The Life of Jesus The..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. our last study of this series where it's we we're looking at the the ministry of Christ in his earthly ministry we based our studies from the first gospel and that is the gospel according to Matthew and together we've already walked through the the life of our Lord from the time of his advent into this world through the virgin birth at a place called Bethlehem as was prophesied by the prophet Micah, and now all the way to last week where we considered and meditated together upon the death of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ on that Roman cross. Now the topic, that was last week's topic.

Now the topic of this week naturally brings us to the resurrection of our Lord. And beloved, I'm sure that we all know that the resurrection is not just another doctrine. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is absolutely foundational to the Christian faith. In fact, it is the apex, it is the zenith, it is the very core of the good news of the gospel for sinners like us. Because beloved, if there was no resurrection, our whole faith collapses to the ground.

Hear me again. If there was no resurrection, our whole faith, the whole Christian faith collapses to the ground. You see, there are core tenets of the Christian faith. These are non-negotiable foundational truths that must be acknowledged and believed in order for anyone to be a authentic Christian, a true Christian. Sure, one can claim the name Christian and hold to the religion, even profess to be saved, but if these core tenets of the Christian faith are denied rather than embraced By faith, that person is simply deceived.

Because to be saved, to be truly saved, one needs to, by faith, be a follower of Christ, then he ought to also have an authentic faith that is given by God to apprehend and embrace the veracity of specific scriptural truths. And I narrow them down to at least three. two of which we've already meditated upon in our series. Firstly, the incarnation, the logos, the word, who was from the beginning with God, who is God, is in massive, unfathomable act of humility. He condescends coming down from heaven, the eternal abode, his eternal abode, and became flesh and dwelt among us as we hear in John chapter one, verse 14.

He was born of a woman under the law with human body and human soul to accomplish the will of the father, a will that ultimately saves his people from their sins. That's one. Second is that Jesus Christ willingly gave his life as a substitutionary sacrifice. on behalf, or our behalf, that is on behalf of sinners like us. This is the point we meditated upon last week.

All mankind has been corrupted by sin through Adam. Every part of us, our body, our wills, our minds, our emotions, the whole of one's soul is completely corrupted by sin. Not only born in sin, but man in and of himself in the natural state, engages in that sin, in defiance and rebellion to the law of God, both the written law in scripture and that which is written in his conscience. And therefore the soul that sins shall die. Death.

Death is the just outcome for all who have sinned. We saw this last week. That means Death is the just outcome for all of mankind, because all have sinned in Adam. But Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, willingly offers His own life on behalf of sinners, the life of the just for the unjust, the righteous for the unrighteous. His death on that cross is a shepherd laying down His life willingly on behalf of His stray sheep.

His declaration to the Father is this, Father, pour your wrath upon unrighteousness upon me. Pour that on me, Father, Jesus says, and spare those who have been called by my name before the foundation of the world. His death was not for his own sake, beloved, but a sacrifice for the sake of others. The incarnation is one such tenet. The substitutionary death of our Lord is the tenet number two.

And the third non-negotiable scriptural truth that must be embraced by faith is the resurrection of our Lord. My hope this evening is to show how the resurrection of our Lord in the incarnate and the incarnation and his substitutionary death, without the resurrection, both incarnation and his substitutionary death cannot stand. In other words, it is in the resurrection of Jesus that authenticates, it authenticates and validates the incarnation and it also validates his substitutionary death. So what I'm saying, beloved, is this. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, if his tomb on the third day was not empty, then we have no hope.

Jesus would be another historical figure with strong religious ideologies, ideologies and convictions like many before him and many after him who are prepared to die for. He may have been a good example of a good man, but his death, Well, his death would be meaningless to us without the resurrection. Beloved, as I said earlier, without the resurrection, Christianity is powerless. And all in all, this faith, the Christian faith, would be no better without the resurrection of our Lord to any other false religion or philosophy of the world. And worst of all, worst of all, all would remain in their sins.

The Apostle Paul says it this way. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope, in this life only we are of all people most to be pitted. But of course that's, That's not the case.

