Home
Who Is God? God's
Word Sermons Tracts
Q & A Feedback
Order this sermon on tape: 
or Mail/Phone
|
"THE
RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST:
For some a victory, for others a defeat" Isaiah
53 & Acts 2.22-40 EXPOSITION: 1.
Last night we saw a video that dealt with the last 18 hours before
Jesus Christ gave up the ghost on the cruel cross of 2.
And we asked some basic questions about His crucifixion; What
happened to Jesus on the cross? Why
did those things happen to Him? And
who did those things to Him? 3.
That Jesus died is beyond dispute.
That He was buried is also simple fact.
But anyone can die and anyone can be buried.
The possible reasons why someone died and was buried are limited
only by the imagination. 4.
What great proof we have that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was
not an ignominious defeat, what testimonial there is to the significance
of His burial, that which cannot be denied even by those who deny the Word
of God, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days and three nights
later. 5.
If God's creation of the heaven and the earth is the beginning of
history, and if the Great White Throne judgment of Jesus Christ is the end
of history, then the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, in power
and great glory, is the pivotal hinge of history. 6.
The resurrection, you see, is God's great proof, is the Lord Jesus
Christ's great proof, and is our great proof, that the cross of Christ was
a great victory and not an ignominious defeat. 7.
Turn in your Bible to Isaiah 53.
When you find that chapter in the Bible, please stand for the
reading of God's Word: 1
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is
the arm of the LORD revealed? 2
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a
dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and
when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. 4
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. 5
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon
him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own
way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is
brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is
dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his
generation? for he was cut off out of the land
of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with
the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth. 10
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he
shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the
LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their
iniquities. 12
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide
the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death:
and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors. 8.
Allow me, before brother Isenberger
comes to lead us in song before this morning's sermon, to state for your
edification three accomplishments attested to by Christ's resurrection
from the dead; three things that are verified, if you will, by the empty
tomb and a Savior Who "shewed himself
alive after his passion by many infallible proofs," Acts 1.3. 1A.
First, CHRIST'S RESURRECTION PROVED THE SUCCESS OF HIS SUBSTITUTION
1B.
We read about it in Isaiah 53.4:
"he hath borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows." And
again in verse 5: "he
was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him."
And again in verse 6: "the
LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." 2B.
But that's not all. Look
down to Isaiah 53.11: "he
shall bear their iniquities." And,
finally, in verse 12: "he
bare the sin of many." 3B.
What do these verses, written some 7
centuries before the crucifixion, mean?
They mean that God's plan all along was for His Son to be a
Substitute for you and for me, to take upon Himself
all our sins, and to suffer the punishment called for by a holy God in our
stead. 4B.
Paul wrote it thusly in Second Corinthians 5.21:
"For he [God] hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew
no sin." And in First
Peter 3.18 Simon Peter wrote, "For Christ also hath once
suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust." 5B.
His goal was to take your place on the cross and to take mine as
well, to suffer God's wrath on your behalf and on mine.
Did He succeed in His attempt to be your Substitute and mine?
He rose from the dead, did He not? 6B.
Imagine, my friend, the sinless Son of the living God choosing to
trade places with a convicted and condemned criminal, walking down death
row to your cell, unlocking the door and stepping into your place of
execution. That
is precisely what Jesus did when He, the Just, died for you, the unjust. 2A.
Second, CHRIST'S RESURRECTION PROVED THE SUCCESS OF HIS SACRIFICE 1B.
In Isaiah 53.10 the prophet says to God, "when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin." He refers, here,
to the Father giving up His Own Son as an offering for sin.
And, of course, this reminds us of Abraham offering Isaac as a
sacrifice on Mount Moriah 2000 years before. 2B.
But what is a sacrifice? A
sacrifice is that which must die and shed blood in punishment for sins and
offenses. It wasn't enough
for the Lord Jesus Christ to take your place and to take my place.
Oh, it was wonderful that He was the divine Substitute.
But it was also needful that the divine Substitute die
a sacrificial death. 3B.
God has been sinned against. Crimes
have been perpetrated against His august and holy majesty.
These are crimes of infinite magnitude and heinousness.
And because God is Who He is it is right and proper and absolutely
necessary that the sins committed against Him be punished, that His
grievances be redressed. In
short, someone has to pay. 4B.
But who is to pay? To
pay the penalty for you your Substitute must be of near kin (the reason
Jesus became a man), must be able (an ability only the Son of God
possesses) and must be willing (what great love).
So He paid what no other could pay for you.
