Say, Alleluia. Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia. Raise your voice and try. Live there then, glorious King. Alleluia. Where old death is now thy sting. Alleluia. Dying once, ye all the same. Lord, redeeming work is done. Alleluia. Fight the fight, the battle's won. Alleluia. Death in vain for days and nights. Christ hath opened heaven's gates, Alleluia. So we now where Christ hath led us, Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Good singing there. Let's turn on over one page to page 360. And the Sunday school classes, you can be dismissed now. And on that second verse, let's get around and shake each one's hand. ♪ I serve as its savior, he's in the world today. ♪ I know that he is living, whatever men may say. ♪ I see his hand of mercy, I hear his voice of fear. ♪ And just the time I need him, he's always near. Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along that narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to embark. You ask me how I know He lives. Let's get around and check each one's hand. And as we make our way back, we'll start that second. In all the world around me, I see his loving care. Though my heart grows weary, I never will despair. I know that He is leading through all the stormy flats. The day of His appearing will come at last. He lives, He lives, God Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along that narrow way. She lives with salvation to impart You ask me how I know He lives He lives within my heart Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian! Lift up your voice and sing Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ, the King! The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find Him. The Lord is so lovely, so good and kind. He lives where Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me. I love my stairway. He lives. He lives. Salvation to impart. You ask me who I am. Let us know just a blessing on the offering. You may be seated. Yeah. Yeah. And good morning. Good to see everybody out this, well, kind of rainy resurrection day. We go to a place where there'll be no storms, amen? Okay, our scripture reading today, John 11, one through six. John 11, one through six. Stand if you can for the reading of God's word. Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus of Bethany, the clown of Mary, and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. When he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Thank you, and you may be seated. Pastor? All right, good morning. Good to see everybody out. It kind of messed you all up with the 10.30 time, didn't it? Was that really messed up? And we were moving along trying to get here and went down. We go through that place in Stone County called Hootentown and came to the water crossing at Bob Roy's, which doesn't live there anymore, but man, it was rolling. And we had to go all the way around, come back around to Possum Trot and over to Jamesville. And that's what happens when you live in the Ozarks. You go through Possum Trot and Jamesville and Hootentown. And it's quite a piece getting around here. So we made it. Praise the Lord. Good to see you here too. And what a beautiful rain. And I was thinking on the way in, and I just love the visual signs of resurrection in the springtime. Those things that were dead and beautiful life and flowers are coming on, and I love that. And I'm thankful for that. Well, it's good to see you out today. And there's some that weren't able to be here. Pray for Kylie. She was at a birth last night. And so they were praying, trying to hopefully they would have put that off. But she was there, not her birth, but she works. That's what she does. And then she slipped and fell and hurt her wrist. And so I'm over here today. And so but do pray for her. And that wouldn't be too bad of a problem that he'll write up. So. If you're a guest with us today, thank you for being here. What we do right now usually is just take a short time to pray right where we are, you personally, just quietly where you are. Just kind of get your mind and your thoughts and your heart in gear. Ask the Lord to speak to you today and ask him maybe to help you to remove whatever distractions you might have brought in with you, things you're thinking about tomorrow or the next day that really don't need to be worried about right now, right? Didn't Jesus say, you know, take no thought for the things of tomorrow? For they shall take thought of themselves, right? For the Mars shall take thought of itself. And sometimes we, I do it, we get too many things on our head and we're not listening sometimes. And so I ask the Lord to help you with that. So we're gonna have a word of prayer. And then Brother Allen is going to come and lead us in another song. And then right after that song, we'll have a special and I'm not even going to introduce it. They'll just come right up and they can sing and then then we'll get into the message. We had another message, another special as well, but she got hurt and she's working. So so next time, next time. How many knew Brother Dossett played the guitar? I didn't know that. Maybe I did. Did I forget? I didn't forget very well? Okay. Well, that'll be coming later, I hope, so we'll be looking forward to that. So, all right. Let's go ahead and have a word of prayer, and then we'll move along here. Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much today for the day, for the day that we're celebrating today and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it has changed everything. It has changed the world. And for those that have believed and received it, it has changed our eternal destiny. And we thank you for that today. And Lord, as we take this time to come apart and to sing and to worship, Father, to hear the preaching of the word, I just pray, God, today that everything would be done to your glory, that you'd be glorified in all of it, that Jesus would be exalted today and have the preeminence. And Lord, the work that you intend to do in each and every heart that is here today, that Lord we would allow you to do that. To those that are in Christ today that we leave here being more encouraged and strengthened to go out and be doers of your word and not hearers only. To those that may be here or may be online watching that have never received Jesus Christ, they've never been born again, that today your Holy Spirit would just arrest their attention would draw them, and that today they would come to Christ. Lord, would you remove all distractions? Would you just not allow Satan to have any avenue here whatsoever just to interrupt the word and the preaching and all that you're trying to do, that you would just intervene there. And Father, we will thank you for what you do today. And I just pray that the work that is done in our heart would just be something that we would glean from, Lord, for the rest of our life and just on and on and on. We'll just look forward to what you do today. And we thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Don't forget to pray for The Nelsons back there, they got the kids today, so I'm sure that'll be fun, and I know he'll enjoy that, so pray for them if you would, when you think about it. Stand one more time before the pastor comes, and turn to page 46. Page 46. Ground him with me. ♪ And upon his throne ♪ ♪ Hark how the heavenly anthem drowns ♪ ♪ All music but its own ♪ ♪ Awake my soul and sing ♪ ♪ The brave who died for thee ♪ ♪ And hail him as thy majesty ♪ ♪ Will all eternity ♪ ♪ Crown Him the Lord of love ♪ ♪ Behold His hands is shot ♪ ♪ Rich wounds yet visible above ♪ ♪ Him beauty glorified ♪ died for me. Thy praise shall never, never fail, to all eternity. Proud am the Lord of Lords, who triumphed o'er the grave, who rose victorious His glories now we sing, who died and rose on high, who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die. ♪ One with the Father Lord ♪ ♪ One with the Spirit moving in ♪ ♪ From yonder glorious throne ♪ ♪ To thee be endless praise ♪ ♪ For thou for us hast died ♪ You may be seated. How deep the Father's love for us How vast beyond all measure That he should give his only Son To make a wretch his treasure how great the pain of searing loss the father turns his face away as wounds which mar the chosen one bring many sons to glory behold the on a cross, my sin upon his shoulders. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath hath brought me life. I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my ransom. Amen. Amen. Amen. Behold a manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. What an amazing thought. Amen. Amen. Well, because we don't have the second special, it normally goes, I have more time. And so this is great. We're going to be here a while. paid him to say that. So, I'm just teasing. Amen. Turn to your Bible if you would please this morning John chapter 11. Brother Jim has read the text for us in the beginning of the text. And we are going to be a few places. It will be a moment until we get here. But we will end up here in John chapter 11 here just in a little bit. You know the world has had a problem that nobody has been able to deal with. world has had a problem that nobody has been able to deal with and it is called death. Amen. For 6,000 years everybody has died. Everybody. I mean granted Elijah and Enoch went up a little different way than everybody else did besides Jesus obviously. But their body is not here, right? They are gone. And with the total world population estimated to be at this time for the last 6,000 years about they say, I don't know who they is I haven't met them. But they say, like 130 billion people have lived on this planet. And can I tell you that means about 122 billion, minus the almost 8 billion that live today, 122 billion have died. And the ones that are on this planet today, including you and I, are gonna die. We're gonna leave this planet someday. And because we know this is true, right, we can't deny it, okay, we know it's true, you know what we do? We go out and we spend billions and billions and billions of dollars every year to try to live longer. to try to be healthier and we take this vitamin, that vitamin, eat this food and don't eat that food and forget to take this vitamin and then forget to take that vitamin and all of these things like that. To what? To live healthier, yes, and hopefully to live longer. But can I tell you, no matter how much money we spend, and I think we ought to and we ought to take care of the body that God's given us, but at the end of it all, we still die. still die. At 67 years old Lester Roloff died very healthy. That plane came out of the sky and it hit the ground and he died very, very healthy. And listen we are going to die. We are going to die. And since we know this, since we know we cannot live forever the question I think comes along to me which is, is there a way we can live again? If we can't live forever, is there a way that we can live again? And so, you know, back in, all the way back in Genesis, if you remember, God had warned Adam in Genesis chapter 2 and verses 16 through 17, and the Lord God commanded man saying, at every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Isn't that in our nature? I mean I'm telling you what there could be 5,000 or 5 million things that God says, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And one little thing He says no