In a few moments, we'll see the account in Matthew according to that account. We will see, and by the reminder of the account and the narrative of the actual death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will see that our faith is not futile, but rather it's predicated upon the truth of the resurrection of our Lord. And as the apostle Paul summarizes a little later in Corinthians 15, he writes, for I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scripture, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance to scripture. Beloved, the whole of the gospel of Jesus Christ stands or falls on the veracity of resurrection. Now, let's open our Bibles to Matthew chapter twenty-eight.

If you have your Bibles with you, let's open them up to Matthew, Matthew twenty-eight. We concluded our Bible study last week through the reading of Matthew 27, and that's the account of the unjust trial and the crucifixion and the death and the burial of our Lord. Now, in chapter 28, we will have the account of the resurrection of our Lord. But before we begin in 28, I want us to just backtrack just a little to chapter 27, and we'll start from verse 57. so that we can get a bit of a context of where we are.

And into chapter 28, we'll only go as far as chapter 28 verse 15. So if you have your Bibles open, we'll start from 27 verse 57. When it was evening, There came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.

And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in the cling cloth shroud and laid it in his own tomb, which he cut in rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, sir, we remember how that imposter said, while he was still alive, after three days, I will rise. Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead and the last fraud will be worse than the first.

Pilate said to them, You have a guard of soldiers, go make it as secure as you can. So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard, now in chapter 28. Now, after the Sabbath, towards the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead. But the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen. And he said, come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead.

And behold, he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. See, I have told you. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, greetings.

They came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me. While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, tell people His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.

And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble, 15. So they took the money and did as they were directed. And the story has been spread among the Jews to this day. Amen, this is the word of the Lord. Now this, the resurrection account of Matthew.

We would do well to remember, beloved brothers and sisters, that this is only one of four. All four Gospels have an account of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, all four. Every Gospel writer under inspiration of the Holy Spirit included some detail of the resurrection and has chosen to omit other details as they were led by God. Many have tried, see, many have tried to cast doubts on Jesus being raised from the dead because of the different details emphasized in the four Gospels. Matthew may have decided only two of the women, to include only two of the women coming to the tomb on the third day, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary we're told, that's the Mary which is the mother of James and Joseph, not James and John, James and Joseph.

where Mark, on the other hand, mentions Salome, the mother of James and John, to have also have been there. John, on the other hand, he mentions only Mary Magdalene. And Luke, he tells us that there were other women. Placing these accounts one over the other, and there's absolutely no contradiction, just authors with the liberty under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to include details relevant to the thrust of the account that they wish to communicate and that they wish to emphasize on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. You see, the same can be said of the one angel at the tomb that Matthew wishes to convey in his account.

That is not a contradiction with the fact that Luke mentions two. To have one, he didn't say only one, but he mentions of the one. And Luke mentions the two angels. The other thing is, was it dark, as John mentions, when the ladies came to the tomb? Was it dark or had the sun come out, as Mark mentions explicitly in his gospel?

Well, the answer is both. Both. John's likely mentioning when Mary began her journey. and it was dark. Mark, well, he's mentioning the sun was up by the time they made it to the tomb.

And of course the sun is up and that's why they were able to see the tomb rolled away. I don't want to go any further with the difference of the accounts from one gospel to the other for the sake of time, but it should be obvious that four different authors are going to extract different accounts from the same body of truth. Neither of the gospel writers are exhaustive in their accounts. Having differences between them is only to suggest, here it is, they didn't copy one another, and that's a good thing. Beloved, bottom line, all of these accounts can be harmonized beautifully between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

This is the Word of God. The Spirit of God is the author of the Word of God. He cannot and will not contradict himself. All those who oppose the resurrection narrative simply have an agenda to do violence to the unity of the word of God because the enemy knows the resurrection is central to the Christian faith. And so his ploy is to cast doubts on what is absolutely foundational to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel that's saved.

But one thing is crystal clear in all four of the accounts of the gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it is this, the tomb was empty. The tomb was empty and Jesus had risen from the dead as he said he would. So let's follow the narrative in Matthew from verse two, and then I'll make some points on the resurrection. And we'll just follow the flow of this text. Verse two, and behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men. What a sight! The very guards the chief priests and the Pharisees requested from Pilate, in the previous chapter that we read this evening, these guards have now become paralyzed. with fear.

This was like nothing they'd ever seen before. The earth shook and then they see this angel glistening. And no doubt the women, we don't know exactly how many there were, but they too were no doubt terrified by this image. They had come not expecting an angel and certainly not expecting a resurrected Jesus. As they had come, we're told in Mark, with spices in their hands, spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus Christ.

