Well, come with me to John chapter
11, the resurrection and the life, the raising of Lazarus
from the dead. John's gospel was written later
than the other gospels, and you can see that in places where,
you know, he says, for example, it was that Mary that anointed
the feet of Jesus with her tears, because that's an account in
one of the other gospels, in Luke chapter 10 at the end of
it. and the much serving that Martha was doing while Mary was
having that better place. But this was written later, and
the purpose, God's purpose by John, is to declare that the
man, Jesus, is God in flesh. that He is God in flesh, that
the God who spoke and all things came into being became man for
the purpose of redemption to satisfy eternal justice. Is it
not true what we often read, 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse
16, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness?
It is. Human reasoning, human intellect
can't fathom it, but this is it. God was manifest in the flesh. How can I know God? God was manifest
in the flesh. God was made known in the flesh.
Philip said, show us the Father, show us the essential essence
of God, and that will suffice. Jesus said, Philip, have I been
so long with you, and you have not known me? He who has seen
me has seen the Father. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. This man Jesus is, as Martha
testified in verse 27 of John 11, she said unto him, Yea, Lord,
he said, Do you believe? She said, Yes, Lord, I believe
that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, that you are the
promised Messiah, the seed of the woman. You are indeed God
become man. You are the Lord God of heaven.
the Creator, the Upholder. By Him, God made the worlds,
we read in Hebrews. By Him, He who was in the beginning. Without Him was nothing made
that was made. He is the Word of God. He is
God manifest in the flesh. I believe that thou art the Christ,
the Son of God, which should come into the world. But why
did He come? The answer of Scripture, from
cover to cover, I'm not going to find a single text because
it's everywhere, The reason he came was this, it was to satisfy
the offended justice of God. Why is he offended? Because of
sin. Who is he offended by? The sin of his people, who he
is determined to justify for eternal glory. He came to satisfy
that offended justice on behalf of the multitude of people, sinners,
who were united with him, who were betrothed to him, in grace,
grace, just the free gift of God before the beginning of time.
And, because of that, If he has satisfied divine justice
for you, think of this, if he has satisfied divine justice
for you, then God's law cannot demand your eternal death. You
know the law demands the death of the sinner, the soul that
sins it shall die. That's the demand. In the day
you eat thereof you shall surely die. The law demands the death
of the sinner. But if he has satisfied the offended
justice of God for you and your sin, then God's law cannot demand
your eternal death. As that hymn writer wrote, God
cannot require the penalty to be paid twice, once at his hand,
Christ's, and then again at mine. He can't. It's unjust. Christ
has died. Who shall bring any charge against
God's elect? Christ has died. As God lives,
if you are in the Lord Jesus Christ, justified by all that
he came to do. If God lives, you must live also. Surely God lives, therefore you
must surely live. God cannot die. God cannot die. God is life. In him is life. And though my body die, though
this physical flesh and bones die, I haven't quoted it for
a while, but Job 19 verses 25 and 26, where he says, I know
that my Redeemer lives. This is Job, this is the first
book of the Bible we think historically written. And he said, I know
that my Redeemer liveth. Which Redeemer? The promised
seed of the woman that would come. I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth
when He comes again in judgment at the end of time. And what
about me? Though after my skin worms destroy
this body, for this body will return to the dust from which
it came, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for
myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.' Do you see
that? What confidence that is. Though
my body die, I am going to see God in my flesh. I am going to
see Him, I am going to be with Him in eternal glory. And the
possession of that life of God, how do you possess that life
of God? It's in believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in
resting the weight of your soul's eternal future on the doing and
dying and person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And who is it for? Look at it. Look at it. Who is
it for in verse 26? Whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Whosoever. What does it mean,
whosoever? Does it mean everybody without
exception? No. But it does mean everybody
without distinction. Without distinction of what?
Without distinction of the things which separate us as people.
