Resurrection Power | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Easter Service)

The apostle Paul said that if Christ had not been risen, then preaching is in vain. But if Christ has risen, then preaching is of utmost importance. And what you and I are going to experience in this moment is a transaction of truth that can literally alter the eternal destiny of the person who would rightly respond to what will be communicated in a few moments. And so maybe you don't have a bible, but if you do, turn with me to the book of Acts in chapter two. And let's explore what the word of God has to say about this celebration that we are observing together.

Now I've talked to many believers over the years who have expressed a certain enjoyment when they read through the book of Acts and maybe you are among those who can echo that sentiment. And I wonder if the excitement is encouraged by the powerful conversion stories that Luke's second volume describes or or maybe it's the milestones of the advancements of the early church that was moved by early believers who fearlessly ran into a dark world that was drowning in depravity. Or maybe it includes the fact that there are just amazing miracles that take place that God has enabled the early church to perform in order to validate the authenticity of the Christian message. I'm sure that the thrill that people read through this books includes those observations. But one of the things that never ceases to charge me and challenge me whenever I read through the book of acts, is the way in which the early Christians shared their faith.

And not necessarily because of the unusual boldness that they displayed or the willingness to patiently endure suffering as they traveled and suffered for the sake of this message. What always grips me, what always brings me to a place of contemplation is the emphasis of their message. It's what the apostles and the early Christians highlighted whenever they spoke on behalf of the kingdom of God and the good news of Jesus Christ. And what that is really, if you've noticed it, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't then you will see it today.

The fascinating idea that whenever they preached, especially to those who did not believe or who are unaware of what the Christian message is, they always introduced and explained and heralded the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That Christ arose. That he's alive. Not that he just died, but that he was vindicated and that he is now exalted. They shared that continually.

They were faithful to that message. They were consistent in that presentation. And as you realize it, it challenges you to think about why it's not an emphasis in our gospel presentation. You read through the book of acts and you'll see it in their teaching. You'll see it in their evangelizing.

You'll even see it in certain dialogues. And you get the impressions that the apostles and the early Christians really believe that this component was crucial to understanding the core of what we believe. It's not secondary. It's not optional. It's not a side issue.

The Lord Jesus Christ died and was buried and bodily arose and ascended into heaven. That truth is not something that should be highlighted once a year. It shouldn't, because it was emphasized and explained continually in so many contexts by these apostles and these ambassadors of Jesus Christ. So then again I asked a question. Why is it so often, I'm speaking to the believer, why is it so often, me included, that when we tell somebody about the message that can save them, we rarely bring up the resurrection.

Why is it that we point to his suffering, but we don't we don't really talk about how he is alive? And I think one evidence of our ignorance in that, if you're honest with yourself as I was when when I was thinking about this, even when you think about the prophecies of Jesus Christ as the Messiah from the Old Testament, We can we can easily shoot off those that speak about his crucifixion and even his burial, but are we as quick to do so when we speak about his resurrection? Can we point to where it says in the Old Testament, not that he would just die, but that he would also be made alive again. And so indeed it is challenging, because if we find ourselves in that place, then perhaps it is an indication that we don't really understand the full implications of the resurrection. It has almost become a secondary point.

A sub point to the gospel, and that cannot be. Because when we come to apostolic Christianity, what you see is that it was in the forefront of their preaching. And if we are serious, if we are truly evangelical, if we truly preach this news and share it unashamedly, then we have to imitate what they did and that is to emphasize the resurrection. I hope that truth stirs you to consider what will be said today. Because we can thank God that in the preaching of the apostles, they give us, they give us the implications of the resurrection.

They give us the results of Jesus being alive and that he was risen. And so today in this brief time together I present to you four outcomes. Four results. Astonishing realities that are not only connected to the resurrection, but are unachievable without it. And as you and I hear these truths today, the prayer before this meeting is that we would not just be all believers in the resurrection, but proclaimers of it.

We would know why we need to tell it as we would the cross. And the first point I bring today is found in Acts two twenty four. In Acts two twenty four, this is the first Christian message that was preached by an unlikely candidate, one who betrayed Christ more than once. Oh the mercy of God. And we read here in a short verse in the middle of this sermon.

Peter says in verse 24, God raised him up loosening the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. It was not possible for him to be held by it. And so if we have to understand anything about the resurrection, let us understand this first crucial point. The resurrection of Jesus Christ dismantles death. It disarms death.

