As an aside, I'm going to speak directly to that issue next Sunday. We look at the wars that are going on in our world all around and it seems like they're increasing and that sense of shurness that we may have had once in this world seems to be dissipating. We could go on and on and on. And the lament of the heart can be very, very real. What do we need in the midst of our lament? We need to look at the Lord to find joy that we might be thankful even in times of sorrow and hardship.
And that's what Psalm 16 brings to us. In the midst of all the lament of the of book one of the Psalms, Psalm 16 stands out like a beacon and giving hope in hard times. So, let me read that for you. Psalm 16 in its entirety, all 11 verses. Here's what we read. A mamm of David. By the way, mktam, that's it's a musical or lurggical term of some kind. We're not entirely sure. It's something like that.
It was probably meant to be sung amongst the saints. Preserve me, oh God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you. As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply. Their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. The Lord is my cho chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel. In the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand. I shall not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices. My flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to shol or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forever more. Now, you might say as you look at this psalm, how are we going to get to the resurrection of Jesus from here? Oh, just you wait. This is a glorious psalm. Before we get to that, I want to just give you a a basic overview of the psalm as a whole and then we'll dive into the portion of the psalm that deals directly with the resurrection. As a whole.
Here we have this this sense here of of David calling on God to preserve him and and recognizing that he takes refuge in him that that the Lord must be his strength. He must be his stronghold. So he says, "Lord, preserve me." And really the rest of the psalm is a rehearsal of that. David is going to say, "Here's how God preserves me. Here's how he is my refuge." Now if we come to verse two here we see this that I this is David talking here.
He says I say to the Lord you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you. Some translations might say I have nothing good. I have no good things apart from you. Nothing good in this world besides you. It reminds me of Psalm 73:25. Whom have I in heaven but you? It's the same kind of sentiment here. What do we have besides the Lord? We can we should be able to say this too. We the saints should be able to say you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you.
What good is there? If for those here who don't know Jesus as their savior, you've heard his name. Maybe you've used his name as a swear word. You've treated him contemptively. You laugh at the gospel. You don't even know if there is a God. Maybe some of you here are avowed atheists. You do not believe that there's a God at all. I say to you this, what is there to live for? Then I I would love to hear that answer. If this world is it and there's nothing after this, this is all we got. What hope is there in that?
I've just walked through some of the hardships that you might be facing personally and almost certainly the hardships you see in our world and it ain't getting better. And you say, "Yes, I'm living for this. This is it. Really, this is your hope? This is all that there is? What meaning do you have in life? If this is it, apart from the goodness of God, the hope of God, the security of God, where is the good? David here understands that and he says, "You are my Lord.
I have no good apart from you." He recognizes that God is his good. God is the source of what is right and good. Then he says this, "As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones in whom was all my delight." And that's contrasted with verse four. So verses three and four are contrasting statements here. The saints we we think, well, that's isn't that more of a New Testament term. You're right. We see that in the New Testament.
The Hebrew word here is the word that's transliterated in Greek as saints. So we see it show up in the New Testament where it comes from actually is from Leviticus 20. You can either turn there or you can just listen to me. In Leviticus 20 26, this is what it says. You shall be holy to me for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine. That's what saints is in the Old Testament.
Separated unto the Lord as holy that they are pos that God has them as his possession. And that's really the truth in the New Testament as well. That's what a saint is. And so he says, "As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones or the majestic ones." Some translations say, "In whom is all my delight." David here is delighting in the saints. And I see that every Sunday morning. I've seen it actually all weekend. Good Friday yesterday at the play and again this morning when the saints gathered together you can see the delight amongst one another.
I remember boy, it's not to bring up an old wound, but I remember in the midst of COVID when this church was open and most others were closed and I remember we had services and it with every passing week we started getting more and more people and more and more people and there was a particular Sunday I remember vividly where this place was jammed with people. Most churches were closed, but we were packed shoulderto-shoulder and the we stayed lingered long. I don't know if you remember it.
We were hugging each other and high-fiving each other. We were spreading germs like crazy. It was great. But when the saints in the land gathered together, there's delight amongst them. It's a beautiful thing. And David understands that. And I would say to you, not only is are the saints David's delight, the saints are God's delight. God delights in his people. We see that throughout the scriptures. He delights in those who call him the Lord. That contrasts then with verse four.
