Behold the Resurrection

Grace Covenant Reformed Church

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in what was supposed to have been the last week of this series and as I began working through the text this week

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I realized that this is not the last week. We're actually going to split this week into two otherwise all of the work

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Ms. Lisa has done preparing for this afternoon would have gone to waste because it would be probably nighttime before we got out of here.

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So in deference to her and and everyone else's backside we're gonna chop it in half and continue this series next week and but as we have been working and discussing over the last few weeks

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Christmas is the season that we have set aside to celebrate the birth of our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It's a time when we remember peace, love, hope, joy, we sing about them, we talk about all of all of this that entered the world that night in Bethlehem.

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This year we have taken somewhat of a different approach as we have worked over the last few weeks through encounters that we find recorded in Scripture where people come face to face with Christ and the effect that that has had on their lives.

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We began our journey with Simeon encountering the

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Christ child mere days after his birth but who as he as he saw the

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Christ child as as he looked at Jesus he saw the very salvation of God.

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Then the following week we worked through a passage of Scripture that is a much different encounter.

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The encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus. A passage that gives us not only the most famous verse in all of Scripture but one of the most famous statements in all of Christianity.

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John 316 without a doubt hands down wins verse of most fame by a long shot.

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People who've never heard or understand anything about it have heard John 316 and contained within that same passage though is one of the most famous statements or phrase in all of Christianity that Jesus introduces us to when he tells

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Nicodemus that you must be born again. A statement that has become a battle cry or a rally cry for preachers and for evangelists and rightly so but the problem has become that when we call on this a lot of times it has become all about an action that you as an individual takes and we don't help people understand what it truly means to be regenerated and and that through a work of God in the

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Holy Spirit that regeneration or quickening happens enabling us to truly believe.

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This regeneration is what Jesus referred to when he told Nicodemus in John chapter 3 verse 3 truly truly

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I say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

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Last week our third stop on our tour brought us to the side of Jacob's well as Jesus rested during his travel from Judea to Galilee passing through the dreaded place of Samaria and he has an encounter with an outcast of outcasts and during this encounter

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Jesus openly reveals something to this outcast of outcasts that he has not yet revealed openly to any other person especially the ones that he was sent directly to that being that he is the

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Messiah. The interesting thing about the way in which he goes about revealing this is he does not just simply say to her

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I am the Messiah. They go down a path and she finally says to him

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I have heard that the Messiah is coming and and Jesus's response is one that I think we just translate badly because we kind of mix the phrase up from the original

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Greek. The original Greek starts with the words ego me meaning I am the same words that God uses and so any woman or person who understands any of Scripture understands what he is proclaiming with that statement.

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Adding to this what he has already told her about receiving life -giving water he leads her to a place where her response is what's recorded for us in John chapter 4 verses 28 and 29 says so the woman left her water jar went into the city and said to the man come see a man who has told me all the things that I have done is this not the

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Christ? And so as we have walked through these three encounters it brings us to our final encounter and this is an encounter again where we are all very familiar with the story.

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As I mentioned last week if you've been a good Baptist you've gotten these stories every three years without fail.

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As you've gone through your Sunday school programs today's is no exception.

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Admittedly this is not a narrative that would typically ever be taught at Christmastime. I'm sure

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I didn't do any research but I'd be curious to know if it's ever been used at Christmastime. The particular events of this story take place towards the end of Christ's earthly ministry.

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In fact it is the final miracle recorded in the

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Gospel of John before we move into the Passion Week. It takes place close to Jerusalem and is mainly between Jesus and three of his friends

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Martha Mary and Lazarus. Our text for this morning will come from John chapter 11.

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We are going to read verses 1 through 46 but we will be narrowing our focus down.

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But in this passage we find what is known as the shortest verse in Scripture but more importantly we find another of the

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I am statements of Christ which will be our focal point for today.

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If you will stand in honor of the reading of the holy inerrant sufficient and authoritative

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Word of God. In John chapter 11 beginning in the first verse says this,

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Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister

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Martha. And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his hair with her feet whose brother

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Lazarus was sick. So the sister sent to him saying Lord behold he whom you love is sick.

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But when Jesus heard this he said this sickness is not to end in death but is for the glory of God so that the

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Son of God may be glorified by it. Now Jesus loved

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Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was sick he then stayed two days in the place where he was.

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Then after this he said to the disciples let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him

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Rabbi the Jews were just now seeking to stone you and you are going there again.

