Obedience Rewarded

Obedience Rewarded

(No. 2323)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, AUGUST 27, 1893.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST
1, 1889.

"And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy;
and did run to bringHis disciples word. And as they went to tell His
disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and
held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be
not afraid: go tell My brethren to go into Galilee, and there shall
they see Me." Matthew 28:8-10.

THESE holy women, these consecrated Maries, shall be our instructors
tonight. They were highly-favored to be the first witnesses for our
risen Lord! Do you wonder why He chose them? Was it because their
hearts were tender and they were very sad at His death, more sad than
the men? And is He not known to come, first, to those who need Him most
and to pour in oil and wine where the wound gapes widest? It may be so.
Was it because they had been the more faithful of the two and, while
some men had denied Him and all had forsaken Him, the women were last
at Golgotha, as they were now, first, at the sepulcher? Did their Lord
reward them by dealing with them as they had dealt with Him? That is
but His pattern. "If you will walk contrary unto Me, then will I also
walk contrary unto you," said the Lord to Israel. And He also said, "I
love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me."
These holy women did seek their Lord early on the morning of His
Resurrection and they found Him to a certainty before all others! Was
this because Jesus had found the women more spiritual than the
Apostles? Certainly, I think that was the case. They had attained the
very climax of love, washing His feet with their tears. They had
reached the very center of discipleship–one of them had chosen the
good part, and sat at His feet. Sometimes, where there is less power of
understanding, Jesus does give keener powers of perception, and though
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary would never have become Pauls, yet
they were of quick eye, like John, and were, therefore, the most fit to
see the Savior in the dawning of the morning–and so they were
permitted to have the first glimpse of Him.

At any rate, be it how it may, they were the first to see their risen
Lord–and we will try to learn something from them, tonight. It should
be an encouragement to those members of the Church of Christ who are
neither pastors nor teachers that, if they live very near to God, they
may yet teach pastors and teachers! Get clear views of your Lord, as
did these holy women who had no office in the Church, and yet taught
the officers, for they were sent to bear to the Apostles the tidings
that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead! Not first to them who were
the heads of the Church, as it were, but first of all to lowly women
did the Lord appear–and the Apostles, themselves, had to go to school
to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to learn that great Truth of God,
"The Lord is risen, indeed." We will go to school with the Apostles,
tonight, and may the Lord grant that while we learn from these holy
women, He who taught them may come and teach us! May He who met them
meet with us in this House of Prayer tonight!

First, I ask you to look at these women in the way of obedience active.
They ran to bring the disciples word. Secondly, look at them in the way
of obedience rewarded, for, as they went to tell His disciples, Jesus
met them. And then, thirdly, we will go back to the point where we
started and see these women in the way of obedience refreshed, for,
after they had seen the Lord, they persevered in their heavenly errand
and still went to tell His disciples that He would go before them into
Galilee–and that there they should see Him.

I. First, then, notice these women IN THE WAY OF ODEDIENCE ACTIVE.

They had gone to the sepulcher to see and also to embalm the body of
Christ, but while they were there, an angel appeared to them and
committed to them this charge, "Go quickly, and tell His disciples that
He is risen from the dead."

And they went upon their errand with most commendable alacrity. Now,
you and I, dear Friends, must try to imitate them. What you have seen,
you must tell! What you have been taught, you must teach! To you,
Believer, has been committed the Oracle of God. See that you keep it!
Hold it fast and hold it forth. You have not this Light of God for
yourself, alone, but that it may shine before men. See to this. Perhaps
these women may help you in so doing.

Observe first, then, that they went about their errand not doubting the
Revelation. The angel said to them, "Tell His disciples that He is
risen from the dead and, behold, He goes before you into Galilee." They
did not stop to ask any question, to make any objections, to utter any
critical doubts–they believed. Now, it is to be thus with you–you
cannot be a messenger from God unless you believe. If you do not
believe the Gospel, do not pretend to preach it! Go home, my dear
Friends, and bury your head in your doubts, twist your brains about,
tie them up into knots and amuse yourself as you like–but do not
pretend to go and tell that of which you are not, yourself, sure!
Otherwise, you will lack the accent of confidence and, consequently,
you will lack the power of persuasion. He that is not firm, himself,
cannot move others. If there is no fulcrum for your lever, where is
your power? "I believed; therefore have I spoken," said the Psalmist,
and he did well, for there must first be the believing and then the
speaking. Leave the message to another if you are not sure of it–let
another who is sure of it tell it until you, too, are sure of it–then
may you also run with good tidings from your Lord! These godly women
leaped at once into the full conviction that Christ was risen and,
therefore, they hastened to tell the tidings to the disciples.