They were expecting a dead body. But upon arriving, they too see the stone rolled back. What a shock! It seems at this point, according to John, that Mary Magdalene, one of the women who were there, immediately began to race back to inform Peter and John of the empty tomb and the possibility that someone had stolen the body. That's what she seems to infer to these disciples.

The other woman, on the other hand, must have stayed back a little longer, and in doing so, they see the angel with his glorious appearance. And then he comforts the woman with these words in verse five. Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen. As he said, come see the place where he lay.

Now, a couple of things that we need to realize. The rolling back of the stone that we read in our texts, that's not so that Jesus could exit the tomb. He was already risen and he was already out of the tomb. That's what the angel says, right? We also know in the mystery of his resurrected body that he's able to enter into rooms that are locked.

We read this on two occasions before he ascends to the Father in the narratives, but rather the rolling back of the stone wasn't so that Jesus could exit from the tomb, but rather so that these women and soon to come disciples would be able to come in and see for themselves, to be witnesses that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead. And the other thing I want us to see And the angels are very clear with this. In verse six, they say, he is not risen, sorry, he is not here, for he has risen as he said. Did you get that? As he said.

In other words, this should not have been a surprise to you or any of the disciples. Is this not what Jesus had told you would happen when he was living? In Matthew's account alone from chapter 16 on he tells the disciples, that's our Lord, tells the disciples on no less than four times that he would be killed at the hands of evil men and then on the third day he will rise from the dead. He was so clear in his communications to the disciples that he is the resurrection and the life that their faith wasn't strong enough to understand this profound truth. They were still expecting to see a dead body.

So these women in their love and devotion, they had come to anoint the body of Christ. Probably still in shock. These women would have had a flurry of diverse emotions running through their bodies and running through their minds. How else? How else are we to understand verse eight, beloved, which tells us that they were in both a state of fear, yet at the same time, they had exceeding joy.

Beloved, there is no way to express how they would have felt in that moment. but they had enough presence of mind to heed the instruction of the angel and then go and go to inform the disciples that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead. But on the way back, verse nine, and behold, Jesus met them and said, greetings. Imagine that. hurrying back and then suddenly right before your very own eyes, there he is.

And he says, Hello, ladies. Greetings. Wow, what an experience that is surreal out of this world for these ladies. Incredible. What do they do?

What do they do when they see Jesus in verse nine? We're told, and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. And they worshipped him. They took a hold of the feet of Jesus Christ and they worshipped him. Take note of that.

They worshipped our Lord. This is good and right for them to do. And our Lord approved of their worship. He didn't say, no, no, don't worship. No, he approved of their worship.

And this gives evidence of who he is, that he is indeed the son of God, God himself. And he himself is worthy of the only worship fitting for the only true God. But also they latched themselves on his feet. This Jesus, was raised from the dead, beloved. Hear this.

Not as a spirit, not as a phantom or an apparition. No, this was a bodily resurrection. You see, this flies in the face of many who refuse to believe in the bodily resurrection of our Lord. And there are many, beloved. These people appeal to the passages like the ones that we spoke of earlier when Jesus comes and confronts the disciples when they're afraid and sitting in a room with closed doors and he walks somehow through the door or through the walls and shows himself.

And these people would say, see, see, Jesus is a ghost. He wasn't physical. He didn't rise physically. But that's, that's not what this scripture says. The women latched onto the feet of Christ.

How can you latch onto a spirit? That's impossible. No, they latched onto him because he had been physically resurrected from the dead. He had a true human body, albeit mysteriously glorified. We have to give that We don't know all about the glorified body because after all he did walk through the walls and show himself to the disciples in a closed room and we honestly cannot understand or fathom that reality but it's true.

But also he also ate fish with the disciples if you remember at the end of John, the gospel according to John. The spirits don't eat physical fish. This Jesus rose physically. It's a real bodily resurrection, something. And as the women who latched on to the feet of Christ, this is evidence that he was not a disembodied spirit, but he rose bodily, beloved.

