Well, if you will, open your
Bibles to John chapter 16. Most of you who've been here
for any period of time know I'm in a series of messages here.
I'm about to wrap it up, I think. I'm not promising, but maybe
this one and one more, perhaps two more. But it all started
from Psalm chapter 9 and verse 16, which goes like this, the
Lord is known by the judgment he executes. The wicked is snared
by the work of his own hand." So, I started this series of
messages, entitled it, Known by Judgment, because the Lord
is known by the judgment he executes. Now, we've already talked about
a lot of different things, and I'm not going back through all
of them, but this is the second of a two-part message on Convinced
of Righteousness. from John 16, starting in verse
7. So let's read these verses and
we'll talk more about this righteousness that all of God's people are
convinced of. Nevertheless, Christ is talking
to his disciples here, he said, nevertheless, I tell you the
truth, it is expedient It's necessary for you and profitable for you
that I go away. He's talking about going to the
cross. He says, for if I go not away,
the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will not come unto you. But if
I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he has come, he
will reprove. That word is convince. He will
convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe
not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because the
prince of this world is judged. Now Christ had told his disciples
that in each successive generation, he would send the Holy Spirit
to those to whom his father had given him. And that spirit would
convince the world of those three things, sin, righteousness, and
judgment. That's what the spirit does when
he comes to a sinner in regeneration. He will convince those he is
sent to of sin, specific sin, because they believe not on me.
They are not trusting, when they come to the gospel, they're not
trusting in the Christ identified and distinguished in the gospel
for all of salvation. Now, none of us know that by
nature. None of us know that when we
come to the gospel. That's something we learn under
the gospel message. But that's the sin that deceives
all of us. That's the sin we all have to
be convinced of. That's the sin which will cause
those who reject Christ to suffer the eternal wrath of God. John
8 and verse 24 says, I said therefore unto you that you shall die in
your sins. For if you believe not that I
am he, you shall die in your sins. That's that sin of not
looking to Christ alone. Now that shows us that the convincing
we're talking about here and studying is vital. It's necessary
for salvation. The Spirit will also convince
the world he sent to of righteousness, and these two phrases identify
that righteousness, because I go to my Father and you see me no
more. Just like the sin, this is specific
righteousness. It's identified by those two
facts. I go to my Father and the fact that the disciples would
see Christ no more. Now in the last message, we dealt
with most of that first fact. that Christ would go to his father. The Spirit will convince the
world he's sent to in each generation of righteousness because Christ
said, I go to my father. I told you in the last message,
there are three things necessary that have to happen before Christ
can go to his father. First, it was necessary for Christ
to remain obedient. You see, he has to be the spotless
lamb, the unblemished lamb. His sacrifice has to be pure.
It has to be perfect. And He was. Hebrews 9 and verse
14 says, Christ through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without
spot to God. That's the first thing, he has
to remain obedient. The second thing necessary before
Christ could go to his father, he has to die. John 12, 24 says,
verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn or seed of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die,
it bringeth forth much fruit. Then there's one more thing necessary
before Christ could go to his father, and that one thing is
his resurrection. his life of obedience, his death,
and today we're going to talk about his resurrection. And remember,
there's some significant questions that are to be asked about all
of these things that we're talking about here. These things that
had to happen before Christ could go to his father. The questions
are why and how. Why did Christ have to obey?
Why did he have to die? How could he die? We're talking
about the spotless Lamb of God who knew no sin and did no sin.
