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Okay so there in John 20 just a quick reminder John 19 of course was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and straight when we get to John 20 we have the resurrection of Christ and beginning there in verse number one it says the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark unto the sepulchre and see if the stone taken away from the sepulchre. The title for the sermon tonight is the stone taken away the stone taken away. Now what we don't notice in John 20 you don't notice that actually there are several ladies that are coming to the sepulchre there are several ladies coming to the grave to anoint the body of Jesus Christ for the the rotting of the smell the rot in the flesh they're going to bring the ointment so it doesn't have that bad stench as a as a sign of respect to the dying body or the dead body of Jesus Christ there and you know in John we just see Mary Magdalene in the story but I do want to show you some other passages soon where the other ladies are mentioned because it does give us a sort of this insight when you layer all the different gospel together one upon another you see some interesting things an interesting pattern take place and then let's continue there verse number two then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter so the disciples they're in Jerusalem okay she's going to the grave the stonest road away she runs she's able to run and you know I was trying to look up exactly you know does anyone sort of have this rough idea of where the the burial of Christ was whether so of course you know there are traditional burial sites you know places that are just said to be the burial site of Jesus but no one really truly knows exactly where Christ was buried but what we see here is in verse number two is that it is running distance it's not too far out from Jerusalem you know who knows could be half an hour like a half an hour walk but it's definitely a running distance where someone like Mary Magdalene can run all the way from the Sepulchre to Jerusalem it's not that far away okay and then it says here she uh verse number two and she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved the other disciple of course is John himself and saith unto them they have taken away the Lord out of the Sepulchre and we know not where they have laid him so does she believe at this point that Christ has risen from the dead no she thinks the body's been taken away someone's come in you know they've taken away it wasn't us you know she probably thinks maybe the Romans maybe the unbelieving Jews someone got a hold of Jesus' body they've taken away we don't know where he is verse number three and by the way actually before I keep going I mentioned Mary Magdalene I mentioned some of the ladies the the reason the other ladies aren't here when she comes to the disciples is they didn't come they didn't go running like she did okay she leaves the party she goes and runs and the others are making their way uh back to the disciples in verse number three it says Peter therefore went forth and that other disciple and came to the Sepulchre so they ran both together again just showing you a close proximity the fact that these guys are running they're able to run all the way from Jerusalem to the Sepulchre so they both ran together and the other disciples did outrun Peter and came first to the Sepulchre verse number five and he stooping down and looking in saw the linen clothes lying yet went he not in now the we noticed this a few times you notice that several times the disciples or even the ladies they don't go in they see the open the Sepulchre but they decide not to enter in and the reason for that is again you know when you think about the Old Testament times that if you were to touch you know a dead body or you were to go into an area where that dead body was you would be unclean for a season okay and you would have in the Old Testament scriptures these washing rituals where you'd be unclean for a period of time then you have to clean yourself you'd be counted clean in order to participate in certain uh practices and and things like that you'll soon see that this is sort of a pattern that develops in this chapter this idea of being clean but you know uh John just kind of looks you know from you know outside of the grave and then it says here in verse number six then comes Simon Peter so he you know obviously he was faster than Peter but then comes Simon Peter following him and I love I love everything that we read about Simon Peter he's such a I don't know he's such an adventurous guy he says then comes Simon Peter following him and went into the Sepulchre like you know John's like looking on the outward and Peter just comes rushing in like he doesn't care whether he's going to see a dead body he doesn't care if he's going to it doesn't care about the cleaning less like laws right why is that stone road away you know Simon Peter's that kind of guy that would speak first or do actions first before thinking about the actions that he's taken and went into the Sepulchre and see if the linen clothes lie so yeah Peter doesn't see the body he just sees the linen cloth the the cloth that wraps that dead body in verse number seven it says and the napkin that was about his head not lying with the linen clothes but wrapped together in a place by itself and this is why we know that what's that the shroud of Turin you know the shroud of Turin that gets promoted as though it's got the image of Christ in the linen in the in the you know they say oh you can see his face and you can see his body you know you can see the crucifixion marks on that linen but one thing you notice here is that what Christ was wrapped in he had one piece of linen wrapped in his whole body and then another a napkin wrapped in his head that part is separate from you know so the shroud of Turin cannot be what Christ was wrapped in of course it's some hoax it's some who knows what it is but of course people would rather go with the miracles and the hoaxes rather than actually reading the bible and believing what the bible says but what I like about verse number seven a lot it shows me just the the character of Jesus Christ like you see okay he's risen from the dead okay he doesn't need the grave the the gravestone to be rolled for him to leave in fact I'll quickly read to you from Matthew chapter 28 verse number two it says in Matthew 28 verse number two and behold there was a great earthquake for the angel of the lord descended from heaven and came and rode back the stone from the door and sat upon it so who rode the stone back it was an angel but then he says in verse number five when the ladies come and the angel answered and said answer the women fear not ye for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified he is not here for he is risen as he said come see the place where the lord lay and so the stone wasn't road