What a powerful statement. Death could not hold them. Jesus Christ was raised by God, not excluding the fact that he himself and the spirit of God were included in an active way in the resurrection, but to see one vantage point. Jesus Christ was raised by the father, because death had no grip. Death had no hold on him.

And whenever I come across this verse, I cannot help but personify death in my mind and visualize how death must have reacted when he was faced with Christ in the grave. I love to just imagine the utter shock of death. When he looked upon a man that he has never seen in all the history of mankind entering into his realm, You see death was able to claim so many bodies of millions of millions of people leading up and tracing all the way back to our first parents. One after the other, before Christ, not one man was able to die without the dread of decay. Because of their corrupt flesh, there was a clutch that death had upon them to a certain degree.

But something happens two thousand years ago. For thousands of years before that, death has undergone an unbroken routine of possessing one descendant of Adam after the next. Until something happened. For the first time in death's long dealing with mankind, he encounters a man who on the surface seemed to have died a criminal's death, but was unlike any man that he's ever faced before. On that Friday night, Jesus Christ of Nazareth enters into the realm of Sheol.

And as he comes, his arrival is there, he was examined for the sins that would forfeit his flesh to death's ownership. But something strange happened on that evening. When the record of Jesus' life was presented there was no trace of sin. Was there any wickedness in his deeds? Not one.

Was there any iniquity on his lips? Not a whisper. Was there any transgression in his thoughts? Free from corruption? Obedience to the law, perfectly observed.

And death while staring at the record of Christ perfection and his unspotted righteousness, for the first time admitted that he could not he could not arrest that undefiled pure and holy body. And for the first time, he witnessed God glorify flesh and exalt it into his presence. The Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus was convinced of this truth even while he was alive. Do you remember what he told his disciples in that discourse in John fourteen thirty? I will not talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming.

He has no claim on me. He has no claim on me. Accusation is not even possible. There is no legal right for death to be able to say, you stay here under my possession. The pangs of death were loosened and God in a sense was obligated to raise Christ.

And for the first time death felt felt the body loosen from his clutch, and he witnessed the resurrection. The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in Christ. What does that have to do with you and me? Well, Jesus said it. Did he not?

Because I live you also will live. Paul added to that by marvelously stating to the Corinthians. As I just said, Christ is the first fruits. He went before us and he set the example and the expectation that the same way he escaped death, the same way death cannot hold him. Death cannot hold you.

It cannot keep you and must legally give you up. Not because of your own righteousness, but because by faith you've been clothed in the righteousness of Christ and that goes with you into the grave. And so as death examines you from head to toe, and looks into your thought life, and looks at what you've done in private, and in public with your hands, with your feet, with your eyes, what he will see is what he saw two thousand years ago. Christ spotless righteousness imputed onto you and me. And then he has to say, I cannot hold him down, and God can say he's mine.

She's mine. And puts us up from the grave and embraces us for all of eternity. Christ's victory over the grave paves the way for our bodies that were once tainted by sin to be gloriously transformed. You know what I always find fascinating whenever I come to this time of the year and reflect upon the resurrection, not just of Jesus, but a fallen man who have put their faith in him. Why didn't Christ just give us brand new bodies?

Why didn't he just let these bodies rot in the grave and he can just clothe us with something completely new? Because what we believe about the resurrection is, it is these bodies that go in and will come up. Planted mortally, raised up into immorality. Perishable into the imperishable. We do not believe that because we put our faith in Christ, these bodies remain, and then there's a new suit waiting for us at the gates of heaven, That diminishes the power of salvation.

What we believe is that these bodies will be saved. So that death nor Satan can ever say there is a part of Adam's race that we were able to keep to ourselves. God redeems the whole man. Not just your spirit, not just your soul, but your flesh. What a triumphant call of victory to say, even these bodies will be redeemed.

That is the extent and the completion of the saving work of Jesus Christ. So you understand this is not a matter of just debate and if you stand on there that's fine. No. No. No.

This assaults the gospel if we dare even say that these bodies will not be raised. They will be raised. And it will be a declaration to death in Hades that Christ was even able to redeem flesh. The resurrection of Jesus disarms death, but the resurrected Christ also makes faith relevant. So come with me now to Acts chapter three.

When I mean the resurrection of Christ makes faith relevant, I don't mean culturally relevant. You know that. But relevant to our day to day life. After Peter and John called for the healing of a man who was lame from birth at the gate called Beautiful, that's in Acts chapter three. You can imagine that such a miracle stunned the crowd who witnessed it.

