We miss everybody, and I pray
that the Lord will enable us to unite our hearts and truly
meet with one another in the preaching of the gospel. A church is a called-out assembly,
and there's assembling together, and I pray that by the Spirit
of God, we'll truly be assembling together around the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's my prayer The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ will be preached this morning. Our
text is found in Mark chapter nine, verse nine. And as they came down from the
mountain, they'd been on the mountain of transfiguration.
And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that
they should tell no man what things they had seen. till the
Son of Man were risen from the dead. Don't tell anybody about
what you've seen until I have been raised from the dead. And
they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another
what the rising from the dead should mean. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name and we ask in his name that this question would
be answered to us what the rising from the dead should mean. Lord, give us eyes to see and
behold the resurrected Christ in his glory as our complete
salvation. Lord, we confess our sin. We
pray for forgiveness and for cleansing for Christ's sake.
And Lord, how we thank you that you're on the throne ruling and
reigning, that your will is always done, and how we thank you for
the salvation that's by grace. Lord, we pray that you'd be with
those that are going through trials, those that are sick.
We ask that you would keep them and make yourself known to them
and bless them. Lord, we pray for our nation
at this time, the world. Lord, we ask that your will would
be done and we know that good and glory will come out of all
you do and we give thanks. We pray for our leaders that
you would give them wisdom and direction. Lord, wherever your
gospel is preached, we pray that you would bless it for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen. I've entitled this message, What
Does the Resurrection Mean? People are thinking about the
resurrection today. What does the resurrection mean? Now, try to put yourself in the
place of the disciples. They had been on the Mount of
Transfiguration. You can read about it in Matthew
and Luke's account. And during that time, they were
eyewitnesses. And remember, these men were
really no different than you and I. Don't look at them as
some kind of super spiritual. They were sinful men and women
saved by the grace of God, just like you and I are. So there
wouldn't be a lot of difference between you being there and them
being there. They were on this Mount of Transfiguration,
and they were eyewitnesses to the Lord becoming transfigured
before them. The scripture says, shined as
the sun. And he became, his clothes even
became white as light. They saw somehow, of course I
don't understand this, but somehow they saw the deity of Christ
burst through his humanity. I'm sure they couldn't look on
his face any more than you can look up on the sun. They had
to look down. And they heard the voice of the
Father speaking. from heaven. Can you imagine
what that must have been like? They audibly heard the voice
of the Father speaking from heaven. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. They saw Moses and Elijah, the
servants of Christ, speaking with him. And I love what the
conversation was about. We read in Luke's account that
they spake of the decease which he should accomplish in Jerusalem. The death of the Lord was the
most glorious accomplishment that's ever taken place. And
it's what we ought to be speaking of every time we speak. I thought I'd love to have it
laid to my charge that all he talked about was the accomplishments
of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious thing
to have laid to our charge. But that's what they were talking
about. That's the subject of the eternities, and it was the
subject when Moses and Elijah appeared to Christ. They spake
of the death that he should accomplish. Now, what if you beheld these
things? Wouldn't you want to tell everybody about it? You'd
want to say, the Lord Jesus really is real. I saw this, and I heard
what they were talking about. I don't want to tell everybody
I could. But look what the Lord said to them. He said, after
they saw this, and as they came down from the mountain, he charged
them that they should tell no man what things they had seen. Don't tell anybody about this,
till the son of man were risen from the dead. Now they caught
that and they thought, what? They were unaware at this time
of why the Lord had came. They heard about the decease
which he should accomplish, Verse 10 says they kept that saying
with themselves. They didn't tell anybody. The
three didn't tell the other nine. I don't know how they managed
it, but they didn't. They honored what the Lord said. But the scripture
says, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead
should mean. Now, I would imagine this took
place a lot. The Lord would say something, and when they'd get
by themselves, they'd say, what was he talking about? What did
that mean? They might have been afraid to ask the Lord, and they
would question. with themselves. What did the
Lord mean by that? Well, that's what was going on
at this time. They were questioning one another, with one another,
what the rising from the dead should mean. Now, around 2,000
years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross and darkness
covered the earth at that time. The sun quit shining. And from the darkness, he cried,
my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? And right before he died on that
cross, he cried, it is finished. And then he said, father into
thy hands, I commend my spirit. And he gave up the ghost. He
gave death permission at that time to come and take him. Death
couldn't take him until he said, you can take me now. He ruled
as Lord, even in his death. Now, After he died, I want to
read this passage of scripture from Matthew chapter 27, beginning
in verse 62. Now, the next day that followed,
the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came
together unto Pilate. You remember who Pilate is. He
was the one who presided over the ruling of his death, saying,
sir, we remember that deceiver said while he was yet alive,
after three days, I'll rise again. They knew of his statement. You have to wonder why all the
disciples weren't there waiting when he told them he would rise
from three days, but these enemies of Christ knew he said this.
Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure into the third day,
lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say unto
the people, he's risen from the dead. So their last error should
be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you have
a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can. And they
did make it as sure as they could. But that did not in any way prevent
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he has been in the tomb for
three days after his death. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus
prepared grave clothes. put it on him and anointed him
with spices, and he was put into the grave, and there he lay for
three days, literally dead. Jesus Christ, the God-man, lay
in a tomb for three days, literally dead. And after three days, he
opened his eyes in that tomb. No human being witnessed this.
The Father witnessed this. God the Holy Spirit witnessed
this. Three days later, he opened his
eyes. He went from being dead to being
alive. He got up. He removed his grave
clothes and folded them neatly, put the napkin that was about
his face in a separate place and walked out of that tomb.
And for 40 days, he was left on this planet giving his disciples
instructions as to what they were to do. And on that 40th
day, he ascended back to his father. Now, it's my prayer that
the disciples' question will be answered this morning. What
did he mean when he talked about after the Son of Man is risen
from the dead? Now, the first thing I want us
to think of is to be raised from the dead, you first have to die. Now, here's one of the great
mysteries of the gospel. In order to be raised from the
dead, you first have to die. The God-man died. You've seen a corpse in a coffin
in a funeral home, dead and lifeless. The God-man died. When they took him down from
the cross, they took him down as a dead man, as a lifeless
corpse. The God-man died. Somebody says, how could that
be? I don't know, but he did. The God-man actually died and
is this not a part of the gospel message? It's how that Christ
died for our sins. According to the scripture, this
is the gospel message. What good would his life be to
us if he had not died? Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. The God-man died and there is
only one reason for death, sin. Romans chapter five, verse
12 says, wherefore as by one man, sin entered the world and
death by sin. so that death passed upon all
men in that all have sin. By that one man's disobedience,
sin entered the world. The wages of sin is death. The only reason for death is
sin. Not sickness, not old age, not
the coronavirus, but sin. The only reason anyone dies is
because of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ never sinned. He never had a thought of sin.
He never had a motive of sin. He never committed a sin. He stood before God's holy law
without sin. You take the Ten Commandments.
