Well I want you to turn with
me to John's Gospel chapter 11 and I've entitled the message
this morning Life and Death and the text is verse 26 whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die believest thou this? and death it is a matter of life
and death and there is really nothing more urgent I know it's
a case that often preachers become very melodramatic and yes we've
heard it all before he's talking about life and death and you
know how we're surrounded by death all the time and you can
be you can be young and full of fitness and health and all
of a sudden an illness comes or an accident comes and it becomes
rather cliched I know and we tend to become numb to it but
it's true Absolutely true. We live in a realm of life and
death and it's absolutely urgent. You know the fact that somebody
that you know or more is very dear to you is living. and breathing,
and communicating with you, and talking to you, and laughing,
and crying, and going to work, and doing all of those things,
and loving, and all of those things that people... And then,
in a moment, he's dead. He's dead. The body's dead. Gone.
Finished. End. Can't talk to them anymore.
The end of it. It's finished. But Christ has
spoken of life. Look at verse 25, Jesus said
to her, I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Though he were
dead, yet shall he live. He said in chapter 10 and verse
10, he said that he came that they might have life and that
they might have it his people might have it more abundantly
he's talking about abundant life and yet we live in a world of
death and it's a universal experience obviously and why is it here
why do we live in this world of death well it's sin it's because
of sin sin is the cause of death this is you say well I don't
understand that I can't see why that's reasonable You know, as
I was saying, that famous woman in the article about wanting
to meet God more than anything else, to tell him a thing or
two about the mess he's made of the universe. This is what
she says, some famous actress. She wants to tell him a thing
or two because she thinks that things could have been done so
much better. This is God's universe. This is God's world. He, He is
the absolute standard. He sets the rules and the laws. It's His laws. It's His justice. It's His righteousness that is
the standard. He is the one who rules over
all things. And He has said that the soul
that sins, it shall die. He said that more than once in
the book of Ezekiel chapter 18. The soul that sins, it shall
die. In the day that you eat thereof,
he said to Adam, in the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely
die. And what do we read in the scriptures
over and over again? And so and so lived to so many
years, and he died. And so and so lived to so many
years, and he died. And so and so did all sorts of
things, and he died. And he died. And he died. Very,
very few. Enoch did not die, was taken. He was there and God took him.
God took him as a foretaste of what he will do with the spirits
of all of his people. Take them to be with him. It's God's universe. He sets the rules. It's him that
says you earn the results of your sin. For the wages of sin
is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
And what we're talking about is not just the first death,
the physical death, but the second death that the scriptures speak
of. Of hell. Not of annihilation. Not of that. A conscious state. I don't know how to explain this.
I almost don't like saying it because naturally we should shrink
back from the thought of this. Because it's so alien to our
living and breathing and feeling as people. It's not annihilation,
isn't hell. It's a conscious state of great
loss and bitter regret and anguish. And it's outside of time so it's
frozen in eternity. I don't understand. I don't understand
how these things will be. But this is what the scriptures
indicate. Frozen in eternity outside of time. This state of
extreme loss because of sin. This is all about the world in
which we live and the people we are and the people that we
rub shoulders with. This isn't some abstract theory.
This is practical. It's based on evidence all around
us. We lose loved ones all of the time. Those that are dear
to us Pass on from this life all of the time. We're surrounded
by death all of the time It's appointed to man to die once
says Hebrews 9 verse 27 and then after this the judgment Appointed
once that's it once not multiple reincarnation appointed to man
to die once and then the judgment and God says that your iniquities
in Isaiah 59 your iniquities have separated between you and
me and There's this chasm, there's this massive gulf between the
sinner and the holy God. And the scriptures describe people
in general, and you and me in our natural state, as children
of wrath. You know those that stand up
and say, here's the message of the scriptures, God has a wonderful
plan for your life and he loves you all and that's not what the
scriptures say, you find me one verse that says that, it just
doesn't say it, it talks more like this, God is angry with
the wicked every day. He says that We as we are in
our natural state are children of wrath even as the others.