And so as this astounded group of people come, Peter and John take advantage of the moment because they have the best sermon illustration you can imagine. A man who was born crippled, who comes up and is now walking and leaping in the temple. Time for a sermon, don't you think? And so he addresses a crowd, perhaps just like this, but I believe obviously there is much more because thousands were saved. And he looks at them in the face and fearlessly addresses them and communicates the gospel and would you know it, he brings up the resurrection from the dead.

And what he says here in acts three fifteen is for our observation. And you look what he says to this group of Jews, you killed the author of life whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses and his name, by faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. You killed him. You are guilty.

He does not pull any punches. He looks at this group who probably early on were calling for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on those streets in Jerusalem. And he does not diminish the crime and how heinous such an offense is. And so he addresses them and he says, you are the one who stand guilty. But then he goes on to say that Jesus was responsible for this man who was just healed.

Notice the flow of thought. Peter mentions God raising Jesus Christ from the dead and the next breath he deals with the faith in his name being the cause for this miracle. There's a connection there. There is a connection there. And the reason for this explanation is back in verse 12, when he sees the jaws dropping of this sight, he wants to make it emphatically clear that there is nothing of his own power or John's, or of their piety that made this possible.

And he quickly explains that the only reason, the cause for this miracle of taking place is because of faith in the name of the resurrected Lord. It is Jesus Christ who has performed this miracle in your presence. As any true servant of God would, he gives the credit to the Lord, but there's also something to be said of how this this deals with us. Faith in the name of Jesus Christ, that's not some magical thing that we believe. It's not that if you just put certain words together, things can happen.

It deals with authority. It deals with ability. There is something about that name that's connected to the person, that when we do things in his name, ask in his name, things happen. What does that imply? That when I pray in the name of Jesus, or live for the name of Jesus, or invoke the name of Jesus, for Christ to intervene upon that faith means that he is alert and he is aware and he can intervene.

Which means what? He's alive. He's alive. This is not just theory. Again, this is not just some magical recipe that if you say certain things, things will happen.

What we are being told here is that Peter and John possessed the trust in the Lord to perform this wonder and Christ was able to deliver because Christ is alive. Do you remember how the gospel of Mark ends? Do you remember that glorious highlighted insight about Christ even after his resurrection? Let me read it to you and realize that it applies today. In Mark sixteen nineteen, so then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Okay. Great. We'll see you in heaven Lord. He was taken up into heaven, bodily, ascended, gloriously seated at the right hand of God. Period.

Full stop. No. Then we are told in verse 20, and they being the disciples went out and preached everywhere while the Lord worked with them. While the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs. Jesus taken up into heaven, still working with them while they preached.

What I love so much about the way Mark ends this gospel is because Mark by the spirit gives us a certain facet of Christ that the other gospels do not give. Remember, Mark's intention of showing Christ is to show that he was the perfect servant of God. Right? That's why there are less parables in Mark, less teaching and more action, more active duty performed by Christ to show this is the one whom Isaiah and the others spoke of. Not just the fulfillment of the servant, the perfect Israel who obeyed God perfectly, but our model as Christians to see how we should serve the father with a particular attitude and ambition as Christ showed us being man himself.

And what you see there in that gospel is so much happening at such a rate. And what encourages me so much is that when you consider all of that, the Spirit of God chooses to end the account of the servanthood of Jesus Christ by telling us that even after he arose, he's still working. He worked while on earth, and after he arose as a servant that he was described in Mark, guess what he's still doing? He's still working. The main point is this, because he is alive our faith not only promises Christ's intervention in death, it assures us Christ intervention in life In life, today, now.

Peter indirectly is teaching us that Christ sees us. He hears us. He's leading us. He's guiding us. And in his perfect wisdom, as his situation demands, he can intervene right before our eyes.

He is still working. He is still sovereign. He's still here. And we would say about the resurrection we have no fear in death. Can you add something to that please?

There is no fear in life either. Not just in death, but even today. Because we serve a risen Christ, and as the Lord worked with the apostles while they live for his glory. Would you not believe that Christ will work with you, and through you, and in you, As you have the resurrection in the forefront of your thinking, and your meditation, and your planning, he is with me. He is with me.

If you have faith in Christ, that is the guarantee through the resurrection. It is not just I will see you when you give your final breath. I am with you in every breath. That's the truth of this. That's what makes Christianity so vibrant and alive.