and we go, oh, that looks interesting. Right? That's just how we are. It is. And this is exactly what God warned Adam in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. You say, well, he lived to 900 and something. Well, number one, he died spiritually. Number two, the death process began. He died, exactly as God said, He died. And God decreed this to mankind. In Genesis 3, 19, He told them after the sin had taken place, He said, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground, for of it thou wast taken, from the dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return. So, here's what we notice here from the Bible. Here's what we notice from experience of living life and looking at history. We can see that it is sin that brings death. We cannot stop it. We cannot alter it. The Word of God tells us in Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are all sinners, friend. This is what is established. Our representative head, Adam, of the entire human race sinned. And we are born of Adam. And everybody born of Adam is born a sinner, not only by nature, Romans 5.12, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men. Why? For all have sinned. We are sinners by nature. Hey, has anybody ever stopped to watch a cow and go, why does that thing go moo? I won't do a real one. I can do a really good one, but it's kind of embarrassing. Maybe it's more like a calf. Yeah, bawling. You ever look at a cow and go, I wonder why they do that? You ever look at a cow and go, I wonder why they are stupid? You ever look at a cow and go, I wonder why they are so stupid we just eat them? Right? I mean that's what we eat the dumb ones, right? And you ever look at a dog and go, I wonder why it barks? Well, no you don't. Why do they do those things? Because a dog barks because it's a dog. And a cow does stupid things and moves because it's a cow. Right? And what do we do? We sin because we are sinners. This is our nature. This is who we are. You say, well I can't change that. Absolutely, you're right. You can't change that. Not only are we centered by nature, somebody might get a little bit upset and go, well I didn't ask to be born. How many have ever gone through that in their life? Processing that. I have. I've been there. I remember you going, I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for this family. I didn't ask to be born into this. I didn't ask for this or whatever. I didn't ask for any of it. Right? And so you might get a little twisted saying, I didn't ask to be born a sinner by nature. Well, can I let you down on something? You're a sinner by choice too. Anybody sin this week? Why am I the only one raising my hand? Okay, yeah. written there is an unrighteous, no not one. What a truer statement. Have you met anybody yet who doesn't sin in this life? No, they don't exist. So, what do we know because of this is that we are all doomed. We are all headed for the grave. Is there anything that we can do about it? Right? Is there any hope? That's the question that comes a lot. about that we need to answer. And we come to realize this that we are doomed and if we know we are going to die and we wonder if since we are going to die maybe can we live again. So, the first thing we think about here is like the fact that we need, I'll get it out here eventually, we need resurrection life. Because I can't live again. I mean, we don't need to argue this any longer. I don't think we do. We can't live again. But you know what we notice here in our text is that, when I get there eventually, because I almost forgot something. Do you know, outside of the Bible, in any religious group, in any religious writing, whether oral or written, there is no resurrection recorded of the Word of God. I looked it up. I googled it. Google is always right. And then this AI thing came up and it told me the same thing. Now they did tell me that this is just a little bit of mythology here in the Bible, which we would probably argue about that a little bit. But outside of the Word of God, outside of Christianity, outside of the Judaism of the Old Testament, of Word of God, outside of the Word of God there is no record, anybody claiming to have any record of somebody resurrecting. It's just not in their religious belief, not at all. And do you know why it doesn't come up in human religions? Because resurrection isn't human. If somebody is going to write a natural, their own religion, and it's going to be human based and humanistic, well it's not going to, they're not even going to think of resurrection. Why would we, you know listen this is the time space continuum that we live in. We live in time, we live in space, and we know within that is death. And how would it even come to our thought that oh, I might resurrect again one of these days if somebody had never told me that. And listen, and if that is not normal among the human race, who first came up with it? Well, we know it was revealed, obviously. See, resurrection is not human, and resurrection is miraculous, right? So we know this, the world systems and the world religions, they are human and they are not miraculous. And so watch, without divine intervention, without divine revelation, no human would even think of presenting the idea of the dead living again. Now, all that have done so since the Word of God and since Jesus, they've borrowed it, right? I was talking to a Muslim man up in Canada one time, and he said, well, you know, the Koran talks about Jesus and it talks about Mary. It's very favorable to Abraham. And, you know, it agrees. I said, well, sure, you came 625 years later. hard to do that when you've already had something that's been out there for a long time. Right? And so here