Would you turn back to Daniel
chapter 12? Daniel describes an event that
will most surely take place. Verse two, and many of them would
sleep in the dust of the earth. Their bodies have decayed and
decomposed and they're now nothing more than dirt. Shall awake some
to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. The final resurrection. Now, How many billions of people have
died? There are 7 billion people I've
heard somewhere alive today. There have been, no doubt, hundreds
of billions of people that have lived and died and decayed and
are a part of the earth. the first man able until the
last man who dies, unless the Lord first returns. The Lord
formed Adam out of the dust of the earth, and he said, after
the fall, dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return. Now, if we're not alive upon
the return of the Lord, these bodies of ours, will be reduced
to a pile of dirt. It's interesting, just a couple
of days ago, Lynn and I were talking and it kind of shocked
me. She said, you know, we need to start looking about getting
some grain plots. And I thought, I reckon we do. We're both, she's
60, I'm almost there. Most of our life is over. We
might live another five, 10, 20 years, I don't know, but still,
most of our life is over. And in one to three years after
my death, I will be dirt. My body will have decomposed.
I suppose it takes longer for the bones to decompose, but everywhere
else it is dirt. Now after that will come what
Daniel tells us of the final resurrection when these Physical
bodies will somehow be resurrected. The dirt will be changed once
again into a living body. From the dust shall some be raised
to life everlasting. And from the dust some shall
be raised to everlasting contempt. Now would you hold your finger
there in Daniel and turn with me to John chapter 5. This is the Lord talking about
this event. I've entitled this message, The
Resurrection. Now look in verse 28 of John
chapter 5. Marvel not at this, for the hour
is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear his
voice and they shall come forth. This is speaking of the resurrection.
They that have done good unto the resurrection of life and
they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Now here our Lord speaks of the
resurrection. They that have done good. Now
that's a. Stop there for a second. He didn't
say those who have had Christ's righteousness imputed to them.
He didn't say that, although They have had His righteousness
imbued to them. But it doesn't say that. It says,
they that have done good. Their life has been an interrupted
time of doing good. Now, that's how real justification
is. My life, I'm going to hear. Every believer will hear. Well
done, thou good and faithful servant. Now we don't think of
ourselves in that light, do we? You know, when I think of myself,
I can't think of anything well done. My confession of sin is
sin. My Sorrow is way too insincere. Everything about me, I can't
possibly think of the Lord looking at it and saying, well done,
thou good and faithful servant. I can hear him saying, well,
my righteousness was imputed to you, and that's why you're
saved. But that's not the way this passage of scripture is
stated. With regard to every believer, this is how real justification
is. Well done. They that have done
good. Everything you've done, if you're
a believer, is good in God's sight. Because Christ's righteousness
really is your personal righteousness. His life really is your life
before God. And this describes you. They
that have done good under the resurrection of life. And they
that have done evil resurrection of damnation. Everlasting contempt
is how Daniel puts it. Turn with me to a passage of
scripture in Revelation 22. Revelation 22 verse 11. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. He which is filthy, let him be
filthy still. And he that is righteous, let
him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. Now, the point is, is as you
die, so you're going to rise. If you die unjust, if you die
filthy, when you raise from the dead, you're going to still be
unjust and filthy before God. If you die righteous, If you
die holy, and every believer does die righteous and holy. I am righteous before God and
I have, if I'm a believer, I have a holy nature. It's the new nature,
the nature given me in the new birth, the nature of regeneration,
partakers of the divine nature. And if I die righteous and holy,
I'm gonna be raised from the dead. righteous, and holy. As you die, so shall you live,
and so will you spend eternally." Now most people say that Job,
turn to Job 19, most people say that Job is the oldest book in
the Bible. It's older than the books of
Genesis through Deuteronomy that Moses wrote. But look what Job
says in Job chapter 19, verse 25, for I know that my Redeemer liveth
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and
though after my skin worms destroy this body and I go through the
process of decay, yet in my flesh shall I see God. He's talking
about his resurrection. whom I shall see for myself and
mine eyes shall behold, not another, though my reins be consumed within
me. Now, the Lord Jesus spoke of
his own resurrection in Psalm 16, where he said, thou shalt
not suffer thy holy one to see corruption. And it's quoted by
Peter in Acts chapter two on the great sermon on Pentecost. Now, in the Lord's day, when
he was walking upon this earth, there were two factions called
the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees believed in the
resurrection. They read it in Job, they read it in other places
in the scripture, and the Sadducees denied that there was a resurrection.
