1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:02,080 Welcome to Common Ground One book. 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:04,720 We are so glad you've joined us for today's message. 3 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:08,119 Whether you tuning in from home or catching up on another goal, 4 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:11,360 we pray that this word encourages you, strengthens your 5 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:13,320 faith, and draws you closer to God. 6 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,040 If you'd like to learn more about our church, connect with 7 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,080 us or get involved, you will find all the details in the 8 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:21,760 description. Now let's dive into today's 9 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:26,960 message. My name is, as Laura said, as 10 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,120 Eric and Tim Kulu. Tim Cooley actually means a big 11 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,080 three, I think they say in Africa and horrid bomb, right? 12 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,400 So that's what my surname means. And I'm one of the leaders here. 13 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:44,080 And so if it's your first time to be with us, so it's such a 14 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,840 joy to have you. And as Laura has said, it would 15 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,560 be great just to connect with you after the meeting. 16 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:56,040 Man, this morning my feet are sore and my legs are very sore 17 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,480 this morning. So I must highlight. 18 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,600 Maybe this sermon will only be 20 minutes or 15 minutes. 19 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,880 I don't know. And and there are three people 20 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,520 you can blame for that. You can blame Moses, Jews, and 21 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:14,120 you can blame Greg. In fact, I said to Greg, you may 22 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:15,960 need to find a preacher for today. 23 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,880 This gentleman, they took a rookie Haika to the elephant's 24 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,480 eye and someone who's never hiked in their entire life. 25 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:31,600 Imagine so I think you know how I feel this morning my wife said 26 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:33,960 woke up. I said no, Greg will preach. 27 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,520 I'm not going there, but I made it so I'm here. 28 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,080 Amen. And so if you have your Bibles 29 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:44,880 with you, please turn with me to John 11 and we will read verses 30 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:51,960 25 and verse 26. Jesus said to her, I am the 31 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:56,520 resurrection and life, whoever believes in me, though he die 32 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:01,200 yet shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall 33 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,200 never die. Do you believe this? 34 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:09,800 She said to him, Yes Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, 35 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,960 the Son of God who is coming into the world. 36 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:18,640 Today. We are continuing our series on 37 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:22,880 the I AM statements of Jesus. And so this morning we will zoom 38 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:28,080 in and look at I am the resurrection and life. 39 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,280 And as you know, that is we've been looking at this particular 40 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,600 book, We've been looking at the different metaphors that the 41 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,800 Bible uses. And so we the first one we saw 42 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,760 in chapter 6 where Jesus says I am the bread. 43 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:49,720 In chapters 8 and 9 he is the light, and in chapter 10 we saw 44 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:54,520 Jesus as the gate or the door, depending on the translation you 45 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,640 read, and also as the Good Shepherd. 46 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,760 And today we're going to see what Jesus said about being the 47 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:08,640 resurrection and life. And perhaps as a reminder, as we 48 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:13,000 have been reading this book of John and we've seen the 49 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,200 different signs, particularly the 7th sign. 50 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,040 This is the 7th one in fact, because John does not use the 51 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,520 word miracles. He uses the word sign. 52 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:24,600 And we've seen this number of signs as we've been going 53 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:29,080 through this particular begin. All of these signs are meant to 54 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,320 point us to the reality. They're all meant to point us to 55 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:39,160 Christ, the sign of Jesus telling water into wine. 56 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:41,680 All of in the other signs are meant to point us and to say 57 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,400 here is the reality. So that those who see the signs, 58 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,640 in fact, John tells us that they may believe. 59 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,360 And of course this is clear in John 2031 where it says, but 60 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,080 these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the 61 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,520 Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have 62 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,000 life in his name. And so John has been giving us 63 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,240 all of these signs, and the reasons he's doing that is 64 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:10,280 saying so that you may believe that Jesus is in fact the king 65 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,640 of Israel and Jesus is the Messiah. 