Before we leave this fourth chapter
of the book of Romans, there is something that I want
us to be reminded of. Evidently, Paul thought that
this was an important thing to emphasize. Because there is in
these last two verses of Romans 4, as there is in all of the
New Testament, an emphasis on the fact of and the accomplishments
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. If there is one
aspect of the work of Christ that I'm afraid doesn't receive
the proper emphasis, it is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In verse 24, he says, But for
us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Jesus our Lord who was delivered
for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Now, throughout the New Testament,
sometimes it simply says that Christ raised from the dead. And sometimes it speaks of God
raising Him from the dead. But that is really one and the
same thing. In that 24th verse, He says that
the righteousness of God has been imputed to us, that is,
those of us who believe. Seeing that, we believe on Him
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. If you look back
in verse 17, It says, as it is written, I
have made thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed. This is who Abraham believed. And you see, what he believed
that God had promised required the same miracle spiritually
as the raising of one from death to life. In other words, he promised
him in his very old age an offspring, a seed from which many nations
would come. And the Bible speaks of Abraham's
body and Sarah's womb as both being dead. But look at the description. before him whom he believed,
even God, who quickeneth the dead." That means who makes alive
the dead. "...who quickeneth the dead,
and calleth those things which be not as though they were."
He is the God who quickens the dead. And He does so especially
with the spiritual dead. Paul is saying in Ephesians 2,
and you have He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. But he emphasizes here in that
last verse and twenty-fourth verse this believing that God
had raised up Christ from the dead. And not only here, but
also he emphasizes this in Romans 10 in the ninth verse. Heard
this many times, I'm sure, that if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus. Now, I hear a lot of people emphasizing
only that we are to believe on a person. But now you listen
to this. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." You see, we believe on Him and
we believe some things about Him. We believe on the person
And we believe also this work that God says that He accomplished
on the behalf of His people. Somebody made a statement. I
thought this was pretty good. They said, Faith now is belief
in God just so far as He has revealed His will. to us. I thought about that. And I thought
how impossible it is to believe what you don't know. And we are called upon, and the
Lord's people are enabled to, believe on what He has revealed
of His will to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. We didn't believe
it before He enabled us, and none ever believe it until He
enables them. And we believe that God has done
what He says He's done, and that is, as Paul emphasizes here,
raised up Jesus from the dead. And since we believe that He
has raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, we also believe
what He says that He will do because all of the promises,
every one of them, every promise that God has made
to His people Every one of them, he says, are yes and amen in
Christ. Now, you can do, as so many do,
claim things from God that He's never promised. That's a common
thing in our day. We're going to claim it from
God. You can claim it all you want to, but you won't get it. Because we believe what He has
promised us. We believe what He has revealed
of His will to us. And we believe that Jesus, our
Lord, was raised from the dead. Now, why do we believe that? Well, we believe it because God
says it again and again, and we believe it as an article that
is essential to the gospel, absolutely essential to the truth, to what
is the true Christian faith. Hold your place there and turn
over to I Corinthians 15. It is essential to the gospel,
and that is exactly what Paul is saying here to these believers
at Corinth, I Corinthians 15 and verse 1. He says, I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein
ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what
I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain, 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. Paul says, I believe just exactly
what I first preached to you, which is what God taught me when
He took me on the backside of the desert, and that is how that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and was buried
and rose again the third day. You see, the resurrection of
Christ is vitally connected to and inseparably joined to the
resurrection of His people. If He didn't raise from the dead,
then it could never be said that we were raised up in Him, but
since He has made us to be in an eternal union with Christ. When He was raised from the dead,
all His people who are said to be in this sense, in Him as their
representative, everyone was raised up with Him. Look down in I Corinthians 15
at verse 12. Paul emphasizes the importance
of this. He says, now if Christ be preached
that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there
is no resurrection of the dead? I believe it was the Sadducees
who didn't believe in the resurrection. He says, but if there be no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen,
then our preaching is vain." What does that mean? Empty. Nothing. That's how critical this business
of God raising up Christ from the dead. 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 have testified of God that He raised up Christ,
whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. And if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, and you are yet in your sins." There is something vitally important
about the resurrection of Christ in the matter of our salvation.
