Mark 16:1-8

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We have been for quite some time in our verse-by-verse exposition of Mark's Gospel account in the Passion Week,

this final week of Jesus' life.

In fact, since the beginning of chapter 11, Mark is accounting this,

which Clay started out for us on September 7th of last year.

We've been working our way through it.

We've seen the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem on Monday.

Yes, you heard me correctly.

Palm Monday.

The cleansing of the temple on Tuesday.

The teaching and confrontations with Jesus on Wednesday.

The prophecy and Last Supper on Thursday.

And then the betrayal, arrest, the six various trials,

the suffering, the crucifixion, and burial on Friday.

And we haven't talked about it at all because it wasn't in our text,

but there is also the silence of Saturday.

There is a rather famous motto of the Protestant Reformation,

which is in Latin, of course,

which is post tenebrous lux,

which means after darkness, light.

And they meant it in various ways.

They were coming out of what would have been called the Dark Ages,

separating from, reforming Catholicism.

But they also meant it for what Christ has done in the world.

The darkness of sin being pierced by His sacrifice on the cross.

And certainly today, we have much to celebrate in that.

After the darkness of Christ's suffering, crucifixion, and burial,

we have the light of the resurrection.

And today we get to look at that.

What a glorious thing to do in chapter 16, verses 1-8.

This is likely the end of Mark's narrative.

Some of your translations may not include a verse 9-20,

although most do, but we'll put it in brackets

and give some explanation to the fact that

very few of the early manuscripts contain verses 9-20.

Most scholars agree that verses 9-20 were not in the original text.

And there's much contention about whether or not

our ending, verse 8, is in fact Mark's intended ending or not.

We have to use verses 9-20 with a great deal of caution.

Certainly, denominational practice should not be formed on those verses.

And I will say to you today, I'm thankful that this is my closing of Mark's gospel account.

But we are going to look at verses 9-20,

and Clay is going to pick up that gauntlet and tackle that for us next week.

Likely mostly to talk about bibliography and how it is we arrive at

what is the scripture and what isn't the scripture.

So, for our kind of study proper,

this will be the closing of Mark's gospel account.

For fun, I looked back.

We began our sermon series through Mark's gospel account

on September 22nd of 2013.

That's 81 Sundays ago.

I can't say with certainty that we've done anywhere near that many sermons.

I know we've taken a couple of breaks, at least four for sure, this past February.

But we've been at this for quite some time.

And what a wonderful, glorious way to end it now with the resurrection.

I'm so very thankful for this text of Scripture, Mark's gospel account.

And so very thankful for the opportunity to preach it to you over this past year and a half.

Because in so many ways, my heart has been rent in two as we've studied Mark together.

It has been pierced and divided.

It has been impressed upon me the high cost of discipleship

and the subsequent glories thereof.

The beautiful nature of following Christ,

that it's going to mean suffering in this world, but glory beyond.

Mark's purpose for writing of this narrative has been so carefully applied to my being

by the transforming work of the Spirit of God.

And I hope that this has been true for you as well.

If you're a guest with us, I know you haven't heard all of this.

But for those of you who have been here regularly,

I really hope that Mark's gospel account has worked in you in the way that it's worked in me.

And if you are a guest with us this morning, I hope this closing will do the same.

So let's read together.

Mark 16, verses 1-8.

Mark 16:1–8

When the Sabbath was passed,

Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Siloam brought spices,

so they might go and anoint Him.

And very early on the first day of the week,

when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

And they were saying to one another,

Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?

And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back.

It was very large.

And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side,

dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.

And he said to them,

Do not be alarmed.

You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.

He has risen.

He is not here.

See the place where they laid Him?

But go tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee.

There you will see Him, just as He told you.

And they went out and fled from the tomb,

for trembling and astonishment had seized them.

And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

This is God's Word to us.

It was written for His glory and our good.

We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises

and obey its commands.

Now, this morning, I do not wish to play the apologist

compounding for you the facts concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Although there are many,

and I would encourage you, if you are a skeptic to any degree,

to take a good look at them.

This morning, by faith,

I and I hope you accept the reality of such an event,

this resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

So much hangs on the historic veracity as we will soon see.

