WEBVTT 00:00:00.736 --> 00:00:05.250 Please turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 2. 00:00:05.250 --> 00:00:08.953 I would like to have us read together 00:00:08.953 --> 00:00:16.110 the first seven verses once again. 00:00:16.110 --> 00:00:20.931 Remembering the context. 00:00:24.569 --> 00:00:32.452 Paul says that he remembers the Ephesians 00:00:32.452 --> 00:00:35.342 in his prayers, 00:00:35.342 --> 00:00:43.317 and he asks that God would give them 00:00:43.317 --> 00:00:45.733 the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation 00:00:45.733 --> 00:00:47.596 in the knowledge of Him. 00:00:47.596 --> 00:00:48.976 He wanted their eyes, 00:00:48.976 --> 00:00:52.642 their hearts enlightened. 00:00:52.642 --> 00:00:59.759 The hope of our calling. 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:04.112 That we would know what is 00:01:04.112 --> 00:01:07.364 the immeasurable greatness of His power 00:01:07.364 --> 00:01:08.994 toward us who believe 00:01:08.994 --> 00:01:11.335 according to the working of His great might. 00:01:11.335 --> 00:01:14.165 That is the issue on the table. 00:01:14.165 --> 00:01:19.067 That we would have revelation of God, 00:01:19.067 --> 00:01:23.609 and that we would come to know this power of God 00:01:23.609 --> 00:01:28.241 that is being demonstrated on behalf of 00:01:28.241 --> 00:01:29.949 those who believe. 00:01:29.949 --> 00:01:31.826 That's what verse 19 says. 00:01:31.826 --> 00:01:35.179 An immeasurable, or an exceeding greatness, 00:01:35.179 --> 00:01:38.499 of God's power toward us who believe, 00:01:38.499 --> 00:01:40.791 according to the working of God's great might 00:01:40.791 --> 00:01:43.088 that He worked in Christ when He raised Him 00:01:43.088 --> 00:01:44.104 from the dead. 00:01:44.104 --> 00:01:46.568 That's the issue. 00:01:46.568 --> 00:01:50.064 The first three verses of chapter 2 00:01:50.064 --> 00:01:53.489 show us the wretchedness 00:01:53.489 --> 00:01:56.249 that the power rescued us from. 00:01:56.249 --> 00:01:58.000 Let's read those three verses. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:01.573 "You were dead in the trespasses and sins 00:02:01.573 --> 00:02:02.779 in which you once walked, 00:02:02.779 --> 00:02:04.647 following the course of this world, 00:02:04.647 --> 00:02:06.845 following the prince of the power of the air, 00:02:06.845 --> 00:02:08.328 the spirit that is now at work 00:02:08.328 --> 00:02:11.571 in the sons of disobedience, 00:02:11.571 --> 00:02:13.203 among whom we all..." 00:02:13.203 --> 00:02:14.859 All of us. 00:02:14.859 --> 00:02:16.453 These first three verses 00:02:16.453 --> 00:02:18.660 used to contain all of us. 00:02:18.660 --> 00:02:21.504 "We all once lived in the passions of our flesh 00:02:21.504 --> 00:02:23.028 carrying out the desires 00:02:23.028 --> 00:02:24.573 of the body and the mind, 00:02:24.573 --> 00:02:30.885 and were by nature children of wrath." 00:02:30.885 --> 00:02:33.656 By nature hell-bound. 00:02:33.656 --> 00:02:39.766 By nature under the hatred and anger of God. 00:02:39.766 --> 00:02:45.971 Just like all the rest of mankind. 00:02:45.971 --> 00:02:50.896 Here is the power that Paul wants us 00:02:50.896 --> 00:02:55.428 to be able to perceive. 00:02:55.428 --> 00:02:58.555 That our eyes might be enlightened, 00:02:58.555 --> 00:03:00.678 the eyes of our hearts enlightened, 00:03:00.678 --> 00:03:03.235 that we may know what this is, 00:03:03.235 --> 00:03:05.076 what this power is. 00:03:05.076 --> 00:03:08.622 Here comes God breaking in to this wretchedness 00:03:08.622 --> 00:03:10.006 and this darkness. 00:03:10.006 --> 00:03:12.131 This is the demonstration of His power. 00:03:12.131 --> 00:03:14.891 God being rich in mercy, 00:03:14.891 --> 00:03:17.224 because of the great love with which He loved us, 00:03:17.224 --> 00:03:20.146 even when we were dead in our trespasses. 00:03:20.146 --> 00:03:22.085 Nothing good in us. 00:03:22.085 --> 00:03:23.916 It wasn't because of any beauty, 00:03:23.916 --> 00:03:25.444 anything attractive, 00:03:25.444 --> 00:03:27.108 anything desirable; 00:03:27.108 --> 00:03:28.675 it was even when we were 00:03:28.675 --> 00:03:30.391 dead in our trespasses. 00:03:30.391 --> 00:03:34.347 God made us alive together with Christ. 00:03:34.347 --> 00:03:35.984 And we looked at this last time. 00:03:35.984 --> 00:03:37.869 By grace you have been saved. 00:03:37.869 --> 00:03:39.875 This is salvation. 00:03:39.875 --> 00:03:43.356 It is to be made alive together with Christ. 00:03:43.356 --> 00:03:45.734 Today, I want us to focus our attention 00:03:45.734 --> 00:03:46.849 in on verse 6. 00:03:46.849 --> 00:03:49.636 "And raised us up with Him." 00:03:49.636 --> 00:03:51.704 That's what I want to look at. 00:03:51.704 --> 00:03:53.065 Next week, Lord willing, 00:03:53.065 --> 00:03:56.603 "and seated us with Him (with Christ) 00:03:56.603 --> 00:04:01.642 together with Christ in the heavenly places 00:04:01.642 --> 00:04:04.980 in Christ Jesus." 00:04:04.980 --> 00:04:06.893 Lord willing, two weeks, 00:04:06.893 --> 00:04:09.229 "so that in the coming ages, 00:04:09.229 --> 00:04:11.031 He might show the immeasurable riches 00:04:11.031 --> 00:04:19.756 of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." 00:04:19.756 --> 00:04:22.830 What we need to feel here 00:04:22.830 --> 00:04:28.564 is the extremity of this. 00:04:28.564 --> 00:04:33.055 The extremes here. 00:04:33.055 --> 00:04:35.059 In the first three verses, 00:04:35.059 --> 00:04:38.354 man is at the absolute lowest point 00:04:38.354 --> 00:04:41.580 of wretchedness, despair, and hopelessness. 00:04:41.580 --> 00:04:46.469 They are in the very condition of fallen Adam. 00:04:46.469 --> 00:04:49.504 And we need to recognize Adam's fall for what it is. 00:04:49.504 --> 00:04:51.847 We need to recognize that Adam 00:04:51.847 --> 00:04:58.224 took the human race as far down 00:04:58.224 --> 00:04:59.575 as can be imagined. 00:04:59.575 --> 00:05:01.614 That doesn't mean that every single person 00:05:01.614 --> 00:05:05.547 does all the wickedness that is out there potentially, 00:05:05.547 --> 00:05:08.501 but what we're saying is, 00:05:08.501 --> 00:05:11.969 that his condition at every point - 00:05:11.969 --> 00:05:14.384 his condition when it comes to alive or deadness, 00:05:14.384 --> 00:05:16.378 his condition when it comes to the world, 00:05:16.378 --> 00:05:18.656 his condition when it comes to Satan, 00:05:18.656 --> 00:05:21.465 his condition when it comes to disobedience, 00:05:21.465 --> 00:05:23.819 his condition when it comes to the wrath of God, 00:05:23.819 --> 00:05:29.377 and when it comes to lust... 00:05:29.377 --> 00:05:32.725 he's at the bottom of the barrel. 00:05:32.725 --> 00:05:36.519 And God flexes His almighty power. 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:39.410 And here's the thing that you have to recognize, 00:05:39.410 --> 00:05:41.120 when God saves a man, 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:47.761 He exalts man as high as the man Jesus Christ Himself. 00:05:47.761 --> 00:05:49.742 Do you recognize that? 00:05:49.742 --> 00:05:52.770 Do you recognize that when God saves a person, 00:05:52.770 --> 00:05:57.387 He doesn't take us any place lower 00:05:57.387 --> 00:06:00.741 than where Christ is Himself. 00:06:00.741 --> 00:06:02.689 That's how high He takes us. 00:06:02.689 --> 00:06:04.573 That's the extremity here. 00:06:04.573 --> 00:06:07.380 These verses are extreme. 00:06:07.380 --> 00:06:10.513 They describe the utter extremities. 00:06:10.513 --> 00:06:11.533 And you know what? 00:06:11.533 --> 00:06:13.124 Man never dwells in the middle. 00:06:13.124 --> 00:06:15.753 And this is a big problem. 00:06:15.753 --> 00:06:18.677 This is where we go wrong so often. 00:06:18.677 --> 00:06:20.148 When we look at lost men, 00:06:20.148 --> 00:06:21.953 we don't think they're as lost as they are. 00:06:21.953 --> 00:06:23.577 And when we look at Christians, 00:06:23.577 --> 00:06:26.380 we don't recognize that they are as high as they are. 00:06:26.380 --> 00:06:31.659 We tend to take the edge off on both ends. 00:06:31.659 --> 00:06:33.000 Scripture doesn't do it. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:35.014 Scripture says if you're lost, 00:06:35.014 --> 00:06:37.019 it's extreme! 00:06:37.019 --> 00:06:38.410 If you're saved, 00:06:38.410 --> 00:06:39.922 it's the other extreme! 00:06:39.922 --> 00:06:42.661 Man only lives at the poles. 00:06:42.661 --> 00:06:44.809 The farthest reaches of the North Pole 00:06:44.809 --> 00:06:47.084 or the farthest reaches of the South Pole 00:06:47.084 --> 00:06:48.960 and no one lives in between. 00:06:48.960 --> 00:06:50.791 And we go wrong there all the time. 00:06:50.791 --> 00:06:53.909 We imagine people living in between all the time. 00:06:53.909 --> 00:06:57.145 We imagine Christians being much lower than they are. 00:06:57.145 --> 00:07:00.090 And we imagine lost man not nearly 00:07:00.090 --> 00:07:02.970 being as bad as he is. 00:07:02.970 --> 00:07:04.429 But you see it right here. 00:07:04.429 --> 00:07:06.583 Listen, this is the way things really are. 00:07:06.583 --> 00:07:09.211 This is the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of God. 00:07:09.211 --> 00:07:13.408 The Holy Spirit is leading this apostle along 00:07:13.408 --> 00:07:17.874 to rightly evaluate the state of mankind. 00:07:17.874 --> 00:07:19.222 That's what we have. 00:07:19.222 --> 00:07:20.899 There's no middle ground. 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:21.740 None. 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:25.138 Every man is either way down in the depths of wretchedness, 00:07:25.138 --> 00:07:28.424 or he is far up 00:07:28.424 --> 00:07:32.674 on the great majestic mountaintops of Christianity, 00:07:32.674 --> 00:07:36.982 in all the glory. 