Congregation, if you'll turn in your Bibles today to the Book of Romans for the reading of God's word will be found in Chapter six. Of the Book of Romans. And as you're turning the pages of your Bibles again, we extend the right hand of Christian fellowship to any. Visitors that are here with us here, especially for the first time, may the grace and the mercy and love of God, our Savior, be poured out upon you as you worship with us here at Covenant Reformed Church. Romans chapter six, verses one through twelve. Let us now listen attentively to the reading of God's infallible word. What should we say that shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? No, you not that. So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death. The life as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father. Even so, we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. And may the Holy Spirit of God see fit to instruct us from his word today, from this chapter and from quite a few other chapters in the preaching of his word. Today, we look at our topic of prizing and also receiving the benefits of Christ's crucifixion and burial, which is based on Lord's Day, number 16 of the Heidelberg Catechism. Now, beginning with question 40 of the Heidelberg We begin to study the glorious benefits of Christ's excruciating sufferings both on the cross as well as before. The first benefit is that he satisfied for all of your sins so that God's wrath was exhausted on Christ, our scapegoat, so that not one drop of wrath shall ever alight on our heads. The second is that his death and burial means that your death will not and cannot be an expression of God's vengeance. Rather, your demise in the future is only a dying unto sin and an entering into eternal life. And the third is that our old man is crucified and buried with him so that all of our pet sinful lust no longer rule the day, rather, we become trophies of Thanksgiving. And finally, and there's very little time to deal with this one today, is that Christ, by his descent into hell, has redeemed us from the unquenchable anguish of hell, his own weeping and gnashing of teeth on this terra firma and this veil of tears. delivers us from the future eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth. Although Christ did suffer the equivalent of eternal hell and his sufferings. Now question 40 sets the table and arranges the redemptive silverware of questions 41, 42, and 43 of Heidelberg, which you should probably open your little red or green books to here today. Question number 40 says, Why was it necessary for Christ to suffer death? And question number 40 answers, because the justice and truth of God required that satisfaction for our sins could be made in no other way than by the death of the Son of God. That found in question number 40. And this means that the cross is the only way. The only way. that God could satisfy for your sins. Now, this has been surprisingly a hot topic of debate in the throughout the history of the Christian church. The debate is between those who believe in what is called a hypothetical necessity of the cross versus those who believe in an absolute necessity of the cross. Now, the hypothetical necessity is actually defended to some extent by John Calvin, who argues in his commentary on John 15 that God could have satisfied for your sins by merely wishing them out of existence, a stroke of his almighty power. He could do that. Unless I'm misunderstanding Calvin here, which is easy for a Philistine like myself to do, I suppose. I consider that statement to be one of Calvin's most irresponsible statements, that God could have atoned for my sin by merely wishing them away. Instead, I hold to what is called the absolute necessity of the cross, which I think the Bible endorses and is reflected in the Heidelberg, that satisfaction for our sins could be made in no other way than by the death of the Son of God. So it wasn't just that there was a scriptural necessity that Christ makes satisfaction. There was a judicial necessity. A necessity that flows from God's holy character, his thrice holy character. And that explains the absolute necessity of the incarnation as well. Earlier in our confession, the question is asked, why must Christ be made a true and righteous man? The answer, because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which has sin should make satisfaction for sin. So the absolute necessity isn't just a prophetic necessity, something that was simply prophesied by God's truth in the Old Testament and had to be fulfilled, but rather a necessity based upon God's righteous character. The God's character was so offended by our sin that the death of the Son of God was the only way that you and I could ever be redeemed. Now, what I'm concerned with today are some of the magnificent benefits of Christ's satisfaction, which you are to prize as well as to receive. And the first benefit is that Jesus was, and this may sound strange, but he was buried for you. We always talk about Christ being crucified for us and being resurrected for us and coming again for us. But what about being buried for us? Now, why was Jesus buried? The principal reason for that was to show that he really died, to show that he was really dead. Now, sometimes that's as that's what's found in question number forty one, that answer that question and answer are criticized as being simplistic, simplistic. A number of years ago, a professor of a reformed seminary criticized this answer as simplistic. That is, he said it wasn't deep enough. It didn't even begin to scratch the surface as to why Jesus was actually buried. And it could be dramatically improved. Now, there's two ways to handle that objection. First, you can see that if Jesus wasn't buried, that it might be concluded that he hadn't really died. And the usual contradiction to that point is that when a person was crucified, he hung on the cross for many days, becoming almost vulture meat when he when he when he was hanging on the cross. So it said that Jesus, Jesus was only on the cross for six hours. And plus, people marvel that he died so soon. And so the conclusion is sometimes made that he