Seeking once again the help of
God as we come to his word, I would like us to turn to the chapter
that we read together, the Gospel according to John chapter 11,
and the text you'll find in verse 25. Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? We come
to the fifth I am of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we've looked
over them, hoping that you have seen that many of them are really
gospel statements that they are ways in which the Lord Jesus
Christ reveals to us and to those that were around about him the
work that he came to do. He came to seek and to save those
who were lost. We saw that he is the bread that
came down from heaven, life-giving bread. We saw that he is the
light of the world, that that light came to people who were
in the darkness to shine on the truths of the Word of God and
to point people to God. And we saw that he was the
doorway to the sheepfold of the sheep. And that there was that
barrier that was broken down, that way that was made between
God and man through the Lord Jesus Christ, that there is no
other way to find safety and protection. from the consequences
of our sin only to be found as passing through the Lord Jesus
Christ to be a sheep of the good shepherd which we saw last week
that Christ is the good shepherd as we saw that he as he spoke
to that rich young ruler and he asked him, why do you call
me good? There is none good but God and then Christ declares
that I am the good shepherd, the shepherd of the sheep and
that he knows his sheep and his sheep know him and he leads them
to the still waters and to the green pastures and the closer
that we walk to him the more security we feel and the more
distant we are from him the more there is that opportunity for
that satanic attacks, for lukewarmness and I gave you the example of
those two boys, those shepherds who were gathering their sheep
from the mountains in Scotland and how they went in that snowstorm. And the brother found, as he
walked behind his brother and he stood in the steps of his
brother, he was greatly protected from the storm because his brother
was taking the full force of what was going, what was from
the snowstorm. And as he distanced himself from
his brother, he felt then that the wind and the snow beating
upon him and how Christ is the good shepherd of his people,
his sheep. and how we are to walk in fellowship,
to walk in the spirit and step with the spirit, to be strengthened
and encouraged and to have fellowship with Christ. And the more we
isolate ourselves, the harder life becomes, the harder reading
becomes, the harder prayer becomes, the harder fellowship becomes
because we distance ourselves from that life-giving flow of
Christ. that life-giving strength but
here as we continue on we see that Christ now states that he
is the resurrection. Mary and Martha had just lost
their brother Lazarus. By all accounts that was the
end. As we know, death is final. There would be no hope of him
being made alive again. He'd been laid in the grave for
those four days. And so they say to Jesus, you
know, if you had been here, our brother, he would have not died. And so Jesus takes this event
and he uses it to declare who he is. that he is the resurrection
and the life and that whoever believes in him though he were
dead yet he would live. Jesus is saying by being the
resurrection he is the cause of those who are dead to be able
to be raised again to life. Martha doesn't fully understand
all that the Lord Jesus Christ is saying and we can understand
that. What she is seeing take place
in front of her is something very unique. A man standing before
her declaring that I am the resurrection and the life. She has faith. She understands about God. She
understands that God has power. God has ability. but she doesn't
fully grasp who the Lord Jesus Christ is and that is seen by
the things that she says and it is vital for us to fully understand
who the Lord Jesus Christ is because if we don't grasp who
he is As I said to you last week, we are committing idol worship. We must fully grasp who Christ
is, that he is God manifested in the flesh. He is that God-man,
fully God and fully man, who came into this world to die for
sinners. And the reason why he can declare
that he is the resurrection and the life It's because he is the
cause of all who lay in the grave will one day be resurrected to
eternal life. All of those who believe and
trust in him. So Martha and Mary knew about
Christ. They knew he had access to God
and that God heard the prayer of Christ. She says, But I know
that even now whatsoever thou would ask of God, God will give
it thee. So Martha understood that God
and Christ were close and that God heard the prayers of the
Lord Jesus Christ but she hadn't grasped the concept that Christ
in himself had the ability to raise up Lazarus from the dead. She knew if he prayed it may
happen. She knew that God has the ability
to raise from the dead. Job says in Job 19, For I know that my Redeemer
liveth. and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I
shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another,
though my reins be consumed within me. Job had faith to believe
that when his body is laid into the grave and that his body had
decomposed, that there would be that time that his Redeemer
would stand upon the earth and that he would see God. And so
Job had a hope of a resurrection, the same as Martha. Martha knew
that her brother would be raised from the dead on the last day. Jesus says to her, thy brother
shall rise again. Martha says unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. And so these truths were not
alien to the Jewish people. They understood by prophecy that
there would be a resurrection of the dead, that there would
be a time then that all of those that are laid in the grave would
come out of the grave and that they would see the Redeemer. And so she's able to testify,
I know that he will rise again on that resurrection day. But
she didn't know by what power that resurrection would be accomplished. She understood that God had the
power and the ability and that Christ had access to God and
if he prayed then her brother could be raised from the dead.
