His Resurrection

Amen. Let's take our Bibles and let's go to the gospel of Mark will use this narrative as a foundation that will go go to first Peter chapter 1 Mark 16 first Linda first Peter chapter 1 in this narrative of our Lord's resurrection. We read in Mark chapter 16 beginning in verse one, when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spy so they might come and anoint him very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen and they were saying to one another who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb, looking up, I saw that the stone had been rolled away. Although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right wearing a white robe and they were amazed and he said to them, do not be amazed you looking for Jesus the Nazarene who is been crucified.

He has arisen. He is not here. Behold, here is the place where they laid him. That's a wonderful statement he has arisen. He is not here now. Go to first Peter if you will. First Peter chapter 1 because in first Peter chapter 1 Peter gives us something of the products of his resurrection.

Not everything that we can unpack everything that's here and in fact but much of what God has wrought for us through his son's death and particular his resurrection is laid out for us in first Peter chapter 1 beginning in verse three and going through verse five, first Peter 13 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved for you in heaven who are protected by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. Actually all week long I studied another text to Scripture and toward the end of the week shifted because as I looked at this a Frank I just wanted to preach this to the saints of God on this Easter Sunday morning. I call it Easter's treasures because it's as if God is saying because my son is risen because he's alive here are the gifts he can now give you his children.

First of all, in verse three.

In our text, Peter writes, Blessed be the God and father that little phrase Blessed be met. In fact, it's only used of God in the New Testament is that that Greek word is not used for man or anything else. Blessed be God. It means to be adored to be praised, to be highly honored at least two words one meets well the one would speak speak well of God because he's done these marvelous things for us. He stands alone as the one worthy of all adoration, all praise all glory, all honor we see it again in Luke 168 when the Bible says, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited us and accomplish redemption for his people. Second Corinthians 13 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Ephesians 13 Blessed be the God and father Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places that I know what maybe some of you by Bible scholars are thinking out there so wait a minute didn't Jesus in the sermon on the Mount say Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Blessed are those who mourn.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness yes, but it's a totally different original Greek word has a totally different meaning it actually means happy or well-off or you're doing right you're in a good place.

Blessed are you a few more of your sins. Blessed are you if you hunger and thirst for righteousness, and so on and so forth. In other words, you're right where you want to be but when it talks about God being blessed it means he is worthy of praise and adoration and honor for what he has accomplished. Blessed be the God and father Peter says of our Lord Jesus Christ is to the honor, praise and glory of God the father that we are saved, we say that again.

Your salvation is wonderful for you beyond compare, but your salvation is primarily for God is onto his honor is under his Frankie's and it is unto his glory is God's purpose that came out of his day deep love for us that we are saved, he purpose our salvation he planned our Sage salvation through his infinite wisdom in in sending his son for us. Then he provided our salvation in sending his son, actually to the crawl, the dobby buried and rise again. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's to be honored. He's to be praised.

He's to be spoken highly of and well of we talk about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let's remind ourselves that the resurrection is the ground and the foundation of our salvation.

We see our standing before God is based on his resurrection, not on God's judgment. God's judgment has passed us, because God's judgment fell on Christ and he satisfied God's wrath that was against us. And that's why the father raised him from the dead. There was nothing left to do in the resurrection. The father is judge and declares us not guilty in raising Jesus the father accepts the victory of Jesus our conqueror. You wonder today why are so many skeptics might affect it. It's abhorrent to think about, but there will be many, many Christian churches. Many in our country, not in around the world service and call it Easter Sunday worship and they actually at least their pastors, their reverends, their rector, whoever he may be denies the bodily literal resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the dead, they make it into some sort of mythological lesson were to learn from instead of an actual, literal, historical fact, I read about Samuel Morse in 1832 and he was conversing with the friend he was something of an inventor something of a scientist and he talked about how the United States had electricity and now Britain and much of Europe had electricity. He thought would be wonderful if you could communicate across these electrical lines of people laugh that if people thought it's crazy that something like that could never happen but he begin devising machines and he begin making things and tried and failed and tried and failed and tried and failed, and then finally electrical wires were laid from Washington to Baltimore after 12 years of failure and discouragement.