We're not just here rehearsing some historical things. We're here realizing that there is a day to day reality with Christ. With Christ as one of my favorite preachers said, how can we have a dead service with a living Christ? And believer, how can you have a boring? How can you have a boring existence when you have the resurrection of Jesus Christ imposed upon your existence by faith?

The resurrected Christ makes faith relevant. Why preach if Christ hasn't raised? Well, what pray? What hope? What solace?

What comfort? Thirdly, the resurrected Christ not only makes faith relevant, but inspires a sanctified life. Look at Acts chapter four. Do you notice that we're just going one chapter after the next? In Acts chapter four, look with me here in verse 32.

There's just a few verses I want to read, but pay attention as I'm reading it because this is important. Now the full number of those who believed in Acts four thirty two were of one heart and soul And no one said that any of the things that belong to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power, here it is, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. It's interesting to note that in verse 32 and verse 34, we are informed of an exceptional unity and generosity that was shared among the early church.

There was such a detachment from possessions. There was such a joy in the Lord that more than owning, there was a desire to serve. And there was an ambition, a corporate ambition to make sure that there is not one person in the midst that would be in genuine need. And if your need requires something of me, then with great delight I will give you what you need. And you look at how inspirational this is and you wonder how can it be?

How can you come to this height of humility and compassion? How did this culture become the way it was? And you would say perhaps like I did at first, that this is obviously the influencing work of the Holy Spirit. When God the Spirit lives inside of you, he can bring you to such lengths of love. But tucked in between verse 32 and verse 34, is an interesting detail that is not disconnected to the surrounding context.

I believe that it actually is somewhat of an indication of the inspiration of this community of love that was shared in the early church. What do we see here? Verse 33, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. That seems like a very strange detail to tuck in between two verses that are communicating the deep care of the church. Unless, of course, there's something there to consider.

I wonder if the knowledge of the resurrection of Jesus being taught and proclaimed was a catalyst for this kind of culture fruitfulness to be known among these believers. Something about Christ being alive, reigning, exalted, did something to them in a very practical way. Not just theologically, it transformed their character. It made them deal with other people differently. Viewing them differently.

Handling them differently. Loving them differently. You see the doctrine of the resurrection is not just a theological imperative, but a truth that transforms us in every detail when properly understanding the significance of Christ rising from the dead. It radically alters the way you and I live, especially in the way you and I relate to one another. Something about the resurrection of Jesus that touched these hearts, making them want to touch other hearts.

I can't help but think about first Corinthians 15. We heard it in the beginning. We heard it during the announcements. If you have the time, and if you don't make the time, read that chapter. It is a theological masterpiece from Paul defending the case of Christ being raised from the dead.

And he's dealing with skeptics in the church. He's dealing with those who are being tempted not to believe that Christ arose. And he goes from one point to the next. He goes from one illustration to the next. He goes from one example to the next and it is so profound.

It is so deep, but what so touches me is the way Paul ends the thing. After giving such a persuasive study of what it means for Christ to be alive and what that does for you and me, he ends with an emphatic, therefore. Therefore what? Therefore something about the future? Therefore something is dealt with in the past?

Paul says you just heard and you just read what it means for Christ to be alive. Therefore, well therefore therefore what? In verse 58 of chapter 15. Therefore my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. I challenge anybody that loves theology.

If your theology doesn't doesn't make you a practical Christian, you're not doing theology right. I don't care how how much you know. It does not matter. If it does not influence the way you live, you're wasting your time. This mastermind, this colossal intellect found in the Apostle Paul, he loved to use that word therefore.

And here he says, therefore, after understanding that Christ will be the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, after realizing that the perishable will raise the imperishable, after realizing that death has lost its sting, all these things that we quote and sing about, he says, oh would you be steadfast now and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Let's examine this text in the negative. If I am inconsistent, If I am easily influenced by my feelings or circumstances of inconvenience. If I am sporadically involved in the work of the Lord, I can make a conclusion based on this text and it is this, that is very likely that I have a poor view of the resurrection. I have a blurred understanding of what it means for Christ to be alive, if I'm so easily shaken, if I'm so easily offended, if my sacrifice and my service to Christ is voluntary based on my own desires and plans, you have not understood the resurrection.

Because Paul says if you really understand that Christ is alive, there will be something of an anchoring, devotion and consistency that will keep you moving forward until you meet this resurrection Christ. To believe in the resurrection of Christ believes in my resurrection, which means as Paul says here that my labor is not in vain. My labor is not in vain. I may not be encouraged by people. I may not be praised.