From this point, from this point on, Jesus, for 40 days, presents himself to many, many people as the resurrected Savior. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, and he gives us some insights of this after the resurrection of our Lord. He writes, he appeared, that's Christ, to Cephas, that's Peter, then to the 12, then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time. who most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. And he appeals to that to say almost go and ask the ones who actually saw him.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as one untimely born, he appeared also to me." The resurrection of our Lord is one of the most, if not the most, attested fact in antiquity. according to things written, beloved." Clearly from a historical attestation point of view, if one denies the veracity of Christ being raised from the dead, then on that basis, nothing can be believed in any of the historical documents from antiquity, because nothing is more widely attested to But we know, we know our Bibles, we know that there is far more at play that goes, that is going on behind this.

Far more, far more at play because we know even though his resurrection was widely attested to, even though that there is a reliability of the historical manuscripts, we know all these things. But we know that people did not believe in the resurrection of Christ, because this is a spiritual blindness. Beloved, the masses have come to assert as facts things of history based on historical documents that would not score even 5% in reliability when compared to the attested truth of the resurrection of our Lord. Yet they hold to those things as truth as truth and reliable history, yet they will deny the resurrection of our Lord, which even just on simply, when we speak of historical documents, would be verified a hundred times over in attestation than any of these documents. But we expect this.

We know this. Because this is not an argument that can be settled purely through man's intellect or by physical means. This is a spiritual warfare. The battle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. You see, with the critical importance of the resurrection of our Lord, it's no surprise that this truth is rejected by the Lord, by the world.

even if it is one of the most attested truths in antiquity. This world is corrupted by sin and for the most part enslaved to the prince of the power of the air. This enemy and all his minions are no match to the all powerful hand of the sovereign God of the universe who has raised Jesus from the dead. But the enemy won't take his defeat without a fight. No, he'll resort to what he's best at.

And beloved, what is the enemy best at? Lying. You remember Jesus himself says that he is the father of lies. Deception through lies is Satan's tactic from the very beginning. If you remember in the garden, he says to Eve, surely you will not die, but God said she would.

And then he lies. Then he goes beyond the lie and says, this God is holding back from you, Eve. deception. And this deception continues. Because firstly, in chapter 27, if you remember, the chief priests and the Pharisees implore the governor, the then pilot, to provide guards for the tomb.

You remember that? We read that just earlier. Because they'd heard that the resurrection teachings of this imposter, they called him, of our Lord. And so they wished to prevent the disciples from stealing his body and then claiming that he had risen. And they thought that would be, oh, that would be a disaster if they did that.

But when they hear the tomb was actually empty, and that this rabbi called Jesus the one they called an imposter, the one who claimed to be the Messiah, the one who claimed to be the King of the Jews, had actually risen from the dead, and they could not refute that fact, they too resort to something that they'd become very, very good at, deception. Because in verse 11 of our passage, listen to what he says. While they were going, that's the ladies, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, that's the elders, that is the Jewish religious establishment, they gave sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, tell people his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.

So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. This lie was promoted and proclaimed and declared among the Jews because they could not refute the resurrection. So they resort to deception. Brothers and sisters, if we think this is appalling, if we, if we struggle to come to terms of how these men who were supposedly religious men who knew the scripture, Once they recognize that Jesus has indeed risen, a supernatural work only able to be done by God, because only God can raise the dead.

And then rather than submit to this Jesus and bend their knee to Him, believing upon everything He said and claimed to be, to trust in Him and to worship Him as Savior and King, rather than do that, They would instead scheme and contrive a plan to pay off the guards in order to fabricate and broadcast a felicious evil lie. If that's hard for us to swallow, I want to remind you once again of what our Lord has taught us over and over and over again in the gospels, that apart from genuine God-given faith, a divine work to break the cords of sin and rebellion and slavery to the enemy and enlighten the eyes and the heart with truth, then no matter how, no matter how much evidence is provided, no matter how compelling that evidence is, whether it's in the first century or even now, no one can believe. Beloved, in and of him or herself. The natural man in Adam cannot believe. And the chilling thing is this.

There is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Salvation is exclusive to Christ. And not believing in this Christ, not believing in His resurrection, beloved, there is no hope. And this salvation that comes through Jesus Christ as I said earlier, beloved, is completely hinged on the veracity of the claim that he has risen from the dead.

Because here's the thing, going back to the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. And hear this, if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. If Christ is not raised, you remain. in your sin.