And, again, they obeyed, not discussing their authority to go and
proclaim this news. What use is it if I believe the Truth of God and
yet am not empowered to teach it? According to some, I can only be
authorized by some special cere-mony–I must undergo certain processes
before I may be permitted to preach. But the angel said to these women,
"Go and tell," and they went to tell. They did not hesitate. They asked
no question about Apostolic succession, or Episcopal ordination, or
anything of the kind! They were told to go and they went. Have you
heard Jesus speak to you? Do you know His love? Have you an inward
persuasion that you have to tell your friends what great things He has
done for you? Then go in this, your might! If you have any hesitancy
about your right to labor for your Lord. If you doubt that passage,
"Let him that hears say, Come," then do not go, for, if you do not
believe that you have a right to go, your going will be with an inward
weakness–and you will be taken up rather with yourself than with your
message–and with the heart of Him to whom you carry it.

I love to hear men say that they must do this and that, for only that
which is done under the imperious necessity of a Divine impulse will
ever be followed by any great result. If you can live without preaching
the Gospel, live without preaching it, for if God has sent you, you
will say with Paul, "Woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel!" And
you, my Sister, if you are sent to do any work for God and have a
yearning to win souls and a fire in your bones which cannot be
restrained–you could no more be stayed from speaking of Jesus than the
sun can be stayed from shining in mid Heaven! May God grant that we may
have among us many who, in going forth to work for Christ, are sure
about what they have to tell and sure about their authority to tell it!

This being so with these women, we notice, next, that they went on
their errand not declining on account of weakness. They might have
said, "Oh, we are not the people to go to the Apostles!" Mary Magdalene
might have said, "You know what I used to be. Would you have me go and
talk to John, and James, and Peter?" Indeed, the holy women might at
once have refused the commission and said, "We do not feel ourselves
qualified. We have a natural timidity and modesty which put it out of
the question that we should go on such a service as this." But not a
word of that kind did they utter–and, dear Brothers and Sisters, while
souls are dying, dare we hesitate on account of weakness? Do you not
think that it is the man who is most conscious of weakness who is
usually the chosen man for the Lord's service? Did not Moses wish to
decline the office of leader of Israel because he was slow of speech?
Did not Isaiah cry, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of
unclean lips"?

And if you are conscious of weakness as great as that of these godly
women, or greater, even, than theirs, yet I still say that the pressure
of human necessity and the pressure of the Divine message should be so
heavy upon you that you should say, "I will go even as did the lepers
of old, when they had found out the plenty that there was in the camp
of the Syrians and knew of the sore famine in Samaria." They could not
sit still, but all over with leprosy as they were, they must go to the
king's household and tell them that there was bread enough and to
spare–and that the people need not die of hunger! Oh, yes, we must go!
Even we must go! The time may have been when only the choice and pick
of the

Church were needed for holy service, but these times are not now. When
sin abounds, when error rages, when the faithful are but few, then
every man–and every woman and even every babe in Grace, must speak, or
lisp, or prattle the good news that Christ is risen from the dead and
is able to save and bless!

Then, dear Friends, as these women were not detained from this work by
a sense of weakness, so they obeyed not held back by curiosity. They
might have stayed to look at the sepulcher. They were invited to come
and see the place where the Lord lay and, like the two disciples, they
might have gone in and observed how the napkin was laid by itself, and
the linen cloths were folded. I think that if you and I had had the
opportunity of looking into that wonderful sepulcher where the Lord
lay, we would have liked to linger there all through that day, to
worship and adore! But no curiosity– no, no devotion–kept them at the
sepulcher when they once had the command to go and tell the disciples
that Christ was risen from the dead! Now, these days are full of
temptation. We have a thousand fields for curiosity to wander in. How
shall we settle this debate? How shall we answer that criticism? Every
day brings to light some fresh objection, some new theory. Shall we
stop till we have answered every objection, till we have destroyed
every theory? No, my Brothers, we cannot afford to stop. Let others
debate–we must declare! Let others discuss–we must proclaim that
Jesus Christ has come into the world to save sinners! Sinners, look to
Him and, looking, you shall live! We must make this the burden of our
daily conversation, the constant theme of our talk– "Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, even the very chief of them." We must
keep to this! As these women were not turned aside to make any curious
observation, so must not we be–we must keep to our one work of telling
His disciples where to look for Him and bidding them follow

Him.

