It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, for Lord, that could not be. Cuba Sutter Grace Church
would like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Rick
Warda. We currently meet at the Yuba
County Library, located at 303 2nd Street in downtown Marysville,
California, on the corner of 2nd and C Street. Weekly services
are held on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the library. For more information,
visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Rick Warda.
The scripture for our sermon today is found in Matthew chapter
22. From verse 23 we read, The same
day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection,
and asked him, saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having
no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up
seed to his brother. Now there were with us seven
brethren, and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased,
and having no issue, left his wife to his brother. Likewise
the second also, and the third unto the seventh. And last of
all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection,
whose wife shall she be of the seven, for they all had her?
Jesus answered and said to them, You do err, not knowing the Scriptures
nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels
of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection
of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you
by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. And when the multitude heard
this, they were astonished at his doctrine. I have entitled
this message, The God of the Living. In Jesus' response to
the Pharisees, he teaches us the foundation and certainty
of the resurrection of his people. The preaching of the gospel is
preaching the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ. The gospel
is good news because Christ rose from the dead. His death and
resurrection is the removal of the guilt and penalty of sin
from his people and the establishing of their everlasting righteousness. Because Christ died and rose
again, all for whom he died are free from sin and are made holy
before God. Hebrews 10.14 says, By one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. The first
thing we see in Christ's answer to the Sadducees is that God
is God to his people. Because he is the God of the
living, they live in him, they live by him, and they live to
him. The Sadducees denied the resurrection,
but the Lord Jesus proved the resurrection from scripture when
God said to Moses out of the bush, I am the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Jesus said, God is
not the God of the dead, but of the living. Therefore, Abraham
and all who are gods live and shall never die. Something very
beautiful appears from Christ's answer. In Exodus 3.15, God said,
This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all
generations. In these words, God revealed
himself by what he is to his people, the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. Names in scripture indicate who
a person truly is. 1 Samuel 25, 25 says, As is his
name, so is he. Therefore, God's name is who he is. The grace of God to his people
is seen in this. God so identifies himself with
his people that his revelation of himself is what he is in relation
to them. I am the God of Abraham and the
God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. This is my name. We see this
astounding truth throughout scripture. God reveals himself by what he
made himself to his people, by his eternal relation to them,
and by what he did for them by himself. Seven names are given
in the Old Testament that demonstrate this truth. Jehovah Jireh, the
Lord our Provider, Genesis 22.8 Jehovah Nisi, the Lord our Banner,
Exodus 17.15 Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness, Jeremiah
23.6 Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our Peace, Judges 6, 24. Jehovah Ra'ah, the Lord my shepherd,
Psalm 23. Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that
healeth thee, Exodus 15, 26. Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is
there. He unceasingly reveals himself
to his people, Ezekiel 48, verse 35. And in the New Testament,
God also names himself by his relation to his people. His name
shall be called Jesus. for he shall save his people
from their sins. He is the Christ, the anointed
prophet, king and priest to his people. He is the one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 1 Timothy 2.25.
Now all these names serve to show us that God has so made
himself God to his people that they must live because he lives. Now to understand the truth of
the resurrection we must first understand that Christ and his
people are one. This is the very ground of the
imputation of our sin to Christ and the imputation of his righteousness
to his elect people. All of their sin was charged
to him. All of his obedience and death
was credited to them. The Lord Jesus lived a representative
life. Romans 5.19 says, as by one man's
disobedience, Adam's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by
the obedience of one, Christ, the many shall be made righteous. He died a substitutionary death. 1 Corinthians 15.3 says Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures. All men are sinners,
but the sins of God's elect, the people God gave to His Son
in eternal election, are the sins that were made to be Christ's
by an act of God. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, He hath
made Him sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. God made Christ sin for His people,
though Christ in Himself knew no sin. He did no sin. In Him
was no sin. And in themselves his people
knew no righteousness. They did no righteousness. They
only sinned. But God made Christ sin for them. Not only was he made sin for
them, but because he was made sin, and because he was made
under the law, he was cursed by God. Galatians 3.13 says,
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us as it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. The Lord Jesus bore the sins
of his people as his very own and was cursed for them. 1 Peter
2.24 says, Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the
tree. And John 3.14-15 says, As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life. Moses hung a brass serpent
on the pole. The law cursed Christ for the
sins of his people. all who were bitten and looked