You see, the greatest need is not this, the greatest need for humanity. It's not, it's not to eliminate world hunger. Beloved, it's not to reduce the carbon footprint or the, to seal the gaping hole in the ozone layer. It's not peace between the continents. Beloved, it's not even to cure AIDS or cancer or the coronavirus.

No, the greatest need of humanity is to be reconciled to a thrice holy God whose wrath burns hot every day upon unrighteousness, for he cannot look upon sin. That's the greatest need. And here's the thing, in the natural state, in Adam, that's all of us. We're born in sin. We're born in the very thing that is an abomination to God.

Our lives are stamped and defined by sin in the natural state. Our greatest need, beloved, is to be saved from our sins and the consequences of our sins. And the consequence of our sin is eternal death. For the soul that sins shall die. Death's hold has gripped us all who remain in Adam.

And so Jesus' claim to have willingly given his life as a substitutionary sacrifice, the lamb of God without spot or blemish for sinners upon that cross can only be authenticated if he has indeed risen from the dead. You see, he's vindicated through the resurrection. This is to say that the resurrection is the father's way of saying the price my son has paid with his blood on that cross of Calvary some 2,000 years ago on behalf of sinners who deserve eternal death has been accepted. Justice satisfied because the crushing weight of my wrath was poured upon my son. And so the price he paid with his precious blood, I accepted, said the Lord.

The check did not bounce. The author of life poured his own life for the sake of many and in him And by my apology, in him being raised is proof that his sinless sacrifice has accomplished redemption for his people. For if he has even a single sin, beloved, if Jesus had even sinned only once with the smallest of all sins, as they say, even a white lie, he would not qualify as our substitute. In fact, he would have remained in that tomb. but he was vindicated to be the true son of God, the sinless lamb of God through the resurrection.

The apostle Paul says it in this way in Romans 4.25. It will be counted to us who believe in him, who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses, and raised for our justification. Beloved, we are justified through faith because our Lord was raised from the dead. No longer are we who trust and believe in Him God's enemies.

No longer under the wrath of God. Now we are reconciled by faith to Christ. And the death that we deserve is overcome by the author of life himself. Now we who believe in him are able to say death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory?

Oh death, where is your sting? But also his resurrection not only has overcome and conquered the death that we deserve, but also he has given us His life. You see, in the resurrection of our Lord, we share in His resurrected life that has no end. This is the eternal life spoken of in the book of John that we've become so accustomed to on our Lord's day sermons. You remember the gospel of John speaks of this even in the beginning, in the prologue, where he writes, in Him is life.

And then he goes on to say, for as life, as the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son also to have life in himself. John 5, 25, 26. And of course, the words of John 14, we're so familiar with, I am the way and the truth and what? And the life. Beloved, this is the spiritual life.

He is the source and the substance of life. And Adam is death. But in Christ, we are born again in this spiritual life. The first man, Adam, became a living being. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, 55.

But the last Adam, that's Jesus, became a life-giving spirit. Listen to 1 Peter 3, 5. Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to the living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. And it's as I said earlier, the resurrected life of Christ is the life we live.

See, we are united in His life. Beloved, it's not as though He bestows a different type, a different nature of life, as though He gives us a life that is external to Himself. No, no, that's not it. The Scripture tells us all so clearly. It's His life that we live.

I love the words in John 14, 29, probably for me, probably the most glorious words in the whole of the Bible. And they're from the mouth of our Lord when he says, because I live, you also will live. Beloved, these words are glorious. Christian, your life is rooted and united in the life of Jesus Christ. How certain is the resurrected life of Christ?

Well, in his words, fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one. I died and behold, I am alive forevermore. His life will never come to an end. Christian, your eternal life in Christ, if you've been united by faith in Christ, hear this, is as secure as the life of God himself. Just think about that for a few moments.

that if you have been resurrected, and my apologies, if you have been united in the resurrected life of Jesus Christ by faith, then your eternal life is as secure as the life of God himself. Beloved, how good is this news? That as believers, we identify in all of Christ. Last week we saw we die to sin in Him. We die to world in Him, and we're raised to life in Him, in His resurrected life.

