Well, little Timothy asked me
yesterday, was I going to be looking at the Easter story?
And in one sense the answer is no, because in the sense that
religion views Easter and makes such a religious fuss about it,
no, no, not doing that, not going along with the way the world
does things with its Good Friday services and all this other stuff.
No. But in another sense, yes. Because
we do it every Sunday. Every Sunday, I hope. Every day
we rejoice in, we don't call it the Easter story, but the
fact that Christ died for the sins of his people and rose again. And we've been looking through
Luke's Gospel, and rather than look at every incident in Luke
22 and 23, in the run-up to the trial and the crucifixion of
our Lord Jesus Christ I wanted to summarize it and I want to
summarize it in two verses and it's at the end of Romans chapter
4 and that's our text today Romans 4 verses 24 and 25 where we read
this but for us also to whom it shall
be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead who was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for our justification. Now the events of Luke 22 and
23 there's the Last Supper and then they go out to the Garden
of Gethsemane and we see our Lord sweating as it were drops
of blood in his humanity dreading what was about to happen yet
as the Son of God coming with his face set as flint to accomplish
that that he came to do which was to go to Jerusalem and to
accomplish salvation the death that he would accomplish at Jerusalem
and then we see the betrayal in the garden and we see the
trial and all the false witnesses and everything that goes with
that we see Barabbas as a picture, Barabbas as a picture of us. Why? Because he was the guilty
one, yet he went free, and Christ went in his place. We see the
crucifixion, where the Lamb of God, behold the Lamb of God,
our Lord Jesus Christ, not one of the lambs of the temple, but
him, the lamb of God, was sacrificed not on an altar in the temple,
but on the altar of his cross. He is our altar. He took our
sins in his own body and bore them there to redeem us from
the curse of the law. We see the dying thief, it's
in Luke's gospel, we see the dying thief. This day shall you
be with me in paradise. We see the onlookers looking
and observing. Men and women like us, and yet
without the grace of God, looking with scorn and ridicule. And
we see those who are looking with hearts that are touched.
We see Christ dying, really, really dying, forsaken of the
Father, bearing the sins of his people, bearing the wrath and
justice of God. We see the account of the temple
veil, that which kept people out of the holy of holies. that
being rent from top to bottom, that being torn from top to bottom,
that we might have access. Therefore we come boldly, says
Paul, to the throne of grace. We come boldly. Why? Because
he's torn it apart. We have access through his blood.
And the sacrifice that we take in there, like the high priest
on the Day of Atonement, we take the blood of Christ with us into
the Holy of Holies, and therefore we're accepted. We see his burial,
and then going on into chapter 24 we see his resurrection. And
it's all actually, historically, physically, really true. And we believe it. We believe
it. We believe this message. And
so do many others. They believe the historical fact
of it. Many in religion believe the historical fact of it. I
was encouraged to listen to a sermon the other day. And I'm not going
to say what or where or who or why, but it was a sermon that
used the name of Christ a lot, how you must have Christ and
how you must know Christ and how you must have him and how
important it is and how it's important above everything else.
But you know, sadly, I was saying, when are you going to get round
to telling me why I must have him? And there wasn't a word
of why I must have him, just you must have him, you must have
him, you must have him, but no word about what he does for me.
No word about what he does for me. No. It's alright to exhort
devotion to Christ and to lift up the name of Christ. You can
do all of that, but you still don't preach Christ. You only
preach Christ if you set forth what he accomplished in what
he did. What he accomplished in shedding
his precious blood. It's okay to know some things
about Christ. It's okay to know some things
about him, but it's not enough for salvation. No, you must know
Christ in the power of his salvation. You must have saving faith. Not
just mental faith, but saving faith. The gospel of Christ is
the power of God, says Paul. Romans 1.16, it's the power of
God unto salvation. to everyone that believes. It's
got to do something for you. It's not just got to be a set
of lucky charms that you carry around with you like so many
people do. It's got to do something for you, and it does. The gospel
is the gospel of God. Paul uses the expression my gospel
often. and the expression, the gospel
of God. Isn't it important to know that your gospel is the
gospel of God? Isn't that the most important
thing? It's alright to have a gospel, but if it isn't the gospel of
God, it's a false gospel, and you're under a delusion. You're
hiding, as Isaiah calls it, behind a refuge of lies. No, no. We need to know what it is to
know Christ in truth. So I've entitled this message,
Knowing Christ in Truth, in the truth of the gospel. Knowing
him, not just about him, but knowing him in your heart, in
the truth of the gospel. What is it to be a true believer?