He never broke one of them in his heart. He loved God with
all of his heart, with all of his soul, and with all of his
strength. And he only loved his neighbor as himself. He never
sinned. So then, why did he die? Listen to this scripture carefully,
2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. Paul says, For he hath made him,
God the Father hath made God the Son, for he hath made him
to be sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Now the sins of all the elect
were made to be his sin. When he drank that cup in Gethsemane's
garden, he was drinking in the sins of his people. He died because of sin. Now listen very carefully. God
will not punish the innocent. I've heard people talk about
his death saying God was punishing the innocent that the guilty
might go free. Well, I understand somebody making
that statement, but really it's not a good statement. God will
not punish an innocent man, nor will he let the guilty go free. Proverbs 17, 15 says, he that
justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just, even
they both are an abomination unto the Lord. When my sin became
his sin, he was no longer innocent before God. It was the absolute
justice of God against sin, punishing him. He himself became guilty
of the commission of that sin that I committed, that all of
his people committed. He became guilty of the commission
of that sin. He was taking our sins in his
own body on the tree when he drank that cup. He took the guilt. He took the defilement of that
sin. Now he himself never sinned. Even when he took my sins, he
never sinned because he is the Lord Jesus Christ. But my sin
became his sin so that he became guilty of it and he owned it
as his own sin. You can read about that in Psalm
40. He owned this sin as his very own sin. Did you know that
this is why he came? He came for this hour. to die. Revelation chapter 13
verse 8, he's called the Lamb slain. That's speaking of his
death from the foundation of the world. When he's anticipating
this hour, he says, Father, the hour has come. The reason I came
into the world, Father, the hour has come, speaking of the hour
of his death. the most glorious thing to ever
take place. The hour has come. Father, glorify
Thy Son, that Thy Son also might glorify Thee. The universe was created for
this event. The fall of our first parents
was purposed for this event, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He died, and in His death, He
did something that no one else has ever done. He did not go
through the process of decay. Now, when you or I die, the very
second we die, the process of decay will begin. But he said,
thou will not suffer thy holy one to see corruption decay. Why? He did something that no
man could ever do. He satisfied God. Now, this is an earthly illustration. It's the best I can come up with,
but I have one daughter. I love her dearly. And if somebody
brutally murdered her and then came to me with $10 million and
said, would this make up for it? No. I'm not satisfied. What if I
give you all the money in the world? Will that satisfy you?
No. No. What if I go to prison? Will
that satisfy you? No. Well, what if I'm put to
death? Will that satisfy you? No. The only thing that will
satisfy me is if she's raised from the dead. Nothing else will
satisfy. The reason hell is eternal and
never-ending is because the crime of murdering God's Son, God could
never be satisfied. The eternity of hell will never
make up for that crime. It's such an infinite evil. But Christ died. This is not like me dying or
you dying for some crime we committed. It's Christ, the spotless lamb
of God who died. It's Christ that died. And by
his death, he suffered the full equivalent of hell and completely
satisfied his father. God is satisfied with what Christ
did and he is satisfied with everybody for whom Christ died. I love that scripture. 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." You see, when He died, the sins of everybody He died
for were purged away, put away. Hebrews 1.3 says, when He had
by Himself purged our sins, when He purged our sins, He made them
not to be. Now here's how satisfied God
is. When He looks at everybody, For
whom Christ died, he sees people who are according to Colossians
chapter 1 verse 22, holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. That means right now, if you're
somebody for whom Christ died, God looks at you and he says
regarding you, he's holy. He's unblameable. He's unreprovable
in my sight. And God only is the one who sees
things as they really are. If God sees me this way, I am
this way, holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. He was raised because of who
he is. Listen to this scripture. Peter
is preaching on Pentecost in this first great message after
the resurrection of Christ. He's speaking to the murderers
of Christ. And 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, for it was
not possible that death should hold him. Did you hear that? It was not possible that death
should hold him. He said in John 10, I lay down
my life, that I might take it again, No man taketh it from
me but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it again. Now what power there is, the
power to raise yourself from the dead. He said this commandment
have I received of my father. He said very early in his ministry
to his detractors, destroy this temple and in three days I'll
raise it from the dead. And he was speaking of his resurrection. As a matter of fact, right before
he died, the last supper, the last supper, right before he
died, he said to his disciples, after I'm risen again, I'll go
before you into Galilee. They should have been waiting.
Now, why was he raised from the dead? Let me give you some reasons
the scripture gives. they were discussing what the
rising of the dead should mean, well here is what the rising
from the dead means. Number one, it was the fulfillment
of God's eternal purpose. That's where we got to begin.
The rising of the dead, Jesus Christ rising from the dead,
was the fulfillment of God's eternal He was delivered according
to the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God, and he
was raised again because of the determinant counsel and foreknowledge
and purpose of God. Not only was he the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, he was the lamb raised from the
very foundation of the world. Why was he raised from the dead?