How could he die? These questions are vital because
Christ's goal in becoming incarnate and coming to this earth and
dwelling among men was to fulfill all righteousness. That's what
he told John the Baptist. Suffer it. Go ahead and baptize
me now. for it behooves us in order to
fulfill all righteousness. So today, concerning Christ's
resurrection, why was he raised? How could he be raised? And before
I answer these questions, let me ask one more question. I'm
not trying to answer a question with a question here, but why
are these questions, why and how these things, why are they
significant? Why are they vital? These questions
are vital because they take us beyond the mere facts, the mere
fact that Christ obeyed, the mere fact that he died, the mere
fact that he was raised from the dead. A lot of people believe
the facts, but these questions take us beyond those facts, and
they're necessary if you're going to understand, get a scriptural
understanding, a scriptural significance of the facts. It's necessary
if you're ever going to see God honored and Christ having the
preeminence in the salvation of ungodly sinners. Listen to
1 Corinthians 15 verses 3 and 4. Paul said, For I delivered
unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he
was buried, and that he rose again the third day according
to the scriptures. So you've got to go beyond the
facts. It's impossible to know the true benefits of Christ's
resurrection, why he was raised, how he could be raised, without
knowing the true basis of his death. You can't value the resurrection
of Christ until you understand why it was absolutely necessary
for Christ to die. You can't value the resurrection
of Christ until you understand how he died for our sins, the
sins of the elect, according to the scriptures. Now, we went
into a lot of detail in this on my last message, so I don't
have time to go back through all those details, but I will
give you just a quick summary of those facts. In eternity,
Christ became the surety of his people. He entered into a covenant.
The triune God entered into a covenant. Christ became the surety of his
chosen people. And as the surety, he obligated
himself to pay the debt, the legal debt of that people. He
became incarnate in order to lay down his life in order to
pay that debt. Those and many other details
tell us how Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And until you know and value
how Christ died according to the Scriptures, all your notions
of his death are nothing more than the presumptions and speculations
of a lost, unregenerate sinner. These are vital facts, necessary
facts. Also, your thoughts concerning
Christ's resurrection are the same until you know and value
how he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
We have to go beyond the fact to the scriptural significance
of the fact, and that brings us to the third thing necessary
before Christ could yield to his Father. Remember, these things
we're talking about are identifying the righteousness the Spirit
will convince the world he's sent to of in each generation.
He will convince the world of righteousness because I go to
my Father. Now, we'll answer the question,
why? Why was Christ's resurrection
an absolute necessity? Why was it imperative if he was
to go to his Father? And the answer is, without Christ's
resurrection, There's no story to tell. If the story of salvation
ends in the death of Christ, we are of all men most miserable. There's no good news. There's no hope for fallen humanity. If Christ be not raised, then
those who have rested their salvation in him alone are of all men most
miserable. That's what Paul wrote to the
Corinthian believers in chapter 15 of that first epistle. Apparently,
some in the church of Corinth were questioning whether there
was a bodily resurrection. You know, the Sadducees, they
didn't want you to say there was a bodily resurrection. The
Pharisees believed it, but the Sadducees did not. And apparently,
some in the church at Corinth were questioning whether there
was. And Paul affirms that there is, and the proof he uses is
Christ's resurrection. Look at or listen to 1 Corinthians
15, chapter 15, 13 through 15. He says, but if there be no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea,
and we are found false witnesses of God, because we've testified
of God, that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not. To preach the resurrection of
Christ, but deny a bodily resurrection, of those in him, those who die
in him, that's a contradiction. Christ's resurrection from the
dead is proof that there is a resurrection, that we'll be raised, that sinners
will be raised. Christ was raised, but he was
not raised as a private person. He was raised as a representative,
which means that because he was raised, all who die in him will
be raised also. Let's go on in 1 Corinthians
15 to verse 16. It says, for if the dead rise
not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain. You are yet in your sins. Then
they also which are fallen asleep died in Christ or perished. Christ's resurrection is the
substance of gospel preaching, not just the fact of his resurrection,
but what it means that he was raised. To deny the bodily resurrection
of sinners is to deny Christ's resurrection. That makes the
gospel a vain and empty and worthless message. It leaves believing
without any substance. It means that those who die in
Christ die without hope. 1 Corinthians 15, 19, if in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. The firstfruits
in the Old Testament were always a sign of the harvest. If the
firstfruits are good, then you could count on the harvest being
good. Why was Christ's resurrection an absolute necessity before
he could go to his father? Because without it, there's no
hope for fallen humanity. Let's go on to the next significant
question to be asked about Christ's resurrection. The question is
how? How could Christ be raised from the dead? Now this is not
an astounding question if you don't know why Christ died, if
you don't know why he died according to the scriptures. But for those
of us who've been taught of God, about the death of Christ, that
he died for his people, he died in order to satisfy the law and
justice of God. For those of us taught who know
why Christ had to die, his resurrection, it's an astounding thing. We're talking about one who died
to bear the eternal punishment which those he represented were
facing. Without his death on our behalf,
that's what we were facing. We're talking about one who died
under the legal guilt of imputed sin. We're talking about one
who became legally liable to the eternal death God's justice
demands of every soul that sins. How could such a one, as this
described, rise from the dead? There's only one right answer.