If you're a true believer, as Peter was mentioning in his prayer,
you have a good hope of eternal life. you have a good hope you
have a solid confidence I know it is well with my soul as that
hymn says I know As Job said, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and as bad as he was in his flesh, as afflicted as he was, he said,
I know that in my flesh shall I see God. I know that my Redeemer
lives, and he shall stand at the letter, and I'll see him.
I have a good hope, a confident hope. I have the full assurance
of faith. And if you have the full assurance
of faith, you know what Paul says you can do? You can draw
near. You can come near, you can come where men and women
don't go for fear of being struck dead, into the holy of holies,
into the presence of God, but in the full assurance of faith,
we can come close. often when I'm preparing I make
a lot of use of what our brother Don Faulkner has written because
he's written some excellent stuff and I utterly commend everything
he's ever written to you and quite frankly anybody that tells
me that the writings and the words of Don Faulkner are of
inferior value goes down significantly in my estimation because he's
a faithful man who has utterly devoted himself to the kingdom
of God and writing for the benefit of people and I often have a
look and you'll tell if you read his works you'll know that I
make extensive use of it but you know I just want to say this
right at the start I planned out a structure for this sermon
and what it's going to consist of is we believe God's account
concerning his son because it's God's account Secondly, we believe
that Christ redeemed his people when he was offered up for our
offences. And we believe the resurrection
confirms the justification of his people. Those are my three
points. And then when I finished it, I thought, I'll have a look
and see what Don, if Don's got anything to say on this. I was
surprised, I was staggered to find that the very last sermon
he preached last week was on Romans 4, 24 and 25. And the
structure of his sermon is exactly this structure. So yes, more
often than not, you're quite justified in thinking that there's
some plagiarism, which Don fully supports. He encourages people
like me to plagiarize his work. You're very justified, more often
than not, in thinking there's some plagiarism of Don Faulkner's
works, but not this week, even though what he preached last
week is exactly the same structure as I prepared. It's the same
Holy Spirit that guides us, the same Holy Spirit. So, we follow
the pattern of Abraham, our father in the faith. Abraham is the
father of those who have the same faith. Galatians 3, 7, Know
ye therefore that they which are of faith, true faith, the
same, are the children of Abraham. Oh, you say, I'm not a Jew, so
I'm not the children of Abraham. Yes, you are, if you've got the
same faith as Abraham. That's what the word of God says.
If you've got the same faith as Abraham, you're a child of
Abraham in the faith. And why do we believe? Why do
we have that saving faith? What is it that makes a difference?
What is it that causes you to differ? We know what it is. It's
the grace of God. It's nothing else. What maketh
you to differ? The grace of God. There but for
the grace of God, to hell go I, but the grace of God rescued
me. It's what God has given me. It's
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God. So this is why we believe, and
this is what we believe. We believe God's account. We believe God's account concerning
the things to do with his son in saving his people from their
sins. Look at verse 24 of Romans 4.
Verse 24. He's talking about imputation.
And the imputation he's talking about is righteousness. Verse
22. Therefore it was imputed, counted,
credited, put on his balance sheet to him for righteousness. Right? Righteousness. Don't we
need righteousness? Follow it. Pursue it. Holiness.
Righteousness. Without which, no man shall see
the Lord. We must have it. How holy must
we be to go to heaven? As holy as God is. We must be
that holy. Which of us in our flesh is anywhere
near? None of us. But in Christ, those
who are in Christ, are counted the righteousness of God in Him.
