Good morning. Let's begin our
worship service by standing and singing 257. Tis so sweet to
trust in Jesus. 257. It is so sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to take Him at His word, just to rest upon His promise,
just to know the Saint, the Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,
how I proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus,
oh, for grace to trust Him more. Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust His cleansing blood. Just in simple faith to plunge
me, meet the healing, cleansing blood. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust
Him, how I prove him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious
Jesus, love for grace to trust him more. Yes, it's sweet to
trust in Jesus Just from sin and self to cease Just from Jesus
simply taking Life and rest and joy and peace Jesus, Jesus, how
I trust Him, how I proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus,
precious Jesus, O for grace to trust Him more. I'm so glad I
learned to trust Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend. And I know that Thou art with
me, Will be with me to the end. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,
how I proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus,
oh, for grace to trust Him more. I'm gonna read Psalm 32 this
morning. Psalm 32. Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the
man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit
there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones
waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and
night the hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into
the drought of summer, Selah. I acknowledge my sin unto thee,
and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my
transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgave us the iniquity
of my sin. Selah. For this shall everyone
that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be
found. Surely in the floods of great
waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding
place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble.
Thou shalt come past me with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct thee and teach
thee In the way which thou shalt go, I will guide thee with mine
eyes. Be ye not as the horse or as
the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with
bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows
shall be in the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy
shall compass about him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,
ye righteous, and shout for joy, all you that are upright in heart. Father, we come to you thankful
this morning for this chapter of scripture. And Father, we just ask that the righteousness
that you have placed on us, Lord, that we understand where that
came from and that it's not our own righteousness, but a righteousness
that you provided to make us acceptable to the Father. And
Lord, we just ask that you Watch over this church, no matter how
large or how small you choose to make it. Father, we ask that
you just watch over it, continue to let us all be able to come
together. And Father, continue to watch
over our pastor as he brings us the messages. And Lord, we
just ask that you watch over those of us that couldn't be
here. We ask that you watch over those in the other churches where
they're hearing the gospel this morning as well. We ask that
you watch over those pastors as they bring the messages. And
Lord, again, we just, as always, ask that you watch over and care
for us in Christ's name. Let's sing, Nothing But The Blood,
212. Nothing But The Blood Of Jesus, 212. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my part in this I seek, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow That
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Naught of good that I have done,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Good morning. Our text is in John chapter 11. John 11. This morning I want
to look with you at our Lord's speaking with Martha. The title
of this message is, I Am the Resurrection and the Life. Those are the words of our Lord
and Savior, I am the resurrection and the life. Now we're told
in verse 17 that when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in
the grave four days already. This is referring to Lazarus
who had been sick and he died and was buried now four days
in his grave. And our Lord delayed his coming. He had received word from Martha
and Mary, the two sisters of Lazarus. And they said to him,
Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. And that's a good petition
of the Lord's people. Whatever our petition is, whatever
weighs on our heart, Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick. We come to him not because of
our love for him or our wants or needs. We come to him because
he loves us. He loves his people. This is a trial for Martha. It's a trial for the family and
we're looking at Martha. It's a trial for Martha and we
all can identify, we can relate to Martha because we too have
trials, many trials. And we go through trials and
all our trials as it is of the Lord's hand, It's of the Lord's
hand as it is with Martha. All our trials are of the Lord's
hand. We can actually see that the
Lord received word and didn't give word to heal Lazarus. and he delayed his coming so
that Lazarus died and was buried. He controls this whole trial. Lazarus didn't even need to become
sick if the Lord willed, but he allowed him to become sick
and he put Martha in a great trial. And the Lord's hand in
giving us trials is to make us to know what so very few know,
that Jesus Christ is all my life, all my salvation. He meets every
need. He's made everything to the child
of God. and we learn this through the
trials that he brings us to see where we're made to lean upon