We're aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Aliens, not accepted
in it by nature. Is there any cause for hope?
Is there any possibility of rescue and salvation? Now Jesus has
said, and many had heard him say, that he has power over life
and death. He'd said it many times, it's
recorded in John many times, how he has power over life and
death. It says in chapter 17, later
than this I know but this was no doubt the mark of his ministry
throughout in chapter 17 and verse 2 in that great high priestly
prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ as thou hast given him power
as the father has given to the son power over all flesh He,
Christ, the Son of God, given by the Father has power over
all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given Him. The Father gave the Son a people
before the beginning of time and He's given power to the Son,
power to give that life, eternal life to all of those whom the
Father had given Him. How? In all that He did. in all
of the gracious things that he did in accomplishing salvation,
in redemption, in the propitiation that is in his blood, given him
power that he might give eternal life to as many as the Father
has given the Son. We saw earlier on in the study
in John chapter 3 at the end of it the testimony of John the
Baptist, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that life in belief in the
Son of God. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life. You shall not be established,
as Isaiah said to Ahaz, you shall not be established, but the wrath
of God abideth on him. He's talking about life and death
and the power of eternal life, power to give eternal life to
as many as the Father has given him. But how will he show that
he has that power? People can come along and claim
all sorts of things. You know, people that look like
ordinary men and women can come along and claim all sorts of
things. How will they show that they have the power to do that
which they claim? What will you need to see, what
will I need to see to trust this man, the Lord Jesus Christ? What
will I need to see to trust him? that he has the power of eternal
life that he has the power that though I die yet shall I live
how will I trust him you see the evidence is so strongly against
this hope isn't it in the midst of death all around us the evidence
is so strong when did you last see somebody rise from the dead
down in the local graveyard when did you last see the casket open
and the person that was dead get up and get up you didn't
it doesn't happen you've never seen it I've never seen it The
evidence is strongly against it. So what's he going to do
to demonstrate that he has the power over eternal life? That he has power over death? He demonstrates his power He
demonstrates God's glory through His works. This is what He said
in verse 38 of the previous chapter. Though you believe not Me, believe
the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is
in Me and I in Him. Believe the works, the miracles,
and Believe me, you hear a lot about miracles in these days
in charismatic Pentecostal circles. You hear, as I said earlier,
they flock to the big churches in London where they feign these
miracles all of the time. These were not. false miracles. These were not
dodgy miracles, these were not unconvincing miracles as they
all are. These were absolutely irrefutable
powerful works that demonstrated who Christ was. The background
to this is of course you know we've been seeing all of the
dialogue between Christ and the Pharisees and the rulers and
And so we get to the end of chapter 10 where he goes away from another
set of unbelieving Pharisees to the place where John at first
baptized and there he abode, he stayed there. And we read
that many people resorted to him and said despite what the
Pharisees are saying everything that John said, John the Baptist
said about this man is true and many believed on him there. He
was ministering, away from the spotlight of Jerusalem and Judah. Lazarus and his two sisters lived
in a village called Bethany a couple of miles from Jerusalem very
close to Jerusalem and we read in verse 1 that a certain man
was sick named Lazarus this one was sick of Bethany the town
of Mary and her sister Martha and then John puts in brackets
what he's going to reveal later in the gospel account that it
was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped
his feet with her hair and whose brother Lazarus was sick and
he was ill he was he had a really serious fever and the sort of
fever that in those days there were no antibiotics and antibiotics
couldn't treat and he was sick and it was clear that if nothing
was done he was going to die so the sister sent for Jesus
saying Lord verse 3 behold he whom you love is sick he whom
you love is sick and when Jesus heard that Jesus the man heard
that in the distant place not near to Bethany when he heard
that when the news came to him he said to his disciples this
sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God all things
ordained for the glory of God that the Son of God might be
glorified thereby now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Jesus loved them. Jesus loved
them with a discriminating love. Aren't the Scriptures full of
that? A discriminating love. Again, you know, Jesus loves
you and has a wonderful plan for your life. The Scriptures
generally do not say that. They talk about discriminating,
electing love. But these had been singled out
for a trial. They'd been singled out for a
trial to display God's glory. This was a great trial, they
were in great grief and anguish because Lazarus was sick and
they knew he was going to die. The medical treatment couldn't
do anything for him. They knew they were going to
lose this one that they loved so much and who did they send
for? Jesus, whom they'd heard and loved and heard his words
and rejoiced in his words and they sent for him because He
had the power of life and death and they sent for him if only
he would come then our brother will not die. But this sickness
was ordained for God's glory for God is glorified when the
Son is glorified. What did Jesus pray in John 17?
Glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the beginning
of time because in that God is glorified and he's glorified
in saving his people for Moses said show me your glory and he
said I'll show you my glory you shall not see my face but I'll
show you my glory I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Notice
here as we're passing this notice the two natures of our Lord Jesus
Christ notice that he's God and he's man in the one being. Two persons in one being. Two
natures of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is omniscient as God. He knows
all things as God. He's omnipresent as God. He's
everywhere as God. he knows all things because he
ordains all things and he'd ordained this situation with Lazarus and
this fatal sickness he'd ordained it because he was going to be
glorified in it he was going to accomplish his purposes through
it as God he knew all about this situation because he had ordained
it but notice he's also a man and he's touched with the feeling
of our infirmities I tell you, my friends this morning, think
of this. the one who is our God and Savior is a man who is touched
with the feelings of his people's infirmities he has felt grief
he wept he was at a physical distance from Lazarus and he
was touched with human feeling and he's touched with the feeling
of love for this man and his sisters and when he comes there
knowing exactly what he was going to do as God The man stood at
the tomb, the shortest verse in the Bible, verse 35, Jesus
wept. This man who was God, who knew
exactly what he was going to do, in that moment he wept. he wept over Jerusalem when he
looked at the man Jesus wept over Jerusalem when he looked
at Jerusalem and saw that hard heart of unbelief that was there
in the face of all that he'd done and said in the face of
all of the tender care that that vineyard had been given when
he saw that he wept over it and here the man wept at the tomb
of Lazarus physical distance but nevertheless
touched with human feeling, weeping and groaning with human compassion.
And so he is a great high priest, Hebrews 4.15, he's a great high
priest who is touched with the feelings of his people's infirmities. This is the one who is God who
became a man in order to save people, men and women. He became
a man. He had to become a man. He had
to take on the flesh of the children, as Hebrews 2 says, in order to
save the children from their sins. So we see the two natures
of the Lord Jesus Christ most vividly. We can't understand
it, but here it is. It's written clearly in Scripture.
Here he is, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God, and yet at the
same time a man with human feelings and emotions, just as we are.
The feelings of our infirmities, And Lazarus dies, as we all must,
because Jesus didn't go in response to the request. No, the glory
of God was at stake. And the glory of God was to be
demonstrated so that he might be glorified as the Savior of
his people, so that his people might see and might have a solid
hope of eternal life. And so Lazarus died of this sickness,
as was the common way in those days without that medical treatment
Lazarus died and still does these days despite medical treatment
it does happen still and the grief of the sisters we see here
this is heartbreaking grief some of us so far have been preserved
it but you know when you lose one who is really dear you know
this is the sort of grief that you only know when you experience
it first hand and these sisters experienced this grief of the
loss of this dear brother and they were filled with regret
that Jesus hadn't been there if only they kept saying if only
if only he'd been here if only you'd been here then he wouldn't
have died he could have healed him just as he healed others
because they'd seen other miracles, they'd heard of other miracles
but he died and he was truly dead because we read that he'd
been in the tomb for four days he was truly dead others had
been raised from the dead there was the widow of Nain's son you
know they came across a funeral and there was the casket being
carried by the mourners Jesus passed by and he touched the
man and there in his casket he just sits up and he's alive. Now in those days they didn't
hang around with undertakers for sort of seven to ten days
like we do in our society before a funeral takes place. The person
died and you'll still see it these days in those cultures
in warmer climates you get on with it I mean it's normally
no more than the next day before the funeral takes place. So here
was one who was very recently dead, the widow of Nain's son.