He is the true vine, and we are the branches. His life flows through us. His Spirit dwells in us. He is the life-giving Spirit, remember. The indwelling spirit of the spirit, the indwelling spirit of Christ enable us, he enables us and empowers us to desire what he desires, to love what he loves, to begin to hate as he hates or what he hates.

The law and the will of God no longer seen as a burden, but a joy. This world and all that it stands for as we've seen already. No longer are our affections for this world and the perishable things in this world, but for the imperishable things. Our eyes are now stamped in eternity or with eternity, and we are no longer recognized as the people of this world, but rather our citizenship is in heaven. And the life we live, we live in Christ.

and we live for Christ. Being united in his life, beloved, is also a transformation. It's not just simply to be united in his life, to have never ending life, but it's a life and a power that transforms us. It transforms our will, our mind and our emotions. Your whole being is transformed and being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

Beloved, if your only source of spiritual life is the true vine, as I said earlier, then you will produce the fruit according to the nourishment of that vine. To share in his resurrected life is to share in much, much more than mere, in his mere existence. As though it's beyond that, which is glorious, but it's beyond that. It's to become like him. One day to be as he is, holy.

We die with him. We're raised. in his life. Romans 6, 5, 11 says it best. For if we have been united with him in death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him.

For the death he died, he died to sin. Once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. His work is indeed finished. Beloved, but the fullness of His work is yet to be realized.

You see, He does now. He has been resurrected. He has ascended into the right hand of the Father where He rules as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He sits at the right hand of the Father. but in doing so we're told our Lord tells his disciples in John chapter 14 that when he's resurrected he will go and prepare a place for his people and he will come back again to take them so that they would be with him so that where I am he says you may be also.

Beloved, Jesus is not speaking of us his people dwelling with him in spirit only but to be with him and to be like him. That is, to dwell with him in glorified physical bodies. Because Jesus, remember, was bodily resurrected. And His promise is not only to resurrect His people from the spiritual death, but also one day to resurrect them bodily, just as He is the first among the resurrected. Our salvation is accomplished, but is not complete until we become like Him and receive our glorified bodies, glorified bodies as He right now has.

This is the truth that we must hold on to. This is the truth that we must hope towards and look forward to in that last day. Listen to the book of Philippians where the apostle Paul says in chapter three, these glorious words, he says, but our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his. glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Did you get that? Did you see what Paul said in the second of the two verses? He says, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. That's the second resurrection for the saints. The first spiritual resurrection from death to life.

That's when we go from being dead in our trespasses and sins and to be made alive in Christ Jesus. And the second resurrection is the one we long for. It's the resurrection of our physical bodies into glorified bodies just like our Savior. those who are yet alive when he returns, and those who are dead and buried, those saints who are in the grave, their bodies at least are in their grave. We will all be resurrected bodily and we will all be resurrected together.

These bodies are unlike our earthly bodies. As it is written, there are heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another. Beloved, we await patiently our heavenly bodies. This is a guarantee for the believers.

Why? Because our Savior is the first among the resurrected. That's why the saints cry out, come Lord Jesus, come, because he will raise us up with resurrected bodies, just like his own. And although the context, and I want us to really be cognizant of this point, beloved, Although the context of the resurrected body, for the most part, the section I read or the verses I read in Philippians, and for the most part throughout the New Testament does speak of the resurrection of the saints, the fact of the matter is this. All people, with no exceptions, will be resurrected by Christ.

All people, with no exceptions, will be resurrected by Christ. You see, you remember the verse I quoted before from Revelations chapter one, verse 18, the verse that went, fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one, I died and behold, I am alive forevermore. Well, there's more to that verse. Because it is by, for some it is grace, but for some, it's a terrifying truth. Because our Lord will go on to say in the rest of that verse, and I have the keys of death and Hades.

Beloved, all will be resurrected by Christ, but not all to life. You see, Jesus taught this chilling truth in John chapter five. Now it's been about six months since we as a congregation have heard that verse being preached. So if you don't remember the context, it's okay, I forgive you. But the text is found in John chapter five, Verse 25 through 29.

Now listen to what it says. Truly, truly, this is the words of our Lord. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. And those who hear will live. Recognize how the text is asserting that some will hear and live.