our Lord, we're made to petition our Lord, the faith which he's
given to us is tried and it's found by His grace in His people. So, we're going to know Christ
who is our resurrection and our life. Your God, who is the Good
Shepherd, shall see to it. He shall see to it that you know
that He's my resurrection, He's my life, He's all my salvation,
everything I need. So Christ came and found that
Lazarus had lain in the grave four days already. And so he did this with purpose. With purpose. Everything our
Lord does is with purpose. Do you believe this? Your God
and your Savior moves with purpose. We are told in the second half
of verse 41, if you look there at John 11, in the middle of
41, Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee
that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest
me always, but because of the people which stand by I said
it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. Our God, our Lord, moves with
purpose that we may know that our God has sent him. for us,
for our need to put away our sin and to bring us, to deliver
us from death and bring us into life, the life who is the resurrection
and the life of his people, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so here with Martha, he's
going to reveal to her, convincingly, with power, I am the resurrection
and the life, Martha. I'm your resurrection. I'm your
life, Martha. Now in Romans 15, 4, we're told
that whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning. that we through patience and
comfort of the scriptures might have hope. And so just as our
Lord is teaching Martha here that he is the resurrection and
the life, so he's teaching you his people whom he loves, that
he is the resurrection and the life. Not only do we read it
in his word, but we hear it in the messages which he brings
to us and feeds us with, and we learn it through the trials
which he gives to us on purpose to make us to know, to experience
that he is the resurrection and the life. that He is our resurrection
and our life, where every one of His children are gonna know
He's my Savior. I need Him. I'm a sinner and
I cannot save myself, but it's Christ who put away my sin, and
it's Christ who gives me life and makes me to know Him. All
by His grace and mercy, He does this. And so through it all,
our Lord is faithfully teaching us. He's continually teaching
us. He's bringing us to see that
He is our all over and over again. Now, we're told in verses 18
and 19, it says, Bethany, this is where Martha and Mary lived
and where Lazarus had lived and was now buried. Bethany was nigh
or near unto Jerusalem, about 15 furlongs off. And seven and a half furlongs
is a mile. So it's two miles, only two miles
away. It's not very far from Jerusalem
at all. And many of the Jews came to
Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Now
we're given this detail of the proximity of Jerusalem because
it's informing us that some of the people that were there, some
of the Jews there, came from Jerusalem. They came from Jerusalem. It was common among the Jewish
custom that when someone died, people would gather, they would
come to them and sit with them in silence until the mourning
person had spoken, but they would come and sit with them and mourn
with them. And for some, it would be family
and friends who knew the one who died or knew the mourners,
those people who mourned. And for others, it was also a
good deed. It was a meritorious deed in
their minds. It was pious. It was piety to
come and sit with the mourners that God would recognize them
doing some good deed and that he would bless them in some way.
So there's a variety of people that are here. Now in verse 20,
we're told, well we're told that detail that of the proximity
of Jerusalem and you'll recall that our Lord had said things
and done things very recently that upset and angered the Jews,
especially among the Pharisees. They were angry at Christ and
they would have taken Him. They would have killed Him had
they been able to. And so now our Lord is coming
near to Jerusalem by going to Bethany only a couple miles away. So verse 20 says, Then Martha,
as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him,
but Mary sat still in the house." So Mary wasn't aware that Christ
had drawn near, but Martha being the busier one typically, the
one running things and always stirring and going about doing
things, she would have received that person with the news and
was told, your Lord, is near, He's coming, He's near, and she
goes out to meet her Lord. And so, it's likely that the
reason why she went out instead of staying in is because there
were some there from Jerusalem who hated the Lord, who hated
Him and would have put Him to death previously had they been
able. They wouldn't have been happy
to see Christ there. And so Martha goes out and she
speaks with her Lord. And we're actually told, the
reason why I say that is because in verse 46, if you look there,
it says, after they had seen that miracle of our Lord raising
Lazarus from the dead, verse 46 says that some of them went
their ways to the Pharisees and told them what things Jesus had
done. So we see that in some that were
there, witnessing the raising of Lazarus from the dead, they
bore rotten, stinking fruit. out of their own corrupt, vile
flesh, out of the nature of man, they can behold Christ raise
someone from the dead and let to themselves, they see this
is terrible, this is horrible what this man has done, and they
ran off to the Pharisees, who then counted that miraculous
work which only God can do, and said, he's worthy of death. We've
got to put this man to death, as we'll get to at a later time. And so we see there how man left
to himself, who doesn't know the Lord, who doesn't hear the
voice of Christ, he bears and continues to bear rotten, corrupt,
vile, stinking fruit. And our Lord said, let them alone.
