Well, do take the scriptures with me this morning and turn again to John in chapter 11. John, chapter 11, and as you're there, do allow me to pray briefly. Almighty God, as we come to thy word this morning, we pray that it might be truly that powerful word to us, that we would come in humility, Lord, in submission, and Father, we pray that thy word would speak to each and every soul here this morning. Lord, that we would truly crown Christ as King upon our hearts, that he would be exalted and lifted up, and Lord, that we would see the glories of his power in his resurrection. And Lord, that each of us might enter into everlasting life through the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so Father, go before us now and speak to us by thy word we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen. John in chapter 11, in verse 25, allow me to read this. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. The wonderful privilege of the Christian Every week is that we are reminded and we glorify in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is to lift our hearts to know that as we see Christ high and lifted up, there was our sin. Every sin that we ever thought or said or committed, our sin was placed upon the head of Christ our Saviour. And that as God the Father looked upon his Son, poured out his wrath upon him, our sin was done away with. Oh, the liberty that comes with a soul that has been saved through the blood of the Jesus Christ, the unshackling of the chains of sin, the liberty of living a life now newly created in him, a life of purpose, a life of joy, a life of everlasting consequences, a life whereby we might now talk to others and seek the good of others in a spiritual sense, a wonderful joy to see the sacrificial love of the Lord Jesus Christ, a love so great that it took upon himself what we truly deserve, the fearful righteousness of the Father displayed the fulfilling of the Scriptures, the full confidence that we have in this revelation of God to mankind, that the Messiah has come and has done that which he accomplished upon the cross of Calvary, shedding his blood for us, the double imputation of sin and righteousness, the fulfilling, the picture of the ordinances and the sacrifices in the Old Testament, finally being made clear through the death of Christ. It is a dramatic event, an emotional event. Our hearts are filled every time we are reminded of the cross of Christ. It is visceral and incomprehensible, but all of this means nothing unless we have the glorious resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. If he be not raised from the dead, the cross accounts for naught. and that we no longer have a confidence in who Christ was. We no longer can identify with the fact that through the death of Christ that we might have life with him who took his own life and took his seat upon the throne to the right-hand side of the Father. It is the raising up unto life in which the redemptive plan reaches its climax, its triumphant climax. It is the greatest manifestation of Christ's power. the resurrection of Christ. We know that people were resurrected in times past through the scriptures, but it was through God using a man, but never before had a man raised himself from the grave, and thus is the power of Christ. It confirms the acceptance of Christ's blood, that as he lay in the grave, his death was acceptable to God, and that he raised him from the dead. It is the confidence of the believer. It is the validation, again, of the scriptures. It is the foreshadowing of the believer's experience. And it is the defeating of the final enemy, which is death. Death is the great enemy that still looms, but Christ has conquered it. And no longer does death have its sting. And we might proclaim, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gave us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Is this your hope this morning in the resurrection of Christ? Is this your joy? Is this the truth whereby you live and breathe and worship God, your creator? That today you may joy that Christ is alive and through his life, I might have life everlasting and eternal. I hope you know that this morning. And if you have come this morning thinking that you might get away with listening to a sermon again of the resurrection, not being challenged, my friends, hearken unto the word. Let it have its power over you, that the Holy Spirit might transform you to have a greater heart and love for the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ came not merely to die, but to live, and that we might inherit his death and his resurrection. There's a wonderful truth about in the scriptures that tell us that we are joint heirs with Christ and that in the picture of baptism there is a picture of dying with Christ, a death to the old self, a death to the old wants, desires and sin which once entangled us so, but yet being raised up in newness of life with Christ. Is that your experience this morning? Have you been raised from spiritual death? It's Christ risen in your heart. And as we approach this text, here we have a miracle of Christ that is somewhat set apart from all other miracles. It is a miracle that so plainly describes the power of his resurrection, the power and authority that Christ has over death, that he truly has the power of God over our souls and over this tyrant which is death. And it is a parable within itself. It is a sermon preached to us through these words and actions of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see the claim of Christ. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. This great proclamation that Christ makes to a situation that was so devastating. It was so shrouded with the fear of death, with the sorrow of death, with the difficulty that comes with one that is laid in the grave. And there was such a desperation in the hearts of the sisters of Lazarus. If only thou had been here, Lord, he would still be alive. And Jesus challenges them. He says, I am the resurrection. I am the one who holds the keys of death. I am the one who is able to raise up life from the utter depravity, from the utter corruption that proceeds from this tyrant that is death. And thus he proceeds to perform that miracle of the raising of Lazarus. The spiritual and physical death of man is shown here in this parable, in this working. The utter ruin of man in death, the authority of Christ over death. It is a miracle that transcends the divide between the physical and the eternal. And it is a miracle that is performed with a range of emotions within the heart of the Saviour, with a sense of anger and indignation, with love and with tears which flowed. It is a miracle that would bring thousands together, just a page over, to see the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem, this amazing raising of Lazarus from the dead. And we see this wonderful call that says, come forth to the dead. And thus Lazarus came forth. There is such life in these two words that is commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder, have you heard these words this morning? Come forth. There is life and life eternal to be had through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so let us discover the victory of Christ over death through this example of this miracle. I want to firstly identify the heart of the battle. Verse 33, if you read it with me. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping with her, came with her, he groaned in his spirit and was troubled. And they said, where have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, behold how he loved him. We know that Christ was tarrying beyond the Jordan, as you read at the beginning of the chapter. He was staying there, and news came to him that Lazarus was sick, and that it was likely that he was about to die, but yet he stayed. And the disciples don't really understand why this is so. And Christ says, this sickness is not unto death, but is the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Christ is saying this sickness in which Lazarus has experienced, it's not for the glory of death, it's not for the jaws of death to have its victory over him, but it's so that I might be glorified and that God might be glorified in the power that will be manifest and that you might truly have a confidence in me. And thus we find that as he tarries over the Jordan, word comes and Lazarus has died. And there is weeping, there is mourning, there is great pain and anguish at a life cut short, at a life seemingly wasted. And here comes Christ, and how does he respond when he sees the bitter tears of the sisters of Lazarus? As he hears the groans and moaning within, he was a man acquainted with grief, and what does it say? He groaned in his spirit and was troubled. Now what does this mean when Christ groans in his spirit? Well, it says that the Greek word here, it describes an indignation. Now we must be so careful when we read the scriptures, that we must be students of the word, for we can pass over these things so easily. But as Christ looked at the consequences of death, he was filled with a rage and an anger. And this description, this term in the original Greek, literally means the snorting of a horse that goes into battle. And such is the attitude of Christ when he sees the consequence of death, which truly is the consequence of sin. Christ is going to battle against this great enemy, death, and he hates it. As he sees those whom he loves, that have been so damaged and destroyed, as it were, by this great enemy of death, a great fire, a great indignation raises up in the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. This word describes outrage, fury, and anger, for death is the enemy to be slain. It is the tyrant of man. Death looms upon the head of every soul. And today we live in a generation like every other generation that has come before us. And we try and push death aside. We try and pretend that it will never come, but it will. And it does. And it has conquered every soul that has lived up until this point. It is the great enemy. It is a foreign intrusion to the perfect creation of God. We know that God created the world in perfection. There was no death. But when sin entered into the world, this foreign intrusion, death entered in. And thus was the proclamation of God to mankind and to the world. Death now has come. It is the foreign intrusion into this creation. We are the children of sin. And we know, as the scriptures tell us, as by one man sin entered the world, Death by sin. And so death passed upon all men. And Christ hates it passionately. And we hate it passionately. For here the child of sin is being tormented by death. But we also see at the turn of a coin that Christ shed tears. That although this great welling up of anger Of righteous indignation, we see tears of love. And said, where have they laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. And there we have those famous words. Jesus wept. We see such love, the tender heart of Christ, that he was moved with compassion. For his dear friend, the one whom he loved, lay in the grave, his flesh corrupting. The shadow of his human nature we see in Christ. He was one acquainted with grief. It was the same love that Christ showed here that brought the promise of life when death first entered in. When the great curse came upon mankind in the Garden of Eden, it was this love that said the seed of the woman will be raised up to crush the head of the serpent. It was this love that placed the elect of God in the heart of Christ from eternity past. It was this same love. It was the love that guided the children of Israel, that took them out of bondage in Egypt. It was the same love that corrected and sanctified and guided them and blessed them. It was the same love that declared the word of God through the history of the scriptures to the people of God. It was these same cords of love that brought Christ to dwell with man. Such is the ministry of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. It was this love whereby he was placed upon the cross, where he took the shame and the scorn. It was this love that drove him to bear the full brunt the wrath of the