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply. Their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. You chase after another god, you're setting yourself up for a world of hurt. In Isaiah 42, this is what the Lord says in verse 8. I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
Glory goes to God alone. We are to never ascribe glory to any other god. And in fact, here David says, not only should we never do that, we shouldn't even have the names of other gods on our lips. Have you heard of the saying interfaith? Interfaith is a ridiculous thing. There's only one faith. Ephesians says there's one faith, there's one Lord, there's one baptism there. Not all roads lead to heaven. There's one road that leads to heaven. Jesus Christ the Lord. One faith.
And he says we should not have even the names of of other gods on our lips. It's an important thing. And we if you read Exodus 23, you can read that there when Moses is speaking too. He said he wouldn't utter the names of any gods on his lips. Then we go on here in verses 5 through8 and we see the beauty of what it is to be a saint in the land. This this these excellent ones who who understand that God is their hope, who understand that God is preserving them, who understand that God is their refuge.
Here is what the saint experiences. The Lord, it says, here is my chosen portion and my cup. You hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. What does that mean? Well, it's interesting. Richard Leblanc and I did not compare notes before the service. So when we had our greeting time and he said stay within your allotments, he didn't know that that's exactly what this passage is talking about here in Psalm 16 when it says here the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. That's an echo of Joshua.
They enter the promised land and the different tribes are given different allotment of lands with defined borders or lines if you will. And so these were their portions of inheritance. And so he's echoing Joshua, the coming into the promised land. All these different allotments of lands, all these different lines that have fallen in pleasant places, that's part of their inheritance. And it's beautiful. But then he also says in verse 5, the Lord is my chosen chosen portion and my cup.
What's that a reference to? Well, if you remember, though all of these various land allotments were given, the Levites had none of that. What did the Levites have? Well, in Numbers chapter 18 in verse 20, it says this. The Lord said to Aaron, "You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion, and I am your inheritance among the people of Israel. And so for the Levites, they had no land, but the Lord was their portion.
He was their inheritance. And so taken together here, verses 5 and six, we can see here that David is echoing back to that. And he is saying, "The Lord has given me all that I need. He's given me this wonderful inheritance, and he's my portion. He is my allotment. He is what I need. He's the one who will sustain us." And that is true for you and I, folks. The Lord is our inheritance. The Lord is our allotment. He gives us all that we need.
And it's a beautiful inheritance. And friends, know this. Your inheritance cannot be taken from you. It is promised to the very end for all who believe. First Peter chapter 1, I believe. Was did you read this earlier, Pastor Bryce? Pastor Bryce was trying to find a scripture that I wasn't going to reference this morning and I I'm referencing everyone he talked about. Anyways, 1 Peter 1:3-5. Listen to the totality of this. 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 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Here is God saying,"I have an inheritance and it's yours and I'm keeping it for you.
No one can take that inheritance from you. You can't even take it away from yourself. I'm keeping it. I'm guarding it. And it's because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ." That's what David really is getting at here. The Lord's my portion. He's my inheritance. And he's present with me. Look at verse eight of Psalm 16. I have set the Lord always before me because he's at my right hand. I shall not be shaken. Because he's at my right hand. Because he's with me. That's a beautiful thing to understand.
The presence of God with us. And you might say, "Well, that's what David said. How do I know God's presence with me?" Because Jesus promised it. Just as he was about to ascend after his resurrection, Jesus said in Matthew 28, "I will be with you to the very end of the age." The Lord is with us. Charles Spurgeon put it this way. To recognize the presence of the Lord is the duty of every believer. I have set the Lord always before me.
And to trust the Lord as our champion and our guard is the privilege of every saint. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. So true. Here is the confidence that David has. But what is the basis of his confidence? That's what we now turn our attention to as we come to verses 9 to 11. And as we look at the preserving work of God, the one who is our refuge as verse one speaks to, what is the basis?
What is the ground of David's confidence? And what is the ground of our confidence? Well, verses 9 to 11 are important. First thing we need to understand, most importantly, Jesus Christ is the subject of verses 9 to 11. And you might say, well, hold on. David wrote this 700ish years before Jesus came. You're right. David is the penman. Who's the author? God. God is the author. And here we read of Jesus.
And you might say, "How do we know this is about Jesus?" I am so glad you asked. Go with me to Acts chapter 2. Now, if you may remember, for those of you who don't know the Lord, let me give you a bit of the background here. Jesus has died. He has bore our sin on the cross. Because friends, here's the reality. You and I are sinners. Romans 3:23 has made it clear. All have sinned. All have fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone here. We've all rebelled against him. And the wages of sin, Romans 6:23 tells us, is eternal damnation, eternal death, eternal separation from God's goodness, and eternal punishment in hell.
