Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Acts.
The book of Acts. We're pausing our series this morning.
! We're going through the book of Genesis regularly on Sunday mornings,
but we're going to pause it just for one week this morning to spend time in Acts chapter 17,
verses 22 through 34.
If you don't have your own Bible with you, that's okay.
We provide them in the seat back there in front of you,
and I would just encourage you to have a copy of God's Word open.
And if you don't have a copy of God's Word at all,
then please take that one home with you as our gift to you.
We want to make sure that you have a copy of God's Word available to you.
So the book of Acts, chapter 17, verses 22 through 34.
And when you've found that, let's stand this morning in honor of the reading of the Word of God.
It says,
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said,
Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
Whereas I passed along and observed the objects of your worship,
I found also an altar with this inscription,
To the unknown God.
What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and everything in it,
being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,
nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything,
since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth,
having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
that they should seek God,
and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.
Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
For in him we live and move and have our being.
As even some of your own poets have said,
For we are indeed his offspring.
Being then God's offspring,
we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone,
an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
The times of ignorance God overlooked,
But now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
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.
Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead,
some mocked,
but others said,
We will hear you again about this.
So Paul went out from their midst,
but some men joined him and believed,
among whom also were Dionysius, the Areopagot,
and a woman named Damaris,
and others with them.
Father God,
we praise you for the simple message of the gospel.
And we praise you for the efforts of Paul to go to Athens
and to proclaim this gospel message.
We praise you that this gospel message is going forth throughout the world,
even this very moment.
And we pray your blessing on the preaching of the word.
Would you make it clear to us?
Would we respond to you in faith?
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
Imagine with me for a minute that you have come to a worship service.
Not making you work too hard quite yet.
You have come to this worship service gathering because,
well, you're not exactly sure why you're here.
Maybe a friend has invited you.
Maybe you saw a Facebook advertisement.
Maybe you were just driving by,
and you thought that it would be a good idea just to stop on in.
And you're not really sure what to believe about all of it.
You think that probably maybe you believe in some sort of spiritual something out there,
but you're not quite exactly sure what.
I mean, to be honest,
you're a little bit confused.
And maybe you pass by five or six other places of worship on the way here.
And so it seems like there's so many different opinions out there on which God is the right one.
How does He desire to be worshipped?
How would you even know?
And maybe it doesn't even matter.
You're here.
You're doing your best.
And you feel like it's probably wise just in case.
Make sure you have God or the gods,
whoever it may be,
in your corner.
And so you go.
You participate.
You sing the songs.
It feels good to be here.
You enjoy hearing the speaker talk as long as he doesn't go too long.
If you come on a special occasion,
you may even get a meal out of it.
Who knows?
But if you're honest,
you don't really have a clue what's going on.
It all seems a little bit strange and a little bit complicated.
You're not quite sure where you stand.
And it would be nice if somebody would just stand up and make it all plain and simple.
I can almost guarantee that this imaginary scenario is not so imaginary in many churches throughout the country this morning.
And in fact, it may not be so imaginary for some of you.
The truth is that we live in an age of great religious confusion.
People don't know who to worship or how to worship or why to worship.
If they ought to worship at all, it's all just a little bit confusing.
But it's not just our age.
What we see in our passage this morning is that this type of religious confusion is nothing new at all, is it?
In fact, we see it all the way back here in the first century in the book of Acts in Athens, Greece.
Here in the book of Acts, the apostle Paul is journeying throughout the ancient world,
proclaiming the message of the gospel.
And he's come here to Athens, Greece.
And what he sees when he gets there is all sorts of religious confusion and uncertainty.
It's chaos.
And so what does Paul do?
Paul stands up here in our passage and he tries to very simply, very clearly clear up all of this religious confusion.
And what is the message that he brings to them?
What does he say?
He gives them the simple message of the gospel.
His goal and my goal for us this morning is to make sure that all of us have heard the simple message of the gospel.