They be blind leaders of the blind. But to you. whom the Lord
lovest, to you who are sick with sin and need a Savior, and need
salvation which only He provides for His people. And you see in
Christ all the fitness that God requires, unto you it is given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to them it
is not given." So Martha Here, she's a child of God. She believes
that this Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ sent of God. And she gladly went out, therefore,
to see her Lord, to meet her Lord, to greet her Lord, and
to be comforted by Him. And when she comes to the Lord,
she expresses words of great faith. Great faith. First, in
verse 21, we're told that Martha said unto Jesus, Lord, if thou
hadst been here, my brother had not died. Now this is born out
of what's pressing on her heart. It's probably been on her heart
for days. Her and her sister, Mary, have probably said this
to one another repeatedly, because Martha, in verse 32, says the
same thing. Lord, if thou hadst been here,
my brother had not died. In the second half of that verse,
she said the same thing, so they probably were saying, oh, if
the Lord was here. I know he would heal Lazarus.
I know he would make him well. And that expresses some level
of faith. They believe that he was able to heal their brother. But we also see her express great
faith, where she says, I know, but I know that even now whatsoever
thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. That's great faith. That's great faith that she has. She believes that even there,
whatever Christ asked, whatever Christ willed to do, he was able
to do it. She maybe didn't fully understand
that he is God right yet, but she knew he's able. God will give him whatever he
asks of the Lord. Now, as I was thinking about
it, I had always remembered Martha for what sounded like a waiver
in her faith, a weakness in Martha in this account that we're given.
If you remember when the Lord commanded that the stone be rolled
away from the mouth of the tomb where Lazarus lay, she said,
Lord, by this time he stinketh. He stinketh, for he hath been
dead four days. She said that out loud, out loud. And that, I believe, was wrought
in her to make known to all the witnesses there about what they
were going to witness. This man has been dead four days,
Lord. He stinks by now. He's corrupting,
his body's decaying away even now. So that they understood,
here's this smelly man, this corrupt flesh, this rotting flesh
that is lying in darkness, that Christ was going to raise that
one from the dead. No man can do that. Only God can do that work. And
it pictures what the Lord does for us. We are the rotting, corrupt,
vile flesh that can do nothing, that lay in darkness. And you
can lay in darkness your whole life, and if Christ wills and
gives his word, you shall be raised from spiritual death unto
spiritual life." So she's a woman, this Martha is a woman of great
faith, saying, I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask
of God, God will give it thee. Notice she didn't tell the Lord
to raise Lazarus. Martha by this time was humbled
by the Lord. She had been instructed and taught
by her Lord, and she was humbled. If you remember in Luke 10, she
had complained to the Lord when the Lord, she received Christ
into her home. And then she began to serve and
provide for all those people that came into the home with
Christ. And she went and complained to
the Lord. saying, Lord, my sister, Mary's
not helping me. She's left me to do all this
work. And Christ said to her, Martha,
Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. You're
full of care and worry, and you've brought this burden on yourself
about many things. But one thing is needful, and
Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away
from her. So Martha was well instructed
by her Lord. Well, she was chastened by the
Lord just there. That's right. He whom the Lord
loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son and daughter whom he
receiveth. He teaches and instructs his
people. So she learned humility by the
instruction and teaching of our Lord. And so she's very careful
in her demands of the Lord. She just comes in and petitions
him in that manner, saying, Lord, I know. I know that whatsoever
thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Even now, Lord,
even now. So we see this good fruit. I believe she hoped that Christ
would raise her brother from the dead. And she bears this
fruit of faith in confessing this to the Lord. And the Lord
had taught her previously, but the Lord wasn't done teaching
Martha. She hadn't learned all there
was to learn. He's still pruning Martha. He's teaching Martha
and growing Martha even more. Look what he says here in response