Almighty Father. And thus we see this great almost dichotomy in the attitude of Christ as he came and achieved that work of salvation in the plan of redemption, a hatred for sin and death, but then a tender love for mankind, a tender desire that souls would be saved, that they would be glorified. And so often we think, well, how can love and hate reside so close within the human heart? Well, to love perfectly, my friends, means to hate perfectly. They come side by side. You think, well, how can that manifest? Well, if you love someone, don't you hate anything that threatens them? Don't you hate anything that seeks their ruin, their destruction? And thus, as God looks upon his children with such a tender and loving care, oh, how he hates the corruption of sin within them. how he seeks the destruction of this curse of death upon them. My dear friends, this is God's attitude towards us. Oh, his tender love towards us is so great. It is a love that words cannot express, but yet there is a wrath and a hatred for the sin that dwells within us, for the sin in which we practice, the sins that proceed from us. You see, This is the dynamic that drives a man to war, a hatred and a love, a hatred for the tyrant that seeks the destruction of his country, a hatred for the tyrant that seeks the destruction of his home and his family, the things that he most loves in the world. And thus he will be moved into action to take arms against that tyrant and seek its destruction. And that is the heart of Christ as he went to war in Calvary, to seek the destruction of death and sin. that he might save those whom he loves. This was the attitude of Christ as he approached the grave of Lazarus and as he faced death in the grave at Calvary. And this is the wonder of the gospel, my friends. The merciful love of God towards mankind and the righteous indignation against sin is satisfied. This is how the scriptures describe the work of God, that God is the just and the justifier. It doesn't always seem to make sense. How can we have a holy, righteous God that hates sin, but yet allow the sinner to be pardoned? Because these two truths of our God are so finely interwoven and intertwined. And such are the fine details of the mechanics of the salvation of God, that he can pour his absolute wrath and judgment upon our sin. Yet let us go free. For Christ took our sin, for Christ took the brunt, and thus was the heart of Christ. When he saw Lazarus, although he was around the grave of Lazarus, he had an indignation, but such a sweet love for him. There we see the fallen in the battle. the heart of the battle. Now we see those who fell in the battle, the man Lazarus. And there in verse 37, and some of them said, could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again, groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. Here we see the utter ruin of the body of Lazarus. Here we see the absolute corruption that this work was to take place upon. You see, Mary and Martha, they had seen the power of Christ. Those around about had seen the power of Christ, how he had spoken and the lame were made to walk, the blind were made to see, how thousands were fed. They saw his power over creation as he could still the waves. And yet here a man lays in the grave and they said, if only thou were here, then he'd be okay, but now he has passed into death eternal. And Christ has missed the boat, as it were. Such was the devastation, such was the utter depravity of the situation. But what does Christ say? He has died that I might be glorified, that you might finally understand my true power, and which I have on earth, and my authority over death and the grave. It is mine to raise a man unto life, and thus he does. And he raises him. Four days had the body been in the grave, and utter corruption had set in. The command comes, the stone been rolled away, and it is met with resistance. And even though a miracle worker, it seemed that there was nothing to be done. Death had swallowed up Lazarus. But Mary and Martha had grossly underestimated the power of Christ. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. When Christ raises men and women from the dead, he raises them from the dead, from utter death. And this can be taken two ways, I guess. The spiritual death of man and the physical death of man. Ephesians 2.1, those words which describe to us the spiritual death in which each of us are born into. And he says this, and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. The scriptures are very clear about a soul who has never come to Christ, that they live in a state of utter depravity and corruption, that we would have nothing to do with God through our rebellion. So great is the chasm, so great is the separation between God and man. There would be no desire in him for God. no affection towards spiritual things, he is utterly spiritually dead. We are lost through this death, we are wandering through this death, and we are disobedient through this death. And it is no wonder that God had placed a great veil between the holy of holies and mankind, because such was the separation, the enmity that lay between one who is holy and righteous. and one who is spiritually dead. And there is no light within the soul. There is no vigor within him, nor beauty. We are like the withered fig tree that Christ describes. We are like the chaff that has been separated from the wheat. As it is cast into the air, the chaff just blows to one side, not an ounce of life or weight to it. We are like the branch that has been removed from the vine. It is cast aside. And what is the end of all these things? Well, it is the fire. and it is destruction. And thus is the spiritual life of everyone who is outside of Christ, my friends. If you are outside of Christ this morning, you are spiritually dead. But we come to a Saviour who can quicken you with two words that says, come forth. Have you heard the voice of Christ? Have you known of his power? Have you seen the utter glory of Christ in bringing you from death unto life, from the miry pit of clay and establishing you on that rock which is