And there was also Jairus' daughter who was still in her sickbed
but had died and was raised. But this one, Lazarus, was four
days in the tomb. Four days. Four days. Too late! Is that too late for Jesus to
do anything about it? You see, the best of medicine
still in our days draws a very, very clear line, doesn't it?
Very clear line. you see there are all sorts of
indications the heart stops, oh that might not be properly
dead so we look for other things the breathing stopped as well
we look to see whether the pupils dilate when a torch is shined
in them there are all sorts of vital indications that a doctor
checks and then when there are no responses to any of those
vital indications the doctor certifies this patient is dead
beyond all hope beyond all hope of medical recovery What's this
body now fit for? This body that was the person
that you loved and was living and breathing and speaking and
loving and communicating with you, what's this body now fit
for? It's fit only for burial or for
cremation. That's all it's fit for. It's
just a dead body. It's just a corpse. It's going
to return to the dust from which it came. And yet in verse 23,
Jesus says to Martha, Jesus said unto her, thy brother shall rise
again. She said in verse 21, if you
had been here, my brother had not died. He wouldn't have died
if you'd been here. But I know that even now, whatever you ask
of God, God will give it to you. And Jesus said to her, your brother
shall rise again. He will rise again. Others had
risen. Others had. She knew from the
scriptures that others had. She'd seen and heard of other
miracles. There was Elijah and that widow's
son. the ones that we mentioned, the widow of Nain's son, Jairus'
daughter and others. But Martha didn't understand
that he meant right now was he going to rise again. Martha said
to him in verse 24, I know, okay I know in the future, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
She thought he was just speaking of eternal hope Just is the wrong
word there. What a fantastic hope that is.
But that's what she thought. She didn't think anything was
going to happen here and now. She thought he was referring
to the eternal hope of resurrection. As we read in the book of Job,
there's no need to turn to it because the words are so familiar,
where Job in all of his anguish says, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth and that at first worms after my
skin, worms destroy this body yet in my flesh this destroyed
decayed return to dust flesh yet in that restored shall I
see my God I know that my Redeemer liveth and then look this is
a couple that are worth looking at, Psalms, Psalm 16 turn over
to Psalm 16 because Martha and her sister knew these
things, they were in the scriptures, they'd been taught them no doubt.
Verse 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth.
My flesh also shall rest in hope, for thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell. Obviously speaking of Christ,
this is Christ. But all of those who are in him
share this hope. Thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness
of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures.