We're not only counted, I got that wrong, we're made the righteousness
of God in Him. made it. As he was made sin for
us, we're made the righteousness of God in him. And because of
that, his righteousness is imputed, it's counted as our righteousness.
Now, verse 24, he's talking about Abraham, but then in verse 24
he says, it's for us also. To whom it shall be imputed,
the righteousness of God, if, if, this is the mark of it, we
believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Who's that? The Father. The father raised
up his son from the dead. If we believe on God who raised
up his son from the dead, who was delivered for our offences,
his son was delivered for our offences and was raised for our
justification. We believe on the father who
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. And we believe it because
it's God who has said it. You see, a lot of people believe
a lot of things about God on one condition. that those things
accord with their own, what they regard as reasonable thinking,
reasonable reasoning. If it fits with what they think
is reasonable, then they'll believe it, but if it doesn't, then they
won't believe it. So, you know, there's loads of
people who call themselves Christians, and there's a whole load of things
about how the church should be governed, but it doesn't fit
with what they want. in these days, and so they fly
in the face of it, and do their own thing, and completely go
contrary to what God has said in his word. But no, we believe
it because God has said it. We believe the Bible account
of all things because it's what God has said. And if you read
on the back of the bulletin there's a little article by Todd Nybert
about if God has said it, it's right. Not what we think, not
what we rationalize as right, but what God has said. For shall
not the judge of all the earth do right? What he does will be
vindicated as absolutely right in the end because he is God. He is God. the flesh of the natural
man of you and me, my flesh often struggles and wants to reject
and wants to disbelieve and wants to say now this is going too
far. But the man born again of the Spirit of God, you know,
two natures within, and that one within, he is God's Word. And what's God's Word? In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. Who was that Word? Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the good shepherd of his sheep. When we hear God's Word, we hear
the good shepherd speaking. And his people, his sheep, his
sheep hear his voice. And what do they do? They follow
him. They follow him. They follow him, whatever else
reason might say. There were lots of disciples
in John 6 who followed Jesus because they thought, this is
interesting, he's got something to say, he's an extraordinary
man, he is speaking things that we've never heard before, this
is quite amazing, we'll follow him. And then reason started
to say, hey, hold on a minute, I don't like that. And nearly
all of it, nearly all of it was sovereign grace. Nearly all of
it was Jesus saying, no man can come to me unless my father draw
him. Oh, I'll come if I want to come.
No, you won't. You'll only come if my father
draws you, is what Jesus, oh, oh, that doesn't fit with my
reasoning. And you know, many of them went away. Lots of them
went away. The crowds that were following,
that had been fed, the majority of them went away, because it
didn't fit with their reasoning. But those that remained, the
disciples, Jesus said, will you also go away? And Peter said,
the spokesman for them, he said, to whom shall we go? You have
the words of eternal life. Yes, the flesh probably wants
to go, but we're hearing the Good Shepherd's voice and we
cannot go elsewhere. Have you ever known that experience?
To go along with the crowd and you think, I can't. This isn't
the Good Shepherd's voice. I cannot go along with this religion.
I must get out of this situation. I must go where I can have that
pure, pure gospel grace, and that alone. So we believe God
concerning salvation, that he can and shall take his people
to eternal glory. Though we die in the flesh, we
believe, yet in my flesh shall I see God my Redeemer. God brings
life out of death. We believe it. What is it we
believe? We believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from
the dead. We believe that he raised Jesus
to life from the dead. That he died and he was raised
to life. Do you believe this? Do you believe it? We believe
that God is able. Think of Abraham and Sarah in
their old age, promised a son, but well past the age of bearing.
Sarah was 90 years old, Abraham was 100 years old. It says in
the scripture, he as good as dead, in terms of fertility,
in terms of being able to reproduce, in terms of being able to have
a baby as a couple, they were dead. But out of that deadness,
God brought life and Isaac was born to them. God brought life
out of them. He does. God is one who brings
life out of what looks like a dead situation. Even that son Isaac
went with Abraham when God told him to, to Mount Moriah, and
there Abraham was going to kill his son, but do you know what
he knew? What he believed? He believed that God would raise
him from the dead. He believed that if he thrust
that knife through that beloved son's heart, his only Isaac,
the one in whom was the seed of promise, in the one in whom
God would come and crush the serpent's head and redeem his
people from their sins, this is how God's going to do it.
