Jesus: The Death Defeater and Life Giver - Grant Patrick

0:32 source. Red letters. And today we're coming to a pretty big claim of Jesus. One on which our eternity hangs. One that answers the greatest question of the human heart, I believe. The question that Job asked in Job 14, 14. If a man dies, shall he live again? In John chapter 11, we read in red letters, the words of Jesus, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. This is our story. This is why we're here today. Our song is a resurrection song. R.A. Torrey, who was a famous evangelist preacher, I think he was the second president of Moody Bible Institute, once said, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the cornerstone of Christian doctrine.

1:37 In a quote attributed to John Stott, Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed. Tim Keller, whom I love, once said, If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said. If he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? These guys are all echoing the Apostle Paul, who wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 about the resurrection. In chapter 15, he writes, verse 13, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And in verse 14, and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is useless and so is your faith. Then dropping down to verse 16, he says, doubling back again, for if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.

2:39 And if Christ has not been raised, Your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. If only for this life, Paul says in verse 19, if only for this life we have hope in Christ. We, the people of God, are of all people most to be pitied. But in verse 20, this is our anthem. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all died, so in Christ all will be made alive. Amen. Amen? This is our story. So today we're going to work our way through just over 50 verses from John chapter 11. Are you up for that?

3:34 I hope you don't have, I hope you got late lunch plans. Hope the trip to fans from the Turkey has fully worn off and nobody sleeps through this, but I'm excited about where we're going. So let's pray and let's ask God to illuminate his word in a way that changes us today. Would you pray that on your own? And then I'll pray and we'll jump in to this text together. Father, as one pastor has said, it is your will to have your spirit use your word to make your children look like your son.

4:25 And I pray that you would do that today as we dive into your word together. Help us not just to see printed pages or hear words today, but to see and hear from you today. To feel the weight of them and to feel the hope in them. To be changed by them for your glory. We pray this in Jesus' name and everybody said, amen. If you have your Bible, open it up to John chapter 11. This is the seventh of the signs in John's gospel or the miracles in John's gospel. The raising of Lazarus. The name Lazarus, by the way, means the one whom God helps, which is pretty awesome as we read the story. His mom had no idea when she named him that we, 2,000 years later, would be talking about how God helped Lazarus and we'd be drawing hope ourselves from how God helped Lazarus, which is awesome. The signs in John's gospel show us who Jesus is and what he came to do, which is what we're talking about in this collection. John tells us that pretty plainly in John chapter 20, verses 30 and 31. He says, Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. That's a pretty awesome thought. There was a whole lot of miracles that Jesus did that we don't have in this book. We got a lot of them, but we don't have all of them. Why? Because there's no book big enough, no library big enough to contain them all.

5:51 And then in verse 31, he says, but these are written that you may believe. Do you see that word? Can we just say that word together? These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. The signs exist to reveal the glory of God, to display to us what matters most. So let's jump in to John chapter 11 together, beginning in verse one. We'll take a few verses at a time. We'll kind of work our way through. It says, now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, there was a lot of Mary, so to clarify, this Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, Lord, the one you love is sick. Now I'm going to try my very best not to stop at every message that could be preached in John chapter 11, but I do not want you to miss these seven words. You have to have a theological grid that is big enough to fit these seven words. If you understand these seven words in this few verses, then you will prevent yourself from a lot of unnecessary pain and misunderstanding in your future. Here they are. Lord, the one you love is sick. There's a theology in that. It is not you are loved by God or you are sick.

7:39 Those two things are not mutually exclusive. To be sick is not to not be loved by God. And you see it in Lazarus. They sent word. They knew Lazarus was loved. They knew they were loved and they sent word to the one that they loved and the one that they knew loved them. Your friend, Jesus Lazarus, is sick. Jesus loved him and he was sick. It's not either or, it's both and. Hardship in life does not equate to hardness of heart on behalf of God. This is why the health, wealth, prosperity gospel is incredibly unhelpful and massively untrue. Well, how can this be? How can God be loving and Lazarus be sick? He goes on to tell us, verse four.