We want to make certain that you have heard the good news.
And so we see it here in our passage in four parts this morning.
Four parts.
The gospel is a message about God.
It is a message about man.
It is a message about Christ.
And it is a message that demands a response.
Let's take a look here at each part.
First, we see the gospel is a message about God.
Look there with me starting in verse 22.
Now again, Paul is trying to bring some clarity here.
He is interacting with these deeply confused Athenians.
And where does he start?
The first thing he starts talking about is God.
Look there to verse 22.
Paul says,
He says,
I see all of these objects of your worship.
I pass by all of these different synagogues, all of these different altars.
It is clear that you are very religious.
But it is also clear, y'all are real confused.
And so let me make this clear to you.
He says it with absolute certainty, doesn't he?
There is a God.
You know, depending on who you speak with, that type of certainty is hard to come by, isn't it?
Some people claim to be atheists, meaning they don't believe that there is any sort of God.
Others claim to be agnostic.
That's a little bit more fashionable now, these days.
Where they claim, well, maybe there is a God.
Maybe there is not a God.
But I don't know.
And how could we know?
But Paul here speaks with absolute direct certainty.
He says there is a God.
How can he be so confident?
You know, if you're here and you're not a believer,
you might wonder as you speak with your Christian friends,
as you come to a Christian worship service,
we stand here every single week proclaiming the truth that there is a God.
Maybe you wonder,
How in the world can all these Christians be so confident?
No one's ever seen God.
No one's ever touched God.
No one's ever sat next to him.
How do you know that there is a God?
I think Paul would answer that question in two ways.
For one, he would say,
Look around you.
Greece is one of those places where I would love to visit.
Maybe some of y'all have been there before.
I've never been.
I would love to go.
But everything that you hear about Greece
is that it is just absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.
You have Mount Olympus over here.
You have Elephanisi Beach.
I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right.
Elephanisi Beach over here.
It's got this pink coral sand.
And then the light blue, breathtaking, clear waters over here.
If you go dive into the waters,
there's over 500 species of marine life there in the water to see and explore.
You have loggerhead turtles and parrotfish
and all sorts of octopus there.
There's Samaria Gorge up here.
Some of the best hiking in all of Europe.
You have volcanic landscapes over here.
Everywhere you look, there is natural beauty all around you.
And I promise y'all I'm not trying to sell you a trip to Greece this morning.
Although if you want to go, I'll go with you.
The point is,
this type of beauty in creation and in nature,
it has a message.
All of it proclaims that there is a beautiful,
supernatural creator who made it all.
One way that God makes himself known
is in and through his works of creation.
This is where Paul starts, isn't it?
He says,
The God who made the world and everything in it,
this God I proclaim to you.
Psalm 19 tells us,
The heavens declare the glory of God.
They have a message.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies above proclaim his handiwork.
Day after day, they pour out speech.
Night after night, they reveal knowledge.
And listen to this.
There is no speech,
nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
In other words,
everyone in creation,
everyone in this room,
and everyone in the world
has heard this message loud and clear.
There is a God.
We can know there's a God
because we live in his creation.
And Paul keeps going.
He says,
Verse 25,
This God gives to mankind life and breath and everything.
It all comes from his sovereign hand.
Not only this,
this God actively rules over his creation.
Verse 26,
He determines the allotted periods
and the boundaries of all the dwelling places
of all the peoples of the earth.
God is actively at work in his creation.
All his creation proclaims who he is.
We have to start here.
There is a God,
and we live in his world.
But there's another second answer
that Paul might give to that question.
If you were to ask him,
Paul,
how do you know that there's a God?
He would say,
creation,
that's one,
but also,
and especially,
proclamation.
Proclamation.
See, the Athenians,
they weren't atheists.
They weren't even agnostics.
They worshipped as many gods
as they could possibly think up.
They were religious pluralists.
They had those coexist bumper stickers
long before we did.