00:07:36.982 --> 00:07:43.434 The problem is it doesn't feel that way often to us. 00:07:43.434 --> 00:07:47.709 But, Christian, the real issue here is, 00:07:47.709 --> 00:07:52.445 is Paul wants us to know what's true of us, 00:07:52.445 --> 00:07:53.856 if we're Christians. 00:07:53.856 --> 00:07:56.060 He wants us to know what God has done 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:57.895 to us and for us. 00:07:57.895 --> 00:08:01.976 He is still interested that we get 00:08:01.976 --> 00:08:06.408 this revelation of a knowledge of God 00:08:06.408 --> 00:08:08.936 and what God has done for us. 00:08:08.936 --> 00:08:10.133 That's the issue here. 00:08:10.133 --> 00:08:12.123 Remember, God is the subject matter here. 00:08:12.123 --> 00:08:13.639 We are not. 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:17.922 This is not mainly about what you are 00:08:17.922 --> 00:08:20.105 as much as what God has done 00:08:20.105 --> 00:08:22.149 to make you what you are. 00:08:22.149 --> 00:08:24.473 That's the emphasis in these verses. 00:08:24.473 --> 00:08:31.603 But undoubtedly we end up with who we are. 00:08:31.603 --> 00:08:32.614 What we are. 00:08:32.614 --> 00:08:34.436 Where we are. 00:08:34.436 --> 00:08:36.150 And that's a reality. 00:08:36.150 --> 00:08:39.326 God's immeasurable greatness of His power. 00:08:39.326 --> 00:08:40.846 What has it done for us? 00:08:40.846 --> 00:08:42.992 So, let's turn our attention to verse 6. 00:08:42.992 --> 00:08:44.173 Look at it. 00:08:44.173 --> 00:08:49.993 Further seek to behold this power of God. 00:08:49.993 --> 00:08:53.145 What has the power of God done? 00:08:53.145 --> 00:08:56.161 You see, we don't see it flash out like lightning. 00:08:56.161 --> 00:08:58.885 We don't see it come down as a thunderbolt 00:08:58.885 --> 00:09:02.271 and consume Nadab and Abihu. 00:09:02.271 --> 00:09:03.885 It's not like that. 00:09:03.885 --> 00:09:05.165 We get saved, 00:09:05.165 --> 00:09:08.165 and sometimes to the visual eye, 00:09:08.165 --> 00:09:09.693 people watching us, 00:09:09.693 --> 00:09:11.203 there's changes in the life, 00:09:11.203 --> 00:09:13.061 but it's not like all of a sudden 00:09:13.061 --> 00:09:14.592 we're branded on the forehead. 00:09:14.592 --> 00:09:18.757 It's not all of a sudden like we glow. 00:09:18.757 --> 00:09:21.238 And nevertheless, there is a reality here. 00:09:21.238 --> 00:09:22.748 Look at this. Verse 6. 00:09:22.748 --> 00:09:23.800 "And God..." 00:09:23.800 --> 00:09:26.974 I'm pulling "God," - that God is the subject 00:09:26.974 --> 00:09:29.553 from verse 4. 00:09:29.553 --> 00:09:36.150 "God raised us up with Him." 00:09:36.150 --> 00:09:39.698 Or together. God raised us up together. 00:09:39.698 --> 00:09:47.160 The "with Christ" is implied from the verse before. 00:09:47.160 --> 00:09:50.501 The verb carries the meaning: 00:09:50.501 --> 00:09:55.030 to cause to rise together. 00:09:55.030 --> 00:10:00.155 It's the idea of a whole room full of people 00:10:00.155 --> 00:10:04.863 rising together. 00:10:04.863 --> 00:10:06.566 Listen to this. 00:10:06.566 --> 00:10:08.890 In Isaiah 14:9, when you go back 00:10:08.890 --> 00:10:11.362 and you look at the Septuagint, 00:10:11.362 --> 00:10:13.773 the Old Testament Greek translation. 00:10:13.773 --> 00:10:18.720 We find this exact verb. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:21.062 And you know what it's used to describe 00:10:21.062 --> 00:10:22.479 there in Isaiah 14? 00:10:22.479 --> 00:10:28.682 It's used to describe the destruction 00:10:28.682 --> 00:10:32.010 of the king of Babylon. 00:10:32.010 --> 00:10:33.801 And do you know what God says? 00:10:33.801 --> 00:10:37.704 God says when you, king of Babylon, 00:10:37.704 --> 00:10:41.697 are destroyed, the kings of all the nations 00:10:41.697 --> 00:10:49.574 are going to stand together from off their throne. 00:10:51.611 --> 00:10:54.055 I know a lot of you have things in your lap. 00:10:54.055 --> 00:10:55.373 Maybe it's not convenient. 00:10:55.373 --> 00:10:56.382 But you know what, 00:10:56.382 --> 00:10:58.067 I'm going to ask you all to stand. 00:10:58.067 --> 00:10:59.713 When I count to three. 00:10:59.713 --> 00:11:01.740 Not yet. 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:03.656 So if you've got something in your lap 00:11:03.656 --> 00:11:05.862 that's prohibiting it, set it aside for a second. 00:11:05.862 --> 00:11:07.096 I'm going to ask you all to stand. 00:11:07.096 --> 00:11:08.342 And what I want you to do 00:11:08.342 --> 00:11:11.950 is listen to the sound. 00:11:11.950 --> 00:11:17.618 One, two, three. 00:11:17.618 --> 00:11:20.340 Ok, sit. 00:11:20.340 --> 00:11:23.981 You all stood together. 00:11:23.981 --> 00:11:29.764 You all did the action that this verb carries. 00:11:29.764 --> 00:11:34.073 The thing is, you all did it in your strength. 00:11:34.073 --> 00:11:35.973 The reality that we have here 00:11:35.973 --> 00:11:39.855 is that when Christ rose, it was by the power of God 00:11:39.855 --> 00:11:42.689 and by that power, we all rose with Him. 00:11:42.689 --> 00:11:43.895 That's the reality. 00:11:43.895 --> 00:11:47.346 This greatness of the power of God 00:11:47.346 --> 00:11:49.447 pulled us all up. 00:11:49.447 --> 00:11:51.954 All Christians pulled up with Him. 00:11:51.954 --> 00:11:54.197 What Paul is saying, 00:11:54.197 --> 00:12:01.146 is that when Christ rose from the dead 00:12:01.146 --> 00:12:06.869 and stood and threw off those grave clothes, 00:12:06.869 --> 00:12:08.698 there was a sound. 00:12:08.698 --> 00:12:10.404 Not literally. 00:12:10.404 --> 00:12:15.283 But there was a sound of a multitude 00:12:15.283 --> 00:12:17.694 from every tribe and tongue, 00:12:17.694 --> 00:12:20.978 from every people, from every nation, 00:12:20.978 --> 00:12:25.000 that came up with Him. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:27.309 That's the reality. 00:12:27.309 --> 00:12:28.841 And then, what happens is 00:12:28.841 --> 00:12:30.251 Christ went even higher. 00:12:30.251 --> 00:12:31.234 We saw it. 00:12:31.234 --> 00:12:34.354 He soars through the skies. 00:12:34.354 --> 00:12:36.275 Through the heavens 00:12:36.275 --> 00:12:38.164 as a great high priest, 00:12:38.164 --> 00:12:39.820 He soared through the heavens, 00:12:39.820 --> 00:12:42.276 and He's taken up to the right hand. 00:12:42.276 --> 00:12:46.491 And you see from the portion of this verse 00:12:46.491 --> 00:12:48.740 that we're going to deal with next time, 00:12:48.740 --> 00:12:50.884 we went with Him. 00:12:50.884 --> 00:12:53.644 There is a sound of a multitude 00:12:53.644 --> 00:12:56.242 being taken up altogether with Him. 00:12:56.242 --> 00:12:59.075 That's what the power of God has done. 00:12:59.075 --> 00:13:02.709 God binds the Christian to Christ. 00:13:02.709 --> 00:13:04.755 One with Him. 00:13:04.755 --> 00:13:07.759 So that what happened to Jesus Christ in the physical realm, 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:11.175 it happens to us in the spiritual. 00:13:11.175 --> 00:13:12.722 Here's the thing. 00:13:12.722 --> 00:13:16.352 You have to get this. 00:13:16.352 --> 00:13:20.834 The verb itself carries the idea 00:13:20.834 --> 00:13:22.798 of raised together. 00:13:22.798 --> 00:13:28.314 The context doesn't mean just all of us together. 00:13:28.314 --> 00:13:35.283 The context dictates it's together with Christ. 00:13:35.283 --> 00:13:37.264 Now think with me. 00:13:37.264 --> 00:13:40.096 Do you know what the apostle is doing? 00:13:40.096 --> 00:13:43.686 He's got in mind a historical reality. 00:13:43.686 --> 00:13:47.099 He's got in mind facts. 00:13:47.099 --> 00:13:49.037 Something that actually happened 00:13:49.037 --> 00:13:50.935 in the course of time. 00:13:50.935 --> 00:13:53.838 He is looking back to an event 00:13:53.838 --> 00:13:55.517 that took place, 00:13:55.517 --> 00:13:57.944 and he's tying that together 00:13:57.944 --> 00:14:01.438 with the reality of the spiritual condition 00:14:01.438 --> 00:14:03.808 of every Christian. 00:14:03.808 --> 00:14:08.729 The Roman governor Pilate. 00:14:08.729 --> 00:14:12.437 He had the scourge laid to His back. 00:14:12.437 --> 00:14:14.258 Think with me. 00:14:14.258 --> 00:14:16.261 Go back here. 00:14:16.261 --> 00:14:21.023 The Roman soldiers... 00:14:21.023 --> 00:14:27.242 they twisted together thorns. 00:14:27.242 --> 00:14:29.328 You think they were kind in the way 00:14:29.328 --> 00:14:32.359 they placed that on His head? 00:14:32.359 --> 00:14:34.741 About as kind as the way they placed 00:14:34.741 --> 00:14:36.137 the reed in His right hand, 00:14:36.137 --> 00:14:41.633 and took it out and began to whack Him in the head with it. 00:14:41.633 --> 00:14:45.190 It says that they smote Him with their hands. 00:14:45.190 --> 00:14:47.163 It says that they spit on Him. 00:14:47.163 --> 00:14:50.021 The Jews had already done that, 00:14:50.021 --> 00:14:51.641 there with the high priest, 00:14:51.641 --> 00:14:52.989 they'd already spit on Him. 00:14:52.989 --> 00:14:56.295 Now the Romans are spitting on Him. 00:14:56.295 --> 00:15:02.303 Luke's account says they beat Him. 00:15:02.303 --> 00:15:05.838 They robed Him with purple. 00:15:05.838 --> 00:15:09.221 They fell down before Him. 00:15:09.221 --> 00:15:16.480 "Hail, King of the Jews!" 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:19.315 And you know what they did? 00:15:19.315 --> 00:15:24.651 They nailed Him to a tree. 00:15:24.651 --> 00:15:26.996 They hung Him on that tree by nails. 00:15:26.996 --> 00:15:33.262 He bore our sins in His own body on that tree. 00:15:33.262 --> 00:15:36.639 And He hung there and He suffered. 