Raised for Our Justification

[0:00] Wow, that was good singing. Let me give you a little Bible lesson on good singing.! I mean that. I mean, after all, what a pastor should do!

[0:30] In other words, what we sing should be clearly connected to the glory of the word that God has given to his children. Secondly, good singing is something that the Holy Spirit enables in a believer who is filled with the Spirit.

[0:56] You all know that, don't you? Right? Right? One of the giveaways of not being filled with the Spirit is being a grumpy, unhappy, non-participating believer.

[1:09] Do you follow what I'm saying? Everybody's with me? Everybody's saying, I get that memo, that's for me, right? I like the way you sing.

[1:23] I do. I want people of the years from now to remember. That when they were here, they heard people sing.

[1:37] Because the words are true. And because the Spirit of God works in believers' lives. And we're thankful for that. Now, remember what I said.

[1:49] Good singing is informed by Scripture. So it goes without saying that that's where we're next. Turn in your Bibles. That's one of the most precious statements. Another one is, let's sing together.

[2:02] But I want you to turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 4, verse 25. Romans chapter 4, verse 25. And as we get started this morning, I am going to ask that you join me quietly in prayer.

[2:23] And your prayers, I have confidence in, will be one of the things that the Spirit of God uses this morning to lift up the glory of Christ in our presence.

[2:36] I am responsible to preach. You are responsible to pray. And we will rely upon the Holy Spirit to do His work. Amen?

[2:47] Let's pray. Father God, as we come this morning in prayer, our prayer is not a reflection of a habit or something that's woven into the order of service.

[2:59] It is the humble and thankful dependence that we have upon you. And apart from you, we can expect nothing of worth or significance.

[3:12] We are frail, mindful of the clear picture that Scripture gives to us of our flesh being something that is at best an earthen pot.

[3:23] And yet you have chosen to give to us the joy of salvation and the indwelling Spirit. And it is on Him that we rely this morning to take the words that you have given to us by inspiration and to allow those words to resonate in our heart and make sense through the working of the Spirit of God that this morning the Lord Jesus Christ would be exalted and lifted up.

[3:54] That those who are here that know the Lord Jesus would have their hearts warmed and their affections for Him stirred and their longing for the day that they will see Him face to face become something that is a growing characteristic of their life.

[4:13] And those that are here who have allowed the troubles and cares of this life to interfere with their sweet communion with you as their God and Savior would have this day be a day of rededication and recommitment.

[4:30] A renewal in their mind of the blessing of their salvation and a confidence in their eternal destiny and ambition to live with an eye on eternity.

[4:43] And those that are here that don't know Jesus whose lives this morning are clouded some with a pervasive sense of the hopelessness of life others confused profoundly frustrated uncertain of what tomorrow may bring that this morning first of all your Spirit would convict them of the hopeless burden of sin and then by your grace help them understand that Jesus died to pay the price for that sin and rose again victoriously.

[5:26] We look forward Holy Spirit to what you do to uplift Jesus and we ask it in His name. Amen.

[5:39] Well this morning the first part of this morning's worship was given over to the reminder in Romans chapter 4 of the fact that Jesus it tells us in the scripture He was delivered up for our trespasses and the reality from the Bible is this is that Jesus died our death He died my death He died your death and as a result of that one of the things that that I take pleasure as a pastor in saying at a funeral is to those who are believers I say Jesus died your death the one who trusts Christ does not face death the same way Jesus faced it nor does that person face death the way an unbeliever faces it for the believer it says in the scripture absent in the body what?