They thought that all of these different gods,
all of these different religions
could play nicely together,
and we just kind of take a piece of truth from here
and a piece of truth from here,
and we can worship all of them, right?
And there's an old argument that people make,
and they give this example of an elephant.
Maybe you've heard this before.
And they say,
well,
what if each religion is just kind of looking at the elephant
from a different perspective?
And so Christians,
they're looking at the side of the elephant,
so they describe it as tall,
and they describe it as long.
But maybe the Muslims,
maybe they're looking at the elephant
from the top view,
and so they describe these tusks
coming out from the front,
and the long trunk,
and the hair running down from top to bottom.
And maybe the Buddhists,
maybe they're looking at it from behind,
and so they describe these sturdy hind legs,
and they describe the wagging tail.
But really,
all of us,
we're all playing the same game here.
We're all worshiping the same God.
We're all describing the same thing.
We just all have different perspectives,
right?
The response that we would give
to that sort of argument would be,
well,
what if that elephant can speak?
What if we're not left to figure it out
with our own limited perspective?
What if the elephant can actually speak
and reveal to himself
what he's like?
We believe that's exactly what God has done.
The God who created all things
has spoken.
He has revealed himself
through his word.
His holy word reveals his holy character
and his plans for his creation.
And even more than that,
we have the supreme revelation
of the person and the work
and the character of our holy God
in his Son,
Jesus Christ.
The very word of God
who became flesh
and dwelt among us.
Jesus Christ
is the revelation of God.
Friend,
if you are
confused or uncertain,
if you want to know about God,
spend time in his world,
but also and especially
spend time in his word.
Paul begins his message
simply telling us
there is a God.
He is our creator.
He is our ruler.
He has revealed himself
in his world.
He has revealed himself
in his word.
But he doesn't stop there.
Second,
we see also
this gospel message
is also a message about us.
The gospel is also
a message about man.
John Calvin,
he starts off his institutes
with this now famous line.
He says,
Nearly all wisdom
that we possess,
that is to say,
true and sound wisdom,
consists in two parts.
The knowledge of God
and the knowledge
of ourselves.
This is important.
We need to not only
understand who God is,
but in light of who he is,
we need to rightly understand
understand who we are.
And we should know
that it is not good news.
Not yet at least.
Calvin goes on to say,
well,
when we truly see ourselves,
when we pop open the hood
and look and see what's inside,
what will we find?
He says,
we are going to find
a teeming horde
of infirmities.
To put it plainly,
the gospel,
the bad news
of the gospel,
it tells us that
you and I
and everyone else,
we are all
deeply sinful.
There is a God
and we are at odds
with him
because of our sin.
There is a creator God
and we have not
honored him
as we ought to honor him.
What do I mean?
Well,
consider the Athenians.
Paul tells us plainly,
for one thing,
like the Athenians,
we are deeply confused
about the value
of religion.
Paul goes through the city.
He's bothered
by what he sees.
There's idols
all over the place.
There's temples everywhere.
There's worship
being offered up
to every sort of false god
that you can imagine.
And he says,
man,
y'all are really religious.
It's clear
that simply being religious
in and of itself,
it may not be a good thing,
is it?
The religious devotion
in and of itself,
if it's misdirected,
is not a good thing.
Our Muslim friends,
they are deeply religious.
Our Hindu friends
are deeply religious.
Some of y'all college
sports fans, right?
Deeply religious.
We're wrong to think
that religious devotion
in and of itself
brings us any closer
to God.
You know,
you don't earn
any brownie points
with God this morning
for being here,
for singing the songs,
for coming to church,
for doing all
the religious things.
Apart from genuine
repentance from your sin,
and apart from
a saving relationship
with Jesus Christ,
your religion is empty.
Not only this,
but like the Athenians,
we have all worshipped idols.
I remember when
we lived in Charlotte.
Amanda and I,
we went on a walk.
