Acts 26, verse 8. These are Paul's words to the
heathen king Agrippa. Why should it be thought a thing
incredible, unbelievable with you that God should raise the
dead. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of
God, the God-Man, was hurled down onto a cross
violently and his hands and feet had nails driven through them
to fasten him to the cross. The cross was lifted up in the
stand. He hung upon that cross approximately
six hours before he died. At noon, while he hung there
in indescribable pain and spiritual pain that could not be measured,
the earth became dark. I can't imagine what people were
thinking during that darkness. No one could see one another.
I'm sure everyone was frightened. And from the darkness, Jesus
Christ cried, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? He really was forsaken by God. He was cut off. He felt nothing but the awful
frown of his father. Just before his death, he cried
with a loud voice, it is finished. He then said, Father, into thy
hands I commend my spirit. And the scripture says he bowed
his head and gave up the ghost. He did what no other man has
done. He said by that statement, death,
you've been given permission to come and take me. No one else ever did that. And he died. Now hanging on that cross is
a dead corpse. Truly dead and lifeless. A soldier came up and took a
spear to make sure he's dead. He thrust that spear in his side.
Now, why did he do that? To make sure he was dead? Yes.
But also because the scriptures determined that that's exactly
what he would do. It was prophesied in the old
Testament that that would take place. And after he pierced his
side, blood and water came out. Joseph of Arimathea. takes the lifeless body of Christ
down from the cross. I don't know how he did it. Somehow
he had to pull out the nails and bring his body, lifeless,
dead body down. Jesus Christ died. To me, that
is so mysterious. How me or you could die, there's
nothing mysterious about it. We're weak, we're sinful, we're
just a breath away. Nothing mysterious about that,
but he, the God-man dying, it is indeed mysterious. Nicodemus helps Joseph of Amathur. I can't remember how to say it. Somebody say it. Arimathea, Nicodemus
helps him and they give the Lord Jesus Christ a rich man's burial. God the Father was so careful
with the body of his son. He was given a rich man's burial. Unlike every other dead body,
His body never went through the process of decay. Now, when you
and I die, we will immediately begin the process of decay, the
body breaking down. That never happened with the
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, thou will not suffer
thy holy one to show corruption, to decay. Just as he told his disciples
on at least four different occasions while he was with them that before
his death, that three days later, his lifeless body would be brought
to life. Four different times. I'm going to be crucified. I'm
going to be slain. And I will be raised from the
dead. Now, I think of the Lord being
in that too. Dead. dead. He'd been there three days
just as he said he would. Graveyard dead. And all of a sudden, he begins to breathe. His heart pumps. Blood going through his veins. He opens his eyes. Only the Father
Witness this in the darkness of the tomb. He opens his eyes. He stands up. He takes that napkin
off of his face. He takes the grave clothes off. The stone is removed, I suppose,
by an angel. And he walks out of that tomb,
life. life. He lives. Paul says to Agrippa with regard
to that, this heathen king, why should it be thought a thing
incredible with you that God should raise the dead? I want us to consider that question. Why should it be thought a thing
incredible, unbelievable to you that God should raise the dead? God breathed life into Adam. He was formed of the dust of
the earth. He had no life. God breathed
life into Adam and he became a living soul. Now, why should
it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise
the dead? Now, to believe that life resulted
from some chemical reaction that came out of some primordial stew
and over billions of years of evolution, that one-celled organism
that somehow through this chemical reaction became life, all of
a sudden develops consciousness? Talk about grasping for straws. That's not the way life came.
Life came because God created man in his own image and breathed
into him the breath of life. That's where life comes from. Now why should it be thought,
a thing incredible to you, that God, I wish I could describe him the
way he is. I can't. I'll try. He's all powerful. He's absolutely sovereign. He's
holy. His will must be done. And when he created the universe
as an act of his will, the universe came into existence. You reckon he can raise the dead? Why should it be thought a thing
incredible to you that God should raise the dead. Turn with me
to Luke chapter 24 for a moment. Verse one. Now upon the first day of the
week, Sunday morning, Very early in
the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, these women, bringing
the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. And
they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they
were much perplexed thereabout, Behold, two men stood by them
in shining garments. And as they were afraid and bowed
down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, why seek
ye the living among the dead? He's not here, but is risen. Remember how He spake unto you
when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men. Why must He? It's God's purpose. It's God's will. That's why He
must be delivered into the hands of sinful men. He was no victim.