And, dear Friends, again, I want you to notice that they were not
hampered by their emotions. It is a very blessed thing, sometimes, to
have an opportunity of indulging your emotions. These women were
subject to the influences of two opposite currents, "fear and great
joy." Fear put wings to their heels and great joy seemed to lend them
extra speed. By the two, together, they ran to bring the disciples
word. It may be very pleasant to get alone and spend much time in close
communion with Christ–the more of it the better. It may be well to
practice introspection until you see the evil of your heart and are
filled with fear. It may be well to look up and see the beauties of
your Lord and the glories of His Advent until you are filled with great
joy. But neither of these must be allowed to keep you away from actual
service and the continual telling out of the Gospel of Christ! I have
known it to be the case.

I remember a good man who was a great authority on the Book of
Revelation. I am sorry to say that, great as he was on the Revelation,
his influence was very bad on his children at home. He knew all about
the seven trumpets, but he did not know much about the seven boys and
girls he had at home–so they grew up very badly. Never break the
balance of holy emotions and sacred duties! Let us have our fear and
our great joy but, at the same time, we must not sit down because we
have great joy–we must run on the Lord's errand–joy and all. Let us
run as fast as we can, whether we fear or whether we rejoice. Learn
that lesson from these godly women. You feel very dull–go to your
Bible-class. You feel as if you had done no good for a long time–go on
in the Lord's work. But God has greatly blessed you and you are getting
rather old and you need rest–go on with your work–run to bring the
disciples word whether you feel fear or joy. Stand over your work, be
in-stant–standing over it, in season and out of season, constant and
instant in the service of your blessed Lord and Master! If you are not,
these holy women will put you to shame and I must send you to this
dames' school, old as you are, to learn a little lesson from these
godly dames as to how you ought to serve God.

Once more, notwithstanding all that might have been said to make their
footsteps slow, we find that they were not hindered by propriety or
indifference. They traveled to their work as quickly as they
could–"and did run to bring His disciples word." Now, one hardly likes
to think of Mary Magdalene and that other Mary running! My good Sisters
here are, many of them, very diligent in their service, but they do not
forget that there is a kind of reputable pace for ladies– yet these
holy women ran! They will get out of breath by running! Never mind.
Never mind! "They did run to bring His disciples word." We are great
slaves to propriety, are we not, the most of us? The other day a
Brother called out in the middle of a sermon. And on another morning, a
Sister exclaimed while I was preaching–and some of you thought that it
was very improper, did you not?

Well, I suppose that it was, but I was very glad of it and I did not
see the slightest objection to the impropriety when I felt that the
Truth of God that was being preached was enough to make the stones
speak! Why should not those persons cry out? When you are about the
Lord's work, you know that it is well to be very quiet and calm and
take things steadily.

That is well. But sometimes we can do better than well. We have the
steam up and we cannot help it–and we have to go ahead and we must go.
Thus these godly women were running along. They will put their garments
out of shape! They will spoil the look of their faces! I do not know
what will not happen, but they do not care about that. "They did run to
bring His disciples word." How often have I seen it, in the country,
when somebody has stepped into a cottage–perhaps it has been the
minister, or some dear Christian friend, and the good woman has
said–"I must run and fetch in my neighbor," and she has rushed out of
the door, down the front garden, across the street and she has brought
her sister or her friend to come and hear the good Word of God! And she
has never thought that it was at all improper for her to do

it!

Dear Friends, in the service of God, impropriety is often piety. It was
said that Mr. Rowland Hill, "rode upon the back of Order and Decorum."
"Well," he said, "I will try to make that true," so he called his two
horses, Order and Decorum and thus, if he did not ride on their backs,
he made them pull him to and from Surrey Chapel! Order and decorum are
hardly worth more than to be used as horses! They are very respectable
animals, but sometimes disorder and the lack of decorum may be
predicated of an earnest, zealous heart–and may be very much to the
credit of that heart. "They did run to bring His disciples word."
Brothers and Sisters, some of us ought to run, for we have not much
time! We are getting gray, years are telling upon us, so let us run! We
may not have many more opportunities–we may be kept to our bed, or
tied to the house–let us run while we can! Sometimes we are warned not
to do too much. Let us try to do too much! Let us be indiscreetly
loving to our Lord! Let us run to bring the disciples word, even at the
cost of putting ourselves out of breath!

