THE REALITY OF THE RESURRECTION
Trevor R Campbell
Matthew 28: 5-6
Acts 7: 55-56
1 Thessalonians 4: 14-18
I would like to follow what our brother has said as to the resurrection. It is a wonderful matter to have that faith in the soul, particularly when we are in the presence of death, for death fixes matters. For our sister, her place is fixed, and nothing can change it: she is forever with the Lord. I want to draw attention to these scriptures simply to re-emphasise the reality of the resurrection.
What a statement this is: “Come, see the place where the Lord lay”. The Lord Jesus is the One that died and shed His precious blood on the cross. I can say that He did that for me. He did that for our dear sister; she knew her Redeemer. She knew the One that had paid the price for the debt that she owed to God, and that can be your portion today. There is nothing like it in this world, to know that your sins are forgiven. And Jesus has done that for all who trust Him in dying on the cross and going into the tomb. We have read of those who came to the tomb, but the word to them was, “He is not here, for he is risen”. But if that was not enough, the further word is, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay”. So He is no longer there; He is risen. Death could not hold the Son of God.
In Acts, we see a faithful man here, a martyr, and through faith, he looks into heaven. Jesus is no longer in the grave; He is in glory. Stephen, a man full of faith, saw Him: “having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God”; and that is where Jesus is. He has taken our dear sister, whom we knew and loved, to be with Himself, because she belonged to Him. Can I ask you, friend, do you belong to Jesus? Our sister knew that, and she lived her life of faithfulness in relation to Jesus, the One that is in glory. It is a wonderful matter, and what power He has; He has power to raise the dead. I am often affected by that word in John 11, “Thy brother shall rise again”, v 23. I can say by faith and the certainty of the word of God, that our sister will rise again. She will rise again because there is a blessed Man, Jesus, who has gone into death and broken the power of death.
That is what enters into the final scripture that I read, that Jesus is coming again. What a hope it is for those of us that believe, and I trust you are among those that believe, for the scripture says, “For if we believe that Jesus has died and has risen again, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus”. It is a blessed matter that our sister, as asleep through Jesus, will have priority then over those that are living: “the dead in Christ shall rise first”. Our sister had that hope. The language was a barrier when I met her but anyone could tell it in her face: you could see she was restful in her links with Christ. So the hope for those that believe is an eternity with Christ, and in the meantime, our sister is asleep through Jesus. She has gone on before.
And as we said in the beginning, for our dear sister, things are fixed; when the Lord comes things will be fixed for those that believe, but sadly they will be fixed for those that do not believe. What a matter that is. May you take advantage of the opportunity to put your faith and trust in the living Man we have been speaking about, the One that has broken the power of death, not only for Himself, but for those that believe. We may die, but the sting of death is gone; for death, for the believer, is simply a doorway into the presence of Jesus forever.
May we be encouraged and comforted, for His Name’s sake.
Livron
30th May 2023