The Lord Jesus had just made
a whip and physically drove some people
out of the temple who were buying and selling. We consider that
last week and the passage I just read is how the Jews responded. They said to our Lord doing this
in verse 18, what sign showest thou unto us, seeing you do these
things? What gives you the right to do
what you just did? We need a sign. We need something
to indicate to us that you have the authority and the right to
come into this temple and drive everybody out. We need a sign. Now, what he did was drastic,
to say the least. And upon the surface, I can see
why they made this request. If somebody came in here with
a whip and started hitting people and you started running and scouting,
I'd want to know who gives you the authority to do this. What
gives you the right to do this? That was their question. Hold
your finger there and turn to Matthew chapter 12 for a moment. Verse 38. This was not the first time people
requested for the Lord to give them a sign. Look in verse 38.
Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying,
Master, we would see a sign from thee. We want some kind of miracle.
We want you to do something that would vindicate who you are.
We need a sign. But he answered and said unto
them, verse 39, an evil And an adulterous generation
seeks after a sign. That's pretty lame, isn't it?
A desire for a sign, our Lord says, is evil. It's the result
of an adulterous generation. Now, why does he say this? Why
is it wrong to desire a sign? When the Jews asked the Lord
for a sign in our text, give us a sign that would prove to
us that you have the right to do what you're doing. It was
an evil thing. Why is it a bad thing? Let me
answer that question. Because when something is true
and right and what the Lord did in driving these people out of
the temple was true and right, wasn't it? If he did it, it's
true and right. But if I need a sign to vindicate
something that's true and right, it's because I'm looking for
an excuse to not believe. That's the only reason someone
would ask for a sign. What our Lord did was true and
right, and they're looking for an excuse to be upset with it
and not believe it. And that is why it was wrong. I think of when the devil said
to the Lord, if you're the son of God, give us a sign, show
us. Now, remember, God said he was the son of God. He said,
this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. God verified
who he was. And the devil said, well, if
you really are, give us a sign, jump off the temple and prove
it or command that these stones be made great. And you know,
the Lord wouldn't do it. He refused to give him a sign.
Now, if I was the Lord, I think I might have done it. I'll show
him, but not the Lord. Here's why. The Word of God is
enough. If God said it, it's settled.
No signs are needed, and the desire for a sign is in reality
an excuse to look for a reason not to believe. You see, these
people were upset by what the Lord did. They were angry by
what the Lord did. And that's why they said, give
us this sign to prove that you've got the authority to do what
you're doing. Now, verse 19 of our text. Jesus answered and said unto
them. Destroy this temple. And in three days. I will raise
it up. Now, this is a mysterious answer.
As a matter of fact, there's no way these people could have
known what he was talking about. Destroy this temple and in three
days I'll raise it up. Because we looked on reading,
they looked at that big, marvelous temple and they said it took
46 years to build this temple. That's a long construction project.
Can you imagine a construction project take 46 years? I mean,
that's a lot of things. And you say you're going to raise
it up in three days? They obviously had no idea what
he's talking about, and really, there's no way they could have
understood what he's talking about. You know, quite often the Lord
answered in such a way as people wouldn't know what he was talking
about. He did. I think of they said,
why do you speak? Let me let me show you that.
Turn to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew 13. Verse 10, And the disciples came
and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He
answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to them it
is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away, even that which he hath.
Therefore speak out to them in parables, because they seeing,
see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which said,
By hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing
you shall see and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed
gross. And their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they
close, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts,
and should be converted, and I should heal them. Here our
Lord says he speaks in parables so they won't understand. That's
the Lord's words. And when these people say, show
us a sign, he tells them something that there's no way that they
could possibly understand what he's talking about. But John
tells us what he was talking about. They didn't understand
that he was speaking of the temple of his body. They had no way
of knowing that. But he was speaking of the temple
of his body. He said, you destroy this temple. And in three days,
notice what he says. He says, in three days, I will
raise it up. He doesn't say God will raise
it up. He says, I will raise it up. In this answer
to the Jews regarding his authority, he makes the most awesome statement
regarding his power and authority that could possibly be made. He said, kill me and in three
days I will raise myself from the dead. Could a more powerful statement,
a more awesome statement ever be made? He didn't say, my father
will raise me from the dead, although his father did raise
him from the dead. He said, I will raise myself from the dead. In John chapter 10, verse 18,
he said, I have power, I have authority to lay it down, my
life, and I have power, I have authority to take it up. I will raise myself from the
dead. Now, when a man dies, We believe
that he will be raised from the dead. We believe that because
the Bible teaches it. But we certainly don't believe
he has any power at all to raise himself from the dead. There
is only one person that has the power to raise the dead, and
who is that? You know, the answer to that, God himself, only God
can raise the dead. What the Lord is saying is God
has the authority to drive these people out of the temple. He
does, doesn't he? God has absolute authority. Whatever he does is
right. He has no law over his head. It's right because he does
it. Whatever he does is right. He
doesn't do it because it's right. It's right because he does it.