But for the skeptic this morning,

let me read just a short quote from Charles Spurgeon,

the Prince of Preachers, who said,

the resurrection is a fact better attested

than any event recorded in any history,

whether ancient or modern.

And I hope for the skeptic in you that may allow your mind to rest enough,

give some assumption to the reality of this event

to see what it is that has been made possible by it.

Let's notice together a few things before we get into the doctrine of the resurrection.

Let's notice a few things about Mark's telling of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If you look at the synoptics as well as John,

there's a lot of variance in the tellings.

And so, let's look at Mark's account,

and I'll pull together some of the others for you as well.

And we notice first,

the women that go when the Sabbath was passed.

To begin with,

we need to be clearly thinking about the amount of days that have passed

since Jesus was crucified.

And for some, this becomes problematic

because He was crucified on Friday,

and He was resurrected on Sunday,

which from our estimation is only two days.

But He has predicted over and over again

that after three days, He would rise.

So just as a note to you,

you must know that the Jews would have counted as a part of a day,

a full day.

So Friday would have been day number one

when He was laid in the tomb.

Saturday day number two.

The end of Saturday would have been sundown on Saturday.

Sunday begins,

and it's on this day that He's resurrected.

And so three days,

and He is risen.

So it's when the Sabbath has passed.

Saturday, the day of rest.

It would seem that the women were unable to properly adorn His body,

able to take the spices that would have been given.

Not that He would have been embalmed the way

the pharaohs of old would have been embalmed in Egypt,

but it was a process they went through,

a way of preserving the body a little bit longer,

mostly to show honor to the one who was being buried.

There was a great deal of rush

about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ,

making sure that He was dead and put in the tomb

before sundown on Friday when the Sabbath began

and the Jews could do no work at that time.

And so it would seem that He wasn't properly embalmed at that time.

And so when the Sabbath is over,

they have gone,

they have bought these spices,

and now they're coming to anoint Him.

Very early, verse 2 says,

on the first day of the week.

And Mark, as he's so glossary sometimes,

includes very few details,

in this case wants us to be sure to know

that it's when the sun had risen.

It's early, early morning on Sunday.

And they go to the tomb,

and they're not very prepared,

I'll have you note,

when they go to the tomb,

because on their way to the tomb,

they're wondering how in the world

they're going to even access the body of Christ.

This very large stone, Mark tells us,

has been rolled in front of the tomb.

And they say,

who will roll away the stone for us?

But when they get there, verse 4,

they see that the stone has already been rolled back.

Mark doesn't give us much else.

It leaves a lot to be assumed on our part.

But Matthew records in 28, verse 2 of his Gospel account,

And behold, there was a great earthquake,

for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven

and came and rolled back the stone.

And sat on it.

So God Himself sent a messenger

to roll away the stone

to prepare for them to come and see

that their Savior was, in fact, risen.

It's very significant that it's women that go,

and they're the first ones to see this,

and that all of the accounts record

that this is the case.

For two reasons.

First, they were witnesses to His life.

You can see that in chapter 15, verse 41 of Mark.

To His death.

Chapter 15, verse 40.

To His burial.

Chapter 15, verse 47.

And now, His resurrection.

These women have been given privy

to see all of these events together.

It's as if it taps it all off.

That their testimony might be able to carry across

all of the major events of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.

His life, death, burial, and now His resurrection.

Secondly, they're women.

Significant.

The significance of the women is that they are women.

And to us, this isn't very telling,

but certainly, in this day, it would have been.

Let me read you a little bit from Sinclair Ferguson's commentary on Mark.

He writes,

Mark tells us that it was the women

who first discovered the empty tomb

and who heard the first announcement of the resurrection.

To our 20th century Western minds,

that may seem unremarkable.

But in the context of first century Palestine,

it was highly significant.

For women were often treated as second-class citizens.

Their testimony would be inadmissible in a court of law.

As witnesses, they had no standing.

No one who wanted to fabricate a convincing account

of the resurrection in first century Palestine

would have dreamed of doing it in this way.

These were not the witnesses for this day.

They did not carry with them the credibility

to speak to this.

So if someone were simply making this up,

they would not have included this detail about the women.

Later, we see in John's account

that John and Peter go and see the empty tomb.

This is where they would have begun

if they weren't committed

to sharing the whole story with their readers.