They came up with the Lord with this predicament, and they were
trying to Stump him. They said there was a woman who
had a husband. He died. She didn't have any
babies. His brother, she was given to him to see if he could
raise up seed to his dead brother. It didn't work for him either.
They went through seven brothers. She didn't have a baby with any
of them. Now, which one is gonna be a husband and wife in resurrection? And the Lord said, you do err
greatly. not knowing the scriptures nor
the power of God. And he told them that in the
resurrection, there are no marriages. We'll be as the angels of God. There will not be that kind of
relationship anymore. But he said, God said, I am the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is
not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. And he
used that to demonstrate the resurrection. Now, I wouldn't
have used that scripture to demonstrate the resurrection. I wouldn't
have even thought of it. But the Lord did. And that lets us
know how deep the word of God is. This demonstrates the resurrection. Now, actually, while the Lord
was walking upon this earth at least five different times, he
spoke of his own resurrection. You remember in John chapter
two when he made that whip and drove those people out of the
temple who were buying and selling and exchanging money. He said, get out. You've made
my father's house a den of thieves. And he took a whip and beat them
out. And some people said, what sign showest thou unto us, seeing
that thou doest these things? Where do you get the authority
to act like this? Where do you get off on treating us like this?
He said, destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise
it up. Now, they didn't know what he was talking about. They
thought he was talking about the physical temple. But he was talking about
his death, burial, and resurrection. There was another time when he
said there's going to be no sign given this generation but the
sign of Jonah. Three days in, three days out. And then in the
book of Matthew, three times he speaks both of his resurrection,
I mean his death, his crucifixion, and his resurrection, that it's
going to happen. And his enemies said, after his
death, they knew he said it. They said this deceiver, while
he was alive, said that after three days he's going to rise
from the dead, so what you need to do is put a watch on the tomb,
and make sure that the last day isn't worse than the first. They
knew it! The disciples did too. Why weren't they there waiting
at his grave? Because he told them plainly
that in three days he would rise from the dead and none of them
believed it. And his enemies knew about it
and brought it up. And his disciples, where were
they at this time? Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
six. Hebrews chapter 6, now this is
such an important passage of scripture because he tells us
these are the first principles of the oracles of God. These
are things that must be preached. Verse 1, therefore leaving the
principles of the doctrine of Christ. Now he's not saying we're
not going to be preaching these anymore. He said we ought not
always have to be showing you this. This ought to be grounded
in your thinking. This ought to be the ABCs that
just come naturally believing this way. Therefore, leaving
the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on into
perfection, not laying again the foundation. What happens
if we always have to lay again the foundation? The superstructure
never goes up. This foundation ought to be laid
and settled and everybody resting in it. Not laying again the foundation
of number one, repentance from dead works. What's that mean? That means that you see every
work before you were regenerated and God actually did something
for you was nothing but a dead work. There was no salvation
in it. There's no life in it. It was
nothing but a dead work. And that's the first thing he
points out. Repentance from dead works and a faith toward God. Faith in Christ. Of the doctrine
of baptisms. And that's talking about union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the doctrine of baptisms
is. When he lived, I lived. When he died, I died. When he
was raised, I was raised. And the doctrine of the laying
on of hands, that's talking about the transference of guilt. That's
not talking about people putting their hands on other people,
all of a sudden they start speaking in tongues. That's not what that's
talking about at all. It's talking about the great
high priest laying his hands on the head of the sacrifice,
and through that, it's typically showed that the guilt of the
people was transferred to the sacrifice. And then the resurrection of
the dead. That's one of the first principles.
It's so important for us to understand what this thing of the resurrection
of the dead means, what it represents. And then lastly, he speaks of
eternal judgment. And I love the way the word eternal
is there. Everything God does is eternal. Eternal judgment. But with regard to the resurrection,
this is one of the first principles. that we must have some understanding
of, there's three resurrections spoken of in the scripture. Number
one, the bodily resurrection of Christ. Now the Lord Jesus
Christ, and here's one of the many things that I just don't
understand, he died. How could Jesus Christ, who is
God manifest in the flesh, die? I do not know, but he did. He
did. He died. He became guilty of
our sin. He bore our sin and he died. He closed his eyes in death. But you know what? He was raised
from the dead. No human eye witnessed this when
he was resurrected in the tomb, but he was here on earth 40 days
after his resurrection, demonstrating to his disciples he was raised
from the dead. And we understand why he was raised from the dead.
