I love that song. Would you turn
back to Luke chapter 20? While you're turning there, tonight
I'm going to be speaking from Romans chapter 14. The first
four verses. And the message is what to do
with the weak. What to do with the weak. Luke chapter 20. Verse 27, Then
came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any
resurrection. Now the Pharisees had already
been put to silence by the Lord, and now the Sadducees come along
with their objection. Now who are the Sadducees? Would
you turn with me to Acts chapter 23 and this will tell us. Beginning in verse 6. But when Paul perceived that
the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried
out into the council, men and brethren, I am a Pharisee. the son of a Pharisee, of the
hope and the resurrection of the dead I am called into question. And when he had so said, there
arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
and the multitude was divided, for the Sadducees say that there
is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees
confessed both." Now, the Pharisees were the conservatives. The Sadducees were the liberals. That's a good way to summarize
it. You've been around conservative
religious people and you've been around liberal religious people.
The Pharisees confessed that there would be a resurrection.
They believed the Bible. The Sadducees said they didn't
believe in a resurrection. And I read where The Sadducees
only believed in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
They rejected the Psalms and the prophets as being inspired. They thought they were the writings
of men. And they couldn't find anything about a resurrection
in the Pentateuch, so they thought. It's obvious in the Psalms, in
the book of Job, in Daniel. I mean, there's so many references
to the resurrection of the dead in the Old Testament. But the
Sadducees didn't acknowledge these books as inspired, and
they believed only the first five books of the Bible. And
they said there's no resurrection in the Pentateuch. The first
five books of Moses, therefore we do not believe in a resurrection. And actually, they believed when
you died, that was it. You died like an animal. They didn't believe in an afterlife.
Turn with me for a moment to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Verse
32. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse
32. If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus. Now evidently this is one of
the times where Paul was put into a lion's den, wolves, whatever
it is they put in and he said I actually had to fight with
beasts. I mean what a life this man had. Beaten, Whipped everywhere
he went for preaching the gospel. And he says this regarding the
resurrection of the dead. He says, if after the manner
of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it
to me if the dead rise not? Let's eat and drink for tomorrow
we die. If there's no resurrection, why am I messing with all this?
Having to fight beasts. All I'd have to do is deny the
gospel and I wouldn't have to deal with any of this. Now, if
there's no resurrection and there's no afterlife, why would I even
bother with any of this? Let's eat and drink and have
a good time while we're here, for tomorrow we die. That's where
that phrase came from. These people, though, did not
believe in a resurrection. They denied it. Now, the resurrection
is foundational to the gospel. If there's no resurrection, Christ
was not raised. If there's no resurrection and
Christ is not raised, I'm still in my sins. Now that's how important
the resurrection is. If there's no resurrection, I'm
still in my sins. Now, the resurrection of Christ,
the concept of resurrection, the dead being raised, is foundational
to the gospel. You can't really believe the
gospel and not believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the resurrection that will take place at the end. Now, the Bible actually speaks
of three resurrections. One, the bodily resurrection
of Christ. I love to think about this. He
was dead. I don't understand how the God-man could die, but
he did. The God-man died. And there he is in that tomb,
dead. And I love to think of him just
opening his eyes all of a sudden. And he's alive. And he walks
out of that tomb. Now, the bodily resurrection
of Christ is essential to justification. He was delivered For our offenses,
Romans 4.25 says, and raised again for our justification. You see, the reason Christ died
is because all of the sins of the elect became his sins. He
became guilty of them. And he satisfied the justice
of God, he paid the debt, and he was raised from the dead because
God was satisfied with what he did. And my friend, if he did
this for you, God is satisfied with you. He's not looking for
anything else. You're justified before God. If Christ lived for you, if Christ
died for you, if Christ was raised for you, God is completely satisfied
with you. What about my sin? You don't
have any sin. He put it away. It's gone. That's what the resurrection
tells us. The second resurrection we read of is spiritual resurrection. And you hath he quickened, hath
he given life to, hath he raised from the dead, who were dead
in trespasses and sins. We're born into this world dead
in trespasses and sins. When Adam died, then I died. Now what does that mean if I'm
dead in trespasses and sins? It means I lack the ability to
perform any of the functions of spiritual life. I can't believe.