There's a great deal of beauty in the Gospel

and this extension of God to women of this day

that they might be the first witnesses

of such an event.

To just kind of cap that off for you,

Josephus, who's a Jewish historian,

in his book entitled Antiquities of the Jews said,

But let not the testimony of women be admitted

on account of the levity and boldness of their sex.

And ladies, I don't know if that's offensive to you or not,

but there certainly is a degree of both things

which we love about you.

And we see that they enter the tomb in verse 5.

I'm trying to backpedal off that, but I can't.

So we will move on.

In verse 5, we see that they enter the tomb.

They see a young man sitting on the right side.

Very little detail again from Mark.

A young man seated on the right,

dressed in a white robe,

and they are alarmed.

Who is this man?

Why should they be alarmed?

Again, Matthew's account gives us a bit more detail

in chapter 28, verses 3 and 4.

Matthew writes,

His appearance was like lightning

and his clothing white as snow.

And for fear of him,

the guards trembled and became like dead men.

They passed out is what that means.

This is a phrasing that would have been used in this day.

So presumably, the women,

when they show up to the tomb,

they're not alone.

There's this man sitting there

who's like lightning,

but also the guards are passed out on the ground

because he was such a fearful sight.

And he says to them,

as so many angelic appearances start in this way,

do not be alarmed.

Do not be alarmed.

You seek Jesus of Nazareth

who was crucified.

And then this most wonderful,

most emphatic statement,

He has risen.

He is not here.

Listen to the same telling from Luke 24,

Luke 24:6

verses 6 and 7.

Luke records,

He is not here,

but has risen.

Remember how He told you

while He was still in Galilee

that the Son of Man

must be delivered in the hands of sinful men

and be crucified

and on the third day rise.

So in Luke's account,

this angel gives to them

a remembrance of the things that Jesus said.

And they're saying to them,

the things that Jesus has said

would come to pass,

have.

Do not be alarmed.

He told you this would happen.

And He does it a number of times

in Mark's account.

Mark 8, 31,

9, 31,

and 10,

33-34.

If you've been here,

we've gone through those

and repeated them a number of times.

Let me read to you

just Mark 9, 31,

where Jesus says,

the Son of Man

is going to be delivered

into the hands of men

and they will kill Him.

And when He is killed,

after three days,

He will rise.

So,

the previous prophecy

has already come to pass.

Jesus has been delivered

into the hands of men

and they have killed Him.

And now,

it's fulfilled

that after three days,

He has risen.

And the angel gives a command to them,

but go.

Do not be alarmed.

This thing has happened

that's supposed to come to happen.

Verse 7,

but go.

Tell His disciples and Peter

that He is going before you

to Galilee.

There you see Him

just as He told you.

But just as He told you

is found in Mark 14, 28.

It's a little detail

that's easy to miss,

but Jesus says,

but after I am raised up,

I will go before you

to Galilee.

We'll go back

to the place of preparation,

the place in which

He gathered up the disciples,

the place where most

of His ministry took place.

Kind of the home turf

is where they would gather together

once again

before Jesus finally ascends

and sends them on their mission

to establish the church

and to change the world.

But they leave.

Mark's record is very brief

at this point.

They leave the tomb.

They flee from it.

And for trembling and astonishment,

they say nothing to anyone,

for they were afraid.

We have noted on a number of occasions

Mark's particular way

in which he records the failures

of those who were close to Jesus,

pressing at us all through

his Gospel account

to be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ,

but showing all along

how very difficult

and challenging

this is.

We know of Mark's life

that he deserted

Paul and Barnabas.

Paul wanted nothing

to do with him after that.

In fact,

that was the conflict

that called Paul and Barnabas

to part ways.

And Barnabas wanted

to take his cousin,

John Mark,

along with him

on this next stage

of their journey.

And Paul wanted nothing

to do with the deserter.

But we get to see later on

in multiple texts

that now this Mark

is now serving alongside

and likely imprisoned

with Paul

in a number of places.

He himself

has been this

restored deserter.

We see it to be true

of Peter

and the way in which

he tells Peter's story.

And we know that

Peter is restored.

And he seems to do it again here.

He seems to hang the ladies out

that they didn't do

what they were asked to do

by the angel of the Lord,

at least not

in his telling.