It was snowing outside,
and we decided to go
for a walk,
and we came up
to the Charlotte Buddha Temple,
and we were feeling
adventurous that day,
and so we decided
to walk inside
and just take a look.
They allowed us
to go in and do that,
and I will never forget
what I saw
when I went in there.
The walls were lined
from top to bottom,
up and down
with statues,
images,
idols,
and there were people there
bowing down to them,
head on the ground,
arms outstretched,
praying to these figures,
and I just thought,
somebody made these things.
Somebody pieced these together,
and somebody placed them
up on a shelf.
Somebody painted
the faces on them,
put them right there,
and how foolish it is
for these people
to bow down
and to worship
some created thing,
but the truth is,
we are all guilty
of this exact same thing.
I'll quote Calvin again.
He says,
the human heart
is an idol factory.
Constantly,
we are cranking out
idols in our hearts,
so no,
we may not bow down
to a statue,
but we make idols
of sports,
and we make idols
of sex,
and we make idols
of money,
we make idols
of success,
we make idols
of the approval
of others,
we make idols
of our children,
we make idols
of our marriage.
No,
we may not lay down
with our face
to the ground
and pray to these things,
but we give our lives
to these things,
and we put them
in a sacred place
in our heart
that belongs
to God alone.
That's idolatry.
Paul says,
how foolish is this?
Don't you see?
Verse 29,
don't you see?
He says,
we are the offspring
of God.
We are made
in the image of God.
Some of your own poets
have recognized this,
and if that's true,
then why would we
ever think
that God,
our creator,
is like gold
or silver
or stone?
Why would we ever
fall down
and worship
the created things
when our creator
is the one
that's deserving
of our praise?
Not only this,
but like the Athenians,
we have all
walked in pride.
Paul humbles them
a little bit here
in verse 24.
Look there.
Paul says,
this God
who created
heaven and earth,
he doesn't live
in your temples.
He's not served
by your hands
as though he needed
anything.
You realize
God does not need
anything from you.
What a prideful thought.
But again,
in our sin,
this is our default mode,
isn't it?
We want the universe
to be about us.
We want to be
in control
of our life.
And if we serve
a God,
if we worship
a God,
we got to have
a God that needs
us,
needs our service,
needs a little bit
of our help,
one we can pick up
and put down
exactly where we want
so we can be in control.
Paul says,
no.
What we need
is a bigger view
of God
and a smaller view
of ourself.
We have all
walked in pride.
It keeps going.
not only this,
but also like
the Athenians,
we have all sought
independence from God.
Look at verse 25
and verse 26.
Again,
Paul says,
God has given you
your life.
But have you
lived your life
for him?
God has given you
your breath.
He sustains your life
this very moment.
But do you consider
that every breath
you take
comes from him
and belongs to him?
Have you offered
back up
every single breath,
every single breath
you've taken
for your entire life?
Have you offered
it back up
to him in worship?
God has given you
everything,
he says.
But do you give
everything to God?
None of us have.
And not a single one
of us
have done this perfectly.
And I say all
because this is me too.
We all
have sought
independence
from God.
That's the essence
of sin.
Ultimately,
what this means
is that we have
all failed
to live up
to our purpose
for existing
in the first place.
Are you all
depressed yet?
Thought you'd come
in here and have
a peppy Easter message?
Think again.
We'll get there.
Verse 27 says,
God made us
that we should
seek him.
God made us
that we should
seek him.
God made you
that you should
seek him.
Have you sought
him?
Have you sought
him perfectly?
Have you always
sought him?
If not,
then friend,
join the club.
You are a sinner
just like me,
just like
the Athenians.
This is bad news.
And to make it
worse,
Paul says,
verse 31,
that there's a
time of judgment
coming against
the world.
Paul says,
God has fixed
a day of judgment
to address
every sin.
Look there
to verse 30.
He says,
the times of
ignorance God
overlooked,
but now he
commands all
people everywhere
to repent
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.
So we see
there is an
infinite gap
between the
glory and
the holiness
of God
and between
our sin.
