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Well, you could turn with me 
and your Bibles to the book of Romans, Romans chapter four. Romans chapter four, I'll read 
the last few verses and then our focus will be on verse 25, 
but just to give you sort of an outline as to what's going 
on in this portion of the book of Romans. So beginning in chapter 
three at verse 21, continuing to chapter four, verse 25 is 
Paul's treatment of justification by faith alone, specifically 
the righteousness of God and justification in chapter three, 
verses 21 to 26, and then that, emphasis on justification by 
faith only or alone in verses 27 to 31. He then confirms this 
in chapter 4 by a reference to Abraham in verses 1 to 4 and 
then David in verses 5 to 8, showing that this is not a new 
thing. God has always saved by grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And then from chapter 
4 at verse 9 to the section that we're going to consider, there's 
an extended treatment concerning Abraham, specifically the place 
of circumcision and justification by faith alone in verses 9 to 
12, the place of faith, promise, and law in verses 13 to 22, and 
then the benefit for the new covenant believer. And I'll read 
that section in verses 23 to 25, and then we'll pray. So beginning in Romans 4, verse 
23, now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed 
to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who 
believe in him, who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 
who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised 
because of our justification. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you for this beautiful day. We thank 
you for the day that you have made. We will rejoice and be 
glad in it. We thank you for our Savior King, 
that blessed one who lived for us, who died for us, and wonderfully 
was raised for us, and now is enthroned at the right hand of 
God. for us. We thank you that He is building 
His church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 
We pray for the blessing of God upon the proclamation of the 
truth that more would be added to the church through the power 
of the Holy Spirit calling them effectually unto the Lord Jesus. 
We pray for the edification and growth of your body. We pray 
that the people of God would have the mind of Christ, that 
we would be mature, that we would be one new man, that we would 
glorify and honor you in this present evil age. Even now, God, 
forgive us for all of our sins, cleanse us in the blood of the 
Lamb, and may you fill us with your Holy Spirit. We pray through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, this morning when 
our brother was preaching from 1 Corinthians 15, I remembered 
something that J. Gressom Machen had rightly pointed 
out. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 
15, verse 3, we read that Christ died for us. And as Machen says, 
Christ died is history. The for us is doctrine. And our passage does something 
similar. Notice specifically in verse 
25, you have the fact of the death of our Lord Jesus, the 
history, and then you have the rationale or the doctrine or 
the theology of it. So in verse 25, who was delivered 
up because of our offenses, and then the same thing in the latter 
part of the verse was raised, that's history, but why was he 
raised? Because of our justification. So who was delivered up is history, 
because of our offenses is doctrine, and was raised is history, and 
because of our justification is doctrine. And essentially 
what we have here, as Paul describes the doctrine of justification 
by faith alone, having pointed to Abraham, having pointed to 
David, and then returning to Abraham in an extended way, notice 
again in verse 23, it was not written for his sake alone that 
it was imputed to us, but also for us. It shall be imputed to 
us who believe in him, who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. 
So essentially in verse 24, Paul says, we believe in him who raised 
up Jesus our Lord from the dead. And then in verse 25, he explains 
why he was dead. why this holy, harmless, and 
undefiled one would actually be executed. Why was Christ dead? Well, it was because of our offenses, 
and he was raised then for our justification. So we'll look 
first at the first part of the verse, the redemptive purpose 
of the death of Christ, and then secondly, the latter portion 
of the verse, the redemptive purpose of the resurrection of 
Christ. A very simple sermon, and hopefully 
nothing new. We cover this material a lot. 
Again, I'll remind you what Luther said, I preach justification 
by faith alone every Sunday because my people forget it by every 
Sunday. So with reference to the reason 
for his death, notice, in the first place, the death of Christ 
was not primarily an example. I think I've tried to show that 
in Philippians 2, verses 5 to 11, where it really is an example. 
Also in 1 Peter 2, we see Paul, or Peter there, setting forth 
Christ as an example to the people of God. But the accent falls 
in the New Testament on the death of Jesus Christ as a satisfaction 
of divine justice. The accent falls upon substitutionary 
curse bearing. The accent falls upon atonement. 
