[0:00] Take your copy of God's Word and turn with me to Isaiah chapter 50.! Isaiah 50. We'll begin reading in verse 4.
[0:15] ! This is the Word of the Lord. The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary.
[0:26] He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious.
[0:36] I have not drawn back. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
[0:48] Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near.
[1:01] Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other. Who is my accuser? Let him confront me. It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.
[1:12] Who is he that will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment. The moths will eat them up. Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant?
[1:23] Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze.
[1:41] This is what you shall receive from my hand. You will lie down in torment. Christ is worthy of all the praise that we can give him.
[1:53] It's a wonderful thing to be singing his praises this morning. You know, the gospel is indeed good news, and Paul tells us that it includes the fact that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again according to the Scriptures and appeared to many.
[2:16] And that gospel is like a gem, like a diamond that we can look at from different angles and appreciate the wonder and marvels of it. And the resurrection itself, which is really just one facet in that diamond, that itself can be looked at in different ways.
[2:36] And this morning, I want us to consider the resurrection of Christ as the Father's vindication of his Son. I have three points this morning.
[2:47] The suffering, or excuse me, the staggering claims of Christ. Secondly, Christ and his claims mocked by men. And then thirdly, Christ and his claims vindicated by God.
[3:02] The resurrection as the Father's vindication of his Son. And two things by way of introduction. The first is that this idea of the resurrection of Christ being vindication by the Father of his Son is not my idea.
[3:18] It was taken from the lips of our Lord himself. You won't find it in the four gospels, but you saw it there in the text that was just read for us, in that servant of the Lord's song of Isaiah chapter 50.
[3:33] In the midst of his sufferings, the suffering servant says, he who vindicates me is near. So keep your Bibles open here in Isaiah 50, and we'll be back to it.
[3:47] Second thing by way of introduction is what does it mean to vindicate? Kids, that's a big word, and maybe you're not familiar with it. But to vindicate someone is to clear them from accusation and blame.
[4:02] It's to prove that they were right. So it's to justify a person, to declare them to be right. Well, just this week, I heard a man use this word, vindicate.
[4:18] He had bought a home generator so that when the power goes out in a storm, the generator kicks on, and so they have electricity in the house. They're not cheap. And his wife was against it, and not sure of all her reasons, but according to him, she blamed him.
[4:34] She said, you bought that just because your friend got one, and you wanted to keep up with him. I don't know if that's what she said. That's what he told me she said. But he responded to her, and to her accusation, no, no, you're having a baby, and if the power goes out, I want our baby to be kept warm.
[4:58] And he said to me, wouldn't you know it, that in the winter, a storm hit, and we were without power, and I was vindicated.
[5:10] I was shown to be in the right, and her charges were shown to be faulty, no grounds to them whatsoever. And being right is important to a man, isn't it?
[5:23] Well, so the resurrection of Jesus from the dead was the father's vindication of his son, proving that the charges against Jesus were all wrong, and all of his claims were right.
[5:39] So we look first of all then at the staggering claims of Jesus Christ. Do you know that Jesus Christ made many claims that no other man ever dared to make?
[5:52] Before Abraham was, I am. Abraham had been dead for 2,000 years, and Jesus says before he was, I am.
[6:05] What would you think if I said that? Before Abraham, before George Washington, I was. Well, you'd think I was foolish, stupid, lost my head.
[6:21] And they called Jesus, are you not demon-possessed for saying such a thing? You're not even 50 years old yet, and you have seen Abraham? I am. Ha! And he looked no different from any other normal Jew his age.
[6:38] He simply can't be that old. And yet that's what he claimed. He also claimed, I am the son of God, and my father has sent me from heaven on a mission.
[6:51] Nobody had ever said that before. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Think of that. No one in the universe can get to the Father except through me.
[7:07] He said, whoever believes in me will not perish but have everlasting life. Can you think of a man saying such things? What a bold claim. He said, I am the resurrection and the life.
[7:20] He who believes in me will live even though he dies. And it all hinges on believing on the Lord Jesus, this man standing among them. And he said, you know those Old Testament scriptures, your Bibles that you leaders are so fond of searching, thinking that you have eternal life in them.
[7:40] They are the things that testify of me. The whole Bible, it's about me, he claimed. And then he claimed to have authority on earth to forgive sins, which only God can do.