He has absolute ultimate authority and power. God has the authority
to run these people out of the temple with a whip. I'm God. And that's what he's
saying to these people. I am God. And you're going to
see that. You're going to see that I have
absolute authority when I raise myself from the dead. Now, such a stupendous act of
power cannot be understood. How can somebody raise themselves
from the dead? I don't know. But God can. This can't be so much understood
as believed. The resurrection of Christ, the
physical, bodily resurrection of Christ, is the sign, is the
seal, is the stamp of his divine authority. Without the resurrection,
the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lord, everything
in the Bible is meaningless and vain. It doesn't mean a thing
if he did not truly rise from the dead. Without the resurrection,
the Lord Jesus Christ has no authority. I've got a question
for you. Do you believe in the resurrection
of Jesus Christ? Do you believe he was raised
from the dead? This means more than you believe
it took place. You can believe it took place
and still not believe the resurrection as the scripture teaches. I remember
when I was in school, there was a man. His name was Josh McDowell,
he's written several books and he came to speak and I went to
listen to him speak at the University of Kentucky. It's been 27, 28
years ago. And I remember he was telling
this audience. He said, I did not believe in
the resurrection of Christ. And I set out to disprove the
resurrection of Christ. I thought I could actually prove
that it never took place. And he said, upon examining the
evidence and upon looking at the facts and the historical
facts and the data that took place, I came to be convinced
that he did, in fact, he was raised from the dead. So I became
a Christian, he said. You know, the devil has that
kind of faith. Do you believe the devil believes in the resurrection
of Christ? I'm sure he does. He believes
in the resurrection of Christ, but that is not really believing
the resurrection, just believing that it took place. That's not
faith. Now, some understanding of the
resurrection is essential to saving faith. Would you turn
with me to Romans chapter 10? Now, remember, it's the resurrection
that our Lord says proves his authority. If he was not raised
from the dead, if he didn't raise himself from the dead, everything
he said is meaningless and vain and a lie. Everything he says
depends upon his resurrection. Look in Romans chapter 10, beginning
in verse eight. But what sayeth it, the word
is nigh thee, 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 shall believe in thine heart
that God raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. This is what faith is made of.
Do you believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead? Now, some understanding of the resurrection is essential
to saving faith. We see that from that passage
of scripture. Now, turn back to our text in John, chapter
two. Verse 19, Jesus answered and
said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I'll
raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and
six years was this temple and building, and without rear it
up in three days? They didn't know what he's talking about,
but John tells us what he was talking about, that he spake
of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the
dead, three years later, his disciples remembered that he'd
said this unto them. Three years later, they remembered
this when he was risen from the dead. Now, for us to understand
the resurrection of Christ, we're going to have to have some understanding
of death. And I'm going to talk for a few
moments about death. You know, there's seldom a day
that goes by when we don't see death. Lynn and I were taking
a walk just a couple of days ago when there was a dead squirrel
on the street, ran over by a car. And I thought about that squirrel,
probably yesterday that squirrel was breathing, eating, maybe
it had children, I don't know. Now it's dead. Life, cold, stiff. Every one of us who've had loved
ones die. We had a relationship with those
people. Those people were very important
to us. We communed with them. We had a true relationship and
they died. They are not alive anymore. We can't have a relationship
with them anymore. They're buried. They're in the
ground. They are dead. And we will all
one day die. This is an appointment that you
and I must keep. Death. Why is there death? Why do men die? Well, there's
only one reason behind death. What is that reason? Sin. The wages of sin is death. We read in Romans 5, 12, by one
man, sin entered the world and death by sin. So the death passed upon all
men in that all have sinned. Sin is the reason behind death. There's one reason why I'm going
to die. Sin. And you'll remember what God
said to our first parents in the Garden of Eden. He said in
the day you eat of that fruit. He didn't say if you eat it.