we have resurrection. Right? Within the Bible, it's not outside of the Word of God, but within the Word of God there are eight recorded instances of resurrection. Back with Elijah the widow of Zarephath. Her son had died and Elijah came and laid over him and prayed over him and he raised from the dead. Elisha had two times that Shunammite woman, his son, her son I should say, that he raised from the dead. And this is the coolest one, Elisha was dead. in a grave and these guys were burying a guy to make it really short. Some enemies were coming and they had to hurry up and so they chucked the body in there or down in however it was done in the tomb. And the body hit the bones of Elisha and the guy jumped up alive again. Well that was pretty cool. Yeah. There's a lot of preaching right there. A little bit of preaching I should say. A little bit of application there I don't have time with. But here's the one that's really meaningful to me. Paul was preaching. He had gone on and on and on and on and on. Eutychus fell asleep in the window and fell out and died. Paul went down and prayed over him. So if you fall out of a window here and die, I can't help you. Okay, I'm sorry. Tell Jesus hi for me. Elijah, there was Elisha, there was Paul, right? But there was Jesus as well. And there's four times that Jesus raised somebody from the dead. But see watch the resurrections done by Jesus Christ were different than all the others. the others had to pray over the dead. All of the others had to pray to God. The others had to do some type of act whether it was laying over the one and breathing on their face. Things you go, that's kind of weird. I think I would have woke up dead too if I knew Elijah was breathing on my face like that. You know that's my weird brain. But Jesus did them totally different. Others prayed and did some act, but watch, Jesus simply commanded the dead to rise. And they got up. Now that's different, friend. That's different. Over in Luke chapter eight, verses 50 through 55, is Jairus' daughter. Jesus walked in there, he said, made a rise. Up she came. you like seeing that? In Luke 7, 11-15 that widow from Nain, her only son. I mean Jesus was coming through this area and it was a funeral procession that He came upon. And here He saw this widow and her only son and she had nothing left. And the Bible said He had compassion upon her. And He looked down at her and in verse Listen to verse 14 and 15, I wrote it down here. And he came and touched the buyer, and they that bear him stood still, and he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak, and he delivered him unto his mother. He just spoke the Word. See, this is the difference of Jesus. The power, why? Because He is God, amen. He absolutely is. And of all of those that He commanded to rise, in Luke chapter 11, I told you we'd get here. In Luke chapter 11, I tell you, Lazarus was something special, wasn't he not? Look in verse one of our text. Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary, and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." Now realize the heat had kind of turned up for Jesus. They wanted to stone Him. So, Him and the disciples got out of Dodge, or Jerusalem, and got over to the area of the Jordan River where He had been baptized, where John had baptized. He went back out to that wilderness area to wait for things to cool down again. And And so while they were out in this area, a word came to him, to Jesus, that Lazarus, all it became was that he was sick. That he was sick. And in verse three, I love this in verse three, his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. You know what I love about this? That Lazarus and Mary and Martha knew they were loved by the Lord. I like that. He knew that. You know what else I love in this text that the Holy Spirit saw fit to write verse 5? Look what it says, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. The Holy Spirit put a stamp on it and said, yeah, Jesus loved them. Yes, He did. It wasn't just some person having some euphoric thought of, oh, this and that. No, it was a fact. He loves them. And you know what, I tell you what, it will help you if you know this this morning. God loves you today. He knows your name. He's got a hair on your head numbered. He knows where you've been. He knows where you're going. He knows what you've done. He knows what you've messed up. He knows where you've done what you thought is great. And he knows everything that you would never want anybody to know. And he loves you. He loves you. So this guy that Jesus loves, his family, finds out he's sick. And I love this, he waits there two days. Oh, please remember, God is in no hurry. Right? We don't constitute, you know, our emergency doesn't constitute anything on God to go, oh, no, I better, oh, yikes, let me put this off. Right? He's a lot bigger than that, amen? Amen. He waited two more days. And finally, in verse seven, he says, let's go into Judea, right? Don't forget this, when you're waiting for God in your life, He's in complete control. His timing is perfect. Right? Everything is right. I can get discouraged. I thought, boy, we had plans for today. We had the tent we couldn't put out because of the rain, and rain, and rain. And we still got dirt piles over here. And we don't have concrete on the ground. And we don't have this going on, and this going on, or that going on. And I'm telling you God stops and reminds me. He doesn't stop. I have to stop. And He reminds me, would you just calm down? It's all right. I know what I'm doing, right? So, I tell you what, what a good reminder it is. Verse 11, Jesus said, our friend Lazarus sleepeth. Did you see that in verse 11? Our friend. Abraham