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:38.417 And He came to the place where 00:15:38.417 --> 00:15:39.843 He bowed His head 00:15:39.843 --> 00:15:41.520 and He gave up His spirit. 00:15:41.520 --> 00:15:43.844 He gave up His spirit. 00:15:43.844 --> 00:15:46.397 His spirit left His body. 00:15:46.397 --> 00:15:48.353 He was dead. 00:15:48.353 --> 00:15:51.114 He was actually physically dead. 00:15:51.114 --> 00:15:52.806 And they made certain He was dead. 00:15:52.806 --> 00:15:56.194 And they rammed a spear up through His side 00:15:56.194 --> 00:15:58.240 and blood and water came out. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:01.350 And His lifeless body was taken down. 00:16:01.350 --> 00:16:03.711 And they brought myrrh and they brought aloes, 00:16:03.711 --> 00:16:05.438 and there was a nearby tomb, 00:16:05.438 --> 00:16:07.190 and they put His body in there, 00:16:07.190 --> 00:16:09.171 and they took a great big stone 00:16:09.171 --> 00:16:11.008 and they sealed the tomb. 00:16:11.008 --> 00:16:12.777 And that's historical fact. 00:16:12.777 --> 00:16:15.751 And they sealed it. 00:16:15.751 --> 00:16:17.428 And He was dead. 00:16:17.428 --> 00:16:19.448 And He was in there and He was dead. 00:16:19.448 --> 00:16:21.509 For three days. 00:16:21.509 --> 00:16:23.220 That is the reality. 00:16:23.220 --> 00:16:29.442 Jesus Christ laid down His life for His sheep. 00:16:29.442 --> 00:16:31.008 He was dead. 00:16:31.008 --> 00:16:32.877 He was physically, actually, 00:16:32.877 --> 00:16:36.577 historically, literally dead. 00:16:36.577 --> 00:16:38.945 He was dead for three days. 00:16:38.945 --> 00:16:41.565 It's historical fact. 00:16:41.565 --> 00:16:43.302 And Paul's looking at that. 00:16:43.302 --> 00:16:45.790 And he says Christian, 00:16:45.790 --> 00:16:48.470 you are not separated from that. 00:16:48.470 --> 00:16:50.160 You are integral with it. 00:16:50.160 --> 00:16:52.712 You are one with what happened there. 00:16:52.712 --> 00:16:54.571 That is not something separate. 00:16:54.571 --> 00:16:56.454 What was happening there, 00:16:56.454 --> 00:16:57.990 you're tied to it. 00:16:57.990 --> 00:16:59.696 You're united to it. 00:16:59.696 --> 00:17:01.125 You're one with it. 00:17:01.125 --> 00:17:03.524 And glory to God that it be so, 00:17:03.524 --> 00:17:05.967 because there is such spiritual realities 00:17:05.967 --> 00:17:08.288 that Paul means to communicate to us 00:17:08.288 --> 00:17:10.669 about our connection to that. 00:17:10.669 --> 00:17:11.955 Here's the thing. 00:17:11.955 --> 00:17:13.702 He didn't stay dead. 00:17:13.702 --> 00:17:15.224 On the first day of the week, 00:17:15.224 --> 00:17:16.671 at the early dawn, 00:17:16.671 --> 00:17:19.062 some of His disciples went to the tomb. 00:17:19.062 --> 00:17:20.858 And what did they find? 00:17:20.858 --> 00:17:22.375 I'll tell you what they found. 00:17:22.375 --> 00:17:24.589 They found an earthquake. 00:17:24.589 --> 00:17:27.809 They found that the angel of the Lord had descended. 00:17:27.809 --> 00:17:31.075 They found the stone, but it had been rolled away. 00:17:31.075 --> 00:17:35.132 They found the guards, but they were unconscious from fear. 00:17:35.132 --> 00:17:37.299 They found the grave clothes. 00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:44.268 They found the linen that had covered His face. 00:17:44.268 --> 00:17:50.416 But they didn't find any body. 00:17:50.416 --> 00:17:56.502 You go to Mohammad's grave, there's a body there. 00:17:56.502 --> 00:18:03.034 You go to all the pope's graves, there are bodies there. 00:18:03.034 --> 00:18:08.131 This one was empty. 00:18:08.131 --> 00:18:12.027 The body of Christ was gone. 00:18:12.027 --> 00:18:13.462 Do you remember the account? 00:18:13.462 --> 00:18:16.184 Two angels in dazzling apparel - 00:18:16.184 --> 00:18:17.877 says to these ladies, 00:18:17.877 --> 00:18:24.594 why are you seeking the living among the dead? 00:18:24.594 --> 00:18:27.314 It's not appropriate for them to be here anymore. 00:18:27.314 --> 00:18:29.638 Don't you remember what He said to you? 00:18:29.638 --> 00:18:31.695 He said He would be taken by the hands 00:18:31.695 --> 00:18:33.204 of sinful men, 00:18:33.204 --> 00:18:35.072 and they would crucify Him, 00:18:35.072 --> 00:18:37.823 and on the third day, He was going to rise. 00:18:37.823 --> 00:18:39.424 And that's exactly what happened. 00:18:39.424 --> 00:18:41.225 That morning of the third day, 00:18:41.225 --> 00:18:44.583 the grave of the Savior of the world was empty. 00:18:44.583 --> 00:18:47.513 And Christian, it's got everything to do with you. 00:18:47.513 --> 00:18:50.141 That's what Paul is saying here. 00:18:50.141 --> 00:18:52.310 He had been dead. 00:18:52.310 --> 00:18:54.910 That was very much real. 00:18:54.910 --> 00:18:57.826 The truth is there had been a dead body 00:18:57.826 --> 00:18:59.327 in that tomb. 00:18:59.327 --> 00:19:02.250 Sin and death had done their uttermost 00:19:02.250 --> 00:19:03.425 to keep Him there. 00:19:03.425 --> 00:19:05.634 All seemed lost, did it not? 00:19:05.634 --> 00:19:08.176 The two on the road to Emmaus, 00:19:08.176 --> 00:19:10.972 they're saying we thought it had been Him, 00:19:10.972 --> 00:19:12.033 but all is lost. 00:19:12.033 --> 00:19:13.505 I mean, they killed Him. 00:19:13.505 --> 00:19:14.432 What now? 00:19:14.432 --> 00:19:16.830 Our hope is dashed. 00:19:16.830 --> 00:19:18.135 And the reality is, 00:19:18.135 --> 00:19:20.756 as a man, Christ was dead 00:19:20.756 --> 00:19:22.487 just as any man dies. 00:19:22.487 --> 00:19:24.706 He was in the realm of the dead. 00:19:24.706 --> 00:19:27.209 It appeared to be the end. 00:19:27.209 --> 00:19:29.647 But, it was not so. 00:19:29.647 --> 00:19:34.827 And this is where the raw power of God comes in. 00:19:34.827 --> 00:19:38.665 God raised Him up loosing the pangs of death. 00:19:38.665 --> 00:19:43.055 For it was not possible for death to hold Him. 00:19:43.055 --> 00:19:45.442 Why? 00:19:45.442 --> 00:19:51.010 The wages of sin is death. 00:19:51.010 --> 00:19:56.722 But if sin is paid, death has no hold. 00:19:56.722 --> 00:19:58.970 It couldn't hold Him. 00:19:58.970 --> 00:20:07.159 There was no legal right for it to hold Him. 00:20:07.159 --> 00:20:10.112 God loosed the pangs of death. 00:20:10.112 --> 00:20:11.882 Don't you love that? 00:20:11.882 --> 00:20:15.237 It was not possible for death to hold Him. 00:20:15.237 --> 00:20:17.510 And when Jesus came to life, 00:20:17.510 --> 00:20:18.922 here's the thing, 00:20:18.922 --> 00:20:20.580 we looked at last week - 00:20:20.580 --> 00:20:21.882 life! life! 00:20:21.882 --> 00:20:23.181 But you know what? 00:20:23.181 --> 00:20:24.775 When Christ came alive, 00:20:24.775 --> 00:20:26.607 can you imagine if He would come alive 00:20:26.607 --> 00:20:28.072 and then just stayed there. 00:20:28.072 --> 00:20:29.781 Well, this is a comfortable place. 00:20:29.781 --> 00:20:32.935 I think I'll just relax here and sleep awhile. 00:20:32.935 --> 00:20:35.115 I think I'll just hang out here in the tomb. 00:20:35.115 --> 00:20:37.508 That's not what happened. 00:20:37.508 --> 00:20:40.370 Living people don't stay under the death clothes. 00:20:40.370 --> 00:20:42.620 They come out! 00:20:42.620 --> 00:20:45.799 Our Christ is the living Christ. 00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:47.424 That's the reality. 00:20:47.424 --> 00:20:50.051 He no longer stays there wrapped in the death clothes. 00:20:50.051 --> 00:20:51.271 He's alive. 00:20:51.271 --> 00:20:53.279 He's arisen. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:54.699 He's come forth. 00:20:54.699 --> 00:20:56.269 We say to Catholicism, 00:20:56.269 --> 00:20:59.369 we abominate your dead Christ on that crucifix! 00:20:59.369 --> 00:21:01.957 Our Christ isn't there any longer. 00:21:01.957 --> 00:21:02.986 He came out! 00:21:02.986 --> 00:21:04.076 He's alive! 00:21:04.076 --> 00:21:05.124 He's really alive! 00:21:05.124 --> 00:21:06.979 And forevermore. 00:21:06.979 --> 00:21:09.060 He's not going back there. 00:21:09.060 --> 00:21:11.365 Be gone with that. 00:21:11.365 --> 00:21:14.058 Forty days later, 00:21:14.058 --> 00:21:17.058 He rose even higher. 00:21:17.058 --> 00:21:19.416 He soared through the heavens. 00:21:19.416 --> 00:21:22.177 And He came down on that throne 00:21:22.177 --> 00:21:24.177 at the very right hand of God. 00:21:24.177 --> 00:21:26.359 And the reality is, brethren, 00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:28.320 this is history. 00:21:28.320 --> 00:21:30.324 This is not fiction. 00:21:30.324 --> 00:21:33.742 This is a historical fact. 00:21:33.742 --> 00:21:35.560 And what Paul is doing 00:21:35.560 --> 00:21:37.967 is he says that historical fact 00:21:37.967 --> 00:21:40.865 and you, Christian, where you are today, 00:21:40.865 --> 00:21:42.921 there is a vital connection. 00:21:42.921 --> 00:21:46.249 That's the teaching at the beginning of verse 6 here. 00:21:46.249 --> 00:21:52.946 You have been raised together with Christ. 00:21:52.946 --> 00:21:55.919 That's the reality. 00:21:55.919 --> 00:21:58.430 That's the historical reality. 00:21:58.430 --> 00:22:01.883 What the Apostle Paul is saying to these Ephesians 00:22:01.883 --> 00:22:08.100 is that your salvation is tied to that, 00:22:08.100 --> 00:22:12.982 and your salvation is comparable to that. 00:22:12.982 --> 00:22:18.526 In other words, what happened there 00:22:18.526 --> 00:22:23.636 is true, just as actual, just as historical 00:22:23.636 --> 00:22:27.679 a fact it is that He rose, 00:22:27.679 --> 00:22:31.743 so there are actual and historical facts 00:22:31.743 --> 00:22:33.647 that are true about your life. 00:22:33.647 --> 00:22:35.655 Oh yes, what happened to Him was physical. 00:22:35.655 --> 00:22:37.317 What happens to you is spiritual. 