for Christ to walk out once the angel rode back the stone Christ had really left the stone being rode was as a witness for his disciples to see that the body of Christ was not there he had risen from the dead and so what I like about Christ is you know at some point early in the morning I suppose it is you know he he rose from the dead he unwrapped himself and I love how it says look at verse number seven again and the napkin that's that was about his head not lying with the linen clothes but wrapped together in a place by itself you know Christ is not in a rush he takes off that linen napkin around his head folds it nice and you know puts it down in one area gets the rest of his clothes you know linen clothes wraps it up one nice in another area it's kind of like he makes his bed like he was there he's not in any mad rush he's neat and tidy you know he appreciates what he was wrapped in folds it up nicely puts in one place puts another place I just love that just that that little I just a little insight into the character of Christ okay he was not messy he was not in a rush he's taking his sweet time everything's playing out you know as it has been prophesied and everything's going according to to God's plan verse number eight then went in also that other disciple so John now goes in because Peter says look the body's gone so now it's like okay I'll go in all right which came first to the sepulchre and he saw and believed sorry verse number nine for as yet they knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead then the disciples went away again unto their own home isn't it interesting that it says that for they knew not sorry for as yet they knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead I find that quite interesting because when we think of the scriptures of course we're talking about the bible but when we read about the scriptures in the time of Christ here it's referring to the old testament okay the new testament has not yet been written now is this saying that Christ never said that he's going to rise from the dead no we know we've really seen several times he's testified he's taught he's preached about rising from the dead in fact the angel we saw in Matthew spoke about rolling the stone back say as Christ spoke as he said he's risen from the dead Christ spoke of these things but what we see here is they haven't associated the old testament scriptures with what they're witnessing of the rising of Christ if you can keep your finger then come with me to Psalm 16 verse number 9 Psalm 16 verse 9 I think Psalm 16 9 is the clearest old testament scripture that teaches us that Christ rose from the dead Psalm 16 verse number 9 so before I read that so when it says for as they knew not the scripture I don't think they kind of it's not I don't think it's the same they never read these scriptures I think it's just they didn't associate they didn't understand that this scripture in Psalm 16 for example was speaking of the resurrection of Christ and in Psalm 16 verse number 9 it says therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth my flesh also shall rest in hope for that will not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption that will show me the path of life in thy presence is fullness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore now we know especially with Acts chapter 2 that that Psalm that we just read is of Christ that these are the words of Christ and he speaks that you know his flesh shall rest in hope he knows that he's going to raise from rise from the dead he knows that his soul will not be left in hell and so he's rejoicing that he's going to have life and so we see some like in hindsight we read you know we can read Psalm 16 and we've got the advantages of the new testament to show us yes this was of Christ yes the old testament scriptures spoke of the resurrection of Christ but they did not know that that was in the scripture and you know I think what this demonstrates to us even though Christ preached to them and I want to be careful with how I say this because of course Christ is God and Christ is the word of God but we see something powerful about finding something and understanding it in the scripture I mean it's good to hear preaching you know it's good to have a man explain things to you and Christ did explain many times that he would rise from the dead but it wasn't until they really saw it in the scripture that that you know that that confirmed for them that truth and I think for us it's very similar you know you can hear a preacher behind the pulpit and we can be preaching the right things and true things but the only way it's going to be accepted deep within your heart and grounded as truth is when you open the scriptures yourself and you see it for yourself when you understand it for yourself and I think that's what we're seeing here you know it's not that Christ never taught it of course he did it's just that they hadn't really grasped it in the scriptures and they had the old testament to you know for that we have an advantage we have the new testament that often points back to the old testament you know so we don't need to kind of come up with our own ideas many times the world just tells us plainly hey this is from the old testament scriptures and I think it also reminds me you know this idea is when how many times when Christ was dealing with the Pharisees and the you know those that did not believe in him how many times did he say have you not read have you not read have you not read I mean so many times over and over and over again he's challenging these religious leaders have you not read you see it doesn't matter what miracles you see it doesn't matter what great works you see what truly gives faith is reading God's word right faith comes by hearing hearing by the word of God we know that's about salvation but it's true to all parts of you live in a faithful our Christian life for you to accept the doctrines of the Bible you have to pick up the Bible and read it for yourself you know if the Pharisees and these religious leaders did read the Bible if they picked it up and read it sincerely read it and they truly wanted to know what God is telling them then I believe they would have been much more receptive when Christ walked the earth but they didn't believe the Bible to even begin with if you're not going to believe the Bible you're not going to believe in Jesus you're certainly not going to believe on the right God you know I was listening to a testimony recently of a of a you know going back 15 15 years ago maybe 20 years ago a very well known IFB pastor in Australia you know who you know everyone thought he was the saved man you know he'd preach you know he'd start churches he'd preach at conferences and now he says he no longer believes the Bible and you can read you can hear this his testimony on YouTube if you want I can I can show you that I can point it to you but he says something