So this morning in our first service here, we're going to speak on the likeness of his resurrection. We rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the church said, amen. We rejoice because though he died on the cross, God raised him to life again. And that in a great demonstration of God's power and his authority over sin and death. As we who believe in Jesus remember that it was him who said, because I live, you shall live, we then as a people are filled with a unique hope that others in this world do not possess. This last week. Two friends of ours have passed away. Of course, we've heard of Marietta Yu passing away and we're grieved for the Yu family. And then yesterday morning while the men were meeting, Eva Stevens called and said that Bob had passed away in the night. And in each case, we can say, well, we're grieved. We grieve at the passing of someone we love so dearly. We're grieved at death, we're grieved at sin, but we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We have a unique hope because we know that Christ rose again and we have hope for eternal life. And the church says, amen. With death conquered by Christ, our savior, we know death is defeated and has no hold on us who trust in Christ. Just as death could not hold Jesus in the grave, neither will it hold us who trust in him. And just as Christ rose from the dead by the power of God, so will God raise us up from the grave. What Jesus said to Martha, is for us, John 11, 25 and 26, Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies. Think of the ramifications of that statement. Whoever believes in Christ, they will live even if they die. And then he says, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. That is, even though we may come to a point in this life where we close our eyes and we die, we're going to be instantly ushered into the presence of God. It'll be no time passing for us. The resurrection of Jesus Christ then is essential to our faith, to the Christian faith, for as 1 Corinthians 4, excuse me, 15, 14, and 17 says, if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins. You'll understand then that our faith in Christ depends upon the blessed truth of his resurrection, because if he did not rise from the dead, then he would not be the Christ. And if he is not the Christ, then there is no salvation. And if there is no salvation, then we would remain hopelessly dead in our sin. So vital is the resurrection of Christ to our salvation that Romans chapter 10 verse nine says, if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord. Now what's the significance of me confessing Jesus as Lord from my mouth? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So if I'm moved in my heart till I speak the truth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. One is saved from sin to death to life everlasting as they believe in their heart that God the Father raised his son Jesus from the dead, confessing then Jesus as one's own Lord. Our faith is founded upon the person of Jesus, the crucified and risen Savior. So let's read the story of his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. With your Bibles open to Matthew chapter 27, we're going to read a lengthy text this morning, but it's good. The Bible is the word of God, amen? It's perfect and pure, accomplishing all that God desires for His word to accomplish. But to bring us to the text, we recall what our brother Kevin presented last Lord's Day concerning the events of Palm Sunday. While the masses held Jesus, welcoming him into Jerusalem, thinking he had come to free them from the rule of Rome, there were also at the same time, those Jewish leaders who hated him and really wanted to do away with him. They seized upon his triumphal entry as their opportunity to have him crucified, insisting that he challenged Caesar and tending to overthrow Rome since he is the king of the Jews. Persuading many to join them, they brought Jesus before the Roman governor Pilate that he might condemn him. Pilate, as you remember, finding no fault in Jesus, sought his freedom, but fearing the masses that now were calling for his crucifixion, Pilate, in a cowardly, most cowardly act, delivered Jesus to be crucified. And we pick up the story there. Matthew chapter 27, verse 27. Now, if you want to stand, you can, but if you'd rather sit, you can sit. It is a lengthy text. It's up to you. All right, Matthew chapter 27, verse 27, this is the word of the Lord. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. And after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand and they kneeled down before him and mocked him saying, hail, king of the Jews. And they spat on him and took the reed and began to beat him on the head. And after they had mocked him, they took his robe off and put his garments on and led him away to crucify him. And as they were coming out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear his cross. And when they had come to the place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull, they gave him wine to drink, mingled with gall, and after tasting it, he was unwilling to drink. And when they had crucified him, they divided up his garments among themselves, casting lots. And sitting down, they began to keep watch over him there. And they put up above his head the charge against him, which read, this is Jesus, the King of the Jews. At that time, two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those passing by were hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads and saying, you who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. And the same way the chief priests also along with the scribes and elders were mocking him and saying, he saved others, he cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, we