Turn to Mark chapter 9. I want to begin reading in verse
2 of Mark chapter 9. And after six days, Jesus taketh
with him Peter and James and John and leadeth them up into
a high mountain apart by themselves and he was transfigured before
them and his raiment became shining,
exceeding white as snow, so as no fooler on earth can white
them. In Matthew's account, it says
his face did shine as the sun. Verse four, and there appeared
unto them Elias, with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Now here we have the disciples,
these three privileged men, watching as Moses and Elijah are speaking
with the Lord Jesus Christ. They see his body transfigured
before them, and we know what they were talking about. Luke's
account tells us that they spake of the decease which he should
accomplish at Jerusalem. I love to think of Christ's death
being an accomplishment. When we die, the Lord says about
us, sin, failure, weakness. When he died, it was an accomplishment. Something glorious took place. And Peter answered. Nobody asked him anything, but he answered anyway. And he
makes one of the most ridiculous statements ever made. And Peter answered and said to
Jesus, Master, it's good for us to be here. Let us make three
tabernacles. One for thee, one for Moses,
and one for Elijah, for he wist not what to say, for they were
sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed
them. And a voice came out of the cloud
saying, this is my beloved son, hear him. And suddenly when they had looked
around about, they saw no man anymore save Jesus only with
themselves. And as they came down from the
mountain, He charged them that they should tell no man what
things they had seen. For the Son of Man were risen
from the dead. And they kept that saying with
themselves, questioning one with another, what the rising from
the dead should mean. I've entitled this message, What
Does the Resurrection Mean? What Does the Resurrection Mean? Now, the Lord had told them on
numerous occasions before this took place that he would be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, The scribes be killed and three
days later, he would rise again. Now he'd already told them this
and here during this event, he says, don't tell anyone about
this. I wonder if they stayed good
to that. I kind of doubt it. I would want
to tell somebody just to let him know I was one of the special
three. I know me enough to know that
I, well, that's another story. But he says, don't tell anybody
till after I have risen from the dead. And notice he didn't
say, after I am raised from the dead, but after I have risen
from the dead, I'm the one who's going to rise myself from the
dead. Remember when he said, no man
takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. Now he tells his disciples, I'm
going to raise myself from the dead. You're talking about power. And they had this discussion
among themselves. And I kind of got the feeling
that this happened quite often. Did you hear what he said? What
did he mean? What does the rising from the
dead mean? The resurrection of Jesus of
Nazareth from the dead is a historical fact. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
verse 6, he was seen of 500 brethren at once. That'd hold up in a court of
law, wouldn't it? 500 eyewitnesses? I wanna read
a passage of scripture from Acts chapter 26, beginning in verse
22. This is Paul speaking, he says,
having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this
day, witnessing, and I witness, Acts 26, 22, both to the small
and the great, saying none other things than those which the prophets
and Moses did say should come that Christ should suffer. and
that he should be the first that should rise from the dead and
should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles. And as he
thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul,
thou art beside thyself. Much learning does make thee
mad. But he said, I'm not mad, most
noble Festus. But speak forth the words of
truth and soberness For the king knoweth of these things, before
whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none
of these things are hidden from him. For this thing was not done
in a corner. This was not done in some kind
of private way. He made himself known openly
and clearly and fully. any believer, beginning with Paul at this time,
Peter and the apostles, me and you, if we're believers. If we
speak of the resurrection of Christ, we're speaking as witnesses. Now, I've not seen his physical
body, but I know he lives. I'm speaking as a personal, witness. Now, you may not believe me. You know, unbelief is a choice,
isn't it? You don't believe you choose not to believe. Now, if
you believe you believe because you have no choice. It's not
like you have options. You believe because you have
no choice. But if you do not believe you choose not to believe. On at least five different occasions
in the New Testament, we are told that he told his disciples
that he would rise from the dead. He told them. And none of them
were there waiting. Mary was there, Magdalene, but
none of the 12 were there, none of the 11 were there. Evidently,
they didn't believe he was going to be raised from the dead at
that time. Even his enemies, I want to read
a passage from Matthew chapter 27, even his enemies knew he
said he would rise from the dead. Look in verse 62 of Matthew 27, Now the next day that followed
the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came
together under Pilate saying, sir, we remember that deceiver
said while he was yet alive, after three days, I'll rise again. They all knew about it, didn't
they? His enemies. Command, therefore, that the
sepulcher be made sure into the third day, lest his disciples
come by night, and stealing him away, and saying to the people,
he's risen from the dead, so the last error shall be worse
than the first. Pilate said unto them, you have
a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can. Do all you
can. It's not gonna do any good, though.