along the lines of that his son came alongside him one day and said dad do you believe in God and he said well if I don't believe in the Bible I guess that means I don't believe in the God of the Bible because I don't really know whether I believe in God or not but whatever God might be out there it's definitely not the God of the Bible you see that IFB pastor I don't care I don't care how Baptist I don't know I don't care how King James only someone is if someone has not placed their faith on Jesus if someone does not believe the Bible they cannot be saved they cannot know the God of the Bible they can go to Bible college and teach things they heard at Bible college but it's not coming from their own experiences it's not coming from their own faith it's not coming from their own study and and reading of God's Word you see we must believe God's Word we must believe the Bible if you want to know who God is you you have to pick up the Bible if you reject the Bible you don't have God you don't have Jesus you know you can't just say well the Bible's just written by men and I just believe in the God of whoever I think God wants to be it's not the God of the Bible it's not the God that will save you but anyway I just want to show you that you know I think it's so important that we don't just build out doctrines on what a man says or how good of an argument a man's argument is just make sure you go back to God's Word you solidify what you believe you know in God's Word and you you won't be moved because God's Word will never change arguments change men change society changes everything changes except God's Word you stand true God's Word you'll be stable unmovable you know and you'll increase in faith verse number 11 back to John 20 verse 11 but Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping so she returns back to the sepulchre herself right she left to tell the disciples but she's gone back now okay actually did I read verse number 10 sorry it says then the disciples that's Peter and John went away again unto their own home so they've left now they've gone back they've seen the empty tomb okay they've gone back home Mary has come back and now she's weeping she's by herself at this stage okay verse 11 but Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre and see if two angels in white sit in the one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain and they say unto her woman why weepest thou she's safe unto them because they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him so she still thinks the body's been taken away okay at this stage verse number 14 and by the way this again shows us why Mary was not in the presence with the other ladies as soon as Mary sees the the stone road away she runs away the other ladies stay behind a little bit then they have the angel saying hey the Christ is risen but Mary's missed that information because she's run off okay in a huff and puff trying to find the disciples so she's still even though the other ladies have heard that Christ has risen Mary has missed that part of the story so far verse number 14 and when she had thus said she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus I guess she's been weeping you know if you ever cried you know your vision's foggy maybe she's looking down you know her hair's in her face potentially so she doesn't recognize this figure that she's she's just facing is Jesus verse number 15 Jesus safe unto her woman why weepest thou whom seekest thou she's supposing him to be the gardener safe unto him sir if thou hath borne him hence tell me where they have slayed him and I will take him away Jesus safe unto her Mary she turned herself and safe unto him Rabbanai which is the same master so she realizes as soon as Christ says Mary she goes well the only one that knows my name like this is must be Jesus it's dawn on her now that he's risen verse number 17 Jesus safe unto her touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my father but go to my brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my father and your father and to my God and your God this is really interesting to me this is so deep these next verses it's just it's so interesting what we've just seen here because he says to look don't touch me like she wants to touch him she wants to I don't know probably like the other ladies will see later on worship at his feet you know take hold of his feet as it were says look don't touch me I need to ascend to the father you know I ascend to my father to your father to my God and to your God and so this is this is definitely really interesting these passages now I've been teaching that Christ of course when he died you know his spirit went to heaven you know we saw Christ speak about it multiple times as it was leading up to the crucifixion and that he would come back that he'd go and prepare a place for them and things like that he'd come back with a comforter etc etc we now have this Christ saying that he's ascending to the father he's saying well hold on pastor does that mean then he didn't spiritually go to be with the father one thing that you'll notice in the book of John and actually if you examine this through all the new testament books when the bible speaks of ascending it's speaking of a bodily ascension a bodily ascension okay what Christ is saying I'll show you in a minute what I'm talking about but what Christ is saying to her here that he has not bodily ascended to the father okay that he's not bodily ascended of course I mean his body's just been revived he's just come back from the dead and he says look don't touch me yet because I've got to go and ascend to the father let me just show you some other references here if you can keep your finger there and come back with me to John chapter three come with me to John chapter three verse number 13 John chapter three verse number 13 John chapter three verse number 13 it says in John 3 13 these are the words of Christ of course and no man have ascended up to heaven but here that came down from heaven even the son of man which is in heaven Christ says that no man has ascended up to heaven this is why many people take this passage and say well see no old testament believers ever went to heaven now when I went through John chapter three I proved that there were definitely old testament saints that were in heaven God's people were in heaven you know but they had not what they had not bodily ascended to heaven no man has bodily ascended to heaven is what Christ is teaching here okay we know that when we bodily rise is when we receive our new resurrected bodies and in first Corinthians 15 it says that Christ is the first fruits and then they at his coming okay we follow afterwards after we receive our new resurrected bodies then those bodies can ascend to heaven come with me to John chapter six John chapter six verse 62 John chapter six verse number 62 I also want you to notice how Christ uses the words here now this