Paul says, if He is not raised from the dead, our preaching
is a lie, your faith is vain, and you are yet in your sins. So the putting away of our sins
is connected inseparably to this resurrection of Christ. He says, then they also which
are fallen asleep in Christ, they are perished. And 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. For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Now, the resurrection is vitally important because
it is the proof. It is the demonstrated evidence
that God has accepted the sacrifice of Christ and the work of our
priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore accepted us in
Him. I have often thought about the
picture. If you stop and think about it,
here is the priest there in the tabernacle, and he puts on his
garment which God required all of these things representing
Christ. And he took that blood into the
Holy of Holies. And there wasn't anybody else
with him. And God said that he dwelt there
between those golden cherubs that were over the Ark of the
Covenant, and he was to take that blood and sprinkle it on
that golden lid on the Ark of the Covenant? Because God had commanded it. He was to make atonement for
the sins of his people. How did they know? How could
they ever have any confidence that God had accepted the sacrifice
and the work of the priest on their behalf? Just one way. When that priest
came out of that Holy of Holies, when he came out from having
been in the presence of God, When he came out from having
performed that work that God specified for him to do, when
he came out alive, that was the proof, that was the evidence
that God had accepted his work, his sacrifice, that blood, and
if God hadn't accepted it, He would have just killed him, consumed
him right there before the Ark of the Covenant. You see, verse 25 says that Christ
was raised up from the dead, but it says also that He was
delivered. How was He delivered? He was
delivered by God Himself. He was delivered for our offenses. In one of the literal translations
of this particular verse, and I think it's Young's literal
translation, which is a good translation to read. He says of this verse concerning
Christ, who was delivered because of our offenses and was raised
again because of our justification. He was delivered. He went to
that cross. He died that death. Why? For
the sins of His people, for our offenses. But because God accepted that
justifying blood, that justifying work and sacrifice, He was raised
again because of our justification. God raised up the one. Now, you think about this. This
is what Paul is saying here. God raised up the one who was
slain for our offenses. And that's why faith in the resurrected
Christ. He's not hanging on a cross. He's not in any way on this earth
as far as a bodily presence is concerned. He's raised up. As a matter of
fact, it says that He's not only raised up, it says God highly
exalted Him. The One who was made sin for
us, God raised Him back to life. That means God accepted in full
His perfect work and sacrifice. And faith in this resurrected
Christ is where our hope and our assurance and our comfort
comes from. And if he was raised from the
dead, then he did in his dying all that he promised that he
would do. And that gives us a good basis. It provides a sound reason for
us to believe all His promises. Do you ever stop and think about
all the little difficulties we get to fret about all the time? I mean, it's a daily barrage
of little things that bug us and worry us and we fret about
and all that. What does that matter to a God
who raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. He taught His disciples, it says
in Mark, He said unto them, The Son of Man is delivered into
the hands of men, and they shall kill Him. I'm sure to their minds, as well
as to our natural minds, that's it. But it says, and after that he
is killed, I wonder how many times the Lord
said basically this to those disciples before he went to that
cross again and again and again. You can read it. We record, find
a lot of it recorded. But he says, and after that he
is killed, he shall rise the third day. That's what he promised. That's
what he did. And there are quite a number
of different texts of Scripture and contexts in which the apostles
are led by the Spirit of God to keep talking about this. Turn back to Mark. chapter 10. We'll do a little Bible drill
here. Mark chapter 10. And look down at verse 32. Mark 10, 32. And they were in
the way going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them, and
they were amazed And as they followed, they were afraid. And
he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things
should happen unto him, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man shall be delivered
unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn
him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles. And they
shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him,
and shall kill him." Whoa! Isn't that something? humanly
speaking, that's it. And here He is, has set Himself
before them as the Christ, as the Son of God, as the Messiah,
as the King, and they've got these high visions of what He'll
be, and therefore they'll be with Him on the earth. He's talking
about them killing Him. But look at that last phrase, "...and the third day he shall
rise again." He'll rise again. And he'll do
this in the fulfillment of the will and purpose of God. The dying, as much so as the
raising from the dead. Not only do we find Christ Himself
emphasizing that, but this is an amazing truth. We find it
in Acts chapter 2 also. Turn over to Acts chapter 2 and
listen to what the Apostle Peter is saying on the day of Pentecost. What is this man led by the Spirit of God? What's he talking about? I can
tell you this. Wherever you find somebody always
talking about the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit's not in there.
