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Seven Truths Established by the Resurrection

4/26/2019

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     In this message I am going to briefly mention seven truths established by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
 
     The bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a fact of history. His tomb is empty, and eyewitnesses confirm the reality of his resurrection.  He appeared to over 500 people in the days following his resurrection.  He demonstrated himself to be alive by many infallible proofs.  At his final appearance to a group of people that included his disciples, he ascended into heaven leaving his commissioned disciples to go into all the world and preach the good news of salvation to all nations.

     Now consider with me seven truths clearly established by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  I begin with a verse of Scripture in Romans 1:4 which states Jesus is “declared to be the Son of God with power . . . by the resurrection from the dead.”  The resurrection confirms that Jesus is the Son of God. 

     The man Christ Jesus is the most unique individual in human history.  He was conceived in the womb of Mary without the agency of a human father.  His miraculous conception in the womb of Mary wrought by the Spirit of God clothed the eternal Word with the human nature of the man Christ Jesus.

     In the person of Jesus (the promised Messiah), God took to himself human nature.  It pleased the Father that in him (Jesus) should dwell all the fullness of the Divine Nature in bodily form.  As such, Jesus is the unique Son of God—truly God and truly man in one person.  Thus, on the cross, as infinite God (the Word incarnate) he could satisfy the Divine wrath against the sin of the world. 

     However, in order to suffer death of necessity a body was prepared for the eternal Son of God.  In order to redeem mankind, he must come as the last Adam.  God the Son stepped down from his throne and took to himself human nature in the person of Jesus the Christ.  As the perfect man, the spotless Lamb of God, he could now taste death as our substitute. 

     So our Savior, the only begotten Son of God, carried our cross to Calvary where by the grace of God he tasted death for each one of us.  He bore our sins in his body on the tree and as the Divine sacrifice for sin his great sacrifice fully satisfied the wrath of God against us.

     Of course, if he is the Son of God and if he has defeated the power of death through the work of his cross, then the grave would not be able to hold him.  So it was, early the first day of the week as it began to dawn, suddenly there was a great earthquake for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone from the door. 

     Jesus arose and as Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost God raised him up, “having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.”  Indeed, he is declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead!

     Hear me well, the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead establishes him as the Son of the living God.
 
     Now let me quickly move on.  Next, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is God’s declaration he accepts the death of Christ for our salvation.  In Romans 4 the Bible says Jesus was delivered for our offences (our sins), “and was raised again for our justification.”  Justification is an important Bible word connected to our salvation. 

     I ask you today, just how is a holy God going to allow unholy sinners into his heaven?  The truth is, he will not allow unholy sinners into his heaven. For members of Adam’s race to enter God’s heaven they must be made holy again.

     With that in mind, I must hasten to say there is nothing you can do to make yourself holy.  You are guilty in the sight of God.  All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  In our lost condition we are unclean.  For God to allow any of Adam’s race to enter his heaven a way must be made to clear us of our guilt, wash us from our sin, and present us faultless before his throne.  We must be made holy again.

     Now, are you listening closely?  God raised Jesus from the dead for our justification.  This means the empty tomb is God’s declaration he accepts the death of his Son for our salvation.  The word justify means to be cleared of one’s guilt and declared righteous.  God raised Jesus from the dead guaranteeing that all who bow the knee to the Lord Jesus, trusting his death on the cross for their salvation, shall be saved. If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  Saved!

     This means God justifies the believer in His sight.  Based upon the substitutional work of Christ on the cross for you, God releases the believer from the guilt of sin.  Furthermore, he imparts to the believer the gift of righteousness.  This righteousness is the righteousness of Christ.  Those clothed in the righteousness of Christ are made holy and acceptable for entrance into God's heaven.

     Here is a good way to picture this gift of righteousness.

    I am sure you are aware of certain events that require formal dress.  For example, in some cases you cannot get into an event without wearing a tuxedo.  You simply must be dressed properly or entry into the event is impossible.  May I say to you, if you are going to enter God’s heaven you must be dressed properly.  You must have a robe of righteousness on that fits you for heaven.