66 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:17,800 And all of these signs, they will reveal to us that indeed, 67 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:22,240 Jesus is the true royal descendant of David, as we have 68 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:27,240 seen last week, that Jesus is in fact the exalted shepherd. 69 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,760 And so I've been in pastoral ministry at least for 16 years. 70 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:36,280 And one of the things that you often do as a pastor is to 71 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:40,960 conduct funerals. I've conducted many funerals in 72 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,120 my life. I've conducted funerals of 73 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,240 people that I know. But equally, I've conducted 74 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,720 funerals of people I did not know where someone will ask me, 75 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,640 Can you please just conduct a funeral and use that as an 76 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,280 opportunity to preach the gospel? 77 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:59,640 I mentioned that to you this morning because this particular 78 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,040 message is going to speak to us about the reality of death. 79 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,800 I know we don't often want to talk about death. 80 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,480 Perhaps it is a subject that we often want to avoid. 81 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:18,760 But the biblical text is quite open to this particular subject, 82 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,280 in fact, addresses it openly, as we will see in this text to 83 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:25,240 which we're going to walk through today. 84 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:30,440 Because Jesus says I am the resurrection, I am life. 85 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,000 So let me draw your attention then to the context and then we 86 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,880 will walk through our different points. 87 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:42,040 This particular passage begins by Jesus reminding us that Jesus 88 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:44,640 says I am the resurrection and life. 89 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,920 And these words of course, very comforting in the context to 90 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:55,040 which they are written because a close friend of Jesus is sick 91 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,480 and this particular family is very close to Jesus. 92 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,360 Martha, Mary and Lazarus are very close to Jesus. 93 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,120 And in fact the Scripture is quite clearly that speaks quite 94 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:10,880 clearly that Jesus in fact loved this particular family. 95 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:17,280 And Jesus gets gets a word that the one whom you love is sick. 96 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:20,040 Quite interesting the way Lazarus is being described. 97 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,080 Ye the Lord, the one you love is sick. 98 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,240 And we see that in verse 3, verse 5, and verse 11, that 99 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:31,200 indeed Jesus had deep love for this family. 100 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,560 And so they tell Jesus that the one whom you love is sick. 101 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:41,400 And despite Jesus receiving this news, he remains where he is for 102 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:46,400 two more days. If I was Mary or Martha, perhaps 103 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,920 I would have said to Jesus, you need to be here now because the 104 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:56,560 one you love is sick. I think it's worth for us to 105 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:02,640 pause there and be reminded that at times God does not act when 106 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:08,960 we expect him to act something. God at times that he makes us 107 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:14,240 sometimes to wait in the waiting room, just like David in Psalm 108 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,200 13, as one who cannot see the face of God. 109 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:22,720 And he says, God, where are you? For how long will you hide your 110 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:24,320 face from? In other words, David is saying, 111 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,360 Lord, where are you? And Mary and Martha in this 112 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,840 context, they want Jesus to come. 113 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:36,080 And so at times when we expect Jesus to act, perhaps he may not 114 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,920 act when we want him to act. And at times we may even feel as 115 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:47,080 though hope is gone. But because Jesus is all wise, 116 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:51,840 of course, he knows that this particular sickness is going to 117 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,000 lead to glory. This is not going to lead to 118 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:56,760 death, it's going to lead to glory. 119 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:59,400 So he says to his disciples, let's go. 120 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,760 And the disciples says, no, no, no, let's not go there because 121 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:04,320 you know that the Jews are after you. 122 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,600 In fact, if you go, they will stone you. 123 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:12,840 And Jesus says, let's go to Judea or to Bethany because 124 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:17,160 Lazarus has fallen asleep. And quite an interesting phrase 125 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,520 that the Bible uses often does not use the word death. 126 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,120 At times he says it's fallen asleep really to mean that he 127 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,160 has died. So this metaphor is also quite 128 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,960 common in the biblical text, as we also would see it in the book 129 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,160 of Thessalonica when the Scripture talks about those who 130 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:35,440 have fallen asleep. And so Jesus says then to them, 131 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:40,799 let us go. And Jesus goes there. 