is when he's teaching about eating his flesh and drinking his blood and many people got offended and they left him and Christ says look to his disciples are you offended you're going to leave me too and then he says in John free sorry John 662 what and if you shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before he says look if if you're going to get offended by this what about when you see the son of man ascend okay now notice the ascension he's talking about here is something that can be seen right what and if you shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before when someone's spirit goes to heaven you know when someone's soul goes to heaven can we see that we can't see that the only thing that we could see where someone would ascend to heaven if they ascend bodily okay I'm just going to show you again John 662 when Christ uses the word ascend he's speaking here bodily but in a bodily ascension what you know what are you gonna do if you see me ascend bodily into heaven okay now come with me to another passage this one's really important as well Acts chapter two please come with me to Acts chapter two and verse number 29 Acts chapter two and verse number 29 and I'm just going to turn there in my bible as well Acts 2 29 it says here in Acts 2 29 men and brethren let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David that he is both dead and buried and his sepulcher is with us unto this day so when it says here that David king David that is is dead and buried what are we talking about here his body all right his body's in the grave his body is buried and it's still there at that time as we're reading that it's still there in that in that day you know and I put it forward it's still in the grave today okay because the resurrection has not yet taken place but if we keep going it says verse number actually if we just backtrack a little bit come actually no sorry come to verse number 34 I just want to give you the context of this so we know it's all about David's body being buried in the grave and then verse number 34 says for David is not ascended into the heavens but he saved himself the Lord saved unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand so when it says here that David has not ascended to heaven what are we talking about there a bodily ascension because his grave is still with us okay till this day is that reference so I want to show you again a reference of ascension this time about David referring to his bodily ascension because everybody knows especially by the time of axel's reading everybody agrees even if you believed in the in abraham's bosom idea of what jesus christ did for three days and four nights everyone agrees by this stage that all saints are in heaven okay so when we get to actually two it's not speaking that david's never gone to heaven or he's not in heaven but rather that his body had not yet gone to heaven his body is still in the grave to this day and the reason that's that's really interesting is because it says uh in verse number sorry I've just got to I'm sorry walking away from my notes a little bit here but it says in verse number uh ah verse number 30 so let's read verse 29 again 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 again bodily then it says verse 30 therefore being a prophet and knowing that god had swung with him with an oath to him that the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up christ to sit on his throne he's seen this before spake of the resurrection of christ that his soul was not left in hell neither his flesh did see corruption this jesus have god raised up whereof we all are witnesses okay and then again therefore being at the right hand keeps going but i'm trying to explain to you hey that's the passage that we read in psalm 16 earlier speaking of the resurrection the bodily resurrection of christ but you see that the body of david had not yet ascended so you'll notice this if you do a comparison and you read in especially new testament i haven't checked all the old testament but when you read the new testament talks about ascension it's talking about a physical ascension a bodily ascension this is why you might have an event like in the book of revelation where john is on the isle of patmos his body is on the isle of patmos but as he's writing the book of revelation he says immediately i was in the spirit and he's in heaven isn't he he's in heaven as he writes uh the book of revelation but while he's spiritually in heaven his body had not yet ascended to heaven his body is in the isle of patmos you may also recall the time when uh paul speaks of uh where he says something along the lines where he ascended up to the third heaven into paradise and he says in the in the body i cannot tell or whether out of the body i cannot tell god knoweth well i actually i actually know the answer to that that he wasn't in his body okay because no man has ascended up to heaven like he had not yet received his resurrected body and so we can see that someone can be spiritually in heaven you know even speaking with god and yet the body can be on the earth and yet even though you're spiritually in heaven things are playing out as though you are literally there like you know your consciousness is fully there you know as you are spiritually in heaven and so it's interesting how you know the bible uses that word ascension you know and and i encourage you you know challenge yourself and look at it yourself when you read through the new testament scriptures ascension talks about a bodily ascension not a spiritual someone can be in heaven spiritually but not yet ascended to heaven okay and so that's what christ is speaking about now is christ is not bodily ascended to heaven he needs to go and be with the father physically okay now again this is not talking about his ascension later on when he sits at the right hand of the father say what could be he could he be talking about this is why it's so interesting to me like it's it brings up a lot of questions and i do believe the bible gives us all these answers but let's do a little bit more of a deeper study here if you can come with me to the book of mark keep a finger there in john chapter 20 but come with me to the book of mark come with me to the book of mark and mark 16 please mark 16 and i just want to show you that it wasn't just mary magdalene okay i mean we'll take a few truths from this book here mark 16 it wasn't just mary magdalene that went to the sepulchre in mark 16 verse number one mark 16 verse number one it says and when the sabbath was passed mary magdalene and mary the mother of james and salome had brought sweet spices that they might come and anoint him and very early in the morning the first day of the week they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun so you can see the several ladies coming it's not just mary magdalene now drop down to verse number nine we know the events that take place they see