There is a
problem to be
dealt with.
There is an
issue.
God's wrath
is against us
in our sin.
There is a
coming day of
judgment.
What can we
do about this?
The command
is clear.
He says,
friend,
repent of
your sin.
Repent of
your sin.
This is the
bad news
of the gospel,
but tucked
into this
bad news
is some
incredibly
good news.
I wonder
if you saw
it.
And it's
the good
news that
we celebrate
here at
Easter and
that we
celebrate every
other Sunday
for that
matter.
Third,
we see
the gospel
is a
message
about
Jesus.
Did you
catch it?
Read it
again.
He says,
sinners
everywhere are
commanded to
repent of
their sins.
Why?
Because God
has fixed a
day of coming
judgment.
God will
judge the
world in
righteousness
by a man
whom he has
appointed.
Who could
this be?
God has
given assurance
of this to
all by
raising him
from the
dead.
Who could
this be?
who is
the God
appointed,
resurrected,
coming judge
of all the
earth?
It is
the risen
Lord
Jesus.
The
resurrection
of Jesus
is right
here at
the very
heart of
the message
of the
gospel.
And it's
the only
hope for
sinners like
us.
In fact,
this seems
to be at
the very
heart of
Paul's
message.
Even
before he
gets up
there at
the top
of the
Areopagus,
verse 18
says he
was
preaching
about
what?
What does
it say?
How does
it sum
up his
preaching?
He was
preaching
about
Jesus
and the
resurrection.
This is
right at
the heart
of the
Christian
message.
If you
want to
know what
Christians
are all
about,
we are
all about
Jesus
and the
resurrection.
Look at
how they
responded to
this message.
They thought
he was
crazy.
Isn't
it
interesting?
They sat
through all
that stuff
about God
making
all
things.
They sat
through all
that stuff.
The hard
talk about
his rebukes
of their
idolatry.
They endured
that well
enough.
But verse
32 says
when they
heard about
the resurrection
of the
dead,
now they
mock him
and they
say that's
crazy.
You realize
it's no
different
today?
Do you
realize how
absurd it
sounds to
claim that
somebody actually
rose from
the dead?
If you
zoom out of
our Christian
bubble here
for a minute,
when you
go and
talk to
a non-believer
and you
tell them
that you
actually
believe that
some 2,000
years ago
this man
named Jesus
who's not
actually just
a man,
he's God
in the flesh,
he lived
perfectly,
he died on
the cross,
he actually
died,
he was laid
in the tomb,
but then he
actually got
up from
the dead.
Do you
realize how
crazy we
sound?
It sounds
absurd.
And because
of this,
some religious
groups,
entire
denominations
that claim
to be
Christian,
they no
longer teach
that the
resurrection
actually happened.
They minimize
it to an
idea or
some spiritual
lesson about
perseverance or
something about
Christ's example
living on after
he died.
You may be
tempted to
minimize it
like that.
You may
think that it
sounds crazy,
but I promise
you,
I am
convinced,
every member
of this
church is
convinced that
Jesus actually,
really,
truly,
physically got
up from
the dead.
And in
fact,
if Jesus
is not
actually,
truly,
physically,
really risen
from the grave,
not just as
an idea,
not just as
an inspirational
lesson or some
nonsense like
that,
but really,
truly,
physically,
alive again,
none of this
matters one
bit.
The resurrection
isn't just
something that
is just a
make-believe
story that we
celebrate once
a year because
it's kind of
traditional and
it's just what
we do.
No,
everything hangs
on this.
Everything hangs
on whether or
not Jesus
Christ actually
rose from
the dead.
God.
This is what
Paul tells us
in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15,
this famous
chapter on the
resurrection of
Jesus.
He says,
I deliver to
you as of
first importance
what I also
received,
that Christ
died for our
sins in
accordance with
the scriptures,
scriptures,
that he was
buried,
that he was
raised on the
third day in
accordance with
the scriptures,
and that he
appeared to
Cephas and
then to the
twelve,
and then he
appeared to
more than
500 brothers
at one time,
most of whom
are still alive.