[7:53] And he claimed that he was going away, but he would return at the end of this age to judge all men. He says, the Father will judge no man.
[8:03] He's committed all judgment to me, his son. And in that day, all the nations of the earth will be gathered before me. And like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, I will separate all men, one from another.
[8:19] And those on my right will be the sheep, and those on the left will be the goats. And to those on the right, I will say, come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
[8:32] And to those on my left, I will say, depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And they will go away to eternal punishment and the righteous to eternal life.
[8:47] At my word, it will be heaven or hell for all people. Now, that's just a quick sampling of the staggering claims that Jesus made.
[9:00] This man from Nazareth who looked no different from any other man from Nazareth, so ordinary. The Bible says there was nothing majestic or impressive about his outward appearance.
[9:12] He's just the carpenter's son. So easy to dismiss him. And yet, what claims he makes for himself? Well, the Jewish leaders weren't buying it, and they said, well, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.
[9:29] We want you to prove that these claims are true. Well, Jesus' entire three years of ministry were full of miraculous signs and wonders, weren't they?
[9:42] Causing the people to say, we've never seen anything like this. Oh, but the leaders still want more signs. And so Jesus said to them, a wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except for the sign of the prophet Jonah.
[10:04] For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Kids, what happened to Jonah on the third day?
[10:17] He got spit out, burped up onto land. Exactly. And so, up he came from his watery grave onto the shore.
[10:31] And Jesus is saying in the same way, I too, after being in the heart of the earth will come forth alive. This is the one sign that he gave. The one sign on which he will hang all his other claims.
[10:47] By my resurrection from the dead, you will know that all I have said is true. If I don't rise from the dead, you can safely ignore all my claims as false.
[11:00] It was all or nothing hanging on the resurrection, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It's just what the Apostle Paul says later in 1 Corinthians 15.
[11:12] If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, useless, and so is your faith.
[11:24] We are liars, and you are still in your sins, and are to be pitied more than all men. So the whole Christian religion stands or falls on this claim, I will rise again.
[11:40] The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So these are some of the staggering claims of Christ. We come now to the second point. Christ and his claims mocked by men.
[11:52] How did men respond to these claims of Jesus? Well, John puts it right up front in his gospel, doesn't he? He came to his own, and his own received him not. Oh, there were the exceptions who believed in his name, and to them he gave the right to become the children of God, born not of men, but of God.
[12:10] But for the most part, they rejected Christ and his claims. And the testimony of the whole Scriptures is of one voice in this matter.
[12:21] Isaiah 53 tells us that he was despised and rejected by men. We've seen it in our study of Mark's gospel, haven't we? That very early, right from the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, the spiritual leaders of Israel rejected his claims and were plotting how they might kill Jesus.
[12:40] That was Mark chapter 3, verse 6. And about three years later, they did have him crucified, even as they had plotted. Now, crucifixion was painful and shameful.
[12:54] It was a vertical torture rack, suffocating the crucified who could live sometimes for days. But when Hebrews 12 talks about Jesus enduring the cross, it doesn't even mention the pain.
[13:09] Perhaps it's understood, but it does mention the shame of the cross. The shame of the cross. It was a shameful thing to be sentenced to crucifixion.
[13:21] The worst punishment, a disgrace. It was a shameful thing to be numbered with the transgressors so that anyone walking by and seeing the criminal there and the criminal there would imagine that one there is a criminal too and he's getting what he deserves just like the rest of them.
[13:43] It was shameful to be numbered with them. It was shameful to have them spit in your face. One of the highest indignities. It was shameful to be hung up naked to have his beard pulled out.
[13:58] I'm told that it's still a shameful thing in the Middle East to shave a man's beard. His was ripped out of his face. It was shameful to have his face beaten to a pulp beyond recognition.
[14:12] Isaiah 52, 14 says they were appalled at him. His appearance was so disfigured and his form marred beyond human likeness.
[14:24] Not, who is he? What is he? That was shameful. And so you see what they're doing. They're mocking his claim.
[14:35] They're pouring out shame and disgrace upon the Savior. Now there's something about fallen human nature that loves to pile it on when a man is down.
