[0:00] Well, good morning, everyone. It seems to be kind of a sunny, Squamish morning, right?
[0:11] Okay, I got a skill testing question for you guys. And it really doesn't take a lot of skill, but who here has been to at least one session of our family conference?
[0:23] Raise those hands high. All right. Has it been worth it? Yes. So if you're here, you kind of didn't get in on one of the sessions, would you say it's too late for anyone here to get in on the last two sessions?
[0:38] No, there you go. So if you're here visiting, and Ben, I know you had your parenting advice from Moses, but we'd even still take some of you seniors here.
[0:50] No, just a great refreshing to be here with Chris is kind of scared because he's at 60 and he's in that senior section now. So anyway, just the time that we can come together.
[1:02] If you join us for the last couple of sessions, there's a free lunch, right? Is that for free dinner, barbecue? Is that dinner? Is that not a good deal? That's a good deal.
[1:12] So we're bribing you to come and receive godly wisdom, guys. And it's maybe you might be past your time on that, or you may not be thinking about those things, but I can assure you what Chris has been unloading on us is beneficial for all stages of life, but just not family, just our relationships before Lord God, right?
[1:33] I just thank you, Chris, so much for making the time. We are now attempting to bribe Chris to come retire to beautiful Squamish. It'd be lovely to have him and the family up here, but he's kind of anti-Canadian, so we'll have to see how that goes.
[1:50] All right, let's tune our hearts to God's word here. Let me just begin in prayer. Dear Lord, holy, heavenly Father, we just thank you for your word.
[2:01] We thank you for the fellowship that we can enjoy with a brother who comes from the States, even though we've been separated, and we're not, everyone but me does not know Chris, but they're able to connect and establish a friendship and relationships just through your absolute power, just the relationship that we have in Jesus Christ, that we worship the same God.
[2:25] We desire these things. We are people of the book. We desire God's righteousness in our lives, oh, Father, and we just thank you for the different trajectories that you've had us and the different paths, and as we are all learning, at no matter what stage of life that we are at, there is these great opportunities to glorify you in our lives and how we raise our kids, but even the challenging of honoring our parents, even as older adults, and the tension that exists within the obedience to the honoring.
[2:58] Such wonderful wisdom your word brings to us, and we just thank you for just giving Chris that desire to hear these words and to mold our hearts.
[3:10] But tonight, or this morning, I want to talk about that power that propels us, oh, Father, and that is the power of the resurrected Christ. And it is why we can live a life in this world that is different than what the world offers.
[3:26] It's the reason why we can have hope that we can live in victory, and that ultimately we know that you win in this world that seems so confused by everything now in life.
[3:42] We ask that you would give our hearts understanding and bring clarity to my voice. We ask you these things, your most holy and precious name. Amen. Amen. So if you look in your bulletin, the title of this sermon is The Power of the Resurrected Christ.
[4:00] And last week, I kind of told you that we were kind of getting out of, we were just finishing the series that we've been doing for the last couple years on the life of Christ. And I asked you to submit some questions or what are some of the sermons you'd like to hear on the subject.
[4:15] And one of the questions that God asked to me is, what are the implications of Christ's death and resurrection for us today? What does it matter today other than just being saved?
[4:29] Is it just a matter of having salvation offered to us? So I enjoyed that question so much that I thought I would add it kind of as an addendum to the series on the life of Christ.
[4:44] So just to give you a quick recap, if you weren't here last week, we kind of looked at the final chapters of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and the last two chapters of John.
[4:55] And it was post-resurrection Sunday. And the question that I asked is, we know that Acts 1-3 tells us that Jesus lived 40 days after the resurrection, after he rose again from the dead, and he lived amongst the disciples, and he ascended to heaven.
[5:13] But what happened in those 40 days? Scripture tells us there's a lot of teaching, but it doesn't really explain what that teaching was. But what's interesting in those last chapters of the Gospels is they repeat over and over and over the testimony of those who saw the risen Christ.
[5:37] You with me on that one? That seems to be the most important aspect, that each and every individual. We have over the testimony of Scriptures that over 500 men and women saw the resurrected Christ.
[5:51] And not only that, but they acted differently pre-resurrection, now different in post-resurrection. Remember the disciples when Jesus was arrested?
[6:04] They scattered, in fact, Peter when confronted by a small young girl at a campfire that he was one of the disciples, one who followed Jesus.