to the uplifted serpent on the pole lived. So all who are under
the curse of the law and look to Christ only as all of their
salvation have already been raised to life. In his death the Lord
Jesus fulfilled all that God required for his people. Second
Corinthians 521 says that because he was made sin and cursed of
God all for whom he died are made the righteousness of God
in him. The teaching of Scripture, how that Christ and His people
were made one in eternal election, one in covenant representation
and substitution, and one as the head is to the body, is the
very basis on which God charged His Son with their sins and credited
them with His obedience. In His death, Christ endured
the full penalty of God against sin. His death made full satisfaction
to God. Their debt was fully paid. Scripture
teaches that believers died to sin in the death of Christ. We
are not dead to sin by a work of God in us. We are not dead
to sin by an influence of God working on us. We most certainly
do not put ourselves to death to sin or raise ourselves to
life. We are dead to sin by the death
of Christ outside of our personal history. We are righteous before
God by the obedience of Christ without any of our own personal
obedience to God's law. We are righteous by the obedience
of Christ in His death on the cross. In fact, we are righteous
before God in spite of our disobedience to God's law. Dead to sin's guilt,
dead to the penalty God's law demands. Satisfaction has been
made to God by Christ for us. We are righteous, holy, blameless,
and perfect before God by His one offering. God made Himself
God to His people in Christ. One man for God's people, the
God-man, our mediator, our Redeemer, our surety, our Savior. Because
this is our state before God, Scripture says, Reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 6, verse 11. Because we
are one with Christ in His death, because He satisfied justice
and fulfilled God's law by His obedience unto death, His people
are all holy in Him, without blame, as righteous as He is
righteous. Because they are righteous in
Christ, they are raised from the dead with Him. The righteous
cannot die. God gives life to the righteous.
When Christ fulfilled the will of God in his death, he cried,
it is finished. He was buried. His burial proved
his death. His burial also proved that our
sins are not remembered by God anymore. They are buried out
of mind, as Psalm 88 says, like the slain that lie in the grave,
whom thou rememberest no more, and they are cut off from thy
hand. Our sins were cut off. They are forgotten by God according
to His eternal covenant with His people in Christ that He
would remember their sins and iniquities no more. Because Christ
made satisfaction to God's law when He bore our sins and the
penalty for them, and because His obedience is our righteousness,
God therefore raised Him from the dead, but not Him by Himself. all of his people have been raised
with him. We were justified with him and
raised with him when God raised him from the dead. Romans 6 verse
3-4 says, Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into
Jesus Christ were baptized into his death Therefore, we are buried
with Him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. Baptism signifies our death and
burial and resurrection with Christ by virtue of our union
with Him. Baptism does not wash away sins. Only the blood of Christ does
that. Baptism does not make us holy. Only the obedience of Christ
unto death does that. But baptism signifies what really
took place. Baptism represents the reality. In baptism we go under the water
because in Christ we died under the penalty of God's law, the
wrath of God. Psalm 88 verse 7 says, Thy wrath
lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy
waves. the waters of baptism completely
cover us because the floods of God's wrath overflowed the Lord
Jesus Christ in his soul. Jonah 2 verse 3 says, all thy
billows and waves passed over me. and we are lifted up from
the waters of baptism to signify our resurrection with Christ.
We do not baptize ourselves. The gospel is not what God does
in me or to me, but what Christ did for me. He died. He was buried. He rose again. Two thousand years ago, He accomplished
my complete and perfect salvation. it is history that took place
before i was born the gospel proclaims what christ did in
his death and what he accomplished by his resurrection not what
i do or even what god does in me when i believe we see that
in the lord jesus christ god has made himself god to his people
all that god is he is to his people in christ jesus the lord
colossians two verse nine to ten Conversely, all that Christ
is as God-man, our mediator, He is, for His people, to God. When Jesus proved the resurrection
from Exodus 3, verse 6, He alluded to this glorious truth that we
live because God made us His people from eternity in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We are both dead to sin and risen
with Christ by our relation to Him established in God's eternal
electing grace. Ephesians 1 verse 3 through 5.
Now, scripture reveals four different resurrections. The first is the
bodily resurrection of Christ. He rose again the third day according
to the scriptures, 1 Corinthians 15 verse 4. But the gospel does
not merely preach the fact of Christ's bodily resurrection.
The Gospel is the truth of what Christ accomplished in His resurrection. God justified His Son because
Christ made full satisfaction to His justice and perfectly
fulfilled all obedience to His law. His obedience in death on
the cross established the everlasting righteousness of God's elect.
God pronounced him guiltless of all charges, and he pronounced
him to be perfectly righteous. Just as the wages of sin is death,
the reward of righteousness is life, and the reward for everlasting
righteousness is everlasting life. Because Christ established
everlasting righteousness by fulfilling the will of God, God
raised him from the dead. He died for our sins and rose
because of our justification. Romans 4.25 declares this truth. He was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification or because of our
justification. And Hebrews 9.12 also states
this truth. Now, the second resurrection
revealed in scripture is the resurrection of God's elect in
regeneration. We sinned in Adam. We sinned
in ourselves. We are therefore dead in sins.