was called a friend to God. Can you be called a friend to God? Oh no, he loves you, absolutely. But I wonder if it's a totally different thing when God says, yeah, you're my friend. You're my friend. Jesus says, you're my friend if you do whatsoever things I command you. I no longer call you servant, but call you friend. He said, our friend, our friend Lazarus sleepeth. Now this shows you Jesus introduced a word here, used it in a way that they weren't familiar of because they're like, Well, that's good, right? He's sick. Sleep is good for the sick. They are trying to figure this whole thing out. And where am I at here? Verse 11, look at verse 12, and the disciples said, Lord, if he sleep he shall do well, albeit Jesus spake of his death. But they thought that he had spoken of taking up rest and sleep. Then Jesus said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Can I tell you, those that die in the Lord just sleep. You're gonna get up again. Just a short while. A little bit of rest. People say, you need to sleep more. I'll sleep when I'm dead. I'll get plenty of sleep when I'm dead. We have a lot to do today, right? And he tells them they're dead. Lazarus is dead. He says, let's go into Judea. Let's go into Judea. Verse 17, he gets there. And by the time he gets there, a couple days to get there, walking takes a while, he gets there and Lazarus has been in the tomb for days. He's been in the tomb. comes on to a scene. I don't know if those have ever been chaplains, or fire department, or police department, or things like that. And you come on to scenes where death has happened. And it is one of the most awful scenes to come on to. I mean really who knows how to handle such a situation as that? Who really knows in the hour how to handle such grief as that when you walk on to a scene and people are in a place. It is the most awkward. It is a tricky place. It is a It's a numbing place to kind of be. Nobody likes that. And Jesus walks onto the scene. He's been dead now four days. Not only that, they put all of their hope in Jesus Christ. They got word to him soon enough while he was still sick, and they sat there expected. For four days they waited and waited and waited, but this Messiah, this Jesus never showed up. And he comes onto the scene, and you could just imagine. Here in verse 19, many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. And then Martha, as soon as she had heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. I mean, she was urgent. Mary sat still at the house. Some things don't change. Martha's always cumbered about. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. That's not wrong. She's right. He could have just healed him like he had over and over and over again. But he chose not to. And so, verse 22 she says, But I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee, and Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. And Martha says, I know He is going to rise again at the last day, but I wanted Him to die, I didn't want Him to die now. And look what Jesus says in verse 25, Jesus saith unto her, this is His answer to Martha, Martha, I am the resurrection. Amen. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Oh, Jay, listen, the question goes out today. Do you believe this? You, today, you're sitting in the seat, you're listening to my voice, you're listening to the word of God. Do you believe this? Do you believe what Jesus said? That if you would put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, ye shall never die. You said, what, hold on a minute, you've just been, you know, half the morning telling us we're gonna die. Now you're telling us we're not gonna die. I'm really confused. Just hang on, we'll get there, okay? Martha says, yes, Lord, I believe. I believe. Notice what she says about him. I believe. Why does she believe what he says? I love this. Don't miss this. Why does she believe what he says? Well, look what she says. "'Cause I believe thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." Why do I believe the words of Jesus? Martha says, "'Cause you're God, you're the Son of God, you're the Messiah, you're a creator, you're a sustainer, you are life, you are resurrection, you are all of it. Why do I believe what you said? Because of who you are." Amen, I like that. Can I tell you, until you believe who Jesus is, you are always going to struggle with what Jesus can do. There's many things that Jesus could not do because of unbelief. things that he wanted to do that he could not do because of unbelief. And as we move on here in verse 34, 33-44 we know that Lazarus has been dead four days, and Jesus says, take me to the tomb. And again the protest comes up. You know he's been dead four days, right? She just said, I believe you. And This is how our nature is, right? Lord, I believe you. Okay, we'll do this. Well, hold on a minute, but what about this? Well, you just said you believe me, right? She goes, he's been dead four days. And Jesus says, take the stone away. Oh, listen, we're familiar with this passage. Martha says, but he stinks by now. Isn't it amazing how we limit God? And listen it's not just things like this, it's things like, well how are we going to build this building? And where is the money going to come from this building? And how are we going to take care of this thing in our life that we want God to take away? And how are we going to do this? I mean it just goes on, and on, and on. And Jesus says, I'll do this. And we go, well what about? Well what about? As much as we believe. You remember that man that, I believe Lord, but help thou mine unbelief. She says, he stinks. bit of unbelief, a little bit of wonder here. In verse 40 Jesus