the stone road away mary runs to the disciples the ladies stay a little bit longer and then it says in verse number nine now when jesus was risen early the first day of the week he appeared look this he appeared first to mary magdalene out of whom he had cast seven devils so when we're reading the book of john and we see the interaction between john and mary magdalene this is the very first person who has seen christ risen from the dead okay and it's just her because as i said she left she came back she's by herself christ appears to her and christ says to her look touch me not don't touch me because i need to ascend to the father all right now come with me to matthew chapter 28 matthew 28 please matthew 28 and verse number five matthew 28 and verse number five we're just getting another part you know another gospel the gospel of matthew here we're just laying these scriptures one upon another there are no contradictions i could not find of course i'm not i'm never going to find any contradiction in the scripture but there really is no contradiction it's so wonderful when you see the bible laid up one upon another it all just makes crystal it's all crystal clear it all makes perfect sense matthew 28 verse number five it says and the angel answered and said answer 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 where the lord lay so the the women that stayed behind like mary the mother of james and salome okay and some other ladies mary magdalene had left she's gone she's gone running all right but the angel explains these ladies what's take what's taking place that christ has risen then verse number seven and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead and behold he goes before you into Galilee there shall you see him lo i have told you and they departed quickly from the sepulchre with great fear and great joy and did run to bring his disciples word again you can see it's running distance okay even these people these ladies are running verse number nine uh sorry what am i up to oh yeah verse 9 and as they went to tell his disciples so on their way to run as they're running on their way running to these other disciples behold jesus met them saying all hail so now we know he already appeared to mary magdalene now is appearing to the rest of the ladies on their way to tell the rest of the disciples all hail look at this and they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him are they touching jesus yeah they're holding him by his feet they're worshiping they're down at the feet of jesus they're touching his feet worshiping him so what's taking place mary magdalene was not allowed to touch him but these ladies are allowed to touch him the reason i keep telling you it's running distance number one because the bible keeps telling us it tells us so we know it's close proximity like we're talking about a period i think you could safely say you know that the sepulchre was maybe a half an hour walk journey or even less from from the from the you know from jerusalem where you can easily run okay you can actually make that effort even ladies can make that effort you know it's not going to be too difficult on their bodies and so we have this sort of time period a very small time period i'm sure less than half an hour i don't know you know maybe 10 15 minutes i don't know between the two interactions from mary magdalene to these ladies so if christ had not yet ascended to the father with mary magdalene and now he's let the ladies touch his feet as they worship him what took place during that period of time well he must have bodily ascended to the father at that point in time does that make sense because now they can touch him okay so what took place you know i'll give you my thoughts around this and i believe it's correct but i'll give you my thoughts to me it's all so really really interesting um come with me to hebrews chapter nine please come with me to hebrew chapter nine verse number one hebrew chapter nine and verse number one hebrew chapter nine and verse number one in hebrews nine we have this sort of i want to say the word cryptic but it's not that cryptic but we have this sort of um this detail of scripture that you don't really see anywhere else in the bible and for me the only place that i can see this fits is that 10 15 20 minute period between mary magdalene and the other ladies okay and so we have hebrew chapter nine verse number one it says then verily the first covenant that's the old covenant the old testament had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary so the sanctuary was on the world right the tabernacle the temple it's something that's on the earth verse number two for there was a tabernacle made the first wherein was the candlestick and the table and the showbread which is called the sanctuary and after the second veil the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all now which which had the sorry which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold wherein was the golden pot that had manna and Aaron's rod that buttered and the tables of the covenant and over it the cherubims of glory shadow in the mercy seats of which we cannot now speak particularly now when these things were thus ordained i want to notice the priest went always into the first tabernacle accomplishing the service of god now if you know the old testament scriptures before the priest could serve in the house of the lord they had to go for a cleansing ritual okay uh ritual is probably not the right word but anyway they had to clean themselves okay because they couldn't come and serve in god's house being unclean like if they had touched a dead body i think they had to be they were unclean for seven days or something like that obviously if you had touched a dead body you would not be able to go in and serve in the house of the lord until that period is done okay and this is what i believe is happening that when christ was not to be touched is that he was at that point clean as it were he was coming clean to present himself okay to the father in heaven let's keep going at the practices here in verse number eight number six sorry now when these things were thus ordained the priest went always into the first tabernacle accomplishing the service of god so i read that already but verse number seven but into the second went the high priest alone once every year not without blood okay so in order to go into the holiest of all you'd have to go with blood okay not without blood which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people errors of the people the holy ghost is signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while as the first tabernacle was not yet was was yet standing he goes look there is a holiest to go but hold on the priest was going to the holiest but again everything in the old testament are pictures of something greater that which is earthly is a picture of that which is heavenly that which is carnal you know the