One More Move - Louie Giglio

0:23 That's not just Easter hype. If the tomb is empty, everything is possible. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, a town that he knew really well, Lazarus was already dead. The message had come to Jesus where he was some distance away. Lazarus is sick, can you come? But Jesus didn't go right away. And by the time he arrived in Bethany, the scripture says that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days. I think that's noted in two places in Luke's gospel so that we understand this wasn't somebody pulling a rabbit out of a hat. This wasn't somebody who slept for a few minutes and oh, then they were resuscitated. This was a decomposing man. And when Jesus arrived, the sister of Lazarus came and met him outside the town and said, Lord, if you'd been here, if you'd been here, my brother would still be alive.

1:27 All of us have had a moment in our lives like that. But what Jesus said to Martha and ultimately to her sister Mary was that I'm here now. and so me being here now means there's still one more move and that's what I want us to celebrate today with Jesus in the story there's always one more move and that's what Easter is really all about they sealed Jesus up in that tomb they put guards there so that no Lazarus event could happen again here. No whodunit could take place in this garden. But even in that moment, God knew he had one more move. The followers of Jesus wept. They were disillusioned. They were afraid. But God says, I've got one more move. And he's got one more move for you today.

2:28 there's always with God in Christ. One more move. Luke tells us that Jesus eventually got to Bethany. It says on his arrival, verse 17, this is John 11, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany, this town that Jesus knew well, 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. 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. Now that was, in my view, an amazing statement of faith. I don't think Martha was thinking that Lazarus was coming out of the tomb, because later when Jesus says, move the stone, she says, you don't want to move the stone, he's been in there four days, there's going to be an odor.

3:36 But she knows that Jesus is a miracle man. He didn't make it to town in time to do the miracle, but she knows he's a miracle man. And I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask. And Jesus said to her, talk about Easter. Your brother will rise again. And Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection. How about that? She said, I know there's going to be a resurrection at the last day. And Jesus said, I know there will be. And he's standing here right now. The one who brings life is here right now. 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.

4:36 Do you believe this? And she did believe it, but her answer was interesting. She didn't say, yes, I believe that whoever believes in you will live even though they die. She said, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who's come into the world. There had been a promise among the Jews for centuries that God was gonna send a savior, a redeemer, a Messiah to save the people. And Martha is saying, I believe you're the Messiah. I believe you're the sent one of God. I believe you're the Savior sent from God to save his people. But then look what happened. And I think, I wish the drama was building a little higher in the room, and it's not really building at all because 97% of the people in the room already know what happened and already said it. So, spoiler alert, Lazarus is coming out of the tomb.

5:30 But we could amen anyway. I think Lazarus would appreciate it if we amened anyway. And I know that Jesus deserves it even if we just amened anyway, even though we already know the ending. skip up to verse 38. Jesus, once more deeply moved, he cried when he got to Mary and saw the brokenness of her heart. Shortest verse in the Bible, if you want to start memorizing scripture, a few verses behind, Jesus wept. and then once more deeply moved, he came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance, and he said, take away the stone. But Lord, by this time there's a bad odor. Second time we're hearing this, he's been there four days.

6:26 Can we just pause for a moment? Are there any stones across any caves in your story today? Is there any dream or a vision or a marriage or any health situation or any friendship, relationship that's now shattered, someone who's estranged from you, something that has a stone put across it and maybe even smells bad right now? There's been decay in the story? I think God's inviting us into more than just the spectator seat today to an event that happened in Bethany. I think God is wanting us to realize that the resurrection and the life is in this gathering right now.

7:13 The Jesus who came out of that tomb is in this gathering right now. And he wants us to, yes, scoot up to the edge of our seat to see again that he can change any story. but I think he also wants to speak into people in this gathering who say, yeah, there's a stone laid across the entrance of the cave and my marriage has been in there for four years. My estranged relationship has been in there for six years. My child has been away from the Lord for 13 years and things are decaying.