In other words,
if you have any
questions,
go ask them.
friend,
when we say
Christ is
risen,
and the
church responds,
he is risen
indeed,
this is a
historical
claim,
not primarily
a moral
claim,
or an
ethical
claim,
but actually,
we actually
believe,
I got to make
this clear to
you,
we actually
believe Jesus
rose from the
dead,
you know that,
right?
Billy Graham
says,
there is more
evidence that
Jesus rose from
the dead than
there is that
Julius Caesar
ever lived,
or that
Alexander the
Great died at
the age of
33.
Charles Spurgeon
says,
the resurrection
is a fact
better attested
than any event
recorded in
any history,
whether ancient
or modern.
There were so
many witnesses
to behold it
that if we do
in the least
degree receive
the credibility
of men's
testimonies,
we cannot
and we dare
not doubt
that Jesus
rose from
the dead.
Do you
believe it?
I just marvel
at this fact
for just a
minute.
Here we have
over 500
witnesses,
and not to
mention the
dramatic change
in the apostles,
they went from
fumbling and
bumbling,
scared and
uncertain,
and now to
giving everything
for the sake
of preaching
Christ resurrected.
How do you
explain that?
How do you
explain the
apostle Paul?
You know
this is the
same Paul
who used
to go around
arresting
Christians
and who
hated the
spread of
the gospel,
who wanted
to bottle
it up and
kill them
and wipe
them off
the face
of the
earth,
and now
he's going
around from
town to
town risking
injury,
risking death,
suffering,
in order to
proclaim that
Christ rose
from the
grave.
How do you
explain it?
How do you
explain the
sudden shift
all throughout
the ancient
world where
believers all
of a sudden
now move
their day of
worship from
Saturday now
to Sunday?
Why?
That's the
day of the
Lord's
resurrection.
Not to
mention to
this day all
anybody would
have to do to
just make all
these Christians
be quiet,
go dig up the
body of Jesus
and bring it
to me.
And they
can't do it.
Why?
Because the
tomb is
empty.
Christ has
risen.
death is
defeated.
Paul says
this is the
whole point.
This is what
Christ came to
do.
And this is at
the very center
and heart of
the message of
Christianity.
And if you
fit into that
category of
center, which
guess what?
We all do.
The message of
the gospel,
the good news,
is that Christ
Jesus has
come to live
in our place,
to die and
bear the wrath
of God that
we have
earned and
to rise again
from the
dead to
crush the
powers of
sin and
darkness.
It's proof
positive for
us.
Paul calls it
assurance.
And that
Jesus is in
fact God in
the flesh as
he claimed to
be.
His resurrection
is proof
positive for
us that his
sacrifice was
acceptable to
God.
His payment
for our sins
was sufficient
once for all.
his resurrection
is proof
positive.
It's assurance
that sin
and death
and the devil
himself have
been conquered.
Christ has
won.
His resurrection
is proof
positive that
every word of
the Lord
proves true
including his
promised coming
return.
The resurrection
of Jesus is
everything for
us.
As Paul says
in 1 Corinthians
15, if Christ
is still in the
tomb, we are
still in our
sins.
If the tomb
is full, then
all this
religion stuff
is empty.
If he is
dead, then so
is our hope.
But in fact,
Christ has been
raised from
the dead.
And this is the
basic message of
the gospel.
God is our
creator.
We have
rebelled against
him.
Christ has been
offered up as
the one time
sufficient payment
for our sins.
He lives and
reigns now in
resurrection.
But we can't
stop there.
Because fourth,
we see this
message demands
a response.
This message
demands that
you respond.
I wonder if it
would surprise you
to know that the
devil believes
everything that I've
talked about this
morning.
all the demons
in hell know
the truth about
God.
All the demons
in hell know
the truth about
our sin.
