Jesus and Martha

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We were to begin at 7.30 and end at 8.30 to allow us to have breakfast, but I'm going to put my disclaimer in right now that I am starting at 10 to 8, and so breakfast might be a tad later than 8.30, okay? Okay.
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Brother Keith was just talking to me and said that someone talked about their sunrise service was a 10-minute devotional, and there's no way you can do any kind of justice to the Word of God and to the resurrection in 10 minutes.
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You can't do it justice in 10,000 years, never mind 10 minutes, so.
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Okay, if you would, take your Bibles and turn to the Gospel of John and the 11th chapter.
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The Gospel of John and chapter 11, and this morning we will consider some thoughts from the conversation that Jesus has with Martha concerning Martha and Mary's brother Lazarus, who has, in their thinking, died, and in reality, at that time, how Jesus speaks to her.
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I'm going to read from verse 17 through the 27th verse, and again, just some thoughts, because friends, the reality is none of us could do justice to the resurrection in its width, in its height, in its depth, and in its breadth, and so we're going to just scratch the surface of some of the great truths in here.
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So I'm reading in John chapter 11, verse 17, and remember the setting is that Jesus has been informed that Lazarus, his friend, as well as Martha and Mary, that Lazarus is sick and that Jesus is asked to come and to heal him.
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So let's just read how this progresses.
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So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
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Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away, and many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
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Then Martha, as soon as she had heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary was sitting in the house.
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Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
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But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.
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Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.
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Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
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And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
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He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live.
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And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
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Do you believe this? She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into this world.
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May God bless His word to our hearts and to our minds and to our lives.
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So as we gather this morning to celebrate, and it is truly, I hope, to you a celebration to celebrate the resurrection of our blessed Savior, not only our Savior, but our friend, our master, our Lord, our Redeemer, and so many other things that we could add to that.
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I thought to focus on this conversation that Jesus has with Martha as He seeks to come and to, and as she is in sorrow because of the loss of her brother.
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And I want to focus on that response just a little bit.
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And I'll say this to you, that the response of Jesus to Martha is absolutely astounding.
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He is going to take her far beyond the thoughts that she has at the time that He speaks with Martha.
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His response takes on, if you will, eternal significance, and certainly anything that takes on eternal significance is worth our thought.
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I hope you would agree with me that we, when we begin to talk about things that are everlasting in the sense of they will never cease, that you and I should pay great attention to it.
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And as we go through this, I hope to show you that Martha has faith in the Son of God.
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Martha has faith in Jesus.
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Martha believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
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But Martha's faith is not complete in that she, her expectation is that Lazarus will be raised again in the last day.
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And I want to show us, hopefully, through these verses that Jesus is going to take her far beyond that thinking of just something that's to be happening in the future, but that He Himself, as He says, and as we will consider, is the resurrection.
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And so, as you read this, and as He comes, and He comes to Jesus, as Jesus comes to Martha, and she has met Him along the way, He doesn't just agree with her.
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When she says to Him, look at it, she says to Him, in verse 21, Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
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But even now I know that whatever you ask, He will give you.
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And Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.
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And Martha says, I know He will rise again at the resurrection at the last day.
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It's not that Jesus just then says to her, Martha, you're right.
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Martha, you've got this right.
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He will, at some future point, be raised from the dead.
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He doesn't just seek to give her comfort in that thought alone.
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And I think that's significant.
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Not that He is ignoring the fact that there is a resurrection, and that resurrection will come when He comes again in all His glory.
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But Martha is, if you will, she's situated here in that situation where she thinks that it is nothing else but to wait for the resurrection at the last day.
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As a matter of fact, she said to Him, if you were here, He wouldn't have died.
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He's going to raise her above that thought.
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And I want to ask you to think about this, because it's important for us to understand this, that you and I, although we celebrate the resurrection that took place, if you will, millennium ago, that you and I understand that we live in the resurrection.
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That the resurrection is not something that's neither past nor future, but present.
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And that you and I are part of that resurrection, and as Jesus makes this statement to her, these statements that you and I can understand.
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And He makes this statement to her that only He could make.
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Look at it in verse 25, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection.
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I am the resurrection.