As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, we preach Christ crucified 
to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 
but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ 
the power of God and the wisdom of God. And we see that emphasized 
here. He wasn't delivered up because 
we needed an example. He wasn't raised so that we will 
love each other better and more so. No, the specific emphasis 
here, and we would expect this in an argument that is focused 
upon justification by faith alone, is on the atoning work of the 
Savior King. So the death of Christ was substitutionary 
atonement. It was typified in the Old Testament, 
prophesied in the Old Testament, and then brought to fruition 
in the coming of the Son of Man. When the Word became flesh and 
dwelt among us, He is, in fact, the Lamb of God who takes away 
the sin of the world. Now, if we look specifically 
at our text, who was delivered up because of our offenses, we're 
going to work a little backwards in this section. What is the 
offenses, or what are the offenses that are in view here? It is 
not sin in general in some sort of vague, notional sense, but 
rather it is the sins of his people. In the book of Hebrews, 
in chapter 2 at verse 17, we read, Therefore in all things 
he had to be made like his brethren. that he might be a merciful and 
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation 
for the sins of the people." Again, not vague, notional ideas 
of sin out there in the abstract, but the sorts of sins that you 
and I commit. the sorts of transgressions against 
God's law that Paul has already detailed in Romans 1, beginning 
in verse 18. All you have to do is run through 
that list to see the sorts of offenses that Paul has in mind 
here. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses, the kinds of lawlessness that the Gentiles engage in, 
that transgression of God's holy law, the Decalogue, And then 
he turns his attention to the Jew in chapter 2, and he says, 
even though they have the oracles of God, even though they have 
been the recipients of special revelation, they nevertheless 
are guilty. They nevertheless have transgressed 
that law. And then Paul summarizes the 
argument in chapter 3. Notice in verse 9. What then? 
Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously 
charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. 
As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There 
is none who understands. There is none who seeks after 
God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. 
There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is 
an open tomb. With their tongues they have 
practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, 
whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are 
swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in 
their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. There is 
no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the 
law says, it says to those who are under the law that every 
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before 
God. Therefore, by the deeds of the 
law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law 
is the knowledge of sin. And then he brings that relief, 
he brings that doctrine, he brings that truth of justification by 
faith alone in Christ Jesus alone. In fact, turn back to Romans 
1, specifically at verse 18, where he starts this indictment 
of all men everywhere, whether Jew or Gentile, for having committed 
transgression against God. So in 118, for the wrath of God 
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 
of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. And then 
he hammers down, as I said, to the heathen and then to the Jew. 
But in 321, after summarizing the universal condemnation and 
liability of all men to a holy God because of their transgression, 
he uses that same phraseology, but now. So you've got the wrath 
of God is revealed, and then in verse 21, but now the righteousness 
of God apart from the law is revealed. And thus he begins 
his exposition of justification by faith alone. So when we look 
at our text, who was delivered up because of our offenses, our 
transgression of law, our idolatry, our blasphemy, our Sabbath breaking, 
our insubordination, our murder, our adultery, our theft, and 
our lies, and our covetousness, our lack of conformity unto God's 
law, and our positive transgression of it. And so with reference 
to the offenses, we see that God is angry with the wicked 
every day. And we see how at the cross, 
that is one of the things going on. If you look again at 321, 
but now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed. 
And here I take righteousness, not as that perfection of God, 
his rightness or his justice, but that righteousness that God 
demands, but God graciously supplies in the gospel of our salvation. 
Paul speaks to this in Philippians 3.9, not having my own righteousness, 
which is from the law, but that righteousness which comes from 
God, which is through faith in Jesus Christ. So he says, this 
is witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness 
of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who 
believe. for there is no difference, for 
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified 
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ 
Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through 
faith to demonstrate His righteousness. So it's God's wrath, God's fury, 
God's righteousness in terms of perfection, God's justice 
is satisfied by Christ on the cross. So this is what we see 
how God treats offenses. He was pleased to deliver up 
his own son for us so that he could deal with the sin problem. 