I can't repent. I can't hear. I don't have any
affection in my heart for God. I lack the ability to do what
people with spiritual life do when I'm dead. That's why if
God doesn't do something for me, It's over for me. I can't
be saved. I must have him give me life,
raise me from the dead. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. 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. Spiritual quickening. Lord, give
me life. And the third resurrection is
that resurrection at the end. when the dead in Christ and the
dead in sins will be raised from the dead. It's called in the
scriptures the resurrection of the just, the resurrection of
life, and the resurrection of damnation. Everybody's going
to be raised. Everybody's going to be resurrected.
Some to eternal bliss with the Lord Jesus Christ, some to eternal
destruction. The resurrection of the dead. Now, The Sadducees said, there
is no resurrection, and they give this ridiculous scenario
trying to show how ridiculous the idea of the resurrection
is. They didn't believe in a resurrection. And you know, when it comes down
to it, how did they come up with this? I mean, we intuitively
are born into this world knowing God is. No such thing truly is an atheist.
Everybody intuitively knows God is and that there's going to
be a judgment and that the righteous will spend eternity with him
and the wicked will be separated from him. You just know that
and you've got to do some real mental gymnastics to talk yourself
into believing that there is no resurrection or there's no
afterlife and we just die like animals. How'd everybody get
here? Come on! You don't really believe that,
but the Sadducees had convinced themselves that they did and
they give this ridiculous scenario hoping they could embarrass the
Lord when they give him this scenario. Let's read verse 28. They asked this question saying,
Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man's brother die, having
a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take
his wife and raise up seed in his brother. And Moses did say
that. They're quoting the scripture. Verse 29. Now here's this scenario. Luke 20, verse 29. There were
therefore seven brethren, and the first took a wife and died
without children. And the second took her to wife, and he died
childless. And the third took her, and in the like manner the
seven also, and they left no children and died. Last of all,
the woman died also, therefore in the resurrection. Whose wife
of them is she? For the seven-headed wife, they
thought we've got him a question he can't answer. How foolish to think that you
can confound the all-knowing divine mind, the divine logos,
the word. And they thought they had presented
him a question that he couldn't answer. Now, both Matthew and Mark give
us something that Luke doesn't in their account of this event. Would
you turn with me to Mark chapter 12 and look how the Lord responds
to them when they give this ridiculous scenario. Here's the question, verse 23.
In the resurrection, therefore, when they shall rise, Mark 12,
23. In the resurrection, therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife
shall be of them? For the seven had a wife. And
Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err? Because you know not the scriptures,
neither the power of God. Verse 27, He's not the God of
the dead, but the God of the living. You therefore do greatly
err. Now I love the way he says this
to them. You err. Your premise is wrong. Your thoughts are wrong. You
err. And here is where all error comes
from. He said, you don't know the scriptures.
Oh, you can quote them, but you don't know what they mean. You're
completely blind as to the meaning of the scriptures. You don't
know the scriptures, and you don't know the power of God. Now here's the source of all
error. First, you don't know the scriptures.
You search the scriptures. And then you think you have eternal
life. And they are they which testify of me, our Lord said. You err not knowing the scriptures. You know, you can't even know
what the Bible means unless God reveals it to you. You can't
figure it out. You're helpless. I'm helpless in this thing. Unless
God is pleased to make himself known in his word, you'll never
know. He says you err not knowing the
scriptures nor the power God. Now here's the source of every
error. It's believing in a weak God. A God that may want certain
things, but he can't because he doesn't have the power to
make them come to pass. While man's free will may trump
his will. He wants to do certain things,
but he can't unless we let him. That's a weak God. That's a pygmy
God. That's a worthless God. That's
a false God. You don't know the power of God.