He answered the charges. He satisfied law and justice.
He made an end of sin and brought in everlasting righteousness.
He overcame eternal death, and he earned the right to eternal
life. Now, I'll explain some of these
statements more in just a minute, but let me tell you first what
I want us to consider today. We'll consider how Christ rose
from the dead the third day according to the scriptures. You see, Christ's
resurrection is a declaration from God. And we'll look at three
things that God declares by His resurrection. First, Christ's
resurrection declares Him to be the Son of God with power. Second, Christ's resurrection
declares sinners justified, those he died for, it declares those
sinners justified based on his righteousness imputed alone.
And third thing Christ's resurrection reveals, it declares that his
righteousness, the one he established by his obedience unto death,
is God's standard of judgment. That's what we'll be answering
to at the judgment, Christ's righteousness. Do you measure
up to Christ's righteousness? And how can a sinner do that?
Well, we'll talk about that. First, Christ's resurrection
declares him to be the Son of God with power. You need to look
at Romans with me here. Romans 1, verses 3 and 4 here. We just studied it. Bill just
went through this in our study of Romans. Romans 1 verse 3 says,
Paul is said to be separated unto the gospel of God concerning
his son Jesus Christ our Lord who was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh and declared to be the son of God with power
according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the
dead. Now this is one passage of scripture out of quite a few
that speak of Christ's humanity, his incarnation as God-man. Christ
was made of the seed of David. He was the natural son of David,
the king of Israel. That's his humanity. But he was
not made, but declared to be the son of God with power. That's his deity. So he's one
person, one unique person in all the universe who is God and
man. He's the God-man. Now this passage
also says that Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power. And the word Paul chose to use
for power here speaks of inherent power. In other words, the power
belongs to the one who has it because of who they are. It's
inherent. to the one who has it because of who they are. This
power belongs to Christ because he is the mediator, substitute,
and surety of his people. By his obedience unto death,
Christ fulfilled those offices, and by that fulfillment, he earned
this power. This is not the power he had
being the son of God absolutely considered. This is a power he
earned by his work. It's inherent to the God-man.
It belongs to him because of who he is. It belongs to him
alone whose obedience unto death put away sin and brought in everlasting
righteousness. That's the power we're talking
about here. The power spoken of here is the power of life.
First, Christ had the power of his own life, that is, of his
own resurrection from the dead. Look at John 10, if you're with
me in the text there, just flip back a few pages to John 10 and
listen to these words in John 10, 17. Therefore doth my father love
me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No
man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my father. As I said, the power spoken of
here came from Christ's obedience unto death. It came from perfect
satisfaction to the law and justice of God. It came from the establishment
of that righteousness by which God is just to justify ungodly
sinners. That righteousness that demands
eternal life for those who were previously under the sentence
of eternal death. You see, Christ's resurrection
was not just God raising up a dead body. It was much more than that.