[6:15] He denied it. He ran away. But something happened within those 40 days, just the testimony of seeing Jesus.
[6:27] They became like lions. A boldness overcame them, not only to teach the truth of Jesus, but to live in a manner that was total contradictory to the surrounding culture.
[6:44] My argument for you this morning is that the same power that they had from the testimony of seeing the risen Christ is available to us today.
[6:57] That we live with this testimony is just as assured. This legal testimony that we have, like even some of the words that the Apostle John uses in the Gospel of John testify almost that he's giving us a legal argument that would be able to withstand a court of law that Jesus did indeed rise again.
[7:21] Amen? Amen? In the book of Acts, the fifth Gospel, as many call it, throughout, there was a message, whether it be in Acts 2, 3, 5, 10, that any time that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, that they testified, they also testified that they were witnesses to the risen Christ.
[7:47] So just please turn with me in 1 Corinthians 15. I want to take a closer look at verses 13 to 19. And for this message, it's going to be a bit of a topical message.
[7:58] So we're going to bounce around a little bit. But this is kind of the impetus, the center point of what we're talking about. Now this is Paul writing years later after the Gospels.
[8:11] And he makes this incredible claim. Verse 13. He says, But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
[8:25] And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching, my preaching even this morning, is in vain, and your faith is in vain.
[8:39] What a statement that he's making here, that all these things, that these people have been following Jesus during that time, but some were beginning to say, you know, did he indeed rise again?
[8:52] But if he had, what we're doing is in vain, guys. This religion that we're putting so much hope in is essentially dead. Verses 15.
[9:03] We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ. So if he hadn't raised, and here we are going testifying, we're lying.
[9:15] We're lying. What kind of faith do you want to follow that is a faith of lies? For if the dead had not been raised, not even Christ has been raised.
[9:27] And if Christ had not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
[9:42] And if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are all, we are of all people most to be pitied.
[9:56] As I stated last week, Christianity hinges on this incredible event. However, there is much more to this resurrection.
[10:09] There is more than our faith not being in vain. That's why this morning I entitled this sermon The Power of the Resurrected Christ in the Life of the Believer.
[10:23] In this sermon, I want to provide for you five implications for your life right here, right now, that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has in your life.
[10:36] And if I can just say something as an aside, this weekend has been a great weekend of instruction. We've been hearing biblical wisdom. And Chris gave us a warning right at the very beginning that our temptation is to implement all this teaching at once.
[10:58] Not only are we going to be tempted to do this, but we're going to be tempted to do it, dare I say, in the flesh. We might have spiritual motivations.
[11:10] We have good motivations. We want our sons and our daughters to be raised in the fear of God, to be biblically obedient.
[11:22] Ultimately, that they would grow and love Jesus as we do. But there's so often we will pursue earthly, fleshly means of accomplishing this.
[11:34] Because that is part of the old flesh. That is who we are. And we need to learn this biblical wisdom of being patient, but also depending on the power of the Spirit.
[11:47] That's why Jesus Christ taught so almost fervently and so clearly in the Gospel of John that we learn from 14 in chapter 16 about how there's going to be a helper that is going to come to help us.
[12:02] That we are not to accomplish these things on our own. Because even the disciples, they wanted Jesus with them. They wanted Jesus to stay. He was their source of their power, their courage.
[12:14] But he said, listen, I'm going to go and someone even better is going to come. And you and I, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have, by virtue of your testimony in Jesus Christ, have been baptized into the faith through the Spirit.
[12:29] That's what we call the spiritual baptism. Happens at the believer. The Spirit comes in to us and thus gives us life. Amen? That is the dependence.
[12:40] That is the power that we have. So it's interesting in Peter's first sermon after Jesus ascended, this is Peter's sermon.
[12:50] He says, men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of... Excuse me, I got ahead on the wrong page. So the first point that I want to give you is the resurrection proves Jesus is the Son of God.
[13:06] The first implication is the resurrection proves Jesus is the Son of God. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest miracle in history and is the ultimate proof of his divinity.
[13:22] By rising from the dead, Jesus proved that he was who he claimed to be, which is the Son of God. What's interesting, at the very beginning of Romans, Romans 1, 1 to 4, Paul is writing to the saints that are in Rome and he begins kind of providing his credentials, so to speak.
