Memory or Miracle, Part 2

And then when all of time has been wrapped up and God has accomplished all of his purposes, he raises the unjust and judges them. And sad to say, the unjust are cast into a lake of fire. You see, the resurrection in the future has a bearing upon your life today. One day you will stand before God, either as a justified one because you've trusted Christ, or an unjustified one because you've rejected Christ. Now, the resurrection controlled Paul's life. I'm looking at Acts chapter 24, and I'm discovering here that the resurrection was very practical in Paul's life. Here's Paul wearing chains, a prisoner of Rome, and you say to him, Paul, what difference does a resurrection make in your life? He said it makes all the difference in the world. I used to believe in a resurrection, but I thought Jesus was dead. And then I saw him alive, and then he made me alive. Look at Acts chapter 24. In verse 14, the resurrection was the foundation for Paul's faith. He says in verse 14, Believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets. How do we know the Word of God is true? I go walking through O'Hare Field to catch my plane. I'm going through the terminal, and almost at every door someone is standing with a religious book, a religious leaflet, some sort of propaganda. How do we know that the Word of God is true? Because of the resurrection of the dead. When Jesus Christ arose from the dead, this was God's seal of approval on the Word. Paul said, You know, I used to read my Old Testament. It didn't make a lot of sense to me. Then I met the risen Christ. And now I know what I believe. And I know in whom I believe. And I know why I believe. Oh, my friend, you may be going through the valley, and you may be having difficulties in your life, but if you know the risen Christ, you have a Bible, and you can trust it. The resurrection was the foundation for Paul's faith. Now, remember, Paul was an ardent Jewish rabbi. And overnight he became an ardent, zealous Christian missionary. What made the difference? The resurrection. When he saw the risen Christ, Paul realized what the Old Testament was all about. And Paul said, I'm basing my life on that resurrection. It is the foundation for my faith. I notice in verse 14 and in verse 15 that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the foundation for his hope, the encouragement for his hope. He said, I have hope toward God that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. Hope. You don't find much hope today. There used to be a sailing vessel, a boat, a missionary boat called Hope. And it was supported by many people, and it took medicine from place to place. I noticed recently that boat is no longer in operation. They've scuttled it. Kind of tragic that a boat named Hope should be scuttled. But many boats named Hope have been scuttled. People have hoped in this and hoped in that. And along comes Paul who said, do you want to know where my hope comes from? What keeps the future bright for me? I believe in the resurrection. If Jesus Christ could conquer death, he can conquer any enemy that I face. If he can be victor over death, and death is the last enemy, then he can conquer all of the enemies in between. I don't have a thing to be afraid of. Paul was a prisoner. They could have pulled the strings and pushed the buttons, and Paul had been killed. There were a group of men trying to kill Paul. It didn't worry Paul. Paul said, I know in whom I have believed. I know who is my Savior. I know who has been raised from the dead. By the way, do you have that kind of hope? When you get up in the morning and raise the shade on a brand new day, do you look out with hope or with despair? Oh, without Jesus Christ, there's despair. It's hopeless. But the resurrection of Christ is the foundation for our faith and the encouragement of our hope. Look at verse 16. The resurrection of Christ is the stimulus to godly living. Verse 16, And in this do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. Paul, why don't you go around hurting people? I believe in a resurrection. Why don't you go around lying? I believe in a resurrection. You say, What's that got to do with it? Well, the resurrection means we stand before God. Have you read lately 2 Corinthians chapter 5? I read it again yesterday, and it's just a little bit convicting. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 9. Wherefore we labor, or we make it our aim, that whether present in this life or absent, we may be acceptable to him, God. Look at verse 10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body. According to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. He's talking here about Christians. And in this body, I have served God. And I'm going to stand before God in a body. And I'm going to give an account of the life that was lived in a body. And God is going to reward faithfulness. And where there's been unfaithfulness, I'll lose reward, and then I'll enter into his glory. Paul said, you want to know what keeps me going? What keeps my conscience clear? You want to know what it is that keeps me from scheming and lying? I'll tell you what it is. It's the resurrection. One of these days, I will stand before God. Now that's an encouragement to godly living. It ought to be a discouragement to sinful living. Someone says, I can do with my body whatever I want to do with my body. That's right, you can. But you can't escape the consequences. There are consequences here and now, and there are consequences at the resurrection. And when the unsaved stand before God and they have rejected Christ, bodily, they will be judged. They sinned in the body, they shall suffer in the body. If we serve God in the body, we shall glorify God in the body. Now the resurrection is not impractical. It's the most practical thing you can think of. It is the foundation for our faith, verse 14. It is the encouragement for our hope, verse 15. It is a stimulus to godly living, verse 16. Look at verse 17. Now after many years, I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings. It's an incentive for serving others. Now if there is no resurrection, live for yourself. Be like that godless farmer whose ground