7:49 And then Jesus said, did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God. So they took the stone away and then Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing there that they may believe that you sent me. And when he said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. can we just feel that for a moment if there was a moment that I could say, dear Lord, please just give us video, like real time. These people are not used to seeing people come out of caves. This isn't a common occurrence. This isn't an everyday situation. People are like, what is happening? And he just very calmly says, Lazarus, come out. And we read the text, and the dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face.

9:06 We got a dead man looking like a mummy walking out of a cave. People are fainting. People are shrieking. People are laughing in amazement. People are losing their minds. People are jaw-dropped on the ground in disbelief. Lazarus is coming out of the tomb. Another message for another day. He's still got some issues. And so Jesus addresses that and says, take off the grave clothes. That's not our message today, but that might be a message for somebody. So I'll just put that one out there. That's a free message.

9:51 Take off the grave clothes. You've been wearing those long enough. Take off the shame. Take off the regret. Take off the guilt. You've been wearing that long enough now. when he called you out of that grave, maybe you did have some issues. It's time to move on. And you probably can't do it alone. That's the second message. You're going to be two free messages. You probably can't do it alone. You need some people to come help you get that stuff off of you. Thank you so much. I'm getting amens from somebody. I don't know who you are over there, but I hear you. this encounter with Jesus is telling us two things today. It's telling us, number one, that there is a promise of eternal life with Christ in resurrection from the dead. And that's vital because death is in every one of our story. you were born and the moment you came out of your mother's womb you were on a path towards death every single one of us and so the hope of jesus saying whoever believes in me will live even though he dies this is huge hope because we're all gonna die and so there is a promise for us today in this encounter with Jesus that we're seeing in the gospel of John it is the promise of eternal life through resurrection from the dead but there's a second promise and the second promise is here toward the end that things can be resurrected now with Jesus in the story and I want to just encourage you to believe that today yes and we're about to turn the page some things can't be put back together this side of heaven and maybe that's your marriage maybe your spouse is in the wind there was somebody else that's water under the bridge now that's not going to be put back together but that doesn't mean God can't resurrect something in you

11:57 but he can't move a stone and still accomplish his purpose for your life. And so you need to take off the grave clothes of calling yourself a failure and calling yourself a divorced wreck and calling yourself somebody who missed out on an opportunity. And you need to understand today that the grave is empty. And when the grave is empty, God's still working. And if God is in your story, he's still got one more move in your story today. and I want to encourage you to believe that for your kids believe that for friendships believe that for vision believe that for health if God is in the story if Jesus is in your story there is always one more move even when it seems like there are no more moves with Christ there's always another move everyone in this room in all these rooms have said goodbye to someone that you love.

12:57 And you've been to the grave and there is a marker there. There is a death certificate. There's grief and there's loss. And yes, we prayed for a miracle, but the miracle man didn't do what we had asked him to do. I don't know about you, but many, many, many times when friends and family of mine die, I pray that God would raise them from the dead because he raises people from the dead. I haven't seen him do it yet, but I'm going to ask him every time because you have not because you ask not. And I don't ever want to be that person who gets to heaven and heaven say, if you just asked me, I would have done that. But when I've asked him and when you've asked him, he didn't do that. And there was loss and grief and heartache. But this encounter with Jesus today is telling us that there is hope of eternal life through resurrection from the dead.

13:54 It was mentioned in hosting that Levi Lusko is preaching next Sunday. It's going to be a huge blessing for our house, preaching around his new book, Blessed Are the Spiraling. And you don't want to miss it. Levi and Jenny have been pastoring a church in Montana for a long time now. In 2012, five days before Christmas, their five-year-old daughter, Linya, had an asthma attack in their house.

14:19 She went to heaven in their kitchen. and it's real. It's a big part of Levi's story, a big part of their life, obviously, and it's really and honestly a big part of his ministry. They took Linya to the hospital, which is very near where they were living in hopes of saving her, and in the hospital that night, there wasn't another move. Shelley and I have had the privilege of going to Linya's grave and I asked Levi if I could show this photo of her grave today it has this huge anchor on it with a scripture verse written into the anchor. Levi was reminding me yesterday that this anchor is on her coffin as well.