carnal audiences are pictures of that which is spiritual and it's really interesting here then it says in verse number nine it says which was a figure that's a type a shadow a piece of imagery okay which was a figure for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience so even though we saw earlier that as the high priest would go into the holiest of all and he brought that blood and saw that he offered it for himself in the areas of the people but what we learn here that that never took anyone's sins away it was a figure it's a shadow it's a picture it's a type of christ that as they go and do these things it is pointing people to the sacrifice of jesus christ which does cleanse us from all our sins verse number 10 which stood only in meats and drinks and diverse washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time reformation and then it says in verse 11 but christ being come and high priest of good things to come so christ is a high priest by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building this is so interesting so christ went into the perfect tabernacle right not made with hands not made by man that is to say not of this building he's got like i'm not talking about the temple i'm not talking about the tabernacle okay this is heavenly this is this is the tabernacle created by god made by god he goes in verse number 12 neither by the blood of goats and and uh calves christ didn't go with the blood of animals like the priest did but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us isn't that interesting that christ went into the holiest with his own blood you know sprinkling his own blood on that heavenly mercy seat a tabernacle a temple a mercy seat not created by hands not created by man something that god created and i personally believe say when did that take place i personally believe it took place then between that time period it's the only one that i can understand i can fully understand because he goes in bodily he's taking his blood with him and he anoints that heavenly tabernacle with his blood okay and this is what's amazing about salvation is that even today the blood of christ in heaven testifies of his sacrifice you know we think of his blood shed on the earth and uh you know i'm not i'm not trying to say that he picked up every piece of blood that was on the ground or something like this you know but his blood is in heaven you know eternal redemption you know when when god sees that blood you know again another reason why we just can never lose our salvation can we you know i mean the tabernacle we don't we can't see with our eyes we've never seen christ who our eyes never seem crucified you know but god can see the blood of christ today in that holiest of all and everything they did in the old testament all the condolences the washings and i believe again why christ had to not be touched for a period right because he was going to heaven and he was as at the high priest was going through you know offering his blood and when the old testament priests offered the blood of animals again it was just a picture of the offering of the blood of christ the blood of animals never saved anybody doing the ordinances never saved anybody it's whether they had their faith place on that which the figure represented that being christ and so that's what i believe i think i think a lot of people do believe that but i remember just being blown away the first time i read that in hebrews going when did that take place when did christ go and offer his blood it only makes sense to me that it took place between that the two meetings from mary magdalene and all the other ladies all right let's keep come back with me to john chapter 20 there's a lot to cover john chapter 20 john chapter 20 verse number 18 mary magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the lord and that he had spoken these things unto her then the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut okay so notice that the doors are shut okay where the disciples were assembled for fear of the jews came jesus and stood in the midst and safe unto them peace be unto you the doors are shut and then all of a sudden christ is there jesus right there in the middle in the midst of them right there in the room we see something amazing that he can do in his body isn't it just to walk through walls or just to appear suddenly in one place to the next i think it's really interesting because you know we're promised to have bodies like christ one day i don't know what kind of powers we're going to have i mean walking through walls that'd be pretty cool you know not having to need uh doors to go from one place to the next peace be unto you you know um leading up to the several chapters leading up to this how many times did christ say you know peace i live with thee not as the world giveth because he knew his disciples during these three days and three nights would be afraid i see three of the jews okay and now christ is look i come with my peace guys you don't have to be afraid anymore you know here i am i'm reason from the dead verse number 20 and when he had and when he had so said he showed unto them his hands and his side then where the disciples glad when they saw the lord then said jesus to them again peace be unto you as my father have sent me even so send are you this is the first time christ gives the great commission after his resurrection this is look again as my father sent me so send are you now it's your turn it's your turn to be sent it's your turn to go and preach the gospel verse number 22 and when he had said this he breathed on them and said unto them receive ye the holy ghost so as you go and do the work of god look we're not doing our own strength we're doing it by the strength of the holy ghost christ breathes upon them the holy ghost and then it says in verse 23 who uh whosoever sins you remit they are remitted unto them and whosoever sins you retain they are retained god christ is telling his disciples you've got the power to have people's sins forgiven or for those sins to be retained and this is where the roman catholic church goes crazy because they say see jesus gave the roman catholic church the power to forgive sins so in order for you to be right with god you got to go to church the roman catholic church and confess your sins to a priest and if the priest forgives you then your sins are forgiven if he doesn't then your sins are retained what is christ teaching here you know the reason i explained to you verse 21 then verse 22 then because then when you understand verse 21 22 then you understand verse 23 because what's the key to a lot of things in the bible just stay within the context christ has just given the great commission i send you you need to go and do the work you need to go and preach the gospel okay and here's the holy ghost okay that's going to give you the power to be a witness unto me all right and then it says who so sins you remit so