He was raised from the dead that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Now, remember this about the
scriptures. In Romans 9, when Paul's quoting the Lord speaking,
he says, the scripture saith to Pharaoh, even for this same
purpose have I raised thee up that I might
show my power in thee. Now, the Bible hadn't been written
yet, but when the scripture speaks, God speaks, And everything the
Lord Jesus Christ did was done that the scriptures might be
fulfilled. Everything that took place was
that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Do you remember when
the early church said regarding Pontius Pilate and Herod and
the Gentiles, they did whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. The resurrection of the dead
was that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Let me read some
scriptures from the book of Luke. This is after the Lord has risen
from the dead. In Luke chapter 24, verse 25,
then said he unto them, O fools and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning in Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures,
the things concerning himself. He ought to be raised from the
dead. The scripture says he would. Look at verse 44 of Luke chapter
24. And he said unto them, these
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law
of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. It was said, I would be raised
from the dead. In Psalm 16, it must happen. Then opened he their
understanding that they might understand the scriptures. Now
the scriptures are a closed book unless he opens our understanding.
But when he does open our understanding, we understand the scriptures. He was buried. He was raised
from the dead. The third day, 1 Corinthians
15, four, he was buried. He was raised again from the
dead the third day according to the scriptures. Now his resurrection
is a declaration of his own eternal sonship. In Romans chapter one,
verse four, I'd like to read this verse of scripture to you.
Romans chapter one, let's begin in verse one. Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the
gospel of God, which he'd promised afore by his prophets in the
holy scriptures concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which
was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. Now listen
to this, verse four. And declared to be the son of
God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection
from the dead. He's declared to be the Son of
God by the resurrection from the dead. Now, in Psalm chapter
2, the Lord said, a thousand years before the physical resurrection
of Christ, thou art my Son. This day have I begotten thee,
have I raised you from the dead. Now, what this tells me is this,
begetting of the only begotten Son is an eternal reality. It always is. The reason God
can always be pleased with His people is because of the eternal
reality of this begetting of the Son. The only begotten Son,
this day have I begotten thee. That's said throughout all eternity. You see, the begetting of Christ,
the raising from Christ is not so much an event of time, although
it was an event of time, but it's the fact of eternity. That's
why Christ said, I am the resurrection and the life. He didn't point
to an event. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. Ephesians
2.6 says, when we were quickened together with him, When he was
raised from the dead, we were raised from the dead. It's an
eternal beginning. We're always complete in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And his resurrection is a declaration
of his eternal sonship as the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth, equal to God because he is God. He raised Himself from the dead.
His Father raised Him from the dead. The Spirit of God raised
Him from the dead. And this is what we're really
confessing in baptism. When He lived, I lived. When
He died, I died. When He was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead, complete in Him. Now, why was He raised
from the dead? Well, Romans 4, 25 says He was
delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification.
Oh, would to God that I hear this and that you hear this.
When Christ was raised from the dead, I was justified. He was raised again for our justification.
Now, let me tell you what that means. That means that I have
never sinned. That means that I stand before
God's holy law without guilt. such as the power of his resurrection,
I was justified. All my sin was made not to be. It was blotted out. It was washed
away by his death. And when he was raised from the
dead, God said, I am completely satisfied with him. Who is he that condemneth? Bring
the charge. It's Christ that dies. Yea, rather
that's risen, who's even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us. His resurrection means the complete,
absolute, irrevocable, unchangeable justification of every single
believer. Why was Christ raised from the
dead? Listen to this scripture. Romans
chapter 14 verse 9 says to this end, Christ both died and rose
and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and the
living. Now, Christ Jesus is the eternal
Lord. He always has been Lord, but
he achieved glory to himself through his life, death, and
resurrection that he would not have had had he not gone through
this. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I can't. It's just what the scripture teaches. He died and
revived that he might be Lord, both of the dead and the living. Now, he's Lord. The Lord is the
one whose will is done. His will was done in creation
when he created the universe by an act of his will. His will
is done in providence. Everything that takes place is
his will being done. Everything? Everything. Everything
is his will being done. When a sinner is saved, it's
because he willed the salvation of that sinner. The leper understood
that when he said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Now, I love the way it says he's
the Lord of the dead and the living. He's the Lord of those
who are dead in sin. They might not know it, but he's
still their Lord. You know when someone says, won't you make
Jesus the Lord of your life? If you can make Him the Lord
of your life, that means you're His Lord, not Him yours. That
means you're the one in control, and that shall never be. He's
Lord of the dead, dead in sins. They're all acting according
to His will, fulfilling His purpose, to the praise of the glory of
His justice, and He's the Lord of the living. Every believer
says, with Thomas of old, my Lord and my God. That's why He died and rose again.