But I've got to kill him. Well, what's God going to do, believed
Abraham? He's going to raise him from the dead. He's able
to do it. God is able to raise from the
dead. There was, again, with Elijah,
you know, he stayed with that widow and her son died, and the
widow was grief-stricken. because her son had died, and
Elijah, in the power of God, raised him from the dead, and
he came back to life. God raises the dead. God is able
to raise the dead. Our Lord Jesus Christ, as he
walked and performed miracles, he came across a funeral one
day of the widow, and her son had died, her dearest possession
in this life, her son had died, and Jesus raised him from the
dead, and the crowd were amazed. Jairus' daughter, he raised from
the dead. Lazarus, the one whom he loved,
the brother of Martha and Mary, he raised him from the dead.
He raised him from the dead. Lazarus came forth from the tomb,
with the grave closed, left behind, with that rotting, stinking flesh
of death gone, and he came back to life because Christ raised
him from the dead. Do you believe that God raises
the dead? We believe on Him that raised
up Jesus, our Lord, from the dead. We believe on Him. Do you? Do you believe God raises the
dead? You say, well, I believe in God,
but I wouldn't go quite that far. How many people in religion
say, yeah, they believe that there's quite a bit to this,
but I wouldn't go so far as believing in the resurrection. Can I ask
you a question? What is the point of believing in a God who cannot
raise the dead? What on earth is the point of
believing a God who cannot raise the dead? Of course He can raise
the dead. He's God. He's the one who gives
life. In Him is life. And the life
is the light of men. In Him is life. I am come, said
Jesus, that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
Not just in this mortal life, in this time on earth, but eternal
life. Of course God raises the dead.
The mark of those chosen of God The mark of those picked out
by God from all humanity in sovereign grace, to be redeemed by Christ
in time, to be justified from the foundation of the world in
the blood of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world,
to have the law of God satisfied for them, to be quickened by
the Holy Spirit and brought to newness of life, the mark of
it is belief of the truth. How does Paul know that the Thessalonians
are the elect of God? He said it's through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. He's bound to give thanks
to God for you. Chosen of God, beloved of God, for God has from
the beginning chosen you to salvation. How does he know? You've been
set apart by God the Holy Spirit. You believe the truth of the
gospel of grace. And it's that which is the basis
of good hope. The good hope that we have, the
assurance that we have, is based on something solid. not just
on a fluffy, woolly, warm feeling, it's based on something solid,
that redemption has been accomplished, that Christ in his death has
satisfied the law. The law, for each one of us,
has a charge sheet that we cannot deny, we must confess, we must,
at that throne we must say, yes, I am guilty, but, but, he has
borne it, he has paid it, and now there is therefore no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. That's the basis of our good
hope. It's redemption accomplished for his people. It's not an option
that is offered. There is no such thing, whatever
people erroneously tell you, as the offer of the gospel. No,
there's the call of the gospel preached. There isn't an offer
of it. There isn't sufficiency in the
death of Christ for all to be saved if only all would believe
it, because they won't ever believe it. That's a lie, that's a delusion. It isn't something that is just
made possible for, I quote, those who humble themselves to receive
it. No, it's by the sovereign grace
of God that he saves his people from their sins. And Abraham's
belief in this chapter 4 was credited to him, was imputed
to him, was accounted to him for righteousness. Romans 4 verse
3, for what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God and it was
counted unto him for righteousness. The only mark that you are one
of the multitude whom God has justified, that multitude from
every tribe and kindred, is that you believe God. You believe
what God says regarding sin and his holiness. and how abhorrent
sin is to him. And he gives you that sense which
brings you to repentance in your heart when you know something
of the violence. Job, I've told you many times,
was counted head and shoulders above his fellow men in terms
of what men count as righteousness. But when he saw God, when he
saw God, he said, now mine eye has seen and I think I'm really
quite a good chap. No, I abhor myself. I detest
myself because I see what I am in the light of your law and
your holiness and your truth. That's what he brings his people
to, to know something of our sin and depravity. To praise
him for his grace, for we know that but for his grace we would
justly be condemned to hell. To praise him for his particular