brought forth plentifully, said, what am I going to do? Ah, this will I do. I'll build bigger barns and I'll say to my soul, soul, take thine ease, eat, drink. You have much goods laid up for many years and that night God says to him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. You see, if there is no resurrection, if there is no future life, live for yourself. Enjoy all of life you can. This is heaven. Ah, but there is a resurrection and this is not heaven. If there is a resurrection, it means we should be serving others and living for others. It's a great incentive to Christian service. No, the resurrection is not impossible and the resurrection is not impractical. If you do not believe in a resurrection, you will live like that. You'll live selfishly and sinfully. But if you believe in a resurrection, you'll realize that one day you shall stand before God. Believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged for rewards. Unbelievers will stand before the great white throne judgment to be judged on the basis of their lives to see how much punishment they'll receive forever. There's a third objection that people bring when we talk about the resurrection. I've heard this from college students. They say the resurrection is not only something that is impossible and something that is impractical, but they say the resurrection is something that is impersonal. I've never seen a resurrection. I've never experienced a resurrection. When someone says that to me, I say, I feel sorry for you. I have seen resurrections and I have experienced a resurrection. You say, now wait just a minute. Resurrection of dead bodies? No. No, something far greater than that. You can raise a dead body as Jesus did with a little girl and a young man and Lazarus and they'll die again. I'm talking about the greatest resurrection of all, the resurrection out of sin into salvation, out of the death of the Spirit into the life in the Holy Spirit. You see, Paul was standing there as exhibit A that the resurrection is true. He says, how can you think it a thing incredible that there is no resurrection? Take a look at me. I was once dead in trespasses and sins. I was once so wrapped up in my religion. I persecuted anybody who did not believe the way I believed. But I want you to know I experienced a resurrection. Saul of Tarsus was lying in the grave, dead in trespasses and sins. Someone says, just a minute, weren't you a religious man? I certainly was. Weren't you a righteous man? I obeyed the law. Weren't you a zealous man? No one was more zealous. And yet you were dead? I was dead because I'd never experienced faith in Jesus Christ. And then I saw him on that Damascus road. I discovered he was alive and I was dead. All these years I'd thought that I was alive and he was dead. And I trusted him. That's what Paul means in Philippians 3.10 when he says that I may know him, Christ, and the power of his resurrection. And Paul is saying I have experienced this resurrection. It is not something impersonal. It's not something 50 years down the road. I have experienced this resurrection in my own life. Jesus said that. Let me quote to you the words of Jesus. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life. That's resurrection. Have you experienced that? Oh, you say, Pastor, nobody can experience that. Oh, yes, you can. In fact, I rejoice that day after day here in the city of Chicago people are experiencing resurrection. And you have he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. and he can do that for you today. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a piece of apologetics for a theologian. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just a fact of history for the historian. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is an experience in your heart when you trust him. Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life and that's resurrection. Oh, you say, I wish I had newness of life. I wish I could start life all over again. You can. You can. The Lord Jesus Christ can move into your life today and give you eternal life. He can raise you from the dead and then he strips off those grave clothes and gives you life and liberty and you begin to walk in newness of life. If any man be in Christ there's a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. One of the saddest men who ever lived, I think, was Dr. Freud, founder of modern psychiatry. He wrote in one of his lectures, quote, And finally, there is the painful riddle of death for which no remedy at all has yet been found nor probably ever will be. Oh, how wrong he was. We Christians don't look upon death as a painful riddle. We say with Paul, Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection is impossible? Of course not. With God, all things are possible. The resurrection is impractical? Of course not. It's the motivating force of our lives. The resurrection is impersonal? Of course not. We've experienced it. We sing about it. You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart. That's what Paul meant when he said, Christ liveth in me. Now, my friend, are you dead in sin or alive in Christ? Have you been raised out of the graveyard of sin and death? Are you walking in newness of life? This is what it's all about. A thing incredible? No. A thing very wonderful? A thing very practical? A thing very personal? An experience that you can have today when you trust the living, loving Savior? Would you hear his word once again? That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. And my friend, when you are saved, you don't have to worry about sin or death or hell, because you have a living Savior and you live in him. Gracious Father, we ask that many today will put faith in Jesus Christ and begin to live. We're thankful, O God, that not only is the resurrection of the human body possible, but the resurrection of the human spirit is possible. We can be raised from the dead. We can receive newness of life through Christ. Lord, this excites us, makes us realize how wonderful life is because Jesus is living. I pray that many here today will trust the Savior and experience this life, for we pray it in his name and for his sake. Amen. Amen.