[14:46] As Jesus is arrested and tried, he's not looking now like some majestic king come to save us from the Romans. He's looking weak and helpless as a victim.
[15:01] And even the crowd then turns on him. This isn't the king we wanted. And they too get in on the mockery and ridicule.
[15:13] They mocked his claims. Remember, Jesus was a great prophet, the prophet that Moses talked about back in Deuteronomy chapter 18. And so the men guarding Jesus after his rest began mocking and beating him.
[15:28] They blindfolded him and demanded, prophesy, who hits you? And they said many other insulting things to him. You see what they were doing? They were mocking his claim to be the prophet, the mediating prophet between God and man to tell us about God and how to be right with God, who we are, who he is, the way of salvation.
[15:50] And they mocked his claim, blindfolding him and hitting him and saying, prophesy, who hits you? And then there was his claim to be the Christ.
[16:03] The Christ means the anointed one, the anointed king of Israel. And they repeatedly mocked him and his kingship. Remember, Pilate wanted to get rid of this decision.
[16:15] He didn't like it. He knew he was innocent and he was being pressured by the Jews. So he finds out that he's from Galilee and sends him over to Herod who's in town and says, oh, this is his jurisdiction.
[16:25] And King Herod plied him with questions and Jesus didn't answer a word. And so what did Herod do? He dressed him up in a purple robe, sent him back to Pilate. And that day, Pilate and Herod became friends.
[16:38] Before that, they were enemies. What brought them together? The mockery of Jesus, the king. Look at him. There's the robe for him. Beaten, bloodied.
[16:51] And then you remember when they turned him over to be crucified, the Bible says that the soldiers took him into the praetorium where they would flog him and they called together the whole company of soldiers.
[17:11] The whole company must have something to make their boring job, at least some foul game.
[17:22] And they put a purple robe on him. Oh, but a king needs a crown. And they wove together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. Then they took a staff and put it in his hands.
[17:36] Oh, a king needs a scepter. And then they took that rod and they beat him in the head, pounding that crown of thorns deeper and deeper.
[17:46] And then they began to call out to him, Hail, king of the Jews. Again and again they struck him on the head and spit on him.
[17:57] Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put on his own clothes and led him out to be crucified. You see, to these rude soldiers, Jesus the king is just the, just the butt of their joke.
[18:13] They mocked his claim to be the prophet, to be the king. And it's like once they nailed him to the cross and hung him up before all men to see, it's like the floodgates of mockery just opened wide open.
[18:29] And oh, how they mocked his claim to be king, to be the only savior, the son of God. Everyone got in on it. Soldiers who crucified him cried, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.
[18:46] The criminals who hung there hurled insults at him. Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us. The chief priests, scribes, and elders, mocking his claim of being savior and king, sneered at him and said, he saved others?
[18:59] Let him save himself if he is the king, the Christ of God, the chosen one. And if he can, we'll believe in him then. Oh foolish, foolish rulers.
[19:11] If he saves himself, he cannot save us. Brothers and sisters, do you know that when Jesus had the choice of saving himself or saving us, he chose us over himself?
[19:30] You'd think we'd want to thank him every day for that choice. Wouldn't you? Oh, how they mocked his claim to be the only savior.
[19:42] He can't even save himself. And even those passing by looked over and wagged their heads and said, if you are the son of God, come down from the cross.
[19:56] There's something devilish in all of this that's going on. This mockery of Jesus being the son of God. Remember, that's what the devil tempted Jesus with.
[20:09] Those 40 days in the wilderness. At his baptism, at the beginning of his three-year ministry, he's baptized and a voice from heaven speaks.
[20:19] This is the father speaking. And he says, you are my son. You are my son. He identifies his sonship. My son whom I love with you, I am well pleased.
[20:36] And immediately the spirit drove him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And what does the devil say? If you are the son of God, then turn these stones into bread.
[20:47] If you are the son of God, jump off of the highest point of the tower and prove it that surely if God is your father and you're his son, he'll protect you and keep your foot from dashing upon the ground.
[21:03] The devil had his hand in the mockery of Christ that day. It's like all the demons of hell attacked him.
[21:16] But the mocking that must have cut our Lord the deepest was when the ruler said, he trusts in God. Let God deliver him if he wants him.