[6:27] present with the Lord in fact the truth of the matter is is one of the things that is a little unnerving in my conversation with individuals when I have the opportunity they'll say something like today's a good day and I say any better than this and I'd be dead and the normal takeaway from that is I get people who look at me and think I need to see a therapist or at least I ought to be on some medication because something's wrong and I say no, no, no what I mean by that is my last trip is up that's a little more confusing and I say the truth of the matter is is when Tim Knoir dies he's going to heaven and it isn't any better than that that's the truth that's the truth and the reason I have that confidence and I can say that without any hesitation is because of what this verse announces to us and it presses together the sweetness of the gospel number one it tells us there Jesus died for us he died in our place there's a second thing that I want us to see this morning and that is the fact of the resurrection

[7:28] I want you to look at this and recognize there at the end of chapter 4 the apostle says and was raised for our justification the passage that we're looking at here presumes on something that we must stop and consider carefully it's interesting and I'm not going to do it this morning because of time but if you were to take the time to kind of work through the Bible you would find that in many many places the scripture makes it clear that Christ Jesus rose from the dead not only did he die for our sins but he rose again and that's supremely important and significant not only does the Bible make the fact of the resurrection clear but the Bible also hinges everything upon the reality of the resurrection if Jesus did not rise from the dead then we are here playing a game and our faith really has no substance or basis whatsoever it is the fact of the resurrection that we celebrate this morning that is the great underpinning of our faith and the reason that we have absolute confidence that when we leave this place that we will spend eternity in the presence of Christ

[8:41] I want you to understand just as we think about the fact of the resurrection that Jesus was right up front about the reality of the fact he would rise again just think with me just for a moment you're there in Romans keep your finger but turn back if you will to John chapter 2 John chapter 2 verse 18 and 19 in John chapter 2 Jesus has just finished cleansing the temple I believe that he did it at the beginning of his ministry and he did it at the end of his ministry here we have it at the very beginning of his public ministry and as he cleans the temple he gets rid of all the garbage that was going on in the temple he has the Jews come to him and say hey listen what sign do you give what's the proof you have what right do you have for cleaning out the temple look what he says there in verse 19 destroy this temple and in how many days in three days I will raise it up right from the very beginning he made it undeniably clear listen I am going to die and I am going to rise again

[9:51] I am going to die and I am going to rise again and he let his disciples know over and over and over again that yes he would die for sin but yes he would rise again and this morning as we are together as believers and we celebrate the resurrection what we're saying is we know Jesus rose again and we're looking at a passage that just hammers this point undeniably clear go back if you would then to that passage in Romans chapter 4 and notice what it says he was raised he was raised for our for our sin and for our justification now think with me just a minute about the fact of the resurrection not only did Jesus say that it would happen but it was also affirmed by numerous witnesses and it was never successfully challenged by Jesus' enemies if you are there in Romans just turn ahead a little bit to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 as the apostle is writing regarding the matter of the resurrection in broader terms he makes reference to the reality of the fact that when Jesus rose again he was seen by numerous people who could have denied it if it wasn't true there in verse 5 it says this and he appeared to Cephas that's to Peter then to the 12 then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time most of whom are still alive though some have fallen asleep now I want you to think with me for a moment one of the things about about politics is that we have learned new vocabulary terms how many of you knew what plausible deniability was before the last 10 or so years do you know what plausible deniability is it is posing something in such a fashion that you can deny that it really happened or you can kind of wiggle your way around it and one of the easiest ways to be able to have your statements well

[11:52] I would rephrase that one of the easiest ways to get away with a lie is say it in such a vague way that nobody can pin you down case in point all that's on my server is personal and the only way you could find out if that wasn't true is to have my server see if no one else is a witness to what you say is true guess what nobody can prove whether you're lying or telling the truth and here in relationship to the resurrection Paul says Jesus rose again now there's nobody living that really knows anything about this resurrection just take my word for it it's all personal no what Paul says is hey Peter saw him the twelve saw him and after that there were about five hundred of us and most of them are living still point being if you have a question about whether Jesus rose from the dead what you can do is check it out with so and so he was there and he saw Jesus not only is the resurrection something that is affirmed by numerous witnesses but it really is the foundation of our faith it is what our faith rests upon and apart from the resurrection we have no reason to be confident in the certainty of the forgiveness of all of our sins or in the certainty of our eternal destiny