What do I mean? I mean distinctions of race make
no difference. Distinctions of sex, male or
female, make no difference. Distinctions of age, young and
old, make no difference. Distinctions of intellect, brains
the size of a planet as they say, or very dim-witted, make
no difference. So long as we know this, Jesus
Christ is my all in all. Distinctions of wealth from the
richest down to the very poorest make no difference whatsoever. Do you know, in this what they
call a woke society of always politically correctly trying
to do away with differences and making such a fuss and protesting
about gender differences and not discriminating one against
another, do you know that's all an attempt of the evil kingdom
of Satan to mimic the kingdom of God. But when Satan mimics
the kingdom of God, he always makes a mess of it. He always
fouls it up. All of those things, you know,
all that gender, all that LGBT, whatever else rubbish it is,
all of it is Satan's attempt to mimic the kingdom of God,
because in the kingdom of God, There is no distinction. There
is neither male nor female, born nor free. They're all one in
Christ Jesus, is what the message of the Gospel of Grace is. Now
John records in his Gospel, this Gospel written later than the
others, he records seven signs that this man, Jesus, is who
he says he is. This is what the apostles preached.
You look, what did they preach? They preached that Jesus, the
man from Nazareth, the man is the Christ of God. And he records
seven signs, seven miracles, attesting to that truth. There
were many more miracles performed by the Lord Jesus Christ in the
other Gospels, many more. But these seven are recorded
in John's Gospel to attest that this man is the Christ of God,
is God in flesh, is God in flesh. He turned water into wine, because
the Jewish religion, which contained all the truth of eternal life
in it, in type and picture, had become soulless and heartless
and cheerless, and he turned water into wine to show the glorious
joy of the kingdom of God in the gospel of his grace. Secondly,
he healed a nobleman's son with a word from a distance. He spoke
You know, this is the God who puts it into the hearts of people
to do things. We were reading this morning
in Ezra, earlier on, how God put it in the heart of Cyrus
to do things for the people of God. He put it in the heart of
Ataxerxes to do things. This is the God who has the heart
of the king in his hands, as Proverbs tells us. This is the
one who speaks. He spoke a word and creation
came into being. He spoke a word and the nobleman's
son was healed. Who is this? What manner of man
is this, they said. He healed the impotent man, crippled
for 38 years, lying by the pool of Bethesda, waiting for the
waters to stir. And in a word, he raised him
from his impotence to take up his bed and walk. He gathered
thousands to hear him teach. And he fed 5,000 men plus all
the women and children that were with them. 5,000 received, I
imagine, the best meal of bread and fish you've ever had. And
there it was. He did it. He did it. Out of
five loaves and two fishes. What a stupendous miracle that
was. He then later demonstrated his
divinity as he defied the laws of physics, he defied the law
of gravity, he defied the laws of hydrodynamics of the water
and he walked on the stormy sea, he walked on the waves because
he is the one, he is the one by whom God upholds all the laws
of physics and nature and therefore if he chooses for his purposes
to say something and to attest to it by a miracle. He changes
the laws. And he did that. And Jesus walked
on the water. And then he spoke a word and
calmed the sea. And again the disciples said,
what manner of man is this? Even the wind and waves obey
him. Then in chapter 9 we saw him give sight to the man born
blind. In an act of creation, he spat
on the dust of the ground. You know, he spat on the dust
of the ground and smeared it on his eyes, and there were perfect
eyeballs. Just go and wash it, wash it,
and there he saw clearly. And here, now, is the seventh
of these signs. Seven signs, significant that,
isn't it? The number of God's perfection, seven. that Lazarus
is raised from the dead. There had been others raised
from the dead, there was the widow of Nain, at the funeral,
the son of the woman was raised from the dead, off the hearse
as it were, the thing that they were carrying to the funeral.