He said when you do. When you do. Did God know? Of course he did. He knew exactly
what was going to take place. It was all part of his sovereign
plan. He said in the day that you eat
of that fruit, you shall surely die. And that's what took place. They died that very day. Now, we know they didn't die
physically that day, but they did die spiritually that day,
didn't they? Now, death. What is death? Well, death is
seen in three senses in the scripture. First, there is spiritual death. Now, what is a dead man? A dead
man is someone who cannot perform the functions of life. Talk to
him. Can he hear you? No. Can he speak back to you? No. Can he see you? No. Can he smell
you? No. Can he feel your embrace?
No. He's dead. Dead. He can't perform the functions
of life. He's dead. Now, this spiritual death is
when someone cannot perform the functions of spiritual life.
They can't believe. They can't repent. They can't
love. They can't see the Lord Jesus
Christ. They have no understanding of the gospel. They can't understand
the gospel. It's beyond them because they
are dead. That's what happened to Adam
in the Garden of Eden. He spiritually died. He lost
the ability to perform the functions of spiritual life. That's what
spiritual death is. That's why it takes the grace of God to
save man. What can a dead man do to save himself? Not a thing. He's totally dependent upon God
to do something for him. There's spiritual death, and
that's what happened to our first parents in the Garden of Eden.
They became spiritually dead. You and I, as a result of what
they did, are born into this world with a spiritually dead
nature. That means we're totally dependent
upon the Lord to do something for us. If He doesn't do something
for us, how dependent are the dead in God raising them from
the dead? They're totally dependent on
the Lord, aren't they? It's the only way. And there's
spiritual death. And then there's eternal death.
That's what hell is. It's called eternal death. Now,
that doesn't mean your existence is over. No, you exist eternally.
But hell is called eternal death. And then there's the physical
death. That's when people quit breathing and they're no longer
alive. They're no longer with us. That's
what the Bible means by death. Spiritual death. Physical death. And one day, Eternal death. Now, Jesus Christ, the Lord,
the Son of God. Died. How could he die? I don't know, but he did. As God. He couldn't die. As man, he couldn't live. As
the God man, he did both. That's mysterious. But it's true. Jesus Christ, the Lord, died
and he experienced death in all three of these senses that I'm
speaking of. Now, on the cross. He experienced spiritual death. Now, in his person, he never
sinned. He could say, which of you can
convince me of sin? He never sinned in his person.
The only holy man to ever live. Yet, when he was on the cross,
he was made to cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? You see, on the cross, the sins
of his people actually became He is. Now, what do I mean by
that? When God was pouring his wrath
out upon his son, did he look at his son and say, well, I know
you're not guilty and these sins are not really yours, but I'm
going to go ahead and punish you anyway. Is that the way God
was looking at his son? Absolutely not. I say this with
fear and with trembling. I say this, I hope, with reverence
and fear, but on the cross, The sins of his people truly became
his to this extent. He was made to be the greatest
sinner to ever live. It scares me when I say that,
but God showed him no pity. God showed him no mercy. He wasn't
looking, well, this is my son, and I'm going to go ahead and
treat him as if he were a sinner. No, it's not like that at all.
When God looked at His Son, He saw Him as nothing but sin. That's
why He forsook Him. That's why He poured His wrath
out on Him. What love that God would give His Son up to that.
You know, this is so mysterious to me. It's so glorious. I can't
grasp it, but I believe it. Christ Jesus on the cross, He
was made sin. He experienced eternal death. He experienced the equivalence
of an eternal hell on the cross. All that hell is, He experienced. He experienced an eternal death,
and He did die physically. They took him down from that
cross, dead. The Son of God died. Now, the Lord did die. He died
in every sense of the word. He died spiritually when he was
made sin. He died eternally as he suffered
the wrath of God on the cross. He died physically. He experienced
all three of these senses of death. But there was something
utterly unique about his death. Now my death could never satisfy God. No way it could ever satisfy
God. You know the reason hell lasts forever? There is a reason. Hell lasts forever because the
death of a man can never satisfy God's justice. God said that
He has, He said, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. I
have no satisfaction in the death of the wicked. The reason hell
lasts forever is because the debt is never paid. If the debt
was ever paid, hell would be over, wouldn't it? But hell lasts
forever because sin is against an infinite God, and therefore,
there's no way a man can satisfy God. That's why it's eternal.