In other tellings,

we see that they do go

and they do share

with the disciples.

But at this moment in time,

they say nothing

because they are so

very afraid.

And it would seem

that this is the way

that Mark concludes

his Gospel account

of the life, death,

and resurrection

of Jesus Christ.

So we should take some time.

We would do well

to reflect upon

the doctrine

of the resurrection

or the things

that are possible

because of

the resurrection

of Jesus Christ.

So,

you had your exegesis

now for your doctrine.

Firstly,

Jesus' resurrection

is the guarantee

of our regeneration.

Now, regeneration

is an act of God

in which we are given

new spiritual life.

to borrow the language

of John 3,

to be born again.

In John 3,

Jesus says

that we must

be born again

to see

the kingdom of God.

That our

image-bearing

capacity

has been spoiled

by sin.

By very nature,

we are not acceptable

to God.

And so we must be

born again.

We must be

made new

to be found acceptable

and to be part

of His kingdom.

We're once not

a people,

but we need to be

made a people.

We're not citizens.

We need to be

citizens

of the kingdom of God.

And this requires

regeneration.

Ezekiel 36,

26 and 27,

the Lord says this,

and I will give you

a new heart

and a new spirit

I will put within you

and I will remove

the heart of stone

from your flesh

and give you

a heart of flesh.

And I will put

My Spirit within you

and cause you

to walk in My statutes

and be careful

to obey My rules.

This is regeneration.

And what He's doing

in such beautiful language

is saying that our hearts

apart from Christ,

apart from His intervening work

in our lives,

are hearts of stone,

cold,

hard,

against the things

of God.

But He will take that

out of us

and He will put in us

a heart of flesh,

a heart that beats

for Him.

He will make us new.

He will give us

His Spirit

and cause us,

move us

to keep His statutes

and to obey

all of His rules.

And the text there

gives us a clue.

How is it that God

works this change in us?

What is the means

by which He accomplishes

this work?

John 3.8 says

that regeneration

is a work

of the Holy Spirit.

It's one of the great works

that God accomplishes

by that part of the Trinity

known as

the Holy Spirit.

John 3.8 says

the wind blows

where it wishes

and you hear it sound,

but you do not know

where it comes from

or where it goes.

So it is with everyone

who is born

of the Spirit.

So Jesus' resurrection

is incredibly important to us

because He made a promise

to the apostles

to send the Spirit

to them.

He needed to be alive.

He had said all these things

to them.

What a sad, sad day

for them

from their perspective,

from their side of the cross.

His death was

because all of the things

He had said

would come to pass

had yet to.

How is it possible

that He would do the things

He said He was going to do

if He's dead

and buried

and in a tomb?

John 16.7 says,

Nevertheless,

I tell you the truth.

It is to your advantage

that I go away.

For if I do not go away,

the Helper,

He's referring to the Holy Spirit

there,

will not come to you.

But if I go,

I will send Him to you.

Jesus is telling His disciples

before His death

that His death, burial,

resurrection,

and ascension

is necessary

that the Spirit of God

would come.

I have at many points

in my life

wished that Jesus

would be here now

with us.

Of course,

I long for His second coming

when He'll finish His work.

But in the meantime,

wishing that He

would be here with us.

But He says

it's to our advantage

that He goes away.

We have a better thing.

It's better to be a Christian now,

to have new hearts

and the Spirit of God

working within us,

than to have walked with Him

in those days.

That's hard for me

to get my mind around.

It's something to certainly

meditate upon.

It's a better thing

to have the resurrected

and ascended Jesus Christ

and been granted

the promised Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 1.3

helps tie this thought together.

Peter writes,

Blessed be the God and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

According to His great mercy,

He has caused us

to be born again

to a living hope

through the resurrection

of Jesus Christ

from the dead.

Now, Peter sees

that this was a necessary thing.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ

must have taken place

in order to guarantee

our regeneration.

So that was firstly.

Jesus' resurrection

is the guarantee

of our regeneration.

Secondly,

Jesus' resurrection

is the guarantee

of our justification.

Now, justification

justification is

the right legal standing

before God.

Justification is

the opposite

of condemnation.