as we go we preach the gospel of course those that hear the gospel and receive the gospel guess what the sins are remitted of them and those that reject the gospel or if we refuse to give someone the gospel for whatever reason their sins are retained that's all he's talking about like we have the power to go out and preach the gospel to somebody for them to call upon the name of the lord to trust christ and the sins are remitted that's all christ is saying in context like it shouldn't be that that shouldn't be that hard to understand it's just that many people just refuse like the cat obviously the roman catholics aren't safe to begin with okay but it's just it's just ridiculous how you know they teach things that just to me i remember as a child reading that going okay yeah because christ started to go and preach the gospel like it's not really like a lot sometimes when you just stop and just okay lord you know you you keep the fundamentals the fundamentals you don't move you don't shift and change what does that mean you know only god can forgive sins you need to understand that only god can forgive sins okay but we know that truth i mean the bible makes that crystal clear well then god uses us as a vehicle to go and preach the gospel that they would have their sins forgiven by god yes we we are used and if we refuse or if people reject us their sins are still you know uh what's it how does christ put it they're still retained you know the sins are not forgiven now keep your finger then come with me quickly to john 14 come with me quickly to john 14 verse 16 john 14 16 john 14 16 so christ has come and breathed the holy ghost upon them they received the holy ghost okay then in john 14 16 so this is before the before the arrest before the crucifixion he says in john 14 16 and i will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever this is why you know we believe well anyway i do in the in the in the new testament teaching of the permanent indwelling of the holy ghost christ is saying look there's come in this time where god the father's going to give you the comforter that he may abide with you forever forever okay verse number 17 even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it's see of him not neither know of him but you know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you then he says in verse 18 i will not leave you comfortless i will come to you so he wants to give him comfort the comforter the holy ghost he goes i'm not going to leave you comfortless i will come to you so at the resurrection he's come to his disciples and he's breathed upon the holy ghost like he's fulfilling what he promised in john 14 and then he says in verse number 19 john 14 19 yet a little while and the world seeeth me no more so he's about to be crucified but you see me at the resurrection because i live ye shall live also look at verse 120 it's really interesting at that day at the day of seeing him resurrected at the day that he gives him the holy spirit the holy ghost at that day ye shall know that i am in my father and ye in me and i in you you go but doesn't don't they really know that but again in the context he's given the holy ghost you see it's the holy ghost it's the holy spirit that gives us the witness that we are saved like can you say to me pastor i know i'm saved i've trusted christ my sins are forgiven i know if i were to die today i'm going to heaven you know what tell what gives that knowledge the holy spirit of god that lives within you gives you that confidence to say that those those words and look again and they shall know that i'm in my father and you and me and i knew if we want to know god it has to be through the holy spirit okay the holy spirit that lives within us that dwells each believer it's that that gives us the knowledge of the bible gives the knowledge of god and so christ is just explaining to look with the holy spirit you're going to know all these things like all the things that i've been teaching you and you kind of haven't really grasped with the help of the holy spirit you're going to know these truths isn't it amazing christ is in us ye in me we're in christ jesus nothing's ever going to change we cannot sin our way out of the hands of christ we can't sin our way out of everlasting life and it's the holy ghost that gives us that confirmation you know when someone says oh pastor i doubt i don't know if i'm saved i don't know if i'm saved look can we have doubts sometimes in fact we're about to see doubts in thomas look we can have doubts we've seen john the baptist even have doubts when he was arrested people have doubts i don't understand you know you're newly saved and you're trying to wrap your head around certain trips things aren't going according to the way you think they ought to be going and you know i don't know lord are you you know is that is it true and i understand but i have a real problem when someone has been saved for a long time and they're like i still don't know if i'm saved what was the pastor's name at sunshine baptist church field highland i've heard i've heard a sermon this is a pastor preaching passion for many years saved for many years bible college everything else i mean here in a sermon where he says you know what there are some mornings that i wake up and i don't know i don't know if i'm even saved what what because you don't have the witness in you that's why you haven't you haven't got the holy ghost in you that gives you this knowledge no one can look are there going to be times in my life that i uh i'm not faithful to my lord are there going to be times in my life where i'm down spiritually are there going to be times in my life that i might not want to go to church or i don't want to pick up the bible i'm just having a hard time you know i'm a bit far from the lord are those times going to happen yes but do you think for one minute i'm going to go or maybe i'm not saved not because salvation is not based on me or how i feel or what i'm doing salvation is based fully on christ jesus and if you have the testimony of the holy spirit within you you know that's true you know the only way that you're saved is because of christ and you know you're a sinner to begin with which is why you need a saviour you can't sin your way out of god's grace if you're saved brethren we need to believe the bible you know faith and the holy spirit does that work in us and he dwells each believer you know we don't like the old testament days when they didn't have scriptures for everybody all right they have to go and hear the words of the prophet and look there's nothing wrong with hearing the words of a preacher a new testament prophet but brethren you have the holy ghost you've got no excuse you have to open god's word and know what it says to be true we've been given such a privilege such a privilege the permanent indwelling of the holy ghost that teaches us about god come back with me to john 20 and verse number 