[21:26] if he wants him. You see what he's aiming at? Again, he's attacking the connection between Jesus and the Father.
[21:38] Does he even want him? That's the doubt he's seeking to pour into the soul of Jesus as he's suffering. And you see, the problem was that it looked like God didn't want him.
[21:54] God wasn't treating him as his beloved son. He was treating him as hated sin for he was made sin for us and God Almighty was pouring out his wrath on him and it wrenched from his soul the cry, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
[22:17] He trusts in God? Well, let God deliver him if he wants him. You see how that stung the Lord Jesus. But you know, no father ever loved a son like the heavenly father loved his one and only son.
[22:34] And he never loved him more than when he was hanging on the cross enduring the wrath of God because he was being obedient to his father even to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
[22:50] And the father loves his son because he obeys him. So the claims of Jesus, they were mocked in life and they were mocked in his death.
[23:04] It looked like his enemies were right and Jesus was wrong as they accused him of not being righteous but being sinful. That he was a blasphemer claiming to be God, claiming to be the son of God, equal with God when he clearly isn't.
[23:19] That he was a lying pretender, a false messiah king, that he was no savior at all either of himself or others, that his claims were all false and he was getting what he had coming from God and man.
[23:32] And so he died with scornful ridicule and mockery and accusations filling his ears. Now, the heavenly father is watching all of this.
[23:47] What will he do? What will he do about it? Well, he will vindicate his son. He will vindicate his son. He will clear him of all these charges being made against him.
[24:01] He will prove that he is righteous and not sinful, that he is right in all of his claims and they are wrong. So we come to our last point. Christ and his claims vindicated by God.
[24:14] Now, our Lord Jesus knew that the father was going to vindicate him in the end. It was no small part of what held him together as he's being beaten, mocked, and insulted, and accused.
[24:29] It's what kept him going until he could cry and triumph. It is finished. And then could commit his spirit into the hands of his heavenly father, confident of being vindicated by him even while they are pouring mockery and abuse upon him.
[24:48] How do we know this? We have Jesus' own words on this. Isaiah 50, look again. This is the third of the five servant, son songs, as they're called in Isaiah.
[25:06] The suffering servant of the Lord. And this is the third song about him. And here we have the very words of Jesus recorded for us in Isaiah 50, four to nine.
[25:18] And here he says in verse five, the suffering Lord, or excuse me, the sovereign Lord, this is Jesus speaking of his father, the sovereign Lord has opened my ears.
[25:31] He's spoken to me about my mission and why I'm coming here and what it is. This is Jesus in his humanity. He's having God teach him about his mission.
[25:44] And he says, I have not been rebellious. I haven't been rebellious like Jonah when he was given a mission and he went the other way. I haven't drawn back from the mission.
[25:56] He says, rather, I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
[26:13] You see, that was the mission. The cross, the shame the shameful as well as painful death of the cross. And I want to know, how could Jesus endure all of that?
[26:27] Well, he tells us right here, verse 7, Isaiah 50, because the sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, have I set my face like flint.
[26:40] I'm going to finish this mission and I know I will not be put to shame. It's not going to end this way for me. And now, verse 8, he who vindicates me is near.
[26:54] Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other. Who is my accuser? Let him confront me. It is the sovereign Lord who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me?
[27:07] As our Lord was suffering on the cross, dear ones, he was confident that it would not end like this, that the Father would come and vindicate him and vindicate all his claims, all that he had ever said, he would help him.
[27:23] And so it won't end in shame and disgrace because he who vindicates me is near. So near that when Jesus took his last breath, the Father's vindication of his son began.
[27:36] Matthew writes, at that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Son, this is the Father acting to vindicate his son as Savior, showing he is the Savior he claimed to be by the sacrifice of himself to take away sin.
[27:56] He is reconciled, believing sinners to a holy God. And that curtain in the most, that covered the most holy place and said to the worshiper, stay out for centuries.
[28:09] God took a hold of it and tore it from top to bottom saying, my son's sacrifice, his blood has merit to now welcome any sinner who comes to me through him.
[28:22] sin. So, sinner friend, trusting in Jesus, you can now have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain that is his body.
[28:39] The way in is now open. God is vindicating his son, the merits of his suffering. For Christ died for sin once for all time, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God, to get us past the curtain and into his presence forever.