Our Lord said, When He has come, when the Comforter has come,
when this Spirit of truth, when I send the Comforter, He'll take
the things of mine and show them to you." What's he talking about here?
Is he talking about the Holy Spirit? No, he's talking about
Christ. Listen to this. Verse 22 of Acts
2, "...Ye men of Israel, Hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth. As far as they were concerned,
if we had been living in that day and in that circumstance,
it would have been just like I'm saying. Joe Schwartz. They
could see him. I mean, they'd seen him. They'd
heard of him. They knew about him. He said,
now this is who I'm talking about. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. How was he delivered? Why was
he delivered? Just like we read there in our
text in Romans 4, it says Christ was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. Who delivered Christ to the cross? God the Father did. He was delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. He said, Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge, which is foreordination
of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and
slain. Doing just what they wanted to
do, just what they will to do, and determined to do by their
hands, taking Jesus of Nazareth and crucifying Him on that cross. They did exactly what God determined
before the world began would be done. If there is ever a minute, if
there is ever a second, of time in this world when anything is
out of the hands of Almighty God, we'd be in big trouble. And we need to realize this that
especially at that hour, there never was a time, there never
has been a time before or since when God was in any greater control than He was when they took Jesus
Christ and hung Him on that cross. And you can fight it if you want
to, but I'm telling you, That's the truth. Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you've
taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. They sinned just like every other
sin. Their malice, their hatred, they
did it with wicked hands, doing just what they wanted, and they'll
be punished eternally for it. Look at verse 24, "...whom God
hath raised up, having loose the pains of death, because it
was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David, speaking
concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for
He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore
did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also
my flesh shall rest in hope, because..." Now, David, your
flesh is going to rest in hope? Where do you get this hope from,
that your flesh is going to rest in hope? Because this is what
God said, "'Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.'" He said, my fate, my whole fate
in my being is bound up in the Lord Jesus Christ. God said,
I'm not going to let my Holy One see corruption. And I'm in
Him, and that's my hope. Thou hast made known to me the
ways of life. thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me speak
freely unto you of the patriarch David, for he is both dead and
buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore
being a prophet, and knowing that God hath sworn with an oath
to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he should raise up Christ to sit on his throne, He, seeing
this before, spake of the resurrection of
Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh
did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we all are witnesses. He said, God made us witnesses
to this undeniable fact and truth that God raised this man, Jesus
Christ, after the tradition of the Jews, which was to leave
him there for such an extended period of time to make sure that
he was dead. This Jesus hath God raised up. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which you now see
and hear. For David's not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom
you crucified, both Lord and Christ. He raised Him up from the dead. Turn over to Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. And look in verse 26. Paul's preaching here. He says, Men and brethren, children
of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God,
to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at
Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor
yet the voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath
day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though
they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate
that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and
laid him in a sepulchre, but God raised him from the dead. God raised him from the dead. Paul said God raised him from
the dead because of our justification. Turn over a few pages from our
text to Romans chapter 8. This is a most glorious passage
of Scripture here in Romans chapter 8. Verse 29, For whom? Now, predestination has to do
with what, for sure, but it has to do with whom, for whom. For whom He did foreknow, forelove. He also did predestinate. That word scares a lot of people,
but it's a Bible word. And it means literally something
like this, to mark off beforehand. It's like the Greek word is something
like prohorizo, has a connection to the word horizon. Who determined that line that
marks the earth and the sky? That's the horizon. God did. For whom He did foreknow,
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? I can remember when I used to
say pretty ugly things to these things. But the believer says this, if
God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own
son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. The present intercessory
work of Christ. on the behalf of his people is
because God raised him from the dead. And Paul, if you turn over to
Ephesians 1, Paul prayed. He told these Ephesian believers
that he prayed that God might cause them to know and to realize
and to rejoice in this very thing. In Ephesians 1 and verse 16,
he said, I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention
of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him. the eyes of your understanding
be enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling,
and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe
according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought
in Christ when He raised Him from the dead." You know what? He's likening
the same power that raised Christ from the dead as being the same
power that has to raise a sinner from spiritual death and enable
him to believe it. I would to God that He would
exercise that same power to you, causing you to know the glories
of these things in Christ, and set Him at His own right hand
in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and
might and dominion and every name that's named, not only in
this world, but also in that which is to come. and hath put
all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over
all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him
that filleth all in all." Can you imagine having been a
ringleader maybe amongst those who sought to put Christ to death? and who watched him as he hung
there and bled, and saw the soldier thrust the sword, the spear in
his side to make sure he was dead, and watched the bearers
take his body and put it in a tomb, and saw the stone rolled over
that tomb door. We've taken care of him. Can you imagine what it was like
when that first word drifted back to their ears? He's raised from the dead. You see, that's who we preach.