But she couldn't comprehend at this time that the one standing
before her, the one talking to her, the one who loved her was
God himself. And this is what she needed to
come to grasp. She needed to understand that
this was the good shepherd. That he had all power and all
authority to raise from the dead. And this I am must be proved. Remember last week I said that
all the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ proved the reality
of what he was saying. They testified who he was. They said who is able to forgive
sin but God. So Jesus raises up, enables the
man to walk, dividing the five loaves and the fishes. stopping
the storm by speaking, raising the dead, all declared to those
round about that these were not just words alone. These were not just words of
a prophet that had no power or no effect. The miracles that
Christ did pointed to him as the one that would come, the
king of kings, the Emmanuel, a God with us. And so as Christ
testifies, I am the resurrection and the life, he's not just going
to do it with words alone. He is going to show exactly what
he means by raising Lazarus from the dead. He speaks. Take away the stone. Lazarus
come forth. And he that was dead came forth
hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was bound about
with a napkin. And Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him and let him go. And so there was the stamp of
authority upon the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the resurrection. I have the power and the capability
to raise people from the dead. I am God in the flesh. And I have life in myself. And so as Lazarus rises from
the dead as his soul enters back into his body and his body is
brought forth before the people they are able to see a true and
a living man. It has been said that he came
out bound hand and foot. The people rolled away the stone
but he came out bound hand and foot. Some have stated that how
did he come out? You know if you've seen those
pictures of Egyptian mummies they are completely bound up. Legs together, arms together
down the side of their bodies, heads bound up Well if Jesus
is able to resurrect the body, he is able to bring out that
body as well from the tomb and enable it to stand in that position
ready to be unwound, loose him and let him go. All power is
in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks a word and
it is done. He's able to calm the sea by
speaking to it and he's able to raise the dead by calling
the name Lazarus. Come forth. And so the resurrection
of the dead depends upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
cause of it. He is the power of it. In John we read that all the
world was created, John chapter 1, by and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. We know that only God can give
life. Man cannot put life into something. He cannot take something that
is dead and make it live. He can through medication and
cause people to have been dead for a few moments, to have their
heart to start beating again. But he cannot initiate life and
he cannot cause somebody to come back to life again who has been
dead four days in the grave. Those rich people who freeze
their bodies, they're waiting for that time when science excels
and continues to advance that they will be able to have life
put back into them again. But life can only come back or
be given by God himself and it's Christ as he spoke the world
into being. The scripture says in him was
life and the life was the light of men and the light shineth
in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not and so in
Christ was the life as he spoke and the earth brought forth flowers
and plants and trees, they are living things. As the earth brought
forth abundantly the fish and the insects and the animals and
the birds, life. As he breathed into Adam and
he became a living soul, life. As he took Eve from the rib of
Adam and created a woman life. We know that sin brought about
death and destruction but Christ came so that they might have
life and that they might have life more abundantly and so his
word possesses life as he speaks the name of of Lazarus come forth. Life enters into him. and he comes forth. Now Lazarus
he lived and he was the cause of much trouble to the Pharisees
and so much so that they wanted to kill him. But the time would
have come in the life of Lazarus when he would have died again and his body would have been
laid in the grave again. But because of the Lord Jesus Christ
and his resurrection. There is a hope for Lazarus and
there is a hope for all of the Lord's people that have been
laid in the grave that they also will one day be raised again
to newness of life. They will hear the call of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the graves will give up their dead. and
they will ascend to be with the Lord Jesus. And so Christ is
the first fruit of the resurrection. Now he himself not only is the
resurrection but he became the resurrected saviour. Matthew 28 we read of the Lord
Jesus when they came to his grave. In Matthew 28, at the end of
the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,
came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And
behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended
from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door
and sat upon it. and his countenance was like
lightning and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him,
the keepers did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered
and said unto the women, Fear not ye, for I know that you seek
Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here. He is risen. As he said, Come, see the place
where the Lord lay. And so we know that the Lord
Jesus Christ was crucified upon the cross. He was pierced in
the side and out of his side flowed blood and water. The Lord Jesus Christ was dead.