All the demons
in hell know
that Jesus has
risen from the
grave.
They know it
better than
most.
Simply knowing
the truth will
not save you.
You must make
a grace-enabled
response to the
truth.
Paul here,
he gives them
the gospel as
plain and simple
and clear as he
can make it.
God is the
creator and
ruler.
Man is a
sinner.
Christ is the
risen Savior.
But look at
what happens
here in verse
32.
There's a mixed
response to the
message of the
gospel.
Now when they
heard of the
resurrection of
the dead,
some mocked,
but others
said, we will
hear you again
about this.
Now you see
the difference?
Some immediately
reject it.
They mock it.
They write it
off as ridiculous.
Others are
intrigued by it.
They want to
hear more.
And Paul goes
out from their
midst in verse
34.
He says, but
some men joined
him and
believed.
Now I love
that he calls
them by name.
It says, Dionysius
heard the gospel
and he believed
the gospel that
day.
And Damaris,
she heard the
gospel that
day and she
put her faith
in Christ.
She believed
the gospel
that day.
And still
others with
them.
They responded
to this truth
by putting
their faith
in Christ.
Friend, there
are many
responses to
this gospel
message.
And I have
no doubt
that this
morning, some
of you probably
will leave
here laughing
at the idea
of an actual
physical
resurrection.
Some of y'all
will think that
is absurd.
And still
some of you
might be
intrigued.
Maybe you
come back
next week.
Maybe you
want to hear
more about
this Jesus
and who
he is and
what he's
done.
You're
curious.
But I hope
and I pray
and I think
that some
of you this
morning may
be like
Dionysius
and like
Damaris.
Some of you
this morning
may be ready
by the grace
of God
to leave
behind your
sin and to
put your
faith in
Jesus.
And if
that's you,
if you are
not a
believer,
friend, your
response this
morning to
this message
is very
simple.
Repent of
your sins
and put your
faith in
Christ.
Turn from
your sin
and put your
faith in the
risen Lord
Jesus and
you will leave
here this
morning risen
with Christ
as a new
creation.
The old
is gone.
Behold, the
new has
come.
And for
you, church
believer,
we respond to
this familiar
message with
a heart of
worship and
gratitude for
what God has
done in
Christ.
Praise God.
In Christ,
your sins
have been
forgiven.
Because Christ
has conquered,
death has
been defeated.
And because
Christ is
coming again,
he will bring
you to be
where he is
for the rest
of eternity
in the
presence of
God.
J.C.
Ryle says,
we need not
wonder that so
much importance
is attached
to our Lord's
resurrection.
It is the
seal and
headstone of
the great work
of redemption
which he came
to do.
It is the
crowning proof
that he has
paid the debt
which he undertook
to pay on
our behalf.
He's won the
battle which he
fought to
deliver us
from hell
and is
accepted as
our surety
and our
substitute
by our
Father in
Heaven.
Had he
never come
forth from
the prison
of the grave,
how could we
ever have
been sure
that our
ransom had
been fully
paid?
Had he
never risen
from his
conflict with
the last
enemy,
how could we
have felt
confident that
he has
overcome
death and
him that
had the
power of
death,
that is the
devil?
But thanks
be to
God.
We are
not left
in doubt.
The Lord
Jesus really
rose again
for our
justification.
True
Christians are
begotten
again unto
a lively
hope by the
resurrection of
Jesus Christ
from the
dead.
They may
boldly say
with Paul,
who is he
that condemns?
It is Christ
that died,
yes,
rather,
that is risen
again.
Father,
we praise
you that
Jesus has
risen from
the grave.
And we
praise you for
his sacrifice
in our place,
that he has
paid the debt
that we owe
for our sin
and has been
raised for our
justification for
all who turn
from their sin
and put their
faith in him.
We praise you
for the gift of
eternal life that
you freely give
to all who
believe.
And we love
you,
Father.
We praise you
for this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.