The daughter, these had only just died, the daughter had only
just died, the son of this widow was on his way to his burial,
he wasn't yet buried, but here Lazarus, He's been dead four
days. As Martha says, in not very tasteful
language, he stinks. He's a nasty smell. Don't open
the tomb, there's a nasty smell there. I want you to think about
this miracle. Bethany, as I said earlier, was
a little village about two miles from Jerusalem, very close to
Jerusalem, down in Judea. We read about it occasionally,
at the end of Luke 10, Jesus is there and Mary is sitting
at his feet learning, and Martha's bothered about cooking the dinner
and getting it served, and complains to Jesus that Mary's not helping,
and go and tell her that she needs to stop being lazy and
get up and come and help me serve. And Jesus says, Martha, Martha,
you're concerned about much serving, much fussing around. Mary has
chosen the better part. which is to sit at his feet and
learn. And so we get this picture that
this was a place when he was in Judea, which was dangerous
for Jesus because the Jews wanted to kill him, but he would often
resort to this family. It was a family of three siblings,
two sisters and their brother. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. And in that culture, that economy
of the time, no doubt Lazarus was very important to them, probably
as the breadwinner, probably, you know, the man of the house,
who in that culture, they relied very heavily on his ability to
work, on his ability to keep them providentially. And Jesus
the man, you know, because he was fully man, He was fully God
but he was fully man. He grew tired, he grew weary,
he rested at the well of Samaria in John chapter 4 because he
was weary with the journey. He never had, there was never
sin in him but his body grew weary, you know how your body
and mine feels weary. And here in this little home
in Bethany he found solace and he found rest. from the persecuting
world of the Jewish leaders all around him. He found refreshment
in meals. He found human kindness there,
a place where he as a man would feel comfortable with his disciples.
Near to Jerusalem, the hotbed of all of those clashes and interactions
with the Jews. And you would think, well, this
must be a very favored family. This family must be highly favored,
and it was, it was, but look, he was sick. The sisters sent,
verse three, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest, note it's
not Lazarus who loves you, it's Lazarus whom you love. Lazarus
whom you love, the one you love. Jesus discriminatingly loved
Lazarus and Mary and Martha. He's sick, he's unwell. You know, think about the health,
wealth and happiness gospel that's rampant in charismatic circles,
you know. It's a clear mark of a lack of faith and dishonouring
to God if you get sick, because if you had enough faith you wouldn't
get sick. Is that the teaching of Scripture? It certainly isn't
the teaching of Scripture here. This man was loved of the Lord
Jesus Christ and yet he was sick. He was seriously sick. Jesus,
when he heard that, said, this sickness is not unto death, but
for the glory of God. Why is Lazarus, whom you love,
seriously ill, and looking like he's heading towards death? It's
for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified
thereby, that It might be clear to all observing, and to all
reading this account century on century later, that here is
God in flesh, performing his works of redeeming grace. That's
what it's for. for the glorification of the
Son of God, just exactly as it was in chapter 9 and verse 3. The disciples said, what sin
has this man committed that he has no eyes, that he's blind? What did his parents do? Jesus
said, neither hath this man sin, nor his parents. Well, of course
they had, they were all sinners. But he's saying, it's not because
of a specific sin that this man is in this condition. This man
is in this condition that I might walk past him on this day and
restore his sight. that the works of God should
be made manifest in him, that he might be a clear example of
God working. When Christ is glorified, God
is glorified. As Jesus prays in John 17 verse
1, Father, the hour is come of his crucifixion, when redemption
would be accomplished. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee, for when the son is glorified, the father
is glorified. Here is a little family of three
siblings, loved by God with a discriminating love, with a particular grace
for these people. As with the nobleman's son, Jesus
could have spoken a word from a distance because he wasn't
there when he heard the news, he was some distance away, some
journey away. He could have spoken a word as
he did with the nobleman's son, and Lazarus would have recovered.
But that wasn't his purpose. His purpose, his mission in this
life, the mission of Jesus was not to heal the sick, it wasn't
to feed the hungry, it wasn't to make the world a better place,
it was to accomplish redemption. His mission was not to heal the
sick, but to accomplish the redemption of his people from the curse
of the law by he himself being made that curse in their place
for them. So Lazarus is dead. And he says
that quite clearly, verse 14, Jesus told his disciples plainly,
you see, he said, he's sleeping, meaning the sleep of death. But
they thought, ah, he's sleeping, he'll do well, he'll get better,
you know, when you're ill, you need to sleep, don't you? Jesus
said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Not only is he dead,
he's been decaying. You know, we read in Psalm 16,
thou shalt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption. The Lord
Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross and was put into the
tomb, did not suffer corruption, the corruption of death. He didn't. He didn't. No, but Lazarus was. Lazarus was a sinner. As we all,
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And he'd
been decaying in the tomb for four days. And now they go to
him. And Jesus had raised others soon after death, before the
funeral. But this man had been in the
grave for four days. And you can see the scene, the
terrible grief and loss of those sisters. The one who probably
was the breadwinner of the household. Someone greatly loved, valued,
living, breathing, laughing. You know what it's like, the
people around you that you love? Living, breathing, laughing,
crying, working, doing all of those things, and then, dead. Dead. Dead. Beyond recovery. You know, the medical people
know when somebody's dead. You know, they'll fight and fight
and fight to keep someone alive until that moment when they're
dead. And they go, this is it, isn't it? He's gone. He's gone.
