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BY PASTOR BRANDON YOUNG
Last week, we had a great community revival at Little Milligan School. The youth choir sang the song, “I Ran Out of That Grave.”
I will never forget the day Jesus stood outside my tomb through the Spirit of conviction, and called me out into His marvelous light just as he did Lazarus. We are all born dead in our sins and trespasses. We are entombed in sin in a dark, discouraging, discontented, and depressing place separated from the Almighty God. Once we came forth through repentance, our grave clothes were loosed, and placed upon us was a robe of righteousness. What a wonderful experience! I will never forget the day I walked out of the tomb, and I would like to say I never went back to visit, but I would be lying. I have made my way back to the tomb and the entrance is always open. Satan loves to see us back at that place of death and discouragement.
John 21:25 says, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” In a short amount of time, Jesus did many great works and visited many places, but one thing is certain. When Jesus resurrected from the grave, he never went back to visit the tomb. Following the resurrection, Christ visited the brethren and continued the work of His Father. Mark 12:27 says, “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.”
If we follow Christ, He will never lead us back to the tomb, but many times we find ourselves headed back to the tomb that he called us from. Luke 24:5 proclaims, “And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?” We won’t find Jesus at the tomb, but I am certain we will find defeat, destruction, depression, discouragement, and discontentment!
Our tomb calls out for us everyday of life, and if we are not incredibly careful, we will find ourselves leaving Christ to head back to our tomb. In 1 Kings 18, we find Elijah calling fire down from Heaven and having a great victory in the Lord. He slays all the prophets of Baal and shows the people the power of the one and true God. Jezebel then threatens his life and then this happens in 1 Kings 19: 9-10, “And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” Elijah felt like he was the only God-fearing man left, and he was afraid for his life. A tomb is nothing more than a cave. Elijah, after the great victory on the mountain, sat in a dark and damp cave throwing a pity party for himself. God came by and asked what he was doing there and directed him to 7,000 that have never knelt down to Baal to worship. Elijah did not belong in the cave; rather, he was directed to join the other believers.
We do not belong amongst the tombs either. We should be seated at the feet of Christ, clothed in a robe of righteousness in our right mind. That is exactly where you found the tomb-dwelling man, formerly possessed with the demons, once Christ has spoken to him. Paul says in Romans 6:4, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” We show the world that Jesus called us out of the tomb through baptism, and then he tells us to walk in the newness of life. It is impossible to walk in the newness of life if we are dwelling back at the tomb. We are commanded to follow Jesus, and He will never lead us back to the tomb of sin! Have you been back to your tomb lately? Just remember that Satan cannot roll a stone at the door although that is exactly what he would love to do. The stone was rolled away for good, so all you have to do is leave! Run out of that grave as quickly as you can and do not ever look back.
(The Solution Column is provided by Pastor Brandon Young of Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, Hampton)