Tonight, I'm going to be preaching
on Christ's well-being in the heart. Ephesians 3, 17, Christ's
well-being in the heart. And I'm going to attempt this
morning to preach upon this subject, what does the resurrection mean? A lot of people who believe that
Christ was raised from the dead, but they don't know why he died,
nor why he was raised from the dead. And I pray that everybody
in this room is going to leave this room having some understanding
of why he died, and why he was raised, and that you're gonna
put all your salvation in that. Verse 10, and they kept that saying within
themselves, questioning with one another what the rising from
the dead should mean. I got kind of tickled thinking
about this. I bet this happened every day.
They'd say, did you see what he, did you hear what he said?
What did he mean by that? I don't know. You know, I can
just see that going on all the time with the things the Lord
said to his disciples. And here they are questioning
one another. What was he talking about when
he was talking about the son of man rising from the dead?
What's that all about? I don't know. Afraid to ask him,
I suppose. But he told them on numerous
occasions, I've counted six, he told his disciples while he
lived with them that I'm going to die and I'm going to be raised
from the dead. I mean, there was no mistaking
him actually saying that to them. As a matter of fact, listen to
this scripture from Matthew chapter 27. Even his enemies knew that
he had said this. Verse 62, this is after the resurrection. Matthew 27, 62, now the next
day that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests
And Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember
that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, after three
days I'll rise again. They knew about it, his enemies.
Command therefore that the sepulchre 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 that the last error
shall be worse than the first. Pilate saith unto them, You have
a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you can. I think that
language is interesting. How much ability did they have
to stop the resurrection? Absolutely none. But go ahead,
make it as sure as you can. So they went and made the sepulcher,
sealing the stone and setting a watch. And there was a man
by the name of Jesus of Nazareth. a real historical figure, a man,
bone of our bones, flesh of our flesh, who claimed to be the
son of God. He was not generated from an
earthly father like you and I are. He was born of a virgin. You see, he couldn't have Adam's
nature. He was born of a virgin. And he lived for 30 years in
obscurity. Nobody knew anything about him.
Few people did, but maybe his parents. And he worked out in
those 30 years a perfect righteousness. He never sinned in thought, in
word, or in deed. And then he began his public
ministry. beginning with the Sermon on the Mount. And I love
to think of him saying, you've heard it been said by them of
old. And he would quote scripture.
And then he said, but I say unto you, he spake as one having authority. I say unto you, he's the interpreter
of scripture. He's the one who knows, he only
can give us the meaning. I love the way the Sermon on
the Mount ends, they were astonished at his doctrine. For he spake
as one having authority and not as the scribes. Now during his
public ministry, there were numerous murder attempts against him and
they ended up nailing him to a cross and he died. The son
of God died. Somebody says, how can the son
of God die? I don't know, but he did. But three days later,
he was raised from the dead. Many believe, most believe that
there was a real man, Jesus of Nazareth, And many believe that
he was actually raised from the dead. If you say, do you believe
in the resurrection of Christ? They say, yeah, I do. I believe
there was a man in Christ Jesus who was raised from the dead.
I believe that. The question is, why did he die in the first
place? And why was he raised from the
dead? And that's what I want us to
consider. Why did he die in the first place? And why was he raised
from the dead. What does the resurrection mean? Now, the Lord Jesus did what
only he could do. He kept God's law perfectly. He never sinned in thought, in
word, or in deed. Yet, he dies. He's nailed to
a cross. I think it's ironic the way they
didn't want, usually a crucifixion would take three or four days.
You just lay there nailed to that tree suffering for three
or four days, but the next day was the Passover, and it was
a high holy day, and we can't have somebody hanging on a cross,
so Pilate tells them, go break the legs, because if you break
the legs of somebody hanging on a cross, they'd suffocate.
Somehow they'd hold themselves up, and it would keep their lungs
from collapsing, but when your legs are broken, you'd just hang
down, and they would suffocate. And so they came to the two thieves
and broke their legs and they were still alive. But when they
came to the Lord, he was already dead. They could see that. They
put a spear through him, but they could see he was already
dead. Just a little bit before that, he had said from the cross,
father into thy hands, I commend my spirit. And he gave up the
ghost. He's the only one who could do
that. He's the only one who could say to death, I'm gonna allow
you to come take me now. He gave death permission, death
came and took him and he died. Why did he die? There is only one reason for
death. Now everybody in here is gonna
die. I want you to think about that. You're not gonna live here
forever. You're gonna die. some sooner than later but everybody
is going to die. Why death? There's one reason,
sin. That's the only reason anybody
dies, sin. Somebody says well they died
of cancer, they died of something, well no they died of sin, they
died of sin. By one man, sin entered the world
and death because of sin. So death passed upon all men
in that all have sinned." You and I are going to die and the
reason for death is sin. The reason Christ died is sin. You see, He came to save his people from their
sins. That's what Matthew 121 says.
Thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. And he did that, first of all,
by working out a perfect righteousness for them. That's what he's doing
in those 30 years of obscurity when nobody knew anything about
it. He was working out a perfect righteousness. I love that scripture
in Matthew 3, verse 15, where the Lord says to John the Baptist,
thus it becometh us. Everybody he represented, thus
it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Everything Jesus
Christ did, he did as an us. All of the elect fulfilled all
righteousness when he fulfilled all righteousness. And then he
did what only he could do. He took their sins from them
and made them his own. He could do that. Nobody else
could, but he could do that. He had the authority to take
my sin, and make it his very own, so that he actually became
guilty of the commission of my sin. The sins of all of the elect,
the sins of everybody he died for, and the wrath of God struck
him, that's why he died, because he was guilty. Now understand
that the Lord wasn't punishing the innocent when Christ was
on the cross. The Lord was punishing the guilty
because he took my sins and made them his own. And let me show
you this from Psalm 40. I want you to see this. Psalm
40. Now this is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking. And we know all the Psalms are
like this, but this is actually quoted in the New Testament in
Hebrews chapter 10. We read in verse six, sacrifice
and offering, thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened.
Burnt offerings and sin offerings hast thou not required. Then
said I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me. That's Lord Jesus Christ speaking.
Now, look what else he says in this Psalm. Look in verse 11. Withhold not thou thy tender
mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy loving kindness and thy
truth continually preserve me, for innumerable evils have compassed
me about. Mine iniquities. He didn't say
Todd's iniquities that were imputed to me. He said, mine iniquities. He owned my sin as his own. And it really was his. When he
took my sin, it became his. mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I'm not able to look up they my iniquities
are more than the hairs of my head therefore my heart faileth
me now that's the words of the Lord Jesus Christ taking my sin
now that's why I died That's why I died. He worked out a perfect
righteous for me, and then he died putting away my sins. Three days later, he was resurrected
from the dead. Now, here's the question, why? He died because my sin became
his sin. He died because he was guilty before the law of God
when he took my sin. Death is caused only by sin. He died as the sin bearer, but
three days later, he was raised from the dead. Why? Now I've got five or six reasons
I wanna give. Here's the first reason, because it was necessary. It was necessary. Turn to John
20 for just a moment. This is after the resurrection. The first day of the week cometh
Mary Magdalene and when it was yet dark under the sepulcher.
and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she
runneth and cometh to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom
Jesus loved and saith unto them, they've taken away the Lord out
of the sepulchre and we know not where they've laid him. Peter
therefore went forth in that other disciple and came to the
sepulchre. So they ran both together and the other disciple did outrun
Peter and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down and looking
in, saw the linen clothes lying. Yet when he not in, Then come
a Simon Peter following him and went into the sepulcher and see
if the linen clothes lie and the napkin that was about his
head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together
in a place by itself. Then went also in the other disciple
which came first to the sepulcher and he saw and believed for as
yet they knew not the scripture that he must." I get that word. It was absolutely necessary for
him to rise from the dead. You see, it was God's eternal
purpose. And God's purpose cannot be thwarted. That's why it was necessary.
Him being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God. That's why he was crucified.
He was delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of
God. This is God's purpose. Remember, he's the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. This is God's eternal purpose
and God's eternal purpose must come to pass. Let me go on quoting
that passage of scripture, him being delivered by the determined
counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain whom God has raised up
for it was not possible that he should be holding of death.
Wasn't possible. Now, why was Christ raised from
the dead? Number one, because it was necessary. God purposed it. Don't you love
thinking about this? God's will always comes to pass. Here's the second reason he was
raised from the dead. Scripture said he would be. That's
simple enough, isn't it? Oh, the scriptures. I think of
the high place the Lord put on the scriptures when the devil
comes to tempt him. The Lord could have just destroyed
him. He could have tortured him. Anything he wanted to do, he
could have done. But how did he answer the devil? It is written. You look at the high place the
Lord puts on the scriptures. This is the word of God. This
is God's inspired revelation of himself. For the scripture
saith the Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised the
up. Now, wait a minute. Scripture hadn't been written yet. Yeah,
it's the eternal word of God, the scripture saith the Pharaoh.