00:22:37.317 --> 00:22:41.700 But just as real, just as historical. 00:22:41.700 --> 00:22:47.277 Just as true, just as living and actual. 00:22:47.277 --> 00:22:49.010 You think of Christ. 00:22:49.010 --> 00:22:51.145 There He was. 00:22:51.145 --> 00:22:53.437 He was in a state of corruption. 00:22:53.437 --> 00:22:57.686 Now, I know, the psalm says that He wasn't left 00:22:57.686 --> 00:22:59.406 in the state of corruption, 00:22:59.406 --> 00:23:00.814 but He was dead. 00:23:00.814 --> 00:23:02.864 He was dead for real. 00:23:02.864 --> 00:23:04.693 For three days. 00:23:04.693 --> 00:23:06.920 God didn't leave Him in a state of corruption. 00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:08.609 But death is a state of corruption. 00:23:08.609 --> 00:23:10.834 And He was in that state. 00:23:10.834 --> 00:23:12.973 He was in that realm of death. 00:23:12.973 --> 00:23:14.574 That's where He was. 00:23:14.574 --> 00:23:16.532 The tomb was closed. 00:23:16.532 --> 00:23:19.362 It was dark in there. 00:23:19.362 --> 00:23:21.083 But then He's alive. 00:23:21.083 --> 00:23:23.890 And once alive, He doesn't keep company with the dead. 00:23:23.890 --> 00:23:25.590 What does He do? 00:23:25.590 --> 00:23:27.470 Paul over in 1 Corinthians 15 says 00:23:27.470 --> 00:23:30.685 He went and He showed Himself to 500 people, 00:23:30.685 --> 00:23:32.406 most of whom were still alive 00:23:32.406 --> 00:23:35.708 when Paul penned that letter to the Corinthians. 00:23:35.708 --> 00:23:38.241 See, brethren, this is real. 00:23:38.241 --> 00:23:41.642 Real brethren, upwards of 500 00:23:41.642 --> 00:23:44.225 actually saw Him risen. 00:23:44.225 --> 00:23:47.577 They were actually able to see what Thomas saw. 00:23:47.577 --> 00:23:52.301 Nail prints in His hands. 00:23:52.301 --> 00:23:54.897 He bore the wounds. 00:23:54.897 --> 00:23:56.464 This is real. 00:23:56.464 --> 00:23:58.756 He really appeared. 00:23:58.756 --> 00:24:00.949 Paul really wrote a letter to the Corinthians, 00:24:00.949 --> 00:24:02.534 and at the time when He wrote it, 00:24:02.534 --> 00:24:04.254 there really were the vast majority 00:24:04.254 --> 00:24:06.926 of these 500 brethren still alive. 00:24:06.926 --> 00:24:11.569 Can you imagine that? 00:24:11.569 --> 00:24:14.262 Can you imagine... 00:24:14.262 --> 00:24:16.519 you come in from somewhere, 00:24:16.519 --> 00:24:21.677 and it's like yeah, 500 of us saw Him! 00:24:21.677 --> 00:24:23.464 Tell me! 00:24:23.464 --> 00:24:27.480 What was it like? 00:24:27.480 --> 00:24:30.225 Man, 500 of you got to see Him? 00:24:30.225 --> 00:24:34.591 Lord, why couldn't I have been one of them? 00:24:34.591 --> 00:24:36.230 That was real. 00:24:36.230 --> 00:24:37.657 But here's the thing, 00:24:37.657 --> 00:24:40.381 when you rise from the dead, 00:24:40.381 --> 00:24:43.707 you don't go on living in the tomb. 00:24:43.707 --> 00:24:45.975 That's the reality. 00:24:45.975 --> 00:24:47.887 He doesn't keep the grave clothes on. 00:24:47.887 --> 00:24:48.668 Why? 00:24:48.668 --> 00:24:50.088 He's alive. 00:24:50.088 --> 00:24:55.229 Paul is drawing a direct correlation between 00:24:55.229 --> 00:24:57.484 that which was true of Him 00:24:57.484 --> 00:25:01.251 and what is true of you, if you are a Christian. 00:25:01.251 --> 00:25:06.020 So what does that tell us about a Christian? 00:25:06.020 --> 00:25:09.747 Brethren, I'll tell you what it tells us about the Christian. 00:25:09.747 --> 00:25:11.420 Do you remember those women? 00:25:11.420 --> 00:25:15.656 What were they going there to the tomb to find? 00:25:15.656 --> 00:25:17.448 What were they going looking for? 00:25:17.448 --> 00:25:21.139 What were they talking about when they were going there? 00:25:21.139 --> 00:25:24.199 Anybody remember? 00:25:24.199 --> 00:25:25.864 The stone. 00:25:25.864 --> 00:25:29.515 What was their concern? 00:25:29.515 --> 00:25:31.327 How are we going to roll it away? 00:25:31.327 --> 00:25:32.717 We're just a group of women. 00:25:32.717 --> 00:25:34.355 That thing is big. That thing is heavy. 00:25:34.355 --> 00:25:35.992 It probably took a whole bunch of strong men 00:25:35.992 --> 00:25:37.294 to roll that thing there. 00:25:37.294 --> 00:25:38.622 They sealed it. 00:25:38.622 --> 00:25:41.565 See, they were bringing more spices. 00:25:41.565 --> 00:25:43.967 They wanted to anoint His body even furthermore 00:25:43.967 --> 00:25:48.510 than the 75 pounds that Nicodemus brought. 00:25:48.510 --> 00:25:50.684 But what was the reality? 00:25:50.684 --> 00:25:53.000 I'll tell you what the reality is. 00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:55.208 The reality is that when they got to the tomb, 00:25:55.208 --> 00:25:56.602 they found a bunch of things there. 00:25:56.602 --> 00:25:58.497 They found a bunch of things to be true, 00:25:58.497 --> 00:26:00.223 but they didn't find a body. 00:26:00.223 --> 00:26:02.307 Christ wasn't in there. 00:26:02.307 --> 00:26:04.258 Let me tell you this. 00:26:04.258 --> 00:26:06.023 You can send a group of women 00:26:06.023 --> 00:26:09.204 to go look in the first three verses for you, 00:26:09.204 --> 00:26:10.570 if you're a true Christian, 00:26:10.570 --> 00:26:12.331 they're not going to find you there. 00:26:12.331 --> 00:26:13.874 Same reality. 00:26:13.874 --> 00:26:15.154 You're not there anymore. 00:26:15.154 --> 00:26:16.355 That's the tomb. 00:26:16.355 --> 00:26:17.171 Don't you get it? 00:26:17.171 --> 00:26:21.397 The first three verses are the spiritual tomb. 00:26:21.397 --> 00:26:23.280 That is death. 00:26:23.280 --> 00:26:25.448 Dead in trespasses and sins. 00:26:25.448 --> 00:26:27.443 There it is. 00:26:27.443 --> 00:26:28.963 That's the grave. 00:26:28.963 --> 00:26:31.171 That's the place of death. 00:26:31.171 --> 00:26:33.047 Send somebody there to find you now, 00:26:33.047 --> 00:26:35.096 you're not there. 00:26:35.096 --> 00:26:36.375 Why? 00:26:36.375 --> 00:26:42.497 Because you're not going to find the living among the dead. 00:26:42.497 --> 00:26:44.228 Same truth. 00:26:44.228 --> 00:26:46.368 You see, there's a correlation. 00:26:46.368 --> 00:26:48.974 That's the reality. 00:26:48.974 --> 00:26:50.847 And the question is, 00:26:50.847 --> 00:26:52.181 the question that I have 00:26:52.181 --> 00:26:54.494 and the question that I brought up last week is 00:26:54.494 --> 00:26:56.279 how do we know this? 00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:57.646 I mean, experientially? 00:26:57.646 --> 00:26:59.914 That's what I'm interested in. 00:26:59.914 --> 00:27:04.517 How do I know this reality? 00:27:04.517 --> 00:27:07.445 I don't have it tattooed on my head. 00:27:07.445 --> 00:27:09.233 What does this feel like? 00:27:09.233 --> 00:27:14.174 What does being raised with Christ look like 00:27:14.174 --> 00:27:18.128 in actual experience and practice? 00:27:18.128 --> 00:27:20.426 I want to know this. 00:27:20.426 --> 00:27:22.353 I think you should want to know this. 00:27:22.353 --> 00:27:23.763 Why? 00:27:23.763 --> 00:27:26.649 Because one thing I know about this book, 00:27:26.649 --> 00:27:30.095 is that this book never assumes that 00:27:30.095 --> 00:27:34.449 everybody that's in the church is genuine. 00:27:34.449 --> 00:27:36.630 I want the real deal. 00:27:36.630 --> 00:27:38.384 I want to see in my life 00:27:38.384 --> 00:27:44.342 what this being raised together with Christ looks like. 00:27:44.342 --> 00:27:47.248 I want to know that that's real. 00:27:47.248 --> 00:27:48.373 What is this? 00:27:48.373 --> 00:27:49.823 What does this mean? 00:27:49.823 --> 00:27:52.046 We've got wheat and tares. 00:27:52.046 --> 00:27:53.899 What's the distinction? 00:27:53.899 --> 00:27:55.843 We've got some that Jesus described 00:27:55.843 --> 00:28:00.414 as not having root in themselves. 00:28:00.414 --> 00:28:02.485 I want the real deal. 00:28:02.485 --> 00:28:03.808 I want to know this. 00:28:03.808 --> 00:28:05.639 What does it look like in real life 00:28:05.639 --> 00:28:08.284 to genuinely be raised together with Jesus Christ? 00:28:08.284 --> 00:28:16.805 What is the experience that a person has when this happens? 00:28:16.805 --> 00:28:22.847 Because Paul is not saying this happens to some people. 00:28:22.847 --> 00:28:25.624 This is Christianity. 00:28:25.624 --> 00:28:30.456 Remember, by grace you have been saved. 00:28:30.456 --> 00:28:32.508 Those are the words right before this. 00:28:32.508 --> 00:28:35.341 This has to do with salvation. 00:28:35.341 --> 00:28:37.713 Not just the elite. 00:28:37.713 --> 00:28:40.204 Not just apostles. 00:28:40.204 --> 00:28:46.333 Not just certain privileged early first century Christians. 00:28:46.333 --> 00:28:50.735 This is saved. 00:28:50.735 --> 00:28:53.707 Well, brethren, the Apostle Paul 00:28:53.707 --> 00:28:59.978 gives us the most detailed commentary 00:28:59.978 --> 00:29:04.229 on this in Romans 6. 00:29:04.229 --> 00:29:06.001 So let's go to Romans 6. 00:29:06.001 --> 00:29:10.550 We're going to spend the rest of our time there. 00:29:10.550 --> 00:29:13.579 Because there really is no place... 00:29:13.579 --> 00:29:17.438 for one, this is great, because it's Paul. 00:29:17.438 --> 00:29:20.532 Because it's the same author of Ephesians. 00:29:20.532 --> 00:29:23.389 His terminology, his thought process, 00:29:23.389 --> 00:29:25.725 the way he communicates is going to tend 00:29:25.725 --> 00:29:26.892 to be the same. 00:29:26.892 --> 00:29:30.602 It's the same person. 00:29:30.602 --> 00:29:33.828 This is where the apostle gives us 00:29:33.828 --> 00:29:45.128 the greatest commentary on this whole idea. 00:29:45.128 --> 00:29:49.401 Just to let a little light through 00:29:49.401 --> 00:29:51.976 let's read the first 14 verses. 