132 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,120 And in verse 15, Jesus is telling us then why this is 133 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,800 important. Firstly to the disciples #2 to 134 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,200 others that are listening. Verse 15 says though that you 135 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:55,400 may believe. And in verse 32, drawing again 136 00:08:55,520 --> 00:09:00,080 the purpose of Jesus says that they may believe that you have 137 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:05,200 sent me. So Jesus will indeed go, but for 138 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:09,960 one reason, so that you may believe and believe in the one 139 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:15,280 who has sent me. And Jesus again goes, and 140 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,720 Lazarus has now been dead for four days. 141 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,960 And there are people that are consoling Martha and Mary, and 142 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,200 they are there. And Martha says to Jesus, Lord, 143 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:29,200 if you have been here sooner, my brother would not have died. 144 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:34,600 And again, Martha ought to be reminded that Jesus is never 145 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:40,240 early, but Jesus is never late, but Jesus is always on time. 146 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:48,800 We ought to be reminded of that. And then he says in verse 22 and 147 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:53,400 verse 23, Jesus says to her, your brother will rise again. 148 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,200 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God 149 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,880 will give you. Then Jesus declares I am the 150 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,800 resurrection in life, that who believes in me, though dead. 151 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:10,960 Yet he leaves. And we see something else after 152 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,480 that verse. In verse 35 it says Jesus wept, 153 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,240 and in verse 33 he says he was deeply moved in the Spirit and 154 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:22,160 greatly troubled. I think it's worth pausing here 155 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:27,000 again that Jesus weeps. In fact, when the Bible says 156 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,720 Jesus wept, this is the shortest verse in the entire Bible. 157 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:35,000 There's no verse as short as this one that Jesus wept, that 158 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,880 Jesus is both divine, but also we are reminded that Jesus is 159 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:45,200 also human because Jesus whips the God in whom we serve is has 160 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:50,200 compassion for his followers. Since we must be reminded this 161 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:56,640 morning that God is not distant, that Jesus is here with us. 162 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,240 He is a close Saviour who is close to the broken hearted, who 163 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:04,000 is close to those who are crushed in spirit. 164 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:08,160 This indeed is an emotional sin that reveals not just His 165 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,880 divinity but also reveals His humanity. 166 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:18,440 Jesus sympathizes with us. I am not sure what you may be 167 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,640 going through this morning, but I wanted to remind you this 168 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:25,640 morning that Jesus sympathizes with us. 169 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,080 He's not just there, but He is here. 170 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:38,080 And Jesus is moved by this situation and he whips as he's 171 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:42,960 moved to tears, reminding me of Psalm 42, verse 3, which says my 172 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:47,120 tears have been food all night while they say to me all day 173 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,120 long, where is your God? As we read the Psalmist as well, 174 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:56,800 we see a lot of them crying at times that it is not wrong to 175 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:02,800 cry as we feel emotion and overwhelmed with emotion for 176 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:08,600 Jesus himself cries, identifying with those whom he loves. 177 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,600 And Jesus goes there and we can see. 178 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,920 And then you know, they say to Jesus, probably by now Lazarus 179 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:19,040 stinks. Maybe his body has decomposed by 180 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:25,400 now and says, Jesus, I'm going. And then he says, I had a town 2 181 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:27,240 Township preachers that I like so much. 182 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:29,480 They said something that made me think the other day. 183 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:31,960 They said, you know, when Jesus went to the tomb, he said 184 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:36,240 Lazarus come out. And these two preachers said if 185 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,680 Jesus would have said just come out, perhaps many people would 186 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:44,320 have come out of those graves. So he had to be specific Lazarus 187 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,800 come out. I know I may be imposing my 188 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,240 thoughts to the text, but I think maybe they were on to 189 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:55,360 something. Says Lazarus come out and in 190 00:12:55,360 --> 00:13:02,000 this context Jesus performs the greatest sign and then Jesus 191 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:06,080 says then I am the resurrection and life. 192 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:12,520 So #1 the resurrection is not an event but a person. 