redemption of the people that he loved with an everlasting
love. To praise him that where the
law demands condemnation for them and for them alone, Jesus
came and was made their sin that he might pay the law's penalty
for their sin. We believe what he says about
his irresistible calling. his eternal keeper, we don't
we don't worry about numbers because we know that there is
not one what were we reading last week about not a grain in
the sifting not a, I will sift Amos wasn't it, Amos 9 verse,
I will sift the house of Israel and they'll go through a sifting
but remember what he said not a solitary grain will be lost
not one he will save all of his people from their sins he will
bring every single one to eternal glory Because he who knew no
sin, our Saviour, the man who we saw, the man of sorrows acquainted
with grief, the man of sorrows came and was made sin that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. He that is our
God, Psalm 68 verse 20, he that is our God is the God of salvation. He's the God of the whole earth,
He's the God of creation, He's the God of all sorts of things,
but He's the God of our salvation, and unto God the Lord belong
the issues of death. Secondly, we believe that Christ
redeemed his people. If we believe on him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead, that's God, who was delivered,
Jesus was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our
justification. He was delivered for our offences, delivered for
our offences. To know Christ in truth, and
not just about him, is to know that he has satisfied the law's
demands for your sins particularly. Yours particularly, you know,
my sin, you sing that hymn, my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious
thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole of it, is nailed
to his cross. For he's taken it, and dealt
with it, and taken it out of the way. You know that particularly. You know something of the vileness
of your sinful heart, as it appears in the light of God's holiness.
You know that you deserve eternal condemnation. You've been given
a spirit of repentance by God's spirit, and you've been given
faith to see Christ, to see this one, to see the God-man, to see
God veiled in human flesh, to see him, God, made flesh and
blood, that he might be the substitute for his people who have flesh
and blood. Why did he partake of flesh and
blood? Because the children he came to save were children of
flesh and blood. And the law says, the soul that
sins, it shall die, its life shall be spilled out, and its
life is in the blood, its blood shall, without the shedding of
blood there is no remission. But he came, clothed in the same
sinful flesh, yet without sin, tempted in all points, yet without
sin, so that he might die the death that the law demanded of
his sinful people. A man for men in the place of
men. A body in which he might bear
the sins of his people. A body you have prepared. He's
been given a body that he might bear the sins of his people in
his own body on the tree. Look at Isaiah 53. Turn back
to the passage we read earlier. Just the sheer majesty of these
words. It defies description, doesn't
it, in human words, just if you know anything of this, the glory
that is here in these words, he was despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we
hid as it were our faces from him, he was despised and we esteemed
him not. This is the one who was gloriously
holy and gracious in everything he did, and yet the sinful heart
of man despised him and esteemed him not. He bore the griefs of
his people. The hour and the us here are
the people whom God the Father gave to him before the foundation
of the world. Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. We esteemed him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our... Why
was he on the cross? He who knew no sin. Why was he
on the cross? Because God made him the sin
of his people. That he might redeem his people
from their sins. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Of all the world? No. No. No. Not of all the world. Look. Verse 8. for the transgression,
at the end of verse 8, for the transgression of my people It's
for my people. Call his name Jesus, said the
angel to Joseph, for he shall save his people from their sins. He shall save his people, for
the transgression of my people was he stricken. It pleased the
Lord to bruise him. He shall bear, verse 11 at the
end, for he shall bear their iniquities. He shall justify
many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Read that more slowly
at your leisure. He satisfied the law's demands.
And what did the law demand for his people? Death. Perfection
or death. And he died for his people. He
died in my place. And I died in him. So Paul says
in Galatians 2, 21, I am crucified with Christ. I am crucified.
As far as the law is concerned, when the law nailed Christ bearing
my sin to that tree, I was nailed there in him. So the law says,
you must die. And then it looks and it says,
you've died already. I need ask no more. What more?