I think that we have now learned all that we need to learn from these
good women about their being in the way of obedience, that is to say,
if we have learned it–but have we learned it? Are all of you Christian
people who are here, tonight, running on your Master's errands? Have
all of you received a commission from Christ? Have you all had a
message from Him? Are you carrying it? Some of you are strangers, here,
this evening. Let me beg you not to live a single week without having
something to do for your Lord, knowing what it is, and getting to it in
the spirit of these holy women.

II. But now, secondly, observe these holy women IN THE WAY OF OBEDIENCE
REWARDED.

First, they were rewarded by a most delightful visitation–"As they
went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them." He has ways of
meeting His disciples, now, in the power of His Spirit, manifesting
Himself to them. There are some of His disciples who never get these
visitations and I think that it is because they are not running to
bring His disciples word. Nobody fidgets a busy person like an idle
body. Have you ever had a servant doing some work for you and crawling
about in such a way that you could hardly stand it? Well now, the Lord
Jesus Christ does not feel at home with lazy Christians and I believe
that He reserves His fellowship for the sufferers and the workers. When
you are in the way of service, He will meet you. So you have not seen
His face for a long time? Have you a class in the Sunday school? Are
you a tract-distributor? Are you a preacher in the villages?

"No, dear Sir, I do nothing of the sort." Well, then, I do not think
that you will meet Him just yet, but I think that if you had a call to
some of these good works, and you obeyed it, it is highly probable that
you would then say, "Being in the way, the Lord met with me." Oh, yes,
when you have love, joy and light in your heart, it will often happen
that while you are talking about Christ to others, you will have a
blessing come to your own soul! Many times has it occurred to the
preacher that if he has not edified anybody else, he has preached
himself into a right state of heart–and he is sure that he has had one
hearer who was the better for the sermon! Beloved Christian Brothers
and Sisters, especially Sisters, for the text, you see, comes from the
Sisters and ought to go back to the Sisters–get into the path of duty
if you world win this reward of a delightful visitation! You sometimes
sing–

"When will You come to me, Lord?" You can answer your own prayer, to a
large, extent, by running upon your Lord's errands.

The next reward these women received was a very cheering
salutation–"Jesus met them, saying, All hail." I do not know whether
it was in the Hebrew that He spoke. If so, I suppose that He uttered
the usual salutation, "Peace be unto you!" As we get it in the Greek,
one is inclined to think that He used the Greek language and spoke the
word which signifies, "Rejoice! Joy be unto you!" Our translators very
properly thought that the best thing they could do was to give you the
old Saxon expression, "All hail! Health be to you! May you be in good
health, may you be hale!" "All hail!" You know that we use the
expression, "Hail fellow, well met!" Well, that indicates great
sociability and, therefore, you can

see the wrong of a Christian saying it to an ungodly man, but Christ
comes to His people, and says, "All hail!" I often wonder that He ever
used that word, since by it He was betrayed when the traitor said,
"Hail, Master!" But yet it was His mother's word. Did not the angel
Gabriel say to Mary, "Hail, you that are highly favored, the Lord is
with you: blessed are you among women"? And He used it here, "All
hail!" Well, when Jesus Christ comes to us with words of such
endearment, such brotherhood, it ought to make us glad!

Last Tuesday night I saw a Brother who, I trust, has just been
converted to God. He may be here, tonight. If so, he must excuse my
telling you this. He cannot read well, but he is teaching himself to
read, and he said to me something that touched me very much. He said,
"Do you know, I read this week the most wonderful thing I ever heard! I
dare say you know all about it, Sir, but it was a very wonderful thing
to me." I asked, "What was it?" "Well," he replied, "you know, I was
spelling it over and I found that Christ said, 'I call you not
servants; but I have called you friends.' That knocked me over," he
said, "me a friend of His, me a friend of His? And He calls me so! I
was obliged to think that I must have made a mistake and I had to read
it over to see if it could be so, that He really called me a friend.
And further down He said, 'These things have I spoken unto you, that
you should not be offended.' There, I thought, what difference would it
make to Him if I were offended? And to think of my being offended with
Him! It is much more likely that He will be offended with me. It is all
very amazing."