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Jesus answered are there not 12 hours in a day if anyone walks in the day he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world.

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But if anyone walks in the night he stumbles because the light is not in him. He said these things and after that he said to them our friend

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Lazarus has fallen asleep but I go so that I may awaken him. The disciples then said to him

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Lord if he has fallen asleep he will be saved from his sickness. Now Jesus had spoken of his death but they thought that he was speaking of actual sleep.

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So Jesus then said to them plainly Lazarus is dead and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe but let us go to him.

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Therefore Thomas who is called Didymus said to his fellow disciples let us also go so that we may die with him.

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So when Jesus came he found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem about about 15 stadia away and many of the

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Jews had come to Mary and Martha to console them about their brother. Martha therefore when she heard that Jesus was coming went to meet him but Mary was sitting in the house.

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Martha then said to Jesus Lord if you had been there my brother would not have died but even now

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I know that whatever you ask from God God will give to you. 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 on the last day. Jesus said to her

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I am the resurrection in the life he who believes in me will live even if he dies and everyone who lives and believes in me won't never die ever.

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Do you believe this? She said to him yes Lord I have believed that you are the

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Christ the Son of God the one who comes into the world and when she had said this she went away and called

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Mary her sister saying secretly the teacher is here and is calling for you and when she heard it she got up quickly and was coming to him.

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Now Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha met him. Then the

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Jews who were with her in the house and consoling her when they saw that Mary rose quickly and went out they followed her thinking that she was going to the tomb to cry there.

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Therefore when Mary came where Jesus was she saw him and fell at his feet saying to him Lord if you had been there been here my brother would not have died.

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When Jesus therefore saw her crying and the Jews who came with her also crying he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled and said where have you laid him?

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They said to him Lord come and see. Jesus wept.

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So the Jews were saying see how he loved him but some of them said could not this man who opened the eyes of a blind man have kept this man also from dying.

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So Jesus again being deeply moved within came from the tomb. Now it was a cave and a stone was lying against it.

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Jesus said remove the stone. Martha the sister of the deceased said to him Lord by this time he smells for he has been dead four days.

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Jesus said to her did I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God.

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So they removed the stone and Jesus raised his eyes and said father I thank you that you have heard me and I knew that you always hear me but because of the crowd standing around I said this so that they may believe that you sent me.

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And when he had said these things he cried out in a loud voice Lazarus come forth.

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The man who had died came forth bound hand and foot with wrappings and his face was wrapped with around with a cloth.

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Jesus said to them unbind him and let him go. Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he had done believed in him but some of them went to the

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Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done. Let us pray.

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Father we thank you for your word.

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We thank you for the truth that we find there. We thank you for the promises that are contained.

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Father we thank you for the light that it gives not only in our lives but through us to this world.

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Father as we partake of your word this morning we pray that we would learn more of Christ.

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That we would be reminded of who he is of his love for us.

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Father we are one with him by faith according to your word.

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We humbly ask that our hearts are formed according to your word in the image of your son.

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We pray that your truths are written on our hearts. That they are inscribed upon our lips.

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That our hearts are fully yours when we ask it.

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You grant us the strength to be attentive not only to the study and understanding of your word but to the condition of our character.

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Let our speech be edifying. Let our hearts be diligent. Let us flee from temptation and let us mortify our sin.

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Asking all of these things in the blessed name of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Well Christmas time is to me an unusual time of the year and part of that is because as we gather at Christmas and we sing and we speak of joy and peace and and hope and love the world around us joins in the celebration.

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The story of a baby born in a manger is told far and wide and yet so many never truly understand why this birth is so significant.

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Why this one child out of all of the children who have ever been born has garnered and captured so much attention that we literally celebrate the world over this day.

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I believe that one of the reasons that we should study a text like the story of Lazarus during this time of the year is because it reminds us and it enriches us and it should fill our hearts with hope and joy.

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Giving us that understanding of the love of God. The peace that we have with God through Christ's finished work on the cross.

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All of these things that are brought to those who by faith alone through grace alone according to Scripture alone are saved to the glory of God alone.