Yes, he's gone. He's dead. He's dead. He's beyond recovery. He's lifeless. The decay is already
starting. He's decaying back to that dust
from which he came. He's unpleasant to be around.
You know, it doesn't matter how much you love a wife, or a husband,
or a child, or a parent. When they die, you don't want
them hanging around in your house, do you? As Abraham said. Abraham
said to the people of the land where he bought a parcel of land
to bury Sarah, his wife. He said in Genesis 23 verse 8,
let me bury my dead out of my sight. As much as I loved her,
I can't have her now she's dead with me. I need her out of my
sight buried. and Lazarus is here dead. Yet,
verse 23, Jesus said to her, thy brother shall rise again.
He will rise. Others had. Think about it, Martha. Think back to those Old Testament
accounts of Elijah and the widow at Zarephath and her son who
died. And that boy was raised back
to life at the hands of Elijah. Of course, God raised him. In
Luke chapter 8, there was the ruler of the synagogue, his daughter,
she was raised to life. But Martha didn't understand
that Jesus meant now. She said in verse 24, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
No, Jesus meant now he's going to rise again. She thought he
was speaking of a distant hope, as we saw in Job chapter 19. You know, I know that a distant
hope in the future, and yet in my flesh shall I see God. In
Psalm 16, pleasures forevermore. You know, in your presence is
life and pleasures forevermore. Psalm 17 and verse 15, As for
me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. Distant future hope in eternity. Isaiah 26 and verse 19, The dead
men shall live Together with my dead body shall
they arise, awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust. For thy
Jew is as the Jew of the herbs, and the earth shall cast out
the dead. A hope of future life in eternity. Daniel chapter 12,
verse 2. And many of them that sleep in
the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and
some to shame and everlasting contempt. There is a future hope,
but Jesus is talking about now, where he was. Martha knew God's
promise that in the midst of death there is hope of eternal
life. So Jesus makes a profound declaration. It's there in verses 25 and 26. Profound words. Another one of
the I am's of John's Gospel. 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? He makes
a profound declaration, and he underlines its truth. The truth
of the words he spoke, the truth that whoever believes in me will
not die. Whoever believes in me shall
never die. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. How do we know? And he underlines
the truth of what he's declared. In the eyes of many that were
there, did you notice that all those that were comforting Mary
at the house, when she got up to go to Jesus, and it was quietly,
it was in secret, nobody announced that Jesus is here, and they
went to follow her to the tomb. So a big crowd went to follow
her to the tomb, so that in the eyes of that many people that
were there, they might see Lazarus raised from the tomb, and attest
to the truth of the words that this man Jesus spoke. See, This
is where you're all going, it's effectively what he was saying
to them. As Lazarus is, so will all of you be one day, and so
will all who I'm speaking to now be one day, and so will I
one day. We're going the same way as Lazarus.
Whether it be by sickness, or by accident, or by injury, or
by just sheer old age, we're going to die. we're going to
leave this body of death. We're going to leave it. It's
going to decay back to the dust from which it came. And so many
people, as Hebrews chapter 2 tells us, through fear of death, are
all their lifetimes subject to bondage. You don't believe me?