He set aside God. His body never went through the
process of decay like me and you will. Because the exact millisecond
he died, justice was satisfied. God said, I can ask for no more. There's the bodily resurrection
of Christ. And secondly, there's the spiritual
resurrection that takes place in the new birth. Now, in the
spiritual resurrection, our Lord said this, the hour is coming,
and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live." Now this is talking about
regeneration, when God gives you, every believer, life from
the dead. We were dead, spiritually dead,
dead to God. Dead to who we are, dead to who
he is, dead to any spiritual ability. Couldn't believe, couldn't
repent, didn't care. Dead in trespasses and sins. No life. And God said live. And there was a spiritual resurrection. It's what John calls in Revelation
the first resurrection. The blessed and holy is he that
hath part on the first resurrection. Upon such the second death hath
no power. He's talking about regeneration.
Life from the dead. I'm given life that I didn't
have when I was first born into this world. I've been made a
partaker of the divine nature. And now I do things that only
life can do. I believe the gospel. Only life
can do that. And then there is the final resurrection. It takes a body anywhere from
one to three years to decompose. And during the physical resurrection,
the decomposed bodies of millions, billions of people will be raised
from the dead and brought to life, some to everlasting salvation
and some to everlasting damnation. I turn to 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 42, so also is the resurrection
of the dead. It's sown in corruption. It's
raised in incorruption. When I'm raised from the dead,
I'm going to be raised sinless. I can't even imagine what that
means. I have no idea what it means. I can use the word, but
I can't imagine what it is to be sinless. Can you? But when
every believer is raised from the dead, they're not going to
have a sinful nature anymore. They're not going to have to
deal with sin and unbelief and hardness of heart. They're raised
incorruptible. It's sown in dishonor. It's raised
in glory. It's sown in weakness. It's raised
in power. It's sown a natural body that's
going to decay. It's raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there
is a spiritual body. Look in verse 50, But this I
say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold,
I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at
the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Christ purchased it for me. So
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that's written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. The
strength of sin is the law, but thanks be unto God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord for as much as you know. that your labor is not
in vain in the Lord. Now, let me give you some scriptures
and some thoughts concerning this thing of resurrection. It's
a glorious thought, isn't it? To be raised incorruptible. It's a horrifying thought to
think of the resurrection of a damnation. And I pray that
the Lord saves every one of us so we're going to be raised to
everlasting life. Now, Christ said to Martha, this
is so important, Christ said to Martha in John chapter 11,
after she said, I know my brother is going to be resurrected on
the last day. He said, I am the resurrection. The resurrection
is not an event. I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth on me. Though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth and believeth
on me, note the order. You're not gonna believe till
you live. You live, you will believe. He that liveth and believeth. Now there's not a short time
between life and faith. They come at the precise same
time. Logically, obviously life has
to come before there's faith, but chronologically they come
At the precise same time, he that liveth and believeth on
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. He'll never die. Believest thou this? Now, understand,
we don't have any understanding of resurrection until we see
that Christ is the resurrection. You know, when I was spiritually
made to live before God, It wasn't on whatever day it was I was
saved. Now, I don't know what day I
was saved on. I couldn't come close to telling you. People
say, I remember what I saved. I don't. I can't tell you a day. But that's not really the day
I was saved. If you want to talk about a day
in time, the day I was saved was the day Christ was raised
from the dead. That's when I was saved. When
Christ was raised from the dead, I was raised with Him. Isn't that what we confess in
baptism? That's everything we believe. Christ is the resurrection
and He is the life. His life is my life before God. And the reason I'm going to be
raised spiritually is because He was raised from the dead for
me. And the reason I'm going to be
raised physically is because He is the resurrection and the
life. I love that scripture. I am the
resurrection and the life. Do you believe this? Yeah, Lord,
I do. I do believe this and I rejoice in it. Paul said to Agrippa in
the book of Acts, why should it be thought a thing incredible
with you that God should raise the dead? Now, no man can produce
life. I remember when I was a kid,
I would watch those Frankenstein movies, and they'd lift him up
there to the lightning, and it'd come down on him somehow. Life
would be created, and they created the Frankenstein monster. Well,
it was fun to watch it when I was a kid, but that's foolishness.