Christ? Oh, that is a process that puts a new song in your mouth, my friends. It is a process that gives you a new fire and zeal for life, a joy and a love for the spiritual and a glory for God in your own heart. This is the process. This is the beginning and the end, as it were, of the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the dead individual cannot act, respond, nor call out, but it is the Saviour that calls and brings men unto himself. And we see also the physical death. Again, as I mentioned before, we live in a generation like every other generation that pretends that death is not coming. ignoring the coming death of the body. And we are like that foolish rich man who says, eat, drink, take thy knees, I've done all that I can in life, and now I will enjoy all that my hands have laboured for. But there will come a day, like for this foolish rich man, when God says, thou fool, this day I shall require your soul, and all that you have laboured for, all that you have built up upon the sand, as it were, will come crumbling down. it will be burnt up as the chaff. And this is the fragility, as it were, of our life. But yet, through Christ's life, death, and resurrection, though we still die, there is coming a day when we will be raised from the grave, that the soul and the body will be made perfect once again. and that the kingdom of God, when it is established, that there will be no more tears, no more darkness, and no more death, and no longer will this tyrant have his way with us. But even in now, even now when we experience death as a child of God, it no longer is that fearful thing, but it is the sweet transport in which we will be in the presence of our Saviour. And thus what have we to fear? You can't threaten me with the loving arms of my Saviour. To live is Christ, but to die is gain, my dear friends. Oh, if only we had a glimpse of what awaits the saint on high. There will be eternal light, eternal glory, a life given over to worship of the one true God. And my friends, there will be no end to this worship, for you will not want to stop worshipping. Such will be the glory of the kingdom of God. And Christ says, yet they shall live. What words? Yet they shall live. Though, my friends, you might be spiritually dead, though yet your body may die, there is one who can give you life, life eternal. We may rejoice that through Christ's resurrection that he became the firstfruits of them that slept. This is why the resurrection is so important, my dear friends. that he was the first fruits as he took his life again and established that pattern. There we see, there we are found, that if you identify with Christ, you identify with his death, yes, but all we identify with his life. We are quickened unto spiritual life. The breath of the Holy Spirit is breathed into us, plucked from the clay, established on the rock, a new heart, a new song and life of worship, love, and servitude, a rebirth. This is what it means. And the physical body, though it shall be corrupted, it will behold the Saviour one day, perfected. No longer is death the tyrant of the soul, but it is the means in which the saint is carried into the loving arms of Christ. John 12, 24, just a page over, we find after the triumphal entry of Christ Thousands gathered to see this Christ. And there were certain Greeks among them that said, we would see Jesus. I don't care about this great parade, this great whipping up of emotions. Take me to the man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what does Christ say? Except a corn of wheat fall and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Christ had to enter into the grave like a corn of wheat, as it were, that he might burst forth and bring forth the fruit. What is the fruit? The souls of mankind. The souls of you and I, if you have placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his resurrection, his rising up is our resurrection and our rising up. And where he is, we shall be. Such is the servant and the master. Such is that relationship. his authority, his love. And there we see the power of the resurrection. And let us see the battle cry, as it were. He had been dead four days. In verse 40, Jesus saith unto her, said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they might believe that thou hast sent me. We see this prayer of Christ unto the Father. It intimates to us that he has been constantly in prayer throughout this whole situation, and that he prays for the behalf of us, those who witness and us who now read. What a wonderful thing. And when he had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. There was no great show. There was no great work to be done, as it were, but such is the authority of Christ that two words, come forth. And life was given to the corrupted body. Life was given to the corrupted soul. And my friends, those words are still being proclaimed today as Christ tarries as he does not return. The gospel light is being shed forth to all, and the voice of the Lord cries out, come forth. And in an instant, life is given to the dead. In an instant, the corrupted body of Lazarus was made whole again. Not a sign of that corruption was upon his body. And what happened? They loosened the grave clothes around him. There was liberty in life. He was a new creature, as it were, a new creation. Such is the authority of God. No man spake like this man when he said such words. This was the testimony of those who heard the preaching of Christ. He doesn't speak like the Pharisees. He doesn't speak like the Pharisees. But he has conviction and authority like we've never heard before. Because this was the voice that brought the world into creation, my friends. He spoke it, and it was done. He called unto Adam into the garden. This was the voice that called unto Moses out of the fiery, burning bush. This was the voice that shook the mountain of Horeb before Elijah. This was the voice that pronounced judgment upon all nations, that declared a Messiah that was to come, the voice that cried, it is finished upon the cross. And he has all authority, my friends, to say, come