00:29:51.976 --> 00:29:56.030 I know we simply cannot attempt to fathom 00:29:56.030 --> 00:30:01.097 and explore the depths of this right now. 00:30:01.097 --> 00:30:04.723 And I don't even want to try to do that. 00:30:04.723 --> 00:30:07.092 But I want to pull several things out of here 00:30:07.092 --> 00:30:10.300 that I think are extremely helpful. 00:30:10.300 --> 00:30:12.595 So, Romans 6:1, 00:30:12.595 --> 00:30:16.866 "What shall we say then?" 00:30:16.866 --> 00:30:19.114 Ok, that tells us something else has 00:30:19.114 --> 00:30:20.584 already been said here. 00:30:20.584 --> 00:30:22.207 Let me tell you what's been said 00:30:22.207 --> 00:30:25.168 in very compact form. 00:30:25.168 --> 00:30:34.184 Paul has just said that where sin abounds, 00:30:34.184 --> 00:30:39.500 grace also doth much more abound. 00:30:39.500 --> 00:30:46.884 In other words, nobody is too bad to be saved. 00:30:46.884 --> 00:30:49.620 You say, yeah, I see that guy over there got saved, 00:30:49.620 --> 00:30:52.336 but I've got ten times as much. 00:30:52.336 --> 00:30:55.104 And Paul says, where sin abounds, 00:30:55.104 --> 00:31:02.469 God's grace is sufficient to go even higher than that. 00:31:02.469 --> 00:31:05.576 There's no amount of sin you can confess 00:31:05.576 --> 00:31:09.095 that God's grace is not higher still. 00:31:09.095 --> 00:31:10.798 That's the point. 00:31:10.798 --> 00:31:13.049 But see, somebody comes along and says, 00:31:13.049 --> 00:31:15.393 Whoa, whoa, whoa... you teach that, 00:31:15.393 --> 00:31:17.480 and you are basically going to give people 00:31:17.480 --> 00:31:20.143 a license to sin. 00:31:20.143 --> 00:31:22.676 Because people will say, well, if that's true 00:31:22.676 --> 00:31:25.684 what prohibits me from being twice as bad 00:31:25.684 --> 00:31:27.555 as the worst man who ever lived? 00:31:27.555 --> 00:31:31.579 And still isn't grace sufficient? 00:31:31.579 --> 00:31:37.672 And we would say, yes, it is. 00:31:37.672 --> 00:31:40.394 What then? 00:31:40.394 --> 00:31:42.405 Should we just continue in sin, 00:31:42.405 --> 00:31:43.845 that grace may abound? 00:31:43.845 --> 00:31:45.069 I'll tell you this. 00:31:45.069 --> 00:31:49.486 Brethren, the Gospel is a dangerous truth. 00:31:49.486 --> 00:31:50.795 But I'll tell you this, 00:31:50.795 --> 00:31:53.402 you're not preaching it right if you don't 00:31:53.402 --> 00:31:56.922 lead people to think that it's so absolutely free 00:31:56.922 --> 00:32:00.065 that it produces this question in their minds. 00:32:00.065 --> 00:32:03.556 You're not preaching the Gospel free enough, 00:32:03.556 --> 00:32:05.588 if it's not leading people to say, 00:32:05.588 --> 00:32:06.697 wait a second! 00:32:06.697 --> 00:32:08.621 Because that's what happens in people's minds. 00:32:08.621 --> 00:32:10.893 If you say that there's nothing for me to do 00:32:10.893 --> 00:32:13.264 and it's not my works and it's not my morality 00:32:13.264 --> 00:32:16.423 and it's not my goodness and it's none of that? 00:32:16.423 --> 00:32:17.917 You're saying the grace of God 00:32:17.917 --> 00:32:20.410 just comes in and nothing on my part, 00:32:20.410 --> 00:32:22.916 no merit on my part, 00:32:22.916 --> 00:32:25.617 and it's just going to wash away all my sins, 00:32:25.617 --> 00:32:27.826 I'm going to be forgiven and taken to heaven? 00:32:27.826 --> 00:32:31.803 And we say, that's exactly right. 00:32:31.803 --> 00:32:33.222 But if that's true, 00:32:33.222 --> 00:32:36.606 what keeps me from just living on in sin? 00:32:36.606 --> 00:32:38.153 Grace. 00:32:38.153 --> 00:32:40.119 It should be sufficient even to cover 00:32:40.119 --> 00:32:43.302 the sin I commit tomorrow, right? 00:32:43.302 --> 00:32:45.195 And Paul confronts that. 00:32:45.195 --> 00:32:47.427 And he says, what then? 00:32:47.427 --> 00:32:48.832 Is that what we're saying? 00:32:48.832 --> 00:32:52.712 Do we just continue in sin now that we're Christians? 00:32:52.712 --> 00:32:56.303 That grace might abound? 00:32:56.303 --> 00:32:58.548 And he says, 00:32:58.548 --> 00:33:02.929 how can you? 00:33:02.929 --> 00:33:04.852 There's a reason why you can't. 00:33:04.852 --> 00:33:05.858 Watch. 00:33:05.858 --> 00:33:07.604 By no means. 00:33:07.604 --> 00:33:10.487 How can we? 00:33:10.487 --> 00:33:13.217 Why? Well, something has happened. 00:33:13.217 --> 00:33:17.967 How can we who died to sin still live in it? 00:33:17.967 --> 00:33:19.762 "Do you not know that all of us 00:33:19.762 --> 00:33:21.776 have been baptized into Christ Jesus?" 00:33:21.776 --> 00:33:23.974 That we're baptized into His death. 00:33:23.974 --> 00:33:25.954 So what you see here is... 00:33:25.954 --> 00:33:30.101 with Christ; into Christ; 00:33:30.101 --> 00:33:32.975 there's "into His death." 00:33:32.975 --> 00:33:34.329 There's a oneness. 00:33:34.329 --> 00:33:35.759 The union. 00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:38.218 We were buried therefore, with Him, 00:33:38.218 --> 00:33:39.772 by baptism into death. 00:33:39.772 --> 00:33:41.448 Now, here it is. 00:33:41.448 --> 00:33:42.979 Here's the resurrection. 00:33:42.979 --> 00:33:46.689 Here's the being raised. 00:33:46.689 --> 00:33:49.972 "Just as Christ was raised from the dead 00:33:49.972 --> 00:33:52.542 by the glory of the Father..." 00:33:52.542 --> 00:33:58.486 we too will be raised. 00:33:58.486 --> 00:34:00.161 Now he doesn't use that language, 00:34:00.161 --> 00:34:02.490 but that's clearly what he implies. 00:34:02.490 --> 00:34:08.582 He describes it as we too... what? 00:34:08.582 --> 00:34:13.342 "We too walk in life." 00:34:13.342 --> 00:34:15.295 See, we've been raised to life with Him. 00:34:15.295 --> 00:34:18.968 It's a newness of life. 00:34:18.968 --> 00:34:25.226 "For if we have been united with Him," 00:34:25.226 --> 00:34:27.194 see the union? 00:34:27.194 --> 00:34:28.558 "in a death like His, 00:34:28.558 --> 00:34:31.654 we shall certainly be united with Him 00:34:31.654 --> 00:34:38.245 in a resurrection like His." 00:34:38.245 --> 00:34:41.971 Now, brethren, he's not talking here 00:34:41.971 --> 00:34:46.523 about resurrection when your body comes out of the grave. 00:34:46.523 --> 00:34:48.524 That's not what he's talking about. 00:34:48.524 --> 00:34:51.182 He's talking about why Christians 00:34:51.182 --> 00:34:54.669 don't continue in sin right now. 00:34:54.669 --> 00:34:57.626 You say, but it's future tense. 00:34:57.626 --> 00:34:59.597 We shall certainly be united with Him 00:34:59.597 --> 00:35:00.819 in a resurrection. 00:35:00.819 --> 00:35:02.167 Yeah, but see, the thing is 00:35:02.167 --> 00:35:06.506 he's putting it in relationship to the death. 00:35:06.506 --> 00:35:07.687 There's a death 00:35:07.687 --> 00:35:11.525 and the resurrection follows. 00:35:11.525 --> 00:35:16.659 We have a resurrection like His. 00:35:16.659 --> 00:35:19.558 You basically look at the vast majority 00:35:19.558 --> 00:35:20.723 of commentators - 00:35:20.723 --> 00:35:22.492 they're all on the same page here. 00:35:22.492 --> 00:35:25.131 That the argument has to do, 00:35:25.131 --> 00:35:27.475 notice verse five starts with a "for." 00:35:27.475 --> 00:35:30.439 It means, he's going on to explain further 00:35:30.439 --> 00:35:33.303 the idea, the concept of Christ being raised from the dead, 00:35:33.303 --> 00:35:37.356 and we too also being raised to this newness of life. 00:35:37.356 --> 00:35:39.749 We've been united with Him in a death like His. 00:35:39.749 --> 00:35:41.551 And then what follows is 00:35:41.551 --> 00:35:43.323 we shall certainly be united with Him 00:35:43.323 --> 00:35:45.274 in a resurrection like His. 00:35:45.274 --> 00:35:46.287 And the argument is, 00:35:46.287 --> 00:35:49.414 why doesn't the Christian continue in sin? 00:35:49.414 --> 00:35:50.757 Newness of life. 00:35:50.757 --> 00:35:52.077 Regeneration. 00:35:52.077 --> 00:35:55.545 We have experienced a resurrection like His. 00:35:55.545 --> 00:35:57.296 He came forth from the grave. 00:35:57.296 --> 00:35:59.142 We come forth from the grave. 00:35:59.142 --> 00:36:02.277 We're no longer in those first three verses of Ephesians 2. 00:36:02.277 --> 00:36:03.150 We've come out. 00:36:03.150 --> 00:36:04.471 Send the women to look for you. 00:36:04.471 --> 00:36:06.636 If you're a Christian, you're not in there. 00:36:06.636 --> 00:36:08.732 If you can look and somebody can finds you 00:36:08.732 --> 00:36:10.389 back in those first three verses, 00:36:10.389 --> 00:36:13.159 it's because you have not been raised. 00:36:13.159 --> 00:36:15.152 That's the reason. 00:36:15.152 --> 00:36:16.633 Six. 00:36:16.633 --> 00:36:18.293 "We know that our old self 00:36:18.293 --> 00:36:21.278 was crucified with Him in order that the body 00:36:21.278 --> 00:36:24.101 of sin might be brought to nothing. 00:36:24.101 --> 00:36:26.432 So that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." 00:36:26.432 --> 00:36:28.161 This is why you cannot continue. 00:36:28.161 --> 00:36:29.218 Regeneration. 00:36:29.218 --> 00:36:30.281 You are a new person. 00:36:30.281 --> 00:36:32.588 You're no longer enslaved to sin. 00:36:32.588 --> 00:36:33.900 You can't. 00:36:33.900 --> 00:36:37.448 The body of sin being brought to nothing. 00:36:37.448 --> 00:36:40.553 "For the one who has died..." 00:36:40.553 --> 00:36:44.916 The word here "set free," 00:36:44.916 --> 00:36:47.926 in the ESV is actually the word "justified." 00:36:47.926 --> 00:36:49.983 It seems like what he's saying here is 00:36:49.983 --> 00:36:53.256 you who are dead to sin 00:36:53.256 --> 00:36:55.621 are the ones who are truly justified. 00:36:55.621 --> 00:36:56.494 In other words, 00:36:56.494 --> 00:37:02.114 this free reality of grace abounding 00:37:02.114 --> 00:37:07.058 to the chief of sinners. 