Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. This is the day that the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged. And I am glad at this time the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged. Now,
I fear that many would acknowledge the resurrection that don't really
know why he was raised from the dead. It's just something they've
always been taught, and they believe that Jesus Christ has
been raised from the dead. Now, the resurrection of Jesus
Christ is the foundation of the gospel. Let me repeat that. The resurrection of Jesus Christ
is the foundation of the gospel. Jesus Christ lived. He said, I came down from heaven
not to do my own will. He came in the flesh, God was
manifest in the flesh, the Word was made flesh, and in the flesh,
He kept God's law perfectly. He never sinned. And in the flesh, this one who
never sinned and kept God's law perfectly, this one who is the
Son of God. He's equal with God because he
is God. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God as a distinct person, and the Word was God. He's the creator of the universe. He's the Lord of glory. He's the Lord of heaven. He's the express image of the
invisible God. All that God is, He is. In Him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. bodily. Now this one came to this planet
and lived a perfect life, and yet he is crucified. He's nailed to a cross, and he
dies. All biological functions have
ceased. He really dies. Now somebody
thinks, how can the God-man die? I do not know, but he did. He
did. The God-man died. Why did he die? He took the sins
of his people upon himself. When he drank the dregs of that
cup his father gave him to drink, he took in all the sins of his
people. While he never sinned himself,
he became guilty of the commission of all of those sins. God is
absolutely just. God is no respecter of persons,
even when sin is in His Son, His only begotten and well-beloved
Son. And it was in Him, in the sense
that He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. And the
justice of God demanded His death. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. The sins of God's people were
imputed to him. They became his. He bore them,
and he died. but he did not go through the
process of decay. The moment he died, God's justice
was absolutely satisfied. The full payment for those sins
that he died for was made. Now, if someone murdered your
son or your daughter, and they said, here's $5 million, will
that satisfy you? You'd say no. As a matter of
fact, no amount of money could satisfy, no payment could satisfy. The only thing that would satisfy
you is if your child was raised from the dead and the one who
killed your child was punished properly. Now the reason hell
is eternal is because God can never be satisfied with what
we've done. We've murdered his son. We're
all held responsible for that. My problem is not that I stole
the watermelon. My problem is that I murdered
God's son. Somebody says, I didn't do it.
Yeah, you did, and you would do it if God left you to yourself. And the reason hell is eternal
is because God can never be satisfied, but Christ did what you and I
could never do. He satisfied God. God said, I accept this. I am satisfied. And he raised
his son from the dead. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. And the entire gospel is predicated
upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Peter said
in 1 Peter 1.3, blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead." We have a living hope because He lives. That's why we have this living
hope. He said, I am He that liveth
and was dead, And behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and death. And then Peter also said in 1
Peter 3, verse 21, that we have the answer of a good conscience
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. A good
conscience. What is a good conscience? Is
it one that feels no guilt? If you feel no guilt, you've
got a seared conscience, either that or you're a sociopath. A
good conscience is a conscience that has nothing to feel guilty
about. And in Christ putting away my
sin, His resurrection is what gives me a good conscience. I have nothing to be guilty about
before God. I stand before God without sin. Now, the Bible has always taught
of the resurrection of the dead. I love in Mark chapter 12 where
some men who were called Sadducees and didn't believe in the resurrection,
they were bringing this phony story before the Lord about seven
different brothers, all who died, and each one passed his wife
to the next brother, and they were asking the question because
they didn't believe in the resurrection. They were asking this question
in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be? Because all seven
had her. to wife. Well, the Lord said,
do you not therefore err because you know not the scriptures nor
the power of God? For when they shall rise from
the dead, the Lord knew of the resurrection, they neither marry
nor are given in marriage, but are as in the angels which are
in heaven, but as touching the dead that they rise. Have you
not read in the book of Moses how in the bush God spake unto
him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, men who we would have called dead. He
is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You therefore
greatly err." Now, when I would read that passage in Exodus chapter
3, I don't believe I would have thought there the teaching of
the resurrection is. No, but the Lord lets us know
this is the teaching of the resurrection. He's not the God of the dead,
but the living. These men have been spiritually
resurrected, and they live before God. Now, the resurrection is
taught in the opening lines of the Bible. When darkness was
upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved on the
face of the waters, that darkness representing lifelessness and
death. And God said, Light be, and light
was. This pictures all three resurrections
taught in the scripture. There are three resurrections
taught. First, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
He was dead, God raised him from the dead. Because he had finished
the work the Father gave him to do, the Father was satisfied,
and He raised him. And then we have the spiritual
resurrection. that every believer experiences,
and you hath he quickened, you hath he given life to, who were
dead in trespasses and sins. And we have the final resurrection. We have this darkness. The Spirit
of God moves. He raises Christ from the dead.