This was His will being done. The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third
day rise again. Why must He? because he was bearing
sin. God is just. God must punish
sin. The third day arise again and
they remembered his words. Now the fact that he was raised
from the dead, and I love thinking about that, glorious. I love to think of his lifeless
body being in the tomb and then all of a sudden he lives, gets
up, walks out of that tomb. Now the fact that he was resurrected
from the dead, seen by 500 witnesses at once. Somebody says, I don't
know that it happened. Well, you can think that if you
want, but it did. It did. He was raised from the dead.
But the fact that he was raised tells us that he did in fact
die. Jesus Christ, who is life, the
Son of the living God, Jesus Christ died. Like I said a few minutes ago,
it wouldn't surprise me. We're just a breath away from
death, every one of us. Real close. But the Son of God died? The God-Man? I have such... But
He did! The God-Man died. How? I don't know, but he did.
I know he's under the wrath of God as a sin-bearing substitute,
but the God-man died. He was forsaken by his father
and he died. Now, why is there death? There's
only one answer. The wages of sin is death. By one man, sin entered the world
and death by sin, so that death passed upon all men in that all
sin. Now, what that passage of scripture
tells me is that when Adam sinned, I sinned and you sinned. We were
in him. Somebody says, how can I be held
responsible for what somebody else did? No, you did it. You
did it. I wasn't there. You were in Adam
and you would have done the same thing. Without question, you
would have done the same thing. In Adam, all die. The reason for death is sin. Now, in Genesis chapter 2, verse
17, When God was speaking to Adam,
and he gave him that command with regard to the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, he said, all the trees are yours.
You can eat all the fruit of it. There's one tree you can't
eat of, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He said, in
the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. Now, this is
so important. He didn't say, if you eat, you'll
die. He said, in the day you eat, you shall surely die. Could God have prevented him
from eating it? Of course he could have. Did he? No. It was all a part of his purpose
to glorify his son. Now Adam, through Eve, ate of
the fruit and died. And remember the Lord said in
the day you eat thereof you shall surely die. He didn't say next
week or in 900 years. He said the very day you eat,
you'll die. Now he didn't die physically,
but we know he did die spiritually. He became dead in trespasses
and sins. Dead. What can a dead man do? Stink. Stink. You can do that. You can do. But a dead man cannot
perform the functions of life. A dead man can't breathe. A dead
man can't smell. A dead man can't see. A dead
man can't feel. A spiritually dead man, he can't
see any beauty in Christ. He can't see his own need of
Christ. He can't see his own sinfulness. He can't see the
beauty of salvation by grace. He can't understand any of this. He's dead. Why is it you don't need to teach
your children to lie? Because they're born dead in
sins. Why don't you have to teach them
to be selfish and cruel to other kids? It's because they're born
dead in trespasses and sins. In the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. But this man, never sinned. He never sinned. He lived 33 years upon this earth
without even having a sinful thought, without ever having
a sinful motive. Perfectly pure, holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners. He never sinned. I can't even imagine what that
would be like, can you? This man never sinned. And Pilate said, I'm just of
the blood of this innocent man. Listen, he was more than innocent.
Adam, in the garden before the fall, he was innocent. Christ
was impeccable. He was incapable of sin. He never
sinned. Yet, He is nailed to this cross. Why? Why? Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. If you and I would understand
the gospel, we would understand this. Verse 21, 2 Corinthians chapter
5, verse 21. For He, God the Father, hath
made Him the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want you to notice that
2B is in italics, it was not In the original, the translators
put it there to make it seemingly more understandable. I think
that it makes it less understandable. Let's leave the to be out. For
he hath made him sin. It doesn't say he imputed sin
to him. It doesn't say sin was imparted
to him. It doesn't say sin was infused
into him. It says he was made sin. I don't have any idea what all
that means. It's more horrible than anything
you and I can imagine, but the spotless, holy Son of God, the
impeccable Son of God, the one who could not sin was made sin. Even saying that scares me. Jesus
Christ was made sin on Calvary's tree. That's why the Father turned
His back on Him. That's why the Father forsook
Him. That's why the Father's wrath came down upon Him. That's
why the Father killed Him. Because He was made sin. That sinfulness of all of His
people. He was made to be. I've got to say this. Most preaching in Lexington,
Kentucky this morning and all over the United States has Jesus
Christ paying for the sins of every individual to ever live. He died for He died for you. He paid for your sins. Now the preaching that he could
die for your sin and you end up in hell anyway is false. It's repugnant and it makes Jesus
Christ a failure. If he died for your sins and
you might wind up in hell anyway His blood's no good. Wasn't for
you. Wasn't enough to pay the debt.
