm 2. It's the
resurrection from the dead. Okay, so finally we're going to turn to Job and it's chapter
19. Job 19. They were quicker than you thought. Some of you I bet were sitting there thinking
12 prophecies, come on, this is going to be a long sermon. It's actually, it's a short
one so far, but we'll see how we do here. Maybe I'll have a little rant about something
for a minute, you know, finish off nicely. Okay, Job 19, 12 prophecies of Easter, number
7, Jonah, number 8, Isaiah 53, number 9, Psalm 40, number 10, Psalm 16, number 11, Psalm
2. And the last one is here in Job 19, where Job is responding to his friends trying to
find some way of blaming him for his affliction. And that's again, something, you know, just
a quick point on that, we've got to be careful not to do, you know, many Christians like
to do this, don't they? See someone go through something and it must be chastisement. It
must be because of this, oh, did that happen? You know, and you can almost just see it in
their eyes, you know, it's like, you can see them just looking at you going, oh, just wonder
why that would have happened. Like they're just thinking, you must be getting chastised.
You know, no, no, that's not why we go through that. We can get chastised. Yeah, we do sometimes
get chastised, but that's not the explanation for every problem you go through and Job wasn't
getting chastised, was he? Okay. And this is a lesson for us here, because he's got
all these, his clown friends here going, oh, you know, it's because of this, because of
that. Well, he said this in verse 22, why do you persecute me as God and are not satisfied
with my flesh? Oh, that my words were now written. Oh, that they were printed in a book,
that they were graven with an iron pen and led in the rock forever. For I know that my
Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. Now he's looking
forward to the resurrection of his Redeemer. Job knew that redemption could only come through
the sacrifice of the coming Christ, didn't he? But he also knew that the Redeemer would
rise again, that he would still stand at the latter day upon the earth. And why would he
say that? Which basically means that Job will one day rise too. Okay, Job understood this.
He said in verse 25, for I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God, whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold and not another, though
my reigns be consumed within me. And that's exactly, isn't it, what the resurrection means
for us. It means that in our flesh we shall see God. And without the resurrection, there's
no resurrection for you either. It's essential. But you've got to believe it. You have to
believe it. There's no good going, well, yeah, well, probably rose from the dead. Let's hope
so. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. No, well, Romans 10, 9 says it. In fact, let's turn
to Romans 10, 9. I know everyone knows these words, but look at it closely. Romans chapter
10 and verse 9 says, we just read Job saying, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall
see for myself and mine eyes shall behold and not another, though my reigns be consumed
within me. And Romans 10, 9 says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. Why does it say only the resurrection there? Anyone ever wondered that? Because
it's all the same. It's all one. It's a death, burial, resurrection. It's the gospel. That's
what you have to believe. Okay. And if you believe just part of it, well, I think you
might have died for me, but I don't know if he, you know, I'm not so sure about that resurrection
part. Anyone ever had anyone when you're preaching a gospel claim and they just don't believe
the resurrection? Yeah, I've had one or two before over the years say that. Just, yeah,
just don't believe that he rose again. And if they don't believe that he rose from the
dead and he's shown verse after verse, they ain't saved. They don't believe everything
else. If they don't believe that, they're not saved. Okay. The resurrection is key.
He said that if thou shalt confess thy mouth the Lord Jesus, shalt believe in thine heart
that God has raised him from the dead. That's the gospel. That's the death, burial, resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ, paying for your past, present and future sins. If you believe
that and you'll confess it with your mouth again, they just go hand in hand. Okay. If
when you put your faith in Christ, you call on his name in faith. Okay. It's the same
thing. He said thou shalt be saved. Great message that is, isn't it? Thou shalt be saved.
It's as easy as that. And although there are plenty more, these for me are 12 of the clearest
prophecies of resurrection. Okay. Which show that there's no reason not to believe in your
heart that God has raised him from the dead. You've got prophecy after prophecy being fulfilled.
You've got prophecies from really even earlier in the Old Testament. Okay. I'm just showing
you some of the clearest ones. I mean, you could, you could go back to Abraham with Isaac,
you know, and, and we see when we see it explained to us, I think in Hebrews 11, that basically
he was, he knew that God was able to raise him up and he knew really, and it was a prophecy
of Christ because he said that God will provide himself a lamb for the offering, didn't he?
And that's what he's prophesying of there. And, and throughout, we just see picture after
picture, but, and there's some others, you know, slightly more cryptic ones, but here
for me are 12 clear ones, six clear as they from the New Testament, six for me, pretty
clear as well from the Old Testament, 12 prophecies of Easter. Number one, the night before he
died. Number two, on the way to Jerusalem. Number three, second time in Jerusalem. Number
four, back in Galilee. Number five, outside Galilee. Number six, third time in Jerusalem.
Number seven, Jonah. Number eight, Isaiah 53. Number nine, Psalm 40. Number 10, Psalm
16. Number 11, Psalm 2. And number 12, Job. And I hope that was clear to you as they were
to me there. I hope that, I hope I've kind of got that out there quite clearly today.
That was the, there were 12 prophecies of Easter. On that, we're going to finish in
a word of prayer. Father, thank you for, well, for everything, you know, that this day means
to us. Thank you for Easter Sunday. Thank you for the resurrection. Thank you for, for
everything that the Lord Jesus Christ did for us. Thank you that, you know, all we have
to do is put our faith in that death bell resurrection as being enough for our sins
to be saved. Thank you that the gift of salvation is just that, it's a gift. Help us all here
to just really, if we don't, if we don't believe that, Lord, if there's anyone here that really
doesn't, you know, have their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, help them now to just want
to get saved, Lord, to want to just call on his name in faith, to put their trust in him
alone, not their own works, not their previous works, not their continued works, and help
us to find those out there that, you know, that are receptive to your gospel, Lord. Help
us to go out this week to get involved in the soul winning times for this church, to
make an effort to get out there and preach the gospel, to work for you, to roll up our
sleeves and labour for you, Lord, and just get out there and reach the losses you've
commanded us to do and to preach this message, which includes the amazing prophesied resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we just pray that you bless our fellowship time together,
bless our food, help us to just have a nice afternoon and to be able to be back in the
evening service. Jesus' name we pray all this. Amen.