said, didn't I tell you? I thought you believed my words. I thought you believed who I was. Jesus saith unto her, verse 40, said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the glory of God. Okay. Notice the command here in verse 43, and when he had thus spoken he cried with a loud voice, He spent some time to pray here, not to get done what he needed to do, because he didn't need that. He just spoke it. But he says here that he prayed so that others would know how this happened. In verse 43, and when he thus spoke, and he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, Lazarus, get out here. Come forth. Come forth. Could you imagine the scene? Right? I've told you I've hoped that there's like a big movie room in the next life that we can watch all of these things again and just sit and, I mean, we could sit there for a millennia. We'd never know we sat there that long, you know? It'd be okay. And I would love to see this, their faces. Could you imagine the quizzical look when they moved that napkin from Lazarus? Like, what am I doing here? What is going on? Who did this? Well, he knows who did it. We'll get to that here in just a minute. no doubt they are stunned. What a scene the guy was dead for four days. He stinks but he walks out wrapped up in grave clothes with a napkin still on his face. I don't know if he kind of jumped out. I mean they would wrap them up like a mummy and put spices and all of these things. And I mean did he hop? I don't know. But I know this he came out. That's what I know. And Jesus says, loose him and let him go. Amen? Hey, if the Son of Man has set you free, you're free indeed. Amen. See, watch, in the midst of this incredible miracle, there's another truth we have to learn, though. This is awesome. John 10, verse 27-28, Jesus said this, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. Jesus said, My sheep hear My voice. Can I tell you this? Today, Jesus called out Lazarus by name, because Lazarus, though he was no longer residing in a human body, he was alive somewhere. and he still heard the voice of his shepherd. I love that. He still knew the shepherd's voice. He still came when he was called. Can I tell you, death was not able to sever the sheep from his shepherd. Isn't that great news? It absolutely is. So watch this, unlike Elijah, unlike Elisha, unlike Paul, Jesus didn't need to do any great act. All that Jesus needed to do was to give the command and a living soul walked back into a dead body and life came back to that body and he walked out alive. And listen, he ate and he drank and he lived until he died again. But I mean, it was such a big deal that the Pharisees were like, oh no, we got to kill this guy too. Can I tell you, they couldn't deny any of it. But Jesus wasn't done raising people from the dead. Could you go over to John chapter 20 please? And we're moving right along, we are cooking here. I did not imagine I'd be halfway through already. That was a joke. verse 28. John 20 verse 28. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord, and my God, Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, and thou hast believed, blessed are they that have not seen, and yet believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus do in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life in His name. I think I'm in the right place. I hope I am, I don't think I am. But in verses, I'm in the wrong place. I'm in another John. Not another John, the same John, different chapter. But over in John chapter, maybe I'm over in 21. That's where I'm at. Sorry. Yeah. No. John chapter 19 maybe. That was it, John 19, sorry. And again, that first one was a really good verse too. I mean that was very timely. I don't know what it had to do with the message. Verse 28, the Bible says, set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on hyssop and they put it to his mouth. And when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar He said, it is finished. Can I tell you Jesus did not go to hell to finish pain for sin. No, that doctrine is out there. It's crazy. He did not, how do you know that? Well, number one He said it's finished. was completed. The blood was shed. Everything was satisfied of the Father that it was finished. He said He bowed His head here and He gave up the ghost. He died. And if you look down here in verse 38, And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave, and he came therefore and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, oh remember him, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. And then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as a manner of the Jews is to bury. And now in this place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and the garden knew sepulcher, where never a man yet laid. There laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation day, for the sepulcher was nigh, was nigh at hand. If you'll notice chapter 20 and verse 1, The first day of the week cometh Mary and Magdalene early, and it was yet dark unto the sepulcher. And seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher, and she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciples whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him. Over here in John chapter 10, verse 17 through 18, we see here that Jesus has risen from the dead. No, he's risen from the dead. He already spoke of this day. They went there to the tomb and the angel said, why seek ye the living among the dead? Hey, the one, he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. But listen, Jesus told them about this already. John Chapter 10, 17-18, Jesus said, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, and