He gives spiritual life to those who are dead in sins by nature.
And at the end, the dead in Christ will be raised. Everybody will
be raised. Some to eternal life, some to
eternal damnation, the Lord said in John chapter 5. But there
will be a resurrection. Now, the resurrection of Christ
has always been taught. I love what Job said in the oldest
book in the Bible, I know that my Redeemer liveth. He knew he
redeemed him, he knew he would die, and he knew he would live. I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and
that after my skin, worms destroy this body. That's gonna happen
to me, that's gonna happen to you, if the Lord doesn't come
before that takes place. Job says, yet in my flesh, shall
I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold
him, and not another." There we have the resurrection taught
in the oldest book in the Bible. Now, the resurrection of Christ
is eternal. In Revelation 13, verse 8, and this is so mysterious
and glorious, Christ is called the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. That means before time, before
creation, He was the Lamb slain. But not only was He the Lamb
slain, He was the lamb raised from the foundation of the world.
And the resurrection is eternal. Everything God does is eternal
because He is the eternal God. We read of the eternal purpose,
which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. And God's elect have
always been accepted for this one singular reason. Jesus Christ lived for them,
died for them, and was raised again for them. That's what baptism
signifies. When Christ lived, I lived. When
Christ died, I died. When Christ was raised from the
dead, I was raised from the dead. Now there's a passage in John
chapter 11, beginning in verse 23. This is after Lazarus has
died. Martha said unto him, well, Jesus
said unto her in verse 23, thy brother shall rise again. Martha
said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection
of the last day. I've got my doctrine straight
on what's going to take place on the last day. Jesus said unto
her, I am the resurrection. The resurrection is not so much
an event that will take place in the future, it's a person. I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoso liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? The Lord says to her, I am the
resurrection. You see, when Christ was raised
from the dead, you know who else was? Everybody he represented. The scripture says we were quickened
together with Christ. When he was raised from the dead,
all of God's elect were raised from the dead. And on at least
three different occasions, he told the disciples he would be
raised from the dead. As a matter of fact, once, right
before he died, he told them he would be raised from the dead. And the Pharisees knew it, because
after his death, they said, this deceiver, when he lived, said
he would be raised from the dead after three days, so let's go
put a watch on his tomb to make sure nothing happens. But the
disciples weren't there waiting, as they should have been, but
at any rate, on three times, he said, including the night
before his betrayal, I will rise from the dead. You know, very
early in his ministry, when he made that whip to drive out the
people out of the temple. And they said, who gives you
the authority to do this? He said, raise this temple, and
in three days, I'll raise it up. That demonstrates my authority. He's talking about his resurrection
from the dead after three days. And the thief on the cross. I
don't know if he knew all the mechanics of the resurrection,
but he knew who the Lord was. And he said, Lord, you're not
going to stay on this cross. You're not going to stay dead.
You're going to come back as a mighty reigning king. Now, he might not have had all
the mechanics of the resurrection in his mind, but he knew that
Christ could not stay dead. He said, you're going to come
back as a mighty reigning king over your spiritual kingdom.
Remember me when you come into your kingdom. Now, when Peter's
preaching on the day of Pentecost, He says, 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 loosed the pains of death, because it
was not possible that he should be holding of it. Now, why was
it not possible? Because of who he is. You see,
if I die for you, it won't do you any good, because I'm a sinner.
We're talking about the Son of God. Because of who He is, it
was not possible that He should be held down by death, because
He completely saved everybody He represented. He said, I've
glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work that
thou gavest me to do. He was raised from the dead because
it was not possible for him to stay dead. He put away sin. He satisfied the justice of God. God raised him up because he
was completely satisfied with what he did and everybody he
did it for. Now, I think it's interesting
in the writings of Paul, the longest chapter is 1 Corinthians
15. And in that chapter, he is dealing
with the resurrection of the dead. If you would carefully
study 1 Corinthians 15, you would notice that he begins with this
statement, "'Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel,
and his thought is not over until verse 25. Every verse is connected
with a conjunction that lets us know the sentence. The thought
is not actually over until verse 25, when he says, for he must
reign. But the verse begins, or the
chapter begins, more of a brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. He says in verse three, for I
delivered unto you First of all, that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according
to the Scriptures. Now, according to the scriptures
is very important. It's not just believing he lived,
he died, and he was raised from the dead. It's how he lived,
how he died, how he was raised according to the scriptures. The scriptures give the reason
for his life, his death, and his resurrection. You know, I've
heard of one man who set about to disprove the resurrection
of Christ. And he went about it, and he
became convinced by reading the scriptures that it must have
taken place. Now, did he really believe in the resurrection?