He paid what not even you could pay for yourself, since if you die
without a Savior and are held accountable to pay for your own sins you
will spend an eternity paying the penalty for your sins, and will not even
begin satisfying the penalties levied against you. 5B.
"Brought as a lamb to the slaughter," Isaiah 53.7 tells
us. And that's just what
happened, isn't it? He had
done no violence. There was
no deceit in His mouth, verse 9. But
still they came, brutally they came, viciously they came, wickedly they
came, malignantly they came, stupidly they came, foolishly they came,
unjustly they came, cruelly they came, and took the Lamb of God to the
slaughter where He was offered as a sacrifice for sin. 6B.
Did He succeed?
Did it work? Was God
pleased with the offering of Jesus' Own blood as a sacrifice sufficient
payment for your sins? He
rose from the dead, didn't He? Listen
to what the apostle John wrote 60 years after the resurrection of His
master from the dead, in First John 2.2:
"And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours
only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 7B.
That word "propitiation" is a
bit long, but its meaning is simple.
It means Jesus satisfied God's demands for a payment for sins.
It means the Father was pleased with what Jesus did.
It made Him happy, it fulfilled the
demands of righteousness. So,
"Yes," Jesus succeeded in His sacrifice for sins. 3A.
Finally, THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST PROVED HIS OWN
SATISFACTION 1B.
Look back to Isaiah 53.11: "He
shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied."
Oh, my friends, if we but comprehended in just a small way the
travail of the Savior's soul. If
we had only an inkling of what He endured to save sinners from their sins,
how it would change the life of even the most hardened sinner. 2B.
But what He purposed to accomplish in His substitutionary
sacrifice for our sins, we see by prophetic revelation, He also purposed
would satisfy Him. In other
words, He planned to be satisfied with a job well done, with a task
accomplished, with a salvation purchased. 3B.
And what, specifically, satisfies the
soul of the Savior? What was
He willing to see the travail of His soul to do?
To "justify many."
But who many?
Who, of all the sinners that have lived and died and yet shall live
and die, will be justified? Whose
salvation was wrought by the travail of His soul?
Those who know Him.
"By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many." 4B.
And again, how do we know that Jesus is
satisfied with what His soul's travail accomplished?
What proves to the doubter that He actually succeeded in what He
set out to do? The
resurrection! The
resurrection! The
resurrection! CONCLUSION: 1.
The Lord Jesus Christ's saving work was not only His resurrection
from the dead. He obviously
did much when He suffered and bled and died a ransom for sin, the substitutionary
Lamb slain from the foundation of the World. 2.
But, don't you see, all the suffering, and all the bleeding, and
all the taking upon Himself of our sins, and
all the dying, could not have accomplished anything apart from the
resurrection. 3.
So, the resurrection was a great and glorious victory wrought by
our great and glorious Savior. And
nothing less than an astounding victory over sin, death, Hell and the
grave would do, because it was not possible for death to hold Him. 4.
So, while one day, long ago, ended in what seemed to be the dark
despair of the defeat of the Son of God, three days and three nights later
a new day dawned.
It was a day that began with an empty tomb, and the world has never
been the same because of that empty tomb. 5.
Stand, won't you, as brother Isenberger
comes to lead us as we sing together hymn #33, Christ the Lord is risen
today. INTRODUCTION: 1.
Turn in your Bible to Acts chapter 2.
When you find Acts chapter 2 please stand as we read our second
text for today, Acts 2.22-40: 22
Ye men of 23
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,
ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was
not possible that he should be holden of it. 25
For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw
the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should
not be moved: 26
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my
flesh shall rest in hope: 27
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine
Holy One to see corruption. 28
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt
make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David,
that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre
is with us unto this day. 30
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to
him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would
raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31
He seeing this before spake of the
resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his
flesh did see corruption. 32
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all
are witnesses. 33
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which
ye now see and hear. 34
For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith
himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35
Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made
that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost. 39
For the promise is unto you, and to your
children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God
shall call. 40
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save
yourselves from this untoward generation. 2.
This, of course, is Peter's great Pentecostal sermon, preached at
the time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God and culminating in
the conversion of 3000 men. 3.
But imbedded in this sermon is a
sometimes overlooked and an even more frequently misunderstood portion of
Scripture that deals with our theme for today, the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. 4.
As the title of this sermon suggests, the resurrection of Jesus
Christ is not a victory for everyone.
It is certainly a victory for God.
Most assuredly is it a victory for the Lord Jesus Christ and for
the Christian. But in our
text we find that the resurrection also involves a great warning of doom
from Christ for you who are unbelievers. 5.
Three very simple considerations for you to address: 1A.