193 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:19,920 As you could see here in verse 25, I am the resurrection and 194 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:22,680 life. And I guess even as we begin 195 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:26,520 when we talk about life, there's also an implication here that 196 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:30,480 there are those perhaps who do not have the kind of life that 197 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:35,520 Jesus offers. Humans by nature are dead 198 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:39,400 because of the sin of Adam and Eve. 199 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:43,880 Humanity is dead. The problem with humanity is 200 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:46,720 simple. It is sin because of man's 201 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:53,120 disobedience against what God had said they ought not to do so 202 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:57,600 all of us who are in our in our pre Christian state, we were 203 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:02,840 dead in our sin. And in Genesis 821, there is a 204 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,520 there's a there's a there's a horrible picture that we see 205 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:10,240 there where God has made humans and God is like the humans are 206 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:14,400 so evil in heart. I regretted I made man because 207 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:20,560 of the sinfulness of man, that men continue to sin continually. 208 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,840 Isaiah gives us another picture in Isaiah 59 verse three. 209 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,320 He says your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with 210 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,160 guilt, your lips have spoken falsely. 211 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:36,040 Isaiah draws a picture that humanity, every part of our body 212 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,240 is sinful. Our issue is not simply 213 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:44,200 education, or maybe the lack of education, but our issue is that 214 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:49,200 we are sinners and those who are not in Christ are dead. 215 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,760 That's the implication. Ephesians 21 says, and you were 216 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,920 dead in your transgressions and sins. 217 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:02,240 Dead. Dead people can never give 218 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:06,960 themselves life. Someone outside of the system 219 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,440 must give life to those who are dead. 220 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:16,360 And so those who are not in Christ, they are dead. 221 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:22,880 That's what the text is going to show us, because Jesus gives 222 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,040 life. And there are those by 223 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:29,240 implication who don't have the kind of life that Jesus offers. 224 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,760 Even this morning here at Common Ground, John Calvin puts it this 225 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,920 way because by his spirit he regenerates the children of Adam 226 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,960 who had been alienated from God by sin. 227 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:43,000 So they began to live a new life. 228 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:48,200 You must be dead in order to be born again. 229 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:53,640 In Psalm 51, the picture of David's repentance, it says, 230 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:58,040 surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother 231 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:04,280 conceived me from Christ to say I am the resurrection. 232 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:09,880 And so David says even from my mother's birth I was sinful. 233 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,720 And so Jesus is going to offer something different here because 234 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,640 all of those who are not in Christ are dead and is going to 235 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:21,760 offer life. So here's the question then, how 236 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,960 is he then the resurrection and life? 237 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,280 It's an important question that answers this question of one 238 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:34,120 who's not in Christ. How is then he the resurrection 239 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,200 and life? He is resurrection and life 240 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,520 because Jesus alone becomes our substitution. 241 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:45,680 If you read the picture in Leviticus chapter 16, when Aaron 242 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:50,800 would would go before God and atone for the sins of Israel, he 243 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:55,200 will take a bull to atone for his own sins and the sins of his 244 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,000 own family. He will then take a goat to 245 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:03,280 atone for the sin of the whole community of Israel, and each of 246 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:06,800 them would put their hand on that goat as a way in which they 247 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,359 were transferring their own sin and guilt upon that goat. 248 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:20,040 And so the sin of Israel is then imputed on the goat and has John 249 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:22,359 gives us a different picture in the New Testament. 250 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:31,280 He says, Behold, behold the one who takes away the sin of the 251 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:35,400 world, that in the New Testament we no longer have the goat, but 252 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,280 we have Christ. He is resurrection in life 253 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:41,360 because he takes our place. He is the one that drinks the 254 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:45,040 cup of suffering. He is the one that takes my 255 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:51,480 worst and gives me his best. He is the one in which my sin is 256 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,760 transferred upon Him, and in Him He gives me His righteousness. 