To state it in the negative,

to be justified

before God

is to not be guilty

of the sins

that are ours,

that ultimately belong to us,

that we own,

is to have those dismissed,

stricken from the record.

That's to state it in

the negative.

And I don't mean

in a bad way.

Right?

Stated in the positive,

to be justified

is to be declared

righteous.

righteous.

In the perfect life

and death,

suffering,

death,

and resurrection

of Jesus Christ,

we have given to us

both

the effect of Jesus'

passive

and His active obedience.

His passive obedience

being the suffering

of His life

and His death.

His active obedience

being all of the righteousness

that He exhibited

before

in His living.

Right?

That we're not just found

neutral before God,

having our sins dismissed,

but that we're found

righteous before God

because we have

Christ's righteousness.

Christ's propitiation says,

thank you,

He appeased God's wrath

with His death.

Right?

Christ's propitiation says

He appeased God's wrath

when His death,

the wrath that was due us,

we have failed

in every way

to keep God's moral law.

If you're not found

in Christ today,

please know that

this is true of you.

It's true of all of us.

The great meta-narrative

of humanity

is that we all have sinned

and we all fall short

of the glory of God.

There is none righteous.

No, not one.

We have all failed

to meet His standard.

It's impossible to do so

because of our sin nature.

So there is infinite wrath

due to us.

But because of Christ's sacrifice,

because Christ took the wrath

of God on our behalf,

we have been given

a dismissal note for that.

1 John 2.2 says,

He is the propitiation

for our sins

and not for ours only,

but also for the sins

of the whole world.

So Christ's propitiation,

He appeased God's wrath

with His death.

Christ's imputation,

we are granted

His righteousness.

Romans 10.4,

For Christ is the end

of the law for righteousness

to everyone who believes.

It doesn't mean

that there's not a standard

we are still to live to.

This is not cheap grace.

Grace is costly

in that it requires your life.

That we are meant

to pursue God

with all that we have.

We are still meant

to fulfill the moral law of God,

but when we fail

and we will,

we still have His righteousness.

We get to wear it.

I get to put it on

as a cloak.

And as I endeavor

by God's grace

to live to His righteous standard,

my failures are covered

by His goodness to me

in Christ.

Romans 4.22-25,

after a rather lengthy discourse

about Abraham's faith

in God's promise,

says this,

That is why his faith

was counted to him

as righteousness.

We're talking about Abraham.

But the words

that was counted to him

were not written

for his sake alone,

but for ours also.

It will be counted to us

who believe in Him

who raised from the dead

Jesus our Lord,

who was delivered up

for our trespasses

and raised

for our justification.

You see Paul

wrapping those ideas together.

Us being given

our justification.

Our sins dismissed.

Us taking on

the righteousness of Christ

because of the One

who raised Jesus

from the dead.

So Jesus' resurrection

is the guarantee

of our regeneration.

Jesus' resurrection

is the guarantee

of our justification.

And thirdly,

Jesus' resurrection

is the guarantee

of our resurrection bodies.

This is a bit briefer point,

but an equally glorious one.

Jesus was the first recipient

of a new body.

This transformed state.

You know,

there are other men

who had been resurrected.

Take Nicodemus

as the example for that.

But 1 Corinthians 15.20

says,

but in fact,

Christ has been raised

from the dead.

The first fruits

of those

who have fallen asleep.

So He's the beginning

of something.

The first fruits.

He's the beginning

of this new type

of transformed body.

And we will be recipients

of the same type of body

which will have

no more disease,

sickness,

suffering,

death.

There's much conjecture

about exactly what this

will look like.

I have absolutely no idea.

I'm going to guess

maybe my 18-year-old self.

I'm going to go back

to that

because life hurt

a lot less

in those days.

Take my 18-year-old self

and take out type 1 diabetes

and that I think

might be my resurrected state.

We don't really know,

but we know that we will have

transformed bodies,

that they will be without

all the suffering

and the disease

and the sickness of the world

and that they will not die.

So to say that Jesus' resurrection

is the guarantee

of our resurrection bodies

is to say that we will live

with Him forever.

Praise God.

1 Corinthians 15.42

Paul says,

So it is with the resurrection

of the dead.

What is sown

is perishable.

He's using this analogy

of the way that seeds

bring forth something else.