Man cannot produce life. Man cannot raise anybody from
the dead, but God can. And God does. He that spake the
universe into existence from nothing can raise the dead. Why should it be thought a thing
incredible to you that God should raise the dead? Now the only
way heaven will be populated and the only way hell will be
populated is because of Him raising the dead. All the dead shall
be raised, some to everlasting life, some to shame, and everlasting
contempt. Now, one of the desires Paul
expressed in Philippians chapter three, and I love that passage
of scripture. This is a passage of scripture I think, well, if
I ever have to get up and preach and don't have an outline, I
got one here that's really powerful to me. Paul says, oh, that I
may win Christ and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness,
I don't have anything to do with that, which is through the law,
but that which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. And he says, oh, that I might
know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings. being made conformable unto His
death, if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of
the dead." Now, I love the way he said, I want to know Him and
the power of His resurrection. You know, there's omnipotence
involved in the resurrection of the dead. When Christ was
raised from the dead, what justifying power there was. When a dead sinner is raised
from the dead, what regenerating power there is. When the dead
in Christ are raised, what glorifying power there is. They're going
to be raised perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. Now,
I want to know the power of His resurrection, don't you? I mean,
I want to know the power. I want to know Him. Oh, I want
to know him. I don't want to simply know about
him. I want to know him. I want to know him to this extent
where he said, I know him. I don't want to be name dropping.
I want to know him so that he knows me. And I want to know
the power of his resurrection. And then in Romans chapter four,
verse 25, we read these words. He was delivered for our offenses. Our sin is offensive, isn't it? He was delivered for our offenses. That's why he died on Galilee's
tree. Our sin became his sin. He was
delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. He was raised again. Now, I love
to think of the fact that he never, ever went through the
process of decay. Thou shalt not suffer thy holy
one to seek corruption. Because the moment he died, all
of the sins of all of God's elect were completely put away. He died, sin was put away, and
he was raised because every one of God's elect were justified
so much so that Paul said, who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? What a challenge. Come on. If you've got anything
to lay, try it. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that can condemn? It's Christ that died. Yea rather,
that is risen again. who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. You see, the resurrection
is the stuff of faith. You can't have faith in Christ
without some understanding of it. I know you can't intellectually
comprehend it, but do you believe he was raised from the dead? If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God raised
Him from the dead. Do you? Do you confess with your
mouth Jesus to be Lord? He's the Lord. You believe that. You confess that He's the Lord.
You confess with your mouth what you believe in your heart. He's
the Lord Jesus Christ. That means He's the dictator.
That means He's in control. That means He's the sovereign
of the universe. He really is Lord. If you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart, that
means your understanding, that means your will, you want it
to be that way, that means your affections, you love it this
way. If you believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. And with the mouth, confession
is made unto salvation. Now, when you believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, you're believing unto
righteousness. What that means is you know and
you understand that the only reason that you're righteous
before God is because God raised him from the dead. You don't
have anything else but his death, his burial, and his resurrection. And you find all your salvation
in that. With the heart man believeth
under righteousness. And I love the way it says with
the heart. That means with the understanding.
I do understand that the only righteousness I have is the righteousness
and merits of Jesus Christ. Understand that. Not only do
I understand it, The will is involved if I'm given my choice. Do you want to be saved by your
righteousness or Christ's righteousness? I know what my choice is. I want
to be saved by Christ's righteousness. I don't have anything to do with
my own righteousness because I know I don't have any. And as far as my affections
go, I love being saved by His righteousness. I love the gospel
of Jesus Christ. This is the stuff of faith. Peter said in 1 Peter 1, 3, that
we have a living hope by the resurrection of Christ from the
dead. Now we have a living hope. It's
not a dead hope, it's a living hope. Now what's my hope? What's the hope
of every believer? I have a hope that when my name
is called on judgment day, I'm going to hear God say to
me, well done. thou good and faithful servant."
And me having that hope, I guarantee you this, it doesn't have anything
to do with me thinking, you did good. It doesn't have anything
to do with that. It's because of the resurrection
of Christ from the dead. I have a hope that everything
that happens to me between now and then and everything that's
happened to me from the time of my birth until the end is
working together for my good and His glory. And there's one
reason I believe that because of the resurrection of Christ
from the dead. When He was raised from the dead,
all the obstacles of my salvation were removed and I'm made perfect
before God. and what a living hope we have
because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the
dead. Would you turn with me to 1 Peter
chapter 3? I want you to see this. Verse 21. The like figure, whereunto Even
baptism doth also now save us. What do you mean by that? Baptism
saves us? Not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, not the act of immersion, not the act of going
under the water. That doesn't save anybody, but
what it teaches. The answer of a good conscience
toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A good conscience
toward God. Every one of us have a conscience.