That is a most blessed way of reading the Bible for the first time–to
see these wonders as they break upon you! Well, now, it is just as my
friend found it to be–the Lord comes to us with very sweet
familiarity–He uses what the French call "tutoyage." In speaking to
us, He utters the familiar, "you" and, "you"–and He sits down to eat
in company with us–calls us to His table and there bids us eat and
drink with Him. It is wonderful, as my friend said, but it is thus that
Jesus deals with those who love and serve Him! And what a reward it is
for the Lord's servants when He says to them, "All hail! I am your
Companion. I have done well to meet you. I am glad to see you. All
health be to you! Every blessing rest upon you!" Something more than,
"Salem," the "peace" of the Old Covenant, is this, "All hail!" of the
New Covenant, of which the Incarnate God is the great Expositor! That
was the cheering salutation with which the risen Savior rewarded the
obedience of these godly women.

They also had an assuring satisfaction as another reward of their
obedience, for they were permitted to prove that their Lord was really
risen from the dead. Before Thomas had done it, they did it! "They came
and held Him by the feet." He was no specter, no phantom! It was no
dream that deceived them. Christ was really risen! There He stood in
solid flesh and blood–and they held Him by the feet! I believe that
when we are at work for the Lord with all our heart, He sometimes
enables us to get grips of Truths of God that we do not have, at other
times, and we lay hold on them with unrelax-ing grasp. People talk
about "honest doubt" and ask me to doubt. I cannot doubt! I live in the
enjoyment of the eternal facts. I could sooner doubt my own existence
than doubt the Doctrines of Christ, they have become such substantial
Truths of God to me. I have tasted and handled them! I cannot have a
doubt about them. It was so with these godly women–they knew that
Christ was risen, for they came and held Him by the feet.

But, at the same time, they had, mixed with this experience, a
rapturous adoration. "They held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him."
It is of no use to be persuaded of a Doctrine–that is, to hold it
mentally–unless there is the spirit of worship going with it, so that
you adore your Lord while you hold to Him and His Truth. These women
not merely felt that Jesus was there as a Man, but they knew that He
was also God, they were sure of it and, therefore, they worshipped Him.
It takes a lot of faith, while you are holding a man, to worship Him at
the same time, because your grip of the human body is a proof of its
materialism–and you say to yourself–"This is a man." And, therefore,
you do not worship him. But these women knew that Jesus was God as well
as Man, so they could mingle the holding of His feet with the worship
due to His Godhead. In a natural sense, none of us can exactly imitate
these worshipping women, but those who are taught of God, the Holy
Spirit, and who know how to be familiar and yet to be devout, will draw
near to Christ and hold Him by the feet and, at the same time, worship
Him with solemn awe and sacred joy.

Now, this is the reward that I want my dear Friends here to have. I
know that the most of you have some work on hand for the Master. If you
are getting at all dull and heavy, I beg you not to give it up. Stick
to it, but pray the Lord to meet with you. May He meet you here,
tonight! If not, may He meet you on the way home, or in your bedroom!
Nothing is so sweet as the sight of our Lord risen from the dead–to
know because He lives that we, also, shall live–and to get a

sight of Him as alive and living for us! This puts nerve into us and
sends us back to our service greatly refreshed. That is to be my last
point and upon it I will speak very briefly.

III. Thirdly, notice these holy women IN THE WAY OF OBEDIENCE
REFRESHED, for, having seen and touched their Lord, they were now sent
away to His brethren.

Before they went forth the second time, they were perfectly calm and
happy in the Lord. I think that it is almost essential to any great
success in serving the Lord that we should be on the best of terms with
Him and not be fluttered, frightened, worried, perturbed, questioning.
Having worshipped and held Him and heard Him say, "All hail," you will
then feel that, by the power of His love and the authority of His
Divinity, He sends you forth as His messenger.

Notice, next, that the angel said to the women, "Go quickly, and tell
His disciples." But Jesus said, "Go tell My brethren." Thus, their
commission was sweetened. And if it is with you as it was with them,
you will get to be more tender in the delivery of your message. You
will begin to feel nearer of kin to those to whom you speak. You will
perceive more of the love of Christ to them. You will not merely be
talking in your Sunday school class to "boys and girls out of the
street," you will feel that you are speaking to those of whom Jesus
said, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me." I shall not be
preaching to mere "men and women of our fallen race," but to those in
whom I hope to find the Brothers and Sisters of my Lord! In seeking to
do good, there is nothing like the plan of getting close to the people!
Up in Scotland I have often seen the fishermen standing right in the
middle of the river–that is a good place to fish–it is better than
being on the bank. Get among the fish and you will catch them! Get to
feel your relationship to the soul you deal with and your Lord's
relationship to him, and you will preach or teach much better than you
have ever done in the past. Thus these women went with their commission
sweetened by their Lord's loving words, "Go tell My brethren."