He finally put a machine together that would tap out a code and a message was sent from Washington to Baltimore, Maryland.

You know what those first words were that came across. We now know as the Morse code today. Here's what he wrote. What hath God wrought after that.

Everybody was shocked and amazed and all the sudden communication other than pony express our letter by coach or ship or something like that was now radically transform another day.

We have these smart phones and computers and Internet does it's nothing, but in that day. It was astonishing receipt.

Something seems a marble to wonders to believe because we Haven't come across it and observed it. That's the only reason why we think it strange the resurrection of the dead is hard to fathom because we haven't come across it yet.

When God establishes the new order and the dead are all arranged and the righteous will you will be raised unto eternal life in the eternal state with him, then it will not be odd in strange and unusual at all.

The Bible says here in first Peter that God did these wondrous things for his children.

There's bountiful blessings in these verses. He talks about great mercy new life having a living hope, having an eternal inheritance that will not pass away, and being protected all the power of God. But here's the one thing that I think the text brings out clearly these things depend upon our and are inseparably connected to one cornerstone truth that we see in verse three through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

If he is not risen, we do not have great mercy new life a living hope and eternal inheritance are can be protected by the power of God.

The resurrection is not just an amazing fact from the life of Christ, though it is that it is a biblical historical fact it has wondrous spiritual tangible realities for all of those who believe on Christ. The resurrection is the hinge on which the door of salvation opens to man.

Without the resurrection there are none of these wondrous blessings, Peter outlines for us in this text. If Christ be not raised from the dead, the fabric of the gospel unravels and falls to the ground as a useless tangle of thread the resurrection is the keystone in the arch of our salvation. Christ resurrection is the tree for which the fruit of salvation is born. Think about it for a moment if one man gives his life for another. It's a noble fleet of great love and devotion. However, what's done is done.

Once you've given your life. You have nothing more to give. Once you died your capacity to help another.

Ian's a dead man cannot speak to you in a dead man cannot speak on your behalf. A dead man cannot labor to your benefit.

They cannot serve your interest there dead so it is with Christ, if he gave himself on the cross and if you God and if he remained in the grave he can do us no more. God, a dead Savior is a non-Savior. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians who are having some false teaching and some confusion about the resurrection and prescriptions 1512 through 19. He says listen if Christ be not raised. I want to understand our preaching is in vain. If Christ is not raised your stealing your sin. If Christ is not raised, your faith in him is in vain. And if Christ is not raised, then Christians are of all men most to be pleaded. Everything depends upon all but here is the wisdom and the power of God. Christ not only God for us. He rose for us. You just got authorized Christ does for us. It was for us in our series.

We called it the unrelenting love of God love drove him to the grave and love brought him back up out of the grave he died for us.

He rose for us. He lives forever for us and let's note in our text, the treasures, not all of them.

There's more in the Scriptures, but from this text the treasures that Christ gives us you knows that you are in our precious Lord's journey through his death and the resurrection. He has mined out precious. GM's better of the most exquisite beauty and immense value and he gives them to us of his own pleasure and free will and he gives them to us without cost.

He rose and lives for the specific purpose of granting these treasures to his children and to glorify his own name. Let's list them together just right out of the text number one let's note rivers of mercy, we would note rivers of mercy if he had not risen from the dead.

In verse three, he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to here's a great mercy. The word great.

There could be translated abundant.

I was out and I was in when I was in graduate school.

We had Thayer's lexicon of the Greek language in fair says this verse translated great and have one of these ideas are all three of them. Here's what they are, says intensity size and continuation. I believe it's all three BC. Mercy means God look down on us and he felt a desire to help the most desperate and the most needy God had an intensity in his heart took to have mercy and to help us because we were helpless and intensity. Also, he said it can mean size, it means it's just a great giant amount and also it means continuing to you continuation it never in when I was a high school boy I was. I grew up in town, but I was really comfortable. I worked on farms and I work for men at 300 head of cattle and all summer long. We hauled hay those old square bales of hay and some of those August days.

