Rolls Away the Stones

Introduction:
1... Easter is a wonderful time to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that
glorious event that changed history over 2,000 years ago. But, did you know that God is still in
the resurrection business today?
2... Not only does He want to resurrect your spirit, He wants to resurrect your dreams, your
hopes, your relationships and every area of your life! Today, call on Him and allow Him to
display His resurrection power through you!
Folded Napkin:
1... In (John 20:5-7) we find the other disciples out ran Peter to the sepulcher, we find Peter as
stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
2... In (Vs7) we find that Peter saw the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen
clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
3... Understanding that the grave clothes was just thrown aside, but the napkin that was placed
over his face was neatly folded, and was placed separate from the grave clothes.
Is it really significant? Yes!
1... In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little
bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant,
and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.
2... When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way
the master wanted it.
3... The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the
master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was
finished.
4... Now, if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his
mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant
would then know to clear the table.
5... But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the
servant would not dare touch the table, because........... The folded napkin meant,
'I'm coming back!'
6... We find in (Acts 1:10) that while they were looking steadfastly toward heaven as he went up,
behold two men stood by them in white apparel.
7... We find in (Vs11) that these two men said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner
as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Yes there was a death, He died on the cross, but the grave
could not hold Him, He was resurrected on the third day, but in Jewish history the folded napkin
was to let us know that He is coming back again).
Matt 28:5-6

5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek
Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
KJV
Biblical Foundation:
1... When Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James arrived at the tomb after sunrise, they
looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away.
2... It's not hard for me to believe that Jesus got up and rolled away the large stone because
when I look at my life I can see that He has rolled away many large stones in my life. (We
understand the earthquake, and the roll of the angels in rolling away the stone, but we must first
understand that it was God, who sent the earthquake, it was God who sent the angels).
Outline:
(In this message we will see four stones that Jesus has rolled away).
1... The Stone of Discouragement.
2... The Stone of Doubt.
3... The Stone of Defeat.
4... The Stone of Death.
The Stone of Discouragement:
1... They were in a discouraging situation, not only had they experienced the crucifixion, now as
they go to see Jesus one last time, to honor Him by anointing His body with spices and perfumes,
they realizes that two women cannot remove the large stone at the tomb. (What kind of
discouraging situation are you in?)
2... David said in (Psalm 34:17-19) When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers
them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in
spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
3... We are not strong enough to roll those stones away, But Jesus can.
6... The Bible says in (John 20;20) that ''The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.''
In that moment, they went from hopelessness and depression to joyful, thrilling, overflowing
exuberance. (Jesus is able to roll away your stone of discouragement).
The Stone of Doubt:
1... The Bible says in (John 20:24-25) that ''One of the disciples, Thomas was not with the others
when Jesus came. They told him, ''we have seen the Lord!'' But he replied, ''I won't believe it
unless I see the nail wounds in his hand and put my fingers into them and place my hand into the
wound in his side.''
2... Now Thomas has taken a lot of criticism for his doubts, but he certainly isn't the only person
to doubt the Christian faith. Maybe you have some doubts of your own.
3... Thomas Upon seeing the evidence- seeing Jesus with his own eyes-Thomas fell to his knees
and exclaimed, ''My Lord and My God!'' (John 20:28) The resurrection of Jesus moves the stone
of doubt. (Would you like for Jesus to remove the stone of doubt in your life?)
The Stone of Defeat:
1... Jesus rolls away the stone of defeat. (The grave could not defeat Him). We all know what it is
to fail? Many of us know the heartache of a failed marriage or the heartache of a failed career, or
to feel that you have failed as a father or a mother, or as a child to feel that you have failed your
parents.
2... Peter knew what it was to fail. He was a simple, yet passionate follower of Jesus. On the
night Jesus was arrested, he was all in. Peter said, ''Lord I will lay down my very life for you.

(John 13:37). But by sunrise the next morning he blew it. As Jesus had prophesied he said three
times, ''I don't know Him, I don't belong to Him, I'm not one of His. (If you feel defeated this
morning, I have good news, Jesus can removed the stone of defeat).
3... In a Nike commercial several years ago, a voice came over the television saying, ''I've
missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've
been trusted to take the game-winning shot and Missed.
I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.'' These words were
spoken by the great Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time. Just because we've
been defeated in the past, doesn't mean we surrender. Jesus rolls away the stone of defeat.
The Stone of Death:
1... Finally, Jesus rolls away the stone of death. Paul said, ''the last enemy that shall be destroyed
is death. Since the Garden of Eden, death has been on our trail.
2... Death is inescapable; it comes to every living thing.
3... Jesus conquered death through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. He
offers to do the same for you and me. Paul put it this way: ''But the fact is that Christ has been
raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life
again. (The empty tomb is our hope of life after death).
4... (I Corinthians 15:20-22) says, So you see, just as death came into the world through a man,
Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ. Everyone dies
because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who are related to Christ, the other
man, will be given new life.''
5... All throughout Jesus' ministry He promised one thing that no one else could offer- eternal
life, immorality. That's what Jesus came into this world to offer.
6... In (John 10:10) Jesus declared boldly, ''I have come that they may have life, and that they
may have it more abundantly.''
7... Adam's sin allowed death to claim every human's life; Christ's death challenged that claim
and nullified it in the Resurrection. Adam gave us all death; Jesus offers us all life. In other
words, real life can only be found in Jesus Christ.
8... That same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you and me today. Jesus still
moves stones for us.
Preached FWC (4/5/2015)