wasn't really dead. He didn't really die. And that's it wasn't. That's why he wasn't really buried. Plus, some even say that he became unconscious on the cross or that he was faking his death when he was on the cross and he was pretending play acting. Scripture teaches that the soldier thrust the spear into his side so that blood and water poured forth. Plus, no Roman soldier would jeopardize his head by allowing a pretender to escape. And of course, Joseph of Arimathea, who was joined by Nicodemus, Joseph being particularly a disciple, bound his body in clenlenin with spices, burying him, convinced that he was really dead. And so Jesus became a decomposing corpse for us. That's why he was in the ground for three days. Now, Jesus was buried, of course, to show principally to show not just that he was really dead, but principally to show that he was really resurrected from the grave. So if he hadn't really died, then he wasn't really resurrected. For, of course, if you're resurrected, that means that you have that you're dead and buried. This is something that's very should be something very important to you as a powerful, practical application to us. That practical application is summarized by your sinus, who said he would be buried. He would be buried that we might not be terrified in view of the grave. that might know that he has sanctified our graves by his own burial, so that they are no longer graves to us, but resting places in which we may peaceably repose until we are again raised up unto life. So this question 41 is really a resurrection question. If Christ was really raised up, then he really died. and was really very. And his burial proves his death and his resurrection, and his burial also should bury all doubts that you might have about not only his resurrection, but about your certain resurrection in the future as well. And the resurrection of relatives and friends of yours who may die and are buried in the ground as well. You know that that being six foot under For them is not closure. That's not the final story, but rather they are resting in Christ until the day of the resurrection. Now, of course, Jesus was in the ground for the three days. His body began to decompose, it was susceptible to corruption for those three days. When you die, your body begins to putrefy immediately. And God said so in Genesis chapter three, verse 19, Dost thou art? and unto dust thou shalt return." Now, the process of becoming dust began. Jesus, of course, ate the dust of death. He was becoming a stinking, filthy corpse when he was laid in the ground. That's why those spices were lavishly applied to his body. Now, I spoke of his death as a benefit. Now, in what way does his burial then benefit you? Well, not just the fact that you'll be resurrected, but if we could leapfrog just for a short period of time to question number 43 of the Heidelberg, it says, what further benefit do we receive from the sacrifice of Christ on the cross? The answer that thereby our old man is crucified and buried with him. Slain and buried with him. So his burial spells the burial of your old man, that is, of your old sin nature, which used to govern your life. He was buried not just to prove that he was really dead, but also to bury your old man, you see. So you see, when you become a Christian, you experience both death and burial. Your old sinful self is crucified and you're also buried with Christ. Now, the second benefit is that Christ's death and burial eliminates also the sting of death. And that word sting is found in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, to describe death. Probably the word sting there is borrowed from the from the from the world of insects, especially from the the torment, the pain inflicted by a scorpion. You can look that up sometime in Revelation, chapter nine, verse five. You may ask if Christ died for me, If he's removed the sting, then why must I die? Why must I go to the grave? That's a very common question, and it's a it's very, very good question as well. It's sometimes sometimes that question is asked for informational reasons, and sometimes that question is asked for skeptical reasons. Many years ago, I was teaching a new membership class while I was still pastoring in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. There was a young woman in the class who asked this very question. I complimented her on her insight. Good question, very intelligent question. However, she confessed to me during the class that the reason that she asked the question was skepticism. That is, if what I said was true, that Christ has removed the sting of death, then why must we still die if we are in him? In her mind, if Christ paid the penalty for our sins, bearing our total guilt, then we should be exempt from death. Only the unbeliever, she said, should get his just desserts, that is, death. Well, negatively, the scripture teaches that your death isn't a satisfaction for sin. The reason is that your Savior died to destroy death, as John Owen wrote. His death was the death of death, meaning Christ slew death by his death. You have the death of death in the death of Christ. And, you know, so great is the antithesis between you and the unbeliever, the unbeliever being darkness, you're being light, the unbeliever worshiping Baal, you're worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ, that even our deaths are different or antithetical at loggerheads with one another. Romans, chapter six, verse twenty three, says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Greek word there for wages speaks of a Roman soldier's rations. The Roman soldier goes to work just like you and just like you and I go to work. And at the end of the day, he receives his wages, his rations, his remuneration, his paycheck. So, the Bible describes us as workers of iniquity. When we work iniquity, we also receive wages. We receive a paycheck. The paycheck is death. So, let me frame the difference between the believers and the unbelievers death this way. When the unbeliever dies, he dies in sin and because of sin. That when you die, You die to sin. Huge difference between the two deaths. Now, notice there are two