If you will, let's open to Romans
chapter 14. My message is, died, risen, revived,
Lord. We looked last time there in
chapter 14 and we see the wisdom God the Holy Spirit in moving
Paul's hand to write this letter to the church at Rome. And he
bookends every precept, every bit of instruction, pointing
us yet again to Christ. Spoke last time about those strong
and weak brethrens. So much instruction to the strong.
Only one thing said to the weak. Isn't that wise? Anywhere in
these scriptures, if you're a husband or a wife or a child, it always
tells us how we're to treat somebody else. It tells me how I'm to
treat that woman. It don't say nothing how she's supposed to
treat me. The Lord speaks to her. He doesn't
say, Kevin, you ought to be treated this way. You weak brethren ought
to be treated this way, you strong brethren ought to be. No, He
speaks to us kindly, doesn't He? So often in man's nature,
that's all it is, sin nature, we lop off those bookends that
point us to Christ in the beginning and remind us of Christ, our
motivation and the intent at the end. We cut that off and
all we have is the whip of the law. That's all that's left in
the middle. Those precepts and instructions.
But the point of this chapter here in Romans is to avoid distractions
in hearing the gospel. The examples they give us during
that first part is meat and days. What we eat, the days that we
observe, days on the calendar. Those are the illustrations.
That's the examples given for us in our day. But to be constantly
reminded of the person and work of Christ is not only the motivation
that we're given to observe these things, to be instructed. That's
the intent. Paul's preaching Christ and Him
crucified to us, and he just happens to be given some instruction
along the way. That's why we're here tonight,
isn't it? We're here to hear the gospel. In Paul's writings,
he's expository, he's evangelical, and he's experiential. That's
what a lot of theologians say. You need to have those three
types of messages. You've got to expound on the
Scriptures and preach a message to call those that's never heard
of Christ. Have a calling message and then have one that you've
experienced. I don't know how you could do it without having
all three. You've got to give a sense of what it means. To do that, to tell about the
person and the work of Christ is to call sinners to Him. That's
preaching against sin is to tell how holy He is. And from one that's experienced
it. We see the three main roles there in the Old Testament. The
prophet, priest, and king. That's the three offices the
Lord gave out. He gave prophets to tell about Himself. He gave
the priest. to make intercessory work, to be a mediator, to go
into that holiest of holies with the blood on behalf of His people
as a representative. And He gave kings to rule the
people, to rule them, be in charge of them. And so many people,
many people, they are perfectly okay with Christ being the priest.
Him being a go-between, Him being a mediator. Most people are fine
with that. And they don't deny that He died.
They don't deny that He's risen. But not that he must enter into
that holiest of holies because I can't. I'll die. He must enter in for me. But
rather, for those folks, it's a convenience. Someone's going
to have to deal with God the Father. Well, let him do it.
That's a servant that does that. He must do it. He's the only
one qualified. So many people, they're okay with Christ being
the priest. Some people, some, Not that many. They're okay with
Christ being the prophet. But that great Redeemer sent
a comforter to the hearts of His people. A triune God that
affectionately convicts and calls and sustains His elect. Holy
Ghost abounds towards them. those children of God, and seals
them in a covenant promise, those given Him before time was. They'll
say election. There's a multitude of people
in this nation that believe in election, but very few. They're okay with priests. They're
okay with prophets. Very few, and I mean not many, bow to the
Almighty Ruler of heaven and earth, the King, Christ Jesus
the Lord, Very few. You know how few? A remnant.
A remnant bow to the Lordship of Christ, the King Jesus. All
the doctrines, fine. But they say, we will not have
this man to reign over us. Who he is, what he accomplished,
and where he is now. That's the message. That's the
good news. He'll say, you have a king. If
you had an evil king, a sovereign king, it's over you. That's bad
news, isn't it? We have a loving and gracious
king. In Romans 14, verse 8, Paul writes, for whether we live,
we live unto the Lord. And whether we die, we die unto
the Lord. So whether we live, therefore,
or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, It's us being
made the Lord's. Christ both died and rose and
revived that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living. And we know in Christ's coming
into this world, everything was according to the Scriptures. Where He was born, when He was
born. It was according to the Scriptures.
He lived fulfilling the Scriptures and He died according to the
Scriptures. He died. Can you get your mind
around that? God Almighty came to this world
in human flesh, the creator of heaven and earth, and He died. And you know what He died for?
His people. You could spend a lifetime preaching.