Because in his forbearance, God had passed over the sins that 
were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time 
his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of 
the one who has faith in Jesus. So, the description of our offenses, 
our sin, our guilt, our vileness, our helplessness, our rebellion 
against the majesty of God Almighty. But then notice, in the first 
part, who was delivered up. because of our offenses. We learn 
from this that God's justice demands that we be delivered 
up to hell for our sins and transgressions against him, unless a substitute 
takes our place, unless the penalty is satisfied, unless divine justice 
is dealt with. And that is precisely the reason 
we find that Christ was delivered up because of our offenses. God's 
grace provided satisfaction for our sins through the substitutionary 
crosswork of our Lord Jesus Christ. And from this, we conclude that 
God's provision in the gospel is His only begotten Son, that 
one who assumed our humanity, that one who lived for us, who 
died for us, and was raised again for us, that Lamb of God who 
takes away the sin of the world. It couldn't just be a man. It 
was the divine Son who assumes to Himself our humanity in order 
to fulfill what the Father had laid upon Him. Stephen Charnock 
makes this observation. He says, as man, he was fit to 
undergo the sharpness of the curse, and as God, able to remove 
it. As man, he was capable to obey 
both the moral and mediatorial law, and as God, to transmit 
the fruit of that obedience to us. Praise God for that blessed 
reality. Praise God that Christ was delivered 
up because of our offenses. And before we move on, we ought 
to notice the divine initiative. He was delivered up. It's a theological 
passive. That means that something happened 
to him. He was delivered up. And if I 
were to ask you, who is guilty with reference to the murder 
of the Lord Jesus Christ? There'd be a lot of contenders 
for that particular position. Well, the Romans, they were culpable. 
Well, the Jews, they cried, away with him, away with him, crucify 
him. I'm not minimizing or mitigating their human responsibility. God 
doesn't. You crucified by lawless hands, 
Peter says in Acts 2, but he says it was according to the 
predetermined plan of God Almighty. The accent or the focus or the 
emphasis here on the delivering up because of our offenses is 
on the Father. Again, look back at 325, whom 
God set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to 
demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance God 
had passed over the sins that were previously committed. So 
the instrumentality of the Jewish leaders and Judas Iscariot and 
the Romans, but the purpose and plan of God Most High was the 
overarching situation. As Winslow says, who delivered 
up Jesus to die? Not Judas for money, not Pilate 
for fear, not the Jews for envy, but the father for love. So that's 
where Paul is bringing this particular argument. If you look at chapter 
eight, specifically at verse 32, you see a similar emphasis. And again, this is not a few 
one-offs. You've got it in the prophet 
Isaiah. The Lord was pleased to bruise him or to crush him, 
putting him to grief. Notice in 8.32, he who did not 
spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall 
he not with him also freely give us all things? So it was the 
father, God so loved the world that he gave, not only in the 
incarnation, but in the passion as well. He delivered up his 
son. He delivered up the Lord Jesus 
because of our offenses. In other words, It's either Jesus 
is our substitute, Jesus is our wrath bearer, Jesus bears the 
curse of the broken law, or we do. There's no other option, 
there's no other alternative. If you're not a believer tonight, 
I want to encourage you to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? 
Because he was delivered up for our offenses. But then the text 
goes on. Notice then, secondly, the redemptive 
purpose of the resurrection of Christ. He was delivered up because 
of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. Again, the fact of the resurrection, 
the history. Brethren, we can't have good 
doctrine without real history. We can't just say, well, it doesn't 
really matter if these things took place. It really doesn't 
matter if there was a historical Jesus. It doesn't really matter 
if there was a crucifixion. It really doesn't matter if there 
was a resurrection. What really matters is what those 
stories promote or produce in us. And if you're thinking, well, 
nobody ever does this. There's some very popular people 
right now doing podcasts and doing this very thing. In fact, 
Christianity Today just wrote an article that the Bible nowhere 
says that Jesus was nailed to the cross. Christianity today? I would expect that from paganism 
today, but not from Christianity today. That is a complete rejection 
of the sacred text. So don't think it's an odd sort 
of, you know, he's just picking on a straw man. It doesn't matter 
about the history. It only matters what the story 
promotes or produces in the heart of the people. No, brethren, 
without that history, we don't have the doctrine. Without the 
reality of the last Adam doing what Paul says he does in Romans 
chapter 5, if we don't have that, we don't have salvation. And 
so as we move through the message tonight, we're going to end, 
and I'm going to basically rehearse the history. And I'm not going 
to do that in a great bit of detail. I've done it before. 
