The Stone Roller

That was good. That was good the second time. It was the first time. I appreciate the choir leading us in worship today.

Think about this statement. I know a name. And here is my prayer for every one of us here today. We do know the name.

The name of the one who is our Savior. Jesus. Dead things come alive. Dead things come alive at the name of Jesus.

Something comes out of the grave every time I call your name. I love that. Something comes out of the grave every time I call your name. You know what that's pointing to?

But there are things in our lives or things that we experience. This thing did buried in a grave sealed by stone. There are moments in our life where things feel final. Maybe a diagnosis from a doctor, maybe a failure in life.

A loss that feels unbearable. A prayer that seems to go unanswered. Moments where it feels like a stone is rolled into place and everything that we hope for is sealed behind it. That's exactly where we are in our text today.

A week ago we saw Jesus crucified on the cross. He's the crucified one. This week we'll see that he's pulled off the cross wrapped in a linen cloth laid into a tomb. When Jesus cried out in his finished, he gave up the ghost.

He died in the hope of his followers, appears to have died with him. What nobody realized is that God was about to roll a stone away and reveal that a dead man had come alive. Can I tell you this, God is a stone roller? He is.

And he's still rolling stones today. Dead men come alive in the name of Jesus. I want to appreciate this morning a message entitled, The Stone Roller. If you would turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 27.

Matthew 27, I'm going to pick up in verse 57, read down through chapter 28 and verse number 10. If you would stand with me on the reading of God's word beginning in verse 57. Matthew writes and says when the even was come, there came a rich man of Eremathea. His name was Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple.

And he went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. He laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of a rock.

And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and he departed. And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sitting over against the sepulcher. Now the next day that followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees came together into Pilate saying, sir, we remember that this deceiver said, while he was yet alive, after three days, I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, steal him away, and say unto the people that he has risen from the dead.

So the last error shall be made worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, you have a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can. So they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, setting a watch. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn 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 in his raiment, white as snow, and for fear of him, the keepers did shake and became his dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, fear not ye, for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen as he said.

Come see the place for the Lord lay and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee and there shall you see him, lo, I have told you. They departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold Jesus met them saying, all hell. And they came and beheld or they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him.

Then said, Jesus unto them, be not afraid, go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see me. Father, we come to you today. We just want to praise your name. We want to thank you that dead men do come alive in the name of Jesus.

All because Jesus is alive, we too can have life. We want to praise your name. We want to say thank you. Thank you for the truth of Easter.

Thank you that we need not fear our greatest enemy, which is death, or because we can come alive in the name of Jesus. We thank you that you invited us to come to see, to investigate, to look and believe. We're not with a blind faith, but with an investigated truth that Jesus is no longer in the grave. We're to connect all the dots and say the reason that he's not is not because he was stolen from a grave, but because he is alive just as he said.

What I pray that dead men will come alive today. What I pray today that there's some stones that need to be rolled away, rolled over some experiences in life, some things that we're struggling with, some situations that we're going through, where our hopes seem to be sealed behind a stone. I pray today, God, that you would roll those stones, not to fix our problems, but rather this, that you would receive all the glory and the honor and what I pray this. There would be one here today who's yet to come out of the grave, or who is yet to come to life in Christ Jesus, I pray that the day would be the day of salvation.

We promise we'll give you the glory and the honor. I pray this in Christ's name, amen. I want to share with you today a message entitled the Stone Roller. Five things this morning, number one, the crucified one is buried.

We see where this man comes onto the scene in the book of Matthew, a man from Aaron Matheus. His name is Joseph. We don't know a whole lot about him. Matthew though does tell us something interesting, and that is that he is a disciple.

He's a follower of Jesus. I would put this man, Joseph of Aaron Matheus, into the exact same category of Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a Pharisee. We meet him in John chapter 3, and then in John chapter 7, just six months before Jesus will go to the cross, he's at the Feast of Tabernacles, and the religious rulers were thinking, how can we kill Jesus?

How can we get rid of Jesus? And Nicodemus will say these words to them. He would say, does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he's doing. And the response of those religious leaders was to mock Nicodemus.