You do your best to keep this from happening. Nothing can keep
him from being raised and rising from the dead. Now, if Christ
is not raised from the dead, that would make him a liar. That would make the Bible a book
that cannot be believed. that would make his death meaningless
and accomplishing nothing. But he is risen. I love saying that. He is risen. Now there was a specific day
some 2,000 years ago that Christ Jesus was born in Bethlehem. In answer to the ancient prophecy,
behold, a virgin shall be with child. Somebody says, do you expect
me to believe that Christ was born of a virgin? That's impossible. God Nothing shall be impossible. And it's easier to believe that
Christ was born of a virgin than it is to believe that somehow
billions of years ago, somehow life just came through the chemical
of hitting together in some primordial stew and all of a sudden we have
life. Oh, you want to talk about blind faith? Christ had to be born of a virgin
because if he were not born of a virgin, he'd be a sinner like
me and you. Perish the thought. For 30 years he lived in obscurity. I mentioned this last night in
a town called Nazareth. But it wasn't obscure to his
father. Oh, his father looked in delight at his beloved son,
keeping his law perfectly, glorifying him to the fullest extent. Oh, I think of him saying to
the disciples, this is my beloved son. This is the son of my love,
in whom I am well pleased. Oh, how he pleased his father
with every day of his life. And nobody got it. Nobody saw. Oh, this is the carpenter's
son. That reminds me, a carnal man
a natural man, the way you, if we were there, we wouldn't have
got it either. We didn't understand, but here this man perfectly keeps
God's law. He then began his public ministry,
which lasted some three and a half years, and I love the way it
begins with the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are they. He is the one who declares who
is blessed of God. Blessed are they. You and I wouldn't
have a clue as to what he's getting ready to say. Blessed are the
poor in spirit. He has the authority to tell
us who are blessed. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed
are the poor. peacemakers, blessed are the
merciful, blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness
sake. He declares who is blessed, and
only he has the authority to do that. I love it when he said
in the Sermon on the Mount, you've heard it said of them that are
of old, and he quoted scriptures. I say unto you. He's the only
one who can tell us what the scripture means because he's
the one who wrote it. You've heard it said, I say unto
you. I love the way the sermon on
the map ends. They were astonished at his doctrine
for he spake as one having authority. Now that's not just talking about
the authoritative way that he spake. but everything he said
recommended itself as the very truth of God, as the very word
of God. Now on numerous occasions during
his time, his hearers would become so enraged with what he said
that they'd seek to kill him. We saw last night how they tried
to take him up to the brow of the hill and cast him down headlong.
How many times did they pick up stones to stone him? But his
hour was not yet come and he would pass through their midst. But the time has come now for
him to die. He came to die. That was his purpose in coming.