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So as we walk up to this text this morning we find

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Jesus in a in an area that's somewhat debatable but most theologians agree that he was in an area called

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Perea which is just east of Jordan and it is the route that a good upstanding

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Jew would have taken in order to get from Judea to Galilee and avoid

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Samaria. So if you remember last week when we talked about Jesus traveling to Samaria that he had a couple of options other than going directly to one of those was the coastal road and the other would have been to cross the

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Jordan travel northward and then cross back over into the region of Galilee and so this is the the route that Jesus was on when he received the word and so the argument is anywhere from Capernaum to the area of Perea is where he was when he received this news.

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John 10 verse 20 excuse me 40 says he and he went away again beyond the

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Jordan to the place where John was baptizing and he was staying there and so the writings of Josephus connect this particular statement that we find in a couple of other places in scripture to the region of Perea.

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Again this is not a definite it's not by any means certain it's certainly not recorded for us in scripture we use historical backings to think that this is the case.

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Overall depending upon exactly where Jesus was in this region he was anywhere from 8 to 15 hours of travel from where he was to that's by foot from where he was to Jerusalem or to Judean region specifically to Bethany which was two miles east roughly of Jerusalem.

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So there are a lot of theories around exactly what happens within this encounter but but what drove

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Jesus to this point of where he is when he receives this word is or receives this message is an encounter with the

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Pharisees and so Jesus was teaching in John chapter 10 wonderful teachings you need to take time read it and read it again and then read it some more but as he was dealing with this teaching this this chapter still continues to offend people to this day there are many who won't even read beyond a couple of verses in here that they really like the rest of it they don't want to talk about and so as he was having this conversation with the

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Pharisees he came to a particular point regarding who exactly he was and what truly incited them is what we find in John chapter 10 in verse 30 where Jesus says

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I and the Father are one now they were already upset because Jesus refers to God as father that's a no -no for any good upstanding

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Jew but then to to claim that both he and the Father are the same really sends them over the edge to the point where they in verse 31 picked up stones again to stone him so the whole premise of what's happening in Jesus's life is he's been driven out of the region of Judea under threat of death because of his preaching and so he has found himself in this northern region and the reason that these details are important is because they set the time frame for the events that are about to occur and it would be wonderful to have time to really and truly unpack this entire passage because there are so many great truths literally you could do a sermon series on just these 46 verses and spend weeks unpacking all that is contained here but I want to I want to kind of try as much as possible to narrow it down into a couple of areas specifically this morning so as we notice in in verse 1 we see that Lazarus is sick word comes to Jesus that he is sick and that in the verse 2 one of the things that John does here is and he helps us link and make sure that we understand that this

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Mary and Martha and Lazarus is the same family that we'll see again in for in chapter 12 at the very beginning of chapter 12 we have the story of Mary anointing

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Jesus with the costly perfume and so John wants to draw a link between these two and so he points out that this is the same

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Mary and Martha and then he also in chapter 10 of Luke's gospel we actually get the story of Mary and Martha where Martha is bustling around and Mary is just sitting at the feet of Jesus and you remember

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Martha gets upset because Mary's just sitting and letting her do all of the work and and so Jesus replies and says you know she's where she really ought to be because she's sitting at my feet learning from me but the news that he receives is that his very dear friend is sick now scripture does not tell us that the message says come and heal him all it says is

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Lazarus is sick however when we get to the conversation regarding the two women that both of them make the same comment that if he

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Jesus had been there he could have healed her their brother and he would not have died so it kind of leads us into the idea that that maybe the whole premise behind them sending for Jesus was that they knew he could heal but when

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Jesus heard this he gives us an answer and I'm going to be honest with you it is an answer that is probably not what most of us would want to hear

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I can promise you and assure you that if you picked up the phone this afternoon and you called your pastor or your best friend or someone down the road and you said hey so -and -so is sick unto death

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I need you to come the answer you want is not the answer that Jesus gives Jesus responds in verse 4 but when

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Jesus heard this he said this sickness is not to end in death well that sounds great but then it will be for the glory of God so that the

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Son of God may be glorified by the sickness now I'm just going to tell you straight up most people don't want to talk about sickness glorifying anybody it's not a pretty picture it's not something that we want to understand but but one of the things that we have to recognize that we cannot miss from Scripture is that as we look at the life of Jesus if we were to ask we would just go out on the street and ask people one if they ever heard of Jesus and then if they have asked them why he came the answer that they give is likely not the answer that they would have received from Christ and I think that the problem with this is it generates a fundamental flaw in our understanding of God's plan and allows for erroneous ideas within the

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Christian life erroneous ideas that we see being played out right now in this cultural