shall believe in him. He trusts in God, let him deliver him now, if he takes pleasure in him, for he said, I am the son of God. And the robbers also who had been crucified with him were casting the same insult at him. Now from the sixth hour, darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, which is, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? And some of those who were standing there when they heard it began saying, this man is calling for Elijah. And immediately one of them ran and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed and gave him a drink. But the rest of them said, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook and the rocks were split and the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, truly, this was the son of God. And many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom was Mary Magdalene, along with Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given over to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock. And he wrote a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. and Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary sitting opposite the grave. Now on the next day, which is the one after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate and said, sir, we remember that when he was alive, that deceiver said, after three days I am to rise again. Therefore give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest the disciples come and steal him away and say to the people, he has risen from the dead and the last deception will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you have a guard, go, make it as secure as you know how. And they went and made the grave secure along with the guard, they set a seal on the stone, chapter 28. Now, after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came out to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. And his appearance was like lightning, his garment as white as snow, and the guard shook for fear of him and became like dead men. And the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here for he has risen just as he said, come see the place where he was lying. and go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. And behold, he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid, go and take word to my brethren to leave for Galilee and there they shall see me. Amen, God bless you, you may be seated. Christ is risen, he is risen indeed, amen. Now, beloved, keep your Bibles handy because we're going to look at several other texts. Would you please open your Bibles to Acts chapter 13, verse 28. And what we're looking for is Paul, the Apostle Paul's testimony that confirms that Jesus was tried, condemned, died and rose again and then appeared to many. So Acts chapter 13 verse 28, there Paul testified saying, though they found no ground for putting him to death, they asked Pilate that he be executed. And when they had carried out all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. And for many days he appeared to those who came with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now his witnesses to his people. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that he raised up Jesus. Now please turn to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15. The apostle Paul wrote the church in Corinth, and he wrote this at chapter 15, verse three. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the 12. After that, he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as it were, to one untimely born, he appeared to me also. What we have, family, is the biblical account of the death, burial, resurrection, and the many appearances of Jesus. We serve the resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. And all the church said, amen. It is always remarkable to me that as you read of the resurrection, that the scripture just states it so plainly, yet in emphatic terms. This is what happened. The scripture does not get involved in a lengthy debate over the death and resurrection of Christ, but simply tells the story stating the facts. So far as scripture is concerned, there is nothing to debate. This is the truth. Christ died and he rose again. God raised him up. It would be like debating whether or not the sky is blue. It would be like debating whether or not there is air. It is ours this morning not to debate, but to simply present what is written. One either believes in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead or they do not. It is that simple. The late Walter Meyer, who was a professor of the Old Testament and Sematic Languages of Concordia Seminary of St. Louis quoted someone whom he identified as a brilliant New York attorney. And he said that this New York attorney, famous as he was, after much examination of the evidence of the resurrection said, I am convinced that Jesus really did rise from the dead, but I am no nearer to believing in Jesus than I was before. I thought the difficulty to believe in the resurrection of Christ was in my head, but having the truth, I find the difficulty is with my heart. As sad as that statement is, he spoke rightly. The difficulty people have with the resurrection of Jesus does not at all lay in the facts for the Bible states the facts clearly and unambiguously, but the difficulty lies in the heart. It is not a knowing of the facts regarding the resurrection that makes one a believer, but it is that wholehearted faith in the resurrected Jesus that makes one a true believer and then right with God. Yet I would have to say, And now I get to the focus of this teaching. Many Christians also have a heart problem when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus. Pastor Tim, what do you mean? It is not that they doubt that he died and rose again. And