That's what everyone in this room deserves. Myself included. We all deserve that. And Jesus Christ came, God himself, and he lived the life that we should have lived, but didn't. He lived perfectly, sinlessly, without blemish, without spot. And he died the death that we should have died, but he did so in our place as our substitute. He took God's wrath justifiably resting on me and but instead he took it on himself with his blood shed as Hebrews tells us without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
So he shed his blood and appeased the wrath of God for all who would repent. That is to turn from a life devoted to sin and to turn now have a life devoted to the to the Lord Jesus by faith and believe upon him savingly. We now go from death to life. This is what happened. He he died on the cross, was buried, and three days later rose bodily from the grave. We'll get more into that in a moment.
And then after about 40 days, he then ascended after having ascended. A few weeks after that, the spirit of the most high God came and indwelled the believers lived lives now in them. In fact, from there, Romans 8 tells us that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord as savior is indwelled with the Holy Spirit. Isn't that amazing that God by his spirit dwells in you the believer? Astonishing. But that's the promise of scripture. And this is what happened at Pentecost.
And there Peter begins to pre be begins. Begins is no word. Begins to preach. And he preaches now inspired by the spirit of God. And as he's preaching, inspired by the spirit of God, look at what he says in the middle of the sermon, starting in verse 25 of Acts 2. For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced.
My flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your holy one see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Does that sound familiar? He's quoting Psalm 16 9-11, actually 8 to11 there. That whole section is quoted here as a direct reference to Jesus. In fact, he carries on verse 29.
Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day. So he said David isn't talking about himself in Psalm 16 because David died. He's buried. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on the throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
See that? Now, that's Peter. Goes a few chapters forward to chapter 13 of Acts. Here now is Paul. Paul is preaching here and and in this sermon, listen to what he says starting at verse 35. Acts 13, starting at verse 35. Therefore, he also says in another psalm, you will not let your holy one see corruption. For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption.
But he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Again, Paul says, "Listen, Psalm 16, that's about Jesus." The early church, the apostles, they understood Psalm 16 as a messianic psalm, as a psalm speaking about Jesus the Christ and specifically about his resurrection. What's fascinating to me, and we won't know till we get home with the Lord, how did the original readers understand Psalm 16:10, I don't know.
I got to just tell you that I don't know because David clearly saw corruption. Now, some people will try to overspiritualize this. Be wary of overspiritualizing things. The New Testament informs us that this is about Jesus and specifically about his resurrection and the corruption spoken about in Psalm 16. Clearly from both Acts 2 and Acts 13 that's talking about his physical body, his physical flesh. Some people have tried to spiritualize what corruption means and they try to relate it to David.
No, the text says about Jesus that his body didn't break down. We can overspiritualize sometimes. We can in our getting into the weeds of the text, we can sometimes miss the main thing. Don't do that. Let's not miss the main thing. The main thing here is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's the main thing. That's what Psalm 16 is pointing us toward based on what the New Testament interprets for us. So, this is about Jesus.
He did not see corruption. And we're going to talk about that more in a moment. So the resurrection then must be in view as we look at these last few verses of Psalm 16. And what is it that the resurrection tells us? Well, look at verse 11. I want to zero in as we follow verse 10 talking about Jesus not seeing corruption. Verse 11 then gives us the byproduct for the one who believes in this resurrected Christ. First thing we note here is this that his that he is the path to life.
You make known to me the path of life. And because my contention is that this is speaking about the resurrected Jesus, we must then ask ourselves how do we know that Jesus is the path to life? Well, we know that first of all because Jesus said it. John 14:6. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." You know who else said it?
The apostles in Acts chapter 4. What do they say? There is no other name given among men by which we must be saved. He and he only is the path to life. And there's only one path. Friends, you and I, unless the Lord returns before we die, you and I are all going to see corruption. Our bodies will go into the grave and we will become like dust. That's the reality for every one of us.
What is it that we need? We desperately need resurrection and we need to find a source of resurrection. There's only one source. Go with me if you will to John chap 11. In John chapter 11, we're given the account of Lazarus dying. Jesus was close relationally with Lazarus and with Mary and Martha, his sisters. And he's died. And word goes to Jesus that he has died and he comes now and there's much weeping and sadness and sorrow.
I'm going to pick it up for you in verse 38. Then Jesus deeply moved again came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, 'Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days. Pause there. What's happening to Lazarus? Corruption, right? Four days.