And we just read about how the script, they yet knew not the
scripture that says he must rise from the dead. Now, he was risen from the dead
because of the accomplishments that his resurrection meant. Now, I love that passage of Scripture.
First, because it's necessary. Second, because the Scripture
said it. But here's the third reason. You listen to this very
carefully. He was raised from the dead because of what his
death actually accomplished. And Luke chapter 9, when we read
of the transfiguration of the Lord, when his deity burst through
his humanity in front of Peter and James and John, and his face
shined like the sun. And two people appeared to him,
Moses and Elijah, speaking with him. And there, Peter and James
and John aren't seeing this, and they're just, of course,
they don't know what to say. But we know what Moses and Elijah
were talking to the Lord about. Luke 9 31 says, they spake of
the decease which he should accomplish. You see, he actually accomplished
something by his death. You can't call death and any
other, anybody else death. He accomplished death. No, we
don't. It seems like the final defeat, really. It just shows
our weakness and sinfulness, but not him. When he died, he
accomplished something by this glorious death. Now, what did
he accomplish? Romans 4.25 says he was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. You know what that means? That means everybody he died
for is justified. That means if he died for you,
right now you have no sin before God. It's all been blotted out. It's gone. It's not there. You stand before God's holy law
and God's holy law looks you over all the way through and
says, I find no fault. That's what justification is.
God looks at you and there's, I mean, you think God's mad at
me. I did this. I did that. Not if you're a believer,
you stand perfect before God without any guilt. Let me show
you this from the scripture. Turn with me to Romans eight. Beginning in verse 31, what should
we then say to these things? What things? Well, he said in
verse 28, and we know that all things work together for good,
to them that love God, to them who are called according to His
purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called. And whom He called, them He also
justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Who can bring an accusation
in any way against any of God's elect? God justified them. Now look at this, verse 34. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. You see, it's who died that gives
the saving efficacy of His death. If I died for you, what good
would it do you? Absolutely nothing. But it's Christ. that died, the
son of God, the saving efficacy of his blood. It's Christ that
died, but he didn't stay dead. Yea, rather that is risen again. Now, if Christ is still in the
grave. All this I'm talking about is
a fairy tale. And useless at best. And not true. But if he is risen,
he is who he says he is. It's Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Now, nobody can condemn me. Nobody can condemn anybody that
Christ died for because of what he accomplished by his death. Now, he was raised from the dead
because it was necessary, because the scripture said he would,
because of what he actually accomplished by his death. And his resurrection
shows us who he is. I love it when he said, I am
the resurrection. The resurrection is not an event.
He said, I am the resurrection and the life. Paul said in Romans
1, 4, that he was declared to be the son of God with power
by the spirit of holiness and the resurrection of the dead.
The resurrection of the dead, he raised himself up from the
dead. Tells who he is. I love it when
he made a scourge. Somebody says, why do you love
this? Why do? I love it when he made that scourge, that whip
to drive the people out of the temple, the money changers. And
he did. And then the Pharisees came up
to them and they said, who gave you the authority to do this?
Who do you think you are? He said, destroy this temple
and in three days I'll raise them. That's the resurrection. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I love the way he said that.
He said, no man takes my life from me. I lay it down on myself. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it up. This commandment have I received
of my father. What power that he demonstrates
in the resurrection. He raised himself from the dead.
Who can do that? He can. He can. Explain that. I couldn't possibly do that.
But I know that because of the accomplishments of his death,
he was raised from the dead because full satisfaction was made to
God's law. Sin was completely put away.
All of God's people were justified, and he raised himself up from
the dead. The resurrection tells us who he is. Why was he raised from the dead?
Listen to this. I love this. As a matter of fact,
go ahead and turn with me there. Turn with me to Romans 14. Now, why was he raised? He was raised because it was
necessary. He was raised because the scripture said he would be.
He was raised because of the accomplishments of his death.