It was blistering hot in that hayfield 90+ degrees humidity the same and we would just be covered with dust and dirt every time you throw a bell up it just be all over you, and we were so parched and so dry and so hot if we got off work before sunset. Very often we find one of those crackling crisp cold Creek's and large County, Tennessee, and I remember one in particular had a waterfall about 8 foot waterfall had a lid you could walk out there and just stand under it and just the water would just elute all over as we just stand there to pound the dirt off of an all day long. We would think about how good that will feel like to this searing scorching drive parts and labor and that hayfield was sewing up teachers God's mercy. You do you stand under an intense flowing river of mercy God's mercy is as big as God. That's the way he feels toward his children. Why because he's living dead Savior and not show mercy but a living Savior certainly can wear in the flow of rivers of mercy dear center dear depraved one dear one, who is the nature of sin before a holy God. Listen to me. He's a God.

Rivers of mercy for you to the death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul in Romans chapter 9 verse 23 says we are vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory. He said I mark you out the GB of vessel it can have the idea of a ship just loaded down with cargo economical load you down with mercy because I destine something for you. It's not the grave. It's not telehealth it's not punishment it's not being a castaway. I have loaded your dad with my mercy because I want you with me in glory. Why, because of his unrelenting love for his children because he lives and can bestow mercy.

Let's look at the second treasure that Peter says is ours because he is resurrected and he lives in that his new life, new life.

Look at their verse three Blessed be to be praised and honored and adored him and felt great. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his grace and mercy has caused us to be born again has caused us. I believe the new American Standard translators are right it is God's initiative. It is God's act to birth us into the kingdom of God.

Now the first time you were born that is to your natural mom you are born dead to God, and you were born dead in sin, we came forth the womb and we did not know God and we came forth from the womb guilty in sin before God get Ephesians 2 says we are by nature of the children of wrath reasons to also says we are dead in transgressions and in sin because of sin, brought in by father Adam in the garden of Eden. We all inherit this miserable state, we are all hopelessly enslaved to this body of sin, hopeless and helpless. I mean you can drag this sinful dead body before God us got biological life but God uses a spiritually dead. You can drag this dead body. This condemned the body into religion. You can dress it up with ritual that was ceremonial with rights and with formalities. We can drag this dead body to external laws and works we can put on a show for a season. But alas, the burden is just too heavy. This natural sinfully dead condition we are in is woefully and wholly incapable of any true goodness before God. So we end up worse than when we began for trying to please God and the power of these fallen sinfully dead bodies were even more guilty than when we started Matthew chapter 12 versus 43 four 345 Jesus gives the analogy of if one demon goes out of a man, he ends up getting seven more demons and comments back again and the man's latter status worse than his first is the picture of self cleansing is a picture of self religion. If you and your strengthening your power purpose to clean yourself up and make yourself righteous before God, you might throw out something, but it was happy covering seven demons back in your last status worse than your for the state wherein you know we need we need a miracle from outside of ourselves. We need the impartation of new life and that's what this text says because he lives he can impart life. Here's the wisdom and the power of God. Christ lives and he lives that he might impart life to his children. That's what Jesus meant when he told Nicodemus, Nicodemus, you must be born again you could say born from above borne by power outside of yourselves just spiritual new life, new life comes in and when the new life comes in we begin to see things in a new way. CN is new to us were grieved about it more deeply and we see is darker and more woefully offensive to God. And all of a sudden, many things begin to change. Repentance becomes real to us. We don't be like we worry we want to be different than we were before Faith rises in our hearts because of the new birth, a love for God is germinated in our souls and honoring and treasuring of his son Jesus Christ. All of these are the things that begin to flourish when we receive the impartation of new life, dear friend.

Have you been born again. Christ gives life, new life will not only to have these treasures but thirdly third treasure is a living hope we have a living Hope McKay says it in verse three. There Blessed be the God and father Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope now I will acknowledge that these truths are interconnected and overlapping, but they also can be dissected apart to look at the glories of each one. Which is what I'm trying to do a living hope you know men have always looked for hope.