Sometimes people put it out. I've seen people who seem to
have no thought of the difference between right and wrong. You've
known people like that, people that don't care, but everybody's
born with a conscience. And the conscience, I'm thankful for conscience,
but I don't know anything about having a clear conscience about
anything. I really don't. I look at my own experience and
I don't feel clear about anything. I've been trying to think about
what it is to confess sin. And I thought my confession is
no good. It's insincere. It's not real
enough. It's not strong enough. It's
not understanding enough. It's not just go on and on. I
can't even confess my sin. It's sin. I can't feel sorry
over my sin the way I ought to. I'm too hard-hearted. I'm too
ignorant with regard to everything that has anything to do with
my flesh, my hand on it. I don't feel a clear conscience.
I feel a guilty conscience. And somebody says, well, I don't
feel a guilty conscience. Well, I know why. That's because
you have a seared conscience. That's because your conscience
is no good. That's because you don't think right. What is this
thing of having a good conscience? A good conscience is a conscience
that has absolutely, positively nothing to feel guilty about. And that is only realized, the
only thing that satisfies my conscience is the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. That's the answer of a good conscience.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I need no other
argument. I need no other plea. It is enough. that Jesus died and that he died
for me and that he was raised from the dead for me. Turn with
me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Again, this is a little, the
whole 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians is about the resurrection. Most
of it is. There were some people who were denying that there was
a resurrection in the church of Corinth and Paul is giving
the implications of that, the horrible implications. But look
what he says, beginning in verse 29. Else what shall they do, which
are baptized for the dead? If the dead rise not at all,
why they are baptized then for the dead? Now, what he's saying
is, in that passage of scripture, baptism is meaningless if there's
not a resurrection. I mean, if there's no resurrection,
why put them under the water and then bring them back up?
Just go ahead and hold them right down. Because if there's no resurrection,
that's all it means. Just hold them down. They're
still dead. There's no union with Christ. There's no real
resurrection. Now, let's go on reading. And
why, if there's no resurrection, why stand we in jeopardy every
hour? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus
our Lord. I die daily. Now, if after the manner of men,
I fought with beasts," said Ephesus. Now what's he talking about?
Well, you know how the Romans would put people out and they'd
have to fight beasts. They'd give them a sword. Maybe
lions or bears or tigers would come at them. Evidently, Paul
had to do this at one time. and the Lord preserved him. But
look what he says though. He says, after the manner of
men, I fought with beasts at Ephesus. What advantage is it
to me if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow
we die. Now, if there's no resurrection,
why am I going through all this? Well, I wouldn't bother. I wouldn't
bother to fight beasts. If there's no resurrection, no,
let's just go ahead and have a good time, eat and drink and
be merry. Tomorrow we die. But the resurrection, knowing
of this resurrection is what causes us and helps us by the
grace of God to persevere in the faith all the way to the
end. Because we know of the resurrection. Now, when Peter was selecting
someone to take Judas's place, it was to be a witness of the
resurrection. Now, if you and I know the Lord
Jesus Christ, verse John 17, 3 says, this is eternal life
that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. If we know Christ, and every
believer does, we know him. We don't simply know about him,
we know him. We know who he is, we know him. And if you know him, you are
a witness of his resurrection. Every believer, you are a witness
of his resurrection. I love Acts chapter 4, verse
33, the summary of the early church. And with great power
gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And great grace was upon them. And I pray the same for us, that
we might be witnesses, true witnesses, somebody that's seen something,
somebody that knows Him, witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, and great grace. You know, the
only kind of grace there is is great grace, isn't it? That great
grace might be upon us. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
resurrection of our Redeemer. Lord, how we thank you for the
spiritual resurrection that we've been given. For his sake. And Lord, how we look forward
to that final resurrection. One will be raised incorruptible
with a spiritual body. And we won't even remember what
it is to be a sinner. And Lord, even though we will
not remember what it is to be a sinner, we will remember that
the only reason we're there is because of Him. And Lord, we'll
see it when we behold His wounds. Now, Lord, bless this message
for Your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.