That's the first spiritual resurrection, that not all will hear the voice of Christ, but some will hear and they will live and they will become born again, born from above, born from God. That is the first resurrection. But then the text goes on in verse 26, for as the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son also to have life in himself. Verse 27, and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when Remember before it was those who hear that is some now he says time is coming or now it's coming when all take note of that all that means all people with no exceptions.

who are in the tombs, continuing, will hear his voice. Some will hear his voice in the first resurrection, but then all of creation, with no exception, in the tombs, will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. This is chilling. The resurrected savior in the last day will resurrect every single human being who ever existed on the planet.

He has been given the authority to execute judgment and no one, beloved, no one will escape that justice. by pure grace through faith. Those who have been spiritually resurrected and united in him already enjoying his resurrected life will never succumb to the last enemy of death that was conquered in his resurrected life. But, but on the other hand, he also holds the key to death and Hades for a reason, because the rebels, the enemies, those in the kingdom of darkness will also be resurrected, but they'll be resurrected unto judgment. And given what sinners deserve, I'll hear him say, depart from me, you cursed.

into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And they will be cast into the lake of fire under the eternal righteous indignation of God, never to depart. No annihilation here, beloved, as some have advocated in great, great error. They will not cease to exist. They will not be annihilated because Jesus himself says in Matthew 25, these will go away into eternal punishment.

And he knows beloved. He knows the resurrected savior knows because he holds the keys. Remember the doors will be locked by him and he will never open them up for all eternity. Beloved, at this point, we ought to give Him praise. At this point, we ought to recognise how amazing His grace is because we do not deserve life.

We deserve that death. None of us deserves that life, but only purely by the divine grace of God. If we have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is by his grace through faith that he has given us that we have been saved. And we owe him all the praise and all the glory and all the worship forevermore. But beloved, there are some who read of this account.

There are some who have heard of the resurrection of our Savior and at this point they make objections and they'll say, okay, it's okay for us to accuse those in the first century, such as the chief priests and the Pharisees, those who witnessed our Lord's resurrection and remain in unbelief. But we are two years, 2000 years down the track. We are far long removed from when Jesus was indeed resurrected. We can't verify the authenticity of that claim to resurrection. How can we be sure?

We can't be sure. I mean, Thomas was a disciple and he refused to believe unless he poked his finger into the side of the Lord and into his nail-pierced hands and his feet. Isn't it not reasonable for a Christian to have some doubts of the resurrection now in the 21st century? Beloved, beloved in Christ, we at this must answer with a resounding no. No, it is unreasonable for a Christian to have doubts of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our whole faith is predicated and rooted upon the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of Christ doesn't require one to validate the physical resurrection of Christ as though man can stand as a judge of the accuracy of this truth. No, the gospel demands that I believe. The gospel demands to believe. what we have not seen with our eyes.

You see the Jewish religious establishment were evil. Yes. And Thomas, well, he's certainly not the example to be followed because yes, he claimed not to have believed that Christ has resurrected unless he poked his fingers into his now pierced hands and feet. But that was a lack of faith, beloved. A lack of faith that was rebuked by our Lord.

You remember, you remember the words of Thomas when he confessed, my Lord and my God, when his eyes saw the risen Savior. But do you remember what Jesus said? Because Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Brothers and sisters, This was a pattern that our Lord has decreed for the gospel. That faith in his death and his resurrection, something that seems so absurd to our natural minds and our logic and all our sensibilities would be believed by the Spirit's illumination.

Not because we see with our eyes. You see, you see the Spirit's illumination is a divine work. and it is a divine work that is needed for us to believe. You see, it's more real to the people of God to believe than if they've ever seen with their eyes. What I mean to say is it's more true The veracity of these truths are more real to the people of God who have been illuminated by the Spirit of God of these truths, the truth of the resurrection, than if they physically saw with their eyes.

Brothers and sisters, can we not verify this truth in our own regeneration experience? In fact, I want to go one step further. in our senses, that is our eyes, our natural ears. If we were to hear something that opposes the credibility of our Lord's resurrection, how would we react? Let's say scientists come and claim to have proof against the resurrection.

Or let's say professors of universities that we highly respect come and begin to argue of the fallacy of the resurrection. Well, let's say geologists, very well respected, highly recognized geologists, come and to claim to have undug and found our Lord's bones. How would we react to those claims? Beloved, The reason why I say the Spirit's illumination of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is far more effective to the life of the believer than if they saw with their very eyes is this. It's because by God's grace, through faith, we would deny all these claims.