He was raised to tell us who he is. Now listen to this scripture,
Romans chapter 14, verse nine. For to this end, for this purpose,
Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord. both of the dead and of the living. Now listen to me. Jesus Christ
is Lord. He's not running for office. He is Lord. You don't make him
Lord. He is Lord. And he's Lord of the dead. Those
who are dead in trespasses and sins, he's your Lord. You might
not know it, but he's still your Lord. You say, we'll not have
this man to reign over us. Really? He is reigning over you
right now. He's Lord of the dead. He's everybody's
Lord. There's nobody that escapes his
Lordship. You're in his hands. Your salvation
is totally and completely up to him. You don't have any control
in this thing as to whether or not you're saved. It's up to
him. Now, somebody says, well, that doesn't sound very safe.
If it wasn't like that, nobody would be saved. Thank God he
does save sinners for Christ's sake. And there's nobody who's
ever cried for mercy that he didn't have mercy on. But understand
this, you are in his sovereign hand. He is your Lord, whether
you know it or not, but he's every believer's Lord. Oh, willingly. We say with Thomas, my Lord and
my God, and we love his Lordship. We love his sovereign control.
He's the Lord of creation. He is the one who brought the
universe into existence. The vast expanse of space and
the tiny minutia of an atom. He made it all. He's the Lord
of Providence. He's the one who controls everything
and everybody. He's the first cause behind every
event. You can't take that too far. He's the Lord. Most especially,
He's the Lord of salvation. Salvation is of the Lord and
He most especially is Lord of salvation. You know what that
means? That means you're to come to Him the way that leopard did.
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. If you do that, you're going
to hear this. I will be now clean. He died that he might be Lord,
both of the dead and the living. Now his resurrection is the guarantee
of the resurrection and future eternity of everybody he died
for. You know, because he was raised
from the dead. Well, everybody's gonna be raised from the dead.
Everybody will be. There's one resurrection, and
everybody's gonna be raised either in their sins or in Christ. Now,
with regard to everybody he died for, they're all going to be
raised, having their sins put away, and they are going to spend
eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this scripture,
Thessalonians 4, verse 14. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them which also sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him, so shall we be ever with the Lord. His resurrection guarantees my
resurrection and my future of eternal bliss in the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Christ, turn
with me to this scripture, 1 Peter chapter three. I love to think of his resurrection.
I love to think of, you know, nobody witnessed it. He was in
that tomb. Nobody witnessed it but the father
and he opened his eyes. What all happened, who knows,
it was in the tomb, but I know he took his napkin off and his
grave clothing off and somehow the stone was rolled away and
he walked out living the living Lord. I love to think of his
resurrection. You know, this is a day where
supposedly, you know, everybody's celebrating the resurrection.
There's nothing in the Bible about celebrating it on one day.
You know, this is a holy day. No, it's no different than any
other day. Every day, the believer celebrates the resurrection of
Christ. If you believe the gospel, you're thankful for the resurrection
of Christ. Now, listen to this. 1 Peter 3, verse 21, the like
figure, where into even baptism doth
also now save us. Not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, not the act of going under the water and coming
back up, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, conscience, let's talk about
conscience for a moment. All conscience does is condemn. Nothing else. Somebody says,
well, I've got a pure conscience about that. Well, what your problem
is, you've got a seared conscience. It doesn't work anymore. It's
terrible. It's no good. If you've got a clear conscience,
it's because your conscience is no good. All conscience truly
does is expose sin. That's it. Now, what is going
to give a good conscience to where I can have a good conscience? Because even right now, with
my understanding of the gospel, there's always a cloud over my
head about something. I've heard people say, I never
feel guilty. I feel guilty all the time. And nonstop, nonstop. There's not a time when I don't.
Somebody says, I'm not like that. I can't relate. I can't relate. I am. So what is it that satisfies
and gives me a good conscience? There's only one thing. The resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. I really believe that what he
did makes me without guilt before God. Nothing I do. Holy what he did when he was
raised from the dead, God said regarding everybody he died for,
not guilty. A good conscience is a conscience
that doesn't have anything to feel guilty about. And in Christ, I do not
have anything to feel guilty about. I stand justified before
God. And that's what the resurrection
means. What a glorious, Glorious, glorious truth, Christ was raised
from the dead. Look into that tomb, what's there?