it is not that they doubt that they will rise unto glory with him. but their lack of faith lie in the application of the resurrection to their life here and now. And so I would like to address the effect, and I'm gonna address it quite briefly. You can smell the food and so can I. I would like to address the effect that the resurrection of Christ is to have upon us now, presently, in our daily walk, in our daily life. With this in mind, and having read the resurrection account and other texts, I'm going to ask you please to open to Romans chapter six, and you're gonna wanna keep your page there because we're gonna look back and forth a few, four or five times. Romans chapter six. Now in this wonderful chapter, by the way, I hope one day we'll get to the point that I can teach through the book of Romans here at Redeemer Bible Church. Now that'll be a few years at that, getting to it probably and then teaching through it. But wow, the book of Romans is just a highlight of the New Testament. In this wonderful sixth chapter, we learn that as we are those who have been united with Christ in his death, so are we united with him in his resurrection. And so then we can say, and for what purpose are we united with him in his resurrection? Why? What is God's purpose in uniting us with Christ? As the fourth verse, of Romans 6 says, as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Or as the New International Version puts it, that we too may live a new life. Among the reasons we can examine why we are counted with Christ in his resurrection, here we have a direct statement. One of the reasons that we are united with Christ in his resurrection is so that we may live a new life. We have been united with Christ that just as he was raised from the dead to newness of life, we would be raised from spiritual deadness to now live a new life. Think of this, beloved. When Jesus died and rose again, his life was qualitatively different, wasn't it? He was raised bodily. But that body was a glorified body. It was different than the body he had. He could walk through a wall. He could show his scars, but he could not be scarred again. He was not subject to death. As he arose from the dead by the power of God, he was no longer subject to the limits of the old physical body. nor to the power of death. Never can Jesus die again. He rose to a qualitatively new life. This represents what is true for us who have been united with him in his resurrection. When we through faith in him die to sin, we are by the power of God raised up, resurrected to a qualitatively new life, a life that on a daily basis is new. is quite different from the life we live. We could call it a reversal or an opposite of the life we were living. Before we were as walking dead men, we were dead in our sins, but now we're alive to God in Christ. Where we live to self, as men digging their own grave, we are now alive to God as those who have a new life in Him. Four, as the fifth verse of Romans six says, four, if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. I wanna be careful with this verse. This does not say, this does not say, if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, that someday we will be in the likeness of his resurrection. That's not what it says. But it says, certainly we shall be, presently be, united with him in the likeness of his resurrection. As those who have come to believe in Christ, we are united with him in his death and resurrection. In him we died to sin, and with him we are raised, born again child of God. We were raised in the likeness of his resurrection to live. to live as Christ lives, to live a truly Christ-like life. We are raised in the likeness of his resurrection to live in his likeness, to follow after him, to step in his footsteps, to do what he would do, to say, what would Jesus do? Look to the scripture and then do it. When you came to Christ and repented of your sins, believing upon him, confessing him as Lord, you were then identified with him again in his death and resurrection, and being washed of your sins, you were raised to a new life in which you are no longer the slave of sin. You're not, water baptism, believers baptism represents that, right? You go down in the tank, you're standing there, say, give a testimony, I believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and what's the representation? You were buried with him, washed and raised up to a new life. You show that when you came into the tank, you had an old life, you were washed, raised with him, saved, born again, and you raised up, and you're gonna go live a new life following after him. As 2 Corinthians 5, 17 says, and I so love the quote, if any man is in Christ, he is a what? New creature. You can say, Well, I saw somebody who got saved, and when they got saved, they looked just the same as they did before. Yeah, but did they act the same? Were they really the same? Something spiritually happened. They became a new creature. The old things, the old things of the old life, the old things of sin passed away. They were dead, gone, buried in the deepest sea, and behold, new things have come. We are born again, and what does that mean except that we are reborn to live, presently live a qualitative and new holy life, a life in the likeness of Jesus who has raised from the dead. We were enslaved to sin. Sin had us bound, but no longer, for Christ broke the chains of sin, setting us free. Thanks be to God, amen. We are no longer dead in our sin, but we are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. We have a new life to live, a life of holiness, a life set apart to God. a life of obedience and purity that depends upon and testifies of the power of the resurrection working in us. Old things have passed away, new things have come. My life is not my own. It's been purchased by Jesus Christ. You recall in John chapter eight, When Jesus was speaking to his countrymen, he said in John 8, verses 31 and 32, if you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. When they heard that, they objected, his countrymen. And they were saying, we've never been enslaved to anyone. And so they asked Jesus, they said, how is it that you're saying we will become free? We've never been enslaved. Verses 34 and 36, Jesus answered them. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. If therefore the Son shall make you free, free from what? The slavery of sin. You shall be free indeed. Galatians chapter five, verse one, it is for freedom that Christ set us free, therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Here we see this picture that Christ set us free and it's for freedom's sake that he set us free, so keep standing in that freedom. So we see there's effort on our part, isn't there? To keep standing in that freedom and don't go back, don't turn around and don't be subject again to that yoke of sin. that yoke of sin which enslaves us as subjects of sin. Look, Jesus strung you out of the jail cell of sin. Don't go back to that jail cell and live like you are a prisoner of sin. Don't be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Jesus said, John 10, 10, I came that they might have life and might have it more abundantly. We whom the son sets free are free indeed, having died with him, we died to sin and are raised to newness of life, freed from the enslaving power of sin, free to live the new life of righteousness to the glory of God. And there's the issue, the glory of God. free to live a life that exemplifies, honors the Lord, how glorious He is. Since we are alive to God, we are not to live as sinners, but as those who live to God. This is where, again, so many of us struggle and we sense condemnation and oftentimes are unsure about our salvation. and that is in our failure to presently live for Christ. When we sin, we don't feel very assured in our salvation, do we? How sad it is to see those whom we believe to be true Christians struggling to live the true Christian life, oftentimes falling back into those very things which Christ saved them out of. Why do so many Christians go back to play in the ruinous pigsty of sin when Christ has washed and raised them? Why do so many Christians live as if they're bound in sin and have no new life to live when Christ has freed them? Why do so many continue in selfishness and hatred and immorality and anger and self-righteousness when Jesus redeemed them? Why do so many struggling Christians plead, praying over and over, that God would set them free from their sin, only to find themselves one more time acting like the slave of sin, when in fact, according to scripture, they are not. He set them free. Why is it That so many Christians are given to fits of rage, to arrogant pride, to lusts of the flesh, to envy, gossip, and various addictions when these are the very things for which Christ died and delivered them, setting them free. Why is that? Why do we not apply the resurrection to our daily life, not realizing we've been raised to live a new life? Romans 6, 11 says that we are to consider ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ. This verse is an imperative, it's a command, it's not a suggestion. Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ. It is an imperative. The Christian is to consider, or reckon, or count, or view himself as he really is. were to believe that Christ rose again, and were to believe that we are united with him in his resurrection, and that by that same power, which I'll read in just a moment, which God worked in Christ to raise him from the dead, is at work in us right now. So the question comes, how Many of us on a daily basis consider ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ. I mean, we think of it positionally, but do we think of it practically? We think of it as a spiritual truth, but do we think of it as a practical truth that affects the way we live? Do we see that the resurrection is to have an effect upon us now and that that effect or that purpose is for holy living. Not only must we consider ourselves to be dead to sin, but also resurrected and alive to God in Christ, to live to God in Christ Jesus. I really appreciate this 11th verse of Romans 6. I appreciate it so much for in saying that we are to consider or believe or act, all the things that might be contained in that, that we are to consider ourselves dead to sin but alive to God, that that verse absolutely passes over our feelings. It hits the brain. We are to believe with our heart, amen? But it passes over feelings. Someone might object and say, well, I don't feel like I'm dead to sin and alive to God. But dear Saint, I want to ask you a question. What do your feelings have to do with the truth of the resurrected Christ? That's like saying, I don't feel like I'm alive. Well, are you breathing? Are you thinking? Can you state, I don't feel like I'm alive? Well, guess what? You're alive. You have to go with what is true. So we must let the proper or make the proper consideration of our true spiritual condition to rule over our improper base feelings. This is not a mind over matter kind of a thing, but it is a truth over falsehood kind of a thing. It is making the proper judgment based upon the truth of God's word. Believers are united with Christ in his resurrection so they may now live for him. Thomas Schreiner wrote, Being dead to sin does not mean that believers are unable to sin, and all the church said, amen. Rather, being dead to sin means that the mastery and dominion of sin has ended for those in Christ. If sin is no longer the master of