The way a seed goes

into the ground

and it dies,

but then it brings forth

a different type

of vegetable or fruit.

What is sown

is perishable.

What is raised

is imperishable.

So Jesus' resurrection

is the guarantee

of our regeneration,

our justification,

and our resurrection bodies.

We have been changed by God,

made righteous in His sight,

and will live with Him forever

because Jesus lived

the perfect life.

He died to bear our sin,

and He was raised

to glory.

So what?

What do we do

with these types of doctrines?

I hope firstly,

not as a point of application,

but I hope firstly

that those kinds of truths

just warm your heart.

That you're just given

cause to celebrate

who God is to us

in the personal work

of Jesus Christ.

That you want to exalt His name

because of what He's done

on your behalf.

It really should be enough.

But all the same,

Jesus' resurrection,

as I mentioned before,

supplies to us

the Holy Spirit.

Let me read to you again

John 16, 7.

Nevertheless,

I tell you the truth,

it is to your advantage

that I go away.

For if I do not go away,

the Helper will not come to you.

But if I go,

I will send Him to you.

All of us

who have placed our faith

in Jesus Christ

are given the gift

of the Holy Spirit.

We have Him.

He abides within us.

And I know that's trippy

to think about.

But He does.

All the same.

We are given Him

as a seal

and as a helper.

So firstly,

Jesus' resurrection

supplies by the Holy Spirit

the surety

of your salvation.

the sure knowledge

of your justification

before God

and your eternal state

of your future

resurrection body.

I think it would be good

if you turned with me

to 1 Corinthians 15.

The classic resurrection chapter.

Some people might try

to not preach a sermon

on Easter Sunday

using 1 Corinthians 15.

It's rather difficult to do.

It would seem that a number

of the Corinthian believers

or otherwise

those that were part

of the church

believe that it is not possible

that a person

could be raised

from the dead.

And Paul is addressing that

here in chapter 15

in such a wonderful way.

Let's begin

at verse 1 and 2.

Now I'd remind you,

brothers,

of the gospel

I preach to you

which you received

in which you stand

and by which you are being saved

if you hold fast

to the word

I preach to you

unless you believed

in vain.

So let's just note

he's saying,

now it reminds you

of the gospel I preach

by which you are being saved.

And then he goes on

to elaborate

in the rest of the chapter

about this gospel

he preached.

What is it that he had come

and preached to them?

Earlier on

in the book of 1 Corinthians

he said,

I came and I knew

nothing among you

except Jesus Christ

and Him crucified.

Which includes

the resurrection.

He elaborates on that

later on in that chapter.

So 1 Corinthians 15.12-19.

Now if Christ is proclaimed

as raised from the dead,

how can some of you say

that there is no resurrection

of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection

of the dead,

then not even Christ

has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised,

then our preaching is in vain

and your faith is in vain.

We are even found

to be misrepresenting God

because we testified

about God

that He raised Christ

whom He did not raise

if it is true

that the dead are not raised.

Are you tracking his logic

through that?

For if the dead are not raised,

not even Christ

has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised,

your faith is futile

and you are still

in your sins.

Then those also

who have fallen asleep

in Christ have perished.

If in Christ we have hope

in this life only,

we are of all people

most to be pitied.

So the resurrection

of Jesus Christ

by the Spirit

gives us this surety

of our salvation.

If it didn't happen,

we are fools.

We are absolute fools.

What are you doing

with this mourning

if Jesus Christ

has not been raised

from the dead?

Go do something else

because this is a waste

of your time.

That's stated in the negative.

We are fools

if Christ has not been raised.

Don't leave.

I'm thankful

that He has been.

Stated in the positive,

we have not believed

in vain

because He,

in fact,

has been raised.

We are not fools.

We are wise

for having believed

this thing.

2 Corinthians 1.22 says,

God has also put

His seal on us

and given us

His Spirit

in our hearts

as a guarantee

of these sure realities

that we may be found in Him.

So Jesus' resurrection

supplies by the Holy Spirit

the surety of our salvation

and secondly,

the power

for your sanctification.

The power

for your sanctification.

Let me draw your mind

back to the doctrine

that the resurrection

guarantees

your regeneration.

The power for that

comes from the resurrection.

Your regeneration.

That you have been changed.

