If you look back in John 11, the previous verses, John 11, we'll start with verse 21, but in the previous verses, Lazarus had, he had fallen ill, and Mary and Martha had sent to the Lord, and Lazarus was near to death, and his sisters, they reported it to the Lord, and they said this, and what a prayer this is, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

Now we read that in scripture, but I wonder how often has that same prayer been offered up unto the Lord by his people. How often do we find ourselves in times of trouble, in times of affliction? And is there a more appropriate person to pray to than our Lord? to inquire of the master, Lord, one whom you lovest is sick. You know, it's said of our Lord that he took our infirmities and that he bore our sicknesses. Isn't that all the more reason to seek him?

Well, in verse 21, let's look here with me, it says, Martha, said unto Jesus, Lord, if you'd been here, if you'd been here, my brother had not died. But I know, I know that even now, whatsoever thou would ask of God, God will give it to thee. And Jesus said unto her, thy brother shall rise again And Martha said to him, I know. I know he'll rise again in the resurrection. I know he'll rise again in the resurrection. I know he'll rise again at the last day, that day when God's saints are raised to life eternal, when this corruption puts on incorruption, when this mortal puts on immortality. Let's look together at our Lord's response to Martha.

Look at verse 25. Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection, and I am the life. And he that believeth in me, though he were dead, Yet shall he live. Jesus says to her, he says, I am. I am. Declaring who he is. You know, the remaining words take on a whole new meaning based on who is speaking here. This is the great I am. who he is. And in the book of John, we read of seven. Seven times our Lord says, I am. These great I am's. Let's just look at them quickly here.

The first is in John 6.35. Just turn back a few pages. John 6, verse 35.

Our Lord spoke here and it says, Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. And he that cometh to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall never thirst. I am the bread. I am the bread that giveth spiritual life. I'm the bread that gives eternal life. And that bread, it upholds and it maintains life. We're continually fed by him. I'm the Messiah whom God sent to quicken and give life to those that were dead in trespasses and sin. I am the bread of life. We find another I am in John 8 verse 12. John chapter 8 verse 12. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world.

He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." God is spirit. God is love. God is light. We read that John the Baptist, he came to bear witness of that light. And that light, it's the life of God. And just as, listen, just as death and darkness are one, light and life are one. Light is the knowledge of the glory of God.

He that believes on Christ He that, this is what Scripture, he that receives Christ and follows Christ, that person doesn't walk in darkness, but rather they walk in light. They don't walk in darkness or error or ignorance, in the darkness of tradition, but we walk in the light of life, having an understanding. God's given His people an understanding. Life eternal. Christ is the light.

Turn to John 10. Look at verse 9. John 10, verse 9. Our Lord declares that He is the door. Look again, verse nine, he said, I am the door. By me, if any man shall enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and go out and find pasture. Christ is the door.

Everybody came in this building this morning. How did you get in here? You came through the door, right? Nobody tried to crawl through a window or anything. You come through the door. Christ is the door. He's the way. And a man conscious of sin and emptied of self and seeing his need, we have to be brought to see our need. Without him, we have nothing. And when that man believes Christ, receives Christ, and comes to Christ, we come to God through Christ, who is the door. And that man is eternally saved. And in Christ finds every need fulfilled. He's the door. And there's just one door.

There's just one way to Christ. And listen, it's not Christ plus your works. It's not Christ plus your profession. It's not Christ plus anything. We do not add anything to His sufficiency. Salvation's all of Him. It's Christ alone. And He is the door.

Look in John 10, verse 11. He says here, I am, I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Read on in verse 12, but he that's in hireling and not the shepherd, whose own sheep are not, he sees the wolf coming and he leaveth the sheep. and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he's an hireling, and he doesn't care for the sheep.

But the Lord Jesus Christ, he says, I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep. I'm known of mine, and as the Father knoweth me, even so I know the Father. And I laid down, the good shepherd, what's he do? He lays down his life for the sheep. He's the great shepherd. The great shepherd of the sheep. He's the chief shepherd.

And as such, he knows his sheep. He knows every one of them. He knows them so well, he calls them by name. And he's one with them. He's in union with them. And he loves them with a perfect love. He loves them with an eternal love. And he lays down his life for the redemption of his sheep. Doesn't say he laid down his life for the world, does it? He says he lays down his life for his sheep. And he says this, he said, my sheep, they know me. I know them and they know me. His people know him in a special way, in a saving, a saving knowledge of him. Because he reveals himself to them.