God is holy. God is just. And that is why hell lasts eternally. My death, if I would go to hell,
I'd spend eternity there because I could never satisfy the justice
of God. That's how bad my sin is. And this proves how spiritually
stupid we are, because even when I'm talking this way, I don't
understand what I'm talking about. I don't understand how bad sin
really is. You don't understand how bad
sin really is, but it is bad because a holy God makes hell
eternally and no man can ever satisfy the justice of God. There's one man who did. When Jesus Christ died. He actually
satisfied the justice of God. God's holy law said I can ask
no He satisfied the offended law. He satisfied the justice of God,
and God raised him from the dead. Not only did God raise him from
the dead, he raised himself from the dead. How? He's God. And he raised himself from the
dead. His death is utterly unique. In his death, he actually satisfied
the law and the justice of God. And he raised himself from the
dead. Now, would you turn with me for a moment to Romans chapter
four? You know, one of the glorious
things about the gospel, when I preach the gospel and I think about
these things that I'm talking about. They can't be so much understood
as believed. And that's so. I can't just You
can't just dismiss it. No, this is to be believed. It's
so glorious. It's so mysterious. It's so awesome. I can't understand how Christ
raised himself from the dead, but do I believe he did? Look here in Romans, chapter
four, beginning in verse 24. Well, verse 23, but it was not
written for his sake alone that was imputed to him, but for us
also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses. That's why he was delivered up
to death. He was delivered for our offenses, for our sins. He
was delivered for our offenses and he was raised again for our
justice. What does justification mean?
Justification means not guilty. If I'm justified, that means
I don't have anything to feel guilty about. Justified means
I never sinned. It doesn't simply mean forgiven.
It doesn't simply mean pardoned. It means not guilty. Now, when Jesus Christ was raised
from the dead, my sins are what delivered him. He was delivered
for our offenses, and he was raised again when he was raised
from the dead. You know what took place? The
complete justification of everybody he died for. Now, I want you
to think about that. When Jesus Christ was raised
from the dead, you know what God said concerning Todd Nyberg
and everybody else Christ died for? He's justified. Not guilty is what that means. Not guilty. Perfect in God's
sight. Perfectly righteous. Perfectly
just before God. He was delivered for our offenses
and He was raised again for our justification. Verse 1 of chapter
5 says, therefore, being justified. Having been justified. That's
the way that should read. Having been justified. By faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over
Romans chapter eight for a moment. And the resurrection of Christ
is our justification. The resurrection of Christ is
why we have assurance. And look at Romans chapter eight,
verse thirty one. What shall we then say 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? Now, who's the
all he's speaking of? Is he talking about all men to
ever live? Well, if you're honest with that
passage of scripture, you'd have to say he's talking about all men that
ever lived. All men to ever live would be saved. He's talking
about all the elect, all those he died for, all those who believed,
every single one of them. He delivered him up for us all.
And because he died for us, how shall he not? What could possibly
prevent him from freely getting us all things? Let's go on reading. Verse 33. And here's where our
assurance comes from. Verse 33. 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. Now there is why I can't be condemned. That's why I'm justified. It's Christ that died, yea rather,
He's risen again, and His resurrection says everybody He died for is
justified. That's where my assurance is.
Now, I'm looking at death right now while I'm talking to you with anticipation. How? I've got nothing to fear. When He was raised from the dead,
all my sin was put away. And I have nothing to fear. That's
how I can look at death without fear. Simply because what he
did is everything in my salvation. The resurrection of Christ is
the ground of our assurance. The resurrection of Christ is
really what we believe. It's what our faith is made of.
I've already read that passage of scripture. If we confess with
our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart, that God
raised him from the dead will be saved. For with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness. With the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. In my heart. What's that mean? In my understanding? In my affections? In my will? I really believe
in my heart that God raised him from the dead. And that doesn't
simply mean I believe that his resurrection actually took place.
I really believe that when he was raised from the dead, God
said I'm satisfied with him and with everybody he died for. I
really believe that. The resurrection of Christ is
why we have hope for the future. I'll be raised from the dead
one day. And it's because he was. And the resurrection of
Christ is why we persevere right now. Would you turn with me to
1 Corinthians chapter 15? Verse 12. Now, if Christ be preached, first
Corinthians 15, 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? If there be no resurrection of
the dead, then is Christ not risen? Now, here's the Implications
of Christ not being risen. And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain and useless. And your faith is also vain.