There's something else you needed to do to add to it to make it
work. If Christ's intention was to
save you and you're not saved, He failed in His intentions. But beloved, that can never be. Jesus Christ is successful. He's incapable of failure. If He died for you, you must
be saved. You can't be anything but saved
if He shed His precious blood for you. He's the Son of God. With regard to every other death
that's ever happened, there's a pile of dirt somewhere with
the DNA of that dead person in it, somewhere. Not him. You see, he never went
through the process of decay. None of his DNA, whatever that
is, is still here because he was raised from the dead, never
seeing corruption. You see, the moment he died,
Romans chapter four, verse 25 says, he was delivered for our
offenses and raised again for our justification. Now, what
that means is the moment Jesus Christ died, all my sins were
put away and I was justified before God. I was given a, not
just a standing, Well, I've got a legal standing of righteousness
before God. No, it's a lot better than that.
I am the righteousness of God in him. When he was raised from
the dead, I was justified. I stand before God as sinless,
without guilt, one who has never sinned. Now that's why he was
raised from the dead. He was delivered for our offenses. He
was raised again for our justification. Now, somebody that preaches that
Jesus Christ simply made salvation available, if you do your part,
doesn't preach the gospel. Let me repeat it. Somebody that
preaches that Jesus Christ died for everybody and salvation is
available to you, forgiveness is offered to you, if you do
your part, That person's not preaching the gospel because
if my salvation is dependent upon anything I need to first
do before God can do something for me, I need to do my part
or he can't do his part. If I must first do anything before
he can save me, I have no hope. I have no hope of being saved. But my hope is that when he said
it is finished, my salvation was finished, accomplished by
what he did. My salvation is wholly predicated
on his resurrection. You see, if he lived and went
back to heaven, what good would it do me? If He came down here and kept
the law perfectly and went back to heaven, what good would it
do me? If He stayed dead, what good would it do me if He stayed
dead? But all my salvation is predicated
on He was raised from the dead. God accepted what He did. God was satisfied with what He
did to where God could say, I'm not looking for anything else.
I'm not waiting for anything out of you. He did it all. Jesus paid it all. All the dead
I owe. Not Jesus paid a half the other
half I owe. Jesus paid it all. All the dead
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. But if he was raised from the
dead, I can say with Peter, in 1 Peter 3, verse 21, he speaks
of the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now listen to me real carefully.
This thing about having a good conscience. Somebody says, my
conscience is clear. No, it's seared. It's seared,
it's hardened. The only reason somebody says,
no, I've got a good conscience about this. The only thing that
satisfies my conscience is the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. Nothing else satisfies me. But
Peter said, this is the answer of a good conscience toward God,
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Because of the
resurrection of Christ, I stand before God without guilt, sinless. That's what he accomplished.
Somebody says, what is this stuff about Christ living and dying,
being raised from the dead? What's the point? Well, it's
God's eternal purpose. It's how sinners are saved. It's how I can stand before God
without guilt, perfect in God's sight. Now, when the writer to the Hebrews
spoke of the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, turn with me there
for a moment to Hebrews chapter 6, I want you to see this. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 1, therefore we're leaving
the principles, Fundamentals, the ABCs of the doctrine of Christ. Let us go on to perfection, not
laying again. Here's what the Hebrews were
guilty of. They weren't grounded on these
six truths having to be laid on again. He said, we shouldn't
have to be doing this. This is where we ought to be grounded.
Not laying again, the foundation First thing, repentance from
dead works. Number two, faith toward God. Number three, the
doctrine of baptisms. Number four, the doctrine of
the laying on of hands. Number five, the doctrine of
the resurrection of the dead. And number six, the doctrine
of eternal judgment. Now I want us to confine our
thoughts right now for a few moments to the doctrine of the
resurrection of the dead. Why should it be thought a thing
incredible to you? that God should raise the dead. What is the doctrine of the resurrection? Well, in the scripture, there
are three resurrections. Number one, the bodily resurrection
of Jesus Christ. He actually died and he was raised
from the dead and walked out of that tomb, the living Christ,
the bodily resurrection of Christ. Number two, spiritual resurrection. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. When someone is born again, that's
a spiritual resurrection. Life from the dead. And then
there is the final resurrection. The last trump shall sound. There's
gonna be a resurrection of all the dead. I don't know how many
people have lived in this world over the eight billion right
now. I don't know how many. There's
gonna be billions of people raised from the dead and stand before
God in judgment. there will be a resurrection
of the dead. The bodily resurrection of Christ
turned to 1 Corinthians 15. Verse three, for I delivered
unto you first of all, the first importance, that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures." Now, don't leave this. It doesn't just say he
died for our sins. It says how that he died for
our sins according to the scriptures. And I think the first thing that
comes to my mind when I think about that is when God Here's
how he died for our sins, according to the scriptures. God said,
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Not when you see
it, when I see it. What's the one thing he was looking
for? Did he say, when I see your faith, or your sincerity, or
your good works, or your efforts to sin no more? No, he said,
when I see the blood. That's what God was looking for.