to her great faith in verse 23. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother
shall rise again." Thy brother shall rise again. Now, that's
a pretty general statement. Right? We're not sure what the
Lord means. He's going to rise again. When
is he going to rise again, Lord? I know he's going to rise again
at the last day, or are you going to raise him again right now? When, Lord? When are you going
to raise Lazarus from the dead? He says your brother's going
to rise again, but we don't know when he's going to rise again. And so in this, we see how that
the Lord prunes his people to bear more fruit. They bear more
fruit under the direction, under the command of the Lord, in order
that they bring forth more. They're pruned to bring forth
more fruit. He'll say in John 15, verse 1 and 2, he says, I
am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch
in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. He just removes
it. And every branch that beareth
fruit, he purgeth it. In other words, he prunes it
that it may bring forth more fruit, more fruit. And so our
Lord has brought Martha to this time of trial where she does
bear fruit. She expresses the faith which
the Spirit had brought in her, which God had given to her. He
gave her faith and she believed the Lord. She trusted the Lord. So that with great confidence
she exclaimed, I know that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will
give it thee. And then our Lord said those
words in verse 23, thy brother shall rise again, and what does
it do? What fruit does it produce in
her? To petition him again, to go
back to him again. She says in verse 24, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. I know this, Lord. Is that what
you mean? Is that what you mean, Lord?
She goes and petitions her Lord. she continues to seek her Lord,
bearing more fruit, seeking the Lord who alone can answer these
questions, who alone can do for us what we need him to do for
us. Now, every child whom the Lord
loves, he chastens, and he humbles them, and he brings his children
into very trying providences. very difficult circumstances. He does this for all His children
whom He loves. I remember when the Lord began
to stir me up to seek Him. When He began to stir me and
stir in me to seek Him, to see that I need Him. And I remember
how the Lord would answer prayers very quickly. I would pray to
him about something, and it would be answered very quickly. And
as time went on, and I began to, the Lord began to reveal
himself more and more to me, those prayers were answered with
greater infrequency, if you will, the way I thought they should
be answered. And as I went through new trials and was brought through
difficult circumstances, The pace at which the Lord answered
those began to lengthen and I would reflect on the things I had learned
and I would begin to learn new things and more things. And eventually
as time went on, There's prayers I've prayed that haven't, as
far as I can tell, haven't even been answered yet. Not the way
that I thought they should be answered, but the Lord has taught
me through it all. And that's what he does to all
his people. He gives us patience and experience and makes it so
that We're able and sit in silence before the Lord, but we trust
the Lord. Not my will, Lord, not my will
be done, but thy will be done, Lord. And we learn that through
the Lord's teaching us and instructing us and showing us that he is
Lord. And we don't need to see the
things that we needed to see long ago. We don't need to see
him that way. We're content that the Lord is the Lord. And whatsoever
He does, He does all things well. And He blesses us in ways that
we could never have asked or imagined. And He teaches us and
shows us always that He is the resurrection and the life. And so we don't always know what
the will of our God is concerning a matter. And we can't just pray
and expect that the Lord's gonna answer it, especially the way
we think it should be answered and the way it should unfold. But like Martha, we're brought
to return to the Lord and to petition the Lord and to lean
upon him and wait upon him more and more with the desire that
he would reveal himself and his wisdom and his power that He
is the resurrection, our resurrection, that He is our life, so that
we see and know in the Spirit, trusting that He is the Lord
and He's doing that which pleases Him and is for the good of His
people. and even my good as well. And so we watch and we wait.
We wait upon the Lord. And the Lord says something to
Martha which reveals Christ to his people who are in deep and
difficult trials. He reveals to his people that
he is Christ while they're in deep and difficult trials, that
he's our life. that we need him. I don't need
the resolution that I was thinking of in the flesh. I need the Lord.