That's the full counsel of God right there. He came, He died
for His people and why He did it. He died because he must die
for sin. My blood can't atone. It don't
count. He had to provide himself the
land. That moral law of God was broken in the garden. That mosaic
law he gave at Sinai is broken. I can't fulfill it. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God, and we've all failed
at trying to glorify God. We can't do it. He must die. He must come. Turn over to Acts
chapter 2. So many think or tell others
wrongly, Christ came to this earth and died and you ought
to feel sorry for him. And try to guilt men and women
out of playing on their heart strings to get them to Get in
the pool. Make a confession of faith. Get
on a church roll. Start tithing. Then we can fire
up a discipleship program. Then we'll teach you how to live.
We'll stay after you. Christ came and He died on purpose.
Acts chapter 2. Y'all there? We got Acts 2? Okay. I don't know if I said
that. By the determinate, loving counsel of God. That's why Christ
died. Here in Acts 2 verse 23. Him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge, the
love of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified
and slain." Him coming and dying on purpose was an act of holy,
glorifying love. What wisdom, what godliness that
was for Christ to come and die for his people on a cross. That's
a declaration that He is just, a just and holy God, and He is
the Justifier. When was this purposed? Well,
this happened because this happened. So-and-so was king, and then
this history took place. This wasn't reactionary. The
Lord planned this before the earth was made. He says in Revelation
13.8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. What's
the purpose of life? Why is this ball floating through
space? For Christ to save His people.
He shall save His people. That's why we're here. Now those
men that laid hands on Him, that crucified Him, slain Him with
their wicked hands, who let that happen? How did they have power
to do that? Look over in Acts chapter 4. Peter and John are praying here,
they're speaking to their Lord. Here in verse 24, Acts 4, 24.
And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God
with one accord and said, Lord, Thou art God, which has made
heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them is. In verse 27, that's who they're
praying to. Acts 4.27, For of a truth against thy holy child
Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. These wicked men got the best
of Him. Absolutely not. The Lord's permissive will to
accomplish His eternal purpose. The man that drove the nails
into Christ's hands and feet, the Lord provided food for him
that day, so his muscles had energy and strong enough to do
it. And then He allowed it. What they meant for evil, He
meant for good. Turn over to John chapter 17. John 17. Christ died for the
glory of God. He died for the Father to glorify
Him. He glorified the Father and the
Father rightly crowned Him in His Lordship. And in doing that,
He gave eternal life to all those that He died for. those given
to Him before the foundation. Here in John 17 verse 1, these
words spake 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. And Thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as Thou hast given Him. And this is eternal life, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which
Thou gavest me to do." Everything that the Father purposed in the fulfilling of the Scriptures
for Christ to come and complete will feel accomplished. Christ
finished. He accomplished. What can we
add to it? What can we take away from it?
Well, I think we ought to... He said it's finished. That's
what His Word said. We can't supplement that. Christ
died in a holy act of obedience. He was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. We looked at that cross not too
long ago. That horrible, shameful means of death of Rome. He wasn't
stoned like the Jews were. That was their tradition. That's
in their law. He was crucified while forsaken. While hanging
on that cross, forsaken of God, he was faithful to his Father,
fully trusting and believing Him the whole time. When God
separated from God, God turned His back on God, Christ hung
there, faithful to the Father. He was obedient, and we are saved
by His faithfulness. Brother Todd said this one time,
and it stuck with me. He goes, my faith is His faith
saved me. That's my faith. His faith saved
me. What love towards us. What love. While we were enemies, Christ
died for the ungodly. Not only to lay down His life
for a people, but willing to bear our sin, bear our guilt,
bear our shame. He bore our sin in His body on
the tree. Almighty God in human flesh took
it. I can't imagine that just for mine, but He did that for
every one of His people. That attests to the power of
the blood, doesn't it? The value of that blood. For
all that the Father gave Him, He died for. He bore their sin
and it's finished. He lived for them and it's finished. That rules out unlimited atonement,
doesn't it? People say, well, He paid for
everybody. It's not what He said. He came
for His people. When this holy act of glorifying
the Father, honoring Him, being faithful to Him in every thought,
word and deed unto death, when it was accomplished, our Lord
rose. Back in our text in Romans 14, In verse 9 it says, "...for to
this end, us being made the Lord's, for to this end Christ both died
and rose." He died and He rose. And He died according to the
Scriptures and He rose according to the Scriptures. He told those
Pharisees they wanted a sign. Prove it to us. He had performed
I don't know how many miracles in front of them. They wanted
something else. Just keep filling in the blank.
