Look at the last three verses
of, or the last three words of verse 26 of John chapter 11 when
the Lord asks this question to Martha. Believest thou this? Believest thou this? That's what
I've entitled this message. Believest thou this? Lazarus has been dead four days
with the smells that come from a decaying body reeking in his
tomb. Graveyard dead. And the Lord assures Martha,
thy brother shall rise again. Verse 24 of John, chapter 11,
Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the
resurrection of the last day. I already know that. I understand
that there will be a resurrection. that'll take place on the last
day. Do you know that the belief in the resurrection is unique
to what people call the Abrahamic religions? I hate using that
term, but that's what they call Christianity and Muslim and Judaism. They all have the common founding
father, Abraham, they say. And only in those three religions
is there a belief in a literal resurrection of the dead. This is taught clearly in both
Old Testament and New Testament. I want to read a passage of scripture
from Job 19, which is said to be the oldest book in the Bible. Whether it is or not, I don't
know, but it's said to be that. We read in verse 25 of Job chapter
19, For I know that My Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand
on the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms
destroy this body that's going to be the end of my body and
your body yet in my flesh will I see God I'm going to be raised
from the dead and 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." So the Old Testament clearly
taught the resurrection of the dead. In Matthew chapter 22,
there were some Sadducees who denied the resurrection, and
if you want to return there to Matthew chapter 22, they had told the story of a woman who
had seven different husbands. And they all died, and they said,
which one is going to be her husband in the resurrection?
And this they were saying because they didn't believe in the resurrection.
Now, in verse 28 of Matthew chapter 22, therefore, in the resurrection,
whose wife shall she be of the seven? For all had her. And Jesus
answered and said unto them, you do err. Now the Sadducees
denied the resurrection. You do err not knowing the scriptures
nor the power of God. All error comes from those two
things, doesn't it? You don't know the scriptures
nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, They
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels
of God in heaven, but as touching the resurrection of the dead.
Have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God saying,
I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. Now, would you have ever thought
that that statement taught the resurrection? That lets us know how deep the
scriptures are, and the Lord tells us He's not the God of
the dead. Abraham lives. Isaac lives. Jacob lives. He's the God of
the resurrection. Now, back to John 11. Martha had demonstrated that
She already understood the resurrection. I know there's going to be a
resurrection the last day and this is glorious. The fact that there's
going to be a final bodily resurrection. I love what Paul said to Agrippa. Why should it be thought a thing
incredible with you that God should rise and raise the dead?
He's all powerful. It's not difficult. Even if someone
has gone through the process of decay, even if someone has
been cremated, it is nothing but ashes. Even if, whatever
the case, God, because of who He is, is able to take a dead
man and raise him from the dead. Now you think of all the advances
we've had in medicine, but here's something Medicine has never
come up with the ability to raise the dead Now back to John chapter 11 Martha said unto him the Lord
Jesus. I know that he shall rise again
in the resurrection at the last day I have no doubt the Lord
taught him this And she knew that there would be a final resurrection. And then the way the Lord answered
her is amazing. Jesus, verse 25, said unto her,
I am the resurrection. It's not an event. 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? That's what I am taught in this
message. Believest thou this? Now the Lord says, I am the resurrection. And this is spoken in the present
tense, but he had not yet died. And he was not yet raised from
the dead, nor had the final resurrection
taken place. So how does he make this claim? I am the resurrection. I am the life. How can he say that? I want you
to turn with me to Revelation chapter 13. Hold your finger
there in John 11. This means something. The resurrection
is not an event. I myself am the resurrection. I am the life. In John chapter 13, and before I read this passage
of scripture, The entire Bible is understood in light of this
verse of Scripture. And really, you don't understand
the message of the Bible if you don't have this verse of Scripture. Verse 8 of Revelation chapter
13. And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship Him. Speaking of this false prophet,
they'll all worship Him. This man who has a false message,
they'll all worship him, whose names are not written in the
book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, do you hear that? Before
the foundation of the world, before there was a creation,
before there was sun, before there were stars, before there
was matter, when all there was was God. in the Trinity of His
sacred persons. Christ was the Lamb slain from
the very foundation of the world. Understand this, the reason the
universe was created, the reason for this was that Christ might
come in time and be slain. He's the Lamb having been slain,
from the foundation of the world. Now stay in Revelation and turn
to Revelation chapter 5. Now while you're turning there,
I want to ask you a question. If before time began, he was the
Lamb slain, did he stay slain before time began? Why Not only
is he the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, he's
the lamb having been raised from the foundation of the world as
the resurrection. Of course he didn't stay slain. Somebody says, do you understand
what you're talking about? No. But I believe it. This is what the Bible teaches.
Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
He's the Lamb raised from the foundation of the world. Now,
in Revelation chapter 5, we're given a look at the end in eternity
future when time is no more. Now, the book of Revelation is
seven visions spoken from three different perspectives or points
of view. That's if you look at the book,
the whole book, it's seven different visions and he gives us a different
view of each vision. Now this vision of Revelation
chapter 5 is the final vision and look what it says. Revelation
chapter 5 verse 1, And I saw in the right hand of him that
sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside sealed
with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? And no man in heaven nor on earth,
neither under the earth was able to open the book, neither to
look thereon. And I wept much because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and low
in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts and in the
midst of the elders stood a lamb. as it had been slain. But it's no more slain, is he?
He's raised, he was slain. Now this is a look at eternity
future. Eternity past, the lamb having been slain from the foundation
of the world. Eternity future, when he looked
for that lion, what did he see? And behold, lo in the midst of
the throne, verse six, of the four beasts in the midst of the
elders stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns
and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth
into all the earth. And he came and took the book. He didn't ask for it. He didn't
say, but I have it, please. He came as equal to the father,
the lamb having been slain and took the book, that book that
had the names of those written in the lamb's book of life from
the foundation of the world. The lamb slain and raised in
the eternities must be slain and raised in time. The Lord says to her, I am the
resurrection. We're not looking to some past
event. I am the resurrection and the life. Now the Lord told
his disciples on three different occasions that he would be slain.
And the third day he would be raised from the dead. I mean,
he told them that as plain as day. You couldn't mistake it.
And yet none of the disciples were there at the tomb waiting
on that third day for him to be raised. Why? They didn't believe. They didn't believe. I believe the only one who did
of all the disciples was Mary because the Lord said that she
had anointed my body for the burial. You remember that story.
There was one disciple of all the disciples that seemed to
have some kind of belief that he would be raised from the dead.
Mary. And he says the resurrection
is not an event. I'm the lamb slain. and raised
from the foundation of the world in an eternity future. I'm the
Lamb slain and raised from the foundation of the world. Now, in Hebrews chapter 6 verse
2, the writer to the Hebrews speaks of the doctrine of the
resurrection of the dead. the doctrine of the resurrection
of the dead. Now somebody says, well I can't believe, don't really
believe that somebody that's dead and has gone through the
process of decay can be raised from the dead. God is enabled, has the power
to raise somebody from the dead just like he has the power to
create the universe. To believe that Somehow the universe
just came out of some primordial stew at one cell being and now
all of a sudden we have all of this. There's a lot more blind
faith involved in that than there is in believing that God created
the universe and that God can raise the dead. God's all powerful.
It's not difficult for God to raise the dead. Now, in the scripture, there
are three resurrections taught. First, the bodily resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. I mean, when he was on that cross,
he died. They took down a dead corpse
and put it in the tomb. And he was in that tomb for three
days, dead, graveyard dead. Somebody says, how can Jesus
Christ die if he's the God-man? I don't know, but I know he did.
He did, suffering under the wrath of God, and he died. And he was
in that tomb in darkness. And all of a sudden, his heart
began to beat. And he breathed, and he opened
his eyes. No one witnessed this but his
father. No human being witnessed it. But from that dark tomb, he arose. And the scripture says
he was delivered for our offenses. That's why he died. He was delivered
from our offenses. The sins of God's elect were
laid on Him. He bore our sins in His own body
on the tree. That's why He died. But He did
something no one else could do. He satisfied the justice of God,
the offended law of God. He satisfied. You and I couldn't
do that. The reason hell is eternal, because
we can never satisfy. God can never say, well, they've
suffered enough. Even though they killed my son,
they've suffered enough. Now I'm letting them off the
hook. No, there's no satisfaction.
That's why hell is eternal. If somebody killed your child,
they couldn't come up to you and say, well, is $10 million
enough to satisfy you? No. No, I can't be satisfied. The only way I can be satisfied
is if my child is raised from the dead and complete satisfaction. is made and justice is meted
out. I have to have both of those things. God had them in His Son. The reason God is satisfied with
me and God is satisfied with me is because of what Jesus Christ
did for me. He lived for me. He died for
me. He was raised for me. Satisfaction. The second resurrection taught. The first is the bodily resurrection
of Christ. The second resurrection that's
taught is the spiritual resurrection that takes place in the new birth.
You and I are born into this world spiritually dead, dead
in trespasses and sins. If you are hearing this message
and have no understanding or no interest, it's because you're
dead. in trespasses and sin, spiritually
dead. When Adam died, we all died in him. We're born into
this world without the ability to have spiritual life. We're
dead. And that's a blameworthy thing.
You say, but don't you feel sorry for him? Yeah, in a sense I do.
I understand that, but I'm to be blamed for my spiritual deadness.