[28:59] But there were more vindications that day. Matthew goes on to say, at that moment when Jesus died, the earth shook and the rocks split. As if God is calling this world to attention, this is a moment of all moments in human history.
[29:16] Don't miss what's going on at the cross. And then we read that the tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.
[29:30] They came out of the tombs and after Jesus' resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. And when Matthew wrote it, there were still witnesses that could tell you, yes, my uncle was dead for ten years.
[29:45] And the moment Jesus died, he rose from the dead and came into town and we saw him. We saw him. They could acknowledge that what Matthew wrote was true.
[29:59] But what did Jesus claim? He claimed to be the resurrection and the life, didn't he? With eternal life to give to whoever believes in him. And so God will vindicate his son by giving this sampling of what he will do when he returns the second time and he raised people from the dead, vindicating his son's claim to be the resurrection and the life.
[30:25] There's some more vindication as Matthew goes on to say when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed, surely he was the son of God.
[30:39] So if the religious leaders will mock his claim to be the son of God, will say, that's why we're killing you because you're a blasphemer, God will use some hardened Roman soldiers whose job was to torture people.
[30:56] He will use them to vindicate his son saying, oh no, surely he was the son of God. But these were just like foretaste of the coming vindication for the father's greater vindication of his son was to come on the third day when he raised him from the dead.
[31:19] Remember, that was the one sign given by Jesus to this generation that would prove all of his claims. Jesus had said, he who vindicates me is near.
[31:35] And indeed, his vindication was just three days away when he said that as on the third day up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph o'er his foes.
[31:48] For on the first day of the week there was another violent earthquake, God again getting man's attention. Yes, the death of Christ shook the earth. You must know what happened on that cross.
[32:01] It's earth shattering. And now he shakes the earth again. You must know what happened when Jesus came forth from the dead. He shakes the earth again.
[32:15] And an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb rolled back the stone and sat on it. He rolled back the stone not to let Jesus out, kids, but to let eyewitnesses in to see that he's not there.
[32:29] And that's indeed what the women did. They went in and the angel said, I know you're looking for Jesus who was crucified. He's not here. He's risen. Just as he said.
[32:40] Just as he claimed. Come and see the place where he lay and then go quickly and tell his disciples he is risen from the dead. The resurrection of Christ was the ultimate proof, the ultimate vindication of all that Jesus claimed to be as the son of God.
[32:59] Paul, when he starts his gospel to the Romans, writes, Jesus Christ was declared to be the son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.
[33:10] By his resurrection from the dead, you have all the proof you need to know that Jesus is God's son. So the father vindicated him, cleared him of all that scorn and mockery that had been heaped upon him three days earlier, proving that Jesus is right in all that he said.
[33:31] He is the son of God with authority to forgive sins, the only savior, the only way to the father, the resurrection and the life who has eternal life to give to those who believe on him.
[33:42] He trusted in his father to vindicate him and he was not disappointed or put to shame. So pleased was the father with his obedience unto the death of the cross, as Pastor Colin reminded us, that he not only raised him from the dead, but he just kept raising him.
[34:01] And he exalted him to the highest place and gave him a name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
[34:13] That is the word for God. He is God. He is God the son. He is the only savior and is worthy of the highest place.
[34:26] But there is yet a further vindication of Jesus' claims. For he claimed to be the final judge of all who had ever lived. Remember? He said that he will assign the eternal destinies of all men to heaven or to hell.
[34:45] And that claim was proven true as every other claim by his resurrection from the dead. But people still denied it. Saul of Tarsus denied it even after the resurrection.
[35:00] Of course, they had a story. Well, his disciples came and stole him away during the night. That's why the tomb is empty. So Saul of Tarsus didn't think that this claim of a resurrection proved that Jesus is the judge.
[35:16] that is until he met the risen Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus and saw the resurrected, glorified Lord Jesus and talked to him and became a believer.
[35:33] And every human being that's ever lived will have that same experience of meeting the living, risen Lord.
[35:43] I'm not saying have the conversion experience but the experience of saying, oh, I didn't think, I didn't believe in the resurrection but they will see for themselves he's alive and will not be able to hold to their disbelief anymore.