They testified and said, how is it that he is dead already?
He says that no man takes my life. I lay it down of myself. I'm able to take it and I'm able
to lay it down and I'm able to take it again. And so as Christ
is laid into the tomb he stayed there for the three days. When
they came to find him he was not there. He says he is not
here. Why? Because he is risen. Come
and see the place where the Lord lay. The first fruit of the resurrection
of the dead. His resurrection proves to us
that God was indeed well pleased with his son. That as he entered
into that holy place not made with hands to present his perfect
sacrifice, his blood, that the payment was made for the sins
of his people, that God saw his sacrifice and was satisfied. As the high priest went into
the holy place in the Old Testament, he entered in once per year to
offer that atoning sacrifice. The people waited. What were
they waiting for? For him to come out. That God
was accepting of that sacrifice. And so the empty tomb shows us
that God accepted the sacrifice of his beloved son. that his
blood has indeed cleansed his people from all sin, that he
is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. It
shows us that the grave couldn't hold him because he had no right
to be there. The scripture says the wages
of sin is death. Christ was made sin for his people,
he did not commit any sin but he carried the guilt of the sins
of his people, the debt of the sins of his people and so the
grave had no right to hold him because he was sinless, the spotless
Lamb of God. The wages of sin is death. Remember Adam and Eve, a perfect,
lovely life with the Lord and sin came in and death came and
death reigned from Adam. But Christ came to take away
the sting of death and to do away with the sins of his people
and so the grave could not hold him. He is not here. Come and
have a look. Come and see the place where
he laid. Think of all the trouble that
the apostles and the early church went through. All because they
testified that Christ was risen. They suffered persecution. They
suffered death. Separation. All because they
declared He is not here. He is risen. In Corinthians in chapter 15. Really if you want to read this
when you get home the whole chapter is concerning the fact that if
Christ be not risen then our faith is in vain. But he says in chapter 15 from
verse 1. Moreover brethren I declare unto
you the gospel which I preached unto you which also you have
received and wherein you stand. which also ye are saved if you
keep in memory what I preached unto you unless ye have believed
in vain for I delivered unto you first of all that which also
which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures and he was buried but he doesn't leave it
there he died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was
buried but He rose again the third day according to the scriptures
and he was seen of Cephas or Peter then the 12 and after he
was seen about 500 brethren at once of whom a greater part remain
unto this present day but some are fallen asleep after that.
was seen of James then of all the apostles and the last of
all he was seen of me as one born out of due time. And so
he declares that all of these people saw the Lord Jesus Christ
after he had rose again and that is incorporated into the message
of the gospel that Christ came and he died for our sins according
to the scriptures he was laid in the grave he was buried but
the grave couldn't hold him because there was no sin found in him
and he was raised again on the third day and he was seen by over 500 people who testified
that they saw of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then they went forward
proclaiming that they had seen the Lord Jesus Christ, that he
was risen from the dead. And so his sacrifice was accepted
by God. The grave couldn't hold him. It was a fulfilment of prophecy. This Holy One would not see corruption. that his body would not decompose
in the grave, that he would rise again upon the third day. Even
the Lord Jesus Christ says, I'm going to rise again. I'm going
to destroy this temple and build it and raise it again in three
days. But also, it gives great hope
to the believer that Christ is the resurrection and life. Paul
says in Corinthians 15, he says, We are of all men most miserable
if Christ be not risen. If Christ be not risen, then
our faith is in vain and we are still in our sins. The whole
of our salvation pinpoints on this, hangs on this doctrine
that Christ rose again from the grave. If Christ did not rise,
then we're all still in our sin. Christ was just a normal man.