You see, the power of God, His power is such that whatever He
wills, He has the power to bring to pass. Is anything too hard
for the Lord? No. He's God. He's all-powerful. Whatsoever He wills, He is able
to bring to pass. That's the very foundation of
everything we believe. Christ can't fail. He's God.
He's all-powerful. Whatever He sets out to do, He
does. And He says to these people who
denied the resurrection, you don't know the Scriptures and
you don't know the power of God. Now turn back to Luke chapter
20. Now, resurrection is impossible for us, isn't it?
I can't give myself spiritual life. I can't raise myself from
the dead. I have no power to raise Christ
from the dead. I mean, resurrection is so beyond
anything that we could do. But God's power, he has the power
to raise to life, to give the dead life. Wouldn't it be a blessing
if the Lord would give some dead sinner life this morning to where
they actually hear. They hear for the first time.
If you're dead in sins, ask God to give you life. If you have life, Thank God for
giving you life. And ask Him to give others who
are dead in sins life. That's what He does. He gives
life. Now, the Lord first says to these
people, He says, You do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor
the power of God. Oh, I love to think of His power. Creation. He spake the world
into existence. Providence, He controls everybody
and everything. Oh, His power and salvation,
the Son quickens, the Son gives life to whom He will. Verse 34 of Luke chapter 20. And Jesus, we'd already said,
we know from the other camps, that you don't know the scriptures
nor the power of God. Then he says this, and they were
talking about marriage, these seven took her to life. And he
said, the children of this world marry and are given in marriage. Now he says you're speaking in
ignorance. You don't know anything about
the world to come. You're just thinking about this world. And
it's true, the children of this world marry and are given in
marriage. People die, so marriage, among
other things, is for procreation. Having children without births,
our race would become extinct. And marriage has many reasons.
The children of this world do marry and are given in marriage,
and I'm thankful for marriage. It pictures the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians chapter 5, Christ's relationship
to his church. That marriage, and what a glorious
marriage that is, what a blessing a happy marriage is. The children
of this world marry and are given in marriage, verse 35, but They which shall be accounted
worthy. That's very important. They which
shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection
from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Neither
can they die anymore for they're equal unto the angels and are
the children of God being the children of the resurrection. Now there is another world. This world's all we know right
now, I realize that. It's a world of trouble. It's
a world of heartache. It's a world of disappointment.
It's a world of pain. It's a world of sin. That's probably
the only thing I need to say. It's a world of sin. But there's another world. There's another world. and it
is an eternal world. And there's two aspects to this
other world. There's the resurrection of life, and there's the resurrection
of damnation. The resurrection of life, eternal
life, eternal bliss in the presence of Christ, being conformed to
his image, And there's the resurrection of damnation, where God will
punish all who are outside of Christ eternally. Now, I don't
like talking about hell. I really don't. I can't stand
to hear a hellfire and brimstone preacher, almost like he enjoys
talking about it. It's a horrible thing to think about, but it's
real. It's real. Now, the Lord tells us in the
resurrection, They'll neither be married nor given in marriage. There's only one marriage in
heaven, and that's the marriage of God's elect to the Lamb, the
Lamb's wife, the bride's wife. That's the only marriage there
is. Now, these marriages here, you have a spouse, that relationship
will be meaningless in heaven. You won't have the same relationship
with your spouse as now. It just won't be. Everybody will
love each other the same. Everybody will be, there's not
going to be these families and situations like that. It's just
going to be the lamb and his wife and his bride. All these
marriages, earthly marriages will be taken away. They were
trying to use this example, this man that was married to, or this
woman was married to seven different brothers. And he said, there's
not going to be that kind of stuff in heaven. Now, if you have a bad
marriage, you think, good. If you have a good marriage,
you think, oh, I don't know if I like that. Well, you will then.
You will then. I'll assure you. Everybody will
be one in heaven, perfectly conformed to the image of Christ, and there
will be no other marriages but the marriage of the Lamb. Eternity
with our husband. And he says these people are
going to be equal to the angels. It doesn't mean that we'll turn
into angels. I mean, people have these stupid
views of heaven. All of a sudden you sprout angels'
wings and go flying, plucking on a harp and sitting on a cloud.