What more? We sang in that hymn, didn't
we? There's the words of that hymn. Payment. God cannot twice demand. First, at my bleeding sureties,
my guarantor's hand, my representative's hand, and then again at mine.
He's done it already. He cannot demand punishment,
payment, at my hand the second time. He was made sin. How else Could God's elect be
cleared of the law's charges against them, except an acceptable
substitute pay their debt? It's the only way it could happen. Only. He had to be an acceptable
substitute, so he mustn't have any sin of his own. He must be
sinless. He must have infinite capacity. Therefore he must be God. He
cannot be an inferior God. He must be God. God constantly
throughout the Old Testament calls himself merciful, delighting
in mercy, and God your saviour. He is a just God, in that his
law is unchanging, and yet he's a justifying God, a saving God,
because he saves his people from their sins. How else could he
do it? the elect must be made righteous
to be justified the sinless son our substitute and surety must
be made sin to be justified. Do you see that? How could God
punish his son for indeed it was God that punished his son
at Calvary. It was indeed God that punished
his son, but how could he do that unless his son were made
the sins of his people? His justice wouldn't allow it.
If his son was not counted sin on the cross, God couldn't pour
out his wrath upon him. He only poured out his wrath
upon him because he made him the sins of his people. Though
Christ never committed any sin, he did no sin, neither was any
guile or deceit found in his mouth, yet God made him sin. Psalm 69 verse 5, the words of
David, are they? Are they? They're the words of
Christ. Oh God, thou knowest my foolishness
and my sins are not hid from me. Whose sins? I don't know
if you remember, several years ago I preached a sermon on that
verse, who sins? They were Christ's, not because
he committed them, but because he was made the sin of his people. And those words are his words,
on the cross he sins. That's what he shrunk from in
the Garden of Gethsemane, being made sin, being made sin. Those words are his, just as
much as these other words of David are his. Psalm 22 verse
1, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Yes, they were the
words of David, but don't we all say those were the words
of Christ on the cross because they were, they were. My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? But they were Christ. In the
same way, Psalm 69 verse, they're the words of Christ. He was made
sin. And Luke 22 and 23 and all the other gospel narratives,
they testify to the fact of Jehovah Jesus. You know, Jehovah has
many names. Well, here he is, our God savior,
the one who saves his people from their sins. being delivered
for our offences. He was delivered, says verse
25, for our offences. Yes, it was wicked men that crucified
him. Yes, it was a travesty of justice,
but it was all in God's purpose, because if he hadn't, then the
law would not be satisfied. and only in the law being satisfied
can he save his people from their sins. Him, Acts 2.23 says Peter,
on the day of Pentecost. Him, Jesus, being delivered. What delivered him? The determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Which hands did it? Which
hands did it? ye have done, he says to the
crowd, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and
slain. But it was all for the purposes
of God, to save his people. And so the result of it? What's
the result of it? Romans 8, 33 and 34. Now, now that justice
has been satisfied in him, who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Is there any charge? Judgment
seat of Christ? How many times were you told
that you must stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give
an account? This is what the Word of God says. When we stand
there, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
God's justified you in Christ. The law has vented all of its
wrath on Christ in the place of His people. We believe it.
We believe that God raised Him from the dead, who was delivered
up for our offences. Why was He on that cross? For
our offences. We were nailed there with Him,
with our offences there with Him, to be punished. God's justified. Who is it that condemns? There's
nobody to condemn. He will look for iniquity in
Jacob and in Israel, and he will find none, because God has taken
it away in the blood of his Son. Think of that. Think of the consequences
of that. We believe that Christ redeemed.
It's not just about, oh, you must have Christ. You must have
Christ and know this. In that is salvation. In that
is the blessing of knowing salvation in Christ. You're built on a
solid foundation. You're hiding in a good place.