[13:41] He says he was called by Jesus Christ, that that is the authority that he has when he preaches. He's an apostle. But then he states in verse 4, and he's talking about Jesus, and he's called by Jesus, and what's the significance of being called by Jesus?
[13:59] Well, Jesus was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.
[14:13] Jesus Christ, our Lord. So Paul is attaching the authority that he has being called by Jesus to do what he's to do. Jesus has that authority because of his resurrection from the dead.
[14:28] Without the resurrection, Jesus' death would go without divine interpretation or endorsement. But because Jesus resurrected, he demonstrated that he is indeed equal with God and that God would raise him from the dead in three days after he died.
[14:47] The resurrection authenticates Jesus for who he claimed to be, the Son of God. The resurrection says that God, that Jesus, is the powerful Son of God who has conquered death and reigns as Lord of all.
[15:02] Now I repaint my statement. Peter in his first sermon in Acts chapter 2, after Jesus had ascended to heaven, the book of Acts writes, Peter's sermon, he says, men of Israel, hear these words.
[15:20] Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know.
[15:33] You testified, you saw what Jesus did, how he lived. This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.
[15:44] You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But, God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
[16:01] What he's doing is he's preaching before these authorities. He says, you killed Jesus but God raised himself up from the dead. You crucified him. You brought under the pressure of death.
[16:12] But guess what God did? He loosened the pangs of death. What does this mean? Here's a question for you. What does every man, woman, and child have in common on this earth?
[16:25] It's not language, right? It's not nationality. It's death. Whether you're rich or poor, whether you're born in the Philippines or you're born in Canada, America, Australia, every single person on this earth has this thing called death that is approaching.
[16:46] And some of us, we see it. Men, there's not as much here back here as there used to be, right? We all worry about this. Our skin doesn't look as smooth.
[16:57] That's why we use a little bit more makeup, eh, ladies? You know, gotta make it look fresh. Anyway, I'm just kidding. But there's those things. We just see death creeps up. So we all have that.
[17:09] But what Jesus Christ did is he destroyed that. Death would have been a snare, a trap. For Jesus, that birth pains that he went through gave us new life.
[17:23] This is why we say, as the psalmist does in Psalm 16, 8 and 11, it says, I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand.
[17:35] I shall not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices. My flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol and let your holy ones see corruption.
[17:52] you make known to me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
[18:04] If Jesus had been crucified by man and remained in the grave, would this psalm make any sense? Would there be any hope?
[18:16] Would we be able to sate these things? Of course not. By Jesus resurrecting from the dead, if death had power over Jesus, our faith, as Paul would say, would be futile, in vain.
[18:34] The ministry of Jesus Christ would have ended in defeat and disillusionment. In fact, every single apostle who ran away and scared would have been justified in exactly what they did.
[18:53] But, because the angel, when the women approached the tomb, said, he is not here.
[19:05] He has risen from the dead just as he said. The disciples didn't stay running. The disciples didn't stay scared.
[19:17] They turned into the greatest preachers of all time. It is why today, 2,000 years later, in a little town off the Pacific at the foot of the mountains, we gather on this Sunday morning to raise our voices in worship of him.
[19:34] Amen? So that is the first point. The second implication of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that it gives us hope.
[19:45] hope. It gives us hope. The resurrection gives us the hope of eternal life. By Jesus defeating sin and death, Jesus opened the way for us to have eternal life with him.
[19:57] If you remember in our series on John in the most tender of all tender chapters in John 14, as he encourages his disciples, he says, let not your hearts be troubled.
[20:11] They're in agony. They have given up their lives for Jesus and he's told them he has to go and Peter says, I'll never deny you. No, you're not even going to deny me. You're going to deny me three times and the apostles are saying, wait a second, if Peter, the strongest one, is going to deny us, what hope do we have?
[20:29] Don't leave us, Jesus. But he says, believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms.
[20:40] If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am you may be also.
[20:57] If he remained, there would be no peace with the Father. If Jesus remained in the grave, what hope would we have that we would have peace with God?
[21:10] None. We would have no hope. We would be a defeated people. This Jesus said to them, I have to be tried wrongly.
[21:25] I have to be crucified horribly. But I need to rise again wonderfully so that you also may come with me to my father.