[13:19] I want you to realize this issue of the resurrection is at the heart at the heart of our faith going back again to first Corinthians chapter 15 let me just read what the apostle wrote in verse 20 but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep for as by man came death by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead for as in Adam all die so also in Christ all have been made alive each in his own order Christ the first fruit then it is coming those who belong to Christ how do I know that I am going to be resurrected from the grave how do I know that those who have died are going to be resurrected the truth of the matter is this if you look back a little bit in verse 14 it says if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is in vain and the dead will not be raised then in verse 20 listen he is the one who by his raising from the dead has made it undeniably certain that he will also raise us from the dead and we can trust in that it's because of the empty tomb that we can have complete confidence in a number of different truths in our faith for one we know we're going to be raised from the dead number two we can be absolutely certain of this fact that he will judge sin he will take care of sin

[14:47] I don't know about you but every now and then as I look at what's going on in the world I think to myself boy it would be nice if some of this stuff was settled I'm looking forward to the day when justice happens in many different places and instances and the fact of the matter is that Jesus having raised from the dead is going to be the one who cares for the judgment of all the sin that's taking place now he will settle it there's another thing that I want you to recognize in relationship to the matter of his resurrection it is proof of the power that is available in us to help us change from being who we are to who we will be turn in your Bible over to Ephesians chapter 1 verse 19 and 20 Ephesians chapter 1 verse 19 and 20 there are two very significant prayers in the book of Ephesians the first prayer that Paul prays is that the believer would be aware of the power of the Holy Spirit available in the believer's life to help the believer change in those quiet moments when we kind of think carefully about who we are every one of us ends up with a certain amount of insecurity recognizing the natural tendency of our heart and the struggle we have with sin do you recognize that do you see that in those moments the believer has the encouragement and the confidence that the problem of their life is something that enjoys the power of the Holy Spirit so that where they are today they don't have to stay there and they can change and grow how does change how does growth happen does it happen just because you arbitrarily make a decision

[16:43] I think I'm going to do a little bit of moral improvement I'm going to be a little less self-focused I'm going to be a little kinder I'm going to not be as sarcastic as I have been how many of you have made those kind of resolutions before and how long did they last until the next time someone who was close to you bumped in you and gave you an opportunity to practice your sarcasm at which you're a specialist well the happy fact is this is that the Holy Spirit is in the believer and the Holy Spirit is invested in the responsibility of helping you change now listen here verse 19 and what is the immeasurable this is the prayer that Paul prays he says what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead happy thought isn't that the same power that took Jesus out of the grave and raised him again is the power that is available to help me change and not stay the way

[17:54] I am and so this morning as we celebrate the resurrection one of the things that we need to understand is that the resurrection which is an undeniable truth is something that is at the very center of our faith and it has its effect across the broad range of the things that we enjoy as believers it is that which gives us comfort and consolation it is that which encourages us in those moments of challenge when we're broken by the world we live in it is that which gives us hope when we face the reality of where we are and we think about where we need to go and we know I have the power of the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus up from the dead at work in me and I have confidence that he's going to do his work well one we recognize this morning the fact of the resurrection but I want to take the passage and kind of push back into it a little bit more and recognize that his resurrection has bearing on our justification what we saw earlier this morning in the first service is that Jesus died for our sins and what Paul tells us then in the last part of Romans chapter 4 verse 25 is that the resurrection of

[19:11] Jesus not only satisfies the dead of our past sins but also brings about his righteousness to our life now before we take our text further I want to say first of all that Jesus did not rise from the dead only for our sakes Jesus rose from the dead because death could not hold him one of the songs that we sing says death could not hold on to Jesus and we recognize that the reason for that are you thinking why Jesus was not held in the grave does anybody know can you say to me I have a Bible verse that that makes it clear here's why I see a couple of you nodding the rest of you are looking at the nodders and saying tell us you know here's the deal we make a statement we want to know where it is in the Bible how is it that Jesus couldn't be held by death you're in Romans keep your finger there we're coming back but I want you to go back to that chapter we're going to bounce back and forward between 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 24 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 24 it says this then comes the end when he delivered the king that's not what

[20:26] I wanted I'm sorry Acts chapter 2 see I got habit of going to Acts chapter 15 took a false run there Acts chapter 2 verse 24 it says this okay how many of you are praying for your pastor that's just a test just sing just sing verse 2 chapter 2 verse 24 it says God raised him up loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it it wasn't possible for Jesus to be held in death and then in verse 27 it says for you will not abandon my soul in Hades or let your holy ones see corruption now I want you to come back if you will and think with me about that a little further and here's where we will go back to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 and remember what it says in the last part of 1st