Keep trying to satisfy them. He said, there shall be no sign
given save the prophet Jonah. What did Jonah say there in Jonah
117? Three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. And
they were spit up on dry ground. Those waves of wrath were over.
The prophet Hosea said, Come, let us return unto the Lord,
for He hath torn, and He will heal us. He hath smitten, and
He will bind us up. After two days He will revive
us. In the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live
in His sight. Turn over to Isaiah 53. Christ rose from the grave. Because
that atonement was complete. That sacrifice was accepted.
Propitiation was accepted. We don't have a tomb full of
bones somewhere that we're carrying around through the desert. We
have an empty tomb. He's risen. Isaiah 53. We'll start in verse 10. Yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief,
who now shall make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see
his seed. He shall prolong his days, and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall
see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he
shall bear their iniquities. And he says there in verse 12,
therefore, because his holy justice is satisfied forever, our sins
have been borne away. Therefore, will I divide him
a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with
the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and
he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors. When I see that Christ must die
for what I am, and that His death was victorious in the remission
of sins, the honoring of the Father's holiness, we are reconciled
that atonement has been made forever. Forever. It's finished. Then those saved
from death and hell, they sang praises to the Lord. That is
good news. If you have sin, that is good
news. Look here, chapter 54, verse 1. Saying, O barren, thou
that didst not bear, We didn't bear our sin before that throne
of judgment of the Father. Christ bore it for us. Break
forth into singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not prevail with
child. We didn't do the work. We didn't
prevail. The labor of righteousness before
God in this world, Christ our substitute gave it to us. He
labored for us. For more are the children of
the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the
Lord. That's worthy of singing about. If the Lord shows us what He's
done for us, the gracious love that He comes to His people with,
and we see that we don't deserve it, all what mercies He's given
us, it's completed forever, you'll sing. We'll sing a new song worthy
as the Lamb, won't we? He's able. Our text tells us
that for this end Christ both died and rose and revived. that He might be Lord of both
the living and the dead. It says He revived. The Lord
Jesus is the believer's resurrection. He quickens the dead sinner,
gives them life, and gives them His incorruptible seed, and we
are revived. That word revived there has a
long history with it. The Syriac versions in the Ethiopian
text, but the word revived is in our text in our laps this
evening. So we're going to look at that word, and it means to
recover life, to live again. Christ Jesus died. The Lord God
Almighty died, and He rose again to revive His people, to come
to them. We died in that first Adam, coming
to this world spiritually dead. There's no life in us. And the
Lord gives us life in Him, to live in Him. That's what he told
Martha. He said, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. Though they're dead in sins,
walking around, breathing air, dead as a doornail, though they're
dead, they're revived now. He that believeth in me, he has
life. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Believest thou this? Do I believe that? Do you? We
are given eternal life, and that reviving begins when we are given
that free, gracious gift of faith to believe Christ. If we're spiritually
alive, it's Christ that lives in us. When a hell-deserving
sinner is given saving faith, life-giving faith, to bow to
our Lord, we have a broken and a contrite heart. You know what
that means, a broken and a contrite? We say it a lot, don't we? We
come to the Lord and say, I'm broken. This vessel is broken. It won't hold water. And then
we bow. We're contrite. We bow to Him. Romans 14.9 says, to this end
Christ both died and rose and revived that He might be Lord
both of the living and the dead. Christ Jesus is Lord. He's Lord of His children that
are alive on this earth. Those are still living, walking
around. There He is. And those that are already with
Him in glory. He's their Lord. But He's Lord over all. Living
and the dead. Believers and unbelievers. So
we think of our worst enemy. Think of just somebody that just,
oh boy. If you could have that, if you could get away with it.
Your worst enemy. Christ is Lord over them. What
if our worst enemy is an institution? A principality or a power? What we just learned in Romans
13. Christ is Lord over them. They didn't make Him Lord. He
doesn't want to be Lord. He's trying to be. He is. He's Lord over them. Think of
the most lovely scenery walking on this earth. Think about the
Grand Canyon. We've got to fly over that. I
see it good flying over it this last time. It's majestic, isn't
it? That's just rocks. There's no
life in it. Beautiful. The cross of Jesus
is Lord over that. Over this creation. Those dead
things with no life in them. He's Lord over the birds. He's
Lord over the fishes. Men and women. When Peter went
fishing, Him and John went fishing. They didn't catch anything. And
Christ went there on the shore and he called and he said, children,
do you have any meat? Catch any fish? Got something
to eat out there? They didn't know it was him.