[21:41] As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 20 says, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
[21:53] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
[22:09] Because Jesus rose from the dead, all who are united to him are secure in our own resurrection and eternal life beyond the grave.
[22:21] Had Jesus not resurrected, what hope would we have to these wonderful promises that God has given us? Because Jesus rose from the dead just as he said he would do, we know his promise to be true for every single person.
[22:37] And here's the thing, the resurrection isn't just for those in Christ, there is a resurrection for those who aren't in Christ. The Bible tells us that every knee shall bow, the difference shall be one of us group, if you have your faith in Jesus Christ, will live eternally with your Savior.
[23:02] Those who do not will live eternally outside the presence of God and endure the punishment of God.
[23:16] We will all face the reign of God, but it will be two different ways. You see, by Jesus promising, not only are his promises made secure, but our lives are made secure.
[23:32] and he cures for us in eternal reality. So that is the second implication, that by Jesus' resurrection we have hope. The third implication of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the resurrection empowers us to live victorious lives.
[23:51] It empowers us to live victorious lives. The resurrection empowers believers to live victorious lives, not after, but now, by rising from the dead, Jesus demonstrates his power over sin and death.
[24:06] As a result, we have the power to overcome temptation. We have the power to bear witness to the gospel bully, and we have the power to persevere in the face of persecution and trials.
[24:20] You guys know my preaching has been consistent that being under Jesus Christ doesn't mean victory of riches. It doesn't mean victory of success in your work, even with your children or even in your marriage, but you can have victory in Christ who will give you a boldness to overcome temptation, to bear witness for the gospel, and to persevere in the face of persecution and trials.
[24:51] Paul, in the book of Romans 6, 4 to 11, I will read for you, states, we were buried, therefore, with Jesus by baptism into death.
[25:05] In order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
[25:17] For if we are united with him in death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in the resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
[25:40] For one who has died has been set free from sin. Amen? Those are the consequences of sin. Eternal destruction, eternal separation, from God.
[25:52] Verse 8, now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we also live with him. Amen? But there's got to be that implication. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again.
[26:06] Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God.
[26:18] God. So, you also must consider yourselves dead to Christ and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
[26:31] Amen? Amen? R.A. Torrey, an old-time preacher, said, when Jesus died, he died as my representative and I died in him.
[26:43] When he rose, he rose as my representative and I rose in him. When he ascended as my representative, I ascended in him. And today, I am seated in Christ with God in the heavenlies.
[26:55] I look at the cross of Christ and I know that atonement has been made for my sins. I look at the open sepulcher in the risen and ascended Lord and I know the atonement has been accepted.
[27:10] Remember we talked about on Easter Sunday when Jesus Christ said it is finished. It tells us that when Jesus died, that atonement was accepted.
[27:23] It was enough. It paid for our sins. He doesn't have to die anymore. And when we think about it, it's mind boggling because not only is it the sins of them and mankind from the past, but the future as well.
[27:38] We who live 2,000 years later can claim that same promise for ourselves. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our salvation is assured and we can experience the perfect security of eternal life.
[27:57] I am forever moved, and you guys know this, from Jude 24, which simply states, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before God, the presence of his glory with joy.
[28:17] That it ultimately is Jesus Christ who lives in us, is the one who keeps us from stumbling and presents us blameless to God.
[28:28] That it's not my effort, not my giving, not my riches that guarantee my salvation, but my obedience to a loving Christ who did this for me.
[28:41] And he's the one. That's why we can't brag at any moment. Hey, I was saved young and I lived a great life. Well, the text tells us that it was Jesus Christ who kept you from stumbling.
[28:54] Wasn't your faithfulness, your wisdom, your smartness, the fact that you had great parents. It was Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. And it's only because of his resurrection that you were empowered to live the victorious life.
[29:12] The fourth implication of the resurrection is that the resurrection brings transformation. Transformation. The resurrection brings about a transformation in the life of a believer.
[29:28] By renewing our minds and hearts through the gradual process of sanctification, we are transformed to become more and more like Jesus. Just even the wisdom that Chris has been dispensing to us through God's word over this weekend.
[29:45] A lot of those truths that he talked about aren't really real in our lives. From the first session he talked about what does it mean to develop fear of God in our children's lives?
[29:59] Where does that fear have to begin? In our own lives, right? How do we model for our children the fear of God if it's not true in our life?