I think it's good to keep it before us. in terms of the gospel 
narratives and what it says concerning the resurrection of our Lord 
Jesus. So the one delivered up because 
of our offenses was raised for our justification. Remember the 
language of the angel at the tomb. He is risen. You're not going to find him 
here. Again, the passive verb indicates that the Father raised 
Jesus from the dead. You see something similar in 
Romans 1-4, which we'll look at in just a moment, but this 
does not mean that the Son was uninvolved. In other passages, 
Christ speaks of His power involved in the resurrection. You've got 
to remember inseparable operations, everything external to God, in 
terms of ad extra, those things outside of God. God, the Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit do that. But with reference to appropriations, 
we have it appropriated here specifically to the Father in 
terms of resurrection. Turretin says, although the resurrection 
of Christ is often ascribed to the Father, it does not follow 
that it cannot be ascribed to the Son, because whatever the 
Father does, the Son in like manner does. And as the resurrection 
is an outward work, it ought to be undivided to the whole 
Trinity. So inseparable operations to be sure, but it's predicated 
the Father on many instances. And as we consider this was raised 
because of our justification, Cam read this morning, Pastor 
Cam read this morning 1 Corinthians 15, 17. What does Paul say there 
in 1 Corinthians 15, 17? And if Christ is not risen, your 
faith is futile, you are still in your sins. So it's not just, 
well, we can kind of have this and we can kind of... No, it's 
a package deal, brethren. Life, death, resurrection, ascension, 
exaltation, current session at the right hand of God Most High. 
It's all prophesied in the Old Testament, brought to fruition 
in the New Testament, and absolutely essential for the Christian church 
to confess, to hold to, to fight for, and to do so with great 
zeal and with great vigor and earnestness. This is the faith, 
once for all, delivered to the saints, the faith that we must 
contend earnestly for. And with reference to the result 
of the resurrection, notice, He was raised because of our 
justification, or He was raised for our justification. Typically, 
we don't connect the doctrine of justification with resurrection. I hope to show why Paul does 
that in a moment, but it's perfectly acceptable and it's perfectly 
appropriate. What is justification? Justification 
is an act of God's free grace wherein He pardons all our sins 
and accepts us as righteous in His sight only for the righteousness 
of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. So the apostle 
hinges this great doctrine of justification by faith alone 
on the resurrection, which necessarily involves the death that brought 
it to the point where there would need to be a resurrection. Again, 
it's a package deal. You don't have one without the 
other. Well, I really like the resurrection story, but I'm not 
too into that passion thing. I really like the sorrow and 
death of Jesus. I hope no one has said ever, 
but that resurrection thing, that's not quite for me. No, 
Paul puts these things together for a specific reason, historical 
link between the crucifixion and the resurrection. We started 
worship this morning on Psalm 16. That is a prophecy concerning 
the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter tells us 
as much, the apostle Paul tells us as much. It wasn't David that 
David was writing about in terms of resurrection and his soul 
not being abandoned and she'll, it was Jesus. We've got that 
reference again that Pastor Cam pointed to, the sign of the prophet 
Jonah in Matthew chapter 12. Jesus says that was typical. 
That was forward-looking. The fact that he spent three 
days and three nights in the belly of the great fish and then 
came out or was vomited on the land. So must the Son of Man 
spend that time in the earth and then be raised from the dead. 
I believe resurrection is assumed by Psalm 110.1. Yahweh said to 
my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your 
footstool. When we see that passage applied in the New Testament, 
it's always at the exaltation, which follows the resurrection, 
which necessarily follows the death or crucifixion of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. I think Daniel chapter nine as 
well indicates a resurrection of our blessed Savior. And so 
the doctrine of justification by faith alone, typically linked 
to the death, necessarily involves and includes the resurrection. 
You don't have the death of Christ without the resurrection of Christ. 