It was the resurrection of one who died under the legal guilt
of sin, with the sins of his people imputed to him. He was
bearing the legal guilt of those he was given. He was bearing
their liability to punishment. He was answering the charges
against them. He was delivering them from eternal
death. God's justice demands the death
of every soul that sins. Christ's resurrection, then,
is a declaration from God that His justice is fully satisfied
on behalf of all Christ died for. It's a declaration that
the charges against those He represented have been answered,
that their punishment is complete, that their sin is put away. that
the everlasting righteousness by which they stand justified
is established. Christ's obedience unto death
first earned him the power of his own resurrection. But it
also earned him the power of the resurrection of all whom
he was given. Look at John 6 and verse 39. It says, And this is the Father's
will, which is sent me, that of all which he hath given me
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every
one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life, and I will raise him up at the last day. And then John
17 in verse 1. These words spoke Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. as thou hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him." He had not only the power of
his own resurrection, but he has the power of the resurrection
of every sinner he was given. No sinner Christ died for can
perish. That's an impossibility. They
will all be resurrected. We have two infallible proofs
of that, and the first of those proofs is Christ's resurrection.
The second proof is the Spirit's work within us in time in each
generation, when He comes to us and convinces us of sin and
righteousness and judgment. The Scripture says if the Spirit
is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life,
eternal life because of righteousness. If the Spirit's in you, then
the Spirit is your earnest of a heavenly inheritance. You've
got an inheritance waiting if the Spirit's in you. He's the
pledge of a bodily resurrection. That's one of the main reasons
He's given. So the first thing declared by
Christ's resurrection, it declared Him to be the Son of God, the
infinite I Am, with power to give eternal life to as many
as the Father had given Him. The second thing Christ's resurrection
declares is that by His obedience unto death, He accomplished everything
necessary for God to be just and justify. ungodly sinners
such as we are by nature. Look at Romans 4 in verse 23. Now, you know from our prior
studies of Romans chapter 4, this is talking about the justification
of Abraham based on the imputed righteousness that Christ had
not come and established in Abraham's day, but was going to come and
establish later on. Yet Abraham and all the Old Testament
saints were justified based on Christ's righteousness imputed
to him. And look at verse 23 of Romans 4. It says, Now it
was not written for his sake alone, Now what was written? That it was imputed to him, that
righteousness was imputed to Abraham. It wasn't written for
his sake alone, but it was written for us also, to whom it shall
be imputed, seeing we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, who was delivered because of our offenses and raised
again because of our justification. No sinner Christ died for can
perish. His resurrection declares that.
He was raised again because He had accomplished everything necessary
for the justification of every sinner whose offenses He bore
on that cross. In other words, if He went to
the cross with your sin imputed to Him, He was raised again for
your justification. You stand justified before God.
What is that? It's not chargeable with sin,
it's not guilty before God, but righteous, unchangeably righteous
in His sight. He went to the cross bearing
the offenses of His people, and He was raised again because He
had answered all the charges against them. He was raised again because He
had established the one righteousness they needed to stand eternally
righteous in God's sight. God was just to declare Abraham
and all the Old Testament saints righteous based on Christ's righteousness
imputed to them, and he's just to declare every believing sinner
in every generation justified on that same basis. See, there's
only one ground to salvation, and that's the imputed righteousness
of Christ. The third thing declared by Christ's resurrection is that
his righteousness, Christ's righteousness, the one he established by his
obedience unto death, is God's standard of judgment. Look at
Acts chapter 17 and verse 29. For as much then as we are the
offspring of God, this is Paul on Mars Hill. He's talking, speaking
here to the philosophers who are out there debating different
things. He's speaking to them. He says,
for as much then as we're the offspring of God, we ought not
to think that the Godhead is lacking the gold or silver or
stone graven by art and man's device. And the times of this
ignorance the ignorance he just described, the ignorance of God,
the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commands all
men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day in the
which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom he's ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all
men, and here's the assurance, in that he has raised him from
the dead. The prophet Daniel foretold that
Christ would make an end of sins and bring in everlasting righteousness. Christ's resurrection from the
dead is a declaration from God that he fulfilled that prophecy,
that he finished that work. Christ's resurrection from the
dead is a declaration from God that righteousness established
by Christ's obedience unto death is God's standard of judgment.