It's because of sin against God. When Adam sinned against God,
I sinned against God. When Adam fell, I fell. When
Adam died, I died. And I'm born into this world
dead in trespasses and sins. And then there's a spiritual
resurrection that takes place. And you hath he quickened, hath
he given life to, who were dead in trespasses and sins. There's
a spiritual resurrection from the dead. That's what happens
in the new birth when God gives life. And then the third resurrection
is the final resurrection. Listen to the Lord's words in
John chapter 5 verses 28 and 29, the hour is coming in which
all that are in the graves, you're going to be in the grave one
of these days unless the Lord comes back. This is the heritage of
every one of us, death. The hour is coming in which all
that are in their graves shall hear His voice, and they shall
come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of
life, and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of
damnation. Now the Lord talks about a final
resurrection. Everybody's gonna hear His voice.
Everybody's gonna be raised from the dead. And there are two ends,
the resurrection of life, given to those who have done good,
and I love the way the Lord says this. He doesn't say to those
who I died for them, although that's the reason they're good,
but he says with regard to every believer, you've done good. That is the synopsis of the life
of every believer. You've done good. because Christ
did good, and His goodness is my goodness. His righteousness
is my righteousness. His life is my life. That's why
I have confidence with regard to judgment. I've done good. I'm going to hear, well done,
thou good and faithful servant. And you know, even when I say
that, I cringe because I know how sinful I am, or I have some
idea of how sinful I am, but yet This is what every believer
is going to hear. That's they that have done good.
Not just they that have had Christ's righteousness imputed to them,
although that's true. They that have done good. That is the summary
of the life of every believer. They that have done good unto
the resurrection of life and they that have done evil to the
resurrection of damnation. What a horrible thought to be
raised to know that you're going to spend eternity under God's
wrath, and it won't stop. That's scary to even think about
and talk about, isn't it? But there we have it. Now, every
believer has experienced all three of these resurrections. First, when Christ was raised
from the dead, guess who else was? everybody he represented. And let me show you this in the
scripture. Turn to Ephesians 2. I'd like you to look at this
with me. Ephesians chapter 2. Verse 4, but God who is rich
in mercy, for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. When Christ was quickened and
raised from the dead, I was too. Every believer was. and hath raised us up together. When Christ was raised, I was
raised, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. Now, that's how Christ is the
resurrection. When he was raised, I was raised. When he sat down at the right
hand of the Father, everybody in him sat down at the right
hand of the Father. So I was raised then, and then
I've had this spiritual resurrection when I was born from above and
given life from the dead, and then I'm going to experience
that final resurrection when I'm raised from the dead incorruptible,
perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Well, it's hard
to imagine, but when I'm going to be raised, I'm not going to
be a sinner anymore. I'm going to be without fault
before God. And that's the heritage of every
single believer. The Lord said, I am the resurrection
and the life. Verse 25, I'm the resurrection
and the life. John 11, 25. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, dead in sins, Yet shall he live, and
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest
thou this? Do you believe this? Notice he says, whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Note the order. Now, you can't believe unless
you have life. A natural man can't believe he's
dead. You can't believe unless you're given life by God. Life,
spiritual life, must come before faith. Now, logically, life has
to come before faith. Chronologically, they come at
the precise same time. When you hear the gospel and
believe, life. God gave you life, and that is
why you believe. And I love the way the Lord makes
this order. Whoso liveth and believeth in
me shall never die. Now, wait a minute. You mean
to say you're never gonna die? Well, this body's gonna die.
No doubt. But do you know the spirit that
I'm going to have in heaven, the holy nature that worships
God? I've got it right now. I've got
it right now. And you know what? It's never
going to die. It's going to live in heaven.
Now, my body is going to be laid down, die, and in the resurrection
I'm going to be given a new body, a heavenly spiritual body. What
all that is, I don't know, but I like thinking about it. It's
what the Bible teaches. You know, the stuff we believe,
it's because the Bible says it. That's why we believe. It's because
of what the Bible says. I love the Word of God. I'm so
thankful God gave a revelation of Himself. What would we know
without the Bible? The Bible is the Word of God.
Now, if you believe that God is able to create the universe,
you also believe God is able to inspire a word and keep it
preserved. I have no problem with that.
Somebody says, I just can't believe the Bible is the Word of God.
I'm sorry. I know it is. It's the word of the living God,
and the word of the living God reveals this to us. The Lord
says to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. Now, when does
a man have spiritual life? When he believes. When he believes the gospel.
You know, Romans 10 verse 4 says, Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Do you believe? Do you believe that His righteousness
is the only righteousness you have? Do you believe that? You're
trusting His righteousness as your righteousness before God.
That's life. That's spiritual life. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Why
do you know that's the evidence of election? How do I know if
I'm elect? How do I know if God chose me
before time began to be saved? Well, Acts 13, 48 says, as many
as were ordained to eternal life believed. That's who believes. Those who have been ordained
to eternal life. Now that person who lives and
believes in me shall never die. Now, I am the resurrection. Most people who don't fall under
the umbrella of professing Christianity do not believe in a resurrection.
I remember when Paul was preaching on Mars Hill in Acts chapter
17 and he started talking about the resurrection and it says
they began to mock. That's the most ridiculous thing
I've ever heard. But most of what goes on under
the name of Christianity And you know, I don't even like the
term Christianity. I think it's maybe a better term would be
Christian sanity. You know, as far as what most
stuff is that goes on under the name of Christianity, I'm ashamed
of it. I don't want to be identified with it. Man's religion that
goes under the name of Christianity. But just about everybody that
professes Christianity believes in a resurrection. Yes, I believe
Christ was raised from the dead. I really believe that. I believe
He was raised from the dead. I believe that there'll be a
final resurrection. I believe that. But did you know
that if all you believe is that it happened and you have no understanding
of why it happened, you don't really know what saving faith
is. Just believing that the event
took place and not knowing what the Lord meant when he said,
I am the resurrection and the life. Paul said in Romans chapter
10, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. Now, what's the heart? Well,
the heart is the mind, it's the affections, it's the will. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. With my understanding, I understand
that Jesus Christ is my righteousness before God, that when he was
raised from the dead, my righteousness was accomplished. Not only do
I understand that, as much as it could be understood, I love it. And that's the way I want it
to be. I don't want it to be any other way. I am the resurrection,
our Lord said. I am the life. He that believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Believest thou this? Think of
the Lord asking you this question personally. Believest thou this? Why was Christ raised from the
dead? It's not enough to believe that
He was raised from the dead. Most people believe that. Why
was Christ raised from the dead? Now let me close by giving you
five or six real brief sentences with regard to His resurrection. The reason Christ was raised
from the dead was because it was God's eternal purpose for
Him to do so. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He's the Lamb having been raised from
the foundation of the world. You see, this is the glory of
God. Jesus Christ living and dying
and being raised from the dead is the very glory of the living
God. Christ was raised from the dead
because He said He would be. That's enough. Whatever He says
must come to pass. He said he would be raised from
the dead. He told his disciples only three different occasions
it would take place. It took place. Third, the justice of God demanded
his resurrection. You see, He did what nobody else
could do. He satisfied God. He satisfied the law of God. He satisfied all of God's demands. He satisfied God to this extent. Everybody He died for, God is
completely satisfied with. He's not looking for anything
else. He's not looking for some work from you. He's completely
satisfied with what His Son did. Only Christ could satisfy God. Romans 4.25 says he was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. The reason
he was raised from the dead is because he justified everybody's
sin. The moment he died, the moment
he died, all of the elect were justified. That's why he was
raised from the dead. He was raised from the dead because
of who he is. It was not possible for him to
stay dead. That's what the scripture says.
It was not possible for him to stay dead. Now I want you to,
in closing, turn with me to 1 Peter 3. Verse 21. 1 Peter 3, verse
21. The like figure wherein to even
baptism doth also now save us. You mean baptism saves? The act of baptism doesn't save
going under the water and coming back up. Do you think that would
satisfy God? It's what it represents. The like figure wherein to even
baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh in the act of going under the water, but the answer
of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. You're the only thing that satisfies
a believer's conscience. The resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. That's it. My conscience is clear. Well, if your conscience is clear,
it's because it's seared. That's the problem. I don't feel
guilty about that. Well, y'all do. The only thing that satisfies
and quiets a conscience and makes it know that God is satisfied
is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That's
the only thing that I have hope in, his resurrection, that God
is satisfied with what he did, and he put away sin, and I really
have no sin to feel guilty about. That's what the resurrection
of Christ tells me. I have no sin. He was manifested to take away
our sins, and in him is no sin. In Christ Jesus, I have no sin. When he was raised from the dead,
I was justified. I know my brother will be raised
on the final day of the resurrection. I've got my doctrine down on
that. I've been taught well. I know that stuff. Marthy, do
you understand that I am the resurrection? It's not an event. I'm it. I am the life. My life. Here's why I have confidence
with regard to Judgment Day. His life. His perfect life is
my life before God. And if you want to know the truth
about me, read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The life of Christ
is my life before God. I'm the resurrection, I am the
life. What a gospel we have. May the Lord give every one of
us the grace to believe the gospel. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that your
son is eternally the resurrection and the life. And Lord, enable
us to believe this. Enable us to believe that thy
son is the resurrection and the life. Lord, deliver us from believing
anything else. Bless this message for the Lord's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.