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Christianity that we experience if you look at Jesus's response here he gives us what is the big picture now we have to be very careful to understand the significance of this truth we have to be very careful to know what it's teaching because it helps to rightly align us with God's purposes in all things now there is absolutely zero question based on the clear teaching of Scripture that Christ is

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God incarnate the Word made flesh John 1 1 in the beginning was the

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Word the Word was with God the Word was God John 1 14 and the Word became flesh and dwelt among men clear there are other places crystal clear secondly we understand and it is crystal clear that he was sent to bridge the chasm between God and his people that were caused by sin it is also equally clear that God sent his son out of his abundant love for his people to the cross for their sins that's what results in the bridge of the chasm

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John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life these are indisputable facts of Scripture it is also beyond question that Scripture teaches that God is for our good

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Romans 8 28 and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who called according to his purpose but what we cannot miss what we cannot miss in the midst of all of this wonderful truth is that is the the response of Christ and in fact his entire life his entire mission amongst his people was for the glory of God that's why now we get all of these benefits this all is very true it's all scripturally based but at the end of the day every single bit of it happens for God's glory that's why we asked the question that's the answer now this is but one of many examples that literally demonstrates how misguided our understanding of the love of Jesus is ask yourselves a question what would your expected response be in a similar situation in other words if you were to call your best friend your pastor your loved one someone and say hey so and so is sick and to death

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I need you how receptive of a response would you how respective to this response would you be well he's sick for the glory of God so you know what it's okay now we can sit here in church and we can be holier than thou and we can all say to ourselves oh yes

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I'd be wonderful with that response because I know all things are for the glory of God but when we walk outside of these doors and reality hits us in the face these are not the answers to the questions that we would desire how would you react if it the response was not according to our desires listen the modern teaching that we see so many places regarding the love of Christ has these crazy ideas that Jesus's love places everything above the glory of God that's the response that people have to the love of Christ now but it has become elevated above the glory of God well it doesn't really matter if it's for the glory of God Jesus said he loves everyone so therefore we go scripture can't really say that because Jesus loves and that's not love but the truth is

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Jesus's response here clearly elevates

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God's glory above his love for his friend I want you to notice something real quick twice in in four verses here we are told that Jesus loved

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Lazarus scripture repeats itself remember that's important later on we get the shortest verse in all of scripture

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Jesus wept now we'll unpack that more next week but what I want you to understand is there's part of that implication is right here

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Jesus had deep feelings for this individual yet greater was his desire that God be glorified it is only rightly understood that we know that the elevating of God's glory to this place is necessary when we truly love the way that God loves us now

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I want you to keep up with me for just a minute so I mentioned a moment ago that we're told twice that Jesus loves

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Lazarus at once in verse 3 then verse 5 repeats and includes

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Martha and Mary he loves these people he has a heart for these people now this is a repeated truth

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God wants us to know how deeply his love abides for his people but he also wants us to understand as much as we possibly can that that his love although it is a deep and abiding love is subservient to and results from his glory you get the transition in verse 6

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I want you to think about it we're gonna I'm actually gonna read these together but I want you to think about it here's the order of events verse 3 so the sister sent to him being

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Jesus saying Lord behold he Lazarus whom you love is sick but when

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Jesus heard this he said this sickness is not to the end to end in death but it's for the glory of God so that son of God may be glorified by it now

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Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus and then John writes in verse 6 so when he heard that he was sick he stayed two more days does that strike you as odd now

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I'm gonna tell you there are theologians out there who who use these two days to explain you know the fact that Lazarus is dead for four days when

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Jesus arrives and they talk about the travel that it takes to get from A to B and why but but can

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I just say that this should make us take note he loves these people so much that instead of dropping everything and running to his friend he holds back so that in case you missed this

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God may be glorified not just God but that the

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Son of God may be glorified you see he's dealing with a higher purpose he's dealing with something that is beyond our comprehension he knows that ultimately what is really better is that he stays exactly where he is two more days how does that adjust our understanding of God's love how does it intersect with what the world wants to believe about love in general and the love of God specifically the church has done severe harm to the world by its mishandling of God's love now

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I want you to hear me clearly we must and should and to the top of our voices proclaim the love of God but it must be done rightly and in full view of his glory now there's again so much to unpack briefly though Jesus is at the end of the two days tells the disciples it is time to return to Judea verses 7 through 16 record for us this this interesting conversation that he has with them and his response to them is basically that he doesn't he's not worried about this threat that's on his life it is time to go back and then he gives them purposefully the purpose of the return and and helps them understand that this is certainly more important than the threat that awaits them now