But always look for hope before Christ came in, look for hope. But you know it was was a living hope it was a dead hope men look to religion. They look to law keeping. They look to performing good works. They look to cleaning up their morality. They look to this spiritual advisor are this spiritual teacher trying to find a way to have a clear conscience that they stand accepted before this tribunal. Holy God, Hebrews 914 how much more with the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God clearly is your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. You see everything, listen to me everything outside of simple reliance and faith in Jesus Christ is a dead work. Everything everything to dead work except for lying and trusting in Christ and Christ alone to save and I did work are dead works. I should say service a dead hope. Dead men performing dead works produce dead results. Now we see an illustration in the Old Testament in the Old Testament, a corpse, a dead body would make you undefiled or make you defile make you unclean.

If you are around a dead body then you had to go through certain washings of the time of separation before your considered spiritually. Clean again. What was God saying to us this is a picture for us.

It illustrated a greater spiritual truth. It was a picture that our efforts in our natural manner. Natural body are of a dead body and are considered undefiled before God. All works of the body before God are defiled.

Dead men performing dead works produce dead results all but here's with the wisdom and the power of God comes in when we place our faith in Jesus Christ. Here's what that means, that means we turn from all confidence, all hoping any other thing any other ritual or any other performance any other work any other merit we might perform joining the church being baptized. Whatever it we place our faith in Christ. We turn from all other hopes and we turn to Jesus Christ we transfer our faith to him is everybody's placing faith in something. Sometimes you hear in our culture today. People of faith that means nothing to me.

Everybody's a person of faith. In some ways a profession that faith in themselves.

They have faith in science acres have faith but it's who is the object of your faith.

That's what he say that's what he say when you do that, then you have listen a live thing, the whole why because he's resurrected and he's a living Savior is a living Savior, your faith is in someone who conquered the grave and is alive forever with all this what Paul Peter says here it's it's a living hope, I hope you're in the in the Christian sense does it mean baby so or might be, so that means an absolute confidence sure the living hope. My hope is in him the ever living, ever loving, ever merciful, ever powerful Savior. It is a living hope the songwriter wrote I serve a living Savior. He's in the world today. I know that he is living whatever men may say well the fourth treasure because he's resurrected is an eternal inheritance. We could then verse for an eternal inheritance to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved for you in heaven, and eternal inheritance. In the first of all, Peter says it is an imperishable. It's kinda hard for me to verbalize because there's a lot of nuances to that. But I love what one theologian said he says it has not one germ of decay unit. Your character's that the living Savior. The resurrected Christ is reserved for you.

That's not one tiny germ decay or corruption therein can it can never perish. It can ever defile he can ever weaken it can ever rot in the nieces.

Not only is it imperishable in verse four he said it's undefiled is has the idea of no staying, everything about it is perfect. It's kinda like title deed to piece of property you buy a piece of property to give you title deeds and you have these lawyers to research the deed. Make sure there's not one little thing in there that could say what you don't really own it.

Somebody hundred years ago had a lien against that prop properties with Staying on. Scott got a blemish and affect on it, no, no, no, no, not our title deed listen to our eternal inheritance is free and clear, you know, we inherit a lot of things in this life and these things can be a blessing or curse you might inherit a good name. You might inherit a bad day you might inherit great wealth, you might inherit great death, and sometimes you think you're going to get an inheritance that didn't pan out.

I've had to church members contact me at in contact them contact me as I passed off I want to leave this to the church and that's a lot of money all vary a great amount of money I didn't lose any sleep over not just to praise the Lord for your kindness and thoughtfulness is for God's church, and in both cases before they died. Other influences came in and we saw nothing out of one of them in a little bit out of the second of they would in the there's the dear folks, fault is just the way things unfolded God's in charge of all spiritual and think you just don't know about inheritance that here you think you may have one but you may not. But whether or not you inherit something are do not inherit something, what ever you do inherit will.will not last, our fortunes will soon be gone are same good or evil will soon be gone. These things perish and fade away. However, he Christ lives and has caused us to be born again, born into God's family, which means I'm a son and as a son, it means I'm in air. Hebrews 12 says that Jesus is heir of all things. In Romans 817 says that we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, the riches of eternity are infinite in quality and in quantity and not only in quality and incontinent, quantity, but in pleasure producing joy is an unlimited pleasure for you, waiting for you in your inheritance. Powerful and in them, as Peter says here there's no germ of corruption. There's nothing capable of decay. We will inherit a perfect treasure that will produce perfect pleasures. Increasingly so for all eternity.