That's the assurance he gives men. He raised Christ from the
dead, and by that He assures all men there's one standard
of judgment. It's the righteousness Christ
established in His death. So, you'll either stand before
God and be counted unchangeably righteous based on Christ's righteousness
imputed to you, or you will stand forever condemned under God's
eternal wrath because you have no righteousness that answers
the demands of God's law and justice. Here's a question for
all who've heard and understood God's gospel. Has the gospel
changed your standard of judgment. Do you now judge salvation by
a different standard than you did before God brought you and
set you down under the gospel? Do you now judge saved and lost
by Christ's righteousness imputed alone? By Christ's resurrection
from the dead, God gives assurance, proof unto all men that the righteousness
he established, that righteousness imputed to sinners, is his standard
of judgment. The Spirit of God will convince
the world he's sent to of righteousness, he said, because I go to my Father.
Christ went to his Father by way of obedience, by way of death,
by way of resurrection, by way of righteousness. Christ arose
the third day according to the Scriptures. And until you see
His death, His resurrection according to the Scriptures, you haven't
yet seen the Christ revealed by the Scriptures. Until then,
you're seeing Christ through the eye of the flesh and not
through the eye of faith. That's why Christ said to his
disciples that when the Spirit comes to a sinner in regeneration,
he will convince them of righteousness because I go to my Father and
you see me no more. This is why I had Brother Robert
Reed, 1 Corinthians 5, 1-16 right here. This is the second phrase
that identifies the righteousness those to whom the Spirit is sent
in each generation will be convinced of. Of righteousness because
you see me no more, he said. Now, you mean they'd never see
Christ again? It couldn't mean that. Christ
had already told them in John 17 that although the world would
not see him again, they would. Listen to John 14 and verse 18.
He said, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you.
Yet a little while and the world sees me no more. But you see
me because I live. You shall live also. Also right
here in the same chapter, John 16, Christ tells his disciples
that he would see them again. Look at verse 16. Chapter 16
and verse 16. It says, A little while and you
shall not see me, and again a little while and you shall see me, because
I go to the Father. And then verse 22 says, And you
now therefore have sorrow, but I'll see you again, and your
heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. These disciples did see Christ
in his resurrection and in his glory as the triumphant Savior. So he's not saying that you'll
never see me again. What he is saying is that they
would see him no more that way. They would see him no more in
the flesh, no more in his humiliation. They would see him no more as
they had seen him when he dwelt among men. That's what the Apostle
Paul wrote about here In 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 16, he said, Wherefore
henceforth know we no man after the flesh. That word know there
means we regard or judge no man after the flesh. Yea, though
we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know
we him no more. You see, the disciples were of
that unique generation who was allowed to behold the person. of Christ, to see Him in the
flesh. There was just one generation of sinners that was allowed to
do that. They were eyewitnesses of the incarnate Christ. John
wrote in 1 John 1, in verse 1, he said, that which was from
the beginning. which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled of the word of life." Speaking about Christ.
For the life was manifested, and we've seen it and bear witness
and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father
and was manifested unto you. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you. And then he wrote again in John
1 in verse 1, he said, In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. And in verse 14, And
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. These disciples saw and knew
Christ, they regarded him after the flesh. But He's speaking
to them about that time when they would not see Him or know
Him that way anymore. He's speaking to them about the
time when they, like all true believers in every successive
generation, will see Him and know Him by the Word and by the
Spirit, which identify and distinguish Him from all counterfeits. He's
speaking to them about the time when their understanding would
be open to the Old Testament scriptures. That's all the scriptures
they had to look at back then. And when those scriptures were
open to them, then they clearly revealed Christ. Listen to Luke
24 and verse 44. Christ is speaking to his disciples
and he said unto them, these are the words which I have spoken
to you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophet and
in the Psalms concerning me. Opened he their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. They believed Christ
was the Messiah, but they didn't understand a whole lot that was
written about him back in the Old Testament. Just like you
don't understand, you and I don't understand a whole lot that's
written about him in the New Testament or the Old Testament.