I may not be loved. I may not be appreciated. But look what Paul says, put the resurrected Christ before you and you will know his strength, and you will know a seriousness, and you will know an ambition that will bulldoze over all the things that would hold you down otherwise. How much of Christ being alive was used by these teachers and these authors of scripture to cause the Christians to live in a certain way. It's all the way at the end of the book.

Even in Revelation, when Christ himself through John writes personal letters to the churches. How many times has he said things to the effect of, and the ones with eyes like fire, and the one who walks in the midst of the lampstands. What does that mean? Is that poetry? No.

It's all indications that Christ is here. He sees, he hears, he observes, he's taking into account. So if Christ is not raised, then then why serve? What is this? It's in vain.

But if he has risen from the dead, then there is great joy knowing that there is a reward. Think about Paul the apostle, and how he suffered over and over again. And you know what he says? You know what he says when he's standing in trial with chains around around his hands and his feet? It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.

This man was willing to go to prison to be sued, to be slandered. For what? The resurrection. I'm standing here because I believe this truth, and I preach this truth, and I'm willing to suffer for this truth. I'm telling you there's something that needs to be healed in our vision concerning Christ being alive.

And one of the ways in which you will know, if you want to check the pulse of your faith in this truth, then look at your steadfastness. Are you movable? Are you easily bendable? Are you abounding? You know what abounding means?

Like overwhelmingly serving the Lord. If that's not there, if you can be honest and say that's not true, then ask yourself, do I really believe that Christ is alive? Do I really really believe that these sermons that I hear week after week deals with a God who is real? One who conquered death. Do I really understand that?

And he will give you understanding. Christ is risen is not a slogan for once a year. Christ is risen is the banner over the Christian's life, because to believe Christ is risen also means Christ will return, Which brings me to my final point, the resurrected Christ assures coming judgment. We will skip a few chapters here. Let's go to Acts chapter 17.

And this is Paul not speaking to he's not speaking to, to Jews. He's speaking to a gentile audience in Athens. Some would say that Paul's sermon here was one of one of the failures of his ministry. That, he didn't mention Christ here. He he didn't emphasize on the gospel.

He was more philosophical and his approach wasn't the best and that's debatable. Especially when you come to verse 30 of chapter 17, as he ends this sermon before a group of intellects with their noses in the air, where we're told earlier, all they did, their entertainment in life was to hear something new. Just like what philosophy is all about. I remember being in my college class for philosophy, and one of the first things the teacher said was, if you think that you have the understanding of objective truth, you're wrong. That's not what philosophy is about.

So I'm like, oh great. What's the point? We're just gonna be running around in circles talking about things that don't matter and not having an exclusive understanding of what this is all about? No thank you. Just give me my grades so I can move on.

And these people just they just wanted to hear something fresh and it's something new. And so they they heard Paul speaking and they invite him into their little classroom and say, tell us what you're saying man. And they were in for a shock, because in verse 30 we read, the times of ignorance God overlooked. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. Now look at this.

And of this, he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. So far we've heard that the resurrection guarantees victory over death, Christ supervision and intervention in our lives, and provides a motivation to persist in a sanctified way of life in Christ's imitation. And as we conclude with this passage, we learn of another consequence of Christ conquering death. And it is this, because the resurrection is true, repentance is necessary. Because the resurrection is true, then repentance is necessary.

I believe that this message here, at least at this point, ruffles our view of our traditional understanding of Easter. We rightly rehearse as we sang and heard earlier, that what Christ has done seals and assures us that God has declared his satisfaction in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. By raising him from the dead, he is declaring to the world, he was sinless and his work on the cross was enough and it suffices and faith in him guarantees your future to be like his. But I come to a text like this and I see another dimension of assurance. Another guarantee that the resurrection declares.

And it is not just the fact that you and I will conquer death, it is the fact that judgment is on its way. I have a feeling that this is not gonna be emphasized in many places on resurrection Sunday. It's a shame because Paul preached it. Christ raising from the dead was a warning to every generation that he's on his way. He's on his way.

This is not just some cute thing where we think about Jesus at a distance who helps us in life and when we die we'll have a warm embrace. There's a sounding alarming truth from the resurrection the moment it happened and it is this, the world is speeding towards a judgment. Jew and gentiles, small and great, will be examined and evaluated by the righteous standard of Jesus Christ. The one that God has chosen and has declared that I have indeed appointed him to be the universal ruler and a decider of the eternal fate of every descendant of our first parents. You know what that means?

You and me. What did Paul say? He will judge the world. By what standard? In righteousness.