[30:09] life? And this is where that transformation begins. And when we're saved, we don't and this is the process of called sanctification and justification.
[30:22] We are now justified with Christ. We are now made right from a legal standpoint. We are saved but we're not perfect, right? That's why there's the command, be holy for I am holy.
[30:34] Now it's a part of living positionally who we are in Christ. To live in obedience to Jesus Christ. And he does this by renewing our minds and hearts.
[30:48] That's why the old covenant, the new covenant, remember Jeremiah says I'm going to take out that heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. It's a new heart. It's a new heart that beats for Jesus. And we've talked about this, that a believer's heart should have a affections for the things of Christ.
[31:05] That because we've been in doubt with the Holy Spirit and people always say how do I know that I've been saved? And the question is do you exhibit fruits of the Spirit? And I would argue that if we're in doubt by the Holy Spirit we have to.
[31:19] The Holy Spirit isn't powerless it is powerful it is of God. And if our lives don't show testimony to those spirits to the Spirit.
[31:33] Whoa teaching heresy already. Chris has got me nervous here. We need that power. We need that help to renew our minds and hearts because we are new in Christ.
[31:48] Remember Colossians 3 right? We got to take off the old. It's like a dirty old jacket that we're wearing. And it's got all the habits of who we were as a past before we came to know Christ.
[32:02] We literally got to take it off and mindfully put on Jesus. That develops within us a compassionate heart, patience, kindness, forgiving. That's how you know the Spirit's working in you.
[32:19] 2 Corinthians 5 17. Paul lays it out so clear. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Amen?
[32:30] The old has passed. Behold, the new has come. All this is from God. It's not from you eating your organic menu.
[32:43] It doesn't come from recycling or some other thing that you believe makes you good. It all this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
[33:00] That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
[33:16] Isn't that beautiful to be reconciled? I was encouraged just last night, the message of some of us, and we talked about what it is to honor our parents. And some of our parents don't follow after the Lord and how are we as saints to live in relationship with them?
[33:36] How do we forgive them? You know, sometimes there's not going to be a right relationship, but we have to make sure we have a heart that if they were to repent, we would be so wonderfully willing to accept that repentance, that we would want that relationship to be restored.
[33:54] Amen? Anybody who's had a broken relationship knows this with their parents? For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of God, of his son, in order that he might be the first born among many brothers.
[34:20] And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. glorified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified.
[34:31] What that verse tells us is that this positional change, what we call justification, is the work of God in our life. And even those moments of sanctification occurs by the power and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
[34:48] And it's not a matter of letting go and letting God. It is a matter of following after our God. It's the perfect picture I've told you about Mark 5, the demoniac when freed.
[35:00] The first thing he wants to do is he wants to get in the boat with Jesus because he knows the greatest place in the world is to be close to Jesus as possible. And if we've been redeemed and we know that old life, we know what this new life can be so much better, why aren't we close to Jesus?
[35:20] John 16 verses 7-11 says that after Jesus resurrects, we have the power of the indwelling spirit. That's why he says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away.
[35:34] For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
[35:47] Concerning sin because you do not believe in me. Concerning righteousness because I go to the father and you will see me no longer concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.
[36:00] The most amazing testimony is this found in the book of Acts that after Jesus ascended, the boldness that the disciples, the courage and the words that they share were totally different than the men they were before.
[36:16] God's love. And the last implication of what I have just taught on the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the resurrection demands a response.
[36:29] It demands a response. It demands a response from me. It demands a response from you. The reality is when we are confronted with the truth of the resurrection story, we must decide whether to accept or reject this truth.
[36:47] If we accept it, we must respond by repenting of our sins and putting faith in Christ Jesus. That's why Romans 10, 8 to 9, 8 to 10 says, the word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.
[37:03] That is the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
[37:16] For with the heart one believes and is justified. With the mouth one confesses and is saved. Later, Paul, his sermon recorded in Acts before people who had never heard of Jesus.
[37:32] They did not know the Old Testament, the scriptures. It's Acts 17 and he says, the times of ignorance God overlooked. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
[37:47] Because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.
[38:02] Now let me ask you a question. If there was an action or a symbol, which is an action, that demonstrates that you have responded positively to the gospel of Jesus Christ, what would be that symbol?
[38:21] What's that? There you go. It's baptism. That is, that demands a respect. That is what demands the response.