     You say, where am I going to buy one?  I am sorry to say this robe costs more than you could ever afford.  You say, but I must have it, or all is lost.  I am unholy and I must have this robe to be made holy and acceptable to God.  Is there any hope?

     Yes, there is hope.  Look at the empty tomb.  God raised Jesus from the dead for your justification.  He has a robe of righteousness just your size purchased by the blood of his dear Son and there is a place you can be fitted up and made ready for entrance into heaven.  That place is the foot of the cross, where you come to Christ and call upon his name! 

     Thank God he raised Jesus from the dead for our justification.
 
     The resurrection of Jesus from the dead establishes him as the Son of the living God and it establishes the great truth of justification by faith in Christ alone as our only hope of heaven.  Next, I would add this.  The resurrection establishes Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life.

     Considering what I just preached it should be obvious Jesus is the only way of salvation.  Furthermore, he is the truth.  All spirituality that denies Jesus is false.  The resurrection establishes him as the truth and the life.  Only the risen Christ has the words of eternal life.

     Next, the resurrection establishes Jesus as the resurrection and the life.  Jesus says in John 5, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear (my voice) and shall come forth.”  Jesus will one day raise all the dead from their dusty graves.  Some in the resurrection unto life and others to the resurrection unto judgment.

     The rest of Scripture sets forth the order in which this will happen.  Christ is the first fruit.  Then they that are Christ’s at his coming will be raised incorruptible.  In fact, all the saved are said to be a part of the first resurrection.  But there is also a resurrection unto judgment.  The unsaved must be resurrected to face the Lord Jesus at the great white throne judgment described in the book of Revelation.  All who appear there are lost and must face the full consequences of sin and rebellion.  Sadly, they will be cast body, soul, and spirit into Gehenna, the lake of fire.
 
     This humbling thought brings us to the next truth established by the resurrection, namely that Jesus now holds absolute authority over the realm of the dead.  In Revelation chapter one Jesus says, “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hades and of death.”  The keys speak of the absolute authority of the risen Christ over the realm of the dead.  Jesus Christ has the authority to place the saved in heaven and he has the authority to consign the lost to hell.  He will do both.
 
     Next, the resurrection establishes our Lord’s promise to come again.  The last appearance of our resurrected Savior is recorded in Acts chapter one.  After he gave his last words to those present that day the Bible says he “was taken up.”  As he ascended into heaven that day the angels said to them, “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.”

     My friends, just as sure as no power could keep him in the grave, no power can prevent his coming again.  There are two phases to the Second Coming of the Lord.  The first part of his Second Coming has to do with his church, the bride of Christ.  Jesus is coming for his church as described in 1 Thessalonians chapter four where we read, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

     At this great event the church will experience the redemption of the body as our Lord clothes us with incorruptible, immortal bodies.  In that moment when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, “death is swallowed up in victory!”  Amen, because he lives we shall live also!
 
Conclusion
 
     Now in review, the Resurrection establishes the following:

  • Jesus is the Son of God (Rom. 1:4)
  • God Accepts the Death of Christ for our salvation (Rom. 4:25)
  • Jesus is the way (salvation is only in him), the truth (all other spirituality is false), and the life (only Christ has the words of eternal life--John 14:6)
  • Jesus is the resurrection (John 5:28, 29) and the life (John 11:25, 26)
  • Jesus stands in absolute authority over the realm of the dead (Rev. 1:18)
  • Jesus is coming again (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

    And finally, the resurrection of Jesus provides hope for all who believe upon him. 

    Hope is the most important commodity of the heart.  In a troubled world subject to death and uncertainty, Christ imparts a steadfast hope
that girds up the mind and brings peace in every storm. The risen Christ is our hope (Timothy 1:1). 

    The hope the Bible speaks of is the certainty we will one day possess what we cannot see. What we possess in promise today we shall possess in reality tomorrow!  Indeed, because he is risen, we can rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2).


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This Year Thou Shalt Die

4/19/2019

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Jeremiah 28:16
 
   The theme of this message is found in a single verse of Scripture in which we find the statement, “this year thou shalt die.”   
I will give you the setting of this verse in a moment and then speak to the subject of death for a few minutes.
 