Look around in the current situation. Look how many people still twenty
months into this saga and more probably are absolutely terrified
to walk down the same side of the pavement as you because they're
convinced that they're going to catch it and if they catch
it it's a death sentence well of course it isn't for the vast
majority it isn't but anyway it's a reality in life death
is a reality but look look look at what he performs hear his
claim that you shall live if you believe in him and see its
proof, Lazarus rising from the dead. Verse 34, he asks them,
where is he? He said to them, where have you
laid him? And they said, come and see. Where have you laid
him? And they say, come and see, and
then we see his real humanity. A very short verse, just two
words, Jesus wept. The man, who is God, who knows
what he's going to do, who knows the end from the beginning, for
he ordains all things, nevertheless, as a man, as a man, as the man,
the God-man, He's filled with the feeling
of our infirmities, touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
we read. Our high priest is. He knows what it's like to feel
human emotion. And here's his friend who has
died, and he knows what he's going to do, but the man weeps
tears of grief at the grave of Lazarus. Even though he knows
what he's going to do, he weeps tears of grief there. Look at
his real humanity. The man, our high priest, touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. He wept real grief. What a mystery. And then, verse 41, they took
away the stone from the tomb. No doubt, as Martha said, there
was a smell of rotting flesh coming out of it. And Jesus lifted
up his eyes, and he prays, and he speaks to his father. And
when he had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth. And he that had been dead came
forth, walked out, bound hand and foot, flesh restored, seeing,
and People all around, looking on this, seeing, many believed,
is what it says in verse 45. Many of the Jews which came to
Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on
him. They believed that he was who
he said he was. They believed that the words
he spoke were the words of God, that he was speaking to them.
That he was Jesus, who was God in flesh, come to redeem. from
sin's curse, and to purchase their everlasting life. Jesus
declares in verse 25, going back to that, He is the resurrection
and the life. You see, the resurrection of
Christ from the death of the cross, you know, some people,
in the name of Christianity, remember years ago there was
a Bishop of Durham in England, up in the north of England, Jenkins,
wasn't it his name? You know, he said it wasn't necessary
to believe in the resurrection. He himself, even though he was
a bishop in the nation's church, just shows what a sham, what
a complete empty facade it really is. He said it wasn't necessary
to believe in the resurrection. The resurrection of Christ from
the death of the cross affirms his role as the mediator between
God and man. It affirms the fact that He is
the One who can mediate as High Priest for His people. It affirms
that He is King, for He raised Him from the dead. He didn't
leave Him. Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell. He raised Him
from the dead. It proves that His sacrifice
paid the sin debt of His people. It vindicates the justice of
God and raised Him from the dead in that He paid the penalty for
His people. Who did He die for? The sheep,
as we were seeing last week. He was crucified for the crime
of blasphemy because he said he was the Son of God. The Jewish
leaders crucified him. By wicked hands they took him
and crucified the Lord of glory, yet it was all according to the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. They were utterly guilty
of a wicked crime, yet it was all according to the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God to glorify his Son. and that His Son might redeem
His people from the curse of the law. They crucified Him for
blasphemy, for saying He was the Son of God, and that meant
He was equal with God. But God gave His testimony in
raising Him from the dead, as Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans
chapter 1 and verse 4, that Jesus was declared to be the Son of
God with power. that Jesus was declared to be
God come in the flesh for the purpose of redemption. He was
declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit
of holiness. How? By the resurrection from
the dead. It's his resurrection that proves
all of his claims. When he rose, all of the church,
all of his people, the multitude that no man can number, were
raised in him. by virtue of their eternal union
with Him from before the beginning of time, the Bride of Christ
betrothed to Him before the beginning of time, the sheep of the Father
given to the Son. Ephesians 2 verse 6, He has,
God has raised us up, His people, the multitude, together with
Christ and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. Jesus crucified and risen. Jesus, let me say it clearly,
Jesus crucified and risen from the dead is the object of all
true faith. It's the object of the faith
of God's elect. All the believer's hope concerning
God and eternity rests in the fact of the resurrection of Christ. I am the resurrection and the
life, is what he says in Acts chapter 4 and verse 33. And with great power gave the
apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great
grace was upon them all. What was the core of the preaching
of the apostles in the early days of the New Testament church?
It was witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
really did rise from the dead. It isn't an optional extra. There
is no true faith. There is no true life of God
without it. He is the life. So death could not hold him.