forth. and receive that which is good, life everlasting. My dear friends, have you heard the voice of God? Have you heard his voice? And I'm not talking about the rolling back of the clouds and a mighty thundering of your name, but through the word of God, through the preaching of his word, is your heart stirred by the words and the message that you are a sinner and desperately need salvation, Have you heard the small, still voice? Or maybe you've heard the great, booming, authoritative voice of Christ that says, come forth. It doesn't have to be like this. Though death may have its sting for you, oh, I can remove it. Though there is corruption found to the deepest depths of your soul, I can take it. and I will place it upon the cross, and I will take it before the Father, and I will deal with it. Have you heard this voice? Or maybe you've forgotten this voice. Maybe you have forgotten the voice of the shepherd that calls you back to the fold, that calls you back to a place of safety, a place of love, of direction, a place of feeling. My friends, have you heard the voice of God, the voice of Christ in its authority? It was a voice of irresistible power. The dead man came forth. Now, I don't want us to get us tangled up in the theology of predestination, because God explains, yes, there are those in the heart of God. But my friends, we know who those are by those that hear the call. And if you hear the call of God in your heart, oh, what a picture and a confidence that we have that we are found in the heart of God. And those whom he called, what does he do? Well, he eventually justifies and glorifies them, my friends. Though this voice was loud and authoritative, all such grace and love was found therein. My friends, have you heard it? His authority. It was a voice of irresistible power, the soul returned to the body of Lazarus, the corruption passed away, and Christ and the Father were glorified. This is the purpose of the resurrection, to glorify God, that he might receive the glory, to spiritual life to worship him, and eternal life to worship him. This is a complete salvation, my friends. His authority to give the resurrection was shown in his own resurrection. What does he say to those that came to him after Christ? He had entered into the temple. It was the Passover. There were those selling doves, selling animals, exchanging money, and he casts them all out. A great cleansing. This was to be a place of worship, not a place of merchandise. And then the leaders come to him and they say, what authority do you have to do this? He says, destroy this temple and in three days I'll rise it up. They thought he was talking about the physical temple, but he was talking about his body. They said, 46 years this temple is being made, do you think you can raise it up in three days? No. He's saying, me, you can destroy me, but in three days I'll raise it up and that is the authority in which I have. That is the sign that you will have. And my friends, when we come to a day like today, when we think of the resurrection, that sign is the authority whereby we can preach and believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It ties everything up. It is the cornerstone to the salvation which God has brought to pass. And so let us see the question. Verse 26, it says this, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. And what does he say? Believeth thou this? Do you believe in the resurrection of Christ? There was a study back in 2017 that said a quarter of so-called Christians did not believe in the resurrection. Well, first of all, I don't believe that. Because you can't be a Christian unless you believe in the resurrection. You believe in a saviour that's dead if you don't believe in the resurrection. Christ has failed if he is in the grave. But the fact that he burst forth in utter glory gives us the confidence to say that he was king and is king, and reigns forever now, and he has taken his throne where my home will be eternally. My friends, such glory is the resurrection. And we cannot glide over it, we cannot refuse it. Do you believe this? Romans 10 verse 9, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. My friends, may we dwell on this today, the glorious resurrection of Christ, how it underpins every doctrine of the Bible. And if we take that away, everything collapses. We are of all people most miserable if Christ is not raised from the dead. But we thank God that we have the victory through Him who died. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee that a day like today, that as the sun shines down upon us, we thank Thee that we are reminded of Thy glory and Thy grace and Thy majesty, and that the light of the world, though He seemingly was slain and swallowed up by death, that He was brought forth, taking His own life again, as it were, and establishing his kingdom and his throne. And Father, what a great truth in which we believe in. And Lord, it is the confidence of the Christian, it is the great glory of the Christian, the truth that though we were dead, that we now shall live through him who died and rose again for us. And we pray for any here this morning who doubts the scripture. who has a heart that is far from Thee, who is in that state of utter corruption. Lord, may Thy Holy Spirit reveal in them their desperate need for the Saviour. And may they hear that authoritative voice of God who says, come forth, who says, receive life and life everlasting. Father, we pray that we would have Thy praise and Thy glory upon our hearts this day. And as we part ways and enter into our homes, We pray that we might be filled with the love of God and the glory that is found in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, let us sing our final hymn together this morning, 239. Hymn number 239. Thine be the glory, risen, conquering sun. Endless is the victory, thou, O death, has won. Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away. Kept the folded grave clothes where the body lay. Thine be the glory, risen Corcoran's son. Endless is the victory. Thou, O death, has won. Let's sing this one together.