Christ was just a person unjustly crucified upon a cross. Yes,
he had some good teachings but the cross was the end. But it
wasn't the end. He's not just a man. He's the
Son of God, the Lamb of God who rose again on the third day according
to his testimony that he would. which stamps the approval of
God over his whole life and he is the resurrection and he is
the first fruit of the resurrection so that there is a hope for every
single believer. How sad would it be or how sad
have we been when we stand around the grave
of an unbeliever. How sad it is. But how sad also it would be
if it was just the end. Last Sunday I spoke of what is
our life even a vapour. It's here for a little moment
then it's gone. But it's not really gone. It's just gone to another place. Our life is taken from this time
state into the eternal realm. And so if Christ didn't rise
again, if Christ wasn't the resurrection, we would lay our loved ones in
the grave and that would be the end. When we come to the end of our
life, That would just be the end of us if Christ didn't rise
again. But because Christ rose again
from the grave, that testifies that as he has risen, so all
his people will also rise one day with him. There is a good
hope that we will never die. Jesus says, though he were dead, Yet he shall live. Whosoever
believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this. That is
the criteria for this to have an effect upon
our lives. Those who die outside of Christ
die for all eternity. Their death is a doorway to utter
misery for eternity under the wrath of God. But Jesus says,
whoever believes in me shall never die. Yes, the body falls
away. Yes, the soul is separated from
the body and it just continues to live. How it will be, we can't fully
grasp. said at the Bible study last week that we understand
seeing as having eyes, hearing as having ears, speaking as having
a mouth but that is in this mortal state, this physical state. When we die we will be able to
see Christ immediately as he is Jesus says to the thief on
the cross, thou shalt be with me this day thou shalt be with
me in paradise. And so there is that immediate
transition from the physical to the spiritual. because Christ
has risen again. He is the resurrection and the
life. All power and all authority has
been given to him. He calls Lazarus from the grave
and he obeys. Soul enters back into body and
he rises forth out of the grave and he lives. And so it's a hope
for the Christian. It's a good hope because Christ
has risen so will you and I rise. Death is not the end of us. It's just a separation. The body
sleeps, sleeps in the grave but the soul soars to be with Christ. This resurrection of Lazarus
is also a picture. The scripture tells us by our
nature we are dead in trespasses and sins. Although we are living
yet we are dead. The Christian can be dead and
yet living. The unbeliever is physically
living but spiritually dead and the time comes in the life of
that person when Christ calls them. calls them from deadness
to life. He puts his spirit in them and
they become a living soul. He gives them a new heart, a
new nature, and they are born again of the spirit. They walk
in newness of life. He calls them, come forth. Bound, as it were, hand and foot
in grave clothes, he cries, loose them. and let him go. They find a newfound freedom
in Christ. They're no longer bound by sin
and iniquity and Satan. They are given a newfound freedom
in Christ to live a new life for the honour and glory of God.
No more wanting to go back into the grave of this world but to
walk in newness with the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it is a
type really of the new birth. a sinner being saved by grace. Christ loving them and putting
life into them and bringing them to himself. But also it is a
picture of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of the Lord Jesus.
John chapter five. In this whole chapter again the
Lord Jesus is speaking about life and not just the life that
we are living. The reason why he came was to
give life and to give it more abundantly. What he says in verse 20, for the father loveth the son.
shows him all things that he does and he will show him greater
works than these that he may marvel. For as the father raises
up the dead and quickeneth them or makes them alive, even so
the son quickeneth whom he will. For the father judges no man,
but hath committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come to condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. who hear the word. What word is that? It's the gospel. The preaching of the gospel that
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You are
dead in your trespasses and sins. It's when the soul has been made
awake to hear that cry that you have sinned against God. who hears my word and believes.