That kind of stuff is foolishness. You know that. We are equal to
the angels in the sense that, you know, the scriptures say
angels are greater in power and might. We'll have greater capacity,
greater strength. We're going to be made just like
Christ and we're going to be enabled to worship him continually. That's what that is. a continual
worshiping of and seeing and glorying in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We don't have the capacity to do it now. We'll hear the gospel,
we'll rejoice in it, we'll go outside and forget everything
we heard. How often do you do that? I mean,
the flesh weighs us down, but we won't have this sinful flesh
there. We'll be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. Now notice
what he says in verse 35, but they which shall be accounted
worthy. They that should be accounted worthy to obtain that world and
the resurrection from the dead, neither married nor given in
marriage. Now there's a big issue. How in the world can I be counted
worthy where God would count me worthy? He's the one raising
me from the dead. How can I be counted worthy? I know how to
answer that question. And it's all taught in the resurrection
of the dead. This is how the resurrection
of the dead is so foundational to the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, we believe Christ was raised from the dead. Do
you believe that? Yes, you do. Christ was actually raised from
the dead. Now, here's the big question. Why did he die in the
first place? Now, there's only one reason
for death. Sin. That's the only reason for
death. Sin. Who's the one man who never
sinned? The Lord Jesus Christ. He knew no sin. He did no sin. He perfectly kept God's holy
law. But he died. Why? Because the sins of God's elect
became his sins. So that he actually became guilty
of them. My sin became his sin. And that's why he died. He died
because he deserved to die. Now listen to me. I personally, Todd Norbert, I
deserve eternal punishment. I deserve to be in hell. Christ took my sins and made
them his own. He took my sins and my sorrows
and made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. He died because of sin. The wages
of sin is death. My sin became his sin. He became
guilty of it and God put him to death. God punished him. He was forsaken by God. He bore
the complete equivalent of eternal hell. But you know what he did?
He did something me and you could never do. He satisfied God. Now the reason hell is eternal
is because nobody can satisfy God. If I get sent to hell, there's
no way where God can say, it's enough. It's enough. Because
my sin is infinite. It's against an infinite God.
And I don't understand how all that is, but I believe it. I
believe it. My sins against the infinite God, that's why hell
is eternal. But Christ Jesus satisfied God. He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. And now the very justice of God
demands the salvation of everybody that Jesus Christ died for. We
got a just salvation. And now, because of what Christ
did for me, I am accounted worthy. You know, the only thing that
will make you fear death is sin. But if all your sin's taken care
of, if it's all put away, if you're perfect before God's sight,
you have no reason to fear death. You have every reason to look
forward to it and think, oh, when's my time coming? I can't
wait to die to be with Christ, to be in His presence. Because
you have been accounted worthy. Through what Christ did. Yeah,
good to go. Good to go. But they, verse 35, which shall
be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the erection from
the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, neither can
they die anymore. Incapable of dying. I like that. They can't die. Remember, the
reason for death is sin. No sin, no death. They can't
die anymore, they will be eternally in my presence. They're equal
unto the angels and are the children of God, being the children of
the resurrection. Perfectly conformed to the image
of Christ. Now, look at verse 37. Now remember,
the Sadducees did not believe in anything but the writings
of Moses. The first five books of the Bible And they thought,
well, the first five books of the Bible don't teach anything
about a resurrection, therefore we won't believe in a resurrection.
And look how the Lord answers them. Verse 37, Now that the
dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth
the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob. For he's not a god of the dead,
but of the living, for all live under him. Turn with me to Exodus
chapter 3. He quotes a passage of scripture
that they thought proved that there were no resurrection. Exodus
chapter 3, verse 1. Now Moses kept the flock
of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. This is
after he'd fled Egypt. And he led the flock to the backside
of the desert and came to the mountain of God even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire. out of the midst of the bush.