He makes himself known to his people Well, look in John 14.6, turn over a few more pages.

John 14.6, Jesus saith unto him, go back to verse five, it says, Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, And how can we know the way? How is it? How can the believer know the way? Look at verse six. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way. I am the way. I'm the truth and I'm the life.

And no man cometh to the Father but by me. How does a man approach unto God? There's but one way, and it's by the Lord Jesus Christ. He himself is the way. He's the way from God to man, and he's the way from man to God. All blessings, all blessings come from the Father through the Son. And listen, He's the way from God to man. He's our righteousness. He's our high priest. He's our sacrifice. He's our sin offering. Look at John 15, 5. Here's another, I am. John 15, 5.

I am the vine. I'm the vine. You're the branches. He that abideth in him, he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. The Lord Jesus Christ himself is the vine. There's life in that vine. Me and Brady were clearing a path yesterday and there was a grapevine stretched across us, wrapped around a tree. You know, we cut that vine and water just rolled out of that, didn't it? That's life in that. The whole time. I don't know if we'd go back up there again if it's still rolling out of it, but there's life in that vine.

He's the fountain. Christ is the fountain. of life. He's the spring of life. He is the source of all life. We have no life, no true life apart from Him. And we're the branches. And apart from Christ, apart from Him who supplies all our need, we have no life, we have no power, we have no existence. Again, we read this, apart, without me, without me, you can do nothing. Well, back to our text again. Look at John 11. John 11. Here's another. Here's the seventh I am. Look at verse 25, 26.

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life, and 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? Now with what time we have left this morning, let's look at this passage of scripture together. The Lord Jesus Christ says, I am the resurrection. I am the life. I am. I myself am the resurrection.

He's the source. He's the cause. He's the fountain of eternal life. He says, I am the resurrection. Because he's God. Because he is God. Because he lives and reigns eternal. He's our surety. He's our righteousness. He's our redemption. And as a result, his people have life. We live. The resurrection. Our Lord, He laid in the tomb, but He was risen. He is risen. Risen from the grave. The body of the believer. Paul wrote this. He described the resurrection of the dead, and he said, so also is the resurrection of the dead.

It's sown in corruption. These bodies are dead in trespasses and sin. Sown in corruption, but it is raised in incorruption. It's sown in dishonor, but it's raised in glory. It's sown in weakness. These bodies are weak and dying, but he says it's raised in power. It's sown a natural body. This old natural body, but it is raised a spiritual body. There's a natural body and there's a spiritual body.

This body is, it's buried in corruption. It's buried in sickness and disease and it's subject to decay and corruption. Before the body even goes in the grave, it begins to break down because of corruption within us. That's not from the outside, that's from the inside.

But when the believer is raised from the dead, that body is immortal. It's no longer subject to disease and decay. No longer subject to corruption. Job, the book of Job is believed by many to be the oldest book in the Bible. Listen to the words of Job.

He said, though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh, I'm going to see God, whom I shall see for myself. and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me." The resurrection. Our bodies are going to be raised. The bodies are going to be raised to life. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, he said, I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I received. How? that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that He was buried, but He didn't stay in the grave. He was buried and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, according to the Word of God, His resurrection.

I hear men talk about a special day, Resurrection Sunday, but listen, I don't want to know about a day, I want to know about Him. I want to know about Christ, who is the resurrection, who is the power. I want to know something about the power of His resurrection. Follow along with me. in Philippians 3, turn there to Philippians chapter 3. Look beginning with verse 8 of Philippians 3. Paul says, yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may, this is what I want to know, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.

The power, the power of His resurrection. You know, our Lord's resurrection was proof that He was who He said He was, that He is who He says He is, that He's truly the Messiah, that He is the Son of God, and that that covenant that God made with Him, that it was established because He is declared to be the Son of God with power. The resurrection is proof that Christ, that the Lord Jesus Christ, fully paid the penalty of sin.

That penalty that was due. That he satisfied God's claims of justice. That he satisfied all that the law could demand of him. The law demands death. The wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. There's no getting away from that. But the Lord Jesus Christ, as our substitute and sacrifice, he came into this world and he met the demands of the law. He lived perfectly.