It's a fairy tale. Yea, and we're found false witnesses
of God. We're liars. If Christ didn't
raise from the dead, because we've testified of God that he
raised up Christ. If he raised not, it so be that the dead rise
not. For if the dead rise not, Christ is not raised. And if
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. And you're yet in your
sins. Your sins have not been forgiven. Then they which are
fallen asleep in Christ are perished. They're in hell just like everybody
else is. If in this life only we have hope in Christ. We're
of all men most miserable. I mean, it's miserable. Look
at verse twenty nine of the same chapter. Else what shall they
do which are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at
all? Why are they then baptized for the dead? Now, what's that
talking about? Well, what does baptism symbolize? death, you go under the water,
you come back up. He said, if there's no resurrection
of the dead, baptism is meaningless. Go ahead and hold them down and
hold them under the water because you've changed the meaning of
it. He said the very. Ordinance of baptism teaches
the resurrection of the dead. And why stand we in jeopardy
every hour if there's no resurrection of the dead? You know, Paul was
beat. He was mistreated because of what he preached. He said,
why should I bother with this if there's no resurrection of
the dead? I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus.
I die daily. If after the manner of men I
fought with the beasts of Ephesus, what advantage did it be if the
dead rise? Let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Let's go
ahead and have a good time, if there's no resurrection for the
dead. Go for the gusto. Have as much fun as you can here
while you can, because you're going to die and go to hell soon.
So, if there's no resurrection of the dead, go for the gusto,
is what he's saying. Our message, we preach the risen
Christ. That's my message. We preach
the risen Christ and turn back to our text in John, chapter
two. John, chapter two. Verse 22. When, therefore, he was risen
from the dead. His disciples remembered. that he'd said this unto them,
some three years later, and they believed the scripture and the
word which Jesus had said. Now, evidently, what he had said
during this time lay dormant in their heads and in their hearts
for three years. But after the resurrection, they
remembered this. You know what encourages me about
that? I can preach the gospel and it
may not mean much to you right now. I hope it does. I hope it
does, but it may not. But that doesn't mean it's going
to stay that way. The seed has been sown and the Lord can bless
the word preached years later. That's an encouragement with
regard to our children. The seed sown, the truth has
been preached. We don't know when it's going
to bear fruit, but They didn't understand what the Lord was
talking about when he said, destroy this temple and I'll raise it
up. Three days later, they didn't have any idea what he's talking
about, but three years later, the word may lay dormant for a few
years. But it's God's word and he blesses it according to his
will, and look what it says after he was risen from the dead. It
says that they believed the scripture. They believed. The scripture. I'm going to make a statement.
that I really believe. Do you know that if you really
believe the Bible is the Word of God, you are a saved individual? If you really believe the Bible
is the Word of God, God's revelation of himself, you are a saved individual,
and I mean really believe. I mean, really believe. to where
what God's Word says, you believe it. And if your beliefs are contrary
to what God's Word says, you trash your beliefs. You bow to
what God says in His Word. Anybody, I don't care who you
are, anybody who really believes that the Bible is the Word of
God, the revelation of God, that's somebody God's done something
for. Now, I realize there are a lot of people who say they
believe The Bible is the Word of God, but they don't pay attention
to what it says. I don't believe the Bible is the Word of God.
I believe the Bible is the Word of God when I bow to what God
says. It says they believe the Scripture,
and verse 22 says they believe the Word which Jesus had said. They believe what He said regarding
His resurrection. Do you believe that Jesus Christ can raise himself
and did raise himself from the dead? Do you believe that? Do you believe that God really
did raise him from the dead? That he was dead and God raised
him from the dead? Do you really believe that he
walked out of that tomb, the living Christ? Death could not
hold him. Do you believe that? Do you really
believe that God is satisfied with what He did? And that God
is satisfied with everybody He did it for? Do you really believe
that? Do you believe God is satisfied
with the work of the Lord Jesus Christ? I do. Do you believe the living Christ? Do you believe that right now,
even as we speak, there's a man in glory, seated at the right
hand of the Father, ruling and reigning in every sense of the
word? Do you believe that? I do. That is what is called
faith. We believe God. We believe the
Scripture. We believe the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe He has risen indeed. And we believe He lives. I've heard people say, Jesus
is alive and well. Jesus Christ is not alive. Jesus
Christ is life. There's a big difference. He lives. I serve a risen Savior. What a Savior He is. Let's pray
together.