There's gonna be no curve here. There's not it's not gonna be favoritism. You can't have your lawyer step in in your place. You can't have your pastor speak on your behalf. He will judge in righteousness and perfect justice, perfect discernment, perfect holiness.

And that is exactly why the apostles preach the resurrection, because it is inseparable from repentance. Did you see the pattern in the book of Acts? Read it next time with those eyes and realize whenever the resurrection is mentioned there is always a call to repentance. Christ is risen, so repent. The Lord conquered death, so give your life to the one who holds the keys of death in Hades.

And I wonder if the reason why we don't emphasize the resurrection is means because we have to also speak about repentance, and we don't wanna do that. Right? But the apostles did it. And I don't know about you, I want this kind of Christianity. Not the modern fluffy version of it, the cotton candy idea of Christ.

I want the real Jesus, and the real gospel, and real conviction, and real conversion. I'm so glad to be in a congregation who believes in the totality of this book, which includes lovingly calling people to repent. But may I remind you faithful believer of the why to our repentance. The why to our repentance is because Christ is risen. That's why.

And there's a fixed appointment that he will fulfill that God is determined on a specific day that will deal with every soul. So when we go about telling people about the gospel, we are not informing them that there is a Christ who is reigning. We are also saying with just as much importance that yes, Christ is reigning, but he is also returning. I wonder what Easter Sunday would look like every year if every assembly took advantage of visitors coming in to say that. Christ is returning.

I'm reminding you that today, as you're going to go have a lovely dinner with your family, who are probably a mixed breed of believers and non believers. Regardless, let me tell you. As you go back to your day to day, Christ is coming back. He's not staying up there. He didn't stay in the grave and he's not staying in heaven.

He's coming to judge. And I praise God for that, because this world is a mess. And there's something even among those who don't have faith in Christ because we've been created in the image of God to long for justice to be implemented. There is something wrong here. We're seeing corruption on every level.

And why does that disturb us? Why is it that as humans we have a court system, we have laws and dogs don't, and monkeys don't. You might believe that you're related to a monkey. I don't. I believe I've been created an image of God and instilled within that reality is a sense that there is right and there is wrong.

And when wrong is done, it must be dealt with. Where does that come from? Not from an explosion, but intricately woven from the beginning. God's intention to have something of himself in you, and in me. And so Christ is returning to make things right, but here's the thing.

If you're in the wrong, you're in trouble. He will judge the world in righteousness, not your standard of what's good. Not your standard of what's right and wrong, his. And when you come to his standard, you will fall on your face. And Romans tells us your mouth will be stopped.

When you see that the law of God overshadows all of us including the best of us, because we all fall short of his glory. All of us do, including the preacher. We all will be found wanting. And so we are told here of a certainty of a judgment. But as certain as that judgment is, so is the certainty of forgiveness.

Because Christ isn't just raised from the grave to say, now you be a good boy down there and you be a good girl, because when I come back I'm gonna count your good works and make sure that it outweighs the bad. And if it does, then you'll get in. The only thing that Christ will be looking for when he returns is if you put your faith in him. If you have confessed and admitted, I cannot attain my righteousness, and I cannot have eternal life. What hope is there for me with the news that judgment is on its way?

And here it is, he drank that judgment on the cross. That's the good news. You don't have to fear what's on the way. You don't have to shrink from shame. You don't have to lose sleep at wondering like I did in my college years wondering if I stand before God, will I make it in?

I grew up with Christian parents. I went to church a few times. I've read something of the Bible. Will that be good enough? You don't have to be tormented with that uncertainty.

You can have an assurance that is so powerful and so convicting convincing that you will remain immovable in your trust of love and eternal life being yours in the name of Jesus Christ. And so I call you today to not just be aware of the judgment to come, but of the love that already came two thousand years ago. Christ longs to save you. He longs to redeem you. He longs to make you clean.

He he longs to wash away every record of wrong that would rightfully condemn you. He wants to bring you into his fellowship forever and ever and ever. I don't care how black your sin is. I don't care how dark, how perverse, how twisted it may be. Christ knows it all and he considered every detail of your depravity when he went on that cross and drank the wrath of God on your behalf.

You may be ashamed to say it to others, Christ already knows it. So why why do you shrink from coming to him? Why do you convince yourself that I must wash something of my hands before I can even communicate with him? I was like that. I couldn't I couldn't bend my knee on the side of my bed in that basement apartment to try to even speak to God, because I was a hypocrite.