[38:32] That is in baptism. And this morning, just to end off this sermon, I want to provide you four ways that baptism represents this resurrected truth in our life.
[38:44] First, baptism symbolizes death and resurrection. Just as I stated earlier in Acts 6, do you not know that all who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
[38:57] We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death. So that idea of baptism is a symbol of our identification with Christ in his death and resurrection.
[39:08] It signifies we have died to our old self of sin and have been raised to new life in Christ. That's why we were Baptists. And we, I call it Baptistic.
[39:19] Some people, when I'm in some circles, are you Baptist? Well, I'm Baptistic. Chris, sadly, does not come from a Baptist church. But we still have him up here to teach, right? But the idea is we believe that that baptism reflects that death.
[39:33] We go into the water signifying that death. And when we come out, it's a testimony that we are raised with Christ. Amen? That is why we put some such stock in that symbolism.
[39:46] It means something. Number two, baptism marks the beginning of a new life. Colossians 2.12 says, describes baptism as the moment we were raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God.
[40:07] Baptism marks the beginning of our new life in Christ, in which we are empowered to live victoriously by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's why when we look at the record of Scripture and Acts, that's why we see a lot of baptisms.
[40:21] Believe and be baptized. Third, our baptism confirms our identity in Christ. Christ. Galatians 3.27 says, Paul writes, for as many as you were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
[40:36] Now, remember I said, baptism, the physical act of going down, is a symbol of an inward reality. And that inward reality is that we've been born again in Jesus Christ.
[40:47] Amen? The baptism of the Spirit has come in and dwells in our lives. Christ. This identity gives us access to the power of the resurrected life and enables us to live out our faith in a way that brings glory to God.
[41:04] If you remember our teaching in Ephesians, Paul tells us so wonderfully that at that moment of salvation, we now are children of God.
[41:15] And it's almost you're adopted and now you have all the rights of being part of that family that you never had. A family doesn't share in the inheritance. The friendships don't.
[41:27] No matter how good those friendships are, but the family does. And we're being ushered into that family. And fourth, baptism demonstrates our commitment to Christ.
[41:43] Matthew 28, 19, and 20. We all know it's the verse of the Great Commission. Jesus commands his followers to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
[42:01] That baptism is a public declaration of our commitment to follow Christ and obey his commands. This commitment is empowered by the power of the resurrected life, which enables us to live in obedience to God's will.
[42:20] Now, with all that being said, I want to address something that I said last week. And it's something that has been in a little bit of an ongoing discussion about the Lord's table, the communion table.
[42:31] And I said something that I know sometimes catches people off guard and Dave has taught about it. And last week, I had asked you, I made a request that you had not been baptized to not participate in the table.
[42:45] Now, I want you to understand something. I never want to be seen as turning anybody away from the Lord's table who's indeed a member of the church, who's been saved, and is a part of the universal church.
[43:02] But at the same time, my encouragement is for you to be baptized, to follow in obedience to Christ, to be baptized.
[43:14] Because there's a lot of people who have gone on living and they forgot about getting baptized for one reason or another. And I could offer you many reasons why people aren't baptized.
[43:26] Sometimes they don't make it a big deal. The church, they never preach about it. But oftentimes in our culture, when we talk about the gospel, we use the words of accept the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart, personal Savior, and we've personified our faith, right?
[43:43] And if you remember in November, I talked about church membership. And part of belonging to being part of that church membership is that we affirm our testimony in Jesus Christ.
[43:53] Amen? That's why when you meet some people here just the other day, I purchased some speakers for the church. And the guy said, he says, I felt, you know, it was on Facebook Marketplace and there was a lot of people who wanted these speakers.
[44:07] And he says, well, I gave them to you because you're a pastor. Wow. Well, thank you for saving them for me. He says, well, I'm a Christian, you know, and I want you to have these. Well, that's great.
[44:18] And, you know, I didn't know whether he did it because he thought he'd be cursed or, you know, because I've golfed with guys. If they swear, they don't want to be my partner. And other guys think by being my partner, they're going to be blessed while golfing, right?
[44:31] But anyway. But I asked them, what church do you belong to? Oh, well, I don't go to church. They know how sad that you do not have a group of believers to covenant with, to be members with, who testified to your testimony.