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I want you to notice it is vitally important to the disciples themselves in verse 15 he says it is so that you may believe now we need to place this in just for just a moment in the larger context of what is happening in Scripture so as I said this is in the final days of Jesus's ministry in just a few short months he would go to the cross and so the the events that are unfolding in front of us bear so much resemblance to what is about to occur in the life of Christ that his disciples need to see and understand what is happening now this should give them some confidence it should give them some help and so he says to them in verse 15 the entire statement is that I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there so you may believe but let us go now most of us here today have heard a question asked or maybe we have even asked a question ourselves why did

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God allow this or why did God allow that well there's the simple and right answer of course and we can always respond with the statement that it is for his glory and good pleasure that may be not the appropriate response sometimes right not that it's a wrong response but it's a response without full explanation and backing it's difficult to lead someone to a point when they have suffered a horrendous tragedy and just look at him and say well it was for God's glory and his good pleasure and we go how can that have ever been for his glory and good pleasure

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I don't comprehend you're not making sense you're babbling to me and so it's necessary that we can help understand and from the textual evidence of this story

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I think that one of the things that we can see is that Jesus was glad his disciples weren't there when he died so that they could understand when

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Jesus dies when when Jesus passes when he goes to the cross that it's not final now it's we would have to do a lot of work to help you get all the way there but I think what he is beginning to do is lay some groundwork and framework he's already been telling them over and over and I'm gonna die

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I'm gonna leave you I'm coming back but they aren't understanding they're not comprehending but giving this them this example this life to live this this work through that they're going to do here can help give them some peace and so I believe that there are a couple of reasons one is absolutely 100 % based on textual evidence from the story and that's the question the reality of the miracle that they're about to witness but secondly that there are that they are about to witness these events would help them even though they not going to truly understand the significance until after the resurrection of Christ they're not going to see the full picture until Christ dies and is risen but that ultimately it would give them encouragement and strengthening of their faith and remind them of the true power of the

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Living God as they would grow through extremely trying times ahead think about all the disciples have in front of them they know none of this at this point

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Jesus knows all of this he knows that it's going to be very difficult for them to watch him go to the cross he knows that it's going to be difficult for them to see him placed in a tomb and yet he still is trying to help prepare them but there is another observation that I would make and this one comes more from life experience than scripture if Jesus had been there if he had been present before Lazarus died yet it was necessary that Lazarus die for the glory of God and the glory of the

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Son of God and Jesus had to allow Lazarus to die what would have been the impact on the faith of the disciples don't you think about it in this way for just a minute and the reason

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I want to bring this up is because this is an example of how the very bad theology in this world today messes with people's head because what's get tall is well if you just have enough faith then you just name it claim it but if it doesn't work out the way you thought it would the problem is not the situation the problem is not that that was

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God's plan the problem is you didn't have enough faith to make it happen and imagine how that would have impacted the disciples had they've been standing there that day and and Lazarus dies and then

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Jesus turns around and brings him back to life but finally

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Jesus arrives in Bethany the first thing that John tells us as Jesus arrives is that Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days now this is an important piece of information it's important for two reasons one it's important because it it kind of solidifies the the whole well he wasn't really dead he passed out thing but two it actually addresses a specific rabbinical teaching of the day now there was a specific teaching of the rabbis a tradition where the spirit hovered around the body for about three days and then after the three -day period the spirit went away and so now the person was considered to be truly completely dead later times in in England you can go even now and visit graves where they literally have a bell system that ran all the way down to the casket because they would literally bury people alive who were in comas or whatever they wake up and the whole purpose of the bell was so that somebody could get him up out of the ground but at the end of the day we can be certain that Lazarus is dead now this gives credence and viability to the miracle that we are about to witness the fact that he is dead or in the words of the governor of Munchkin land really most sincerely dead helps us to recognize that this is no minor fluke this is no swoon this is an actual true -to -life real resurrection now in the culture of the day and still in in Jewish culture there's still some of this that remains it was customary that when someone died that mourners would come and sit with the people for seven days and they would stay right there with them they would tend to them they would help them they would be there for their every need and so John mentions here in verse 19 that there were many