And to say, are you from Galilee? You know what Nicodemus was though? A secret disciple. He began following Jesus in John chapter 3.

He's defending him in John chapter 7. And then while Matthew does not disclose, if the other gospels do, Nicodemus is with Joseph of Aaron Matheus when the body of Jesus is laid into the tomb. He's a secret disciple, Joseph. Also, a Pharisee.

A secret disciple of Jesus. He goes to pile. He asks for the body. This is costly, right?

He's going public with his faith. He's taking the body of Jesus, and he's having it wrapped in linen and lays it in a tomb. It's his own tomb that he prepared for his own eventual burial. He now gives it up for Jesus.

And he places it in there. And here's what the Bible says. That he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb. A large stone.

This isn't symbolic talk. This is an actual stone, man. It's big. It's in a trench.

It's on an incline. He knocks the scotch out of the way. He rolls that stone into place. And when it follows into place, it's like a sense of permanence.

This is not like a door on a hinge where you can walk up to it. You can open the door, walk in, walk out, shut the door. I mean, this thing is like, it's got a sense of permanence. And certainly to anyone who didn't have the strength to roll the stone back up the little incline and put a scotch under it.

I mean, this was a permanent thing. This was permanent. And Jesus is sealed behind the stone in a tomb. When that stone is rolled into place, the hopes of everyone who had followed Jesus is buried too.

Every person who had been touched by Jesus, who had been healed by Jesus, their hopes are dashed. Life has changed. We just think a few weeks ago, we started this series following Jesus to the cross with the man in Blind Bartimaeus. Blind Bartimaeus finds out that Jesus is walking by him.

He's going from Jericho to Jerusalem, ultimately to the cross. He cries out, Jesus, so did David have mercy upon me? He calls him for him to come. And he asks me what he'd have him to do for him.

He says, I want to have my sight restored. And Jesus said, go your way. My faith has made the whole. And that word made whole is that he not only healed him, but he saved him.

And then the Bible says this, that Joseph, I'm sorry, that the Blind Bartimaeus began to follow Jesus from that day on. And we say this, that he followed him all the way to the cross. Now think about it. Here is now Blind Bartimaeus, who's probably near the cross.

He's watched Jesus die. Now he's put into a tomb and that stone is rolled into place in all of the hopes that he had, because Jesus not only gave him sight physically, they gave him sight spiritually, but now Jesus is dead and in a grave. And all of his hopes are dashed. Every person who had ever received a miracle from Jesus, their hopes are dashed.

His followers, his disciples, James, John, Peter, his closest men, their hope is dead. When you look at Luke 24, and Jesus, this is kind of fast forward, right? He comes out of the grave. He's walking beside these two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

They're glum. And he's asking, like, why are you so down? Like, man, have you not heard what happened in Jerusalem? How three days ago Jesus was crucified?

And today's the third day, and we believe that he was the one who redeemed Israel. That ain't going to happen. You know why? Because he's dead.

And he's in a tomb behind a stone. Even his closest followers, their hopes are dead. It's as if their hopes are behind the stone. They've been sealed shut.

Let's go back to the burial, right? We're ahead of ourself. That's on the resurrection day. Come back to this burial.

Joseph rolls the stone into place. Hope seems lost. It seems dead, buried. But I want you to notice what's happening here in our text.

There's some women who are watching. They don't leave. I pictured this in my mind that Joseph and Nicodemus, they're working together in tandem. The Sabbath is coming quickly.

They got to get the body into the grave. They're very much, hey, they're preparing the body for burial. And they know that the sun's about to go down. They rolled the stone into place, and all they walk.

And yet the Bible says this, but there are two women. They're there. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary over against the Sept. That means they're somewhere a little ways away.

They're watching. Can you imagine what's going through their mind? Like what? In the world is going on.

Jesus. It's dead. This totally caught him off guard. They never saw this coming.

Now he's buried. He's behind a stone. And they're staring at it. They're watching.

They're thinking in their mind, like God, what are you doing? What about all the promises that Jesus made? We thought, right? Dot, dot, dot, fill in the blank.