[44:48] I don't know. Maybe these speakers were hot and he stole them. I don't know. But there's this New Testament pattern that we see in church history attests that belief has always been followed by baptism.
[45:02] So my point is, I'm not trying to deny the table. I'm trying to encourage right biblical baptism. So that's why in a couple of weeks, we're going to, Dave and I will kind of lead a baptism class.
[45:14] If you have any questions, I know several of you have come forth and want to be baptized and we're going to have a baptism date. I'm thinking maybe probably before Father's Day, but within that late May, early June time.
[45:28] I've talked to David Corrente over at Church 99 and he said that there's been some people there that would like to get baptized as well. So we might kind of do a joint service, come together and just as that church testify to this new life in Christ that people are professing to.
[45:47] Please hear me. Baptism doesn't save us. But baptism does indeed reflect our desire to follow Jesus. And the first act that he gives us is to obey.
[46:00] That's why the teaching was always followed by obedience to baptism. It's interesting. And Dave's talked about this before and he used a great illustration.
[46:13] And he used this a couple of months ago. He says, you know, participating in communion without being baptized is like celebrating a marriage anniversary without having getting married.
[46:24] You haven't had the wedding yet. And Dave, thinking about analogies, he's really good at that. He just looked at this week. He sent me his note. He says, look at the coronation of the king that happened this weekend.
[46:37] When did Prince Charles become king? You guys know? It's a definite time when his mom died. Right? But when is he recognized as king?
[46:49] Yesterday. Right? We knew he was king, but now he's recognized as king. First is the ascension. Now it's the coronation. And that's what baptism is. It's the coronation of your faith.
[47:00] You are indeed one of us. And we pray that by being baptized in this church, it's why we preach church membership. We want you to be a part of the community. We know who you are, that you are loved, that we care for you.
[47:12] And so that when you're out of here and you testify, hey, I'm a Christian, we can say, yeah, that person is a Christian. Their faith is legitimate. It's real. They serve. They have gifts that are a part of this family.
[47:28] As I always say, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask or to talk to Dave, myself or Chris about these things. I do not want to be a stumbling block to anybody in their faith, but I want to be an encouragement in how to live their faith before the Lord in good conscience.
[47:50] Let me pray. Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for the God that you are, that you are the God who lived, that you lived on this earth, and that by virtue of that life, you are able to sympathize with us, just as the writer of Hebrews testifies.
[48:10] You know us. You know what it is to be intimately human. But Father, you were, because of being God, you were able to die a death we could not die.
[48:21] You were able to atone, not just for your sins, which were none, but you atone for all of our sins because you were perfect, because you were indeed the Son of God.
[48:34] You suffered both in flesh and in spirit for us so that we might be renewed. Three days later, you're resurrected.
[48:45] You conquered death. You were who you were, who you said you were. As many times as you told the apostles this would happen, they weren't quite sure whether to believe.
[48:56] Just like many people here today in our world, they're not sure whether to believe. They believed that there was indeed a Jesus. There was indeed a good moral teacher. There was a rabbi, maybe even a quote-unquote revolutionary.
[49:12] But that's not who you claimed to be. You didn't even claim to be a prophet. You claimed to be the Son of God. And you proved that by rising from the dead. And it's through our belief in you and that death and resurrection we have new life.
[49:30] Father, I ask that you would break our stubborn wills, the lies we tell ourselves to get our own ways, the excuses that we give.
[49:41] Because we think, well, baptized is something I ought to do. No, it's something that we should do. So Lord, just through your goodness, your kindness, and your mercy that you bestow on us every single day of our lives, pray that we would indeed make you the sole center of our worship.
[50:06] Not our families, not our careers, not our jobs, not our spouses, not our kids, but you. And that center of worship demands obedience.
[50:21] That's a hard word today. But it's obedience that we desperately want because we're part of the family of God. We are welcome to the banquet table of the Father.
[50:36] And we've inherited all the rights. And Lord, we desire to represent your name and all its goodness and glory to wherever we go. Dear Father, we just thank you as we put these on notice and just even how we raise our kids.
[50:54] I pray this church would have an incredible testimony just through the families that are here and how they follow this earthly wisdom. Because we know even non-Christians discipline.
[51:05] They want their children to be right and good citizens. But we have this ability to teach them what it is to be a right and good citizen of the King.
[51:17] What a blessing we have. And all God's people said, Amen.