[21:28] Corinthians chapter 15 it says this oh death where is your victory oh death where is your sting what is it that makes death as destructive as it is it is the power of sin and with the power of sin comes the corrupting ability of sin not only on the spirit but also on the body of a man and Jesus being absolutely sinless death could not get a bite on him could not hold on to him could not keep him in that state and so let me tell you that while we think about the resurrection and we recognize that faith in Christ is an incredibly simple truth to hold on to it's something that a four year old a five year old may believe it's something that a person who is in his 80s and 90s may come to faith and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as simple as it is to believe in Christ the impact of faith is profound and the impact of what

[22:29] Jesus did for us on the cross is unbelievable there are many things that come with salvation there are many things that come as a result of the empty tomb and let me just kind of touch on several of these things for you to kind of ponder with me it says here for one we are saved from the wrath to come I don't know about you but the fact of the matter is because Jesus died in my place I have no condemnation and I have no reason to fear the eventual consequence of all my sin in the past all my sin I know Jesus has paid my debt and it's paid in full that's what we're saying this morning how do I know that the empty tomb makes it clear that that payment was accepted and it satisfied my debt furthermore because Jesus died for my sin and rose again I am no longer condemned to an going to spend one week in hell or two weeks in hell or nine years in hell and I'm hoping that my friends will pray me out or whatever

[23:31] I know that when I die I go from this place to that one and why because Jesus paid my debt and satisfied my sin he paid the price I'm reminded also of the fact that at his salvation he took me who was once the beloved do you know what that's saying it's saying that when Jesus looks at you he looks at you with favor he loves you and you are accepted unconditionally every now and then we probably look at ourselves in the mirror and think what did you do making me oh I would like to be like do you follow what I'm saying we always wish we were somebody else there's only one of you we're joined to his body we're connected together inseparably connected and we could add to that list one thing after another well let me come back and pick up on one thing in particular that

[24:39] Paul emphasizes in Romans chapter 4 it says justification and when Paul uses that word justification he says Christ Jesus was raised for our justification it it's fair to stop and think a little bit about what is involved in this issue of justification what's being spoken of well justification refers to a person's legal standing before God the idea behind the word is this is that the question behind the word is this is how can a man stand in the presence of the justice of a holy God and be accepted and when you stop and really think about that there are only two ways that are proposed in the world how can a man be righteous before a holy God there are only two proposed ideas in the world one is that man may earn his righteousness because a he's lived a completely sinless life and in the judgment

[25:42] God looks at his completely sinless life and says attaboy good job come on down right it's okay Jesus was the only man who lived an absolutely sinless life isn't that correct he's the only one now because of that because of Christ's righteousness the other option is available to those who believe on Jesus and that is this is that his righteousness may be imputed or put over on my account so that when God looks at the record of Tim Knoyer's life I wonder how Tim Knoyer did it's kind of interesting to have a woman in our church who knew of me and my family when I grew up in India hi Kimmy how are you doing Kimmy and Ron and their two boys are here entertaining my mother Kimmy you're not allowed to tell any of the stories about when I was growing up will you if I see anybody standing near her I'm concerned but here's the truth when God turns the pages on

[26:50] Tim Knoyer's book I wonder how he did he sees the finished work of Christ he sees his blood and he sees the righteousness of Christ imputed that means transferred over and put on my account I want you to turn just for a moment over to Romans chapter 3 verse 23 and 24 Romans chapter 3 verse 23 and 24 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God you know one of the things that comes at Easter and I am very thankful for this is that because of family relations and because of family being what it is a lot of times an Easter service is where people will come in respect for family and for relationships that they don't come to church normally other than that do you follow that and if there is anything that gives me pleasure on Easter it is the opportunity of making the gospel undeniably clear plain simple so that when you walk out of here one of the things that I trust is just absolutely crystal clear is I know number one that all men are sinners and stand justly condemned before a holy God and that includes me it's very interesting that the idea of coming to grips with the reality of your own sin is a fairly complicated and unhappy process do you follow what