We had hope for, but, and here's what I want you to know, is that there are seasons in our lives, even as believers, even as followers of Christ. Where God feels silent. There are seasons in our life where promises feel buried. For all we can do is sit and stare at the stone.

You see, faith doesn't just cause us to move and to celebrate when things are going our way. As a matter of fact, when things are going our way, we probably don't have to exercise a whole lot of faith. All this week we posted devotionals on our Facebook, Passion Week, Devotionals. I don't know if you read yesterday's devotional.

I'm just going to read it to you because it falls in line with right where we are in our journey with Jesus to the cross. It says, the time the tomb is often overlooked. There are no miracles, no teachings, no movement, just silence. Jesus is in the tomb.

The disciples are grieving. Hope feels buried. This is the space between promise and fulfillment. And if we're honest, the space we know well.

The waiting. The uncertainty. The questions. God, where are you?

Why is this taking so long? What are you doing? But what feels like absence is often hidden activity. Just because we cannot see God working does not mean he is still.

The tomb reminds us that God is faithful even in silence. That his plans are still unfolding even when we don't understand. That resurrection is coming even when all we see is a grave. Faith is often formed not in the breakthrough but in the waiting.

And those who learn to trust him in the silence will recognize him more clearly in the victory. You see, sometimes faith just has to stay. It's just got to sit. It's just got to stare at a stone when our hopes feel dead.

And hope is still dead and buried. Faith waits even when things seem to become more and more hopeless. When things go from bad to worse. Jesus is dead.

His body is wrapped in linen. He's laid in a tomb. A stone is rolled into place. And yet that's not the end of the story.

His enemies go to Pilate and say, Pilate, let's seal this tomb. So the next day, verse 27, 6, 2, 3, 6, we see where the religious leaders go. And they ask Pilate to put a security team on detail. Let's get this thing secure.

Why? And this is ironic. They, the enemies of Jesus, remember what he said. What did he say?

I'll rise on the third day. Isn't that amazing? His men who hurt it not once, not twice, not three times, but at least a minimum, a four times recorded in the gospel. Jesus said the Son of Man is going to be handed over.

He's going to be crucified and on the third day he's going to rise again. At least four times, probably a lot more than that. His own men hurt him say that. But in this moment, on this day, when Jesus is in the grave, they not only don't remember it, they don't even believe it.

He's dead. He's buried. Our hopes are dashed. However, his enemies, they don't believe it either, by the way.

Okay? But they remember it. And they go to Pilate and they say, look, the deceiver said that if I'm to be killed, I'll rise on the third day. Now, just so his disciples don't show up and steal his body away and then claim that he came out of the grave, which will make things worse, then if we just let him alone, let's seal the tomb and put a guard on it.

So Pilate says, here's your watch. You go, you make it as secure as you can. And they do three things. Number one, they seal the stone.

By sealing the stone, they put some mechanism on the stone that says, hey, if this thing gets moved, the seal will be broken and everyone will know, hey, this, this thing's been tampered with. It's kind of like a seal on an envelope back in medieval days, right? That wax seal, you see it somewhere, and only the recipient was to break the seal. So they seal it and then they put a group of men around it with swords, spears, they're protecting it.

What do they do? They secure the tomb. In essence, what the leaders are saying, let's make sure this thing is over. That no one could ever claim that this man came out of the grave.

Now, what's ironic is the more they try to prevent the resurrection, the more they prove it'll take a miracle for Jesus to come out. Does that make sense? Right? I mean, think about it.

They lock him in, they seal the stone, they put a guard with swords, with spears, a commando team out there. Nobody can come. Nobody can break in. And the more they try to secure the stone, the more they prove, the only way Jesus is coming out is a miracle.

What they're trying to do, though, is to lock in death. They're trying to lock the disciples and the followers of Jesus out from hope. They set a guard, they seal the stone, Jesus is dead, he's locked in, and the disciples are locked out from hope. You know what the enemy still tries to do today in our lives?

He tries to seal things shut. He will. He wants to convince you that your hope is sealed shut behind a stone in a tomb dead, done for. This happens relationally.