257 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:00,200 That when the Father sees me not on the basis of my sin, but on 258 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:04,280 the basis of the righteousness of Christ, not standing simply 259 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:09,080 because of how good I am, but standing because how good Jesus 260 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,640 is, He is the resurrection in life because He is our 261 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,440 substitute. The great exchange has happened 262 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:22,000 that I am sinless. In one sense, Luther put it this 263 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,200 way. Simul just as as picato. 264 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:30,680 In other words, both sinners, but also also righteous, caring, 265 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:33,880 both in which the presence of sin is around us. 266 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:38,960 But however the power of sin has been broken, and one day the 267 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,960 presence of sin, Jesus will deal with it forever. 268 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,720 And so he is resurrection and life because he is our 269 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,600 substitute. Then what is the benefit? 270 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:56,960 In verse 23 he said, Jesus said to her, your brother will rise 271 00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,680 again. And Martha answered, I know he 272 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,960 will rise again when the resurrection die. 273 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,240 If you study the Hebrew text, you may often find that this 274 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,680 thing of resurrection in fact is not unique. 275 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,760 The statement Martha makes here is not a unique statement 276 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,360 because the Pharisees believed in the resurrection. 277 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,600 We do know, in fact, that the Sadducees did not believe in the 278 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:21,760 resurrection. That's why they often clashed. 279 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:24,960 So this was not something that was new. 280 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,520 They knew this, but Jesus is going to present it differently, 281 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:34,240 not as something that is there, but in fact, Martha, I am the 282 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,920 resurrection. It's not just that which is to 283 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:41,320 come, that final resurrection, but Martha, you are looking at 284 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,520 the resurrection. You are gazing at the 285 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:49,080 resurrection right now. I am the resurrection. 286 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:55,320 And then Jesus says, yeah, who believes in me will live even 287 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:59,200 though he dies. And here is the reality of 288 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,720 everyone in this room today. Death. 289 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:14,560 Is coming for all of us eating healthy and hiking. 290 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:18,560 Not sure I'm doing that again. And all of these other things. 291 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:21,960 And those who did not run the marathon this morning, sorry, 292 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:27,600 Ryan is is coming. It's good to exercise. 293 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:30,000 It's good to eat healthy. Those things are good. 294 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,440 Please do them, and maybe I'll join you. 295 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:39,680 But they simply delay the inevitable. 296 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:46,480 All of us are going to die. Death is an equalizer. 297 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:53,520 Death is unpleasant and painful, and yet death is inescapable. 298 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:59,360 But also, death is unavoidable. Death comes for the young, it 299 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:02,200 counts for the old. It comes for man, it comes for 300 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,720 women. It does not care how rich or 301 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,280 poor you are, or how righteous or wicked you are. 302 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:13,520 Death is coming. News flash, death is coming. 303 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:19,760 And at times death is knocking at the door without each of us 304 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:23,960 realizing it. And we hear that somebody 305 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:31,000 suddenly died. The reality of this body that 306 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:36,320 will one day decay. The Bible does not shy away from 307 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,000 that. That death is the very terminus 308 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,800 of life for each and every single person here today. 309 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,560 That each of us will all end up in the grave. 310 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:52,520 Ecclesiastes puts it this way. No one has power over the day of 311 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:58,240 his death. Job 8, 9 says for we are but a 312 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:03,120 yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow. 313 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:13,600 Death will come, death will come. 314 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:23,640 And Jesus said, one who believes in me will leave and yet he will 315 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,640 die. In other words, the one who 316 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:31,880 believes we will attend their funeral, we will be there and 317 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,880 give a speech and, and all of those things and saying, and yet 318 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:42,880 the Bible says they are not dead though they die and yet they are 319 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:54,320 not dead because death for the Christian has been defeated. 