15:14 and this is Jesus in Bethany telling those people, whoever believes in me will live even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will not die, but live, And that's why on this marker is this verse from 2 Timothy. Jesus has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. that even standing at the grave, there's still the reality and the understanding that there's still one more move for Lenya Lesko.

16:12 that that grave is not her final resting place. So as a believer in Christ, don't ever say that. Well, that's her final resting place. No, that's her temporary resting place. That's his temporary resting place because there is something called eternal life through the resurrection from the dead for everyone who believes. in Jesus. I was thinking of Levi because he's coming and Shelly had done a short interview with him last week when he was here doing some events around the release of his book. And it got posted, their little interview yesterday, and we were listening to it and it made me think about him. And then when I thought about him, I was thinking about this message that's been in my heart for these weeks now. And I started thinking about being at Linya's grave. I walk into Trillith last night for the five o'clock gathering, and I only meet maybe 10 people. A few people here were with me. They can tell you exactly how this went down. And I'm standing kind of in this area right over here, and about 10 minutes till the gathering starts, and this little boy who's about this tall is determined he's going to meet me. So he's just coming down the aisle past everybody's knees, and he is fired up. It's Louie, and he's not on a screen. He is in the building and I'm getting over there. He comes over and grabs my pants, you know, right below the knees. And he's just like looking up at me and he's like, and eventually his brother, who's a little bit taller, gets there, and then his sister, who's a little bit taller, gets there, and then here comes mom down the row, and we got the whole pack right here, and we're talking together, and this guy's still holding on to my pants, you know, the whole time, he's just like, I got you, you're not leaving, you're not leaving, I got you, it's gonna be me and you, and I say, she says, they love you, they always ask if you're gonna be here every Sunday, that would bless me, by the way, at least three people were excited I was there, so I was pumped about that. And I say, what are y'all's names? Well, this kid, he's in shock still. So he

18:18 like, he can't say anything. The middle brother, he's shy, but the girl's not shy. And she says, my name's Lenya. Have you ever met Alenia? and the mom said my husband and I had had a miscarriage and when we got pregnant again and had her, we named her after Lenya Lusko because we had heard Levi's story and it had really encouraged us when our lives were shattered I said, well, I just sent this photo to the team a couple of hours ago.

19:10 So God wants somebody to hear this today. There is the promise of eternal life through resurrection from the dead. and Levi said to me yesterday He said, yes, there is. This is Levi yesterday to me. And in that new heaven, in that new earth, Linya's not gonna have asthma. She's gonna have perfect lungs. She's gonna have perfect health. Her body is gonna be glorified just like the body of Jesus. She is gonna live free forever and ever and ever. That's where we're headed. that is eternal life. It is our future with him. The scripture ends with the revelation and in Revelation 21, it says, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, including the asthma and there was no longer any sea.

20:13 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, look, God's dwelling place is now among the people and he will dwell with them. They will be his people when God himself will be with them and be their God. And he will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death, no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain, no more cancer, no more divorce, no more mental illness, no more decay. There will be no more death. If you are... In the funeral business, I applaud you. That is a tough job.

21:08 And it is a calling. But you're going to need to find a new line of work in the new heaven and the new earth. For the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new. And then he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.

21:34 But then he ends this chapter with something stunning and arresting. he says about this new heaven and new earth I did not see a temple in this city no church is there because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple and the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light and the Lamb is its lamp this is that same one that John talked about when he came to be baptized in the Jordan River and he said behold talking about Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. What Martha was saying, you're the Messiah. You're the sent one of God. You're the Savior of God. You're the one who's come from God to take away the sins of the people and to save the people. this Lord Jesus is also a lamb who lights forever. The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

22:39 On no day will its gates ever be shut for there will be no night. The glory and the honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those, wow, whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Who's gonna be in heaven? Those who believed in Jesus. And having believed in Jesus are saved. And having been saved have had their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We've been singing about that in this gathering today. My name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. But what becomes incredibly clear for us today is that all of us have got to come to terms with the question today, is my name written in the Lamb's Book of Life?