People struggling marriage, life's not going good, marriage's not going well, and all of a sudden the enemy steps in and says, you know what, the hope that you have for restoration is dead. The hope that you have for things to get better is behind that stone in that tomb. It is over. Sometimes it's a habit.

People become addicted to things. Right? All of a sudden, it's like, hey, it's not only the habit that can ever be broken. You're in the tomb.

You're behind the stone. Your hopes of ever being set free are dead. Your hopes have been dashed. Sometimes it's just life in general where we think nothing can ever get better.

My life is never going to get better. The enemy comes along. He whispers lies into our ears. He tells us that our hopes are in a tomb sealed by a stone, and things will never get better.

But here's the thing. God's not intimidated by sealed stones. God's not intimidated by what the enemy tries to seal in. Chapter 28, verse number one, says on the first day of the week, these women, they return.

They return to the very stone that a few days ago they've been staring at. You know what that stone has been on their mind? Matter of fact, Mark tells us that when the women are coming as the sun is rising, they've got that stone on their mind. They're asking who will roll the stone away for us?

Like, it's their problem, right? Like, we need this problem solved. Like, who's going to roll the stone away? Matthew tells us, though, in our text that we just read, there was a violent earthquake.

Listen, this is not like a 7.2 on the Richter scale, and all Jerusalem got leveled. This is very specific, very locational. Right? And angel comes down, rolls the stone back.

It's like there's an earthquake that takes place. These men see this angel. They quake in fear. They fall out as dead men.

Note what the text says. Not only does the angel roll the stone back, but what's he doing? He sits on top of it. The angel rolls the stone back, and then he's just sitting there.

All of this is happening just as these women are walking up to the grave, and they've got to be thinking like, what? And the world is going on. Heaven's stepping in and roll the stone back. This angel is sitting on it.

Now think about it. The stone, pictures, finality, hope, lost. Jesus buried. And now that stone is rolled back.

The angel is sitting on it. It's a picture of total authority. Can I just tell you this? God has authority over every stone that seeks to seal our hope away from us.

God has authority over it. Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus. These guards are shaking. They're paralyzed.

They're powerless. God has authority. These women are thinking what in the world is going on. Right?

And then this angel makes this announcement. Fear not. I know you're seeking Jesus. He is not here.

Remember what he said. I will rise on the third day. And all of a sudden, they start connecting the dots. Now listen, don't miss the truth.

That stone was not rolled away so that Jesus could get out. He didn't need a stone to be rolled away so he could get out. And that stone was not rolled away so that those women wouldn't have to deal with the problem. But it was rolled away so that others could look in.

So that they could see the truth that had already occurred, that Jesus is not there. He is alive, even as he said. What was dead is now alive. This is a total victory.

Two weeks ago, we were in the Garden of the Semeny. We were watching Jesus when he was praying. And I shared with you that in all reality, the victory over sanitation took place in the Garden. It really did.

It was displayed on the Cross. But the victory was won in the Garden. Honestly, he crushed the head of the serpent there. We talked about the Passion of the Christ and how Mel gives him the snakes slithering.

He stands up, not my will, that I will be done. He crushes the head of the serpent. He sets his face like I went for the cross. No more temptation whatsoever.

He has settled. He has settled. He is going to the cross. And he really won the victory over temptation in the Garden.

It was displayed on the Cross. Scottish 15 says that he made an open show out of principalities of ours. Try something over them in the Cross. I think sometimes we look at the resurrection and then we say this, that the resurrection was Jesus conquering death.

But I'll say this. I think the resurrection is the display of his victory over death. In order of Jesus won the victory over death on the Cross when he died. Matt Mars sings a song of Jesus' phrasings as Christ is risen from the dead.

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death. Matt Mars picks that truth up. Jesus trampled over death by death. It wasn't the resurrection that was the victory.

The resurrection was the display of the victory. His actual victory was when he died. Revelation 1, 18, Jesus said, I am he that lived and was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen. And I have the keys of hell and death.