He said, I will pass over you. That's how that Christ died for
our sins, according to the scriptures. Verse four, and that he was buried
and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures
and that he was seen, of Cephas, Peter, then of the 12. After
that, he was seen of about 500 brethren at once, of whom the
greater part remained in this present, 500 eyewitnesses. But some are falling asleep,
some have passed on. After that, he was seen of James,
then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen
of me also, as of one born out of due time." And he's talking
about when the Lord appeared to him in Damascus. And he's
also talking about when the Lord brought him up into heaven to
teach him the gospel. But we see from this that the
resurrection of Christ, the bodily resurrection of Christ, our whole
salvation is dependent upon that. And then there are two other
resurrections taught, spiritual resurrection. And you hath he
quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, and the final resurrection.
Turn to John chapter five for a moment. John chapter five. Verse 28. Marvel not at this. For the hour
is coming in the which all that are in the graves, how many billions of people shall
hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done good
under the resurrection of life and they that have done evil
under the resurrection of damnation. Now, I love the way this is described. They that have done good. Are you saying you've done good?
Yep. Because what Christ did, I did. I was in Him. And this is the description of
every single believer without exception. They that have done
good. Every believer is gonna hear,
well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the
joy of thy Lord. Every believer is gonna hear
that. We've done good because what Christ did, I did, I was
in him. Just as what Adam did, I did. My sin in Adam, what Christ did,
I did. I've done good. Nothing to be
ashamed of, no skeletons in the closet, nothing to be brought
up against me. I have done good. They that have done good unto
the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the
resurrection of eternal torment. I don't even like talking about
it, but the wages of sin is death. What is meant by spiritual resurrection?
We see the resurrection of Christ and what he accomplished by it.
What is meant by spiritual resurrection? Well, life from the dead. Adam became spiritually dead.
In the new birth, God gives somebody spiritual life, resurrection
from the dead. There was a time when you really
didn't see your own sinfulness. When He gave you life, you do.
Folks that don't see this, it's because they don't have life.
If you have spiritual life, you see your sinfulness because you've
seen who He is. And you've seen your need of Him. And you now
do what you couldn't do. You find yourself believing.
There was a time when you didn't even know what it meant to believe.
You're believing now. You're in a state of repentance
now. You love God now. You used to have no love for
Him. Why? Raised from the dead! Spiritual life. You know, the Lord said no man
can come to me except the Father which has sent me. Draw him.
I can't even come unless he gives me life. And he gives me life,
I come. You see, when men are dead in
sins, they try to provide a covering for their own sin like Adam did.
They demonstrate somebody that's dead and sins, you got to have
life. Because if you're dead and sins, turn to Romans 10. This tells your story, Romans
10. Verse one, brethren. My heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved for I bear them
record, these people who are not saved, that they have a zeal
of God. They're very religious, but not
according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. Now everybody's dead in sins.
If you're dead in sins, you believe you can be saved somehow by your
works. You think there's something that
you can do. Maybe you haven't done it yet, but you're gonna
do it down the road. There's something you can do
that will obligate God to save you. Whatever it is he needs,
you can do it. Now, when we think something
like that, all we prove is profound ignorance of the character of
the living God, His righteousness, His holiness. To think that a
God, a holy God could accept my works is bringing Him down
to my level. Ignorant of God's righteousness
in my damnation. Why, that wouldn't be right.
Oh, whenever I find out who God is, I see his utter righteousness
in my condemnation, too. But I also see his righteousness
in my salvation. How God's made the way to be
just and justify the ungodly through what the Lord accomplished
on Calvary Street. Ignorant of God's righteousness.
Now, here's what you do when you're ignorant of God's righteousness.