Nothing, nothing. He brought your sins into that
tomb, but where are they? They're blotted out, they're
gone, they're gone because of the resurrection of Christ from
the dead. Now that only satisfies my conscience. Well, I'm going
to, from here on out, I'm going to, I'm going to do better after
today. I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm really going to start
trying to do better and start being more holy and being more,
shut that stuff up. That's not real. It's not real. Anytime you start thinking about
what you're going to do, it's not real. You look to what he
has done. not what he will do, what he
has done. And that's the only place you're
going to find any true peace is what he has done. Turn with me in closing to first
Corinthians chapter 15. Now, amazingly, in the Church
of Corinth, and I shouldn't say amazingly, because we ought not
be amazed about anything. Nothing ought to surprise us.
Whatever bad things we hear, it ought not surprise us. I mean,
look at yourself, and you can know how any bad thing could
happen. But amazingly, I'll still use the language, in the Church
of Corinth, there were people who were denying the resurrection.
They were saying there's no such thing as a resurrection. You
think, well, what were they doing in the church then? I don't know, but there
were. Here we have it. Surely you wouldn't have stuff
like that going on in a real church. Yeah, you do. Yeah, you
do. It happened in Corinth. You had
people that were actually denying the resurrection. Now, look in
verse 12. Now, if Christ be preached that
he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there's no
resurrection of the dead? And then he gives these things
that must be if there is no resurrection of the dead. But if there be
no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen, our
preaching is utterly vain. It is meaningless. And your faith
is also vain. It wouldn't save anybody. Yea,
if Christ is not raised, yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God. Because we've testified of God that He did raise up Christ
from the dead, whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead
rise not. We're false witnesses. If the dead rise not, then is
not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain. You're yet in your sins. What
a horrible thought. They also which are fallen asleep
in Christ are perished. They're in hell now. If in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we're of all men most miserable. If Christ isn't raised. But if
he is, and he is, the Lord is risen indeed, and every believer
is a witness of the resurrection. They know the living Lord. I'm
speaking as a witness. I'm speaking as someone who knows
the risen Savior, and he knows me. Now, if he is raised, our
preaching's not in vain. It's the power of God into salvation. That's how God speaks through
the preaching of the Gospel. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Our preaching's not
in vain. The Lord's going to save some people through it.
And our faith isn't in vain. We're trusting the risen Christ,
seated at the right hand of the Father in complete control. Our
faith is not in vain. And let me tell you this, if
He's raised from the dead, we're not in our sins. My sins are gone. They're blotted out. They're
separated from me as far as the east is from the west. They're
gone. And those people that died in the faith, they're in heaven
now, in the very presence of Christ, worshiping Him. And we're of all men. We all have sorrow in our life,
don't we? Some more than others. Every believer deals with crushing
sorrow. That being said, if Christ is
risen from the dead, we're of all men most happy. Most happy. One other scripture, Romans chapter
10. I want you to look at this with
me. Verse eight. What sayeth it? What does the gospel say? The
Word is nigh thee, very near to you, even in thy mouth and
in thy heart. That is the Word of faith which
we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him
from the dead, Thou shalt be saved. And do you hear that? If you confess with your mouth,
now let me remind you, what you confess with your mouth is what's
found in your heart. That's what's in your heart.
That's what you really believe. If God's given you a heart of
faith, this is what you really believe. And it's gonna come
out in the speech. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord
Jesus. Do you believe Jesus Christ is
Lord? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord of all? I do. I really do. I believe he's Lord. I love even
saying Jesus Christ is Lord. I love that. He's my Lord. He's everybody's Lord. If you
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart
Now, the heart is the understanding, it's the affections, it's the
will. You not only believe that he
died and was raised from the dead, but you have some understanding
as to why he died. He died because it was necessary.
You believe that? He died because of scripture
and rose from the dead because scripture said he would. You
believe that? He died and was raised again because of what
He actually accomplished by His death. He accomplished the complete
salvation of all that He lacked. Do you believe that? Do you believe
He really did accomplish that? Do you understand that His death
tells who he is. He raised himself from the dead.
No man takes my life for me. I have the power to lay it down.
I have the power to take it up. Do you see that his death says
that he died that he might be Lord both of the dead and the
living? Do you have some understanding of his death and his resurrection?
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. The Lord is risen. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
life, the birth, the life, the perfect life. the death, the
sin atoning death, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that
justified all your people. How we thank you for his intercession
and Lord, how we look forward to his return. And Lord, I ask
in Christ's high and holy name for his glory and for his sake,
that you will cause everybody in this room confess with their
mouth the Lord Jesus and to believe in their heart that God raised
him from the dead. In his name we pray, amen.