believers, then it follows that they are alive to Christ. The resurrection of believers is still a future reality. Nonetheless, the power of the resurrection affects the present. So believers can now live in a new way. Let us be careful to understand that we do not live the new life by our own might or by our own power. If you think so and you try so, you might have some limited success, but let me tell you, you're not far from falling. But this happens by the power of the spirit of the living God. That same power by which you raised Christ from the dead, he now works in us. Look at the power by which God raised Jesus from the dead and you will see the power he works in you that you might have and live a new life. It is not a matter of us working up the power to do what is right, of trying and trying and trying, but of us fully believing and relying and then acting upon, yes, it takes our effort, but then acting upon by faith in God that his power has empowered us. to live rightly. The third verse of his first letter, the Apostle Peter wrote, 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. In the third verse of a second letter he wrote saying that God by his divine power, by what? By his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. You have everything you need for life and godliness according to a true knowledge of him who saved you by his grace. How? By God's divine power. The fourth verse expresses he did this. that we might become partakers or participants in his divine nature, beloved living, actively living the new life now today. Please consider Paul's prayer at the end of the first chapter of Ephesians. There, the apostle prayed that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and a revelation in the knowledge of him, that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. These, the apostle wrote, are in accordance with the working of the strength of his might, which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead. Beloved, listen, Paul didn't tell the people to pray, nor did he pray for more power. He didn't do that. He didn't ask God to set them free from the sin they had been set free from. But he prayed that they would come into an understanding of wisdom and revelation, that the eyes of their heart might be enlightened to what is and what is. Toward us who believe is the surpassing greatness of the power of God, that power that is of the resurrection strength, which he worked in Jesus, when he raised him from the dead. And if you know Ephesians well, you know that in the second and third chapter, then he lays down this foundation of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. And then he comes to the fourth chapter. And what does he say? Now walk worthy. All this theological truth is to come up to this, that we now walk worthy. Not just believing in what was, not just hoping for what will be, but now living the life that God has called us to live. Live the new life God resurrected you to live, by which by his resurrection power, he empowers you to live. It is my prayer. for all true Christians everywhere, but for Redeemer Bible Church, that we will be a very loving family, that we will be a caring family. And over the next six months and a year, we're gonna work hard on some of those things. How do we love one another? How do we care for one another? How do we share in life together like a family? How do the older ones bring up the younger ones? How do the younger ones serve the older ones? We're gonna talk about those things. But I wanna tell you all that will be for naught if we do not live holy lives. Those who love the Lord will worship the Lord. And they will worship the Lord not just in word but in living the life that He has called us to live. So on today, Resurrection Sunday, listen, Christ died and He rose again, the church says, amen. We believe that. Christ died, He rose again, therefore we believe in our resurrection, we will be received up into the glory, amen, we believe that. But look, there is not a void between the two. He died, he rose, will die, we arise. We have a life to live and it is to be a life of holiness and God has not left us to ourselves. He's given us his word to teach us how we ought to live, saying put this off, put this on, but also then empowers us to live that life. And what kind of power is that? It is in accordance with the power with which he raised Jesus from the dead. This is the calling of God. Would you please bow with me in prayer? Lord, our God, we give you praise. You are the only God, and by what we have learned today, we know that you are the only wise God. We thank you, Heavenly Father, that you gave your son Jesus to the cross, and Jesus, that you died, and Heavenly Father, that you raised Jesus from the dead. Wow, there's not another story like that. And it's not just a story, it is a true account of who you are, what you have done. Lord is... We who have come into your fold, been born again, adopted into your family, I would pray, Heavenly Father, that we wouldn't just look back at the resurrection of Jesus, and we wouldn't just look forward to the day when we are received and raised to heaven, although we cherish, of course, our faith depends on the beginning and the end, but Lord, may we realize that we are here at this time for a reason, and it is to glorify you. And let us realize, Lord, that we cannot accomplish those things that you call us to unless we surrender to you and we depend upon your power. Help us, Lord, to understand that the same power which you worked in Christ to raise him from the dead, that is like the power that is at work in us. May we live presently, day by day, in the likeness of Christ's resurrection. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, and the church said, amen.