They are appointed to the Lord Jesus Christ and whoever believes
upon the Lord Jesus Christ has everlasting life. They have passed
from death, that spiritual death that they have passed to life. And so that's the spiritual side
of it. But then he goes on, verily,
verily I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God they that hear
shall live for as the father had life in himself so hath he
given to the son to have life in himself and he has given him
authority to execute judgment also because he is the son of
man marvel not at this for the hour is coming in the which all
that are in the graves shall hear his voice and they shall
come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of
life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of
damnation. And so Christ gives us these
two applications to his life-giving resurrection, spiritual salvation,
salvation from sin and from judgment, salvation from sin, being given
spiritual life to enable us to walk worthy of our calling, that
taken from death to life. But, he says, The time will come
when they will hear my voice again. The day of judgment. He is the
resurrection and the life. And as he demonstrated by raising
up Lazarus from the dead that the dead will hear his voice
and they will live. So he will come. the great shepherd
of the sheep the bridegroom of the church the king of kings
and he will shout come forth and all of the graves will be
open the scripture tells us and all who have ever lived will
come out of the graves just like Lazarus came out they will stand
before him and they will be judged by him as we saw last week the
sheep and the goats he will divide them as a shepherd divides his
sheep those that have done good or those who are trusting in
the goodness or the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ to everlasting
life those that have done evil who have rejected the gospel
they will be cast away and they will go to eternal damnation
not as a spirit but as a body. The scripture tells us that the
voice of Christ soul and body will be reconciled on that great
day and our eternal destiny will be lived out not as a spiritual being but
as a physical being, as a body like Christ had, a body that
could feel and touch. He says, handle me and see. And so Christ is the resurrection
and Christ is the life. And as he calls people from spiritual
darkness to himself So one day he will come and he will cause
the whole of the world who have ever lived to be brought up out
of the graves to stand before him and no person will miss that
day. No doubt there were other people
who were buried in that burial ground with Lazarus But Jesus
only called his name. The others were waiting for that
final day. Lazarus, come forth. Thessalonians tells us that this
should be a comfort to the Lord's people. Thessalonians says, comfort one
another with these words. Nobody likes to think of death. Maybe you have been thinking
about it since we've experienced the passing of Norman. Maybe you've been considering
what a scary thing it is. And that is a normal thing. Nobody
should be blasé about death. It is so final. But because of Christ's resurrection
and because he proves that he has the power to raise the dead
to life that gives the believer comfort and hope. Paul says comfort
one another with these words. It should be a comfort to us
that Christ rose again from the dead. It should be a comfort
to us when we lay a brother or sister in Christ in the grave.
Yes it's sad but we don't lay them there as laying one without
hope. We have a hope that when Christ
comes again, that one is going to be raised again to newness
of life and will be forever with the Lord, even if it's hundreds
of years from now. And like Job says, when I die,
worms are going to destroy my body. That will not hinder the
resurrection of the body because Christ made Adam out of dust
and he made Eve from his rib and so he can reconstitute the
bodies of all of his people from whatever condition they are in
at this moment in time. He is able to raise them from
the dead and they will be raised from the dead on that final day.
the dead will hear the voice of Christ and the graves will
be opened and we will stand before him and he will divide the sheep
from the goats and so although death is a difficult thing to
think about and we maybe have nightmares about it and we're
troubled about it yet if we're in Christ There is our hope. He has proved to us that there
is life beyond the grave. He has risen again from the dead. And they said he is not here. He is risen. He said handle me
and see. A spirit does not have flesh
and bones. And so that is how we will be. He is the first fruit of the
resurrection. He's the first. and all of his
brothers and sisters, they are going to follow. If we read through
Corinthians 15 completely, you'll see Paul says, O grave, where
is thy sting? Christ has removed the sting
of death. He has removed sin from the lives
of his people. He has eradicated He has justified
them. There is no more condemnation
to those that are in Christ Jesus and so when we see the last enemy
death we are not to fear because Christ
has walked the pathway before. The good shepherd he says I've
laid down my life for my sheep. He has experienced death already
and he has experienced the resurrection already. and he is there today
at the right hand of the father interceding for his people. I am the resurrection and the
life and he proved it by raising Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus
come forth as he says to Martha. Believe thou this? That's the question. Do you believe it? This morning,
do I believe it? She said unto him, just like
Peter, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son
of God, which should come into the world. Can we testify that
I believe? Then if we believe, Death has
lost its sting, the grave has no victory and there is a hope
that Christ when he comes again he will raise us from the dead
if we are laid in the grave and we will be with him forever and
ever. If we are on this earth the apostle
tells us we will be changed. In the twinkling of an eye our
bodies will be transformed into a body that can enter into the
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and be with him for Ever and
ever the master is come and calleth for thee. Amen. Our closing hymn is from Gadsby's
hymn number 186. My God, my portion and my love,
my everlasting all, I have none but thee in heaven above or on
this earthly ball. Hymn number 186 to the tune 849. I've not a thing in heaven above,
or on this earth below. There's nothing in this earth
like yours. There's nothing like my God. Shepherds, this meadow-light,
this ice-cream-cake, That knows the shades I roam,
if I redeem. We owe our wealth and friends,
and health and safe abode. Thanks to thy name for we have
lived, but they are not my guilt. Hmm. and coldest of my earth, without
thy grace to tend my soul. O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And now may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship
and communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with us now and always.
Amen.