I can't even imagine that. You think of him as a man, but I just think even as a child. I can remember being told to go clean my room, and maybe I'd do it, but I sure didn't have the right attitude. about it. I probably went up the steps grumbling the whole time.

Our Lord, He perfectly obeyed the law. He obeyed His parents. Just think about that. Again, we can't even enter into it, but He perfectly obeyed the law and He made His soul, His very soul, an offering for sin. And He died. He was crucified on the cross. He died and he was buried. But he's risen. He's a victorious Savior. He's risen from the dead. He endured death to the full. And there's nothing left, nothing left to be done. Jesus paid it all. All the dead I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it. He washed me white as snow." The resurrection of Christ, it declares his life-giving power. He said, I am the resurrection and I am life.

He told his disciples in John 14, 19, he said, yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more. But speaking his disciples, he said this, you see me, you see me, and because I live, think about that, because I live, you live also. In the resurrection of Christ, we have comfort. In Isaiah 26, 19, it says this, the dead men shall live. Thy dead men shall live. Together with my dead body, they shall arise.

We read that he's gonna change our vile body, that it will be fashioned like his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself." Is that comforting? To the believer it is, that he's going to take this vile body, this body of sin, and he's going to raise it to be like his glorious body. All the power, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering being made conformable unto death if by any means. I might obtain unto the resurrection of the dead."

It's in Him. It's in Christ that dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And Scripture says this, that we're complete. How? In Him. Complete in Him. Because, listen to this, because He lives, we live. We have life in Him. And that life and resurrection, listen, it's not just an experience that Christ purchases and bestows upon him. It's more than just a fact. He is our life. He is our life.

That's what Paul told the Colossians. He said, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." The believer can no more die and perish than he can. We have life in Him. Christ is the way, He is the truth, He is the life. Scripture declares this, that as He is, so are we in this world.

He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. John 11, 25. Our Lord declares, I am the resurrection and the life. And he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never, never die.

His people, those that are ordained to eternal life, those who have the promise of eternal life, those that their lives are united in Christ and secure, we're secure in Him. He's redeemed them, redeemed them from death. The spirit of life dwells in the believer. And we have the promise, the pledge of eternal life.

He said, Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. And then he asked Martha this question, believest thou this? You believe that? Do you believe that? God's word declares, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that what? God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Do you? I'll take it for a look. Do you believe this? Do you? Scripture says this, all things are possible to him that what? That believeth. The Lord Jesus Christ is known and received by faith. It's by faith that the believer rests in him. The Lord turns to Martha, and listen, these aren't thoughts of doctrine. This is a declaration of a living Savior, a person, salvation, the resurrection, eternal life. These things can only be understood in the light of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Life is in not doing and dying, not our doing and dying. Life's in a person. Life is in Christ. It's in the Savior. This is the record. This is the record. God hath given to us eternal life. Where's that found? It's in His Son. This life is in His Son. One place, one person in Him. Well, let's read on here quickly.

John 11, Martha, do you believe? Well, that's a good question for Martha. That's a good question for every one of us. Do you believe? Look at verse 27. And before we read that, let me just say this. In Matthew 16, our Lord asked his disciples, he said, Whom do men say that I am? And they said, some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elias, others say you're Jeremiah, some say you're one of the prophets. But then he looked at him and said this, not who does everybody else say that I am, whom do you say that I am? Remember what Simon Peter answered? He said, thou art the Christ. That was his, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.

In Acts 8.37, remember that eunuch? He answered Philip, you remember that encounter? That eunuch was sitting there and he was reading some scripture.

He didn't understand what he was reading. He was reading, he had an interest, had a desire, He didn't know what he was reading. And Philip came to him, and he asked him, and he said, do you understand what you're reading? He didn't get upset. He didn't fly off the handle, did he? He said, how can I? How can I understand these things except some man should guide me, should teach me? How shall they hear without a preacher?

And Philip began at that same verse, that very same verse of Scripture, and he preached Christ to him. And that eunuch, he believed, didn't he? He desired to be baptized. Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, thou mayest. You remember his confession? Remember his answer? Do you believe? I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Do you believe?

Martha's confession wasn't any different, was it? It was the same. Look at what she said here. She saith unto him, yea, Lord. Do you believe? Yea, Lord. I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. Do you believe? Lord, grant us faith to see Him, to know Him, to believe Him, and rest in Him. All right. Ready to come lead us in a closing hymn?