320 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:58,920 The Christian who comes to Christ by faith in Christ and 321 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:03,120 trust in Christ and has a new life in Christ has eternal life 322 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,600 not in the future, but has eternal life in the present. 323 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:12,680 First John 511 says, and this is the testimony God has given us 324 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:17,440 eternal life in his Son in in this life in his son. 325 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:19,960 And if you check that verse, he's not speaking about the 326 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:21,760 future. He's speaking in the present. 327 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:26,600 Those who come to Christ now have eternal life. 328 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:31,400 The moment you come to Christ, you move from death to life at 329 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:35,200 the moment of conversion, when Christ makes you spiritually 330 00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:39,000 alive. At that moment you will never 331 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:47,600 die, though they die, and yet they are alive. 332 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:53,240 Our bodies may die, but the Lord will raise it up again. 333 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:59,080 And so this picture of Lazarus is a picture that remind us of 334 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,920 what the true resurrection will look like. 335 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,360 And of course, Jesus delayed again. 336 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:13,600 He is not there when when, when Martha and Mary wants him to be 337 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,720 there. It is as though Jesus is saying, 338 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:21,720 all of you will see because the sign points to me. 339 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:27,520 It will show my divinity. It will show that I am the 340 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:31,120 Messiah. It will show that I am the King 341 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:38,000 of Israel. Notice if if you believe in me, 342 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:43,520 you will not die. For all of those who say yes to 343 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:50,120 Jesus, He gives them life in a spiritual sense. 344 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:57,080 And for those who reject Jesus will experience death in 345 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,640 eternal. And so here's the question this 346 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:08,200 morning, which category do you belong in life or death? 347 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:14,320 We may look the same, but we are not the same because our 348 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,800 spiritual realities are not the same. 349 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:23,800 And Jesus asked that question. It says if you believe you will 350 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,920 not die. The question this morning is do 351 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,560 you believe? I'm not asking whether you how 352 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,840 long you've been attending common ground Weinberg, whether 353 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,320 you're part of a life group, All that is well and good, but the 354 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:43,760 question is do you believe? Have you trusted in Christ 355 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:47,160 finished work? Have you? 356 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:53,320 Do you sing the songs with conviction of what Christ has 357 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:57,480 done, or are they simply just nice songs? 358 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:02,880 Christ is asking you the same question this morning. 359 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:14,920 Do you believe few applications? We then must ask the question, 360 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:19,600 How does this connect to our lives? 361 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,360 I want to suggest three things to you. 362 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:25,640 I think I did better than 15 minutes Ryan. 363 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:32,360 So please, how does this connect with us this morning? 364 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:40,600 This is a picture that I want us to ponder on, reflect on, think 365 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:45,040 about that. Firstly, Jesus remind us that we 366 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:50,000 will die. Perhaps we are making plans 367 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,200 about our lives. All those things are good. 368 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:56,800 We should plan. Perhaps some of us are currently 369 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:01,280 in our midlife as well. And so for many of us in this 370 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:05,000 place, death may be scary. Excuse me even as we think about 371 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:10,600 it, but the scripture is clear that we will die. 372 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,360 But the question that is so important here is what will 373 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:19,360 happen when you die? The question to that answer 374 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,440 depends on how you've answered the question. 375 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:27,600 Do you believe it's an important question in the text? 376 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:35,360 So if you answer that question, yes, I believe in Christ, your 377 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:41,600 reality is different. But if you do not believe also, 378 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:50,840 your reality is a different one, and so the only way we can face 379 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:54,400 the threat of death is to believe. 380 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,720 Hence Jesus seems to be pressing this question. 381 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:03,160 Do you believe Not Do you believe if this is true? 382 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:07,120 But do you believe this to be true for you? 383 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:13,280 That's a different question. But for those who believe this 384 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,920 morning, our life is hidden with Christ. 