[36:00] Revelation 1-7, look, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him even those who pierced him and all the peoples of the earth, all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him so shall it be.
[36:15] Amen. Every eye see him, every knee bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[36:27] That day's coming. The further vindication of the Father to his Son. In Acts chapter 17 when Paul gets to Athens and he's greatly distressed, his whole innards are just twisted within him when he saw the Athenians worshiping idols and he met with some of them there at the Areopagus and he said to them, in the past God overlooked such ignorance.
[36:55] You wise men, God overlooked such ignorance of bowing down before dead idols. He just overlooked it.
[37:06] but now he commands all people everywhere to repent for he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed and he's given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.
[37:25] Do you know that there is a day on God's calendar for the judge to judge the whole world? It's as sure as your calendar at home has things for you to do this week.
[37:36] There is a day on God's calendar when he will judge the world in righteousness. And he's already assigned who the judge of that day will be. It's Jesus Christ, the righteous one who will judge in absolute justice.
[37:52] and he's given proof of this by raising him from the dead.
[38:05] You know, men could jeer and laugh at Jesus' claim to be the judge of all men while he's dead in the grave. What can a dead judge do?
[38:20] And then the father raised him. As if to prove to all men, not as if, to prove to all men. This is all the proof you need that judgment day is going on as planned.
[38:33] My king is alive. My judge is alive and well. How will you meet him, my friend? How will you meet him in that day as your friend or your foe?
[38:46] Are you ready to meet him if that meeting would happen today? Well, are you repenting and trusting in Christ as your God, as your Savior?
[39:03] If so, you will find that Jesus Christ has met all the demands of the law for you, perfectly obeyed the law, which is what the law demands. Obey, disobey, or it's death.
[39:14] He obeyed for every believer. And He will have met all the demands of the law for the broken law, the penalty for lawbreakers when He died on the cross for His people.
[39:32] But outside of Jesus Christ, there's only condemnation. You are condemned already, Jesus says, because you've not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
[39:43] But I ask, why? Why would you not believe when the Son of God has come and by His death and resurrection has opened the way into heaven and Himself welcomes all who will come unto God through Him and assures you that if you come, He will receive you.
[40:02] For He turns none away. Right there, right now, take Him at His word, confess yourself to be a sinner and say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner, and save me for Jesus' sake because of what He did for sinners.
[40:18] That's our living hope. That's our happy hope. That's our sure hope in life and in death and for all eternity. We'll see the Father has vindicated His Son.
[40:29] It all happened just as Jesus said it would. And dear believers, a word to you. There is so much comfort poured into the resurrection of Christ for you.
[40:41] Again, it's a gem that we could show all kinds of comforts for you. Without Christ's resurrection, His death can do us no good. Everything hangs on the resurrection.
[40:54] If the resurrection doesn't happen, none of the rest matters. You're dead in your sins. Your faith is worthless. My preaching is worthless. If Christ is not risen, His death accomplished nothing for you.
[41:10] Your faith is futile. Oh, but Christ has indeed risen is how Paul goes on to say. He has indeed risen from the dead. We're not talking hypothetically now as if He hasn't risen.
[41:23] Yes, you need to consider that. Oh, but here's the reality. He has indeed risen from the dead. He lives and therein is the comfort that flows to the believer.
[41:36] Because of His resurrection, death can do us no harm. Its sting is gone. Christ took the sting of death, which is sin, on the cross for all who trust in Him.
[41:52] God's wrath with me can have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience and blood hides all my transgressions from view. So in Christ, you stand forgiven.
[42:04] You stand justified, declared righteous in the court of heaven, vindicated by God, and all accusations against you are silenced. It's interesting that we find these words of our Savior when we come to that glorious chapter, Romans 8, a chapter that's very aware of accusations, charges of condemnation being leveled against us who are the people of God.
[42:35] And we're not told who is making those condemning charges against us. I believe it's intentional that it's not spoken about. Who is it making these charges against God's people? Because it leaves the door open for all those who are charging God's people.
[42:51] All the accusations being made against us. And so indeed, where are these accusations coming from? Well, outside of Christ, the very law of God is condemning us.
[43:06] If you're not in Christ this morning, the law of God has one thing to say to you. You are damned. You have not kept every commandment all the time.