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And immediately our mind should go to that great truth of the great I am.
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Remember who the I am is.
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He's the one that was sent.
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He's the one that sent Moses.
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Remember when Moses was to go to Pharaoh to tell Pharaoh to let God's people go, and Moses says to the Lord, well, who shall I say sent me? And the answer is unbelievable, isn't it? You tell them I am has sent you.
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And there's that thought of the great I am, the self-existent one.
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The one who is the great other, if you will.
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The one who is outside the boundaries of everything.
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The one who has always been and will always will be.
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The great I am.
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And as I thought about that, and I thought about as He says to her, I am the resurrection and the life, I thought about the great I am's that Jesus speaks of Himself as.
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And let me just remind you of a few of those.
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That this one, this son of man, this son of God, this one who was to shortly go to the cross, this one who was to bear the iniquities of His people, that He is the great I am, and that that statement, I am the resurrection, is beyond the conceptions that you and I can fully understand.
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Remember the great statements of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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He says, I am the first and the last.
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I am the first and the last.
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He says, I am the light of the world.
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I am the first and the last.
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I am the light of the world.
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Remember Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life.
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Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the bread of life, that Jesus would say, I am the door.
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That Jesus would say, I am the great and good shepherd.
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That Jesus would say, I am the light of the world.
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That He would say, I am the vine, you are the branches.
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Do you and I understand what we are celebrating this morning is the resurrection of the great I am? Of the one who is, again, outside the boundaries that bind every other thing created.
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Isn't that not why we are told that He dwells in the light that no man can approach? That He alone has immortality.
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That He alone causes the sun to rise and the sun to set.
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That He alone opens His hands and satisfies every living thing.
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That He alone is neither hungry, nor sick, nor thirsty, nor anything.
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There is no deficiency.
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That when Jesus says to Martha, I am, that He is telling her in mind-opening ways that He is the resurrection and the life.
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That you and I would appreciate, would be in awe of the great I am's.
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Let me read to you from Revelation 1.
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You don't need to turn there.
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And John has his vision and he sees in this vision 1, it says in Revelation, I turned to see the voice that spoke with me and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.
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And in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, one like the son of man, clothed with a garment to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.
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His head and hair were like wool, as white as snow.
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And his eyes like a flame of fire.
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And his feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace.
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And his voice is the sound of many waters.
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He had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.
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And his countenance was like the sun, shining in its strength.
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And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.
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But he laid his right hand on me saying to me, do not be afraid.
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I am the first and the last.
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I am he who lives and was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen.
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And I have the keys of Hades and death.
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That you and I would understand that as Jesus speaks with Martha in her sorrow, in her loss, in the situation that is before us, that he is seeking to raise her to understand whose presence she is in.
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I don't want to make a point this morning and I want you to consider it.
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That we are not here this morning.
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I am not here this morning to defend the resurrection.
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I hope you're not here this morning to defend the resurrection.
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And the reason why I say that is that the resurrection doesn't need to be defended.
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The resurrection needs to be declared.
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As sure as Jesus declared himself the great I am, remember as he told them before Abraham what? I am.
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That the resurrection does not need to be defended by you, nor me, nor angels, nor anything else, but it truly needs to be declared as absolutely true and certain and a reality.
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And so as he speaks to her, he does not seek to defend who he is, but rather he declares who he is.
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You and I are to declare the resurrection with that same authority, friends.
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You and I are to declare the resurrection of the great I am, the one who veiled his glory and took on the form of a servant and was humble to the cross and bore the iniquities of us all, but it was in truth not only the Son of Man, but the Son of God.
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And that we are here to proclaim to the world that we serve, we know, we are convinced in the depth of our hearts he is a risen Savior.
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And that's where I believe Martha's understanding is somewhat short because as she says, if you were here, he would not have died.
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And as Jesus says to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
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He is seeking to open her mind and her heart to truths that are beyond this world.
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So notice a couple of things with me.
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Again, let's look at verse 25.
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Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
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He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live.
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Jesus doesn't just seek to comfort Martha and also Mary, but Martha at this point, he doesn't just seek to comfort her by saying the resurrection is a possibility.