And the question becomes when did he take the keys of hell and death? And I'll tell you that he removed those keys from the hands of Satan on the Cross of Calvary. In the very moment of his death, he won victory over death. Hebrews 2, 14 says, for as much than his children as the children that are talking about us, are partakers of flesh and blood.

Jesus also himself became a man that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death. That is the devil. When Jesus died on the Cross, when he cried out in his Spanish, father into the hands, I commit my spirit. He won the victory over death.

You know how he did it? He died voluntarily. Jesus was sinless. Death had zero hold on Jesus.

He had to voluntarily die. He couldn't be killed. He couldn't die. He had no sin.

He had to voluntarily yield up the ghost. And the moment he voluntarily died, he removed the keys of death from the hands of Satan. Jesus won. The resurrection is the display of that reality.

Now with that in mind, the Jesus won. That he holds the keys of death and hell. That he conquered death. I often pray with people and I pray these words.

Many of you have heard me pray this with you personally. You have heard me pray this publicly. But I say, God, because you are taking care of our greatest need. You know what a greatest need is?

Salvation. God, because you are taking care of our greatest need. You know what a greatest need is? That he is safe from sin.

God, because you are taking care of our greatest need, you know what our greatest need is? To overcome death, which is the penalty of sin. God, because you have taken care of our greatest need, we will trust you with our every need. See, if God is taking care of our greatest need, we can trust him with our every need.

God can roll back any obstacle in your life. God can roll back any stone in our lives. But he doesn't do it simply to fix our situation. He does it to reveal his glory.

When God rolled the stone away from the tomb, it wasn't a solver problem for Jesus. When God rolled the stone away from the tomb, it wasn't a solver problem for Mary, Magdalene and the other Mary. When God rolled the stone back, it was so that Christ's life could be revealed. It was so that God's glory could be revealed.

When those ladies showed up, it was like, hey ladies, the angels, I know that you're worried about stones and how to get in. But I want you to know that the stone is nothing to me. Oh, by the way, Jesus is alive. You see, God doesn't just remove obstacles to fix your situation.

He removes it in order to reveal his glory. And some of us here today may be thinking, man, I've got a problem. I've got an issue. I've got something in my life and it feels like it's dead.

It feels like it's the end. It feels like it's final. It feels like it's buried behind a stone that has been sealed. But what you might find out is the moment's coming where God reveals his power, just like he revealed his power to Mary and Mary Magdalene.

Now, number four of the issues, I'm sorry, the invitation that is issued, the angel gives three commands. These ladies show up, stones have been rolled back, and the angel says three things. Number one, he says, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.

Because the resurrection of Jesus changes fears. He holds the key to death. He has all the power. The verse following Hebrews, 2, 14, that says he disarmed Satan, said this.

Not only did he disarm Satan, but it says that he delivered those who through the fear of death were subject to a lifetime of bondage. Our greatest fear is death. I know that sometimes people say, if you take a poll, like, what's your greatest fear? Sometimes public speaking outrains even death.

We know that's not true. Our greatest fear is death. And Jesus overcame death. What we could never solve on our own, Jesus has solved.

And so when the angel says, don't be afraid, this is what he says to us. Don't be afraid. Why? Because Jesus has conquered.

And when he gives us the command, it's doable. Because the resurrection changes everything. It changes our fears to resolute confidence. He said, come and see.

But not only did he invite those ladies to come and see, he didn't say this. I'm sorry. He said, don't be afraid. Then he says, come and see.

And it's not a blind faith. It's an investigative truth. Listen, God doesn't call anyone. Hey, just believe me.

He gives us evidence. But to so many people today who think that God's asking them to just trust him with no evidence whatsoever. No, God's like, I want to give you evidence. I want you to know who I am.

And so to these ladies, he says, come and see. And all of a sudden they start connecting the dots. We saw Jesus down the cross. We saw his body wrapped in linen.

We saw him placed into a tomb. We saw that stone rolled into place. We saw it sealed, guarded. There's no way that his disciples could steal that body.

It is impossible. And yet, even now we're talking to an angel who's reminding us. We know who you're looking for. You're looking for Jesus.