He's corrupted already. He's stinking. Don't open the tomb. It's going to be a stench because his body's breaking down. He has seen corruption. Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around that they may believe that you sent me."
And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. And the man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him and let him go." There he is. The man who was corrupted came out fully healed. How is that possible? I'm so glad you asked. Let's go back to Luke chapter 24.
This is the passage that Becky read for us earlier. I'm not going to read the whole thing again, but what I do want to what I want to do is take you to verse two and just read a few of the verses here. Says here that they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. And when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by, as probably stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
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 into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and on the third day rise?" And they remembered his words. And returning to the tomb, they told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest. He's alive. This Jesus did not see corruption. Lazarus did and was risen. He was raised from the dead by Jesus. Because Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers.
He is the source of all resurrection. Even though Jesus's resurrection from a timeline perspective comes after Lazarus, he's the resurrected one from the beginning. This was the plan A of God from before time was be begun. All resurrection has its source in Jesus. He is the reason for it. And right now, where where is Jesus? This resurrected one. Well, according to Hebrews 1:3, right now, he is seated at the right hand of the father.
And one day, he's coming back to claim the church. So, you and I need this path to life. We need also to be resurrected ourselves. Well, I have good news for you, friends. If you're sitting here and you're going, "Oh, man. I'm going to die. I'm going to be buried. My body's going to be corrupted. How in the world can I have resurrection?" Good news. Romans 6, let me tell you what it says there, starting at verse three.
Do you not know that all of us who've been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised in the from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. Praise God. We who were in him will be resurrected as surely as he was. If Jesus was resurre resurrected and we are in Christ, guess what? We too will be resurrected. This is the sure hope we have in him.
If you were on the path to life, are you on the path to life? There's only one path. There's not many paths. There's one path. It's narrow. The road is narrow that leads to life, but it's a sure road. My wife did not get the privilege of seeing this back in the day when I was young in Lavinham, Manitoba. Right to the south of us a few miles was the Asino River.
It would go through and it would reach Winnipeg and you if you're a a weather buff, you know that every single spring the Asin and the Red River flood in Winnipeg like clockwork. It's coming again in a few weeks. Mark it. But the Cinoan River was this quite a majestic river, quite wide, and would yes flood often. As you would drive this windy dirt road down to the Ascendabo River, you had to know where it was. But there was a little offshoot turkey trail.
Like literally, if you didn't know where it was, you'd miss it. It was trees and just bush and this little teeny weeny trail. If you'd blink, you would literally miss it. But if you knew where it was, you could take this little tiny trail. There's only truly one road to this place called the Hogs Back. Why did they call it that? No clue. It's Manitoba. They're little. But you'd go up this turkey trail and you'd eventually get to the top and from the top of the hog's back, you could look over and see the entire Asinino Valley.
Beautiful. It's one of the few geographically beautiful places in Manitoba, but you could see the whole thing. It was gorgeous from up on top. But there was one way in, and if you didn't know where it was, you'd never get there. But for those who knew, it led to beauty. It led to an examination of the glory of God. The path of life is narrow and only and few find it. But for those who are on the path, it leads to beauty. It leads to the glory of God.
It leads to splendor. With that in mind, let's carry on because it there's more in your presence. It says there is fullness of joy. Doesn't just say that there's joy. It says there's fullness of joy. The word fullness here is an interesting Hebrew word. It carries the meaning of being alltogether fed with food and fully satisfied. Some of you here are going to have big Easter meals today. And at the end of it, you're going to be fully satisfied with your whatever meal you're going to have and your dessert, whatever.
At the end of it, you're going to be like, "Oh, I can't eat another bite. I'm so full." That's what this is referring to. So full that there's nothing else left. I have nothing nothing else I long for. Fullness of joy. With the Lord, there is fullness of joy. And can I just say he is the only source of that. You cannot experience this kind of fullness of joy in this world. Now, can you experience measures of joy? Certainly.
But even those things we chase after, even those things that are good things, even those things that we would contend contend are commendable things, the things of this world, the joy that this world can bring, all of those things are temporal. Not only temporal, but they're tempered. They're tempered by what's going on in the back of our minds. That financial stress we talked about, that health challenge we talked about, maybe some strained family relationships that you might have, you name it. There's always that stuff in the back. And so, you can't give yourself fully over to that joy because all of these things that we that we are part of because we live in a sinful world, they're all there in the background.