   The statement, “this year thou shalt die,” is taken from the book of Jeremiah and was the word of the Lord to a man named Hananiah who opposed the ministry of Jeremiah.

   As you may recall, Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” because of his fervent pleas to his people to repent before the certain judgment of God came upon them.  Jeremiah spoke a word of warning to the people from the Lord.  The message was simple enough. The Lord sent his word through Jeremiah warning the people to turn from disobedience and rebellion and to amend their ways. If they did so, then they would avert the impending judgment of God upon Jerusalem and the temple.

   However, if they would not repent, then the word from the Lord was clear.  The unthinkable would happen.  The city which the people thought God would never remove and the temple which the people thought God would never judge, would in fact fall to the enemy.

   Hananiah brought a different “word from the Lord.”  He contradicted Jeremiah and spoke a word to the people that did not come from the Lord.  Consequently, Jeremiah said to Hananiah, “The Lord has not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord.”

   Confirming His true word through Jeremiah, in the seventh month of that year Hananiah died.
 
   If you will be patient with me, I simply want to lift this statement from the text and talk to you about it for a few minutes.  We are in a new year, but suppose this year is the last year of your life.  In fact, what was true of this man will one day be true for all men--this year thou shalt die.

   We Christians do not shy away from the subject of death.  We know as Paul said,  "to die is gain" for a believer.  Christians possess assurance of salvation, an inner knowing that at death we will be home with the Lord.  Those who know Christ possess eternal life and as Jesus repeatedly promises they shall never perish.

   However, there is a lost world around us avoiding the subject of death at all cost.  And worse, many come to very wrong conclusions about death.  Such is the case of the man I am about to quote.

   This man exemplifies the thinking of a great many people in our world. He lives only for this world and sadly has his own ideas about death.  I must say, there is only one authority on the subject of death.  His name is Jesus.  Failure to listen to him leaves you with nothing but a deceptive sedative to calm your mind when the year of your death arrives.  

​   Listen as I quote the thoughts of this very lost man.  He has plenty of money.  He has some goals for the new year, but like so many he has no hope beyond the grave.  He writes quote:

I woke up this morning in pain again. I injured my shoulder wrestling a few weeks ago, and it doesn't seem to be healing. Certainly not as fast as it would have healed when I was in my 30s.

This is one of the many things that happen to you when you reach 60. But it's hardly the worst. The worst is that you can't avoid thinking about death. People you know - colleagues, friends and family members - are seriously sick or dying.



   Again, I am quoting this gentleman:


Right now, I see death as a hateful thief - ready to rob me of the time I need to accomplish the goals I have yet to accomplish.

There is so much still to do: books to write, movies to make, business to conduct and places to see. But most of all there are relationships I owe time to.


A reader recently wrote asking me why, when discussing how I spend my day, I don't talk about the time I spend with my family and friends. The main reason is that I don't feel I should be dragging them into public view without their permission. But another reason is that I write mostly about what I've learned... and I haven't learned how to do a very good job of spending time with them.

When I think about making good use of the time I have left, it's clear to me that working on my personal relationships should be my top priority.

So why don't I do that now?

I once read a book called The Denial of Death. I don't remember much about it, but I do remember what I took away from it: It's frightening to consciously recognize our mortality - to be fully aware that one day we will cease to exist. The fear of death is so great, in fact, that the reality of death must be suppressed from our consciousness, so we can go forward.

In other words, we deny death in order to be able to live fully.

 

Now let me pause here and interject something.  We Christians do not live like that.  We do not live our lives in bondage to the fear of death.  I trust you will listen to this man’s words in the interest of understanding how the world runs from the subject of death.  Furthermore, I trust you can see how those who have no hope of everlasting life live exclusively for the here and now. Truly their hope is in this world.  What a contrast to a true believer whose hope is laid up in heaven.  Now quoting again:


I think this is true. Especially for the young. But as we age, it becomes more difficult to keep death out of our thoughts. And eventually, we come to a crossroad where we must decide: Should I continue to deny death, to "rage against the dying of the light"? Or should I learn to accept the fact that we are all dead men on leave and learn to live, as Thomas Ken said, "that I may dread the grave as little as my bed"?