It's a living Lord. And He is not stumbling around
like He is portrayed in a robe and sandals on the seashore of
Galilee or any such places like that. He is the majestically
enthroned, risen Christ. Because God raised Him from the
dead. and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places far above all principality and power
and might and dominion and every name that's named. You can't get any higher than
that. And this is an encouraging and
motivating thing it is to every believer. And it assures us of
receiving every covenant blessing and promise. Turn over to Hebrews
13. Hebrews 13 and verse 20. The Apostle says, Now the God
of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus. He is saying virtually the same
thing Paul says. Which God is it? The one that
raised Jesus from the dead. who raised, brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant." His blood is the blood of that
covenant and His resurrection. tells us that that covenant is
fully ratified, and every covenant blessed. He says, "...make you
perfect in every good work, to do His will, working in you that
which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." Because faith in Christ is faith
in God. Turn over to 1 Peter, that first
chapter. I'll just show you a couple more
verses here. 1 Peter chapter 1, look down
in verse 18. Peter says, ìFor as much as you
know, that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot, who barely was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you, you who by because of him, do
believe in God that raised him up from the dead and gave him
glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. If you look back in Hebrews 4, And listen to what the Apostle
says here. He reminds us of how right now we have one that is approachable,
receptive, who intercedes for us. He says in verse 14, that we have a great High Priest
that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us
hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need." If he hadn't raised from the
dead, He wouldn't be on that throne
to make it a throne of grace to us. He wouldn't be able to be actively
and lively in our provision and our protection. But the resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ from the dead is the proof of our resurrection
in Him, if we be in Him, and the prospect of our own bodily
resurrection. His resurrection, His bodily
resurrection, guarantees the bodily resurrection of his people. Now, all will be raised, but the dead in Christ shall
be raised first. And one day the dead in Christ
shall rise, and their vile bodies shall be raised incorruptible,
and they will be like unto his glorious body." One day two sisters wept before the tomb of their brother.
Mary and Martha. Lazarus had died. And the Lord said, Lazarus is
going to rise again. And they said, we know he will
in the resurrection. Christ said to her, I am the
resurrection. and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." His resurrection guarantees that all who believe
God like Abraham. They'll receive all the promises. Not one of them shall fail. And his resurrection is the witness
to it. God accepted it. And they therefore raised him
from the dead. Our Father, tonight we pray that
You would help us, give us understanding, give us faith that we might believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, on this risen Lord. And Lord, all men will find themselves before Him as the one raised from this death
and seated in the place of the highest authority. Safe will be those who are in
him. described in Your Word as seated
in His throne with Him, because they were raised in Him. We ask that You would help us
to give Him all glory. Bless the requests that are on
the hearts of Your people. Cause us to look beyond these
physical things, to the things that pertain to
the soul, to the things that pertain to eternity. And be pleased to reveal your
Son to us in your gospel and in us by your Spirit. Bless us
as we go forth out of this place. Help us all in every way as it
pleases you, for we thank you and pray in Christ's name. Amen.