I want the Lord. I'm thankful for how the Lord
is teaching me. That's what he brings his people
to see, to find that Christ is all our love, our joy, our comfort,
even through the raging and difficult trial. You couldn't do that when
you didn't know him and you probably didn't do it very well when you
first began to seek him by his grace. But as he grows you, you're
able to trust the Lord. You trust him because he's an
anchor of the soul. and he keeps you, he keeps you,
and he doesn't let you go. So what he says to Martha is
in verse 25 and 26, he saith 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? So our Lord
teaches us this sweet resolve that He is all my life. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless I live, and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
the Son of God who loved me and gave himself For me, my life
is Christ now. That's what he was taught. That's
what he was brought to see. Christ is all. I'm dead. I am
dead. But Christ is all my life. And
so there's a peace which our Lord gives his child in discovering
over and over again more deeply each time the grace of our God
that he so richly blessed us with in Christ. Colossians 1
26 and 27 Paul speaks of, he says, even the mystery, what
he's revealing to us is even the mystery which hath been hid
from ages and from generations but now is made manifest in his
saints. It's made manifest, Christ is
manifesting in his saints, he that is the resurrection and
the life, to which God would make known what is the riches
of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory, the hope of glory, our Lord.
And so we're made content in our Lord through the spirit of
his grace as he wondrously grows us in love and faith and every
good work by the Spirit in us. Paul wrote to the Philippians
4-5 saying, let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord
is at hand. Just like Martha who went out
to her Lord who was at hand, who drew near to her. And as
our Lord said to Martha then, so he says to us now in Philippians
4-6, be careful for nothing. Don't be troubled. Don't bear
that burden in yourself. Bring it to the Lord. In everything,
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. You see how the Lord grows his
people to go to the Lord, to petition to the Lord, to lean
on the Lord, that we're drawn to the Lord. We need him more
and more because he is the one who comforts us. Not the deliverance
from the trial, not seeing it all unfold the way we thought
it should unfold in our flesh, but through it, in spite of it,
we see the glory, the life, the salvation, the light of our Lord
and Savior. We see that He is everything,
everything to me, that He is my life, not this flesh, not
these things. Now many who profess Christ,
there's many people that believe there will be a resurrection
of the dead, and that's true. It's the power of God which raises
men from the dead, that gives life. In that day, all will raise
from the dead. Turn over to Job chapter 19.
Job 19 and verse 25 and 27. Job says, I know. I'll give you
another second. Job 19, verse 25. 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 shall I see God, whom I
shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another,
though my reins be consumed within me. And the psalmist encourages
our heart in Psalm 17, 15 saying, As for me, I will behold thy
face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. Look over in Isaiah 26. Isaiah
26 verse 19. Here the prophet says, thy dead
men shall live. Together with my dead body shall
they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell
in dust, for thy due is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall
cast out her dead. Brethren, we know that when Christ
shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as
He is. And so there shall be a resurrection
of the dead, and all for whom Christ came to save, they shall
be transformed like unto their glorious Savior, for we shall
see Him as He is. But before that glorious day
occurs, we shall know our God in spirit and in truth, because
he gives his Holy Spirit, who resurrects his dead children,
those who are spiritually dead, by giving us spiritual life,
making us born again, first born of Adam's corrupt seed that cannot
save, and then born of Christ's incorruptible seed, which cannot
sin. and cannot perish, can never
die, because Christ is our life. John 11, 25, and 26, Christ makes
us to know, 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? So when you go through great
trials which strip you of your fleshly strength and your vain
confidences, one thing remains sure. 1 John 3 says, whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin. They will not forsake their
Lord. They will not deny him. They
will not apostatize from the Lord Jesus Christ. For his seed
remaineth in him, in his child. And he cannot sin. He cannot
turn from the Lord because he's born of God. that new man in you can never
be turned from Christ and will never perish because Christ is
our life. And Paul said, he said, God is
able to make all grace abound toward you that ye always having
all sufficiency and all things may abound to every good work. Even that work, which we saw
Martha, where we saw the fruit of faith, and the fruit of her
going and petitioning the Lord, looking to the Lord, trusting
the Lord in all things. As it's written, he hath dispersed
abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth
forever." Forever. You that are the Lord's people,
you live forever in Christ because of Christ. It's his righteousness.