Paul said in Philippians 2 verse 9, he became obedient to death,
even the death of the cross. Wherefore God 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,
things in earth and things under the earth. And every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Why was he raised? He was raised
from the dead that we, every believer, might be married to
Him. Now listen to this scripture
from Romans chapter 7 verse 4. My brethren, you have become
dead to the law by the body of Christ that you might be married
to another, even to him that is raised from the dead that
we might bring forth fruit unto God. Now, we were once married
to the law, and the law was a rough husband. All he did was expose
every fault and every sin, and nothing we did ever satisfied
him. He was a rough husband. But oh,
he's dead now. We became dead to that law through
the body of Christ, so that when he was raised from the dead,
we now have a husband who sees us as a perfect, beautiful wife. Without spot or wrinkle or any
such thing, he says to everyone he died for, thou art all fair,
my love. There's no spot in thee. He is
perfectly satisfied with his bride. In 1 Peter 3, verse 21,
we read these words. Verse 21, the light figure wherein
to even now baptism does also now save. It's not the putting
away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, I walk
around nonstop with a cloud of guilt over me. Maybe I shouldn't,
but that's the way I should. I've got a reason to as far as
what I am in and of myself. The only thing that gives me
a good conscience is the resurrection of Christ from the dead. That
makes me know that the Father sees no sin in me because Christ
was raised from the dead. And that's the only thing that
satisfies my conscience. I can't say, well, my conscience
is satisfied because I did well here or I did the right thing
there. No, the only thing that satisfies this conscience and
every believer's conscience is the resurrection of Christ from
the dead. In this same chapter, I mean, book in 1 Peter, Peter
says in chapter 1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. Now, I have a living hope because
Christ lives. Christ is my hope. Because he
lives, I have a living hope. My hope is alive, seated at the
right hand of the Father right now. Listen to this scripture. with regard to that, wherefore
he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Now, this is the stuff of faith. If you want to have some understanding
of faith, listen to this scripture. Romans chapter 10, verse 9 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. He's the Lord. And I believe
in my heart that God raised him from the dead. And I know why
he did it, because he completely satisfied God. And this is the
stuff of faith, believing in your heart that God really did
raise him from the dead, that he really did what he came to
do. He put away the sins of everybody he represented, and God raised
him from the dead, being completely satisfied with him and everybody
in him. because he was raised from the
dead, we have the sure and certain hope that we will be too. The dead in Christ shall be raised
incorruptible. It's for sure. I'm going to be
raised just like Christ. Now in Acts chapter 17, we read
this statement. Paul had been preaching on Mars
Hill. Then certain philosophers of
the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him, and some said,
What will this babbler say? Others, some, he seemeth to be
a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto them
Jesus and the resurrection." Now, who are these Epicureans
and Stoics? I think it's interesting that
Luke mentions these two branches of philosophy, and these two
philosophies cover all human philosophy. The Epicureans thought
you would find happiness and fulfillment and purpose in something
outside of yourself, materialism, pleasure, the accumulation of
things. They found happiness in what
they had. Now the Stoics were the opposite. You find happiness and security
and purpose within, not in things, but within yourself. And this
covers every human philosophy in one way or the other. And
as a matter of fact, everybody kind of goes between one and the other.
But neither are right. The only happiness and security
and purpose in life is found in the resurrection of the exalted
living Lord Jesus Christ as my salvation before God. Now, people can continue to mock
at him and the resurrection, But when he returns, and he will,
all will know exactly who he is. And until then, we say with
Paul, oh, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. The gospel message is the resurrection
of Christ and his glorious accomplishments. Let's pray together. Lord, I
ask in Christ's name that everybody listening might be made to know
the meaning of the rising from the dead of thy blessed son. How we thank you for your gospel. In his name we pray, amen.