You don't have the resurrection of Christ without the death of 
Christ. And subsequent, you've got ascension, you've got exaltation, 
and you've got current session. The resurrection is the necessary 
follow-up to the crucifixion. They're inseparable. Hodge says 
the resurrection of Christ as an historical fact, established 
by the most satisfactory evidence, authenticates the whole gospel. 
As surely as Christ has risen, so surely shall believers be 
saved, as verse 25 specifies. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses, and he was raised for our justification. Now in 
terms of the connection between resurrection and justification, 
I'm sure there's a lot of things that people could add here. I'm 
sure there's a lot of things that hopefully will be provoked 
in your own thoughts, but I just want to offer up four things. 
The resurrection between, rather, connection between resurrection 
and justification. First, the resurrection testified 
that Christ is the Son of God with power. You can turn to Romans 
chapter one. Romans chapter one. We ask the 
question, why does he link justification with resurrection? Here's an 
attempt at an answer. Notice in 1.3 concerning his 
son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David 
according to the flesh and declared to be the son of God with power 
according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the 
dead. This did not constitute him or make him the Son of God, 
it declared rather that He was in fact the Son of God, and that 
with power. We are to believe, according 
to verse 24 in Romans 4, that Jesus is our Lord. In other words, 
the resurrection underscores the truth that the second person 
of the triune God assumed our humanity. He functioned as covenant 
mediator, the surety of a better covenant. He is the one, the 
Davidic Messiah. He is the one sent by God on 
that mission from God to redeem his people from their sins. Calvin 
says, the cross of Christ only triumphs in the breast of believers 
over the devil in the flesh, sin and sinners when their eyes 
are directed to the power of his resurrection. Again, brethren, 
martyrs have died in the history of the world. People die for 
other people in the history of the world. And that's nice. At some level, sentimentally, 
that's a really good story. Perhaps you like reading military 
lore, and you read military stories in history, and you hear about 
a guy, and he dives on a grenade, and he spares the lives of all 
his people. That is good. I'm not suggesting 
it isn't. I'm not necessarily suggesting 
go find a grenade tonight and do that, but that is a good and 
noble thing. There's no redemptive power in 
it. Not so with Christ. He was delivered 
up because of our offenses and He was raised for our justification. I think Calvin is bang on here. 
When their eyes are directed to the power of His resurrection. 
Secondly, the resurrection testified that Christ's sacrifice was accepted. It testified that Christ's sacrifice 
was accepted. Listen to Gill. He says, Christ's 
resurrection did not procure the justification of his people. 
That was done by his obedience and death, but was for the testification 
of it. Our brother used that word this 
morning. I thought, that's great. He kind of paved the way for 
John Gill. But was for the testification 
of it that It might fully appear that sin was atoned for and an 
everlasting righteousness was brought in, and for the application 
of it, or that Christ might live and see his righteousness imputed 
and applied to all those for whom he had wrought it out. Or 
in a more modern theologian, Bavink says the resurrection 
is, quote, a divine endorsement of his mediatorial work, a declaration 
of the power and value of his death, the amen of the father 
upon the it is finished of the son. That's gold. That's one of the reasons why 
we see Paul here say, raised because of our justification. 
I would suggest thirdly, that the resurrection testified that 
satisfaction was rendered. Again, that bit in 321-26. He set him forth as a propitiation 
through his blood. Why? To demonstrate his righteousness. And then specifically, in verse 
26 at the end, that he might be just and the justifier of 
the one who has faith in Jesus. The cross didn't compromise divine 
justice. The cross upheld divine justice. The cross wasn't just a vehicle 
to pour out God's love without any respect to God's law. No, 
it's at the cross that those things are upheld together. It's not just mercy, but it's 
justice. These things kiss, these things 
are are our friends at the cross of our blessed Savior. The law 
was honored and magnified such that God might be just and the 
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Look at verse 
5 in Romans 4. But to him who does not work 
but believes on him, notice, who justifies the ungodly, He 
justifies the ungodly. How could God do that? Because 
Christ was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised 
for our justification. His faith is accounted for righteousness. Verse six, just as David also 
describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness 
apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless 
deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is 
the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. That's the proper 
response to this glorious doctrine. It's to bless, to praise, to 
honor, and to glorify the God of heaven and earth. I would 
suggest, fourthly, the resurrection testified that redemption was 
accomplished. Redemption was accomplished. 