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He doesn't just tell her how Lazarus can get to that point of being raised from the dead.
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He doesn't just declare that he is one of a part of a process that would lead to the resurrection.
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No, no, friends, not this one, not this Jesus.
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He says, I am the resurrection.
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It's in me.
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It's in my person.
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I am the king of glory.
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I came down to make all things new.
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That you and I would begin to understand that he says no such thing to Mary.
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He's not going to just give her some comfort.
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He is seeking again to give her eternal comfort.
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He did exactly what I said we should do.
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He doesn't defend who he is.
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He declares who he is.
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And you and I should never, ever be fearful of proclaiming who Christ is.
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I understand all of us, we all have different ways in which we speak to people about Christ, but the one thing we should never be hesitant about is declaring who he is, that he is not like the gods of this world.
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Which God in this world? Which God did men seek to worship? Which God that supposedly is a God is able to say, I am the resurrection.
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It's in me.
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It's in my person.
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I am the light of the world.
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Remember how the gospel of John opens up, that he was the light that lights every man that comes into the world.
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That you and I would understand that as he declares himself in the resurrection, as the resurrection, he is declaring himself as the boundless, eternal, self-existent, unhindered, unequaled God of all.
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Who else but us can make such a declaration? I hope you're glad this morning that Christ is the great I am.
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For if he wasn't, he could never save us.
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If he wasn't the great I am, if he wasn't the self-existent one, he would be subject to the things that you and I and everyone else are subject to, but he's not.
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He's boundless.
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When he says to Martha, I am the resurrection, he is declaring that because he is the resurrection, look what he says.
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He says, I am the resurrection and the life.
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I am the resurrection and I am the life.
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The life that flows from the resurrection.
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Now, I would ask you to think about this.
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Think about the order, he says.
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He says, I am the resurrection and I am the life.
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You and I understand in order for us to truly be part of the resurrection, we first have to be regenerated by the Spirit of God.
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And he will say that.
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He will say that if we do not have the work of regeneration in our hearts, then we in truth will never reach that point of being resurrected into eternal life.
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He is in this sense declaring himself to be the one who has conquered the grave.
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You and I serve the one who conquered death in the grave.
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That very grave that never seems satisfied.
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That's one of the things it says in the book of Proverbs.
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It talks about four things that are never satisfied.
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One of them is the grave is never full.
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The grave is never full because everyone is subject to the grave save the Lord Jesus Christ and us in him if we are his.
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He's declaring that he has the power over life and death.
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In saying to Mary, I am the resurrection and the life, he's telling her that in him life exists.
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Where would we be this morning without the great I am? Where would we be this morning if Jesus was subject to the grave? Where would we be friends? We would be lost.
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We would be helpless.
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We would be hopeless.
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We would be without a future.
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He's declaring that he has the power of life and death.
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He's declaring that he has the power to lay down his own life.
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That's what he says.
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No man takes my life.
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I lay it down and what? I will take it again.
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Who can make such a statement? Who can make such a proclamation? Only he who has the authority, the authority of being the Lord of all.
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He's declaring again as I say to you and I just continually think about it in my mind that the resurrection of Christ, what he's saying is that he is the great other, that he's outside the boundaries that he placed on all others.
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That he is the one alone that has infinite power.
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He alone is the one who does as he pleases to do.
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If God be for us friends, who could be against us? What a contrast there is too.
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Think about it.
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What a contrast between him speaking these words to Martha and the sorrow that's taking place at the home of Lazarus where Lazarus had stayed with his sisters.
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And if you think about it, it starts out in verse 17.
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He came and he found that he'd already been in a tomb four days and many of the Jews in verse 19 joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
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What a contrast there is in this scene.
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There are those who are seeking to comfort Martha and Mary in their loss and rightfully so.
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But as you consider it and as you consider the distinction between what Jesus is saying to Martha and the comfort that they seek to offer her friends, there is no real comparison to it.
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You see, they have no power over the grave.
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They can do nothing but seek to comfort Martha and Mary and to give them some peace and comfort.
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But you and I are here to celebrate the one who gives eternal hope, eternal life.
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What a contrast.
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They have no power but rather they are subject to the grave.