forevermore. And then turn to the next psalm,
17, and the last verse of it, verse 15. As for me, this is
the hope of believers. As for me, is it your hope now? Is it my hope? As for me, I will
behold thy face in righteousness. I'm a sinner but I will behold
thy face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with
thy likeness we don't know what we shall be says John but we
know this when we shall see him we shall be like him for we shall
see him as he is I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness
yes Martha had this hope of eternity of a resurrection in eternity
at the last day another one Isaiah chapter 26 Isaiah chapter 26
when I eventually get there sorry for
the delay 26 and verse 19 thy dead men shall live together
with my dead body shall they arise awake and sing ye that
dwell in dust ye that dwell in dust right what that's that's
those that have gone before that have died and their bodies have
returned to the dust of the earth for as God said to Adam dust
you are and to dust you shall return awake and sing you dry
bones in Ezekiel's valley of dry bones for thy dew is as the
dew of herbs and the earth shall cast out the dead this is resurrection
that this is speaking about we could go on but we won't for
the sake of time but Daniel 12 and verse 2 speaks of the same
thing of resurrection Martha knew these things she knew the
promise of scriptures she knew God's promise that in the midst
of death there is life But how? Look what he says, verses 25
and 26. She says, I know that he shall
rise again in the resurrection at the last day, but now he's
gone and we have to live the next few years without him until
we die. But Jesus said to 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? Whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die, shall never experience
that second death, that eternal death, that death of judgment
and condemnation. Believest thou this? She said
to him, just as Peter said in Matthew 16, Who do you say that
I am? Yea, Lord, I believe that thou
art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
I believe that you, the one I am talking to now, are the promised
one of God, from the beginning of time, who should come into
the world. Into the world for what purpose? As John says, he
that believes that Christ is coming to the world, it doesn't
just mean that there was a man called Jesus who existed, it
means that he came to save his people from their sins. That's
what it means. It means he came to accomplish
redemption for those whom the Father had given him before the
beginning of time. Yea, Lord, I believe that you
are that Christ who should come into the world for the purpose
of saving the people that the Father has given to you before
the beginning of time, that we might rise in the last day. through all that you've done.
I am the resurrection and the life. So how, how, how does this
occur? How is it? It's because He is
the surety of His people. It's because He is the surety
His people live in Him. He is our life says Colossians
when Christ who is our life When Christ who is our life shall
appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. When he who
is our life, the Lord Jesus Christ is our life because why? Because
he has accomplished everything that we need for life, for true
life. What do we need? We need the
righteousness of God. For without the righteousness
of God, without that holiness, no man shall see the Lord. We
need that righteousness and he has accomplished it for his people.
We need our sins to be dealt with and put away and blotted
out as far as the east is from the west and he came and bore
our sins so that our sins overwhelmed him so that he sweat as it were
drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane at the prospect
of that being loaded with the sins of his people. Such a dreadful
prospect and the Psalms that talk of the deepest anguish are
all the literal experiences of David and others who wrote the
psalm but nevertheless they're Christ and his experience of
being burdened and crushed by the sins of his people when he
paid their price, when he bore those sins in his own body on
the tree that those sins might not be in the judgment for his
people to bear. My sin, oh the bliss of this
glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole is nailed
to his cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise
the Lord, O my soul. You see if we're in hymn a believer
who dies physically as we all must unless he comes again to
take us to be with him is not dead spiritually but alive, but
alive. We're going to sing that hymn
of Don Faulkner, Don't Stand Around My Grave and Cry. I'll
not be there, just the body's there returning to dust. I'll
not be there I did not die, I was taken to be with him. To be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord. Don't stand around
my grave and cry. Is Christ made of God to you
as 1 Corinthians 1.30 says, the wisdom from God? and righteousness,
all the righteousness you need, and sanctification set apart
by the Father from before the beginning of time, set apart
from this world for the service of God in time, called out of
darkness into marvelous light in time, made a vessel for honor
for the service of our God and Father sanctification and redemption,
oh I don't have any money, I haven't got the price, he's paid it all,
he's paid it all, he's made unto us wisdom from God and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption and how do I know this? And how
do I experience that he is the resurrection and the life? It's
by faith, look at Romans chapter 4 at the end of Romans chapter
4 where Paul is writing about the faith of Abraham. Verse 20, verse 20 down to the
end. He, that is Abraham, staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief. You know, isn't that
what the flesh so often does? It staggers at the promise of
God and doesn't believe and is not established as Isaiah said
to Ahaz. But he was strong in faith, giving
glory to God. And being fully... and remember
don't think this was Abraham's work because we know quite clearly
Paul said, saved by grace through faith and that not of yourselves
it is the gift of God. And being fully persuaded, verse
21, that what he had promised he was able also to perform.