I called myself a Christian and I was telling other people about some truths of the Bible just because there was a moral code in my life. But oh, I lived in sin publicly. And when I came to the realization of true discipleship and what it means to be a follower of Christ, when I tried to get on my knees to speak to him, I immediately sprung back up saying I'm not worthy for you to hear me. And yet the Bible tells me and assures me and convinces me that it's not because of my worthiness, but it's about receiving what Christ has done on my behalf. That debt has been paid by his blood on that check.

And you receive it and you live with that freedom. And when you doubt it, look back at that check and say my debt has been paid. That blood made it sufficient. And then you preach to your heart that truth until it it becomes an experiential reality and you live with a liberty. You just heard about the resurrection.

You just heard about the gospel again. And to come from that place of judgment to child of God is through the canal, through the channel of repenting and believing in him. But as I just preach this, as I close in a moment, it is very likely that there is at least three responses in your heart. Sometimes you can see it in people's faces too. Three reactions to the idea of the resurrection.

And it's actually found here in Acts seventeen thirty two. 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. First, it's very possible that in this place, on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, you're mocking me.

And maybe not me, you're mocking these ideas that I am trying to present to you. There is scorn in your heart. You're jeering. I think this is all just fairy tale stuff. And I wonder if these men mocked and ridiculed because this seemed like absolute nonsense, rising from the dead.

I wonder if it was their intellect challenging them. This is scientifically impossible. This is outrageous. This is irrational. Maybe.

And maybe that's your reason, but I have a feeling that it's something else actually. That's the surface level. That's the excuse. That's the mask. Because down deep inside, you know that if there is a resurrection of Christ, then there is a reigning Christ.

And if there's a reigning Christ, there's a returning Christ. And if there's a returning Christ, you'll be held morally accountable for your life. And you don't want that. I don't want that. I've talked to so many people.

And we talk about dinosaurs and who wrote the Bible, and we and I just I got so tired of the parroting that I just cut to the chase. Can you just be honest with me man? Do you love your sin? Do you just hate the idea of there being a Lord over your life? And with stammering lips, they admit so?

Yes. I'm the commander of my life. I'm the determiner of my fate. You're terribly wrong. And so people mock and they scorn.

And they go back into what they love and that is darkness. Refusing the light that would expose their darkness. But then secondly we read here that there are others who said we will hear you again about this. In other words, some were some were scorning while others desired a delay in discovering what this is all about. And so they told Paul, we'll be back.

And I just love to visualize it. There is a few who probably interrupted his sermon by, are you kidding me? Resurrection? Who brought this guy in here? And they walked off.

And then there was others with their hand on their chin, genuinely curious, perhaps, and wondering, we'd like to see you another day as they walked off and followed their friends who were mocking earlier. But can I tell you something? Whether these men were sincerely skeptical, or they were those who just as much didn't believe but were less rude about it, one thing is for certain, delay is just as dangerous. Delay is just as dangerous as immediate rejection. Why?

Because you will miss the opportunity if you're not careful. Look what happened here in verse 33. So Paul went out from their midst. When they said we'll come back to you and hear from you again, we'll come back to next week's service and hear what you have to say, Paul left. They missed their opportunity.

It was gone. Whether they received another one or not, we don't know. Only God knows. But the point is this, that if God has spoken to your heart this afternoon, if something in you was pricked, if your conscience is going off, don't put that off. What you just heard is of utmost importance and so make it a priority in your schedule, even if you have to cancel some things that would interfere with you knowing for certain that you will also have resurrected life.

Come and talk to a pastor. Speak with your friend over lunch or dinner with your relatives who brought you today and inquire more. God is not intimidated by your doubts. If he is true and this is true, then it will be able to endure the scrutiny of skepticism. But speak about it, talk about it, inquire about it, search about it.

Don't put it off, because being a Christian now may seem inconvenient to your carnality. Some some were skeptical. Paul moved on. They missed their chance. And the last group, we read here lastly, we are told some men joined him and believed.

Some men joined him and believed. I love this text as a preacher, because it reminds me that you can get mixed reviews from your sermon, and you are in line with the Apostle Paul. You're okay. Some of you in here are probably totally unstirred, like you're gonna walk out of here like nothing was just said. That's not my responsibility.

And some of you will, have questions and maybe it will last beyond this meeting and you'll get some satisfaction and answers, but you'll you'll live on in your life. While others here today perhaps will understand that God is calling your name. And if you respond by faith your life will never be the same. Resurrection power will come into your life and you will live a transformed born again new existence in the name of the one who saved you. Some joined Paul.