Well, he believed it took place, but he had no understanding of
the resurrection. He thought, well, I've got to
believe these credible witnesses. You believe in the resurrection
because of who Jesus Christ is, not simply because you think
the credible witnesses can be believed. But He is God the Son,
and He must be successful. He must reign. He must be raised
from the dead. Now in verse 12 of this same
chapter, Paul says, Now if Christ be preached that He rose from
the dead, how say some among you that there's no resurrection
of the dead? Now, even in a gospel church in Corinth, that kind
of foolishness was going on. There were some in that church
saying that there was no resurrection from the dead. Now, Paul is going
to deal with that. He says, if there be no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen,
Our preaching is vain. It's meaningless. It doesn't
have a point. And your faith also is vain.
Your faith won't do you any good if Christ didn't rise from the
dead. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we've
testified that He raised up Christ, whom He hath not raised up, if
so be that the dead rise not. We're false witnesses. For if
the dead rise not, then is Christ not raised? And if Christ be
not raised, your faith is vain. It won't save you. You're yet
in your sins. Your sins have not been put away.
You still stand before God, a holy and just God, in your sins. They
also, which are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished. They've
gone to hell. And if in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But, Now
Christ is raised, is risen from the dead and become the first
fruits of them that slept. Because he has been raised from
the dead, I'm not in my sins. My faith is not vain. I'm a true witness of God, bearing
testimony that God in fact raised him from the dead. Now the whole
gospel I repeat, the whole gospel is in the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. Listen to this scripture in II
Thessalonians 2.8. Remember that Jesus Christ at
the seat of David was raised from the dead according to my
gospel. This is my gospel, the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. This is the hope. You know why
I have a hope of heaven? Because Jesus Christ was raised
from the dead. Not because I see some good thing in me that makes
me think I'm saved. Not because of some work I performed. My hope is completely in that
God accepted Jesus Christ and his sin payment, and he accepts
everybody that he represented. Romans chapter 10 verses 9 and
10 says if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and Believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the
dead thou shalt be saved You see this is the stuff of faith. It's not just believing that
the Resurrection took place a lot of people believe that that have
no understanding of it It's believing that he did what he came to do. He put away the sins of his people,
completely saved them, and God raised him from the dead because
God was satisfied with what he did. Now, I'd like to read a
passage from Philippians chapter three, where Paul speaks of the
resurrection. He says, beginning in verse eight,
yea, doubtless, And I count all things but loss, for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered
the loss of all things, and count them but done, that I may win
Christ and be found in him. So that when God comes looking
for me, all he will see is Jesus Christ. Not having my own righteousness,
I don't want to stand before God in my own righteousness.
And here's why. The scripture says, our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. And that is my righteousness,
that is your righteousness. I don't want to stand before
God in that which is of the law, but that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God. Now, if I have
righteousness before God, it's God's righteousness. It's the
righteousness of Jesus Christ. He took my sin and He gave me
His righteousness. Then Paul said that I might know
Him. Oh, I want to know Him and the
power of His resurrection. Now, what did Paul mean by that,
the power of his resurrection? Well, first, it took the omnipotent
power of God to raise him from dead in the first place. You
know, only God can raise the dead. That's something that he
exclusively can do. It can't be duplicated in a laboratory. Men have tried it. Only God can
give life in the first place, and only God can give life from
the dead. It took the omnipotence of God.
But I want to know the justifying power of His resurrection. Listen
to this scripture, Romans 4, verse 25. He was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification. Now when
Christ was raised from the dead, every believer was justified. What does that mean? That means
you have no sin. That means you have no guilt.
That means you stand before God perfectly righteous, not guilty. Oh, the justifying power of His
resurrection. Paul put it this way, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather, that's risen again.
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us." And then there is not only the power that brought him
from the dead, not only the justifying power of his resurrection, but
there is the life-giving power of his resurrection. You see,
the same power that raised him from the dead raises that one
who's dead in trespasses and sins. Same power. And you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. And what
is the evidence that he's quickened me? I find complete satisfaction
in the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ. I'm not
looking for anything else. I'm not leaning on anything else.
I'm looking to Him only. And Paul also said in this passage
at the end, verse 11, if by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead. Here's my goal, that I'm going
to be raised from the dead incorruptible, without sin, perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. Like David in Psalm 17, 15, as
for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied when I awake
in thy likeness." Now, the whole gospel is founded on the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. He did die. The God-man died
as the sin-bearing substitute, and he was raised from the dead. Now, we have this message on
DVD and CD. If you call the church, write,
email, we'll send you a copy. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send a request to todd.neidert at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.