23:39 It is the most essential book of all the books. And the gospel is saying that if your name is written there, you enter into the new heaven and the new earth where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain and where everything is made new. You don't just happen to get there. You get there because your name is written in the Lamb's book of life.

24:12 And so I ask today, do you know for sure that your name is written in Jesus' book of life, in the one who gave his life for the sins of the world, the Lamb's book of life, in the Savior of the world's book of life, in the one crucified, dead, buried, and raised from the dead's book of life. Is your name written in the Lamb's book of life? You say, I don't know, not sure. How do you get your name written in the Lamb's book of life? Well, first, it is by understanding who the Lamb is, understanding Jesus. This text we were looking at in John 11, it's interesting. So now Lazarus is alive. That was great for him, except for the fact that the religious leader set out in the next paragraph to kill him because a lot of people were believing in Jesus because of him.

25:12 So you turn the page into chapter 12, and all of a sudden they already are wanting to take Jesus out because of this whole new upstart miracle man thing. But now they want to take Lazarus out because you got a dead man walking and that's pretty good evidence that Jesus is the miracle man. And then you come down to the end of this chapter. Look what it says right at the end, verse 55. Jesus just got to Bethany, just wept with the sisters, called Lazarus out of the tomb. Lazarus is walking around, a free man with no grave clothes. And now a few verses later, verse 55, when it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. We're days away now from a dead man walking to a Passover feast in Jerusalem.

26:06 Passover celebrating that moment where God delivered his people from the bondage of Egypt, where the angel of death came to break the stronghold of the Pharaoh and God said to his people, take the blood of an innocent lamb and put it on the doorpost and the angel of death will pass over you. And year after year after year, the Jewish people would celebrate that night that God passed over them. all through the blood of a spotless lamb.

26:41 And now here's Jesus coming into Jerusalem on Passover. that's the lamb in the lamb's book of life. and then you understand that it's not complicated to be saved. It takes a minute to work it all out and get the grave clothes off but it's not complicated to hear his voice say come out. Paul said it this way in Romans 10. But what does it say? The word is near you. It's interesting. Paul's talking in this context. Paul obviously being a major leader and teacher in the Jewish faith, but who had an encounter with Jesus and became a radical follower of Jesus as Messiah.

27:37 and now he's talking really in the context of Jewish people looking to Jesus and non-Jewish people looking to Jesus and he says what does it say the word is near you it is in your mouth and in your heart that is the message concerning faith that we proclaim and then he just lays it out if you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Are you kidding me? It's not a list of 27 things. This isn't a go improve your life plan. This isn't a jump through 10 hoops situation. This is if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Now that's not simply repeating words. Jesus, okay, I'll say it. Jesus is Lord. No, it's confessing. It's saying, I believe that he is the Messiah. I believe he's not just a good man, not just a good teacher, not just a good guy that did good things. I believe that he is the Messiah. I believe he's the sent one of God to save the world.

28:44 And I believe he's Lord. He's not just a good friend, a counselor, somebody I can lean on. I believe that he is, in fact, Lord. Jesus is Lord. And you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, because that is the linchpin of our gospel. Yes, he died for the sins of the world, gave his life in the place of you and me, innocent for the guilty. Yes, he was buried in a tomb, but he was raised up. If he's not raised, we don't have Easter. If he's not raised, we're not singing songs of triumph and victory today. If he's not raised, we don't have hope. And if he's not raised, we can't really say with Christ, there's always one more move. if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead you will be saved he gives a little explanation for it is with the heart that you believe in are justified and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved as scripture says anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame I was thinking about that thief on the cross this morning, and he didn't just look over at Jesus at some point and think in his heart, hmm, I bet he could get me up there. No, he said, remember me when you come in your kingdom.