You go about to establish your own righteousness. something
you think you can do that God will save me because I did this
and when we have that attitude we don't submit ourselves to
the righteousness of God. Now here's when you've submitted
yourself to the righteousness of God when you see Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness. You see Jesus Christ is your
only righteousness before God Well, it takes a new birth for
somebody to see that. It's only when I'm given spiritual
life that I see the futility of salvation by works. Now, where there is this new
birth, there's faith in Christ. There's repentance before God.
There's love to God. There's love to Christ. There's
love to the brethren where the new birth is, this spiritual
resurrection. Now, Christ was raised from the
dead. That's my salvation. Well, how do you know that? Because
he raised me from the dead spiritually and gave me the grace to see
that. I'd never see that. Did he not raise me from the
dead? And then there will be the final
resurrection where every human being to ever live will be raised
from the dead and stand before God in judgment. Those written in the Lamb's Book
of Life, they're saved. Those who are judged according
to their own works, they will be condemned. Now let me close with this thought. In Mark chapter 9, the Lord was transfigured before
the disciples. And I can't even imagine what
this must have done to them when they witnessed this. The scripture
says his face shined as the sun, and his raiment was white as
light. And they beheld this, James and
Peter and John. You remember the ignorant thing
Peter said at that time? Let us make three tabernacles,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Remember at that
time Moses and Elijah were speaking with him? And I know what they
were talking about. They speak of the decease which
he should accomplish. Oh, what accomplishments he made
by his death. They speak of the decease which
he should accomplish. And they're coming down from
the mount, and the Lord says to them while they're walking
down, Don't tell anybody about this until I'm raised from the
dead. Don't say a word. And the disciples
questioned at that time what the rising from the dead should
mean. You know, I bet they did that
all the time. I bet they got in private, the
Lord say something, what do you mean by that? Do you understand? They were
saying, what's that mean? What is meant by the rising from
the dead? Well, let me give you four things
that it means in closing. Number one, God's eternal purpose
has been accomplished. You see, God made the world. He created the world for this. Christ is called in Revelation
chapter 13 verse 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Now get that, the Lamb having
been slain from the foundation of the world. But not only was
he slain before the foundation of the world, he didn't stay
dead before the foundation of the world, he was raised from
the foundation of the world. And God's elect have always been
viewed in Him. And He came in time to do what
was purposed and done in eternity. He was slain in time and He was
raised in time. God's eternal purpose is accomplished. Now, the reason you're here has
something to do with that. You're gonna glorify Him. I'm
gonna glorify Him one way or the other. We'll either glorify
His grace or we'll glorify His justice, but glorify Him, we
will. We're all in His hands. You are in His hands. Somebody
says, won't you make Jesus the Lord of your life? You can't
do that. He is the Lord of your life.
Whether you know it or not, you are in His hand and He can do
with you whatsoever He's pleased to do. He can save you if He
pleases. You know, if I were you and if I were me, I'd say,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. I need to be made clean. Will you make me clean? Do you
know there's not one person in the history of the universe that's
ever truly asked him that, that he said no to? God's eternal purpose. Number
two, he lives. I serve a risen Savior. He lives. Somebody says, Jesus
is alive and well. I hate that. He's not alive and
well. He's life itself. He lives. He is the life. Number three, here is the singular
ground of my salvation. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that can condemn? It's Christ that died. That's
the only answer I need. It's Christ that died. What about nothing? It's Christ
that died. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died and that he died for me. But he didn't stay dead. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea rather that's risen again, who's even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. The resurrected Christ, still has the scars of his death. Now when I'm resurrected, I don't
know what it's going to be like to be sinless. John reading,
writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says, it does
not yet appear what we shall be. I don't know what it's going
to be like to be sinless somehow. I won't remember what it is to
be a sinner, but I know this. I'll look upon his scars, the
scars of his death, that he was raised from the dead. And I'll
look upon those scars and I will know that the only reason I'm
there is because of that. No other reason. Why should it be thought, a thing
incredible to you, that God should raise the dead? He raised His Son. He raises
dead sinners to spiritual life. And then we all look forward
to that final resurrection. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in the name of thy
son that you would make yourself known to each one of us according
to your will. And Lord, we ask in Christ's
name that you might enable us to trust
him who lives who was dead and now is alive forevermore, having
the keys of hell and death. Lord, may we be found in Christ.
Would you raise dead sinners to life to behold the beauty
of thy Son and the glory of his resurrection. In Christ's name
we pray. Amen.