We're born of his seed. That's 2 Corinthians 9, 8, and
9. So through every pruning and every humbling and every trial
that strips us of what we are in this flesh, that corrupt rotten
flesh, we by His gracious power die to self that our Lord be
made all to us. Paul would say it this way in
2 Corinthians 4, 11 and 12 when he said, we which live are always
delivered unto death. for Jesus' sake, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then,
death worketh in us, but life in you. It is for the good of
the Lord's people. Our Lord performs his operation
of grace in his people to make us abundantly fruitful in his
kingdom. And where we bear fruit, we'll
bear more fruit through his purging, through his pruning that he skillfully,
wondrously does as he sees fit and as we're made to be glad
in it and thankful for it. And so he did this for Martha. He did it for the whole family
that was there. He did it for his disciples that
were there and he does it for us today as well. Every word, every message he
gives you, every trial he brings. into your life and brings you
into every fire, every flood, every overflowing water, you
will not be destroyed by it. Though your flesh be stripped,
though you be broken down in the flesh and made weak in yourselves,
you shall see and know that Christ is all, that He is our strength,
that He is the resurrection. He is the life. He's in me and
why I believe my God and trust him through it all. Though he
slay this flesh, yet will I trust him, Job said. And that's what
he brings all his people to do, to trust in the Lord, our resurrection
and our life. Martha then responded to verse
27. She said, Yea, Lord, I believe
that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come
into the world. So Martha was blessed by Christ
and she believed him. Now all people shall be raised
from the dead, all people. And that day when the Lord commands,
all people shall be raised from the dead and all his people shall
be given life and faith and salvation and hope in him. They shall be
raised from spiritual death to know their Lord. They shall be
called out of the darkness of the grave. and brought into the
light of their Savior who loved them and gave Himself for them. And so, He does the work, He
grows us, He keeps us, He reveals Himself to us, and He is your
salvation. He's your righteousness and your
life. Believest thou this? Believe
Him? Amen. All right, let's close in prayer.
Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, for your great wisdom,
and for the love that you show to your people, as we see here
with Martha in the scripture, and as we see it throughout the
scripture, and in your word, which you've given to us this
morning, and the message, and Lord, in every trial, and every
difficult circumstance, and every pressing need that we're given,
Lord, we see how you give it faithfully, as our wise and great
God and Father, as our Savior, our Lord, our Good Shepherd. Lord, we thank you for this and
ask that you would continue to keep us and reveal to us more
and more how that indeed you are our resurrection and our
life, even now, as you shall be in that great and final day.
Lord, thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your patience with
us. Thank you for your faithful teaching us and growing us always. And Lord, we thank you for this
body. We thank you for the people that you've joined to us and
those that care for us and pray for us as well. Lord, we thank
you for our brethren and for one another. And Lord, we ask
that you would bless this people and bless this work and that
you would call out your sheep from around us, Lord, and that
you would join them to us and knit our hearts together. But
Lord, we also see how that you do all things well and how you
provide for us and how you continue to sustain us and just amaze us by your providence,
your power, your providing, your preservation. Lord, we thank
you for it. It's in Christ's name that we
pray these things and ask that you would, indeed, keep us ever
watching, ever looking to you and trusting you. Lord, thank
you. It's in Christ's name we pray.
Amen. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn, 514. We're marching to Zion. 514. We that love the Lord and let
our joys be known, join in a song with sweet accord, join in a
song with sweet accord, and thus surround the throne, and thus
surround the throne. We're marching to Zion, the beautiful,
beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God. Let those refuse to sing who
never knew our God, O children of the heavenly King, O children
of the heavenly King, may speak their joys abroad, may speak
their joys abroad. We're marching to Zion, beautiful,
beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God. The hill of Zion yields a thousand
sacred streets Before we reach the heavenly fields Before we
reach the heavenly fields Or walk the golden streets Or walk
the golden streets We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful
Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God. Let our songs abound and every
tear be dried. We're marching through Emmanuel's
ground. We're marching through Emmanuel's
ground. To fairer worlds on high. To fairer worlds on high. We're marching through Zion,
beautiful, beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.