Notice, again, that their confidence in their message was increased.
They believed it when the angel uttered it, but they believed it still
more emphatically when their Master repeated it to them! Besides, His
telling it to them was the best proof that it was true. He could not
have told them that He was risen from the dead if He had not been risen
from the dead! So the Truth of God, when it comes to us in Christ, is
its own proof. You may doubt it while it is simply preached by men, but
you surely will never doubt it when Jesus, Himself, in His own Person,
comes to you and says, Himself, "This is the Truth of God. Open your
heart and soul and receive it." May the Lord do this for many here!

And then, these women went on their way with increased joy. They had no
great fear, no, not even a little fear, for their great joy had
swallowed up their fear. I should have liked to have seen them go in
among the Apostles, exclaiming, "The Lord is risen, indeed!" They might
say, "But Mary, we saw you last night looking as miserable as
possible." "Ah!" she would answer, "but Christ is risen! I have seen
Him and He said to me, 'Be not afraid,' and I am not afraid, either of
the Jews or of anybody else, for He is risen! He said to me, 'All
hail,' and it is all hail! All is well, for the Lord is risen!"
Testifying of their Lord in this spirit, they expected to be believed
and they were believed! May the Lord put you, also, into such a
condition, tonight, that you may say, "I now know more than I ever did
about the Truth of my Lord's Gospel, and I will tell it as though I
could not think that anybody would doubt it. I will tell it expecting
that they must believe it!" And they will believe it, for, according to
your faith so shall it be unto you.

As for you, my dear Hearers, who do not know my Lord, how I wish that
you did! He is a living Christ! He is no lifeless picture on the walls,
not a dead character in a book. He is the living Lord! He has come to
us and given us eternal life–and if you come to Him, He will in no
wise cast you out. If you only look to Him, you shall live! If you take
His yoke upon you and learn of Him, you shall find rest unto your
souls! I would that you might do so this very night! May the Lord bless
you in so doing!

Thus I have preached to you and now there are some Believers to be
baptized. That is the second part of our work. At the end of this
chapter we read, "Go you, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:
teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you." We
will at another time go on with the teaching that follows this
evening's meditation, if the Lord wills.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON. MATTHEW 28:1-15.

Verses 1, 2. 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. See what concern angels have about our
Lord. Are they here tonight? Do they make a habit of coming where the
saints meet together? I think they do. We have intimations in Scripture
that that is the case. Let us behave ourselves aright, tonight,
"because of the angels." And as they worship and count it their highest
honor to serve the Son of Man, let us also worship Jesus and adore Him!
What a picture this scene would make!

3, 4. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as
snow; and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead
men. He said nothing as he rolled back the stone. He did not shake a
sword at them, or over them, to fill them with terror. The presence of
perfect purity, the presence of heavenly things, is a terror to ungodly
men! May you and I be such that our very presence in company will cast
a hush over it! "It was even as though an angel shook his wings," they
said of one good man when he spoke in common conversation. May there be
about us enough of the heavenly to make the powers of evil quail before
us!

5. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear you not. But I
notice that they did fear, although the angel said, "Fear not." Neither
men nor angels can so speak as to silence fears in trembling hearts,
but Jesus can, as we shall see farther on. One word from His lips has
infinitely more power than all the words of angels or of saints!

5. For I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. And if you and
I, tonight, can truly say that we are on the side of Jesus–that we
seek Him who was crucified–then we can bear all the shame with which
philosophy would gladly cover the Cross and we have no cause for fear.
Ridicule and all that it brings from this ungodly generation will not
hurt you.

6. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. "As He said." A few
words, but what a world of meaning! "As He said." He always does "as He
said." He always gives "as He said." He always reveals Himself "as He
said," not otherwise. He never fails to fulfill a promise, or forgets
even the mode of promising. Not only does He do what He said, but as He
said. "He is risen, as He said."

6. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. For even the place where He
lay is hallowed to you. And, Beloved, if there is a place where you
have ever had communion with Christ, you will remember it. You might
bless the spot of ground where Jesus met with you. Here, tonight, I
hope that some of you can see the place where the Lord appeared to you.