Come and see the place where he wants lay. He is not here. He is risen just as he said. A lot more moment.

That's right. That's right. He did say that. He said, I'm going to be handed over.

I'm going to be crucified. I'm going to be buried. I'm going to rise again. You know what today is?

Third day. He's alive. Come and see. Come check it out.

Investigate it. Come to a conclusion. God doesn't ask us for blind faith. He has just put faith in the evidence that Jesus Christ is alive.

And then he says to these ladies, now go quickly and tell. The resurrection is not just information to know. It's a mission on which we go. They came to the tomb grieving, but they leave running with joy.

The text says they were afraid and yet filled with joy. That's the resurrection tension. You don't just believe the resurrection. You respond to it.

Look at what they do. They believe. They respond. They do exactly what they're commanded.

They look. They see. They believe. They go.

In about an hour. They're going to run to the upper room. They're going to tell Peter and they're going to tell John. He's alive.

He's alive. And Peter's going to be like, these are just our words. John and Peter are going to rush to the tomb. They're going to run.

They're going to race each other. John's going to get there first. He's going to peer in. And he's going to see that linen shroud, like an empty cocoon.

The face nap can neatly fold it up. And he too is going to connect some dots. He was dead. He said, I would live.

The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive. And he believes. Both the ladies and John believe before they ever see Jesus come out of the grave.

Before they see him alive. They believe. It's not blind faith though. They were able to take the evidence and say, yes, he is alive.

These women connected the dots. He is alive. They say, let's go. And so they make a move.

They're running back. They're going to go tell Peter and John. They're going to the upper room. And verse 9 and 10 says that as they went to tell the disciples to be whole, Jesus met them.

They don't miss that. They didn't find a dead body. They found a risen Savior. They grab him by the feet.

They worship him. He's not just risen from the dead. He's present. He's in their life.

And Jesus says, do not be afraid. Because when you encounter the risen Christ, fear loses its grip. I'm going to tell you this, fear losing its grip is one of the greatest evidences of Jesus' resurrection. You know where all his disciples is closest to me in?

James, John, Peter. These very guys who went with him to the garden. These very guys who said, I'll die with you if I have to. I'll never leave you.

I'll never forsake you. You know where they all are on the morning of the resurrection? Fearing for their life. They think what's happened to Jesus is going to happen to them.

They think Jesus is dead in a tomb. That's what's going to happen to us. We're hiding. We're fearful.

We're behind a shut lot door. We don't want anyone to know where we are. But on the day of the resurrection, Jesus is going to show up. He's going to reveal himself to his disciples.

And every one of those disciples, all 11, are going to die of martyr's death. They're going to boldly take a stand for Jesus and they're going to die for their faith. Actually, the only one we don't know for sure is John. John was boiled in oil, survived.

Bannish to the Isle of Patmos. We just don't know how he died. But you can read in history. You can box his book of martyrs.

You can read the first 11 martyrs in the book, or the 11 martyrdom of the disciples of Jesus Christ. You can read that. You can see how every one of them died boldly for their faith. What accounts for going from being fearful of dying?

I don't want to lose my life. I'm hiding out. I'm fearful. I don't want to die.

They're now standing in front of the very people who can do Jesus and say, you know what? Even if you kill me, it's okay. Because Jesus is alive. I'm going to live too.

Because Jesus is alive. I have nothing to fear. Fear loses its grip when you know and you believe that Jesus is alive. See, they went from fearing for their lives to fearlessly giving their lives for Jesus.

You can meet the risen Savior. Fear loses its grip. Because the thing that we fear most, death, loses its grip when our faith is in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Why?

Because dead things come alive in the name of Jesus. Let me tell you what, dead souls, dead spirits come alive. When we put our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Fearless and to me, he's still rolling stones today.

That stone outside, that tomb looked like the end. That stone said it's over. Hope is buried. Nothing can be done.

But God had the final word. And here's the truth that we celebrate today. That stone was not the last stone that God rolled away or ever would be rolled away. He's still rolling stones today.