8:33 When he heard this, Jesus said, this sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's son may be glorified through it. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was. two more days. And then he said to his disciples, let's go back to Judea. So the answer to the question, how can this be that the Lord loves Lazarus and that Lazarus is sick? The answer is found here. Jesus says, this sickness is not going to end in death. Notice when you read carefully, it doesn't say this sickness is not going to include death. It just says it's not going to end in death. And then he tells us it is for the glory of God. If you're taking notes, write this down. God's aim is always God's glory. The sickness is for, you see the word for in the text? For denotes purpose. The reason this sickness is allowed is for a purpose, Jesus says here.

9:38 And the purpose is the glory of God, that Christ may be glorified through it. Now, what is God's glory? We say this word all the time. It's important you understand that we know what we're talking about. What is God's glory? God's glory in its most simple form is his awesomeness. Is that a word? I'm not sure. Send me an email later. It's his awesomeness. It's a word in my house. It's his supreme worth made known to his creation, made manifest among his creation. It is, as one pastor says, the going public of God's holiness. That's God's glory. This is the purpose of the sickness. It's like in John 9, just two chapters before. There's a man born blind. Everybody's asking the question, did he sin, did his parents sin? Why was this guy born blind?

10:30 And Jesus responds and says, this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. It is for God's glory. Pastor Louis says this all the time. He, Jesus, is painting on a canvas bigger than you can see or imagine. As Isaiah says in Isaiah 55, God's thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are his ways our ways. His thoughts are higher. His ways are higher than ours, right? Our ability to understand God doesn't limit God's ability to be God. Our understanding is not a prerequisite for him doing anything. He's God and God's aim is God's glory. And as you read this text and as you live your life as a loved son or daughter of God, you understand we should be happy about that because God's glory is our good. That he does everything he does for his glory and we should champion and amen and clap our hands and celebrate that because the most loving thing God could do for us is to show us his glory.

11:35 We were made for it. You see in this text too that God's timing is not our timing. You might wanna say, anybody wanna say amen to that? I do, God's timing's not our timing. These girls send word to Jesus who's about 15 to 20 miles away. Hey, the one you love is sick. And what does Jesus do? You would think he's with his disciples. Boys, drop everything. We're headed to Bethany. No, it's not what he does. It says he stays where he was for two days longer. And then he doesn't say, let's go to Bethany. He says, let's go to Judea. Which his disciples, the whole time in this chapter, must have just been constantly like, we don't get it. They're scratching their head. They're asking each other, do you get it? I don't know what we're doing. Have you ever felt like that?

12:27 I felt like that before. I don't know what God's up to. He's not doing what I want him to do when I want him to do it. And yet at some point, when you let life go on for long enough, you come back and thank God that he didn't do things the way you wanted him to do things. Amen? God's timing is not our timing. He chooses to stay right where he is instead of dropping everything. He could have done that. He could have healed him remotely.

12:56 He did it in John chapter four. He could have got the word from the messengers and said, don't worry, send the girls back a message. He's gonna come back to life. He could have just healed him on the spot, but he didn't choose to do that. John Piper says at the right time and just the right way, God will intervene. He is never late, though he may feel slow. And I want you to see it in the text. Verse 5 says, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. He loved them. Verse 5. Verse 6 starts with so, or it could be therefore. It means these two ideas go together. He loved them, therefore he makes this decision. He makes the decision to stay. You're like, no, no, no, that's not what you do if you love somebody. If you love them, you would go.

13:48 But he chose to stay. Must have been massively confusing for the disciples. Why? Well, the purpose is what? The purpose of the sign is God's glory, that Christ may be glorified in it. God was arranging things in such a way that maximum glory would be revealed to his people. And maybe in the middle of your hardship today, and I know there are lots of you who are in hardship currently, the enemy is whispering to you. God doesn't love you or care about you. If he did, how would he let this happen? If he did, why wouldn't he have fixed it by now?