00:37:07.058 --> 00:37:13.394 That if you've actually experienced this, 00:37:13.394 --> 00:37:14.892 you've died to sin. 00:37:14.892 --> 00:37:16.221 The two go hand in hand. 00:37:16.221 --> 00:37:18.112 That seems like the truth there. 00:37:18.112 --> 00:37:19.902 But we don't have time to stay there. 00:37:19.902 --> 00:37:22.928 "Now, if we have died with Christ, 00:37:22.928 --> 00:37:25.762 we believe we will also live with Him." 00:37:25.762 --> 00:37:26.521 There it is. 00:37:26.521 --> 00:37:28.057 The life with Him. 00:37:28.057 --> 00:37:28.942 Now notice, 00:37:28.942 --> 00:37:30.863 he's not talking about the future. 00:37:30.863 --> 00:37:33.124 He's not talking about when we die. 00:37:33.124 --> 00:37:35.624 He's not talking about when Christ returns. 00:37:35.624 --> 00:37:38.467 Notice, "we know that Christ being raised 00:37:38.467 --> 00:37:41.661 from the dead will never die again. 00:37:41.661 --> 00:37:43.806 Death no longer has dominion over Him. 00:37:43.806 --> 00:37:46.506 For the death He died, He died to sin." 00:37:46.506 --> 00:37:48.440 How did He die to sin? 00:37:48.440 --> 00:37:51.543 He died because He became sin for us 00:37:51.543 --> 00:37:53.486 in our place, 00:37:53.486 --> 00:37:56.111 that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 00:37:56.111 --> 00:37:57.910 That's how He died to it. 00:37:57.910 --> 00:37:59.836 And He was done with it. 00:37:59.836 --> 00:38:03.659 Look, the reality is, the life He lives now, 00:38:03.659 --> 00:38:04.955 He lives to God. 00:38:04.955 --> 00:38:07.735 So, here's the conclusion of all of that. 00:38:07.735 --> 00:38:09.834 Not something out there in the future 00:38:09.834 --> 00:38:12.056 about your body being raised from the dead. 00:38:12.056 --> 00:38:14.275 The reality of this truth has to do 00:38:14.275 --> 00:38:16.428 with how you live your life right now. 00:38:16.428 --> 00:38:19.823 And why you cannot continue in sin right now. 00:38:19.823 --> 00:38:23.297 So, you must right now consider yourselves 00:38:23.297 --> 00:38:28.696 dead to sin, alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:38:28.696 --> 00:38:31.085 Now, brethren, here's the thing. 00:38:31.085 --> 00:38:37.816 Death here is not the same as 00:38:37.816 --> 00:38:41.740 death in Ephesians 2. 00:38:41.740 --> 00:38:45.112 In Ephesians 2:1, it says you were dead 00:38:45.112 --> 00:38:48.463 in trespasses and sins. 00:38:48.463 --> 00:38:50.577 That's when you were lost. 00:38:50.577 --> 00:38:55.000 The death here in Romans 6 00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:58.656 is death to sin. 00:38:58.656 --> 00:39:01.488 Not dead in sin. 00:39:01.488 --> 00:39:03.802 It's dead to sin. 00:39:03.802 --> 00:39:09.281 It's actually the death that you experience as a Christian. 00:39:09.281 --> 00:39:11.881 The death over in Ephesians 2 is a death 00:39:11.881 --> 00:39:14.356 you experience as a non-Christian. 00:39:14.356 --> 00:39:16.129 That is the importance. 00:39:16.129 --> 00:39:20.252 The resurrection here is the same as the resurrection over there. 00:39:20.252 --> 00:39:26.214 But Paul is speaking about two different deaths. 00:39:26.214 --> 00:39:28.382 It's important that you see that. 00:39:28.382 --> 00:39:31.323 But here's the thing, 00:39:31.323 --> 00:39:35.994 brethren, are we supposed to continue in sin? 00:39:35.994 --> 00:39:38.807 That's the question that's on the table. 00:39:38.807 --> 00:39:40.889 He takes us to resurrection. 00:39:40.889 --> 00:39:42.765 He takes us to newness of life. 00:39:42.765 --> 00:39:45.008 He takes us to being raised with Him. 00:39:45.008 --> 00:39:48.863 He takes us to being alive to God. 00:39:48.863 --> 00:39:53.965 But here's the reality of all of it. 00:39:53.965 --> 00:39:58.848 Here's the flow of the argument. 00:39:58.848 --> 00:40:00.771 He's not trying to convince us about 00:40:00.771 --> 00:40:04.308 any realities concerning our future resurrection. 00:40:04.308 --> 00:40:06.153 Now all that's true. 00:40:06.153 --> 00:40:08.772 As a Christian, your body's coming out of the grave. 00:40:08.772 --> 00:40:11.785 But if you want to know about that, 00:40:11.785 --> 00:40:13.745 this isn't the text. 00:40:13.745 --> 00:40:15.372 Some place like 1 Corinthians 15, 00:40:15.372 --> 00:40:17.506 that's where you want to go to see 00:40:17.506 --> 00:40:20.591 the beauties and the reality of that. 00:40:20.591 --> 00:40:24.744 Here he's speaking about the same spiritual reality 00:40:24.744 --> 00:40:27.609 that takes place in the life of the Christian 00:40:27.609 --> 00:40:29.872 as he's talking about over in Ephesians 2. 00:40:29.872 --> 00:40:33.360 Which is directly connected with this reality 00:40:33.360 --> 00:40:38.477 that we are raised together with Christ. 00:40:38.477 --> 00:40:41.709 That's the thing. 00:40:41.709 --> 00:40:45.419 And the whole thrust of the argument, 00:40:45.419 --> 00:40:47.787 what shall we say then? 00:40:47.787 --> 00:40:49.723 Are we to continue in sin? 00:40:49.723 --> 00:40:53.806 Now, brethren, he's not talking perfection. 00:40:53.806 --> 00:40:56.723 Don't miss that. 00:40:56.723 --> 00:40:59.132 You say how do you know that? 00:40:59.132 --> 00:41:02.339 What makes you think that this isn't perfection here? 00:41:02.339 --> 00:41:08.068 Saying you're dead to sin sounds pretty dogmatic. 00:41:08.068 --> 00:41:13.666 Sounds pretty all-encompassing. 00:41:13.666 --> 00:41:15.617 Well, we could go over some place 00:41:15.617 --> 00:41:17.282 like 1 John and I could say, 00:41:17.282 --> 00:41:20.971 little children, I write to you that you sin not, 00:41:20.971 --> 00:41:23.631 but if you sin, we have an Advocate with the Father. 00:41:23.631 --> 00:41:24.952 We could go somewhere else. 00:41:24.952 --> 00:41:26.867 But just looking right in the context, 00:41:26.867 --> 00:41:28.244 what might be some giveaways 00:41:28.244 --> 00:41:37.116 that he's not actually speaking about total perfection here? 00:41:37.116 --> 00:41:42.704 Brethren, I think the reality of this 00:41:42.704 --> 00:41:47.622 is that you see the battle. 00:41:47.622 --> 00:41:51.789 For one, he uses the terminology dominion. 00:41:51.789 --> 00:41:53.719 Notice it in verse 9. 00:41:53.719 --> 00:41:58.446 "Death no longer has dominion over Him." 00:41:58.446 --> 00:42:01.671 No longer dominates Christ. 00:42:01.671 --> 00:42:03.119 But notice this word again, 00:42:03.119 --> 00:42:05.941 at least in the ESV if you go down to 14, 00:42:05.941 --> 00:42:13.709 "Sin will have no dominion over you." 00:42:13.709 --> 00:42:15.480 That's the issue. 00:42:15.480 --> 00:42:18.819 It's dominance. 00:42:18.819 --> 00:42:20.389 It's dominion. 00:42:20.389 --> 00:42:22.537 It's not total eradication. 00:42:22.537 --> 00:42:25.188 In fact, you get a further idea of this 00:42:25.188 --> 00:42:30.366 just in the nature of the battle 00:42:30.366 --> 00:42:32.710 as it's portrayed by Paul here. 00:42:32.710 --> 00:42:37.043 Do you all see it there? 00:42:37.043 --> 00:42:41.042 Notice, verse 10, 00:42:41.042 --> 00:42:42.863 "the death He died, He died to sin 00:42:42.863 --> 00:42:44.905 once for all, but the life He lives, 00:42:44.905 --> 00:42:46.427 He lives to God. 00:42:46.427 --> 00:42:51.181 So, you also must consider yourselves 00:42:51.181 --> 00:42:57.082 dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." 00:42:57.082 --> 00:43:02.045 This is a reality that he wants flooding your minds. 00:43:02.045 --> 00:43:04.420 But notice the battle here. 00:43:04.420 --> 00:43:08.895 Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body 00:43:08.895 --> 00:43:11.643 to make you obey its passions. 00:43:11.643 --> 00:43:15.374 In other words, sin is going to seek to reign 00:43:15.374 --> 00:43:17.602 in your mortal bodies. 00:43:17.602 --> 00:43:19.267 Fight it. 00:43:19.267 --> 00:43:22.737 You go further in this letter to Romans 8:13, 00:43:22.737 --> 00:43:26.378 "by the Spirit, we put to death the deeds of the body." 00:43:26.378 --> 00:43:28.399 That's life. 00:43:28.399 --> 00:43:31.400 This is life here. 00:43:31.400 --> 00:43:32.576 Verse 13. 00:43:32.576 --> 00:43:33.573 This is the battle. 00:43:33.573 --> 00:43:36.390 "Do not present your members to sin 00:43:36.390 --> 00:43:39.324 as instruments for unrighteousness, 00:43:39.324 --> 00:43:42.089 but present yourselves to God as those 00:43:42.089 --> 00:43:43.918 who have been brought..." 00:43:43.918 --> 00:43:45.421 Here it is. 00:43:45.421 --> 00:43:53.414 Live as one who's been brought from death to life. 00:43:53.414 --> 00:43:59.937 You have come out with Christ. 00:43:59.937 --> 00:44:03.878 Here's the experiential reality 00:44:03.878 --> 00:44:06.265 about being raised together with Christ. 00:44:06.265 --> 00:44:08.405 It's got everything to do with sin. 00:44:08.405 --> 00:44:10.638 Because listen, 00:44:10.638 --> 00:44:15.313 the death of those first three verses of Ephesians 2, 00:44:15.313 --> 00:44:20.049 it's dead in sin. 00:44:20.049 --> 00:44:24.144 Dead in sin. 00:44:24.144 --> 00:44:26.986 The opposite: alive to God. 00:44:26.986 --> 00:44:29.242 Because sin is everything that's against Him. 00:44:29.242 --> 00:44:31.801 Sin falls short of the glory. 00:44:31.801 --> 00:44:33.250 It doesn't seek the glory. 00:44:33.250 --> 00:44:35.101 It doesn't desire the glory of God. 00:44:35.101 --> 00:44:36.735 It's beneath the glory. 00:44:36.735 --> 00:44:39.187 It's constantly living for self. 00:44:39.187 --> 00:44:42.203 God isn't in the focus. 00:44:42.203 --> 00:44:43.170 It's not that. 00:44:43.170 --> 00:44:47.713 And it's coming away from that death of sin. 00:44:47.713 --> 00:44:50.325 Being made alive to God. 00:44:50.325 --> 00:44:52.272 That's the reality. 00:44:52.272 --> 00:44:57.024 How can we who have died to sin still live in it? 00:44:57.024 --> 00:44:58.055 Why? 00:44:58.055 --> 00:44:59.145 You can't. 00:44:59.145 --> 00:45:01.576 Because you've been raised together with Christ. 