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Jews who had come to Bethany now he does this for a couple of reasons one again because of the tradition of the day they would have naturally have been in the area but two

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I think it underscores the danger that Jesus was in because many of these Jews would have traveled from Jerusalem into Bethany and because they came from Jerusalem then they would have likely have been some of the mob that had tried to run

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Jesus off it is obvious from teachings of Scripture that Martha Mary and Lazarus were from a semi -predominant family in this day they would have literally even the poorest of people who had someone die would have been expected to hire a mourner or two to come and yet what

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Scripture tells us is there were many Jews who had come later on in chapter 12 remember

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Mary pours a very expensive bottle of perfume to anoint Jesus so there is ample evidence that these are a prominent family and as such they would have had prominent people coming to this time and so then we get this interaction between Jesus and the sisters and this morning we're going to focus primarily on Martha's encounter

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Mary's encounter is extremely brief in Scripture it is mentioned but it's confined to her actions and what she says there's no real response from Jesus back to Mary that's recorded for us but Martha's encounter gives to us a picture and I want to take just a few minutes to look at this amazing conversation that we are privy to so in John chapter 11 in verse 21

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Martha says to Jesus Lord if you have been there my brother would not have died now there are those who have interpreted this as an accusatory statement but the original language doesn't support this being an accusation it's more of a statement of fact it's more of an acknowledgment of who

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Jesus is and the fact that if he had been there Martha knew that he had the power to prevent the death of her brother and so as they begin this conversation we see it open up and then

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Jesus responds with a question or with a statement that Martha misunderstands so as she says

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Lord if you have been there been here my brother would not have died then she says but even now

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I know that whatever you ask from God God will give you she recognizes the unique relationship between Christ and God she understands that there is something there she knows that he is has the ears of God now she may not fully and totally comprehended at this point but she at least has a recognition of it and Jesus replies to her with a statement that says your brother will rise again now

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I want you to remember that this is a conversation with a family whom

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Jesus loves no no I won't this needs to be clear this he loves all of his people but there's a special relationship with these people there's a bond here and so he tells her

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Lazarus is going to be raised and she replies and says I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day now during that time briefly there was a debate that raised between the

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Sadducees and the Pharisees regarding the resurrection however if you go back to passages in the Old Testament like Job 19 25 through 27 where he says as for me

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I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last he will raise he will rise up over the dust of this world even after my skin is destroyed yet from my flesh

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I shall behold God whom I myself shall behold and whom my eyes will see and not another my heart faints within me and then

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Daniel 12 to says and many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake these two everlasting life but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt

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Martha has an understanding of the biblical Old Testament teaching of the resurrection of the last day but what

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Jesus is calling her here to is something deeper which brings us to the fifth of the seven

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I am statements of Christ now I mentioned last week that there are 23 something

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I am's recorded for us in the gospel seven of those have descriptors that follow them the rest of them are still just as strong of an

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I am statement because he literally is saying the same words which translate to I am that I am exactly what

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God replied to Moses when he asked from the burning bush who should I say sent me and so Jesus replies to Martha's assertion that she knows

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Lazarus will rise with the statement I am the resurrection and the life these words

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I am would have immediately recalled any Jews mine back to those words of God with Moses they would immediately solidified what

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Jesus was truly saying we don't comprehend the statement I am being such a powerful statement but for them it was a statement of self -awareness self existence self

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I don't need anything I am that I am the entirety the totality of all things this

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I am is in modified by two words resurrection and life demonstrating the power of God over life and over death now if you remember back to our study in Exodus as we walk through the ten plagues remember each plague was a response to the gods of Egypt and to the decimation of their pantheon of gods and the final plague the tenth plague

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God displays his power over life and death defeating ultimately and utterly the gods of Egypt and here in in this example just outside of the village of Bethany somewhere close to the area where Mary's brother lay dead in a tomb

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Jesus proclaims the same truth the same power I am the resurrection and the life

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I have power over life and death and then he gives us two additional statements now many people read these two statements and go well

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I don't really understand why Jesus was repeating himself but you need to understand these aren't a repetition they're closely related but he's not saying the same thing in each statement the first of those two clauses he who believes in me will live even if he dies deals with a physical resurrection that will occur on the last day scripture teaches a bodily resurrection of all some to honor others to dishonor this clause deals with that physical resurrection that reminder that yes absolutely there is a day coming when we will all be raised and those who believe in me will be raised to honor but then he comes to the second clause everyone who lives and believes in me will never die ever this one is pure spiritual life the reality that we will never again those who have faith will never again be spiritually dead because dead things are brought to life by faith through grace and we know our