That's the reason the universe was created. For him to come
as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world to die. His hour has come. Father, what shall I say? Save
me from this hour? For this cause am I in to this
hour. He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world and he came to die. He's nailed to a cross. The sun quit shining. The earth quakes, the rocks are
rent. From the darkness, he cries,
my God, my God, Why have you forsaken me? Now remember, the
father looked at him for all these years. This is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. And now he's forsaken by his
father. He's left to himself. He has no helper at this time,
like you were saying last night. He has no helper. He had no angels
helping him. All of his disciples forsook
him and ran away. His father certainly wasn't helping
him by himself. Why did the father forsake him? One reason, sin. Why did he die? There's one reason
for death. See. When he died. There were two
other crosses. And I think we can get some understanding. Of his death. When we look at
these three crosses. On one cross. We have a man dying
in his sin. Hating Jesus Christ, hating God,
and dying in his sin. And I don't want to say this
flippantly or just trying to scare people, but he's been in
hell ever since. On the middle cross, we have
a man dying for sin. Use the word last night transfer. On the other cross, we have a
man dying unto sin. You see his sin was transferred
to that one who is dying for sin. And if God did this, which
He did, it's just, it's right, it's holy, it's true. For He
hath made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Now, He dies. Scripture says he gave up the
ghost. He's the only one to ever do
that. Death could not take him until he gave it permission. I'm ready. You can take me now. What power this one has. He dies. The centurion presiding
over the crucifixion saw him so cry and they saw the way he
died. And he said, surely this man
was the son of God. He knew. Anybody who knows him
does. He died. And for three days,
he lay dead in that tomb. What happened during those three
days, I do not know, but I know what did not happen. His body
did not decay. Three days later, suddenly, his heart pumps again. Blood runs through his veins. His lungs heave. He opens his
eyes. He gets up, takes those grave
clothes off, and he walks out of that tomb. He's risen. What a mystery. He dies. Isn't that mysterious, how the
God-man could die? I find that, it's easy to see
how I could die. It's easy to see how you could
die, but the God-man, he died graveyard dead. He died. What
a mystery. What a mystery. He raised himself
from the dead. His father raised him from the
dead. God, the Holy Spirit raised him from the dead. You see whatsoever
the father does, the son does, and the spirit does. They're
all one. Why? Did he raise from the dead? Why? What does the resurrection
mean? Would you turn with me for a
moment to John chapter 20? The first day of the week cometh
Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark into the sepulcher
and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. She runneth and cometh to Simon
Peter and to the other disciple. Don't you think it's interesting
how John never mentions his own name? He's always the other disciple,
the disciple that Jesus loved. and saith unto them, they've
taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher and we know not where
they've laid him. Peter therefore went forth and the other disciple
and came to the sepulcher. So they ran both together and
the other disciple did outrun Peter and came first to the sepulcher
and he stooping down, looking in, saw the linen clothes lying,
yet went he not in? Then come a Simon Peter following
him and he went into the sepulcher and seeth the linen clothes lie
and the napkin that was about his head not lined with the linen
clothes but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went
in also the other disciple which came first to the sepulcher and
he saw and believed for as yet they knew not the scripture that
he must rise from the dead. Don't miss that. He must. It was absolutely necessary for
him to rise from the dead. They looked into the empty tomb,
perplexed, not really knowing what had taken place, for as
yet they knew not the scripture. You know, anything I know, I
better have a scripture for it or it's false knowledge. It's
not real. But at this time, they knew not
the scripture that he must, must be raised from the dead. Now,
why was it necessary for him to be raised from the dead? What
does the resurrection mean? I've got five or six things I
want to say very briefly. Number one, it was necessary
because this is God's eternal purpose. Peter said, him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. whom God
hath raised up, having loose the power of death, because it
was not possible that he should be whole of it. You see, not only is Christ the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but he's the lamb
raised from the foundation of the world. He must rise from
the dead because of who he is. This is God's eternal purpose. The reason that God created the
universe, the reason that our parents were placed in the garden
and there was a fall, the reason for everything is that Jesus
Christ might live, die, and be raised again from the dead. That
is God's eternal purpose. And everything that happens has
something to do with that. He must be raised from the dead. All things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me. God's purpose. The reason he must be raised
from the dead is because of what he actually accomplished by his
death. Luke 9, 31, I've already quoted
it, they spake of the decease which he should accomplish. Now, no one would ever speak
of my death or your death as an accomplishment, would they?