00:45:01.576 --> 00:45:03.385 He came out of the grave. 00:45:03.385 --> 00:45:06.468 You've come out of the grave of those first three verses. 00:45:06.468 --> 00:45:09.329 Listen. 00:45:09.329 --> 00:45:12.008 Think about how ludicrous it would be 00:45:12.008 --> 00:45:14.817 to imagine Him being made alive 00:45:14.817 --> 00:45:18.533 and to stay there under the linen, 00:45:18.533 --> 00:45:20.189 in the dark, 00:45:20.189 --> 00:45:21.944 in the tomb, 00:45:21.944 --> 00:45:26.091 behind the rock. 00:45:26.091 --> 00:45:28.134 The women didn't find Him. 00:45:28.134 --> 00:45:29.371 Why? 00:45:29.371 --> 00:45:30.953 Because when you're made alive, 00:45:30.953 --> 00:45:33.123 you don't stay in the tomb. 00:45:33.123 --> 00:45:34.958 When you're made alive, 00:45:34.958 --> 00:45:36.881 it's an obvious fact. 00:45:36.881 --> 00:45:39.158 Didn't the angels think it was very obvious? 00:45:39.158 --> 00:45:44.474 Why are you seeking Him among the dead? 00:45:44.474 --> 00:45:46.968 Don't you know that you don't find 00:45:46.968 --> 00:45:51.818 the living among the dead? 00:45:51.818 --> 00:45:55.259 This is the experiential reality. 00:45:55.259 --> 00:45:59.083 Brethren, we came out from among the dead. 00:45:59.083 --> 00:46:01.329 Among whom we all once lived 00:46:01.329 --> 00:46:04.288 in the passions of our flesh. 00:46:04.288 --> 00:46:07.745 Carrying out the desires, 00:46:07.745 --> 00:46:10.756 the lusts of the flesh, 00:46:10.756 --> 00:46:12.504 the lusts of the body, 00:46:12.504 --> 00:46:14.871 the lusts of the mind. 00:46:14.871 --> 00:46:17.019 This is what we came out of. 00:46:17.019 --> 00:46:19.909 But you don't stay there. 00:46:19.909 --> 00:46:22.126 That's the reality. 00:46:22.126 --> 00:46:23.735 Brethren, that is the reality. 00:46:23.735 --> 00:46:25.917 That's what we find to be. 00:46:25.917 --> 00:46:29.332 Our relationship with sin has entirely changed. 00:46:29.332 --> 00:46:32.331 Jesus' relationship with sin, with death, 00:46:32.331 --> 00:46:33.684 had entirely changed, 00:46:33.684 --> 00:46:35.748 and He doesn't stay in the grave. 00:46:35.748 --> 00:46:38.409 He was dead to sin forevermore. 00:46:38.409 --> 00:46:40.247 Not that He ever committed any sin. 00:46:40.247 --> 00:46:41.853 He was dead to it in another way. 00:46:41.853 --> 00:46:42.826 He conquered it. 00:46:42.826 --> 00:46:43.805 He became sin. 00:46:43.805 --> 00:46:44.746 He paid it. 00:46:44.746 --> 00:46:46.301 He was done with it, period. 00:46:46.301 --> 00:46:48.242 Once and for all. 00:46:48.242 --> 00:46:49.872 All over. 00:46:49.872 --> 00:46:51.764 You have been brought out of the grave, 00:46:51.764 --> 00:46:53.343 once and for all. 00:46:53.343 --> 00:46:54.952 You are no longer a slave to sin. 00:46:54.952 --> 00:46:56.682 You are no longer a servant to sin. 00:46:56.682 --> 00:46:59.556 You're a slave to God. 00:46:59.556 --> 00:47:00.734 Peter says it. 00:47:00.734 --> 00:47:01.740 Paul says it. 00:47:01.740 --> 00:47:02.975 A slave to God. 00:47:02.975 --> 00:47:05.067 Yes, the translations don't like to use it. 00:47:05.067 --> 00:47:08.516 It's politcally an incorrect term. 00:47:08.516 --> 00:47:10.493 You listen to some of the translators 00:47:10.493 --> 00:47:12.655 as they talk about why they chose one word 00:47:12.655 --> 00:47:14.986 over another in the English translations. 00:47:14.986 --> 00:47:16.696 It's a hot topic. 00:47:16.696 --> 00:47:17.663 It's a hot word. 00:47:17.663 --> 00:47:19.023 People don't like to use it. 00:47:19.023 --> 00:47:21.486 Because it just produces too much negative imagery. 00:47:21.486 --> 00:47:24.992 Especially with the history that we have in the United States of America. 00:47:24.992 --> 00:47:26.652 But I'll tell you this, brethren, 00:47:26.652 --> 00:47:28.346 we are free. 00:47:28.346 --> 00:47:29.242 We are free. 00:47:29.242 --> 00:47:36.052 And the truest freedom is to live unto the will of God. 00:47:36.052 --> 00:47:37.782 That is true freedom. 00:47:37.782 --> 00:47:40.702 True freedom is when we love God 00:47:40.702 --> 00:47:43.111 and we're no longer in the bondage of sin. 00:47:43.111 --> 00:47:46.307 To be a slave under that master, 00:47:46.307 --> 00:47:49.186 is to be under the whip all the time. 00:47:49.186 --> 00:47:53.226 Do this, do that, do this other thing! 00:47:53.226 --> 00:47:56.882 Brethren, that's not how we live any longer. 00:47:56.882 --> 00:47:58.408 You get people that say, 00:47:58.408 --> 00:48:05.048 "show me in the Bible where that's wrong!" 00:48:05.048 --> 00:48:07.622 Brethren, that's to miss the whole spirit. 00:48:07.622 --> 00:48:09.692 Of course, we go to our Bibles. 00:48:09.692 --> 00:48:14.478 But it's like we found there in Peter. 00:48:14.478 --> 00:48:18.868 It's the will of God. 00:48:18.868 --> 00:48:20.999 It's what God loves. 00:48:20.999 --> 00:48:22.182 We're not always asking, 00:48:22.182 --> 00:48:23.379 what's the rules? 00:48:23.379 --> 00:48:26.976 Show me the rules? 00:48:26.976 --> 00:48:29.697 Show me all the lists. 00:48:29.697 --> 00:48:31.730 That's not it. 00:48:31.730 --> 00:48:33.793 That's what people do who are 00:48:33.793 --> 00:48:36.071 under the slave master. 00:48:36.071 --> 00:48:39.047 Who are under law. 00:48:39.047 --> 00:48:42.598 We are free to live to the will of God. 00:48:42.598 --> 00:48:43.353 Why? 00:48:43.353 --> 00:48:44.423 We've been made alive, 00:48:44.423 --> 00:48:45.861 alive to God. 00:48:45.861 --> 00:48:51.353 Our heart jumps for the things of God. 00:48:51.353 --> 00:49:01.305 Listen, Christ entered into the realm of sin once. 00:49:01.305 --> 00:49:03.920 And He came out. 00:49:03.920 --> 00:49:05.682 So have we. 00:49:05.682 --> 00:49:09.372 The realm of sin by becoming sin. 00:49:09.372 --> 00:49:11.724 He finished with it. 00:49:11.724 --> 00:49:13.874 So have we. 00:49:13.874 --> 00:49:17.960 Brethren, sin has no claim on you. 00:49:17.960 --> 00:49:20.230 You can look at every temptation, 00:49:20.230 --> 00:49:23.046 you can look at the devil himself straight in the face 00:49:23.046 --> 00:49:25.606 and say I don't have to follow you. 00:49:25.606 --> 00:49:27.920 I'm a free man. 00:49:27.920 --> 00:49:30.839 Good day. 00:49:30.839 --> 00:49:35.680 My Lord is alive and I'm one with Him. 00:49:35.680 --> 00:49:38.015 And we haven't even got here yet. 00:49:38.015 --> 00:49:40.848 But you can look at the devil and say 00:49:40.848 --> 00:49:44.195 do you recognize I am seated in the heavenly places 00:49:44.195 --> 00:49:50.808 with Christ Jesus, by the way? 00:49:50.808 --> 00:49:55.265 Brethren, the truth of all this is, 00:49:55.265 --> 00:50:01.225 we need to recognize who we are. 00:50:01.225 --> 00:50:03.568 Everything that Jesus Christ did, 00:50:03.568 --> 00:50:07.605 it was designed to take us out of the realm of sin 00:50:07.605 --> 00:50:09.852 and death and to put us into this realm 00:50:09.852 --> 00:50:12.542 of being alive to God. 00:50:12.542 --> 00:50:13.402 That's it. 00:50:13.402 --> 00:50:15.016 That's Paul's meaning. 00:50:15.016 --> 00:50:18.688 Have you been raised up to this? 00:50:18.688 --> 00:50:21.321 Being made alive to God. 00:50:21.321 --> 00:50:23.644 Not where sin is just a bunch of rules 00:50:23.644 --> 00:50:24.895 that you have to keep. 00:50:24.895 --> 00:50:26.287 Not always asking, 00:50:26.287 --> 00:50:27.712 well, what's wrong with that? 00:50:27.712 --> 00:50:29.448 Do you ever hear people like that? 00:50:29.448 --> 00:50:31.480 It's like that's how they live their life. 00:50:31.480 --> 00:50:33.303 "What's wrong with that?" 00:50:33.303 --> 00:50:37.523 Brethren, that's slave talk. 00:50:37.523 --> 00:50:41.994 It's like what does God delight in? 00:50:41.994 --> 00:50:44.507 Let me do that. 00:50:44.507 --> 00:50:47.786 What's going to bring His smile upon me? 00:50:47.786 --> 00:50:51.016 Oh, is there a possibility He's going to frown on that? 00:50:51.016 --> 00:50:52.990 Is there a possibility that this is going 00:50:52.990 --> 00:50:54.797 to cause a shadow to pass between us? 00:50:54.797 --> 00:50:58.066 Then I don't want to go there. 00:50:58.066 --> 00:51:01.242 Versus: "Show me in the Bible where it says that!" 00:51:01.242 --> 00:51:03.736 Well, of course, we want to be shown in the Bible. 00:51:03.736 --> 00:51:10.624 But that's to totally miss it. 00:51:10.624 --> 00:51:16.839 Brethren, we should be disgusted with that kind of attitude 00:51:16.839 --> 00:51:19.127 among those who profess to be Christians. 00:51:19.127 --> 00:51:21.594 That is purely slave talk. 00:51:21.594 --> 00:51:26.216 It's just basically what must I do to avoid punishment? 00:51:26.216 --> 00:51:29.964 Show me the list of rules. 00:51:29.964 --> 00:51:36.122 Christians have been raised way up above and beyond that. 00:51:36.122 --> 00:51:40.087 Up into the heights and the majesty. 00:51:40.087 --> 00:51:42.117 Up there on that mountain top. 00:51:42.117 --> 00:51:44.497 The glory. 00:51:44.497 --> 00:51:47.883 That's where we're seated. 00:51:47.883 --> 00:51:53.427 Brethren, it's David coming along and saying 00:51:53.427 --> 00:51:59.917 I pant after God like a deer pants after water. 00:51:59.917 --> 00:52:03.318 You see, people like that aren't constantly asking, 00:52:03.318 --> 00:52:04.879 show me the rules! 00:52:04.879 --> 00:52:06.563 Show me where it says that I can't 00:52:06.563 --> 00:52:07.874 listen to music like that. 00:52:07.874 --> 00:52:11.279 Show me where it says I can't go to a move like that. 00:52:11.279 --> 00:52:20.152 Show me where it says I can't wear that. 00:52:20.152 --> 00:52:23.592 Yes, we want to search Scripture 00:52:23.592 --> 00:52:26.304 to find out the will of God. 00:52:26.304 --> 00:52:27.959 We want to be taught. 