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Lord and Savior and then he closes out his statement with a very important question do you believe this nothing more he doesn't go to Mary Martha and say

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Martha do you believe that I am the resurrection of the life do you believe that anyone who has faith in me will live even though he dies and the truth shall never die spiritually

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Martha do you believe that I am not just a son of God but God himself in the flesh Martha have you signed the card

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Martha have you walked down the aisle Martha have you prayed the sinner's prayer he didn't ask her any of those things what he said is

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Martha do you believe and her response all that our response to that question would be like Martha's response

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Martha standing in front of her

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Lord and Savior her her friend the loss of her brother weighing on her mind and her heart looks at Jesus and said yes

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Lord I have believed that you are the

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Christ the Son of God the one who comes into the world brothers you and sisters you want to know a confessional statement that ought to bring the hackles up on the back of your neck this is it this is a confessional statement of Martha and in it

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Martha proclaims three very specific truths again truths that are related but they are not the same this is not

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Martha repeating herself three times this is Martha revealing and identifying just like Andrew in John chapter 1 verse 41 that he is the

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Christ the Messiah the question do you believe is beginning to be answered yes

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Lord I believe I believe first you are the Messiah this

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Christmas time we're celebrating the birth of a baby in a manger but the question that really should be before people is do you believe not do you have a hope for 2025 not do you are you glad that your president is going to be the next president not not are you financially successful not do you have a million followers on Facebook or Instagram or all these other things not that all your posts are getting all the likes and and all of these things that you but do you believe in Christ do you believe that he is the

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Messiah the Christ Martha also says that like John the

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Baptist in John 134 like Nathanael in John 149 like the disciples in Matthew 1433

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Lord I believe that you are the very

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Son of God you're not just the

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Messiah now the reason this distinction is important is because the

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Jews had a misunderstanding of exactly what the Messiah was going to be they saw him as the

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Son of David a a pure human who would come in the form of a man or be a man who would take over and free them from the oppression and slavery that they were existed under the

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Roman rule of the time free them from the oppression that they felt from the Jewish leaders and then he would be their king but Martha goes beyond that understanding of him being the

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Son of David and says you are the Son of God and she doesn't stop

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Lord I believe that you are the Messiah I believe that you are the Son of God I believe that you are the one who was foretold to come into the world to deliver the deliverer that has been promised since the garden not only are you here as the

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Messiah the one who will lead us into freedom not only are you here and you are the Son of God but you are the one who will deliver us from evil full final delivery for his people from the bondage of sin her response her response shows that she indeed believes but the question is do you do you believe that he is the

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Messiah do you believe that he is the Son of God do you believe that he is the one who was sent to deliver his people as we come to a close for this portion let us let us think about all of the things that we have worked through preparation that has led us up to this point the recognition of not just who

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Christ was as an infant he was not just a merely a baby in a manger but as the

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Savior who transforms lives the

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Word made flesh who brings salvation the living water that satisfies every thirst the resurrection and the life that holds the very keys to death and hell each one of these encounters we've had have talked about profound truths but it comes down to this simple question the simple question that Martha was asked of Jesus do you believe this do you have faith in him alone do you believe that he is the only one who can reconcile you to God he is the only one who can save to the uttermost my prayer is that we all sitting here today would usher a resounding yes we believe and if this is the truth then your life should be transformed do you remember the

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Samaritan woman her life was so radically transformed she left the water that she had come for to go and share the water she had received but the glory of God revealed in Christ compel you to worship to share his love to live for him but regardless of what you think the call is clear and the question demands a response we will all answer this question one day may we go forth from here not just as people who celebrate

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Christmas but as people who are transformed by Christ ready to share his truth and love in a world that is desperately in need of both let's pray gracious heavenly

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Father Lord as we come before your throne of grace and mercy this morning father we are in a season of joy of hope of love a season where peace is proclaimed from all places the father there is still much darkness in this world and even some of those who who proclaim to have this peace and this love and this joy in this hope don't even really understand the reality of what it is that they proclaim but we pray that you would just work in our hearts move in our lives or that we like Martha could stand and firmly without a doubt with any with no question and no hesitation yes

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Lord I have believed that you are the Messiah the