Luke 24:1-6.

 

1  "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them."

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2  "And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre."

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3  "And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus."

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4  "And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but is risen"

 

Today we honor and celebrate one of the most Holy Days in Christiandom, Easter.The name Easter itself is not symbolic of the resurrection of Christ but has its roots in pagan history."Easter" is derived from Eastre, or Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of spring and dawn. There also is some historical connection existing between the words "Easter" and "East," where the sun rises. The festival of Eostre was celebrated on the day of the Vernal Equinox (spring).

 

But as in other pagan Holidays, Christianity has taken this day to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Many years ago the Christian faith was the minority among heathen religions, and as Christian workers only had the time off for pagan holidays they chose pagan holidays such as Christmas and Easter to celebrate the birth and resurrection of Christ.

 

Really today we celebrate “Resurrection Sunday”, but since the term Easter Sunday is so prevalent now, that’s ok if the Celebrate Easter, because most of us here have no knowledge of pagan origins, we just see Easter as the time to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

Some get all bent out of shape over these things but the scripture tells us in Col 2:16-17. 16  "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:"

 

17  "Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."

 

If we choose Easter Sunday to Celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, we can dishonor the pagan traditions by turning their holiday into HIS holiday and not worry about the judgment of men because we have respect of a holyday. Yet we remember and we celebrate in a living situation, not among the dead, because Christ is alive, the spirit of Christ is with us.

 

We find that the scripture tells us that some women went to the sepulcher of Christ, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, probably to mourn the passing of the Saviour and instead found 2 angels, called men in shining garments, who told them a truth.

 

Why Do You Look For The Living Among The Dead for He is Risen

 

They were looking among the dead for the Saviour, but they weren’t going to find the Saviour among the dead.

 

And this is a lesson we have to learn in our Christian experience is that we will not find him among the dead; we will only find him among the living!Just because man has given something a reputation that it’s alive doesn’t mean that God views it the same way!

 

And you might say to me, “Pastor how do I know the difference”?

 

We can go to the scripture and look for some examples of death and life.

 

Ephesians 2:1-3. 1  "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;"

 

2  "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:"

 

3  "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

 

How do you know you’re among the dead?

 

The dead follow the course of this world, they go with the flow.

 

The dead’s conversations are be full of lustThe dead’s desires of the flesh and the mind will be fulfilled.

 

The dead will walk in trespasses and sinsThe dead will try to justify there actions.

 

The dead have a form of Godliness but deny the power.

 

2 Timothy 3:5  "You see the graveyard is the graveyard of sin, and the Lord has called his people out of death in life.The resurrection of Jesus Christ opens a new way that we can have a new and powerful way of life.Not rooted in the lusts and the sins of the flesh. But rooted in the power of His spirit!"

 

Romans 6:1-5. 1  "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"

 

2  "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"

 

3  "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"

 

4  "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

 

5  "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:"

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Resurrection Sunday exists so we can experience our own personal resurrection in our life by the power and the glory of the father!

 

If we walk in trespasses and sins, conversation full of lust, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, going with the flow, justifying our actions, denying the power of his spirit;

 

Then We Need Our Own Personal Resurrection!

 

And you won’t find the resurrected among the dead, when the dead are resurrected they leave the graveyard and go among the living!

 

This is the beautiful thing about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it foreshadowed the personal resurrection of all those who would walk with him!

 

You see we were all dead in the trespasses and sins of life; some worse than other but all have sinned and come short of the glory of God as the scripture declares.

 

There’s not a person so good that they don’t need God, If we are among the dead, we need to repent of our dead works!

 

The scripture we read in Romans 6 spoke about a typology in that as Christ died and was buried we go down in the waters of baptism and as Christ was resurrected by the glory of the Father it is that spirit of the Holy Ghost that he empowers the believer with to rise from the dead!

 

You might say to me what about my Father what about my brother, Jesus clearly speaks to these situations.

Matthew 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

 

If Jesus calls us its time to follow him, time to follow the master, Jesus Christ.

 

Its time to leave the graveyard, your not going to find the living there .