00:52:27.959 --> 00:52:29.670 We're ignorant about so much. 00:52:29.670 --> 00:52:31.126 I recognize that. 00:52:31.126 --> 00:52:34.408 Scripture needs to be our basis for sanctification, 00:52:34.408 --> 00:52:37.821 our basis for truth. 00:52:37.821 --> 00:52:41.045 But that is just a world away from saying 00:52:41.045 --> 00:52:45.557 oh, my heart hungers, it longs after God. 00:52:45.557 --> 00:52:47.647 Where can I find God? 00:52:47.647 --> 00:52:49.822 The sighs and moans... 00:52:49.822 --> 00:52:52.259 It's like, hey, brother, you want to go do this? 00:52:52.259 --> 00:52:54.782 And you're thinking man my ache in my heart 00:52:54.782 --> 00:52:56.338 is to find God. 00:52:56.338 --> 00:52:59.582 If I do that, that may take me backwards. 00:52:59.582 --> 00:53:01.081 That may take me in a direction 00:53:01.081 --> 00:53:02.176 I don't want to go. 00:53:02.176 --> 00:53:03.561 That may interrupt the fellowship, 00:53:03.561 --> 00:53:05.141 and I'm trying to get more fellowship. 00:53:05.141 --> 00:53:07.145 And you want to take me over there to do that? 00:53:07.145 --> 00:53:08.589 It'll be fun! 00:53:08.589 --> 00:53:11.915 No, it's not fun if I lose the sight of His smile. 00:53:11.915 --> 00:53:15.479 That isn't fun. 00:53:15.479 --> 00:53:21.076 That's exactly what you don't want. 00:53:21.076 --> 00:53:25.272 Brethren, what we've been raised to, 00:53:25.272 --> 00:53:28.133 is think about Christ raised up. 00:53:28.133 --> 00:53:30.823 He's the delight of His Father. 00:53:30.823 --> 00:53:32.152 Proverbs 8 00:53:32.152 --> 00:53:33.529 The delight... 00:53:33.529 --> 00:53:35.354 that's what happens with us. 00:53:35.354 --> 00:53:38.480 It becomes a relationship of delight 00:53:38.480 --> 00:53:40.543 and feeling the smile of God 00:53:40.543 --> 00:53:42.318 and enjoying His joy. 00:53:42.318 --> 00:53:44.240 Delighting in His salvation. 00:53:44.240 --> 00:53:47.092 It's living this thankful life, 00:53:47.092 --> 00:53:48.718 and living in holiness, 00:53:48.718 --> 00:53:50.122 and wanting to be holy. 00:53:50.122 --> 00:53:51.998 Christ said, "Blessed are those who 00:53:51.998 --> 00:53:54.691 hunger and thirst after righteousness. 00:53:54.691 --> 00:53:57.285 Blessed are the pure in heart." 00:53:57.285 --> 00:54:00.297 There's a singleness. 00:54:00.297 --> 00:54:04.410 We're evaluating things, not on a list of rules all the time. 00:54:04.410 --> 00:54:06.136 Show me where I can do this, 00:54:06.136 --> 00:54:08.589 or show me where I can't do that. 00:54:08.589 --> 00:54:10.792 We should abominate that as much as 00:54:10.792 --> 00:54:16.094 we abominate Catholicism's dead Christ. 00:54:16.094 --> 00:54:20.405 Brethren, there's a life that spills forth 00:54:20.405 --> 00:54:21.873 from being raised up; 00:54:21.873 --> 00:54:23.383 a life that is within us. 00:54:23.383 --> 00:54:25.900 Because we're no longer in the grave. 00:54:25.900 --> 00:54:27.087 We've come forth. 00:54:27.087 --> 00:54:30.073 We've been raised up. 00:54:30.073 --> 00:54:32.046 You think of Polycarp. 00:54:32.046 --> 00:54:34.122 Some of us were talking about him. 00:54:34.122 --> 00:54:39.251 His famous quote when they told him 00:54:39.251 --> 00:54:42.201 they wanted him to offer the incense to Caesar. 00:54:42.201 --> 00:54:44.266 They wanted him to deny Christ. 00:54:44.266 --> 00:54:46.730 And he said, 00:54:46.730 --> 00:54:49.528 "80 and six years have I served Christ, 00:54:49.528 --> 00:54:52.367 nor has He ever done me any harm. 00:54:52.367 --> 00:54:57.701 How then could I blaspheme my King who saved me." 00:54:57.701 --> 00:55:02.868 You see, they wanted him to blaspheme. 00:55:02.868 --> 00:55:05.544 He didn't turn to the other Christians and say 00:55:05.544 --> 00:55:07.424 show me a law in the Bible 00:55:07.424 --> 00:55:12.281 that says that I can't do that. 00:55:12.281 --> 00:55:14.363 Brethren, that's not being raised. 00:55:14.363 --> 00:55:19.932 Being raised is... what kindness! 00:55:19.932 --> 00:55:24.067 He has loved me even when I was dead 00:55:24.067 --> 00:55:26.632 in my trespasses. 00:55:26.632 --> 00:55:28.916 He loved me with a great love. 00:55:28.916 --> 00:55:31.682 He showed me great mercy. 00:55:31.682 --> 00:55:34.324 Riches of mercy. 00:55:34.324 --> 00:55:37.430 He spilled the blood of His Son. 00:55:37.430 --> 00:55:40.971 I just think of all the different times 00:55:40.971 --> 00:55:42.885 that He was spit on. 00:55:42.885 --> 00:55:45.229 They plucked out His beard. 00:55:45.229 --> 00:55:46.723 You get that from the Psalms, 00:55:46.723 --> 00:55:50.409 not so much from the Gospel accounts. 00:55:50.409 --> 00:55:53.482 Smitten. 00:55:53.482 --> 00:55:57.625 Think of God smiting His Son. 00:55:57.625 --> 00:56:00.774 He's the Beloved. 00:56:00.774 --> 00:56:04.984 He's hitting Him. He's hitting Him. 00:56:04.984 --> 00:56:10.323 He didn't spare His own Son 00:56:10.323 --> 00:56:12.629 for you. 00:56:12.629 --> 00:56:18.498 And brethren, you've been raised. 00:56:18.498 --> 00:56:25.429 You need to consider yourselves raised. 00:56:25.429 --> 00:56:26.591 Dead to sin. 00:56:26.591 --> 00:56:28.363 Alive to God. 00:56:28.363 --> 00:56:31.258 That needs to be the mindset. 00:56:31.258 --> 00:56:34.052 You can go out of here, 00:56:34.052 --> 00:56:36.411 to be quite honest, 00:56:36.411 --> 00:56:39.099 the computer does not own you. 00:56:39.099 --> 00:56:40.955 You are raised. 00:56:40.955 --> 00:56:44.404 Pornography does not own you. 00:56:44.404 --> 00:56:48.596 You are raised. 00:56:48.596 --> 00:56:50.079 Food doesn't own you. 00:56:50.079 --> 00:56:51.477 Drink doesn't own you. 00:56:51.477 --> 00:56:54.641 Entertainment doesn't own you. 00:56:54.641 --> 00:56:58.137 The truth is, your family does not own you. 00:56:58.137 --> 00:57:00.115 You're a slave to God. 00:57:00.115 --> 00:57:01.762 And as a slave to God, 00:57:01.762 --> 00:57:05.206 free to do right. 00:57:05.206 --> 00:57:08.035 Free to live holy. 00:57:08.035 --> 00:57:12.888 Free, free, yearning, living like David. 00:57:12.888 --> 00:57:16.104 As a deer pants for flowing streams, 00:57:16.104 --> 00:57:18.551 so pants my soul for You, O God. 00:57:18.551 --> 00:57:21.494 My soul thirsts for God, 00:57:21.494 --> 00:57:22.802 for the living God, 00:57:22.802 --> 00:57:25.052 when shall I come and appear before God. 00:57:25.052 --> 00:57:29.321 My tears have been my food day and night. 00:57:29.321 --> 00:57:30.102 Why? 00:57:30.102 --> 00:57:31.902 Because they're saying where is your God? 00:57:31.912 --> 00:57:33.621 And he's saying, yeah, where is He? 00:57:33.621 --> 00:57:35.028 He's weeping for Him. 00:57:35.028 --> 00:57:36.903 He's longing. He's groaning. 00:57:36.903 --> 00:57:38.288 He's crying. 00:57:38.288 --> 00:57:40.391 That's what drives us. 00:57:40.391 --> 00:57:41.873 This is the life. 00:57:41.873 --> 00:57:43.444 Alive to God. 00:57:43.444 --> 00:57:46.423 We've been raised. 00:57:46.423 --> 00:57:49.904 You've been raised to this. 00:57:49.904 --> 00:57:54.310 Consider this reality 00:57:54.310 --> 00:57:56.499 as one being raised... 00:57:56.499 --> 00:57:58.422 we find in Colossians, 00:57:58.422 --> 00:58:02.785 set your minds on things above. 00:58:02.785 --> 00:58:07.361 You're not in those first three verses anymore. 00:58:07.361 --> 00:58:11.211 Set your mind on things outside of there. 00:58:11.211 --> 00:58:15.320 Don't send your mind back in there. 00:58:15.320 --> 00:58:17.317 Colossians 3:1 00:58:17.317 --> 00:58:19.854 As one who has been raised with Christ, 00:58:19.854 --> 00:58:22.731 you are to set your minds upon things above 00:58:22.731 --> 00:58:24.060 where Christ is seated. 00:58:24.060 --> 00:58:26.241 And what we're going to find in Ephesians 2 00:58:26.241 --> 00:58:29.713 is you're seated there too. 00:58:29.713 --> 00:58:31.533 That's next week. 00:58:31.533 --> 00:58:32.958 But alive to God. 00:58:32.958 --> 00:58:36.231 That's what Paul says happens when we're resurrected and raised up. 00:58:36.231 --> 00:58:38.201 Brethren, do you know that? 00:58:38.201 --> 00:58:43.841 Is that a reality? 00:58:43.841 --> 00:58:45.130 Hunger pangs. 00:58:45.130 --> 00:58:47.823 Tears, aching, groaning... 00:58:47.823 --> 00:58:49.485 What a change this is! 00:58:49.485 --> 00:58:52.439 Out of the realm of sin. 00:58:52.439 --> 00:59:01.498 Brethren, Christ made an end to sin. 00:59:01.498 --> 00:59:04.121 It's over. 00:59:04.121 --> 00:59:08.244 That's an end to you living beneath the glory of God. 00:59:08.244 --> 00:59:11.257 All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 00:59:11.257 --> 00:59:14.567 You don't live there anymore. 00:59:14.567 --> 00:59:16.232 Dive into the glory. 00:59:16.232 --> 00:59:23.700 God is saying, Come up! Higher! Come up! 00:59:23.700 --> 00:59:27.228 You're not living in those first three verses 00:59:27.228 --> 00:59:28.750 of Ephesians 2. 00:59:28.750 --> 00:59:31.249 Don't even put your mind there. 00:59:31.249 --> 00:59:32.987 Come up. 00:59:32.987 --> 00:59:34.904 Set your mind on these things up here. 00:59:34.904 --> 00:59:35.921 Come up. 00:59:35.921 --> 00:59:37.730 Up, up, up. 00:59:37.730 --> 00:59:39.253 Sensitive to God. Loving God. 00:59:39.253 --> 00:59:40.239 Seeking God. 00:59:40.239 --> 00:59:42.543 This is the test. 00:59:42.543 --> 00:59:45.757 Do you sincerely desire to draw near to God? 00:59:45.757 --> 00:59:48.148 Have a revelation of this knowledge of Him 00:59:48.148 --> 00:59:49.854 that we're talking about here? 00:59:49.854 --> 00:59:54.653 So, Christian, you've been raised together with Christ. 00:59:54.653 --> 00:59:59.774 Consider yourselves dead to sin 00:59:59.774 --> 01:00:02.528 and alive to God. 01:00:02.528 --> 01:00:03.905 Why? 01:00:03.905 --> 01:00:09.011 Because it's true. 01:00:09.011 --> 01:00:12.705 And may God help us to do just that.