But as Ephesians 2, 4 through 6 says, But God, who is rich
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace
you are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ. Here again, we see that
our resurrection is in Christ and with Christ. Jesus said,
because He lives, we shall live also. John 14, verse 19. Because God justified and raised
His Son, all of God's elect were justified and raised with Him.
Because they are justified at God's appointed time, He reveals
His great love to them in Christ by raising them to life in their
souls and giving them faith to see that Christ is their all. All who are raised in their souls
live by looking to Christ. "'I live,' said the Apostle Paul,
"'by the faith of the Son of God who loved me "'and gave himself
for me.'" Galatians 2.20. It is amazing to think about
the resurrection of our souls with Christ. The dead do not
raise themselves. Resurrection is God's work alone. We live because Christ is our
life, Colossians 3, 4. Jesus said, I am the resurrection
and the life, John 11, 25. Paul and every believer can now
say, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. It is because we were justified
in the death of Christ that Christ now lives in us by his spirit. We are given life in our souls
because God justified Christ when he raised him from the dead.
Romans 8 verse 10 teaches us that Christ in us is the resurrection
of our souls. It says, if Christ be in you,
The body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. Because Christ lives in us by
His Spirit, our new nature cannot sin. That which is born of God
cannot sin, 1 John 3, verse 9. The new nature we receive in
the new birth by the Spirit of Christ cannot sin. As Romans
7, verse 25 says, we have the mind of Christ. We are renewed
in the spirit of our mind, Ephesians 4, 23. Therefore, when our bodies
sleep in death, We immediately go to be with the Lord. 2 Corinthians
5.8 says to be absent from the body is to be present with the
Lord. Though our body is dead because
of sin, we live in our souls and we cannot die. Jesus said
in John 11.26, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die. Christ's own spirit in us will
raise our bodies from the dead. If the spirit of him that raised
up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ
from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit
that dwelleth in you. Romans 8 verse 11. Therefore,
when our bodies sleep in death, In our souls we immediately go
to be with the Lord. As it says in 2nd Corinthians
5 verse 8, to be absent from the body is to be present with
the Lord. And though our body is dead because
of sin, yet we live in our souls and in our souls we can never
die. As Jesus said in John 11 verse
26, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. And from
Romans 8.11 we learn that our bodies will also be raised from
the dead because the Spirit of God dwells in us. When our bodies
die, our souls go to be with the Lord because our souls already
have been raised to life. because Christ lives in us, and
because in the beginning God made us both body and soul, therefore
when Christ comes our bodies also shall be raised by Him.
Our resurrected bodies shall be made like His glorious body. And Philippians 3 verse 21 teaches
this glorious truth that when the Lord Jesus Christ raises
our bodies from the dead, He will change them to be like His
glorious body. But we might ask, when shall
our bodies be raised from the dead? The answer from 1 Corinthians
15 verse 52 is, at the last day, at the last trump. 1 Thessalonians
4 verse 16 says, The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Paul tells
the Thessalonians, wherefore comfort one another with these
words. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 18. The truth of our resurrection
with Christ in his resurrection and our resurrection with Christ
in our souls and our resurrection with him in our bodies on the
last day is the most comforting of all truths in our present
experience of faith and hope. In our present experience there
is no greater comfort than the truth of our resurrection with
Christ. Think of your everyday struggle
with sin in your mind and in your words and in your actions. Think of the weakness and the
infirmities of your body. Think of the corruption of your
body and of your mind. Think of the ever-growing evil
even in this present world. Think also of the sufferings
Christ's people endure as they carry the truth of the gospel
throughout the world, and think of their persecutions at the
hands of unbelievers. In all of these, the resurrection
of Christ comforts us. In every trial of life, and especially
in our warfare with our sinful mind and body, we are taught
over and over again not to trust ourselves, but to trust in God
who raises the dead. By virtue of our union with Christ,
because we died with Christ to the guilt and to the penalty
of sin, And because Christ lives to God, therefore neither the
guilt of our sin, nor the penalty of sin, which is the second death,
nor even the power of sin, shall ultimately have dominion over
Christ redeemed. We are raised by the power of
God. Christ lives in us and for us
and we live in Him at God's right hand. Therefore, we are under
grace. All has been done for us by Christ. All conditions have been met.