[28:35] I'm saying I mean most of us would like to think that if we put on a smile and makeup it's good enough the truth of the matter is is that that doesn't do anything to touch the heart and what the scriptures tell us is the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked how many of you have been stunned on occasion to recognize just how black and dark the thoughts of your mind and heart are the Bible says there is none righteous no not one there's not a single person that by virtue of his own standing and his own behavior will be able to stand in the presence of a holy God and say hey I got a right to come in because I am free of sin no thing like that but what we find there in verse 24 yes all have sinned 23 but the one who is trusted in Christ is justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in

[29:36] Christ Jesus and we see then in verse 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to receive to be received by faith you know what the Bible is telling us is this is that the fact of the matter is is that God sent his son the Lord Jesus to die in our place to satisfy the judgment of God to take our penalty and to satisfy that debt that we had created by our sin it's fairly easy to kind of cook on through life not thinking very much about just what the eternal consequences are of your sin in the moment but the truth of the matter is is at night in those lonely moments when you're quiet by yourself you recognize there are issues and burdens and darkness that you can't take care of yourself what do you do about those things you can't solve the problem you can't solve the problem and the fact of the matter is is

[30:40] Jesus came into the world and he died in our place and he paid our penalty and as a result of that those who trust in Christ have their sins forgiven and Christ's righteousness put over top of their account and as a result of that the legal record of our life and I want you to think with me of this the legal record of our life is stamped justified how many of you remember some of you here have had that happen actually when you finally get your car paid off and what comes from the title company how many like that there it is title free and clear or you got the last of the series of payments that you decided and it said paid in full stamped right there and here's the truth because of what Jesus Christ has done for me across the record of Tim Knoyer's life it says paid in full paid in full his righteousness imputed or transferred over and put on my life so let me ask you a question this

[31:53] Easter this Easter are you sitting here this morning with thankfulness at the reality of the resurrection and as you got up this morning I trust one of the things you did is man this is the day where we remind ourselves that Jesus rose from the dead and as a result of that this is a high and holy day in which I just incredibly rejoice in what Christ has done in saving me I thank him for being my savior and I thank him for forgiving me of all my sins and I thank him for the certainty I have in heaven as my home is that something that happened or is it something well I know my mom wants me to go to church today I'll go I hope that's not the case I hope that this morning is a day when you rejoice in the certainty of Christ as your savior and your heart reflects that with the joy that comes from him if you're here today and the truth of the matter is you've never come to the place where you have trusted in the finished work of Christ let me plead with you this is the day and this is the hour there's something serious about sitting in the presence of a gospel witness and saying no to the face of God does that make sense here's the truth

[33:13] Jesus died for your sins he rose again to make it clear that his death was sufficient to satisfy the debt you've created and for you to sit here and to listen to the reality of what the word of God tells you about the way things are and the spirit of God is weighing in and saying that's true that's true that's true that's true for you to sit and say yeah well I don't care or I'm not interested in what God has for me can I tell you that what that does is dial up God's attention to your stubborn and belligerent heart there is a sense in which it's better to not hear the truth than to hear the truth declared clearly and snub what God has to say and I would plead with you this morning if you are here and do not know Christ I would plead with you not to walk away with a hard and stubborn heart to the gift of salvation through the finished work of

[34:18] Christ we're going to gather together to sing we're going to lift up the name of Jesus and as we are doing that I want to encourage you let's stand together as John comes but I want to encourage you as we sing together this morning I want you to sit there and think to yourself do I know Christ as my savior is he the one that I rejoice in or is this the day that I need to come to grips with the darkness of my heart and the hopelessness of my eternal soul and I want to trust in Jesus Christ alone in whom is salvation and I want to plead with you this morning as we are singing if God lays it on your heart that you need to take care of your soul this morning by pleading for Christ and asking for his salvation you humble yourself you come down to the front and you say I need Jesus as my savior you do that this morning I need Jesus as my savior john thank you for the cross lord thank you for the price dude