But when he died, it was an accomplishment. First of all, he said, I've glorified thee
on the earth. I have finished the work thou
gave us me to do." What did he accomplish by his death? The
full glorification of his Father. Every attribute of God is magnified
in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Lord. God
demonstrates His power His sovereignty, his absolute justice, his love,
his grace, his wisdom, every attribute of God is glorified
in the life, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus
Christ the Lord. What did he accomplish by his
death? Listen to this scripture from Romans chapter 4 verse 25. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. Now, who's the
hour? He was delivered for our offenses. He was raised again for our justification. Everybody died for all the elect. All those the father gave him
before time began, but listen to what it says. And this is
true of every believer. He was delivered for our offenses,
my sin. He was delivered because of my
sin. It became his sin. It was transferred
to him. He never sinned in his person,
but he became guilty of my sin. That's why the father killed
him. But when he died, he did something
that no one else has ever done. He satisfied the very justice
of God so that God could say, I can ask no more. And he was
raised again for our justification. That means that poor publican
beating on his breast, crying, God, be merciful to me, thee,
sinner. Jesus Christ could say of that
man, I tell you, and there's his authority, isn't it? I tell
you. That man went down to his house
justified, not merely forgiven, not merely shown mercy, not merely
pardoned, And I don't say merely as in that, like that's not that
big a deal. He was all of those things, but that he went down
to his house having never committed a sin. That's what that means. Justified having never committed
a sin. And this is how God can be just
and justify the ungodly. Turn with me to Romans chapter
eight. What does the resurrection of
Jesus Christ mean? It means justification for everybody
he died for. Look here in Romans chapter 8,
verse 32. 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 justifieth. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Now here's
the point. Who died? Who died? It's Christ that died. There's
something he accomplished by his death that no one else could
accomplish. It's Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. It's Christ that died. Anything else need to be said?
It's Christ that died. He said, I am the resurrection
and the life. It's Christ that died, yea rather,
is risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us. Because of who he is, he made
full satisfaction to God with his death. He shall see the travail
of his soul and be satisfied. God's satisfied with what He
did. He can ask no more of you. Christ is satisfied with what
He did. God the Holy Spirit is satisfied
with what He did. And every believer is completely
satisfied with what He did. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. And here's my hope that Jesus
Christ died for me. That's the only hope I have.
I can't express that as well as I would desire to. But the
only hope I have that I'm gonna be changed and stand in glory
and be accepted by God is because Jesus Christ paid for my sins. And that is why I loathe that
teaching, that false teaching that says that Jesus Christ can
die for somebody and they wind up in hell anyway. There's no
gospel in that message. If he can die for somebody and
that person he died for end up in hell, I know where I'm gonna
end up. I'm sure of it. But oh, his death saves, and
the proof of it is his resurrection. I love the scripture in Romans
chapter 14, verse nine, where it says, to this end, Christ
both died, rose, and revived, that he might be Lord, both of
the dead and the living. Now, if you're dead in sins,
he's your Lord. You might not know it, but he's
your Lord. You're in his hand. They're sheep
and they're goats, but they're his goats, aren't they? Every
man dead in sin, he's your Lord. and you're gonna be made to bow.
You see, every knee is gonna bow, and every tongue is gonna
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father. He's your Lord. He died that
he might be Lord both of the dead, and he's Lord of the living. The Lord is the one whose will
is done. That's as simple a definition
as I know what lordship of Christ means. It means His will is done. His will is done in creation
when He spake the world, the universe into existence as an
act of His own will. He didn't have anything to work
with. He brought something from nothing as an act of His own
will. And listen to this, everything
that happens in time is His will being done. Everything? Everything. Even the bad stuff? God brings good out of evil.
And there's nothing that happens that he is not the cause of.
And he brings good out of evil. Only he can do that. He's the Lord. He's the Lord
of salvation. That means if you're saved, it
was because he willed your salvation. He is the Lord. I love what Thomas said. My Lord. and my God. Would you turn with me to 1 Peter? What does the resurrection of
Christ mean? It means God's purpose was done. It means He did what
He came to do. He satisfied God. He saved everybody
he died for. Look here in 1 Peter 3, verse 21, the like figure wherein
to even baptism doth also now save us. Not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You know, the only good
conscience is not a conscience that doesn't
feel guilty. I don't feel guilty. My conscience
is clear. Well, the problem is you've got
a bad conscience then. You've got a seared conscience.