We have lots to learn about him. He's the subject of the scriptures.
So there's lots to know. When he opened their understanding,
though, like all believers, the disciples saw Christ through
the eye of faith, the gospel that declares him. Like all believers,
they know him by the gospel, which alone distinguishes him.
Like all believers, they see him as the Lord, our righteousness.
Like all believers, they see him as the incarnate Christ,
whose obedience unto death established that righteousness by which God
justifies ungodly sinners. Like all believers, they see
him as the Apostle John recorded him. Listen to Revelation 1 in
verse 18. He says, I am he that liveth
and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And
have the keys of hell and of death. Before a sinner can give
God the glory in his or her salvation, they must rest their full salvation
where Christ rests his glory. Where does Christ rest his glory?
His honor in salvation. You see, a just God justifying
ungodly sinners. Where is the honor there? Where
does he rest it? He rested in the obedience unto
death of the Son of God incarnate. He rested in that righteousness
which Christ's obedience unto death established. There comes
a time in the life of every regenerate sinner when they see Christ no
more. They see him no more the way
they once did. They see him no more as one who
died for all without exception. That's the way I used to see
him. They see him no more as one whose death failed to save
every sinner he died for. They see him no more as the one
trying to save and will if you'll just cooperate a little bit and
do your part. They see him no more as the Christ
who saves apart from a righteousness that enables God to be just and
justify the ungodly. And I can tell you exactly when
that time is. Exactly. Not the moment, or the
hour, or the day. I'm not talking about that. But
I can tell you the exact time. It's when the Spirit of God impresses
upon you the value God holds for the righteousness His Son
established. That's when it'll come to you. It's when the Spirit
teaches you that Christ went to His Father because of righteousness,
and you see Christ no more the way you did apart from or in
ignorance of that righteousness that demanded His resurrection
as well as the resurrection of all for whom He died. Righteousness
is what Christ's resurrection from the dead declares. Righteousness
is what makes the gospel good news to sinners like you and
me. Righteousness is what the true
gospel always reveals. Righteousness is what regenerate
sinners lay hold of and plead as the only ground or basis or
cause for God to save them and bless them. Righteousness is
what causes sinners to repent of everything else, everything
else they thought recommended them to God before they came
to the gospel and heard of this righteousness. Righteousness
is what causes regenerate sinners to see Christ no more the way
they saw him before they heard the gospel. When God brought
me to the gospel, I was confident, as confident as a man can be
that I was saved, no doubt about it. I had an assurance, but that
confidence and assurance was presumption. Why? Because neither
was based on the righteousness of Christ. Apart from Christ's
righteousness imputed as the only ground of salvation, any
notion I had that I was in God's favor was just a presumptuous
notion of a zealous religious person. That's all it was. I
knew some things about Christ. I knew a good bit about Christ.
I taught a Sunday school lesson. I spoke before congregation.
But I didn't know the one thing that identifies and distinguishes
Christ from all counterfeits in this world. I didn't know
the one thing that enables God to be just and remain that way
when he justified ungodly sinners. Thankfully, God didn't leave
me there. Thankfully, the Spirit of God
did to me what he does to every sinner he comes to in regeneration.
He convinced me of sin, of righteousness, of judgment. He convinced me
that because Christ went to His Father, I see Him no more the
way I once saw Him. I now see Him as the Lord, my
righteousness. I once saw Him as a failure,
but I now see Him as the Scriptures identify Him and distinguish
Him. My prayer is that God will enable
many, all listening, to see Him that way. May the Lord bless
His Word to our understanding.