It sounds like a song you might have heard on the radio. He's still rolling stones. Lauren Daggle, 2018 wrote the song. But I mean, still play it on the radio today.

She says this beating heart. These open eyes, the grave let go, the darkness should have known. You're still rolling stones. God is still rolling stones today.

He's still rolling. So I've seen him do it again and again. He's rolled stones in my life. I've watched him roll stones in the lives of others.

And this is the message of Easter. He rolled away the stone of death. He rolled away the stone of sin. He rolled away the stone of hopelessness and he's still doing it today.

So whatever stone has been rolled firmly into place into your life right now. It could be the stone of death. It could be the stone of sin or hopelessness. I'm telling he can roll it away.

Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus. But you may be here today in what feels like has been a stone rolled in over is a burden that you can't get past. A burden that you can't move. Maybe a past that you can't escape.

A situation in which you feel completely sealed and shut in. But here it is. The stone rollers still at work. Here's the bottom of the message.

On resurrection morning God rolled the stone away. And he's still rolling stones today. Dead men come alive in the name of Jesus. And that's our greatest need.

And he's still rolling stones today. He can take care of any situation. But listen to me. But he does it.

Not the picture problem. He does it to reveal his glory. The angel said to these ladies, come and see. Jesus said to these ladies, do not be afraid.

And then they were told, go and tell. That's the three invitations. Today if you've never put your faith in Jesus, you've never met him. You don't know him as a personal savior.

Here's the invitation. Hey, come and see. Just come and see. God's not asking for your blind faith.

He's not. He's saying, hey, come investigate. Come and see. Come, come investigate the truth.

Hey, come check it out. And here's what I tell you. Start with the resurrection. Two things.

One, the tomb is empty. Nobody denies it. Nobody in history has ever denied it. Nobody in God's work ever denied it.

The tomb is empty. Now check this out. The testimony of his closest witnesses. They went from being fearful to fearless.

They went from being afraid of death to fearlessly dying for their faith in Jesus because they believe that he had conquered their greatest fear. If you've never put your faith or trust in Jesus, you don't know him personally. Hey, come and see. But today, if you're carrying fear in your life, here's the message.

Don't be afraid. Jesus has met our greatest need. He's met the greatest need that we have and the greatest need that we have is to overcome death. It's the one thing that none of us can fix on our own.

We cannot. But Jesus has met our greatest need in overcoming death. And here's this message to us. Don't fear.

Don't fear. Be not afraid. It is the most often quoted commandment in all of the word of God. Don't fear.

The only way that God could command us to do something is he gives us the power to do it. And we have the power to not be afraid. We have the power to not fear when Christ is our Savior. But if you know it today, if you know it, if you know that he's risen, then here's the message.

Go and tell. Because the third thing that the angel said, that was the second thing that Jesus said. And God's word commands us as the believers of Christ to go and tell. Tell the world that Jesus is alive.

Tell the world that Jesus saves and friends Jesus will save you if you will believe. The greatest stone in history was not moved by human hands. It was rolled away in the power of God. And that same power is steel rolling stones today.

Brother Randy is going to come and have a hand of invitation. I'm going to ask you to stand. And today, if you've never put your faith in Christ, come and see. Today, if you're struggling with something in your life, you're holding on to something and you're in the grip of fear, here's what Jesus says.

Be not afraid. If you're a believer today and you came here today and say, I'm coming today, I'm celebrating this truth that I believe. Jesus is risen from the dead. That's why I came.

I'm a believer and I believe he came out of the grave. Here's the message. Go and tell. Because there's a world that needs to hear the simple message that Jesus rolled himself in flesh, came into this world, and he died on the cross to pay for our sin.

To do for us what we can never do for ourselves. That's overcome death. He came to pay for the penalty of sin, which is death. He came to pay for our sin.

He came to set us free. He came to pull us out of a grave. Dead men come alive in the name of Jesus. Let's let the world know.

Let's go and let's tell. But today, if you never put your faith in Jesus, come and see. That's a civil invitation. Come and see.

Come and see the evidence. Investigate the truth and divide Jesus into your life. As we sing this morning, you come.