God willing, we're gonna get to John chapter 19 eventually. And in verse 30, Jesus says, 
it is finished. He doesn't say I am finished. 
And I don't think it's this meat, pathetic sort of a thing. It, 
the work the Father has given me, is finished. Several times 
in John's Gospel, and I've tried to point this out along the way, 
Jesus celebrates the act of obedience of Christ. He speaks about doing 
the will of His Father. I always do what is pleasing 
to Him. He speaks about His meat being 
to do the will of the Father. So everything about Jesus in 
that mediatorial capacity was about obeying God the Father 
in terms of the law laid upon Him. And so on the cross, when 
He says, it is finished, that is a triumphant cry concerning 
that covenant of grace. Listen to Spurgeon commenting 
on John 19 30. He says, I am persuaded that 
it was so intended to be used, talking about it was for the 
church, for none of the words of our Lord on the cross are 
addressed to his church. But this one, I cannot believe 
that when he was dying, he left his people for whom he died without 
a word. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do 
is for sinners, not for saints. I thirst is for himself, and 
so is that bitter cry. My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me? Woman, behold, thy son is for 
Mary. Today thou shalt thou be with me in paradise is for the 
penitent thief. Into thy hands I commend my spirit 
is for the father. Jesus must have had something 
to say in the hour of death for his church, and surely this is 
his dying word for her. It is finished. Brethren, that's 
good news to a weary sinner that by grace has come to believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ. So we need to get this out of 
our heads that it's up to Jesus and us. It's a bit of Jesus and 
a bit of me. If you can read Romans and come 
to that conclusion, you're a better man than a lot of people in the 
life of the church. If you can read Galatians, that emphasis 
on justification by faith alone, look at 327. 327, sometimes papists say, well, 
the Bible doesn't say justification by faith alone. Really? Completely 
excluding works isn't faith alone? But notice in 327, where is boasting 
that? It is excluded. By what law? 
Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 
Now note verse 28, therefore we conclude that a man is justified 
by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Sounds like semantics 
to me. Well, it doesn't say sola fide 
specifically. Well, it does. You just don't 
have ears to hear and heart to receive it. There is nothing 
more clearly set out by the apostle, by the apostles, by our blessed 
Savior, by the prophets, and, dare I say, by Moses, than that 
justification is by faith alone. Abraham believed God and it was 
accounted unto him as righteousness or for righteousness. And so 
when it comes to this, it is finished cry from our blessed 
Savior in John 19.30, let that help you on a Thursday when you 
are feeling miserable about yourself. Now, you may have good reason 
to feel miserable about yourself, but go to the cross, go to the 
Savior, consider 1 John 2. My little children, I write these 
things so that you may not sin. And if anyone does sin, we have 
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. 
Sing with the hymn writer, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to 
thy cross I cling. Or even better, foul I to the 
fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die. Or if you want the 
inscripturated version, Zechariah 13.1, in that day there will 
be a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. You guilty of sin 
and uncleanness? Plunged by God's grace beneath 
that flood. Christ satisfied. Christ completed. And as well, I said for one more, 
the resurrection testified that the session was initiated. So 
from the resurrection comes the ascension to the state of exaltation 
and the accession of Christ at the right hand of the Father. 
And we learn in a couple places in the New Testament documents 
that He ever lives to make intercession for us. The Lord Christ at the 
right hand of the Father is our advocate. And He does plead on 
our behalf. So in conclusion, very simple 
text. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses and was raised because of our justification. So I want 
to end by looking at the glory of the resurrection of Christ. 
First, the historical significance, or rather the historical data, 
and then the theological significance of that data. First, the confirmation 
of His death. Cam mentioned the Muslims earlier, 
the swoon theory. He wasn't really dead. He was 
mostly dead. Being mostly dead, when he goes 
into the tomb, he's able to get over whatever malady he was facing. 
Then he came out and people thought that he had risen from the dead. 
James Cameron held that view and made a documentary on that. 