14:31 Martha felt that way. Mary felt that way. I felt that way. And I would guess many of you have felt that way. And my prayer for you today is that you would understand this. God's aim is always God's glory and God's glory is our good. He can be trusted. And then in verse seven, he said to his disciples, let's go back to Judea. And they're like, this doesn't make sense either. Don't you understand, Jesus, that they were just trying to kill you in the last chapter? Didn't you read John 10? Jesus, they're just trying to stone you. One chapter ago. And you want to go back there? We don't want to go to your friend. We want to go back to where they're trying to kill you. And then Jesus says, are there not always 12 hours of daylight? anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble. Verse 9, for they see by this world's light. Verse 10, it is when a person walks at night that they stumble for they have no light. Jesus is saying, I've been given a time frame. I'm on a mission here. And I need to move when the Father tells me to move. And I've got to go. And then he says to them, and you better come with me. Why?

15:34 Because I am the light of the world. And I will illuminate the path. at verse 11, after he had said this, he went on to tell them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am not, but I am, but I am going there to wake him up. Verse 12, his disciples replied, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better. Jesus had been speaking of his death, but the disciples thought he meant natural sleep. Again, I remember when I graduated from undergrad, I wanted, I had a degree in finance and leadership. I wanted to go work on Wall Street. I found out in time they don't hire people that went to community college in the North Georgia mountains. So I ended up going to Georgia State University to get a master's of accounting. I lasted three and a half weeks till the first test. And then since the Lord tell me, I am not calling you to be an accountant. I got the first test. I'm not kidding you. I've never studied harder for anything in my life.

16:31 the first test, I sat down at the little desk, I looked at it, and it wasn't that I didn't know how to do the problem. I didn't even know what the words meant. And I literally, blank test, I wrote my name in the top corner, just walked it back up, handed it to the professor, made a nice charitable donation to GSU, and never went back. I just couldn't figure it out. It was like they were speaking a different language to me. That must be how these disciples felt, right? Like, okay, you got told he's sick, you chose to stay and not go, and now you're saying he's dead, we're gonna go, or he's asleep, and we're gonna go, and we're gonna wake him up. But Jesus, don't you understand if your friend is sick, you don't stay, you go, and if he's asleep and sick, you don't wake him up, you let him sleep, because if he sleeps, he'll get better.

17:19 What are we doing? Must have been massively frustrating. Verse 14, so then he told them plainly. Thank you, Jesus. Lazarus is dead. That was about as plain as he can say it. I think everybody got it at that point. And for your sake, I'm glad I was not there. So that you may, here's our word, this is what the whole point of John 11 is, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. Okay? Then verse 16. Then Thomas, also known as Didymus, I'd have probably just stuck with Thomas personally, said to the rest of the disciples, let us go also that we may die with him. Love it. He's, Thomas, still a little bit confused. He's got a confused mind, but I think a very genuine heart. He's like, okay, we didn't go to Lazarus, but now he's dead and we're going to Lazarus. So he's like, well, let's all go die. You know, verse 17. Finally, Jesus comes to Bethany. On this, on his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus has been out in the tomb for, had been already in the tomb for four days. Now, Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed home.

18:30 There is, let me be clear, there is no lack of faith on behalf of Mary or Martha in this text. They're wrestling with, how can this be? How come your timing's not our timing? Why didn't you come? That there is no lack of faith on their part. They are massively in love with Jesus. and Martha in all of her grief, if we could just click out of, I know this story, you know, I've heard it before at VBS growing up and understand the grief and pain that exists in the coming verses. These are two sisters whose brothers died. We don't know how old he was, but probably not too old and they're grieving the loss of their sister and what I want you to understand and what I want you to see in Martha is Martha runs to Jesus in the middle of her grief. Jesus didn't come when Martha asked her to come. And at that moment, Martha had two options.

19:24 She could grieve away from God and run away from him in anger and disappointment and in confusion. Why didn't you do what we asked you to do? Or she could grieve her way towards God in hope and desperation. And she runs to find him at the outskirts of town. And she says to him, Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. but I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.