They they clung to him. Oh, tell us more about this. My conscience bears witness that this is true. That there is a resurrection, that we will all go somewhere after this and we will stand before our creator, but I need to know how to be on the side of his pleasure and his goodness and his favor. And I'm sure Paul sat there with, I don't know how many of them, maybe five of them.

We have two names and there's others unnamed and he explained and he explained and he explained and their names were written in the book of life. Would you like yours to be written in the book of life? So that when God opens the books on the final day and looks for your name, the name that has been written in blood, Christ royal precious blood. Jesus said something in John 11. I am the resurrection and the life.

Whoever believes in me though he die, yet shall he live. I am the resurrection and the life. In the way in which you can inherit that same resurrection, glorified, secure in his presence forever, believe. Believe. Repent and believe.

Turn from your sin. Reject that which will damn you and embrace the one who longs to save you. And if you're in this place and you're saying that is me, that is something in my heart is saying I must I must fly to the cross if I have to, I will throw myself at the foot of the cross. I wanna tell you today that there is a resurrected Christ who sees and hears you now. And if you butt just in your heart look to heaven and say, oh God please intervene.

Intervene. Have mercy on me son of David. Resurrected Lord, please. Would you rinse me from my wrong? Would you redeem me with your love that this man is trying to communicate to me?

I need it to my life. I know this based on the authority of the Word of God, those who come to him he will never ever push away. He will embrace you. And you will walk out of this place, not just to a lovely dinner. You will walk out of this place with a hope that can never be taken from you.

Oh, I pray that you would. I may never see your face again just like Paul never saw these teachers and students in Athens again. But I pray that this would pluck something of your heartstrings to the point where you'll be able to sing the song of salvation, because you put your trust in the risen Lord. Let's pray. Lord we thank you as we pray.

We're not praying into thin air. These words are not going to fall to the ground. You hear us even now. And Lord, we ask that you would be pleased with what you've seen and heard in this place. And that Lord as we've done our part by singing and declaring the glories of the resurrection, you would do what only you can do and that's make resurrection power real, and people in us.

And we ask Lord that we would taste something, taste something of your life, and of your goodness, and of your ability to rescue and intervene and heal. Thank you that because you're alive you said, ask in my name and I will do it. I will do it. I will hear you and I will perform it. We thank you that this name is connected to a living God.

And we ask Lord that in this moment by your grace, salvation would come to this house. That people would come from death to life. And that those who are redeemed who who find great trouble in being consistent in their service to to that to that person, truth they once were enthralled by. Lord, we ask that as Paul said in first Corinthians 15, help us see just how awesome it is that you are alive and let it influence our service, and our character, and our treatment of one another. Oh inspire in this, that truth again, that you may be glorified.

You are worthy. You are worthy of 10,000 lives to be lived in your name. But with the one life that we have, we consecrate it for your name's sake. And when we feel weary and tired and when we are enduring trials and suffering, may we be like Paul who is able to endure, who is able to endure chains because of the resurrection, because of the hope for Israel. Lord, we give you worship because you are alive and because you've made us alive in Christ.

In your name we pray. Amen. Let's stand together. Shall we worship the Lord Jesus Christ together? He's alive.

Amen. And may we not just, revisit that truth next year. Rehearse that truth every single day of your life. Christ is risen. He sees me.

He hears me. He's with me. He's behind me. He's beside me. He's before me.

Know that. And if you don't know that, that can all change today. That can all change for you by simple repentance and faith in his name. And watch how he will become more real to you than anybody else that you know. Lord, we ask that you would make that true.

Please help us, Lord. Lord, shatter the curse of familiarity that makes us numb to these things that at once excited us. Oh Lord, would you touch our hearts afresh. Lord, there might be some in here like those those individuals before Paul in Athens who will mock and they may not mock audibly, but with their lives they will reject it. Oh Lord, please let it not be the case.

And for those who would delay because it's inconvenient for the moment, Lord, even now as we close let their eyes be open to the urgency of the matter. And for those who believe, who came here believing, Lord may they go on believing in this truth for the sake of your glory. We ask these things in the precious name of the risen Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We pray these things. Amen and amen and amen.

Glory to God. Yes, we can applaud. Now there is some food downstairs. It's been prepared. Fellowship, join us, say hello.

We would love to just get to know you. And for those that we've known, you know the drill. We're family. So we'll see you soon, God willing. We'll see you next week.

Have a wonderful day in the Lord. Take care.