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I wonder sometimes when people mourn for others that there's a part of us that realize that we are going to have to meet that very place ourselves.
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I hope we all understand that we all shall one day breathe our last.
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Every one of us.
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Some this way, some that way.
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Some by this means and some by that means.
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But God has appointed a date for every single one of us.
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And if we are not part of the resurrection, then we shall be lost for all eternity.
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And as they seek to comfort her, they can only supply so much to her.
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They can only hold out so much comfort and hope and understanding.
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Jesus Himself in His person and work can truly say, remember what He said? He said, I have come that they might have life and that they might have it, what? More abundantly.
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That's why I say to you when Martha says to Jesus, I know He will be raised in the last day, Jesus is seeking to elevate her faith and to understand that Lazarus already possesses eternal life.
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And that as she is just hoping someday and you hear people say, oh, when I get there, I will be able to see so-and-so and this one and that one.
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And although that is true, what Jesus is really trying to tell Martha and what I believe is instructive to us is that if we are part of His resurrection, then we already possess eternal life.
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I don't know about you, but I'm so thankful that I have it as a possession now.
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He declares that he who believes in Him is in possession of a life that shall never end.
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And although the manifestation is not yet, and though we would be fools to not understand that, again, we must come through that appointed date given by God to each of us, that if we are in Him, if we celebrate the resurrection because it's in that way our resurrection, then we are in possession of eternal life.
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We are told that our citizenship is in heaven.
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Not might be.
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It's in heaven.
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It's present.
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The manifestation of it is not.
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But friends, you and I are as safe in Christ today as we will be 10 million years from now.
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I hope we believe that.
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I hope we understand that He who has life in Christ shall never see death, or we shall cross the veil.
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No, we shall cross that grave that is never full, but we are told that our citizenship is in heaven.
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Paul in Romans 8 says, the resurrection has made us free from the law of sin.
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We are told in 1 John that we know.
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That's what John says.
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Listen.
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He says, we know we have passed from death to life.
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It is an accomplished work.
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Even as Brother Keith said, those words on the cross, it is what, friends, finished.
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And that when we say He is risen, He is risen indeed, we say it because we know it.
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Not because we think of it as a possibility.
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We know it as a reality.
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The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that what? That we are the children of God.
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And it's all because the grave was empty, because the grave could not hold Him.
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The reason why the grave could not hold Him is because He is the great I Am.
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He is the one who has conquered death.
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In John, in another passage, he says, most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my words and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life.
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Has it.
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Has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life.
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No wonder why the resurrection is such a central truth that you and I need to behold and to consider.
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Even in the midst of the storms of life, even in the midst of great sorrows, even in the midst of great loss, even in the midst of great trials and tribulations, even in the midst of a society that is so perverse in so many ways that you and I could say we have already passed from death to life, that it's mine, that I can say, that you can say, that all who trust in Christ can say, I am His and He is mine and that I serve a risen Savior and He's in the world today and I know that He is with me along life's narrow way.
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He lives.
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He lives.
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Salvation to impart.
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You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.
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The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most freeing event to have ever taken place.
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If the Son shall set you free, you shall what? May be free? No, no, no, you're free indeed because I am.
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Because I am the resurrection and the life.
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Because I am the light of the world.
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Because I am the door.
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Because I am the good shepherd.
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Because I am the vine and you are the branches and He who abides in me shall never die.
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There's nothing else that can even begin to compare to that truth.
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And yet I say to you this morning, many will rise up and they will serve the God of the Easter bunny and the God of this and the God of that and some will speak of their God but friends, the resurrection is the declaration of the raising of the true and only God.
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There can be only one, friends.
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There can only be one God.
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By definition, there cannot be multiple gods.
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There must be one who is absolutely supreme, who reigns over all, who reigns over all.
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And that is none other than the triune God.
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It is absolutely amazing, the statement that He makes to Martha.
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I am the resurrection.
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He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live.
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And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
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Do you believe this? Do you, friends, you young people? Do you believe in the resurrection of Christ? Do you believe that that resurrection is yours by your faith in the Son of God? I want to just ask you as we begin to wind down to read a little bit further because I want us to see a few more thoughts from the closing verses of this section.