7. And go quickly, and tell His disciples that He is risen from the
dead. Such good news ought to be spread quickly! "Go and tell His
disciples." They are trembling, they have fled–"that He is risen from
the dead."

7. And, behold, He goes before you into Galilee; there shall you see
Him: lo, I have told you. Brethren, this is good news for us, tonight,
though all may not, perhaps, feel the power of it. "He is risen." We
have no dead Christ! We serve a living Savior! He is risen and,
therefore, He can come to us, tonight, in the power of His
Resurrection-life, and He can make us glad. "Behold, He goes before you
into Galilee." There is a great deal about Galilee in Matthew's Gospel.
It is the Gospel of the Kingdom and yet it often talks about Galilee,
that border-land which touches Gentiles, as well as the chosen seed of
Abraham. There is the place where Jesus will meet His people, in the
border-land between Jew and Gentile–there the risen Christ will hold
the first general assembly of His Church!

8. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great
joy. What a mixture–fear and joy! But notice that the fear was not
great, but the joy was–"Fear and great joy." Observe the proportions
of the mixture and if, tonight, you have some fear, yet I hope you will
have great joy–and then the bitterness of the fear will pass away. A
holy fear, mixed with great joy, is one of the sweetest compounds we
can bring to God's altar! Some of us have brought those spices with us,
tonight. These holy women brought other spices to the sepulcher–but
these were the spices that they took away from it–"Fear and great
joy."

8, 9. And did run to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell
His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came
and held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him. He would not let Mary
Magdalene do that when they were alone, for He said to her, "Touch Me
not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: it is more necessary for
you to go, now, and tell My disciples that I have risen from the dead.
There will be time, by-and-by, for further fellowship with Me." But now
Jesus permits these godly women to hold Him by the feet! It was an act
of humility, worshipping and holding, and holding not His hands, but
His feet. They must have seen the nail-prints before Thomas did, as
they held Him by

the feet and worshipped Him. I do not find that these women ran to the
angels–they rather shrank back from them– but they came to Jesus, for
we are told that they came and held Him by the feet. I think that there
must have been a new attraction about Christ after He had risen from
the dead, something more sweet about the tones of His voice, something
more charming about the Countenance that had been so maimed at
Gethsemane, and Gabbatha, and Golgotha.

10. Then said Jesus unto them. As He saw their palpitating hearts and
perceived that they were still all in a flurry, for the angel had not
dispelled their fears.

10. Be not afraid: go tell My brethren to go into Galilee, and there
shall they see Me. The angel talked of "disciples." Christ talks of
"brethren." He always has the sweeter word.

11. Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the
city, and told unto the chiefpriests all the things that were done.
While good people were active, bad people were active, too. It is
amazing to think of how much good and evil is being done at the same
time. While we are thankful that holy women are running with holy
messages for Christ, here come the soldiers of the watch–and they are
going in to those vile priests.

12. And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel.
They ought at once to have repented when the watch came and told them
that Jesus was risen! Ought they not to have gone and fallen at His
feet, and begged for mercy? But instead of that–

12. They gave a large amount of money unto the soldiers. Money,
wherever it comes in, seems to do mischief. For money Christ was
betrayed and, for money, the Truth about His Resurrection was kept back
as far as it could be. Money has had a hardening effect on some of the
highest servants of God–and all who have to touch the filthy lucre
have need to pray for Grace to keep them from being harmed by being
brought into contact with it.

13. Saying, Say you, His disciples came by night, and stole Him away
while we slept. If they were asleep, how did they know what happened?
How could they know it if they were asleep? Evidence which is borne by
men who were asleep at the time is evidently not worth regarding. But
when you have to tell a lie, I suppose that, as any stick is good
enough to beat a dog with, any lie will do to slander one whom you
hate.

14. 15. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will persuade him,
and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were
instructed. No doubt you have heard of the man who said that he did not
believe all the articles of his church because his salary was so small
that he could not be expected to believe them all for the little money
he was paid. Oh, the depraving and debasing power of the whole system
of bribery and falsehood! May none of us ever be affected by
considerations of profit and loss in matters of doctrine, matters of
duty and matters of right and wrong!

15. And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
You may start a lie, but you cannot stop it. There is no telling how
long it will live. Let us never teach even the least error to a little
child, for it may live on and become a great heresy long after we are
dead. There is scarcely any limit to its life and to its power.