[43:19] That was the arrangement between God and man. And Adam didn't obey. And one offense was all it took. And if you've disobeyed once, the law has nothing to say to you, but you are condemned outside of Christ.
[43:36] Oh, but in Christ.
[43:48] In Christ. Well, verse 1 of Romans 8 says, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why not?
[44:01] Because Christ was damned for you. in my place condemned he stood. Sealed my pardon with his blood.
[44:12] So, where are these accusations coming from? Well, they may come from the world. The same world that mocked Jesus is the world that we live in today.
[44:23] And they do ridicule our faith. What fools. Oh, out of touch with. With reality.
[44:35] Believe these claims of the Bible. And the world accuses us as being in the wrong, on the wrong side of history. Charges us as being evil.
[44:46] We're the troublemakers in our world today. We're the enemies of mankind. So, there are accusations coming from the world. But on top of that, there is the devil who is called the accuser of the brethren.
[45:01] And he's ever making his accusations against the believer for our sins. Mocking our faith. How can you say that you're saved and yet sin like you do?
[45:15] Charging us as guilty, still under God's wrath. And then there's our own conscience. It may join in and actually condemn us as well for our sins and accuse us of guilt.
[45:33] But for those who are in Christ by faith, we can be sure we are vindicated as righteous. Since Christ's perfect righteousness is counted ours, that means we're seen by the judge as if we'd never sinned, but it actually obeyed every command all the time because that was Christ's obedience.
[45:56] Every command all the time. And by faith, that has been imputed to our account. So no charge of condemnation can stick against us.
[46:07] You say, what about the penalty for my sins? Well, he paid it all at Calvary. So not only is Christ vindicated, according to Isaiah 50 and verse 8, he who vindicates me is near, who then will bring charges against me?
[46:19] Let's face each other. Who's my accuser? Let him confront me. Sovereign Lord helps me. Who is he who will condemn me? And if Christ is vindicated by his resurrection, so are his people vindicated who are in him.
[46:37] So Paul can write in Romans 8 and verse 31, if God is for us, who can be against us? And then, verse 33, he takes the very language that Jesus was quoted in Isaiah 50 and verse 8.
[46:55] And Paul says, who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Same word for vindicates.
[47:06] King James translates vindication back in Isaiah 50 as he who vindicates me, he who justifies me.
[47:17] It's to declare righteous and erase all the accusations, to show we're in the right. And so who can bring any charges against those whom God has chosen? It's God who justifies.
[47:29] Who is he that condemns? You see, God's verdict is the one verdict that counts in heaven. Doesn't matter what anyone else says. What does God say about me as he judges me and brings down the gavel?
[47:43] And Paul says, if you're in Christ, he brings the gavel down and he says, it's God who justifies us. He declares us right against whatever the charges are against you and the condemnation made.
[47:59] He vindicates us. So who can be against us? So I trust you see the resurrection speaks vindication for Jesus and for all who have taken refuge in Christ.
[48:09] So drink it in for your comfort today. Trusting child of God. But there's even more because Paul goes on to say, it is God who justifies us.
[48:21] Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus who died for our sin. More than that, was raised to life.
[48:34] He is now at the right hand of God. he's on the throne with God ruling and reigning for us and also makes intercession for us.
[48:48] Christian, do you know that Jesus is there with all power and authority on the throne that rules the universe by his Father and he is praying for us to the Father to send us to send us everything that we need.
[49:07] You in your particular life and troubles, he's praying for you in a particular way that's different from me. He knows your trials as if you were the only one that he's praying for and he prays for you and he prays for every grace that you and I need to get us all the way to the end until we'll see him face to face so we can be assured that with a risen Savior at the right hand of God ever interceding for us, nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
[49:42] In Christ Jesus, our Lord, get into him and if you're in him, rejoice. Rejoice. You know, Jesus' critic said if he is the Son of God, well, then the Father will surely deliver him if he wants him.
[50:01] You know what that reminds me of? Reminds me of Isaiah 42.1 when the Father spoke of his Son back in Isaiah 42.1. He says, Behold, my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom is my delight.
[50:20] The Father delighted in his Son and that's why he was sure to vindicate. As in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive but each in his own turn, Christ the firstfruits and then when he comes, all who belong to him.
[50:39] Amen.