24 john 20 and verse number 24 the bible says but thomas one of the 12 codidimus was not with them when jesus came so this is where dad and thomas you know this story verse number 25 the other disciples therefore said unto him we have seen the lord but he said unto them except i shall see in his hands the prince of the nails and put my finger into the prince of his of the nails and thrust my hand into his side i will not believe you may recall that thomas was actually one of the stronger or so-called you know stronger in the faith when it came to the fear of going back to jerusalem with jesus in case the jews sought to kill christ or even kill his disciples with them and thomas is like all right let's just go if they kill us we die with christ and now we see him doubt him he reminds me of peter peter's like i'll die with you christ you know lord i'll never deny you you know literally hours later he denies christ three times you see sometimes the words that we speak doesn't actually reflect the maturity of our faith and we have to be careful you know uh you know i like zeal i love passion i love speaking great truths of god's word but we have to assess ourselves sometimes you know we're not really being faithful and sometimes people can just show off with their mouths and you know i'm going to be walking with the lord every day of my life and you know make great promises and great vows to the lord and you know you're not going to keep it okay yeah that's why christ is better just not to vow because christ knows our frailties and our weaknesses and the struggles and different problems that come in our life so we have thomas here down look and again we can be hard on thomas i suppose but uh again they had the fear of jews that they hadn't really fully comprehended you know christ when is christ going to be resurrected is it really going to happen i mean he's dead we've seen him dead we've never seen a body like this rise from the dead i mean i guess they've seen christ rise people from the dead but can he cries himself from it now there's so many questions i can understand like the uncertainty the confusion the stress the worry the fear all of that combined together whereas like you know well i'm not going to believe what you're telling me guys until i see him for myself and not only see him for myself but i'm going to put my i have to put my hands in my fingers into his hands you know to really believe that this is really the resurrected body of christ verse number 26 and after eight days again his disciples were within and thomas with them so thomas is with them this time then came jesus the doors been shut and stood in the midst and said peace be unto you and when he had thus said he turned sorry and when he uh peace be unto you sorry verse number 27 then say fee to thomas reach hither thy finger and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless but believing jesus has shown thomas i've heard what you said even though i wasn't there so come and touch come and touch my side all right don't be faithless be believing and it's wonderful because thomas doesn't have to do that he doesn't have to go and touch christ like it's enough to hear that christ knew what he said even though christ was not present at that moment verse number 28 thomas answered and said unto him my lord and my god again just reinforcing the deity of christ not only is he lord but he's god verse number 29 jesus saith unto him thomas because thou hast seen me thou hast believed and the next words are about us brethren each one of us blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed you've never seen christ you've never seen him resurrected you've never seen him crucified you didn't see that stone rolled away but the lord says blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed we get a special blessing that thomas didn't receive that these disciples didn't receive i don't really know what that blessing looks like but i've said it before like to me christ death burial resurrected to me it's all it is truer than anything i can see with my own physical eyes because i've got the holy ghost and i've got faith in god's word and when you combine those things you see the truth of god's word is more powerful than anything you can see with your own physical eyes i know i i know it's true i know christ is true i know he walked the earth 2000 years ago i know performed these miracles and he was crucified and he rose from the dead i know these stories are all true it's like i know these men are real real figures real men they're not just some fable make-believe story this is all legit this is all truly what took place i know what happened at creation i know 6 200 years ago in six days god created all things i don't have to waste my time like these scientists trying to figure out the big bang and evolution what a waste of time what nonsense and i know how it all ends i know that we win with christ i know that god creates a new heaven to me it's all real it's all 100 true and i don't have to see it with my eyes and maybe that's the blessing i don't know maybe that's the blessing verse number 30 and many other signs truly did jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book but these are written that ye might believe that jesus is the christ the son of god and that believing ye might have life through his name john tells us look i wrote these things i want every reader to believe that christ is the son of god and that believing you might have life through his name brethren how do we receive eternal life despite believing on christ isn't that so easy salvation to believe in his death this is recorded for us his resurrection that is paid for our sins you put your faith and trust in christ you are saved you have everlasting life man if salvation was more complex in this you know you'd have to say verse number 31 but these are written that ye might believe and and and turn from your sins and get baptized and and get into a church and and obey the ten commandments and obey all is it 600 something commandments uh that you believe in might have believing salvation is believing and trusting christ alone what an honor to be given a gift by god and god says look all you need to do is just believe it believe it to be true and you believe it the moment you believe it brethren you're saved you have everlasting life and so john chapter 20 what a great chapter i wish i could have spent more time on some of those verses but you can see that there's great depth there it's really interesting you know the resurrection story of christ and you know when you have your own time let me just encourage you study the word ascend or ascended also if you have extra time look at all the gospels so matthew mark luke and john about the resurrection of christ and just overlay them one on top of each other there's just it's just amazing how everything played out and there's no contradictions in god's word all right let's pray