And they said, no. And he said, you cast your nets on the other
side. And this wasn't a 400 foot wide boat. And fish swim in water. They probably didn't even get
up and move. They just twisted. And they threw
to the other side. And there was so many fish in
that net, they couldn't even pull it up in the boat. John turned
to Peter and said, it is the Lord. The Lord, capital L-O-R-D. When we hear Him, we see Him,
we see that He died for His people, He rose, and He gave us life
to believe Him. Do we bow to Him? Do we bow to
His Lordship? If we do, what rest and what
peace if He gives us the ability to bow to Him? Turn over to Philippians
2 and I'll close. Philippians 2. Begin in verse 5. Philippians
2.5. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father. He died. He rose. He calls His people to Him. He
saves His people. And He is Lord. Lord. According to the Scriptures,
He died. According to the Scriptures,
He rose. And according to the Scriptures, He calls and revives
His people. He gives life to His people as
He said He would throughout. And according to the Scriptures,
He is Lord. I wanted to write a sermon, The
Lordship of Christ. Where do you start? Where do
you finish? And I thought, what is the Scripture?
Everything else has been according to the Scriptures. What does the
Scripture say about the Lordship of Christ? Not what I say, not
what I think. What does the Scripture say?
Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there. He was there, loving me
first, mindful of me when I didn't know Him, when I was at enmity
with Him. He says, Lo, I am with you always.
And what did He do when He was there? Jehovah-Reiha, the Lord
is my shepherd. He led me beside the still waters.
He spoke comfort to my heart, spoke comfortably to me. He reasoned
with me and He enabled me to see I have a need of Him. He
was there and He led me to see my need of Him. Jehovah Rapha,
the Lord that heals, that great position healed me. He removed
my sin as far as the east is from the west, blotted it out,
never to be remembered again. And He gave me His robe of righteousness. He lived for me, He died for
me, He rose for me, and He intercedes right now. on His throne for
me. He heals me with that balm of
Gilead. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. All temporal and all spiritual
needs is provided in Him. He provides all. We come to Him
with nothing. I have no works. I have no righteousness.
I have no holiness. I have nothing of my own. And
He provides because He is our righteousness and He is our sanctification. Jehovah Sikkenu, the Lord our
righteousness. That's going to be our surname.
Jeremiah says that's the name wherewith He shall be called,
across Jesus the Lord, the Lord our righteousness. And then a
few chapters over it says that's where whereby She shall be called,
the Lord our righteousness. Jehovah Mekodesh Kim, the Lord
who sanctifies. He gives us a holy nature. He
gives us the Lord our righteousness, those acts of a holy nature,
that's the water and the blood, from thy wounded side which flowed.
Be of sin the double cure. Save me from wrath and make me
pure. That sin can never come to us
again. People want to be their own shepherd.
They want to be their own healer. They want to provide for themselves.
They want to work out their own righteousness and they want to
sanctify themselves. That's putting themselves in
the place of God, isn't it? That's His name. If He is the Lord of all these
things, who can receive the glory? Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner.
When this reviving takes place in the heart of a person, Christ
is exalted and Him alone. And as we look to Christ alone,
He's all in all. Am I going to work out my own
righteousness? I really ain't sure how to spell it, so I can't
even read. The Lord's my righteousness.
He's everything I need. If we look to Him as our all
in all, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is peace, the Lord our peace. What peace we have? Why should
we have peace in that? Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of
hosts. He's the King of kings and the
Lord of lords of heaven and earth. It's Christ your Lord. Paul said that no man can say
that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. If we're to come
to Him, bowing to Him, that person, our Lord, the ruler and sustainer
of our lives and all creation, if He's our Lord, the Holy Ghost
gave us the ability to call Him that. I spoke in the beginning
about the motive and the intent. Do we see our Lord, the grace
He gives to us, to give us the faith to lay down all our arms,
all our crowns, and bow to Him? Or do we get distracted by meat
and days? He put this in there on purpose
that He's gonna go on and teach us some things in the rest of
this chapter about if we could see that, if we could see the
Lordship of Christ. Eat all the pork chops you want.
You can go trick or treat all you want. I want to see my Lord. I want to focus on Him. And if
I'm to be concerned about something between my brethren, I need to
not lay down a stumbling block. That's what I need to be worried
about. The Lordship of Christ and the furtherance of His gospel.
I hope that's a blessing to you. Let's pray together.