It's out there, the swoon theory. But his death was confirmed by 
men who made it their business to kill people. Honestly, if 
I saw a dead body in the road, I could be off. It's not my business 
to kill people. If I'm a Roman soldier in the 
first century and I'm defending the empire, and I'm fighting 
off the barbarians, I think I'd know what dead is versus mostly 
dead. So his death is confirmed by 
the soldiers. His death is confirmed by Pontius 
Pilate. His death is confirmed by the 
Jewish leaders. His death is confirmed by the 
angel. His death was a reality. So what went into the tomb was 
a dead man. Now the confirmation of his resurrection 
by the angel and Jesus himself. What's the best proof for the 
resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ? Our Lord 
Jesus Christ and his resurrected status. Now consider the gospel 
narratives. He appeared first to the women 
who had left the tomb in Matthew 28 and then to Mary Magdalene 
in John 20. He appeared to Cleopas and the 
unnamed disciple on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. He then 
appeared to Peter sometime that same afternoon, Luke 24, 1 Corinthians 
15. He appeared to the eleven minus 
Thomas on that day of resurrection in the upper room. He invited 
his disciples to touch him and he ate broiled fish and honeycomb 
with them. He appeared a week later to his disciples, this 
time Thomas was present. By the way, Thomas was the chief 
skeptic. Thomas was the doubter. Thomas 
was the denier. Unless my eyes see and my hands 
touch, I will not believe. Huh, here he comes with my Lord 
and my God. It's a great way to end John's 
gospel. The gospel that introduces the 
word who was with God, the word who was God is confessed by Thomas, 
who was at one point the chief skeptic, but the gospel ends 
with that blessed confession, that lofty confession of faith. 
He appeared to seven of his disciples by the sea of Tiberias and prepared 
and ate breakfast with them. He appeared to the 11 on a mountain 
of Galilee. This occasion could have possibly 
been the one when he also appeared to more than 500 people. He appeared 
to James, his half-brother. He appeared again to the 11 on 
the occasion of his ascension into heaven. He appeared to Saul 
of Tarsus sometime later. That's a lot of witnesses, brethren. 
There's a lot of people involved. This is not some great sort of 
charade. He appeared to individuals. He 
appeared to a pair of disciples. He appeared to small groups. 
He appeared to large assemblies. He appeared to women and men. 
He appeared in public and private at different times of the day, 
both in Jerusalem and Galilee. This is not the testimony of 
a mass hallucination. Now we hear a lot about UFOs, 
but back when I was younger, you'd hear about them. And typically 
they would be sighted at about 2 a.m. outside of an Air Force 
base by guys drinking lots of wine. Well, yeah, you're gonna 
see UFOs given those particular conditions. Mass hallucination, 
or at least small group hallucination. That's not what the New Testament 
documents reveal at all. Now, the emphasis on the scientific 
approach, seeing in Matthew 28, come, see the place, Matthew 
28, six. Matthew 28, seven, there you 
will what? You will see him. And in verse 10, there they will 
see me. In other words, investigate it, 
go check it out, go to the tomb, look and see. Look and see for 
yourself. In fact, Jesus does that post-resurrection 
to Thomas. Go ahead! But, blessed are those 
who believe, who didn't have to see and touch. Now, in terms 
of the so-called problems with the resurrection, the fact that 
women are the first witnesses is a compelling piece of evidence 
in terms of the veracity of the account. Women in that situation 
were not looked upon as credible witnesses. So if I'm a forger 
and I'm a faker, I'm going to leave that out. I'd like to say 
and think I'm more holy than that, but hey, I kind of know 
the depths of depravity there. In other words, if you're going 
to fake, or you're going to forge, or you're going to do something 
to try to pull the wool over people's eyes, wouldn't you get 
rid of those unsavory details that would make that more challenging? 
Josephus says, let not the testimony of women be admitted on account 
of the levity and boldness of their sex. A fake would have 
left that out. Just like I think a fake would 
have left out 2 Samuel 11. What happens in 2 Samuel 11? 
David commits grievous sin. Well, not a fake there necessarily, 
but somebody who only ever wanted to see David as a grand hero. 
