Conversation topics. People say if you want to avoid arguments at family reunions, don't bring up politics or religion. Victorian novels will tell you it's better to discuss "the weather or the state of the roads." But we are intrigued by politics and religion because they are full of difficult questions, and because they are matters of life and death.
In Matthew 10, Christ teaches us how to bring the gospel to others, and how to deal with its rejection and the persecution that may follow. The gospel always creates a division between believers and unbelievers, so Christ continues to teach us to "be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves."
Outline.
Christ Brings Not Peace But A Sword v. 34
Christ Breaks the Closest Earthly Ties vv. 35-36
Choose Christ Before Family and Life! vv. 37-38
Ultimately You Will Lose, or Find, Eternal Life v. 39
Pleasure and persecution are the two key enemies of the church in the book of Revelation. Pleasure is Babylon the harlot, and persecution is the beast. We see persecution today in Turkey, China, Africa. In America we see pleasure. The aim of both is for you to deny Christ, because you are forced to, or because you want to. And both aim to convince you that God is not your God, and you are not His people. They aim for you to find your identity in this world, and with the ways of this world, rather than with Jesus Christ.
There is a crisis of identity among Christians today. Too many Christians do not truly identify themselves with Jesus Christ. God is seeking worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24), but I've spoken with two households recently who do not worship God because they are seeking a youth group. I want a youth group too, but I tell you the truth, if you want a youth group more than a worship service, your kids will follow your example! Show me a Christian father who says "I owe my life to Jesus Christ, so for me and my household on Sunday morning and Sunday evening, we will worship the Lord!" and I will show you 50 of my classmates at Covenant College who for that reason worshiped God faithfully as high schoolers, and now as young adults are giving their lives in service to Christ and His church. Our new missionary doctor Jim Knox is one—by deciding to go to Uganda he decided "I will give my body to malaria, to save Karimajong souls from death." These are salt that has not lost its saltiness, young people who will not deny Christ though pleasure and persecution may do their worst.
Have you ever begun reading a book which came highly recommended, only to find you didn't understand it, and so you never finished the book? Let me tell you, there's hope! Some books actually are boring! But for the rest, Mortimer Adler wrote a book titled "How to Read A Book" that shows you how to actually benefit from books you don't understand.
On the road to Emmaus, two of Jesus' disciples didn't understand why Jesus had to die, and why He rose from the dead. And for that reason they didn't understand the Bible. Why did Jesus have to die and rise again? What is the meaning of these things we care so much about at Easter? Jesus Himself will help you understand.
Today a large number of the members and friends of our church are suffering more than ordinary physical difficulties, and so it is a providential blessing that today, Easter Sunday, we have opportunity to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
It is in our bodies—in the bodies God has given us—and by means of our bodies, that we experience both great joy and great sorrow in this life. In God's plan of salvation, God has graciously chosen to save not only our souls, but our bodies as well, from sin and suffering, mortality and death. For this reason God the Son, the eternal second person of the Trinity, took on a human nature just like ours. He lived and died in a body just like ours. But unlike us, by the power of His divine life He rose from the dead. Why did Jesus rise from the dead? One great reason was to give us new bodies when He one day raises us from the dead, too. The final harvest of the souls—and bodies!—of God's people began in Christ's resurrection, because He was the "firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." (1 Cor. 15:20)
The only one who knows the beginning and end of history today is God Himself. Similarly, only God fully understands your origin and your destiny. You cannot remember the day you were born, and cannot see what lies beyond the veil of death. So we are left with many questions about what will happen when we die.
Christians know for certain their soul will immediately pass into glory, and their body will rest in the grave until the resurrection. Christians know they will be given a new body. But questions remain for us—"Will I still be me? In my body, with my personality, my memories? Will I still be able to recognize my friends and family? What will my new body be like? How old will I look? Will I still bear the scars of my sins and suffering from this life?" And in our pain we ask a different sort of question, "When will my suffering end?"
These questions flow from faith, but other questions flow from unbelief. Some will ask, Is there really life after death? Otherwise, we may as well "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!" (1 Cor. 15:32) And many people live that way today—"He who dies with the most toys wins." Some in the Corinthian church asked questions like this because they did not believe our bodies will be raised from the dead. They asked, How is it possible for the dead to be raised? By what means will they be raised? With what kind of body do they come?
By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul answered the questions of believers and unbelievers with the truth God has chosen to reveal. His answer doesn't answer every question we have. But it gives us a clear guide with the principles we need today, which build our faith, hope, joy, and endurance, as we await the resurrection of the dead.
Outline. Today I will depart from my usual method of laying out the outline of the passage and seeking to explain and apply each part. Instead, I will quickly run through the outline of Paul's answer, then dive deep into the "deep end" of the passage in order to give you a solid foundation on which to stand when you face a hard question, or a great fear, about your death, and your resurrection.
We have been learning of the works of the kingdom in Matthew 8 and 9, and in anticipation of Easter we turn to consider Christ's greatest work in His death and resurrection.
Before Christ's death, His disciples did not understand when He told them He would die. After Christ died, His disciples mourned His death, confused about why God would let this great evil happen. Why did Jesus Christ die on the cross? There was good reason.
But it is easy to miss that reason. The majority of Protestant churches in America, and the majority in Caney, are Arminian. Their gospel message goes this way: "Christ died to make it possible for you to be forgiven for your sins, if you believe in Jesus Christ." These words are Biblical, but their Arminian meaning is not true. Specifically, Arminians claim Christ died to make salvation possible for all who will believe. But they will not teach that Christ actually saved His people by dying on the cross. Their reason is they believe your faith is what actually saves you. Christ's death only made your salvation possible. In believing this, Arminians make Jesus Christ no Savior, and they empty His death of its true meaning. As they and we consider Christ's death this week approaching Easter Sunday, I challenge you to believe the full biblical gospel that Jesus' death on the cross actually saved you from your sins. Anything less is not truly worth celebrating.
Of the many passages which reveal the meaning of Christ's death, this passage is eminently clear that God saved us from death through the death of Christ. Why did Christ die? To save you from death. To save you from sin, condemnation, and their final result of death, in that order. The outstanding English Puritan theologian John Owen wrote an excellent book titled "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ." Through careful exegesis of many passages he demonstrates this truth—scripture teaches that Christ died not to make salvation possible for all men, but to actually save the elect. You see, if Christ merely made salvation possible, even for all men, then He did not defeat deathfor you! The Arminian doctrine that Christ died to make salvation possible for all men is called "Universal Atonement." The Biblical doctrine that Christ died to actually save the elect is the third of the five points of Calvinism, called "Limited Atonement," "Definite Atonement," or "Particular Redemption." Christ definitely saved a limited number of particular people when He died on the cross. And that is the real reason Christians celebrate Jesus' death.
Outline. We will consider this passage in 3 parts.