30:06 He didn't have Romans 10. He didn't know Jesus is Lord, and I believe that you're going to be raised in three days. He just knew this is the miracle man. And I believe the miracle man has got a future, and I want to ask him, bring me with him into that future. he said, a scripture says, anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame for there's no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Jew, Gentile in the flock don't even know if the flock would want me richest person in town, poorest person in town, family, grew up going to church. I know a whole lot of stuff about the Bible. I've never even read the Bible and don't know anything about anything.

31:08 Pretty good person, the worst person in this place. Somebody going to drive home free today, somebody in a prison right now for the rest of your life. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So I ask again today, do you know for sure that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Have you believed in Jesus and called on Him, save me? I saw this video a few weeks ago, and I thought I'm going to let that be the end of my talk and the invitation to our people. This is the greatest evangelist of our lifetime, of this generation, Billy Graham, in a stadium in Anaheim, California, some years back, talking about this very thing and extending the invitation that I hope that many, many people in this gathering will respond to today.

32:10 This is Billy Graham. But having your name in who's who, doesn't mean that you're in the Lamb's book of life and you've got to get in the Lamb's book of life before you get to heaven. You have to repent of your sins and receive Christ and then God writes your name in the book of life. You see, there are two sets of books that God's keeping. The first set is just called the books. The moment you're born, your name is written in the books and under it is everything you've ever said and done and all the things of your life.

32:40 And then the moment you receive Christ, Your name is blotted out of the books and rewritten in the Lamb's book of life and only those names that are in the Lamb's book of life are going to be in heaven. They're the only ones. Is your name written in the book of life? If I wasn't sure tonight that my name was written in the book of life, you wouldn't get me out of Anaheim Stadium until I had made it right, until I was sure. You may be the best person in town. You may be a fine church member as you heard a moment ago. You may do great and wonderful things for the kingdom of God, but deep in your heart you're not sure that your name is written in that book and that you're ready to meet God. I wonder if you're sure. I know there's someone in this gathering today and this is all new to you and it's all adding up for you today and there are many people in this gathering who light bulbs are going off in your heart right now and you're like, oh wow, I had no idea that someone like me could be saved just by believing fully in Jesus and calling on him.

33:54 but I believe there are a lot of people at Passion City Church who don't know for sure today that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You're here. You're apart. You're regular. But if we took an honest poll today, you would say, I'm pretty sure. I'm about 8.8 out of 10 sure that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life and what the gospel is telling us today is 8.8 out of 10 on the fact that the tomb is empty is not enough it's 10 out of 10 empty and God doesn't want you to leave this gathering today going I'm I'm 8.8 out of 10 or I'm a seven I'd say 7.2 out of 10 I'm somewhere in the five or six out of 10 sure that my name's written in the Lamb's book of life God does not want you to leave this building Thank you.

34:59 without knowing for certain that your name is written in the Lamb's book of life. I have declared with my mouth, Jesus is Lord. I have believed in my heart. God has raised him from the dead. And I know because of that, I am saved. And when I got saved, Jesus wrote my name with his innocent blood, with a nail-pierced hand into the Lamb's book of life. And when I get to heaven, my name is going to be there. And that's how I'm getting in to the eternal city of God. Do you know? And if you don't know, you can know. And like, Louie, I'm in a connect group. I'm a door holder here People think I'm a respectable Christian But I'm not sure And I really want to be sure today Well get sure today And be saved today They'll think you're even more respectable Christian When you are a Christian there will be no shade. When you say, I've been in Bible studies, I've been to church, I've served on things, I've given my tithe, but I got saved on Easter. I got sure on Easter.

36:22 I know my name is in the Lamb's book of life. Nobody's going to throw shade on you and say, man, what are you talking about? You've been in a Bible study for nine years. they're going to go wow praise God that there's always one more move when Jesus is in the story that right now that move is your move and I believe a lot of people in this gathering would like to know for sure would you like to know for sure today