And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the
bush was not consumed." Now that's a picture of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The fire of God's wrath couldn't
consume Him. He consumed the fire. That's
how glorious He is. Verse 3, and Moses said, I'll
now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, you know that's significant. One
of God's people, they're going to turn aside to see. Somebody
else might not be interested in this, but Moses was. And when
God saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out
of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said,
here am I. And he said, Draw not thy hither,
put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place wherein thou
standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God
of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he
was afraid to look upon God. Now, God did not say, I was the
God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, but now they're dead.
But he said, I am the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. If I say, I knew your grandfather,
what do I mean by that? He's now dead. If I say, I know
your grandfather, what's that mean? He's still alive. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are
alive right now as we speak. He's the God of the living. He's
not the God of the dead. Now, just a side note, would
you have ever looked at this passage of scripture and thought
it taught the resurrection? I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have even considered
it. This shows how vast this book
is. Our Lord uses this passage of scripture to teach that there
is in fact a resurrection of the dead. He says to these guys,
you do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. God's not
the God of the dead. God is the God of the living. Now that means that if God is
your God, He gave you life. Life from the dead. He's not the God of the dead. He's the God of the living. You have the very life of God
in your soul. Now this is not just high sounding
words. This is the truth. Paul said
in Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. Second Peter 1.4 says this, you're
partakers, sharers of the divine nature. You have the very life
of God in your soul. That's, how can you see sin for
what it is? You wouldn't see sin for what
it is if you didn't have the life of God in your soul. Now that means God is for you.
It may be nobody else is, but if he is, if God be for us, who
can be against us. He is the God of the living. Listen to this scripture. This
is the record that God hath given unto us eternal life and this
life is in His Son. That's where life is. It's not in you. It's in His
Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And when we're talking about eternal life, we're not just
talking about the longevity of it. And eternal life never ends. No time. It never ends. But we're talking about the quality
of it. This is eternal life. that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Now, would
you turn with me to John chapter 5? There's a couple of scriptures
I want us to look at. In closing, John chapter 5. Verse 39. Now he's speaking to unbelievers
because he says in verse 38, And you have not his word abiding
in you, for whom he hath sent, him you believe not. Search the
scriptures. You search the scriptures, for
in them you think you have eternal life. And they are they. which testify
of me, and you will not come to me that you might have life."
Life. Now, what that tells me, first
of all, is every man, by nature, does not have life. Every man
by nature is spiritually dead. That's what the Bible teaches.
Dead in trespasses and sins. Graveyard dead. Graveyard dead. How much ability does a dead
man have to do anything? He doesn't have any ability.
No man by nature has any spiritual life. Dead. You will not come to me that
you might have life. But there is life in Christ. You will not come to me that
you might have life. There is life in Christ. There's life before God's law,
no guilt. There's life before God. There's
a spiritual life. You've got the life of God in
your heart if you come to Christ. There is life in Christ. I think it's interesting when
the Passover was eaten. The calendar was changed. This
is the beginning of months. The calendar was changed. You
know why? You didn't live until the 8th of Passover. You didn't
live until you were in the house with the blood over the door.
That's when life began. That's when life began. There wasn't any life before
that. This is life. There is life in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And There is life for all who
come. He says, you will not come to
me that you might have eternal life. If you come to Christ,
you'll have eternal life. The Lord said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I'll in
no wise cast out. If you come to Christ, you will
have eternal life. Well, somebody says, what do
you mean by coming to Christ? It's simply this, believing on
His name. If you believe on His name, you've come to Him. He
that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on
me shall never thirst. You believe on Him. You trust
who He is as all that's needed to make you acceptable before
God. You have life before God. You have the very life of God
in your soul. You're going to live eternally. There's life for everybody who
comes. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. and no man by nature will come. You will not come to me that
you might have life. I dare say you've heard many
Arminian sermons. Now what do I mean by an Arminian
sermon? An Arminian sermon is a sermon
preached by someone who believes Arminian doctrine. But what is
Arminian doctrine? What kind of people are those?