That you have been made

a new creation.

The term sanctification

has two elements to it.

One is that

once we are found

in Christ,

we have been set apart.

We have been

sanctified.

We have been

separated in status.

We are a new type

of individual.

But it also carries with it

this element

that we are still

in the process

of being made

into those people

for the glory of God.

That all throughout

our lives

we will be made

in greater and greater degree

more like Christ.

So this is the type

I'm talking about.

That power

for our sanctification.

We have been made new.

Therefore,

we have the ability

to proceed

to strive

after righteousness.

After all,

Paul says in Philippians 1.6

and I'm sure of this,

that he who began

a good work in you

will bring it to completion

at the day

of Jesus Christ.

God has saved us

and God will

perfect us.

Romans 8.11

Paul writes,

that the Spirit of Him

who raised Jesus

from the dead

dwells in you.

He who raised Christ Jesus

from the dead

will also give life

to your mortal bodies

through His Spirit

who dwells in you.

We have been given

the Spirit of God

that we might live

to God.

And there are far too many

people today

who profess

the name of Christ

and there's zero

evidence of it

in their life.

None whatsoever.

What does Jesus say

about vines

that don't bear fruit?

They'll be trimmed away

and thrown

into the fire.

A good tree

bears good fruit.

It is necessary

that having been saved,

the evidence of this

is that we live

for God.

And the Spirit

gives us the power

to do so.

It gives us the power

to resist sin.

Beloved,

we do not have

to sin

any longer.

We've been set free

from it.

We're no longer

slaves to it.

Romans 6, 9-11.

We know that Christ

being raised

from the dead

will never die again.

Death no longer

has dominion

over Him.

For the death

He died,

He died to sin

once for all.

But the life

He lives,

He lives

to God.

You see this?

He died a death

to sin.

Now,

being raised,

He lives to God.

Verse 11,

so you also

must consider

yourselves

dead to sin

and alive to God

in Christ Jesus.

You have been given

the ability

to keep God's standard

now.

Will you?

It's not likely.

It's not likely.

But you can

and you should.

We've also been given

the power by the Spirit

to be obedient.

to not only do

the things

that we're not

supposed to do,

but to do the things

that we are

supposed to do.

Paul again,

Colossians 3,

1 and 2.

If then

you have been

raised with Christ,

seek the things

that are above

where Christ is,

seated at the right

hand of God.

Set your minds

on things that are above,

not on things

that are on earth.

We have been given

the ability

in Christ

by His Spirit

because of

the resurrection

to live

in this way.

Beloved,

there is such a

great mission

set before us

as the people of God.

The exaltation of God,

declaring the supremacy

of Christ

in all things

to all peoples.

We've been given

the power to do this,

to resist sin,

to be obedient to this.

To be the disciples

that Mark is calling us

to be all

throughout the text.

To give up

all things

for the sake

of Jesus Christ

and the gospel

of the kingdom

of God.

I'll repeat to you

the motto

of the Reformers

post-Tenebrous Lux.

They meant it

certainly for their

reform from Catholicism

coming out of

the dark ages,

the wonderful

translations of

Bibles that were

taking place.

So much light

in that sense.

They meant it

also in terms

of the way

in which a dark

heart is turned

to God

that the light

of the gospel

would penetrate it.

And I would say

to you this morning

that this very same

motto should be

true of us

today.

That those ways

in which we have

not pursued God

in light

of the glorious

truth of the

resurrection

of Jesus Christ,

we should allow

the light of the

gospel to penetrate

those dark places

in our hearts

as well.

If you don't

know Christ,

your fate is

eternal damnation.

And you need to

hear that.

You need to be

warned of the

judgment that is

to come.

God is a good,

loving God.

He's also a just,

condemning God.

He has a standard

that none of us

have held

and we must

have Christ's

righteousness

on the day

of judgment.

So please,

I plead with you,

if you have not

placed your faith

in Christ,

allow the light

of the gospel

to dawn in your

hearts for the

first time

this day.

The call of the

gospel is not

to walk an aisle

and repeat after me.

The call of the

gospel is to

repent,

turn from your

sin,

and believe

in the person

and work.

His life,

death,

burial,

resurrection,

ascension of

Jesus Christ.

Let's pray together.

Amen.