If he is the resurrection and the life, true life, the source
of life, the only life, if all other life derives from him,
if he didn't rise, there is no proof that he is God and giving
life to all. Death couldn't hold him because
he is the life. What is this mystery of life? What is it? Do you ever think
about it? Do you ever wonder? Of course
you do. Life is in God alone. Life is from God alone. Life,
true life, is manifested in His Son, by whom He made the worlds. That's where life is, in the
Son of God. He, the Word, in the beginning
was the Word, He spoke and it was done. He breathed life into
the dust of the ground, and Adam became a living soul. He is life. He is the source of life. He
is The life which is the light of men, John 1 verse 4. He is
the spark of sentience, if I can put it that way, the spark of
living awareness. He is the life, that which goes
when a person dies, that which is there no longer. In verse
9 of John chapter 1, he says, he is that true light which lights
every man which comes into the world. He's elect and non-elect,
he gives that spark of sentience to every single one of them,
such that in 1 John chapter 5, and verses 11 and 12, we read
this, this is the record. that God hath given to us eternal
life, His people, eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. He
that hath the Son hath life. Do you have the Son of God? Is
He the object of your faith, of your desire? He that hath
the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life. You might be alive now, but it's
only for a while. These are very bold claims to
make. Would you believe someone who told you these things? Probably
not. Would you take note of what they
said? You might do if you'd been there.
And you saw with your own eyes, as this crowd did, a rotting
corpse, a decaying corpse, bound with grave clothes, come to life
and to walk out. And some days later, as we read
on from the reading in John chapter 12, some days later, Jesus is
back there and they're having a meal. And there's Lazarus,
the one that was dead and rotting for four days. He sat with him
at the table, talking with him, communing with him and the others
that were there. This was a real resurrection. This was a remarkable
miracle. What about the consequences?
Verse 25, I have to be quick. 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. These are the consequences. Because he is the resurrection
and life, any without distinction who believe in him, what is it
to believe? not mentally ascend, it's to
trust. It's to lean your soul's eternal
weight on Him. I am persuaded, said Paul, that
He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against
that day. I've put my soul in His hands. He is able to keep
it. He is able to bring me through
that day of judgment. He is able to justify me from
all my sins. And even though spiritually dead
from the fall in Adam, and even though condemned by the law that
Adam broke, the law of God, the law of the justice of God that
was written in the heart of man, and though convicted by our own
conscience if God's Spirit does His work and shows us what we
are as sinners, And we're unable to change the verdict of God,
and we're deserving of God's eternal condemnation. Yet, says
Jesus, he that believes in me, despite all of those fallen,
sinful, condemnatory things, yet shall he live. Because this
one, because this Jesus, because this one who is God, alone. has
accomplished redemption, purchased back from the curse of the law.
He's paid sins price in his death and his resurrection. As Romans
4.25 says, he was delivered for our offenses, crucified for our
offenses, for our sins, in place of us, and raised again from
the dead to prove that it's accepted for our justification. And into
all for whom Christ died and rose, Into them the Holy Spirit
breathes the life of God to commune with God. And verse 26, whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Because the Holy Spirit
has breathed that life of God in. one born again of God's Spirit,
given the life of God, so as to be able to feel what you are
as a dead man in the flesh, yet assured that in Christ you will
never die. Your body will die, but you will
never die that second death. under the curse of sin and be
condemned to hell, for there is no condemnation now to those
who are in Christ Jesus. This is what Paul meant when
he said in Philippians 3 verse 10, that I may know him. I want
this, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection.
Is that not the power of his resurrection? It's that that
gives you assurance. It's that that gives you assurance
of eternal life. Knowing this, living in the good
of it, resting your soul's hope on Him and His accomplished redemption. This is surely what Paul says
to the Ephesians, every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in
Christ. This is surely what Jesus spoke
about when He said, I came to give them life and that they
might have it more abundantly. This is abundant life. Like I
said, using that analogy, the majority of people in this world
live their lives like those slimy creatures that prefer damp, dark,
cold places under a stone. And there are others who love
to come out in the sunshine on a glorious morning like it is
this morning. That's how different it is. If
you know nothing of the life of God, you know nothing of the
light of God and the truth of God, then you're as aware of
the things of God as a slimy creature living in the dark under
a stone is aware of the lovely warmth of a beautiful, sunny
morning like this. This is the challenge that Jesus
puts out. He says to Martha, he says at
verse 26 at the end, Believest thou this? Do you believe this?
Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. In this evil world,
that grows worse day by day, and surely, we cannot deny it,
where else is any comparable peace and assurance of eternal
good than in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the
life. If you believe on Him, I know
I like this verse, but then in this world of turmoil, this world
of turmoil where so many people are in fear. Psalm 4 verse 8,
I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only
makest me to dwell in safety. Amen.