I think we can do both. We can continue living our lives fully and purposefully - even embrace long-term goals - while gradually allowing the reality of death to sit comfortably in our psyches.


Here are four steps you can take today to get yourself on that track:

1. Spend 15 minutes by yourself thinking about mortality.

Take a walk. Find a peaceful place. Breathe slowly. Look around. Recognize that one day - sooner than you can believe - you will not exist anymore. You will not be around to breathe the clean air, feel the sun on your skin and see the things you find beautiful. You will not be around to hear the sound of your lover's sigh, your children's voices and your best friend's laughter.

Try to get, as clearly as you can, a sense of your own mortality. Try to stop, if only for a few moments, a fundamental aspect of consciousness - the denial of death.

Use that recognition to get to the next step.

2. Visualize your own funeral. Imagine that four people stand up to speak about you. One is your spouse or significant other. Another one is a child or parent. Another is a friend. And the fourth is someone involved in your career. What would they be saying about you if you died tomorrow? Be honest.

 

I must pause here and interject again:  why does it matter if you cease to exist at the moment of death?


3. If there is a difference between what you think those four people would say about you and what you'd like them to say, you've got some work to do.

4. Make a commitment to respect the time you have. That means living in such a way that you honor your core life goals as well as other important but nonessential life goals. The best way to do this is to make your core life goals a priority. That means attending to them during that first precious hour of your working day, before you get to all your other daily obligations.

Don't think you can put off working on your core goals until sometime in the future. Use your newly acquired ability to face your mortality to motivate you. Get the most important things done first. (unquote)             

 

   This man is a classic example of what Jesus warns about in Matthew 6:33. The most important things are not connected to this temporal world, rather they are connected to preparation for the next.  Jesus says to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.  The most important things are not your core goals for this life, but preparation for the next!
 
   This man is an investment advisor. He is worldly wise and probably can offer some sound advice on how to navigate the world of investing.  But he is out of his league when it comes to the subject of death.  His philosophy is dangerous, misleading, and amounts to pure spiritual blindness.  He is godless and the goals he sets are not motivated with a desire to glorify God.

   Did you notice this man did not quote the Lord Jesus Christ? In fact, he never mentions God at all and sadly says twice when a man dies, he ceases to exist.  This is folly at its very height.  This man is in grave danger of losing his soul.  In some measure he has gained the world but will soon go out to meet the God so willfully rejected from his heart.

   Like so many, are you running from the subject of death? Or like this man, are you coming to grips with a false idea about death?
 
   Here is what the Bible teaches about death:
 
  1. Death is an enemy, an intruder into God’s very good creation.
  2. Death has passed upon all men for all have sinned.
  3. It is appointed unto all men to die, but after this the judgment.
  4. Jesus clearly teaches those who die in their sins upon death enter hell; while those who repent and believe upon him enter the joy of the Lord
  5. Through death, Jesus has destroyed him who held the power of death, that is, the devil. No one needs to subject themselves to a lifetime of slavery to the fear of death. Jesus Christ will set you free from that fear if you turn to him. Gloriously, those who believe upon Jesus pass from death unto life. Furthermore, our salvation includes the resurrection of our body. So, we may boldly say, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Indeed, “thanks be unto God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
 
Conclusion

   If this year thou shalt die, are you ready?

   I started today by introducing you to a man named Hananiah. He was severely rebuked by Jeremiah because he made the people to trust in a lie. My friends, our world is filled with many voices and they are not speaking the Word of the Lord, rather they are causing many to trust in a false hope. There is only one way to have real hope. You must listen to His word.

   The Lord Jesus Christ is the sole authority on the subject of death.  He says if you refuse to believe upon him you will die in your sins and cannot come where he is.  Said another way, apart from faith in Christ we must face the wrath of God expressed in the place called hell.

   Life is but a vapor that appears for a short while and then fades into eternal ages to come.  Will you spend eternity with Christ, or will you perish everlastingly in a place separated from the presence of the Lord?

   Bow your head right now and call upon the Lord.  Give your heart and life to Christ and pass today from death into life (John 5:24).  I trust you will be of serious mind.


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