Realization of the Truth Concerning our Redemption Always Leads to Praise

And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen extraordinary things today. Luke 5:26

‘the realization of the truth concerning our redemption always leads to praise. …..Surely praise and thanksgiving are ever to be the great characteristics of the Christian life. Take, for instance, the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. It has been said of that Book that it is the most lyrical book in the world. In spite of all the persecution which those early Christians had to endure, and all the hardship and difficulties, they were distinguished by a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. They were people who were thrilled with a sense of peace and happiness and joy they had never known before. The same note is found, too, throughout the New Testament epistles — ‘Rejoice in the Lord’, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’. Even in the Book of Revelation which portrays trials and tribulations that are certain to face God’s people, this note of triumph and praise is to be found running through it all. This is the ultimate peculiar characteristic of God’s people, of Christians….If we realize truly what ‘grace’ and ‘peace’ mean we cannot help praising.
All must surely agree that it is impossible to read through the New Testament without seeing that this is to be the supreme thing in the Christian life. It must of necessity be so, because if this gospel is true, that God has sent His own Son into the world to do for us the things we have been considering, then you would expect Christians to be entirely different from unbelievers; you would expect them to live in a relationship to God that would be evident to all, and that should above everything else produce this quality of joy………………….. Hence we find this constant exhortation in the New Testament to praise God and offer up thanksgiving. This is what differentiates us from the world. The world is very miserable and unhappy; it is full of cursing and complaints. But praise, thanksgiving and contentment mark out the Christian and show that he is no longer ‘of the world’.

Extracted from The Everlasting Covenant by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Greatest Event of All Time.

‘The Role of the Resurrection
1. In the gospels
The four gospels are a response of faith to the resurrection. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They weren’t forced to believe; they believed because they were overwhelmed with the evidence, as were all who became a part of the believing community. It is the response of faith that we will see in our study of Matthew 28:1-10.Some people are under the illusion that the Bible is a miscellaneous collection of spiritual truths. But every book in the Bible has a specifically designed beginning and ending. In the case of Matthew’s gospel, the ending the glory of the resurrection–the greatest event of all time.
2. In Acts
The first sermon ever preached by the early church was the resurrection (Acts 2). The reality of the resurrection became the theme of all apostolic preaching. Peter again preached on the resurrection in Acts 4 and 10. Stephen preached the resurrection in chapter 7. Philip preached the resurrection in chapter 8. Paul preached the resurrection many times throughout the rest of the book.
3. In the epistles
The theme of the epistles is the resurrection.
a) Romans 6:4–”Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.”
b) 1 Corinthians 15:4–”He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
c) 2 Corinthians 4:15–”He who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also.”
d) Galatians 1:1–”By Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.”
e) Ephesians 1:20–”Which He [God] wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.”
f) Philippians 3:10–Paul said, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.”
g) Colossians 2:12–”God … raised him from the dead.”
h) 1 Thessalonians 1:10–”His Son … he [God] raised from the dead.”
i) 1 Peter 1:3–”[God] hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
The book of Revelation affirms that Christ has right to the earth because He was once dead and is now alive forevermore (1:18). The theme of the New Testament is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.Here is the foundation of all our hope: Jesus said, “Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). Jesus also said, “I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). The resurrection is the core of all we believe.Each of the four gospel writers presented the resurrection in a unique way, picking out certain elements of the event to reinforce certain spiritual truths in the minds of the readers. As we study Matthew’s account of the resurrection, we will draw from Mark, Luke, and John to enrich and fill out the scene so that we may appreciate all its great truth. Mark, Luke, and John take different approaches, yet all four describe the same historical truth. There is no contradiction–all the facts are in perfect harmony. Matthew describes the resurrection from the viewpoint of a group of women and the emotions that their actions revealed. That is a wonderful and refreshing way to view the resurrection.’
‘The Resurrection of Jesus Christ’ by John Macarthur