So, we can have joy, but not fullness of joy. Look at what it says here. In your presence is fullness of joy. This comes only from the Lord and specifically from the resurrection of our Lord. Go with me if you will to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We're going to spend a few minutes here in 1 Corinthians 15. In 1 Corinthians 15, starting at verse 14, here's what we read.
And if Christ had 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 he did that the dead are not raised. 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 who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have this hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pied.
If the resurrection of Christ is not true, if it was a big hoax, if it was an elaborate story, we are pitiful. That's what that's what Paul says. We've been duped. We're chasing after things that glorify God. When really, if if the if the resurrection isn't true, we should just be chasing after our own pleasures, after our own joy, the joy that makes us feel happy right now, which is what most of the world chases after, isn't it? What makes me feel happy right now?
The temporal sense of pleasure. That relationship I shouldn't be in, but boy, it just feels good. That financial decision that I know I shouldn't make, but boy, it feels good. That manner I conduct myself at work that I know it should I probably shouldn't do that, but it feels good. That's how we should live if the resurrection isn't true. Go to verse 20. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the first fruits. And then at his coming, those who belong to Christ, praise God, he is alive. And you might say to yourself, well, how do I know that that's true?
You're just telling me it's true. Listen, to some degree, you have to believe this by faith. But there are some pretty convincing proofs. Make no mistake, the tomb of Jesus was verifiably empty. Actually, let me back that up further. Jesus of Nazareth was verifiably crucified. Not only does the Bible recount that for us, extra biblical historical accounts tell us that that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, that he was then laid in a tomb.
And we have both biblical and extra biblical revelation that tells us that that tomb is empty. There has never been a story concocted to the contrary. Even in Matthew 28 when they came and they they said to the chief priest, "I hate to break the news to you, he gone." Notice what the chief priests didn't do. They didn't say, "Okay, well, here's some money. Go tell people that he's still there." They couldn't do that because everyone could just go to the tomb and see he's gone.
They they couldn't make that story up because the tomb was verifiably empty. To this day, even atheists acknowledge that Jesus's tomb is empty. There's never been a story to the contrary. And the disciples are the ones that told the world about it. They went and they said, "We saw the tomb. We saw he was that it's empty. We saw the risen Jesus alive. We spent time with him. We fished with him on the beach. We were there when he ascended. Let me tell you about the risen Jesus.
And so convinced were they of that that they were martyed. And they refused to recant this testimony that Jesus Christ is alive. Let me tell you something friends. Nobody, hear me, nobody dies for something that they know is a lie. Nobody. Now you might say, "Well, what about those people who flew those planes into the towers in 911? They died because they believed what they had been taught wrongly, but they believed adamantly that what they've been taught was true."
These guys are saying as eyewitnesses with our with our natural eyes, we saw Jesus alive and they went to their grave willing to be killed for this testimony. If they knew it was a hoax, if they knew it was a lie, they would never have done that. Someone would have broken. But every one of them died. And this testimony has rung forth and reverberated throughout the centuries to this day. And as someone prayed here earlier or someone gave thanks for earlier, people are still being saved today.
The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. We see the testimony of the resurrected Christ. And how many times we hear about murderers, rapists, those who are on death row, they hear the scriptures, they hear the testimony, and they're changed in a moment. How does that happen? That happens because Jesus is alive. He is resurrected. And look at what Paul said then in response to that at the end of chapter 15 here in 1 Corinthians starting at verse 50. I'm going to try to read this with some gusto as I think Paul wrote it with gusto.
I tell you this brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory." Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection friends in him is fullness of joy.
This is the source of joy. If you read this and your heart finds itself going, me, you don't know Jesus. Perhaps you're here and you're a cultural Christian. What I mean by that is you're conservative in your beliefs, politically and otherwise. You're conservative and some of your social positions and all of those things typically in larger culture get tied to Christianity.
And so because they get tied to Christianity, I I like the name Jesus. I'd like to come to church because I'm conservative in my beliefs. But Jesus himself, I'm not so sure about. I like him, but what I like more is my conservativis conservativism. Jesus holds no sway to you. I'm going to double down on that right now. Psalm 16:11, the last part. At your right hand are pleasures forever more.
Notice that it doesn't only say at your right hand are pleasures. At your right hand are pleasures forever more. He is the key to eternity. Pleasures forever more. That's what it says. Forever more. The pleasures that are offered in the Lord, they don't cease. They don't stop. They're not temporary pleasures. They're pleasures forever more. And in fact, the word pleasures here, same Hebrew word that we have in verse six.
Verse six, when it talks about those pleasant places that's tied to the inheritance of the people. So here, the pleasures are tied to our inheritance in the Lord. And our inheritance is eternal, an eternal inheritance. In Hebrews chapter 9:15, it says this, "Therefore, he Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant."
There's an eternal inheritance there. This is important for us to notice. And notice that this eternal inheritance, this these pleasures that are forever more are found at his right hand. At your right hand are pleasures forever more. You notice earlier in the text it says that I can have confidence because I know God's at my right hand. But here it says at your talking to God the father at your right hand are pleasures forever more. It begs the question, if if these pleasures, these eternal pleasures are at the right hand of the father, what then is at the right hand of God?
Or perhaps I should say it this way. Who is at the right hand of God? Listen to these words in Mark chapter 14. In Mark 14 starting at verse 62, it says this. Jesus said, I am and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.
Jesus said, "I'm going to be at the right hand of the Father." In the book of Romans chapter 8, we read we read these words in verses 33 and 34. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Jesus Christ is the one who died more than that was raised who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us. Let me give you just one actually no two more.
I'll give you this one from Hebrews chapter 8 in verse 1. It says this. Now the point in what we are saying is this. We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven. You see that who's at the right hand? Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. And remember how I I pointed out that Psalm 16 was quoted in Acts chapter 2. Just go back there for a second.
Humor me if you will. Acts chapter 2, Peter in the sermon quotes David. He quotes Psalm 16 and and he does all of that and he and he says, you know, being a prophet, David foretold about Jesus. And he spends his whole time explaining why he's including Psalm 16 in this sermon about the resurrection from the dead. And immediately after having done that, in verse 33, he says this, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing at the right hand of God.
What is our pleasure forever more? Our pleasures forever more are bound up in a person. If you're looking forward to heaven because of the stuff, you're missing the point. If you're looking forward to heaven because of the streets of gold, because there might not be snow anymore, there won't be any political tensions anymore. If that's what you're looking forward to, and while all those things are wonderful, you're missing the point.
Pleasure forever more is bound up in who Christ is. It's bound up in his very character, in his worth, in his nature. This is what brings to us pleasure forever more. He is your pleasure. He's your pleasure. This resurrected one who is alive right now, died, rose again, is alive, and is coming back. He's your pleasure forever more. And if you're here today and you're bored by Jesus, eternity is going to be very difficult for you.
I'm concerned about your salvation. Quite frankly, if Jesus is boring to you, if he is not your allsurpassing treasure, Keith Green famously said this, "If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels or watching TV or going to the movies or talking to friends rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing him, sharing his cares and his burdens, weeping and rejoicing with him.
Then how are you going to handle forever and ever in his presence? You'd be bored to tears in heaven if you're not ecstatic about God. Now, now you can quibble with that quote all you want, but the point is this. Make Jesus your treasure now. Not one person in this room is guaranteed another moment. You might not live to April 6th. Is he your treasure? Is he your treasure? Is he the fullness of joy in you in your life?
Is he your Are you on the path of life in Christ? That alone is your hope. But it's a sure hope. It's a certain hope. This one is raised from the dead. He is alive today and he is coming back to claim his people to bring them home. He has gone to prepare a place for us. And he is coming to bring us home to him. Will you be there? Today is the day of salvation. Do not delay.
Trust him today. Worship him. And for those who are redeemed, do not take this for granted. We talk about him being our fullness of joy. Have him be your fullness of joy today. Don't get caught up playing in a mud puddle when the ocean of God's goodness is right in front of you. Don't get caught up in the distractions of this world. Find your joy in him. The world's always going to be dark and it's always going to try to pull you in all kinds of directions. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. And let that be the source of your joy and your pleasure forever more.
God, you're good and we love you. We thank you for the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus. We thank you for the resurrected Jesus who is alive to this very day and will never die. We thank you that we have the hope of our own resurrection in him and through him. We thank you that he arose and that we can sing to you with great thanksgiving this day in the midst of our lament.
Remind us of the joy that can be ours in him. Father, if there be those here who don't know you, even this moment, would you penetrate their heart by your spirit? Prick their heart with the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, the fact that they're a sinner, that they need to be saved, and that they can be as they turn to Christ even this day. Do a mighty work in their hearts, we pray as well. And thank you for meeting with us here this morning in Jesus name. Amen.
Transcribed automatically from YouTube captions, so names and words may be misheard.