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So if you go down to verse 38, Jesus goes to the grave.
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Then he says this, Jesus again, groaning in himself, came to the tomb and it was a cave and a stone laid against it.
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And Jesus said, take away the stone.
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And Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, Lord, by this time there is a stench where he's been dead for four days.
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Friends, I got to say this, that's us in our condition of deadness of sin, of alienation from God.
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We stink.
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And yet Jesus would say, take away the stone.
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Jesus said to her, did I not say to you in verse 40 that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? And they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.
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And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
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And I know you always hear me.
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But because of the people who are standing by said this, that they may believe that you sent me.
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Now, when he had said that too, when he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
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That's what God has done for us.
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He has told us to come forth from the tomb of sin.
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He's told us through his resurrection that death cannot hold us.
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Lazarus, come forth.
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And that that's exactly what takes place in the new birth, is that we are brought out of the deadness and darkness and dominion of sin into the marvelous light of the Son of God.
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You see, because the resurrection declares that he set the prisoners free, and you and I were prisoners, weren't we? We were prisoners as all others.
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And yet God in his great love, which he loved us, while we were yet dead in sin and trespasses, he made us alive in Christ.
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So by grace, you have been saved through faith, not of yourself.
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It's the gift of God, lest any man should boast.
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He sets the prisoners free from the bondage of sin.
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And Lazarus was certainly bound, wasn't he? And then in verse 44, and he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.
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And Jesus said to them, lose him, let him go.
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Hallelujah! Listen, friends, if that doesn't do something in the depths of your soul, there's something wrong with your soul.
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That in his declaration as the resurrection and the life, he has loosed us.
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He has set us free.
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He has raised us.
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Let me read to you something from Hebrews.
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In as much then as the children have been partakers of flesh and blood, he, Jesus, the resurrection and the life, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage, that you and I would celebrate being released from bondage, that you and I would see him high and lifted up, seated on the throne, that you and I would worship him in spirit and truth, that you and I would give ourselves to the one who gave himself.
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Paul says this in 1 Corinthians, when the corruptible, when this corruptible is put on in corruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.
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You see, that's what the resurrection declares, victory.
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Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Lord, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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I hope you're here this morning to celebrate victory.
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Not your victory, his victory, and then ours in him.
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If he had stayed in the grave, my friends, we would be without any hope, any victory.
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Remember what Paul says? If only in this life we have hope, we are of all men what? The most miserable.
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Let me conclude with the words of Isaiah, and this is in Isaiah 25, if you want to read it.
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It says, he will swallow up death forever, amen? He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
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It will be said on that day, behold, this is our God.
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We have waited for him that he might save us.
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This is the Lord.
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We have waited for him.
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Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
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Friends rejoice today.
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Might not be able to rejoice in your situation, might not be able to rejoice because this started the other thing, but you can and you should, and we should always rejoice in Christ Jesus.
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You and I would get a vision, a vision of him sitting high and lifted up, surrounded by the angelic hosts, that you and I would be, if you would, translated and transported in our minds, if not now in our lives, transported to the very presence of God.
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But let me just close with this.
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Friends, if you were here this morning and you don't believe in Jesus Christ, you are lost.
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You're not just lost in this world, you're lost forever.
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You have no hope.
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You might enjoy many things in this life, but one day, someday, every knee shall bow.
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Every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord.
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May it be that you and I can celebrate the resurrection as a possession we now have.
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Can you honestly say that today is the last day of your life, that you have hope in the resurrected one? And if not, then I say to you, run, run to the cross.
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Don't walk, don't hesitate, run.
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Save yourself from this generation.
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Find in Christ your all in all.
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He never disappoints.
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I will never leave you nor forsake you.
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May God be pleased to open many eyes and many hearts and many lives today.
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May people stumble into church this morning for many different reasons, because it's Easter, because of this or that, and may they leave with newness of life.
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That heaven's courts would be crowded this morning with more who have come, and that the angels in heaven will rejoice over what? One sinner who repents.
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May God bless us and may we be thankful for the resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Let's pray.
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Our Father and our God, again we thank you as best we can, Lord, knowing that our understanding is so faulty at times.