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. that
which Christ did was imputed to Abraham for righteousness,
as that which Christ did is imputed to all his believing people for
righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake, Abraham's sake alone, that it was imputed to him. Not just
the one man, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if
we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.
who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our
justification. Remember what we were seeing
in Isaiah 7 verse 9? If you believe not, you shall
not be established. But if you believe, you shall
be established. If we believe on Him, this is
imputed, this is credited, we live in the good of it by faith,
we live in the good of the fact that Jesus is the resurrection
and the life. And therefore we have a solid
hope. and so in the face of death where will you find life? Look
at 1 John, John's epistle the first epistle of John and the
fifth chapter look at 1 John and the fifth chapter and verse
11 And this is the record. Well,
verse 10. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. You see, faith. Faith. This is
how you experience it. Faith. He that believeth not
God hath made him a liar. It's not established. Because
he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this
is the record. That God hath given to us eternal
life. And this life is in His Son,
in all that His Son is, in all that His Son has done on behalf
of His people. Then look down to verse 20 of
the same chapter. And we know that the Son of God
is come to save His people and has given us an understanding
by faith, an understanding by faith, a solid rock on which
to build, that we may know Him that is true And we are in Him
that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is true God
and eternal life. In knowing Him, true God and
eternal life. How do we know? How do we know
that His words are true? He demonstrated it by His works.
Chapter 11 of John and verse 43. He said, all of those things
He wept by the grave. He prayed to his father that
those around might hear and know that when this prayer was answered,
when this miracle was performed, it was for the glorification
of his son. And when he had thus spoken, verse 43, he cried with
a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. shouting to a man that had been
dead four days, a man that was in a pretty unpleasant state,
as Mary said, that there'll be a pretty unpleasant smell because
he's been dead four days. He's well on the way to returning
back to the dust from which he came. That decaying, smelling
dead body, fit only for burial and sealing up in a tomb. He
that was dead came forth. He that was dead obeyed the call
of the Son of God. He that was dead physically obeyed
the call of the Son of God. And that same power that was
physically demonstrated is able to make those who are spiritually
dead spiritually alive. You who were dead in trespasses
and sins He has quickened. He's made alive. He's brought
you to life. He's given you a knowledge of
eternal life in His Son. He displayed this power. They
couldn't refute it. If this had been a sham miracle,
how easy it would have been for the authorities to refute it. But many, many saw it. Many witnessed
it. They couldn't counter what was
said. They couldn't say anything against
it. They couldn't deny it. They could
only go, as we'll see later on, they could only go and plot his
final destruction, that they would be rid of him. and as Caiaphas
prophesied don't you realize that one man should die for the
people he was saying it in a way that was completely different
to the prophetic meaning that God gave it that one man should
die for the people that's all that they could do but the fact
of the miracle was undeniable a man who was dead four days
was raised to life now then that has never been repeated that
has never been You know, it's not something
that's written in our history books, but it's irrefutable and
it's here as the testimony of the uniqueness of this man, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has power. I am the
resurrection and the life, he said. He that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. How do I know? He raises
a man that's been dead four days in a tomb. Lazarus, come forth. Do you believe this? Do you believe
this? Do you trust your immortal soul
to the safekeeping of this man? Yes, Lord, she says. Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ.
I believe that you're the God-man who has come to save his people.
Therefore, in you, as you live, so will I. As he is raised for
our justification so shall his people be raised in him. And
that gives us a solid hope and that gives us a solid assurance
of eternal life and you know that's the best best trigger
for evangelistic witness that you live with that hope of eternal
life in your soul spilling out that these things that alarm
and concern everybody all around us because of the hopelessness
of the... without Christ and without hope
in this world yet having this hope that's the best trigger
for witness. Be ready to give a reason to
anybody that asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you be
ready to give an answer. I can't remember I didn't quote
it exactly right but you know the verse what is it 1 Peter 3 15
or somewhere around there I think I am the resurrection and the
life. He raised Lazarus from the dead. Trust him.