We would deny them, even though they seem so real to our senses. But rather, we would embrace by faith what the Spirit has revealed to us, not by sight, but through the Word of Jesus Christ. This is not because our faith is not consistent with what we see or hear with our senses, because it absolutely is. But our faith in our Lord is rooted and sealed by His Spirit who gives us ears to hear the words of our Savior. We recognize His voice.

It's not an audible voice. but by the Spirit who illuminates the scripture that reveals the truth. And in doing so, we recognize the voice of our Savior, and we recognize the voice of God. of the counterfeits. We recognize the deception of the world, because all those things that I was hypothetically saying, if they were to occur, the things that would deny the resurrection of our Lord, they will not and they can not happen.

They're impossibilities, beloved. But the enemy will try to deceive in hope to lead God's people astray. And he has deceived many over the centuries, because many claim that they will only believe only if they, like Thomas, touch the hands and the marks or the nail-pierced hands and feet of our Lord. They claim to only believe if they see with their eyes and they would say something like this, show me this Jesus, do a miracle, and I will believe and I will say no. you will not believe because the gospel of Jesus Christ, the pattern of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that they would believe only if the Spirit of God illuminates to their eyes the truth of the gospel and that is how the gospel produces fruit.

But of course, but of course we know, we know that our Lord has given an irrefutable lesson of this truth. That even though some would claim to show me and I will believe, we know that cannot be true. You probably know what I'm referring to. You remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus? Let's open our Bibles now and we'll go there.

Let's open our Bibles to Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16, let's begin from verse 19. We're almost done, brothers and sisters. Just a few more points. Luke chapter 16, verse 19, from verse 19.

There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and whose feasted sumptuously every day. And at the gate was a later poor man named Lazarus covered with sores who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.

And in Hades, being in torment. He lifted his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and call my tongue for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, child, remember that you in your lifetime received good things. Lazarus in like manner had bad things, but now he's comforted here and you are in anguish.

And besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who pass from here to you may not be able and no one may cross from there to us, 27. And they said, then I beg you father to send him to my father's house for I have five brothers so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment. But Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, no father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.

And he said to him, if they do not hear, Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Beloved, there really is no need to explain this passage. It is so clear. If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. You remember the rebuke of our Lord to the disciples, those two disciples on the road to Emmaus that we referred to last week in Luke chapter 24?

He said, oh foolish ones, because they were doubting the resurrection. They were somber, they were down because Jesus is in the grave. We thought he would be the Messiah of Israel, they said. And Jesus says, oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe what you saw. No, no, no, no, that's not what he said.

To believe all that the prophets have said. spoken. His rebuke was not based on what they'd seen, despite them being eyewitnesses to the ministry of Jesus Christ, but rather his rebuke was based on what they had read the scripture. So how does one believe in the resurrection of our Lord? and all that the resurrection stands for, everything that we've been discussing this evening, beloved.

Well, according to our Lord, faith does not come by seeing, but rather, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Brothers and sisters, the way you believe that Jesus is the eternal son of God, who came down from heaven and became a man, lived a perfect, righteous life, died a willingly substitutionary death, was buried, and then on the third day, raised from the dead in the resurrection life, as he said he would, is by faith in what is written. Faith in the word of Jesus Christ, because none of us has seen the resurrected saviour, but we believe. And many, many in this first century had irrefutable evidence that the resurrected saviour, this Jesus has raised from the dead and they knew it. With no doubt they knew this was the case.

Yet they did not believe. Faith, faith comes from hearing and hearing through the words of Christ. Beloved brothers and sisters, Jesus is resurrected and it is up to us to believe. Preach the gospel. Preach his death.

Preach his resurrection. to preach according to what is written, and trust the Lord. These are core, essential, non-negotiable truths. There are three, and I mentioned them this evening, that must be believed. If they are denied, there cannot be salvation.

And one of these truths, beloved, one of these veracities, one of these foundations for which the whole gospel of Jesus Christ pivots on, hinges upon is the resurrection of our Lord. The whole Christian faith stands or falls upon this truth. And beloved, it stands on the solid rock because Jesus has indeed been resurrected from the dead. I'll conclude with the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 10, verse nine. And he says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Jesus has risen. He has risen indeed. Let's pray.