385 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,600 The Christian will die, and yet they shall live. 386 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,600 And so, precious Saints, be reminded this morning that death 387 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,640 is not the final destination for the Christian. 388 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:34,800 The life of a believer is a life beyond the grave. 389 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:39,800 Death is no threat to those who are in Christ. 390 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:46,520 Death will not have the last word for those who are in 391 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:50,360 Christ. But for those who do not believe 392 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:58,000 here this morning, I'm encouraging you to come. 393 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,960 My own father, excuse me, my own father was it was an alcoholic, 394 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,640 but also a man that rejected Christ, who wanted absolutely 395 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:13,080 nothing to do with the gospel, drowned himself to alcohol until 396 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,720 his death. And I often think about the 397 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:22,200 reality of my own father, that he died without knowing Christ, 398 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:31,360 because we know what that means. Hence my challenge to you this 399 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:35,840 morning, if you do not believe, is to say come. 400 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:41,720 There is an invitation from the text to come and believe in 401 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:45,720 Christ. Here's the beautiful thing about 402 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:49,880 this other life is that even the Abraham looked forward to it. 403 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:54,520 And in Hebrews 11 he says, but as it is, they desired a better 404 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:56,600 country. That is a heavenly 1. 405 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:02,080 Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has 406 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:14,680 prepared for them a city. Thank you, thank you. 407 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,880 Even those in the Old Testament, they looked forward to a better 408 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:23,480 country, a better city that is prepared by God, not made with 409 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:26,840 human hands, but made by God himself. 410 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,280 They look forward to that. They were not simply looking 411 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,200 back, but they were looking forward. 412 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:36,280 That is the hope of the Christian this morning. 413 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,000 I love the words of this wonderful hymn. 414 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:44,640 No guilt in life, No Fear in death. 415 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,400 This is the power of Christ in me from life. 416 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,840 First cry to find out that Jesus commands my destiny. 417 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:55,400 No power of hell, no scheme of men can plug me from his hand 418 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,600 till he returns or calls me home. 419 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,760 Here in the power of Christ I'll stand. 420 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:09,480 Wow. And I often remind my reformed 421 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,000 conservative friends and I say to them, do you know that song 422 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,360 is written by Charismatic? I said, we're not doing too bad. 423 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,840 We're writing some good songs as well. 424 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,120 No guilt in life, No Fear in death. 425 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,920 Therefore, if you are a believer in this place, I am not saying 426 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:33,440 because of death Hideaway, I am saying we ought to live with 427 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:38,200 fortitude, with strength, and with courage in the Lord, not to 428 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:42,120 run off and wait in the corner somewhere before Jesus comes. 429 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:43,920 No, that's not what I'm advocating for. 430 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:49,720 We are called here and therefore we live to serve because Jesus 431 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:55,520 has given us another day. Therefore, be busy with the 432 00:31:55,520 --> 00:32:00,200 Master's business. Work out your salvation with 433 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:04,120 fear and with trembling, awaiting the appearance of the 434 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:08,120 glory of the Lord. For one day he will come back, 435 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:16,520 He will return, no longer as a sheep, but as a lion, to take 436 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:20,760 his church, but also to judge the world. 437 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:25,360 So when the Lord ask, ask, Do you believe this? 438 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,800 My prayer is this. Weinberg will confess just like 439 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:35,440 Martha and say, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, 440 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:38,800 the Son of the living God. Amen. 441 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:42,760 Thank you. Thank you for listening to 442 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,400 today's message. We hope you are encouraged and 443 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:47,520 challenged in your faith. If you're in the Southern 444 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:50,720 suburbs, would love to welcome you in person at one of 445 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:53,000 ourselves. Don't forget to subscribe, share 446 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,200 this message with a friend and stay connected with us on social 447 00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,360 media for more inspiration throughout the week. 448 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,760 Until next time, stay please and keep shining your light.