You've got one that doesn't work, or you wouldn't even talk like
that. A good conscience is a conscience
that has nothing to feel guilty about. And the only way you or
I can have this good conscience is by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. There is the answer. of a good
conscience toward God, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Now turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 12. Now if Christ be preached, 1
Corinthians 15 verse 12, now if Christ be preached that he
rose from the dead How say some among you that there's no resurrection
of the dead? Was that actually going on in
the Church of Corinth? Evidently. Evidently. 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 have testified
of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised? If Christ be not raised, your
faith is vain. You're yet in your sins. Then
they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in
this life only we have hope in Christ, we're of all men most
miserable. Now, if Christ be not raised, our preaching is
vain. It's a waste of time. If Christ
is not raised, our faith is vain. It's not real. It's a fairy tale. It's not true. If Christ is not
raised, we're false witnesses. If Christ is not raised, we're
yet in our sins. If Christ is not raised, the
believers who died are now in hell. And if Christ is not raised,
we are of all men most miserable. Since he is raised, our preaching
is not in vain. Our faith is not in vain. If you believe the gospel, it's
because he made himself known to you. You know, when he was
raised, I love thinking about this, when he was raised, you
know who he didn't appear to? He never appeared to any unbelievers.
Now, I was thinking I would probably think that it would be best for
him to appear to unbelievers. That'd make them believe. No,
it wouldn't. No, it wouldn't. It wouldn't make anybody believe
even if they see him raised from the dead. And he was not trying
to get people to believe in the first place. He accomplished
his purpose. He's not seeking to gain a following. Maybe this will make more people
believe. Not at all. He accomplished what he came
to. and he was raised from the dead.
Our preaching is not in vain. Our faith is not in vain. We're not false witnesses. We're
not in our sins if he was raised from the dead. Believers are
in heaven if he's raised from the dead. And we're of all men
most blessed if Christ is raised from the dead. One last scripture, turn to Romans
10. Verse five, for Moses described
it, the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which
doeth those things shall live by them. If you're going to be
saved by law, that means you're going to have to be continuously
obedient all the time without ever sinning. That's Moses' description
of the law. But the righteousness, which
is of faith, speaketh on this wise. Say not in your heart,
and it's interesting, it tells you what not to say, what not
to think. Say not in your heart, who shall
ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down
from above. Don't say in your heart, what
can I do? to get Christ to do something
for me. Don't say that in your heart. What can I do to get him
to leave heaven and come down and do something for me? Don't
say that. Or, verse seven, who shall descend
into the deep, that is to bring up Christ again from the dead.
Don't say, what can I do to make his death work for me? Don't
say that. What do I say then? What saith it? The word is nigh
thee. It's so near. It's so near. The word is nigh thee. Even in
thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of faith which we
preach that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. You believe he's Lord? the Lord Jesus. And shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Do you believe God raised him from
the dead? And I'm not just talking about
you believe in the historical fact of the resurrection. You
understand why God raised him from the dead. Because God was
satisfied with what He did. Thou shalt be saved. Oh, it's
so near. Right now, it's so near. If you
confess with your mouth what you believe in your heart, that
He is Lord, and you believe God raised Him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. God's salvation. Or, with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. Now don't miss that word righteousness.
There's a connection between his resurrection and righteousness. With my heart. Now that doesn't
simply mean something that is indefinable. Your heart's your whole man.
Your heart is your understanding. Your heart is your affection.
Your heart is your will. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. And here's what that means. With
my understanding, I understand that the only righteousness I
have is because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and
his righteousness is given to me. I understand that. Do you
understand there's only one righteousness? Not only do I understand this,
I love it. I love being saved because of
his resurrection from the dead and God's complete satisfaction
with him and I'm righteous. Not only do I understand this,
not only do I love this, and when I say I understand it, I
believe it. Do I understand all, well, I
understand as much as I can, but one of these days I'll understand
more. But with my will, what does that
mean? It means if I'm given the choice
between being saved by my righteousness or the righteousness of Jesus
Christ, which righteousness am I choosing? the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the resurrection of Christ. It happened 2,000 years ago,
but it's so very near right now. If you'll confess with your mouth
the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved.