I Am The Resurrection

Patience is defined as patiently enduring difficulty and affliction without murmuring and complaining. And I spent some time talking about how the Israelites, after they were delivered from Egypt, God brought them out into the wilderness and began to try their faith. And they began to murmur and complain.

And I realized, you know, three days without water, that's an affliction, that's a trial. And yet, God expected them to trust Him and to honor Him and to glorify Him. And so God wants to glorify Himself, but He does so with our faith and our faith in Him, He is able to glorify Himself.

So I'd like to go back here this morning, if you're listening here to John chapter 11 and pick up with our story here of Lazarus and him being raised from the dead. We've already talked about how that Lazarus was sick and that the girls, Martha and Mary, had sent for Jesus. And that when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, the Bible says He waited two days.

And He did not go immediately to help. And the reason was He wanted to bring glory to God in a far greater way than simply healing sickness. He wanted to raise up Lazarus from the dead.

So He waited for two days, and then He begins His journey. And so Lazarus then dies. And so I'd like to pick up here with the story.

In verse number 17, Jesus is now heading to where Lazarus is laying, and Martha and Mary. So I'd like to look at this passage here and share with you what the Lord shared with me. So let's pray, and then we'll take these verses one at a time and try to draw some lessons for life from them.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for all that You do for us. Thank You for the trials that our nation and the world is going through right now. Lord, may we as a church glorify You in the midst of this affliction.

Lord, may our hearts be full of faith. And Lord, may we stand for the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Lord, thank You for the opportunities that we have to communicate here by phone.

And I pray Your blessing now upon the teaching and preaching of Your Word. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right. Here we are. We have a couple of families here at the church.

Brother Dennis' family and my wife is here with some of the children and Emily. And so let's jump in here in verse number 17. Then when Jesus came, He found that He, Lazarus, had lain in grave four days already.

Now keep in mind this, and I did a little study on the decomposing of the body, but the process of decomposition begins after three days. And so Lazarus has been in grave now for four days. And I don't know all the theological implications here, but in Acts chapter 2, Peter, in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, makes a claim about the body of Jesus.

And I'd like to read it to you in Acts chapter 2, starting in verse 29. He's preaching and he says, Let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.

Now verse 31. Neither his flesh did see corruption. And so to Peter, it's important here that when Jesus was killed, he died, his soul was not left in hell, but he says also neither did his flesh see corruption.

Three days, Jesus said he would be in the grave, not four days, because the fourth day his body would begin to corrupt. And so three days he was in the heart of the earth. But here is Lazarus, though.

Lazarus's body is now beginning to decompose. Lazarus's body is beginning to decompose. And if you look over, if you have your Bible, John chapter 11, verse 39, Jesus is telling the people there at the grave to move away the stone from the mouth of the cave.

And in verse 39, Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. In other words, in Martha's mind, Lazarus is already beginning to decompose.

Now I did a little study here, but historically the Jews believed, and maybe this was a superstitious belief, but the Jews believed that the soul remained around the body after death for three days before departing. Once the soul realized that the body was decomposing, then the soul would depart. Now that was probably a superstition, but it was true that the body endured and had no decomposition until the fourth day.

And so here is Lazarus. He's laying in this grave, and his body is about or is starting to decompose. Verse 18, now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem.

Bethany is where Lazarus and Mary and Martha are, about 15 furlongs off, which is about two miles. Bethany is from Jerusalem. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.

Now in my Bible, a number of years ago, I wrote these words, timing is everything. Timing is everything. Now, why does Jesus wait two days when he hears that Lazarus is sick? Well, he wants to glorify his father.

He wants God to receive glory. And so what happens is Lazarus dies, and the mourning that takes place, the weeping and the sorrow that takes place, many, many Jews come this journey of two miles from Jerusalem to comfort Martha and Mary. And so there's a great crowd of Jews that have come out to comfort Martha and Mary.

And so now this wonderful opportunity the Lord has to go and to perform this great miracle right in the midst of all of these Jews. Remember, Jesus did not want to go down to Jerusalem because they were trying to kill him. But now many of these in Jerusalem are coming out two miles to Bethany to weep and mourn with Mary and Martha and the family.

And so now Jesus is going to come right into this situation, and he's going to do an amazing miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. And this is going to have an impact on these Jews who have come. Now, think about it this way.

If Jesus would have come immediately and healed Lazarus of his sickness, there would not have been this great opportunity to glorify God. But because Jesus waits, Lazarus dies. He's been in the grave four days.

Many are coming to mourn and to comfort Martha and Mary. And so now the Lord appears. And how many Jews are there from Jerusalem? I don't know.

The Bible says that there are many there. And look what happens over in verse number 45. After the resurrection, Lazarus comes out of the grave.

In verse 45 it says, Then many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did believed on him. This is an opportunity for many Jews to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, if the Lord does not wait two days, he would not have this opportunity to win many Jews to himself.

Verse 46, But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees and told them what things Jesus had done. So there's still the opposition there, but this is an opportunity for the Lord to bring some of the Jews out of Jerusalem into this situation to see a notable miracle and God to be glorified and for people to be converted. So let's keep reading now in verse 20.

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary sat still in the house. Now these two ladies are mentioned a number of times in the Bible, but I see in these two ladies two different personalities.

And I don't think there's any problem here. God makes us different. Each of us have different personalities, but it seems like Martha and Mary have two different personalities.

Martha seems to be a busy, busy individual. Martha has some anxieties. You might remember the story when Jesus came to Martha and Mary's home, how that Martha was busy about much service, but Mary was the one that was sitting, sitting at Jesus' feet.

Mary seems to be the one who's very calm, very peaceful. She is oftentimes sitting in the scriptures. Martha is one that's very active.

She's oftentimes one that's moving about, doing many, many things. And verse 20 says, Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. That's the personality of Martha.

Go, go, go. But Mary sat still in the house. Mary was one who had more of a quiet personality.

She was not easily agitated. As a matter of fact, in the book of Luke, it talks about how Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard his words. Well, you know, in that story, Mary gets better marks.

Mary is kind of lifted up as a good example because she is sitting at Jesus' feet and hearing her words. But here in this story, it seems like Martha gets kind of a better testimony. And I want to share a little bit about this testimony here about Martha starting in verse 21.

Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know. Here's an amazing testimony of faith.

But I know that even now, even after four days, even after he is beginning to stink, even after his body is corrupting, that even now, whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will give it to thee. Wonderful testimony here of Martha. Martha has faith.

Martha is a servant. Martha has great faith. And she has a wonderful response here to this situation.

Great faith, even after four days, that Jesus can raise my brother from the dead. Now, I have no doubt that Mary and Martha have already heard of Jesus raising people from the dead. They no doubt had heard about Jairus' daughter, that Jesus had gone and this 12-year-old girl had been dead.

I don't know how long she had been dead. But Jairus calls Jesus. They go back to the house.

Remember the story how Jesus only took a few of the disciples into the room with Jairus. And Jesus then raised this young girl from the dead. And certainly people had heard that not only did Jesus cast out devils, not only did Jesus heal the sick, but that Jesus was raising people from the dead.

And if you go over to Luke chapter 7, you don't have to turn there, but just let me read to you what it says here. It's another story of resurrection from the dead. Chapter 7, verse 11, it says, Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

So here's this young man whose mother is a widow, and he dies. And much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said unto her, Weep not.

And he came and touched the bear, and they that bear him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak.

Boy, that must have been an amazing sight. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all, and they glorified God, saying that a great prophet is risen up among us and that God had visited his people.

Now notice what it says in verse 17. And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea and throughout all the region round about. And so word was spreading all over the place of what Jesus was doing.

And even here, how this man was in a casket and they were carrying him out for burial. And Jesus stops the casket and actually raises this young man. I'm sure he's probably been dead three or four days, raises him up from the dead.

And it says here that this rumor went all over the place that Jesus could raise people from the dead. And so no doubt that Mary and Martha had heard that not only did Jesus heal, but he was able also to raise up people from the dead. And so that's what stirs here Martha's faith when she says in verse 22, but I know that even now whatsoever thou ask of God, God will give it thee.

Now I want to bring something out here that I think is very important here for us. And it's about prayer and New Testament prayer and how we're supposed to pray. I'd like you to notice what Martha says here in verse 21 and 22.

Look what she says, then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, notice what she says, I know that even now whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will give it thee. Whatsoever you Lord ask of God your father, your father will give it to you.

And so Martha understands this, that if I can get to Jesus and ask Jesus to pray to his father, that his father will answer him and give him what he asks for. And so that's what Martha does. And so when Jesus was on the earth, people like Martha would ask Jesus to ask his father to do a miracle.

Notice what it says in verse 22. But I know that even now whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus, you ask of God and God will give it to you.

In other words, Martha goes to Jesus, then Jesus goes to his father and his father answers him. Now that's when Jesus was on the earth. Now, let's just pretend here for a minute that we were living in those days and Jesus was in Mount Vernon and maybe we had a child that had died and we would probably do the same thing that Martha did.

We would go to Jesus and say, Jesus, would you pray to your father and ask your father? Because ask God and he'll do whatever you ask. And that's how they did it when Jesus was walking upon the face of the earth. But we're in the New Testament now and we don't have Jesus physically walking upon the earth that we can go to him and have him pray and ask his father and get those petitions.

But I'd like you to jump over to John chapter 16 because Jesus is gonna tell us that he is going to leave and he's gonna show us then how to pray after he is gone. In John chapter 16, starting in verse 17, I wanna read down through this passage here, but Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure and he's gonna teach them how to pray once he's gone. They won't have him to pray to the father.

He's gonna show them what to do. Verse 17, and some of his disciples among themselves, what is this that he sayeth unto us a little while and you shall not see me and again a little while and you shall see me and because I go to the father. They say therefore, what is this that he sayeth a little while we cannot tell what he's saying.

Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him and said unto them, do you inquire among yourselves of that I said a little while and you shall not see me and again a little while and you shall see me. Verily, verily I say unto you that you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. You shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

A woman when she is in travail has sorrow because her hour has come, but as soon as she has delivered the child, she remembers no more the anguish for joy that a man is born into the world and you now therefore have sorrow. In other words, they're gonna go through loss of their savior, but I will see you again after his resurrection and your hearts shall rejoice and your joy no man taketh from you. Now notice what it says here in verse 23 and on down.

And in that day, you shall ask me nothing. Now here's a change in how to pray. Those disciples when they had me, they would ask Jesus and that was a good thing to do.

Jesus, would you help us? Jesus, would you pray to the father for us? Jesus, would you ask the father to raise Lazarus from the dead? But when Jesus is gone, there'll be no one to come to and to ask and notice it says in verse 23 and in that day, that's new covenant day when Jesus is gone. You shall ask me nothing. Truly, truly, or verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever you shall ask the father in my name, he will give it to you.

Now here's a change in how the disciples were to pray. They had no Jesus to pray to. He was gone.

He ascended up before them into heaven. And so now Jesus is instructing them when I am gone, you're not to be asking from me anything, but whatsoever you shall ask the father in my name, he will give it to you. So there's two things there that change.

First of all, they're not to be asking Jesus anymore. They're to be asking the father. That's why when we pray, the Lord taught us to pray, to pray our father, which art in heaven.

And it makes me a little uneasy. I know this is fine. I don't want to say this is something that's not right, but some people pray, they ask Jesus or they pray to Jesus and pray this to Jesus.

Well, in John 16 here in verse 23, it says in that day, you shall ask me nothing. In other words, our prayers go to our father. Jesus always prayed to his father.

So now he is directing us to pray to the father. Whatsoever you shall ask the father in my name. The second thing that he shows us here is to ask in Jesus name.

And that simply means this, to stand in his place and pray to the father, just like Jesus prayed to the father. You see, Jesus is our example. He's the one who said, follow me.

He's the one who said, I am the way. And so the Lord Jesus came to show us how to live in the new covenant era. And so Jesus prayed to his father, didn't pray to himself.

He prayed to his father. And so Jesus, when he was on the earth, he would take requests from men and then he would pray to his father. Now that he is gone, we are to go to the father directly in his name.

That little phrase in his name simply means to stand in his place. So what that's teaching us is this, that we are to pray just like Jesus prayed. We are to pray to the father in his place.

He is gone. We are to take his place and to pray to the father. So verse 23 says, and in that day you shall ask me nothing.

Barely, barely I say unto you whatsoever you shall ask the father. That's like he did in my name. That's in my place.

He will give it to you. Let's keep reading. Verse 24.

Hitherto have you asked nothing in my name. In other words, up to this place, your prayer life, you've never done it this way. Hitherto have you asked nothing in my name.

Ask and you shall receive that your joy may be full. Okay, so now we have a change here in how we pray. Hitherto, you have come to me and I have prayed to my father.

But from here on out, you're not going to be able to come to me and I pray to my father. I want you to pray directly to the father in my place or in my name. And the father will hear you and the father will answer you.

Verse 25. These things have I spoken unto you in Proverbs. At the time cometh when I shall no longer speak unto you in Proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the father.

At that day, you shall ask in my name. Again, he's talking about how to pray. And I say not unto you that I will pray the father for you.

No, we're not going to do it this way anymore. I'm not going to pray to the father for you. I want you to pray directly to the father in my name.

For the father himself loveth you because you have loved me and have believed that I came out from God. So we are to pray just like Jesus prayed. Jesus prayed directly to the father.

And we are to also pray to the father and take his place on the earth. This is an amazing thing to me. And I've experienced this over the years at times, but I would love to experience it more on a regular basis.

And I would encourage all of you to, to really understand the privileges that we have as New Testament Christians. We can actually stand in Jesus' place and pray to the father, just like Jesus did and receive directly from the father. Praying in his name.

What does that mean? Let me just use an example. Brother Dennis is here in the building with me as I'm sharing this. But let's just say that Dennis has an important business meeting and he needs to be at that business meeting tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock.

And sometime during the night Dennis gets very, very sick. And he wakes up in the morning and he says, I just cannot make it to this meeting, but I need to be at the meeting. And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to call Brother Jerry and I'm going to have Brother Jerry go in my stead or in my name or in my place.

And so I go and I stand at this meeting and I say, I am coming in the name of Dennis Zook. And I am standing in the place of Dennis Zook to speak for him, to make decisions for him. Hopefully I know what I'm doing, Brother Dennis.

And so I'm coming in Dennis' name. And so here's what, actually, this is a beautiful thing when you think about it. But Jesus came to the earth.

He walked amongst us. He showed his disciples how to pray to the Father. And then he says, OK, I'm leaving.

Now I want you to step in my place and pray in my name, in my stead directed to the Father, just like I have prayed to the Father. And so we have this wonderful privilege to pray in Jesus' name or in his place. And there are many examples of this.

I'm not going to read all of them to you, but I'd like to read a few examples of how these disciples understood this and how they responded to it once the Lord Jesus had gone and they were in this new covenant period. Look at Acts chapter 3 once. Maybe you don't have your Bible with you.

I'll just read it to you. It's a very familiar story. In Acts chapter 3, this is right after the day of Pentecost.

Verse number 1, Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man, laying from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple. Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked an alms.

And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. And notice what Peter does here.

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up.

And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. Now, what's happening here is this. These disciples know that they are being sent out into the world in the place of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so they stand here in Jesus' place, and they say in their hearts probably that if Jesus were here, his will would be to do this. And so they stand in his place. You know, I was using Dennis as an example.

Dennis is not here, but I'm going to stand in his place and make a decision. Here's what Dennis would say. Here's what Dennis would do.

And so I'm standing in his place. And so these disciples were given the great privilege to go and stand in the place of Jesus Christ and say, in the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to walk. You know, that's not just a privilege that the disciples have.

That's a privilege that all of us have as children of God. And these, you don't see them saying in the name of Jesus, in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, because Jesus was with them. But once Jesus is gone and he has returned to his father and he has given us the Holy Spirit, now he encourages us to pray to the Father in his name.

I'm going to give you another example. There's a couple of them here in Acts, but we're not going to read all of them. Acts chapter 16.

Here is another example of this. Verse 16, And it came to pass as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with the spirit of divination met us, which brought her master's much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.

And this she did for many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. In other words, I'm going to stand in the place of Jesus Christ and just like Jesus commanded the demons to come out of the legion, the maniac of Gadara, I'm going to do the same thing that Jesus would have done and I'm going to command this spirit to come out.

It says he came out the same hour. That's important, by the way. He came out the same hour.

That doesn't mean he came out right away. He came out in the same hour. They kept commanding and commanding and commanding and wrestling with this demonic spirit until finally that demon came out at the same hour.

Not the same second. Not the same minute. Sometimes when we go in Jesus' name, we need to wrestle with that spirit or that infirmity.

And it's not just enough to pray and say, In Jesus' name, go. Well, it didn't go. Well, what about in that same hour? What about standing and wrestling with those entities? I remember with Brother Craig, the situation there, and it took us probably 45 minutes to an hour to wrestle in the name of Jesus, commanding this spirit to go.

Finally, that spirit left. So we're given this great privilege to stand in Jesus' place and pray to the Father. So the Lord gives us that as an example of how to pray.

Go back to John 14. There's another example of this. Jesus is teaching here in John 14, starting in verse 12.

He says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also. Why? Because he's going to stand in my place. And so you've seen me do these things.

You can do these things also. And greater works than these shall you do because I go to my Father, and whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.

So here we have this wonderful privilege. And I think we miss out on a lot of this in our own personal life. I know I do.

We get our minds so preoccupied with so many things in life that we forget the fact that we are actually to stand and to minister in the place of Jesus Christ, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and to pray to the Father in Jesus' name. That's everything Jesus prayed to the Father he received. The Bible says, Whatever you ask, if it be according to the will of God, you shall have whatsoever you ask.

And so what a privilege it is for us to stand in his place. And I was going to do my bus illustration. Some of you have heard that illustration many times, but I don't know if I'll take the time to do it here this morning.

But just briefly, I was reading the Bible and reading the book of Acts, the first couple of chapters many years ago as a Bible college student, just trying to learn God's ways. And I saw that phrase in the name of Jesus in the book of Acts over and over again. And I studied it.

What does it mean? And I realized that we have this privilege of standing in the place of Jesus Christ. And faith rose up in my heart. And it was January 1st.

We had the day off. It's New Year's Day. And the next day was a Sunday.

We went to pick up all our children. We had the bus ministry there. I had a busload of children coming back from inner city Chicago.

It was freezing cold January 2nd. And our bus traveling to Dan Ryan stops and stalls in the middle of Dan Ryan on Sunday morning around noon. And there's no heat in the bus.

We got 60 kids in the bus. Things are starting to get very, very difficult. The children are getting very cold.

It could have been zero degrees. I know it was a very cold morning. Some of the young men that were there put the flares out beside the bus trying to get the bus started.

They give up trying to start the bus. And they called for help, for someone to come to help us. And I'm sitting in the backseat of the bus.

And I have this meditation that's on my heart. I had been meditating on yesterday. And I realized, okay, I can stand in the place of Jesus Christ.

What would Jesus do if he were here? How would he respond? And, of course, I had faith in my heart. And that's so important because I had been studying and meditating on God's word. And I said, if Jesus were here, he would not want these children to freeze and to go through what they're going through here.

And so I got up in the back of the bus, and I said, I'm going to go up to the bus, sit in that front seat, and I'm going to say, in the name of Jesus, I'm going to take his place. I'm going to command this bus to start. And it was an act of great faith.

I was 26, 27 years old. I'm just learning how to respond to the Bible and to the word of God. And simple faith.

I walked up. All the men are outside trying to direct traffic. And I sit in the seat of the bus, and I say, in the name of Jesus Christ, I command this bus to start.

And I got wretched, and I turned the key, and the bus fired right up. And the guys outside looked at me and said, what are we doing here? What's going on? And they jumped and got all the flares together, and everybody jumped in the bus, and I stayed in the driver's seat, and I drove that bus all the way into the church. You talk about being excited about faith and God's word and being able to stand in the place of Jesus.

Well, that's what the Bible teaches you, that you can stand in the place of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let's go back to John here, chapter number 11. We got off subject a little bit there.

John chapter 11. Martha. Martha has great faith, and she says to Jesus, even now, Lord, whatsoever thou would ask of God, God will give it to thee.

Verse 23. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Now, Martha, when Martha hears him say that your brother will rise again, Martha thinks about the future. She thinks about a future resurrection. Yes, yes, yes, Lord, I know that he's going to rise again in the last day.

But Jesus is actually referring to, no, Martha, he's going to come out of the grave here now. He's going to come out. But I just want to mention to you, just to encourage your hearts here today, you know, I don't know how bad the virus is going to get, but I'll tell you what, there is a resurrection coming.

And many people probably are, I heard there was, back in 2011, there was millions of people that died of the swine flu. And people are going to die. It's appointed unto men once to die.

And yet, one of the greatest hopes and greatest encouragements we have is what Jesus says unto Martha, thy brother shall rise again. Hey, there is going to be a resurrection. There is going to be a resurrection.

And John has already spoken about the resurrection. I want to read it to you in John chapter 5. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth.

They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation, they that have done good, they that have followed the Lord Jesus, have put faith in Jesus Christ, that's good. They're going to rise to life. They that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.

So Martha says, yes, Lord, I believe that there's going to be a future resurrection. But I don't think Martha realizes who she's talking to there and what Jesus has in mind. And Jesus is going to explain to her a little bit more here in verse 25 and verse 26.

And Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the resurrection and the life. Now that I am there, you see that throughout the Bible.

It's all over the Bible. The I am there means I. It's not I was. It's not I will be.

It's I am. You know, Martha's thinking of future resurrection. No, Martha, listen.

I am now the resurrection. You don't think about the future, Martha. I am the resurrection.

Well, there are many I am's in the Bible. Just to give you a few of them. I am the way.

I am the truth. I am the life. I am the light of the world.

I am the Alpha and Omega. Before Abraham was, I am. I am the good shepherd.

It's not I was. It's not I will be. It is I am.

And I am represents present tense. God is always present tense. You don't have to wait for a future resurrection.

Jesus Christ is the resurrection. You don't have to wait for a future eternal life. Jesus Christ is eternal life.

That's why the Bible says you can have a resurrection right now. You can have eternal life right now if you'll connect or attach yourself to the one who is the resurrection and the one who is life. Well, I gave this illustration, I think, last time that we were gathered together.

But that electric outlet over there, some of you can't see that because you're not here, but you have electric outlets at your house. That electric outlet over there is a good representation of what Jesus said. I am the resurrection, the life.

There is power in that outlet right now. And yes, we're going to assume that there's no outages on the main breaker. But there is power in that outlet.

And that power is a constant power. It doesn't matter whether we leave this building or not. That power is going to be a power on a regular basis.

There is constant power in that outlet. Now, you and I, if we want power from that outlet, all we need to do is connect to the outlet. In other words, if I have a lamp up here, once I connect that lamp into that outlet, now that lamp has that same power in it.