Our victory has already been obtained. Romans 5.10 says, if
when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more, be now reconciled, we shall be saved
by His life. Christ lives and reigns to save
us to the uttermost Hebrews 7 verse 25 therefore God's promise to
every believer is that sin shall not have dominion over you for
you are not under the law but under grace Romans 6 verse 14
as Christ rose from the dead and now lives to God all who
are raised with him now live to God But in our experience,
in the wrestlings of our mind and thoughts, in our words and
even in our actions, we see sin infecting every part of us. What
are we to think? What hope do we have? Is there
any hope for a sinner like me? Yes, because we do not trust
in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead. We had the sentence
of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves,
said the Apostle Paul, but in God, which raises the dead, who
delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver, in whom we
trust that he will yet deliver us." Second Corinthians, chapter
1, verse 9 through 10. We have been saved, we are being
saved, and we shall yet be saved, because Christ overcame sin and
death, and in Him we died to sin and to the law. He now lives,
therefore we shall overcome. First Corinthians 1557 brings
this truth out beautifully. Thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to the words
of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 7-11. We have this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in
despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not
destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the
Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest
in our body. for we which live are always
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. In ourselves and
to others we appear spiritually impotent. In our bodies it seems
we have no victory over the effects of sin and corruption. Even as
the Lord Jesus was weak in his body in the days of his flesh,
yet was raised in power, we who have been raised with him shall
one day rise out of the dust of corruption to eternal life. 2 Corinthians 13 verse 4 says,
For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives by the
power of God. For we also are weak in him,
but we shall live with him by the power of God. When spiritual
weakness in ourselves seems painfully apparent, when we seem to have
no strength, Then we are to remember that these things are meant to
wean us from trusting ourselves and cause us to remember that
as God raised up Christ by His own power and glory, He shall
raise us up also with Him. Our lack of strength was never
a limitation to God. Our misplaced confidence in self
is a barrier that God must break down through trials and weaknesses
so that we will always find all of our hope in Christ alone. Now, the final question we must
ask is, how do I know I have been raised from spiritual death
to spiritual life with Christ? I think this is the question
we must all ask and answer from scripture. How do I know God
is my God, that I live because He lives? How do I know that
I was in Christ when He answered God by His obedience and death?
How do I know He will answer for me in the day of judgment?
Scripture answers this question. Faith is the gift of God, Ephesians
2, 8-9. Salvation is all of grace, none
of works. Every believer learns by his
warfare with the sin that is in his mind and his body, that
in heaven he must be the greatest trophy of God's saving grace. He knows through this warfare
that Christ must have all the glory for I only deserve damnation,
but all I've received is eternal glory for Christ's sake. Therefore,
just as resurrection requires the power of God, and just as
in resurrection God does not look for nor depend on the strength
of the dead, The answer to this question is that the very first
evidence I live to God is that I look to Christ only. Jesus
said in John 5, 24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death to life. Evidence of resurrection in my
soul, therefore, is faith in Christ and Him crucified. My
new God-given nature looks to Christ as everything in my salvation. He is all my righteousness and
my only answer to God. The second evidence we see is
in our daily experience. When all of our spiritual strength
is only weakness, when we have nowhere else and no one else
to look to, do we cry to the Lord? According to the psalmist
in Psalm 34, 17, the righteous cry. Do you call out of the warfare
of all that you are in yourself to the Lord to save you? The
Lord says in Psalm 50, verse 15, call upon me in the day of
trouble. I will deliver you and thou shalt
glorify me. And in Psalm 65, 3, he says,
iniquities prevail against me. And as for our transgressions,
thou shalt purge them away. And Psalm 79.9 says, Help us,
O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name, and deliver
us, and purge away our sins for thy name's sake. Do you find
yourself crying to the Lord out of the barrenness of your soul
and your warfare with sin? Do you see your utter unworthiness
and inability to satisfy for one sin or turn from one sin
or perform one function of spiritual life? Do you cry to the Lord
from your soul, asking Him to save you for Christ's sake alone? As the psalmist says in Psalm
86 verse 3, Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto thee
daily. This is the second evidence of
resurrection. You cry to the Lord alone to
save you daily. O soul of mine, O dear friend,
look to Christ, who lived and died to fulfill all righteousness
for His people. Look to Him who rose triumphant
over sin and death. Look to Christ who has power
to give you faith and uphold that faith in Him. Look to Him
who now lives to God and by whose life you shall be saved. To the uttermost, Hebrews 7,
25. Call upon Him. This will be your daily experience
until your body lies still in the grave. If you believe Him
who is the resurrection and the life, you shall never die in
your soul. And though your body sleep in
death, you shall be raised to eternal glory with Christ." As
the hymn writer wrote, all glory and praise to the Lamb that was
slain. You've just heard a sermon by
our pastor, Rick Warda. You may contact us by email or
by phone, or download a copy of this sermon by visiting our
website at ysgracechurch.com.