That's what our risen Savior could give you an eternal inheritance.

It's all through the Christ to ever lives that we have this inheritance. He rose from the dead he ascended to the right hand of God. That is the place of power and authority and when he arrived there, he signed our name on to the title deed of the new creation were inheriting it all its fully and already ours and we will possess it. Soon enough, all the treasures we have, because he is living one final one in verse five protecting power who are protected by the power were of God. The word protected.

Here's a word that means a garrison, a guard God himself says I've got. I'm protecting you. I'm not savvy as a pastor I don't know. I struggle to fail today and I'm weak and I'm ashamed and I'm embarrassed. Yes you are, but you can say, is power to protect you protected by the power of God as a garrison pittance protecting you. So you'll get your eternal inheritance. That's what a living Savior can the resurrected Lord can accomplish all prices name our inheritance is reserve. The Bible says is the idea For us in heaven in heaven. We have a guard but you know what, we have a garden this were Jesus guards us in this world. His power protects us from all of our enemies that were living in a difficult day were living in a strange time and this this COBIT 19 virus but listen to me. Jesus has a garrison of omnipotent around your life. His power saves us and is long-suffering. Are you listening saves us from us. You can even dam your soul. You could even condemn yourself. You can even run ship Rick and lose what he's protecting with Bill Stafford just prefers years ago.

He's in heaven you Sam save it's pitiful what we are. We are this garrison of my that seals us and protects us listen to John 637 through 39 Jesus said all that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out fried come down out of heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me, and this is the will of him who sent me that of all he has given me. I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day pastor can a man loses salvation. Only Jesus loses power, except if you're given to me that means you believed on Jesus. Jesus said I keep everyone of them and will raise them up on the last day the power of the resurrected Savior she wasn't. The point is not that I obtain salvation, the poorness he gained my salvation when he died he gained when the father raising the bar visiting PC audit your protected now forever more by the omnipotent garrison of God to seal you and keep you for eternity. He died for my sins and was raised for my justification this living Savior has placed me under rivers of Mercy this living Savior has given me new life. This risen Savior has given me a living hope this living Savior has giving me an eternal inheritance and this living Savior protects me by his power, others to words when you look at enclosing look at in verse five were protected by the power of God. Here they are through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time other words, there is the culmination of your salvation ready to be revealed. It's out there so you are saved, sealed forever. You are being say, but you are going to be saved to. That's what he son with those two words. It's through faith. See faith says it's finished. I put all my confidence, my trust in him, not in may not about works not in cleaning up my life. I place my confidence in him. Think about it when Jesus died on the cross.

She's hanging there suffering agony birth has been darkened because the transaction was between God the father and God the son by the way, you and your religion word in their God was doing this and all the sudden right before Jesus gave his spirit gave the life of the head and returned his spirit to the father, he cried out and said is which I become singing in man's place I become cursed God for sinners in man's place to become a castaway for them in man's place to be factually taken what they deserved. It is finished and he was buried Saturday past early Sunday morning, God the father said arise, my love, and when the father raised him. What was the father in effect saying it is finished, he satisfied all lands of holy wrath against the children gazing copies.

That redemption is the salvation time proving that I'm very satisfied by raising him from the dead raised for our justification. The Bible says. The Bible says Jesus cried. It is finished. The father, in effect, raises human says it is finished.

What about you is finished you. Are you still in the strain you still standing under the guilt you still standing before God and condemnation is finished for you to words in our text through faith or would you dear friend cried out to God this moment sale. God I want to be finished.

I cast my hope, my trust in Jesus Christ. Some of you teenagers out there listing this day.

This Easter Sunday. Tell the Lord, Lord, I'm finished I put no hope in anything or anyone else but you.

Can you say is finished