Well, the spirit of God who brings inspiration to the author says, 
no, put it in there. David committed adultery and 
he covered up with conspiracy to murder. As well, the fact 
that the gospel records are not smoothed out, the differences, 
not contradictions, brethren, differences are not contradictions. but the fact that they're not 
smoothed out. You put four different people 
in a room and say, let's each write a narrative. We're gonna 
try to get our details straight. We're certainly not gonna put 
in Matthew 28 that when Jesus rose from the dead, he's making 
an appearance to all of his disciples and some worshiped, but others 
doubted. I might be tempted to leave out 
that doubt part because that doesn't favor the star of the 
show. That's not the way the gospel 
records come to us. Again, not contradictory, but 
not exact uniformity either. The differences that exist can 
in fact be harmonized and smarter men than I have done it. But 
the fact that there needs to be, or rather a looking at these 
details and comparing them, fakes would have smoothed it all out. 
They would have shaved off the rough edges. They would have 
made their story straight. Now, in terms of the historicity 
of the resurrection, brethren, we own that. We confess it, just 
like he was delivered up because of our offenses. He was raised 
for our justification. Let us never cease to praise 
God for this. Let us never cease to preach 
to the heathen this. And let us never capitulate to 
the mindset that says, well, it doesn't matter about the history. What really matters is what that 
story does in terms of a person's life. No, that's unacceptable. If that history is fake, if that 
history is falsified, if the Word did not become flesh and 
dwell among us, if He did not function as the Lamb of God who 
takes away the sin of the world, then there's no taking away the 
sin of the world. We are dead in our trespasses 
and sins, and we are, of all men, the most to be pitied. That's 
Paul's logic in 1 Corinthians 15, and it's impeccable. Now 
then, finally, the theological significance. The work of satisfaction 
having been accomplished, Christ was no longer under the dominion 
of death. Turn to Romans 6, verses 9 and 
10. Romans 6, 9, knowing that Christ, 
having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer 
has dominion over him. For the death that he died, he 
died to sin once for all, but the life that he lives, he lives 
to God. Hodge again says, with a dead 
Savior, a Savior over whom death had triumphed and held captive, 
our justification had been forever impossible. So it's kind of frustrating 
about, well, it's kind of really frustrating about the crucifixion. 
The, you know, the thing that hangs in paperless churches. 
Christ is on the cross. Oh, we need His death. We need that empty tomb, brethren. 
We need that He is risen declaration. Why? Because He was delivered 
up because of our offenses and He was raised for our justification. Secondly, the work of satisfaction 
having been accomplished, the Father raised the Son to testify 
the completion of the work. Back to Turretin, he says, but 
there is a peculiar reason why it, resurrection, is ascribed 
to the Father, on account of the obligation which Christ took 
upon Himself, from which He ought to be released by the Father 
as judge, who as He had delivered up Christ to death for our sins, 
so He ought to raise Him up again for our justification, in order 
to testify that a full satisfaction had been made by Him. Beautiful. And then I would suggest, thirdly 
and finally, The work of satisfaction having been accomplished, and 
what Paul just said in Romans 4.25, he was delivered up because 
of our offenses and was raised for our justification, necessarily 
and thematically and theologically and literarily leads to Romans 
5.1. Therefore, having been justified 
by faith, we have peace with God. The end game is the forgiveness 
of our sins, the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ 
received by faith alone. What does that produce? What 
does that yield? What does that obligate us toward? Peace. Peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. So the apostle's logic is impeccable, 
his theology is glorious, and it's built and founded and grounded 
upon the historical reality that in the fullness of the time, 
God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, 
to redeem those under the law. If you are not a believer, look 
to the Lord Jesus Christ and be ye saved. Romans 10.9 is a 
great way to finish this in terms of exhortation for the unconverted. Romans 10.9, if you confess with 
your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God 
has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the 
heart, one believes under righteousness and with the mouth, confession 
is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, whoever 
believes on him will not be put to shame, For there is no distinction 
between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to 
all who calls upon him. For whoever calls on the name 
of the Lord shall be saved. Praise God for abundant grace 
and mercy and salvation to be had in and through the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let us pray.