You're in that cleft of the rock. You don't just know something
airy-fairy about a good man that lived. You know that he's redeemed
you from the curse of the law being made a curse for you. You
know these things, and it blesses your soul, and it gives your
soul joy. Joy. Peace! You know, all those
songs that sing it, and yet you know the people singing it know
nothing of it. The child of God knows this. It is well with my
soul. And then, finally, and I'll be
quick, believing the resurrection. He was raised again for our justification. I've already said, what's the
point of believing a God who cannot raise the dead? If you
have any hope of eternal life, you must believe a God who raises
the dead. and who takes his people to eternal
glory. You must believe the resurrection. Righteousness imputed, if we
believe on him, the Father, that raised up Jesus, that raised
him for our justification. Now what does the resurrection
mean? What's the significance of it? Is it just a fact that
we must believe? A bit of magic that we, a bit
of religious magic that we must believe or not and people with
rational sense don't believe such nonsense and those with
airy-fairy ideas of religion do. No, this is what it is. That
when Christ had paid in full everything for the sins of his
people What more could God's law do? God is strict in his
justice. He will only punish where there
is a debt to pay. He must release where there is
no more debt to pay. Christ bore the sins of his people
on the cross. He suffered the wrath of God,
the infinite one of God suffered the wrath of God, so that the
law could say no more is required. No more is demanded. His justice
is satisfied. What more price could it justly
demand? It would be unjust for it to
demand more because he's paid it. You know when you go and
you buy something, and they say, right, the price for this is
£100, and you hand over your £100, and they hand over the
goods. And then they say, oh, by the way, I've changed my mind,
it's now £105. And you go, no, no, we agreed. I paid you the
money, and I've got the goods. Well, God is strictly just. Wouldn't
we regard that trader as unjust, changing the rules? God is strictly
just. When Christ had paid for the
sins of his people, he discharged him. Because the law had no more
to demand of him. And the resurrection is the proof
of it. The resurrection is the confirmation
that everything has been paid. Having paid the sin debt, Having
imputed the righteousness of God to his people and justified
his people, there is therefore now no condemnation to those
who are in him. He had to be let go free because
he paid everything the law required. You know, the day when the prisoner,
he gets a ten year prison sentence and he serves the ten years,
and the day comes when the prison door is open and they say, you
go free. The law now cannot charge you again because you've paid
the debt. We cannot bring you back and
give you more punishment. You've paid the debt. So the
law said to Christ, when he paid the debt of the sins of his people,
it let him go. That's why he rose from the dead.
And his rising from the dead is proof. It's confirmation of
the justification that he has accomplished for his people.
This is knowing Christ in truth. You know, there are other things
you know. I know I refer to him a lot, but then there's a lot
on the television and in literature about Henry VIII and his six
wives and You know, it's only 500 years ago, so it's fairly
close. It's historically easy to confirm. We can go and visit
Hampton Court Palace and all the other places where Henry,
the Tower of London, we can visit all these places and see. These
were real things. We've got paintings of him. But
do you know, what does it do for your soul? What does it do
for your state of mind? It gives you a bit of knowledge,
but it doesn't do a solitary thing for you, does it? It doesn't make you a jot richer,
it doesn't help you to sleep at night, it doesn't lift any
worries from you, it does nothing for you, does it? It's just an
interesting story. But to know Christ, and the power of his
resurrection, and to know what he has accomplished, what he
has accomplished. This is the heavenly treasure,
where Christ says, lay up treasure in heaven. This is heavenly treasure. This is how we're blessed with
every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. This is the pearl of
greatest price. This is the confidence that we
have. Bold shall I stand in that great day, we sang in the first
hymn. Bold shall I stand in that great day, and who ought to my
charge shall lay. Nobody shall. Why? Christ paid
it. He satisfied the law. He's satisfied
the Lord. And what does that give you?
Does that not give you peace? Is that why the Gospel is the
Gospel of peace with God? Does he not give you peace? Psalm
4 verse 8, I will both lay me down in peace and sleep. Why? For thou Lord only makest me
dwell in safety. For he saved his people from
their sins. Is that your testimony? And can
you give a solid reason for it to anyone who might ask you of
the hope that is in you? That's knowing Christ, not just
knowing about Him, that's knowing Christ in the truth of the gospel
of His grace.