You see this picture in John 15 of the vine and the branches. The branch is connected to the vine. The vine has all the grace and the juices and all the nutrients to mature and to bring fruit into that plant.

And so the Lord Jesus is the power source. He is that outlet over there. He is the power.

He is the life. He is the resurrection. All you and I need to do is connect to it.

And once you connect to it, the energy flows right into you. You just become a part of that same electrical source. Well, how do you connect into it? Well, let me show you here.

There's a couple of words in here. And then Martha is going to give a testimony of how to connect into it. Verse 25, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.

He that believeth in me. That's the connection. Though he were dead, yet shall he live.

Verse 26, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? So believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now a good example is in verse 27.

She said unto him, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. Do you know what you have to have to connect into that source of energy? You have to believe that Jesus is who the Bible says he is. He is God's only begotten Son.

He is, as the Bible says, God manifested in the flesh. He is who the Bible says he is. Do you believe that with all your heart? It is through belief in Jesus Christ that you plug into the resurrection and the life.

You see, if you're plugged into Jesus Christ by faith, you're going to have a resurrection and a life. If you're not plugged into Jesus Christ by faith, you're not going to have a resurrection and a life. As a matter of fact, if you're plugged into Jesus Christ today, you're going to have life.

Life and life more abundantly. If you're not plugged into Jesus Christ, you're not going to have life. Now let me just throw this in here because I think the analogy fits well.

If I have my light lamp here and I plug it into the outlet, you know what? That electric is flowing into that lamp. However, if I don't have the switch on up top, you know the electric is actually flowing into that lamp, but the switch is shutting the electric down to that light bulb? And you know there are many Christians like that. They are plugged into the resurrection.

They are plugged into the one who is life. However, they don't seem to show any life and resurrection and light. And one of the reasons is because they're the switch.

You know that little knob on the light bulb that you turn? It turns the light on. All that light that little knob does is open up the avenue where the electric can go through. But if that switch is down, it's closed, then the electric is coming into the light, but it's not actually producing any light.

It's not producing any resurrection or life. And you know what switches electricity off in our life using this analogy? What switches life off? What switches the resurrection power off? Even though you might be plugged in to the Lord Jesus Christ, you know what it is? It's sin. Sin.

Sin grieves the Spirit of God. Sin quenches the Spirit of God. Sin is what brings a weakness, selfishness, living life for me.

It's all about me. Doubt. Doubt is another thing that causes the energy to be dampened.

Self-willed. Being a self-willed person. It's my way or the highway.

But you know, we need to encourage one another to open up the current. I mean, just to surrender your life. Just to give your life over to Him.

Give up everything. Just lay your life down. Let Him use you.

And let the Spirit of God flow through you so that your life can be truly a resurrection and a life. Let's keep reading here. John, I want to read verse 25 again.

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Those who have died, this resurrection power will raise them out of the grave.

Boy, we're going to see that here. Lazarus is going to come out of that grave. I mean, the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

And that's an encouragement for you and I. The dead in Christ, those who are connected to that outlet, the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up. There's going to be a resurrection of God's people, a bodily resurrection.

And then verse 26, and whoever, whosoever liveth and believeth in me. If you're living today and you believe in Him, you'll never die. You'll never face spiritual death.

You'll never go to hell. You'll never touch the lake of fire. Though your body is dead, it's going to be made alive.

And if you believe in me now, your spirit will never die. Those his saints will never die. They'll never suffer spiritual death if they believe on Him, if they're plugged in to the right source.

John 15, we're going to talk about that. The vine and the branches being connected to the vine. Let me ask you this in closing, verse 27.

This is a wonderful testimony to have. She saith unto him after hearing these words, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. Is that your testimony? I truly in my heart believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.

Well, if we believe that, then we can be connected to the source of power. And we can live not only a life of fruitfulness here, but also have a resurrection unto eternal life in the future. All right, we're going to close now.

Just thank.