He burst asunder the bands of death. Death could not hold Him. I can
imagine, when they laid Him in Joseph's sepulchre, if our eyes could
have been there, we should have seen Death sitting over that
sepulchre, saying, "I have Him; He is my victim. He said He was the
resurrection and the life. Now I have hold of Him in my cold embrace.
Look at Him. There He is; He has had to pay tribute to me. Some
thought He was never going to die. Some thought I would not get Him.
But He is mine." But look again. The glorious morning comes, and the
Son of man bursts asunder the bands of death, and came out of the
sepulchre. We do not worship a dead God, but a Saviour who still
lives. Yes, He rose from the grave; and then they saw Him ascend. That
is what Paul calls the gospel. Not only Christ's death and burial, but
His ascension into heaven. He went up and took His seat at the right
hand of God, and He will come back again. The gospel consists of five
things: Christ's death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coming
again; for "I will come again," said He. Thanks be to God, He is
coming back by and by. He will come and take the kingdom; He will sway
His sceptre from the rivers to the ends of the earth. A little while
and He shall rule and reign. Let us lift up our heads and rejoice that
the time of our redemption draweth near.
Let us get back to the simple gospel--Christ died for our sins. We
must know Christ at Calvary first, as