positives about the Christians death here. First of all, to die a Christian death means that you understand that physical dying means that you die to sin, what I just said. And of course, in this life, you die to sin each day. You should you should daily be mortifying or putting to death the deeds of the flesh. Jesus preached, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Cross was a symbol of many things, hardship, tribulation, difficulties, the furnace of affliction and so on and so forth. But also taking up your cross daily means that you kill sin daily. Mortifying sin means that you hate it more and more and more. When you hate something more and more and more, then you'll do it less and less and less. Mortification of sin is ongoing. It is progressive, you see. And you yourself are very, very active in that holy combat. Your attitude towards sin is captured by the unmitigated hatred of George S. Patton during World War Two and his attitude towards the enemy, the Germans, he called the Hun. He said to the Third Army, in part to the Third Army, he said, we're going to tear out their living guts and use them to grease the bearings of our landing gear. We see that unmitigated hatred towards sin should exist in your life more and more and more. But when you're in the process of dying physically, you're more passive than that, meaning that you're carried where you would not rather go. One of the passengers on the Titanic defined death. Before that voyage took place, he defined death in one of his literary compositions. I think he was trying to be a comedian when he said this, but he defined death as to, quote, suddenly stop sinning. Well, that's really a true statement about a Christian's death. You suddenly stop sinning, in other words, death spells the instant and your instant and total sanctification. So it's important to place death, I believe, under the umbrella or under the rubric of sanctification. or Christian holiness, death for you when it comes knocking on the door and God has appointed that time for every one of us is only a dying to sin. Notice only. A dying to sin is no more than that, I said that your death isn't a satisfaction and neither is it chastening nor experiencing God's belt behind the proverbial barn. Your sign is in his commentary on the Heidelberg catechism, writes that death for the Christian is an admonition. He uses that word in admonition. That's closer to the truth. Death does warn us, for example, in First Corinthians, chapter 10, records the sorry, the sorry demise of the wilderness generation whose carcasses were strewn in the wilderness. Remember, for those 40 years. Here's what Paul said about their deaths. He said, Now these things happen unto them for in samples, and they were written for our admonition. Or another way to phrase it is this death is is a transformed beast. Christ took this monster and transformed him into something salutary. In fact, your death when you die is really a double death. You die physically, but you also die to sin, just as you've been twice born physically and born again by the spirit of God. But when the unbeliever dies, he dies that when you die, you sleep in Jesus. And when I say sleep, I don't mean soul sleep. I mean, you are resting in Christ, your savior. Now, the second positive. about death is that death is entering into eternal life as well. That's its appeal. Now, of course, this is a rigmarole to the unbeliever, to something completely beyond him, even when you try to explain it. Many years ago, there was a young boy who was told by his parents about the facts of life. The information boggled his mind. He couldn't understand what the appeal was in the facts of life. And so he innocently asked this question. He said, do they eat chocolate while they're doing it? Well, death is a door. It really is an entrance into eternal life, and that's its appeal. This doesn't mean that God wants you to have a death wish that isn't an escape. Nor is it cessation of existence. It is a door. It is an entrance. And it's something in that sense that's very, very good, since it's a door into eternal life. One of the hymn writers wrote about death. He said that timorous mortals start and shrink to cross this narrow sea and linger shivering on the on the bank and fear to launch away. And then he says, could we but climb where Moses stood and view the landscape or not Jordan stream nor death's cold flood could fright us from the shore? How true that is when one has saving faith in Christ. Now, if you have a death wish, then you're contradicting the scriptures or contradicting Christ. Jesus's prayer in John 17 was, I pray not that thou wouldest take them out of the world, but that thou wouldest keep them from the evil. God wants you to view death as sort of owning the bank. Death is gain, not loss. Paul said, for to me to live is Christ and to die, gain. The appeal is that death brings you closer to Christ and Christ closer to you. And of course, to live is Christ, too, but to die is gain because death is the door. of eternal life. Now, maybe you ask, when does one receive eternal life? Well, the answer is that eternal life, of course, begins the very moment that you trust Christ and repent of all your sins. John 3, 16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, and that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. This everlasting life begins the very moment you believe. Well, why then does the Bible sometimes speak of entering eternal life at death? Well, one answer to that question is that Christ himself is eternal life. If I said many, many times, eternal life is both quantitative as well as qualitative. Quantitatively, it's never ending. But qualitatively, it describes your personal relationship with Christ. That's how Jesus viewed himself. He said in John 17, And this is life eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. So entering eternal life at death means that you come face to face with Christ, who is your life. So we have what some of the theologians have called the already and the not yet the already being, we have eternal life. But in another sense, it's the not yet eternal life coming at the moment of our deaths. Well, also, the third benefit that you receive by Christ's death and burial is that our old man is crucified and buried with him. And this is captured here in Romans, chapter six. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we also shall live with him. The great question, of course, is this. What does it mean to have your old man crucified? You may look at yourself and despair. You may feel that because you sin every day that your old man isn't crucified. It may seem to you to be kind of a mock crucifixion. You may think maybe one of my limbs has been crucified. Maybe my index finger has been crucified. Maybe my pinky has been crucified. But certainly not the whole body of my sin couldn't be crucified. Look at the things I think. Look at the things that I do. Look at my actions. Look at my thoughts. That doesn't look like a man who's been crucified with Christ. And this is especially true with regard to evil lust that plague us every day. With regard to lust, our crucifixion seems like a bungled job or more like sort of a progressive crucifixion. As if we're in the process of being crucified. Yes, scripture teaches that you're so crucified that the evil lust of the flesh may reign no more in you. While the Bible teaches that Jesus not only died to remove your guilt, but he died to break the power of sinful lust. And that's the key. Jesus came to save you from the penalty of sin, from the pollution of sin, and also from the power of sin. He also came to save you from the pleasure. Temporary pleasure of sin as well, but that's another story. Now, the emphasis in Romans six is that Christ broke the power of reigning sin so that sin no longer reigns over you. Your crucifixion is history. It is accomplished. It is. It is in the past tense. You are crucified in Christ, the Bible says. Now, there's many illustrations that have been used by ministers and theologians to prove this. The Puritans, they distinguish between reigning sin and raging sin. They said that as Christians, sin no longer reigns in us, that King has been dethroned, he's abdicated, regicide has occurred, he's been put to death once and for all. However, they said sin still rages within us. There's such a thing as a forest fire in control and out of control. When the forest fire is in control, it is contained. And when God saves us, sin is contained, even though the fire may still rage in some quarters. The most well-known example is the D-Day invasion of Normandy in June of 1944. By this invasion, the grip of Nazism in Western Europe was crushed. However, even though the power of Hitlerism was smashed, stiff resistance continued all the way to the suburbs of Berlin. In fact, sometimes the enemy seemed to reassert its rule altogether, as in the famous Battle of the Bulge. So the issue is reigning sin, not a raging sin. Through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, sin no longer reigns, rules your life. We can compare Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, in fact, to D-Day. But we can also compare Christ's second coming, when we will be perfected in holiness, to V-Day. This means that if you're a true Christian, then you are co-crucified with Christ. You are co-buried with Christ. You are co-resurrected with Christ. In fact, you are co-reigning with Christ. And this means that you're in Christ when he was crucified. You were in Christ when he was buried. You were in Christ when he was resurrected. This means that you're given Christ's resurrection power to defeat sin to defeat your evil lust. You have experienced D-Day and you're now awaiting V-Day, Victory Day. This means that the spirit of the resurrected Christ rules in you so that your evil lust will never again rule the day. Now, your death to sin in Romans 6 is a declarative statement. It describes what God did in you the moment that you became a Christian. You enjoy a past tense experience. Paul writes, Our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed. Also, in Colossians, chapter two, verse 12, he says, buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who has raised him from the dead. Now, the fact that you have a vital union, a living union with Jesus Christ and his death, burial and resurrection doesn't mean that you become a sluggard and lazy with respect to pursuing after righteousness and to be like Jesus Christ. On the contrary, God wants you to battle sin every millimeter of the way in your outward actions and in your inward thoughts. That's why Romans 6, verse 12 says, Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. One of the older writers said many years ago this statement, he wrote, work as if all depends upon you and yet trust as if you did not work at all. And that pretty much sums it up and how true that is. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So what this means is you can never make excuse for sin, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Now, the fourth benefit is that you also, as a result of all of this being crucified with Christ, buried and resurrected with him, to now offer yourselves unto God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Now it is impossible, impossible that you'll be ungrateful for such a great redemption. Because of that, your scientist wrote, he therefore who boasts of having applied to himself by faith the death of Christ and yet has no desire to live a holy and godly life that he may so honor the Savior, lies. and gives conclusive evidence that the truth is not in him. So let me ask you, how are you doing, Christian? Is sin reigning or is it only raging? And are you battling sin every millimeter of the way in your life? And better, are you now reigning with Christ so that Jesus reigns supreme in your life? If so, then God's grace has made you a trophy of thankfulness so that you're dying to sin more and more and living for Christ more and more. So I exhort you, continue to be a sacrifice of thankfulness by your words, by your thoughts, and by the lives that you now live. Because if you are in Christ, You are crucified with him. You are buried with him. You are resurrected with him and you reign with him because you are in him. Amen.