19:54 Can you feel the weight of that? she leaves her town, she hears Jesus is coming, she runs to him, and I don't even know, hands in the air, like, what happened? We sent word to you. And we asked you to come. We told you that Lazarus was sick. We asked you to come. We sent word in time, and you didn't come. Why are you just now getting here? If you would have come earlier, my brother would still be alive. her plea and many of you know what this is like is where were you we sent for you where were you she's not accusing got him of anything she's not blaming him of anything she just is grieving and confused where were you and why didn't you come if you would have come, my brother would still be alive. And Jesus responds back to her, your brother will rise again. And in verse 24, Martha answers, I know, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. She's going, I know, I've read the stories, I've been to church before, I know at the resurrection of the last day, I know somewhere down in the distant future, I'm going to see my brother again at the resurrection of the last day. I know that somewhere way down there, that's going to happen, but that's a long time from now. And I miss them now. And Jesus responds back to her and says, these words, this is our story. If everybody leaves memorizing these words, you will overflow with hope this week. I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this. Jesus is going, it's not too late. I'm never too late. I don't know how to be late.

21:50 I can't be late. And you need to remember that in your own story today. When you do not understand God's timing, you trust his track record. He has never failed, not one time. It's impossible for him to fail. It's a rule for being God. And the moment he fails, he's unqualified and unfit for the office. He's never failed. He has a perfect track record. And if you in the middle of pain or grief or hardship are trying to figure out how do I understand this, then I pray today, you would just remember God's track record in your life and your heart would begin to beat with confidence again. He's never failed. He will not start today and he will not start with you. he can be trusted. Resurrection is not something that I can do. It's who I am, Jesus says. I am the resurrection and the life. It's not an activity. It's an identity. She's going, you're looking to the future for something, but I'm telling you, no, don't just look to the future.

22:53 You're looking into the face of the resurrection. You're not, you're looking forward to something, but I'm telling you, you're looking at something. I am the resurrection and the life. These two statements, he says, I am the resurrection. The one who believes in me will live even though they die. And I am the life. Whoever lives by believing in me will never die. You need to understand these two ideas. He's saying, I am the resurrection. Even the dead will come back to life. But then he says, and I am the life. Why does he say, I am the life? Wouldn't just saying I am the resurrection imply that there will be life after death? Yes, but Jesus is saying there is life, not just after death, but before death, there's life now. So it's not just you're not going to die. It's you can live. You can live now. You can live with the breath in your lungs now. And if you live by believing in me now, you will never die. What a promise. Verse 27, then he asks her the question, do you believe this?

23:57 Love that. Not have you heard this? Not have you read this? Not have you sung a song about this? Not does your church believe this on their website? Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she replied. I believe that you are the Messiah, the son of God, who is to come into the world. Scene change. Verse 28. After she had said this, she goes back and calls and called her sister Mary aside and says, the teacher is here, she said, and he's asking for you. And when Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village. He was still at the place where Martha met him, just outside the village. Verse 31. And when the Jews who had been with Mary in the house comforting her, saw her scuffle and get up quickly, and she got up and went out of the house, they followed her, supposing that she went to the tomb to mourn there. Verse 32. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him. She fell at his feet and said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

25:03 verse 33. And when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also were weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled. Where have you laid him? He asked. Come and see, Lord, they replied. Verse 35. Jesus wept. I want you to see the scene this is a real place and a real event this really happened one sister comes home whispers into the other sister's ear the teacher's here she gets up quickly and runs out to the edge of town to meet Jesus and it says when she sees him she just collapses at his feet Mary if you know anything about her she loved to be at Jesus's feet though she would have preferred different circumstances for sure the heaviness of the heartache was too much to stand and she collapsed at his feet and she says the same words as her sister if you would have been here my brother would not have died

26:16 verse 35 is the shortest verse in the bible if you are a kid and have to memorize bible verses that's the one you hope to get but while it's the shortest I think it may be one of the most powerful verses in the whole bible a little over a week and a half ago I shared this verse in this room as we celebrated the life of my friend 31 year old 31 years old after a five-year battle with brain cancer he ultimately defeated brain cancer and went home to be with Jesus just parenthetically, not the message today, no believer in Jesus ever loses their battle with cancer. Don't say that. The only thing that can happen is to be victorious because Jesus reigns over cancer. Cancer bows at his voice. And for those who die in Christ, cancer does not win. So if you have a mom or a dad or a brother and a sister who's gone home to be with the Lord, don't say he or she lost her fight with cancer. I promise you cancer ran with its tail tucked between its legs.

27:26 And your loved one is now in a place where cancer can't go. And I shared this verse with a mom and dad and a brother sitting right on this front row. Jesus wept. Think about it. The one who created of the eye, the one who designed the functionality of a tear duct. had a tear stream down his face.

27:59 This is our king. Or think about in Revelation, it says that Jesus will one day wipe away every tear from our eye. And I don't know about you, but I take great comfort in knowing that the one who will wipe away every tear from my cheek knows what it's like to have one fall down his own.

28:25 We have a great and compassionate king. It's interesting when you think about these two sisters. To Martha and to Mary, he responds pretty differently. He says to Martha, your brother will rise again. And he says to Mary, take me to where you've laid him. Tim Keller says to Martha he shows his divinity but to Mary he shows his humanity don't miss this two sisters, same situation, same story both grieving the death of their beloved brother both approach Jesus both say the exact same thing word for word to Jesus and Jesus responds to them totally different

29:11 Tim Keller went on to say to Martha Jesus offers the ministry of truth and to Mary, he offered the ministry of tears. It's important for you to remember today, we do not worship a stone. We worship a God, a living God, and he understands you. This is what the Hebrews writer says. We do not have a high priest who's unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need. God understands you. And then the Jews, back to John 11, then the Jews said, as they see Jesus weeping, they said, see how he loved him? But yet some of them in verse 37 said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man just two chapters ago have kept this man from dying? In verse 38, Jesus once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Take away the stone, he said. When you read this, it's interesting. The word translated deeply moved is not a compassionate term, though we often read it that way because it comes right after Jesus weeping.

30:25 It's actually a term of like fierce and ferocious anger and fury, which begs the question, what what's Jesus mad at? I don't think it's Martha. I don't think it's Mary. It's certainly not Lazarus who's dead. I don't think it's all the other Jews that are there weeping. I think Jesus, with tears streaming down his face, is grieved by the loss of his friend and simultaneously is angry at sin and its effects on his creation. He stares at death and he knows the battle that lies ahead. B.B. Warfield commenting on this said, Jesus advances to the tomb, not weak and sniffling, but as a champion preparing for conflict. John uncovers the heart of Jesus as he wins our salvation, not in cold unconcern, but in fiery wrath against our enemy.

31:25 John Calvin says, like a wrestler preparing for a contest with a hated foe, the violent tyranny of death, which he came to overcome, now stands before his eyes. And Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, the same chapter from earlier, that the last enemy to be destroyed is death. but Lord Martha said the sister of the dead man by this time there's a bad odor for he's been there for four days then Jesus said did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God now Martha takes a bad rap unnecessarily I think the longest lines in heaven that we will want to offer apologies to are Martha and Peter. Everybody always hates on Martha and Peter. These were people of tremendous faith, but Martha is trying to understand, and Jesus says, move the tomb away, and she's thrown away, and she's going, he's been in there for four days. This is going to be massively embarrassing. He's going to be a stench. He's going to smile, and she says back to God, but God, here's all the reasons you shouldn't do that. I'm not sure you understand, Lord. Here are with a list of reasons, you shouldn't do that. And here's the truth. When we operate as God's counsel, we rob ourselves from experiencing God's glory. God knows what he's doing.

32:52 Move the stone, he says. He's been in there for four days. Now, four days is important. There was a common rabbinic tradition teaching that said that the soul of a dead person would hover over her body for three days with a small, slight chance of resuscitation. But by the fourth day, it was final. The soul had left the body and death was final. The nails had gone in the coffin. The internal organs begin to decompose within 72 hours after death and resurrection was impossible. but what's the point of the story?

33:30 God's awesomeness. God was orchestrating and arranging things. Why would he come on the fourth day? Because he's the God of the impossible. Nobody can take credit for this. This was God and God alone. No tomb can stop him. No amount of time can stop him. No nails can hold him. when he speaks dead things, listen and obey. And he says to Lazarus, it didn't matter if it was four days later or 400 days later, he says to Lazarus, get up. Our God is the God of the impossible. I love parenthetically the older translations. I can't read this text without at least mentioning them. If you have a King James, everybody should at least have one, all the thousand, you know, thou nots. But the best is this verse because Martha says, Lord, he stinketh.

34:24 I know there's a lot of young families here with babies. So if you need some language for diaper changing, you could just borrow that one right out of John 11. It's stinketh. But here's the point. When it was at its worst, Jesus moved towards them. This is Romans 5 verse 8. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. and they're going, hey, by the time, by this time, there's going to be a bad odor. The effects of death will have begun to take its toll. And you need to hear this today. This is gospel. This is resurrection talk today. If the stench of your sin is unbearable, can I encourage you today? Jesus is not afraid of entering into your tomb. The junk and the stink of your life, he doesn't move away from you. Maybe everybody else in your life has, but Jesus will move towards you. Jesus moves towards us when we're at our worst, and he offers you one true, the only true, grace-filled, mercy-soaked solution.

35:31 so they took the stone away and Jesus looked up and said father I thank you that you've heard me I know that you always hear me but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here that they may believe that you sent me and when he had said this Jesus called in a loud voice Lazarus, come out. Verse 44, the dead man came out. if that doesn't do something in you, slap both of your cheeks real fast. The dead man came out. His hands and his feet were wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth was around his face. Organs that had already begun to decompose started pumping and beating again.

36:30 blood started recirculating again muscles and tendons woke up this really happened and why did it happen so that 2 000 years ago we would be talking about lazarus no lazarus means the one who helped me the point of the sign of all the signs is that we would think about lazarus coming out of the tomb and we would go, my God is awesome. He can do anything. And Jesus said to them, take off the grave clothes and let him go. I love that. Don't you love that Jesus had to tell everybody standing there, go help the man out. Dude's got cloth around his face and around his and around his feet, he's just bouncing into the rocks. it was like my wife when we got married i didn't know how bad her eyes were her eyes are awesome they're one of my favorite parts about you but they don't work very good and we're we're in our you know townhouse and she's trying to figure out how to get to the bathroom in the middle of night and it's just it's awesome i mean just boom you know like can't see anything this must have been what it's like and jesus going guys go help the man and i love it for a few reasons one it's hilarious. I think they probably were just shocked as you would have been, probably scared. Jesus says to them, take off the grave clothes and let them go. I love that other people had to take the grave clothes off of Lazarus. You're going to need that. Jesus will be the one that orders you out of the tomb of sin and death, but you're going to need some people to help you take the grave clothes off.

38:14 That's why the church is such a gift. That's why Christianity isn't an individual sport. You're gonna need brothers and sisters that will help you walk in this new identity that Jesus has purchased for you. If Jesus has brought us to life, then we should quit dressing like we're dead. It's time to walk in the freedom that Christ has purchased for you. What Paul says in Ephesians, you were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. To be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. To be saved is to get a new wardrobe.

38:57 You got to dress different, live different. You got a new identity, you're a new person. and then in verse 45 is our last little bit therefore many of the jews who had come to visit mary and had seen what jesus did believed in him how could you not but some of them went to the pharisees and told them what jesus had done then the chief priest and the pharisees called a meeting of the sanhedrin what are we accomplishing they asked here's this man performing many signs if we let him keep on like this. Everyone will believe in him. And then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation. Then one of them named Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, spoke up, you know nothing at all. You do not realize that it would be better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. He's going, I got an idea we could kill him. He did this. He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation.

40:01 And not only for that nation, but also for the scattered children of God. I love that. Not just for the Jewish nation, but for us, Cumberland, 2025, Trail of 515, for all of us, the children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on, they plotted to take Jesus's life. Therefore, Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead, he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. This is a massive hinge verse of John's gospel. The tone of the gospel totally shifts from here on. From the very first verse, John 1, 1, to this verse, verse 53, John's gospel focuses on the life of Jesus. But from John 11, 53 and on, the tone changes, the mood changes, the scene changes, the intensity changes, and now on it focuses on the death of Jesus.

41:02 And here's the point. Here's the picture. The account of Lazarus is a foreshadowing of Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection. That Jesus would ultimately defeat death once and for all on the cross. Jesus knew the only way to get Lazarus out of his grave is for Jesus to be willing to enter into his own. Think about that. For Lazarus to walk out of the tomb, Jesus had to be willing to enter into his own. That's the gospel. That there is a king in heaven, created everything out of his mouth, spoke everything into existence. You're included in that. You're part of the everything. He thought you up, uniquely wired you. You have different skills and passions than anybody else on planet earth. And yet in the garden on page three of our Bible, we made it three pages before we wrecked everything. And we said, you know what, God, we'll take it from here. You did a great job creating everything. We think we got it. We think we've got a better plan than you, we'll take it from here. That's what sin is. Sin is choosing our way over God's way. And into the perfect creation, sin entered into the world. And the cause of sin, the effects of sin, the Bible says, is death. It's separation from God.

42:31 You were born with this disease. We all were born with a sin nature, separated from God. and in the same way that God loved Lazarus, he loved us and he came for us on a rescue mission from heaven. Son of God stepped onto his own creation. Think about that. Became paint on his own canvas.

42:58 Was born on the backside of a no-name town into the splintered and calloused hands of a Jewish carpenter. lived to heaven's standard, which none of us could do, perfection, died the death willingly that you deserved in your place and in mine, went through excruciating agony, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and three days later, by the power of the glory of the Father, was raised to life. He is the resurrection and the life. defeating death, sin, hell, the grave, and he offers life to anybody who answers the question he asks in John 11. Do you believe this? Tim Keller, before he died, he also was a victor over cancer and went home to be with the Lord, said this.

43:58 If Jesus Christ was actually raised from the dead, if he really got up, walked out, was seen by hundreds of people, talked to them, if he was raised from the dead, you know what? Everything is going to be all right. Whatever you're worried about right now, whatever you're afraid of, everything is going to be okay. Amen. If the tomb is empty today, then anything is possible. So in this great chapter, who is Jesus? Who does this chapter tell us that Jesus is and was? He's the death defeater and the grave robber. He's the life giver and the light bringer. He's the sin crusher and the serpent stomper. And he's the heart healer and he's the hope dealer. What Jesus said to Martha, he says to you today, I am the resurrection and I am the life.

45:01 The one who believes in me will live even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Billy Graham said before he died, some of you one day will read that Billy Graham is dead. Don't you believe a word of it? I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. Isn't that beautiful? This is the hope that we have. So I wanna ask you this question. I wanna let Jesus ask us the same question as we close and I'm gonna pray. The question is, do you believe this? Not have you heard it? Not do you gotta go to a church that preaches it? Do you believe this? Do you understand what Jesus came to do? Do you understand who he is? Do you understand that he left heaven for you? Do you understand that your sin is what nailed him to the tree?

45:54 Do you understand that you couldn't be perfect on your own? Do you understand that he came and lived a perfect life? Do you understand that he stared death in the face and willingly entered into the tomb? And do you understand that he conquered the tomb and offers life? Do you believe what he says about himself is true? If you do, death, just a doorway into everlasting life. What a gift. I want to pray for us and as I do I'd love to invite anybody today maybe somebody wants to answer that question in the affirmative today for the first time I've known this to be true I've heard this I've read about this but today not just my mind believes it but the eyes of my heart have been opened to what Jesus has done for me and I want to be made alive I want to say yes I believe Jesus you are the resurrection and the life and the Bible says if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and that he's been raised