What kind of animals are those? Well, Arminian doctrine means
that salvation is ultimately dependent upon an act of your
will. That's it. God loves you, Christ died for
you, wants to save you, made salvation available for you,
made salvation possible for you, but it's up to your will as to
whether or not you'll be saved. You see, you need to accept Him
as your personal Savior. If you don't do that, you won't
be saved. Salvation is ultimately dependent upon your will. I bet
you've heard Arminian sermons, but you know something you've
never heard? I guarantee you've never heard an Arminian prayer.
What do I mean by that? Have you ever heard anybody pray
like this? I thank you that you've given me a glorious free will
and that you've given me this free will where I made the difference.
Now this poor fellow who goes to hell, it's all his fault because
he didn't use his will the way I have. Glory to my will. Glory
to my will. I made the difference. Thank
you. You haven't heard anybody pray like that, have you? That's
the prayer of a devil. That shows the reality of the
wickedness of that kind of thinking. You will not come to me that
you might have life. If you've come to Christ and
have been given life, you know it's because you've been drawn
to Christ by God. Don't you? You know that, don't
you? No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me draw him. Now what do you say to that?
Let me tell you what I say to that. Draw me. Draw me. Oh, I hope everybody in here
says that. Lord, draw me. I can't come unless you draw
me. You said that. Draw me. I want to be drawn. The Shulamites
said in the Song of Solomon, draw us and we'll run after thee. That's the way all of God's elect
respond to the gospel. Draw me. Those who don't believe
say, I don't believe that. I know you don't. I never expected
you to. But I do expect everybody who believes to say this. Draw
me. Draw me. And actually, when it
comes right down to it, let me retract that statement. No, I
expect you to believe it. It's what God's Word says. I expect everybody
to believe everything God says. You ought to. It's the Word of
God. Romans chapter 6. He's the God of the living. Verse 10, for in that he died, he died
unto sin once. I love that. He died once and he's not going
to die anymore. He died unto sin once. But in
that he liveth, he liveth unto God, likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord." Now, reckon yourself to be dead
to sin. Sin's dead to me. Well, I sure feel a lot of sin
going on in my heart right now. If God says to reckon yourself
to be dead indeed to sin, there's only one reason, because you
are dead indeed to sin. Sin has nothing to say to you.
It's been punished. It's been taken care of. You're
alive. You have life before God. You're
alive to God. Verse 12, Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust
thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves, present yourselves unto God as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments
of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. What a blessed promise of life.
One final scripture, turn to Philippians chapter 3. Paul says in verse 8, 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 do
count them but done. That's not much of a loss. That
I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God, by faith, that I might
know Him, and what? power of His resurrection. Now what is the power of His
resurrection? He was raised from the dead. I was raised from the
dead. That's my life before God. His
life. Oh to know the power of of His
resurrection. Somebody says, well, that's not
His power in your life. Well, I reckon it is. I won't
disagree with that. If you're talking about you're
walking above sin now, I don't believe you. You're just telling
stories. But I want to know the power of His resurrection, don't
you? Let's go on reading. That I might
know Him and the power of His resurrection. The fellowship
of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death, if
by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."
Now, the time is coming when time will be no more. There's going to be the dead
in Christ being raised and there's going to be those who are outside
of Christ raised. The resurrection of life and
the resurrection of damnation. I want to attain unto the resurrection
of life, don't you? Let me give you one evidence
that you will. I'm as sure of this as I am that
I'm alive right now. This is the one evidence that
you've been raised from the dead. You really believe that Christ
is all in your salvation. That it has nothing to do with
anything you've done, but wholly to do with what He has done. If you believe that, if you're
relying on Jesus Christ only, this world, when this passing
world is done, we just heard that nice song, when His sunk,
yawning, glaring sun, When we stand with Christ in glory, looking
over life's finished story, then Lord, shall we fully know, not
to then, how much we owe. Let's pray. Lord, Would you let the dead hear your
voice in the gospel? Speak with the power that raises
the dead to life to each heart here according to your will. In Christ's blessed name we pray.
Amen.