First, THERE IS DAVID'S PREDICTION 1B.
In Verses 22-24 Simon Peter Shows The
Close Connection Between God And Jesus 1C.
Verse 22, Jesus was approved of God and validated by God in their
midst. 2C.
Verse 23, though slain by a Jewish-Gentile conspiracy the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ fulfilled the plan and purpose of God. 3C.
Verse 24, but God raised this Jesus because it was not possible for
death to hold Him. 2B.
In Verses 25-28 Simon Peter Makes
Reference To Predictions Made By 1C.
This passage refers to Psalm 16.8-11,
long acknowledged a Messianic Psalm.
In that psalm David speaks of things that could not possibly refer
to himself. 2C.
The point that Simon Peter is seeking to
make? In part, it is that
what those men in 2A.
Next, INTERPRETING DAVID'S PREDICTION FOR US, WE ARE SHOWN CHRIST'S
PLACE This
comes about as Simon Peter explains the meaning and the implications of
this very familiar Psalm to the men standing on the steps of the 1B.
First, Simon points out that David is dead and buried and we all
know where he is buried, verse 29. Implication?
David did see corruption, so this psalm is referring to someone
other than David. 2B.
Second, verses 30-32, since David was
not referring to himself we know that he was as prophet who was referring
to the Messiah, the Christ, Who is a physical descendant of David.
Therefore, this psalm refers to the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
whose resurrection we who stand before you are all witness to. 3B.
Third, the cloven tongues as of fire, the tongues that they heard
along with the sound of the mighty rushing wind, that's all the result of
the Lord Jesus Christ being exalted to God's right hand (the place of
favor) and the giving to Jesus of the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who is
responsible for what has been seen and heard. 4B.
Fourth, this brings us to verse 34, where Simon Peter definitively
points out to his audience the place where Jesus now is:
"For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith
himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand."
It is not David who is in heaven.
It is Jesus Who is in heaven at the Father's right hand.
And Peter uses the same Greek word, "kurios,"
to describe both Jehovah and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Very significant. 5B.
So, where is Jesus at the time of
Peter's sermon? Where is
Jesus at the time of my sermon? He
is not rotting in some grave somewhere.
Oh, no. He is risen,
you see, and is even now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 6B.
Is it good so far?
It sounds good. It is
portrayed by all the compromising pastors to be good for everyone
everywhere. But are these
developments that Peter speaks of good news?
It wasn't taken to be good news by his hearers. 7B.
Why did Peter's hearers suddenly become
concerned, suddenly become frightened?
Listen to verse 37: "Now
when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we
do?" 3A.
IT WAS CHRIST'S PLAN THAT PETER REMINDED THEM OF 1B.
The resurrection proved to Peter's
audience, along with the authenticating ministry of the Holy Spirit, that
Psalm 16 really was a prediction of Christ's resurrection and not David's.
Thus, the other thing David referred to had connection to Jesus
Christ, as well. 2B.
What other thing?
Look at verses 35-36 and let me explain why those thousands of men
were not real happy to find out that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Jesus is in heaven, at the Father's right hand, "Until I make
thy foes thy footstool. Therefore
let all the house of Let
me deal with verse 36 and then we'll look at verse 35: 1C.
God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ.
In other words, Jesus is both Lord and the long awaited Messiah.
But wait! That means
the man Who was crucified was the Son of God.
Now do you begin to see why they were afraid?
They had taken part in the greatest crime ever committed by
mankind. They had crucified
their Messiah, their hope, their promised One. 2C.
Now let me explain verse 35.
To make a foe a footstool is to subjugate one's enemy to such a
degree, to so humiliate and degrade him, that you can literally place your
feet on the back of his neck like a footstool . . . before his execution
takes place. That's the way
the Romans did it. That's the
way king David had done it during his own
reign. And that is what God
is going to do to those who are Jesus Christ's enemies. CONCLUSION: 1.
So you see, Simon Peter did not preach some sweet sounding sermon
about heaven being your home if you will only accept Jesus to be your
Savior. And those people were
not wonderfully comforted by the fact that Jesus Christ had risen from the
dead. 2.
Neither should you be comforted by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
if you are not converted, because it should be no comfort to you that God
will make you Christ's footstool. What
optimism should you have upon hearing the news that God will subjugate
you, O proud one, will humiliate you, O
stubborn one, will condemn you, O Christ rejecter? 3.
My prayer is that you will be pricked in your heart and ask me, as
they asked Peter and the others, "What shall we do?" |
|
Home
Who Is God? God's
Word Sermons Tracts
Q & A Feedback
Order this sermon on tape: |