that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I laid it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down. I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. Jesus says, You can put me in a grave, and you're going to put me in a grave, but I'll come out whenever I want to. I hate John 2.19, Jesus answered, said to them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again. Jesus uses that three day, three night thing again in Matthew 12.30, for as Jonas was in the three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Listen, on the first day of the week, the ladies found something unbelievable over in Mark chapter number 16. Look at Mark chapter 16. I love the record of Mark on this. Mark chapter 16, look at verse one. And when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome had brought sweet spices that they might come and annoyed him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. Now realize the first day of the week would be any time after Saturday, 6 p.m. Now we know it says early at the dawning of the day, it would have been by this time when the sun is rising, that would have been our Sunday morning. When they came to the tomb. But after 6 p.m. Saturday, he's out of the grave. Sometime after then, he's out. He's out. And they said among themselves, who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? They couldn't do it. And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away. For it was very great. Somebody had to do this, they thought. And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting at the right side, clothed in long white garments, and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. He is risen. Amen. He's not here. Behold the place where they laid him. walked into what they thought was the tomb of Jesus in the garden there, that tomb, the grave of Joseph of Arimathea. We got to walk into that tomb. And I walked into that tomb and I looked over to the right and there's a thing carved along where the bed is that they would lay that body of stone, carved out of the stone. And I got in there and I looked to the right and you know what I thought? Still empty. It's still empty, he's not there, why? He's risen like he said. He is alive and he's alive forevermore, right? You may have heard me say it many times before and I know you've heard me say this, but when I think of the scene, when I think of what Jesus has done, throughout his ministry, through the raising of the dead, hey, through the raising of his own body and his own life, any man that can do miracles, any man that can raise people from the dead, any man that can predict the manner of his death, his own death, any man that will predict that he will rise from the dead, any man that will predict that he will only be dead for three days and three nights, listen, and he can pull it off, I think we can believe anything else he says. I think we can. Do you know why Jesus was able to command the dead to live and even to raise himself from the dead? Do you remember what Jesus told Martha? Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. You see, we need resurrection life and Jesus is resurrection life. But can I tell you, resurrection life needs to get into us. If we have any, hey listen we are all going to die, but if we have any hope of living again that resurrection life of Jesus needs to be in us. See when Adam sinned it separated Adam and Eve and everyone born from them it separated them from God. Ephesians 2.1 says that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Colossians 2.13 tells us and says that you being dead in your sins in the uncircumcision of your flesh. Romans 3.23 says for all of sin then come short of the glory of God. Listen, our spirit died. We are born with a dead spirit, which leaves us unable to be one with God's spirit like Adam and Eve was before they sinned. And listen, if we are separate from God, if we die in this condition, there is no way to make our dead spirit alive again after this life. If we're gonna have resurrection life, it's gotta come now. It's gotta come today. Yeah, behold the day. Today is the day of salvation. Harden not your hearts as they did in the provocation. It says over in Hebrews, right? And today is the day. And we know that the only one that can bring life back to something that dead is Jesus Christ alone. Somehow, someway, resurrection life needs to get into my life so my spirit can be resurrected again and in unity and in union with God again. And if it never happens, I will die in my sins, you will die in your sins, and you will spend the rest of your eternal existence separate from God in hell. This is what Jesus told us. We need resurrection life. No doubt, you've heard this illustration before, and I was in such a rush today. The river, it's all the river's fault. Gotta get over the river. I forgot a prop. If I had a glove, I'd have a glove here with ya. For ya, and you'd see. But just imagine a glove, okay? Whatever kind of glove you like. Imagine a glove. Do you know a glove is created in the image of a hand? No, a mitten really isn't, but it kind of is. But a glove, fingers, I mean you can distinctly look at a glove and you know that was designed for a hand. So that glove was created and made and built in the image of a hand. Now, if I held a glove here today and just flapped that thing around, I laid it out here, you may have some gloves at home, they may be in a drawer, they might be in your shop, they might be who knows where in the package unopened still, right? If you look at that glove, we know that a glove is lifeless without a hand. It just lays there. And watch, without a hand in the glove, it cannot achieve the purpose that the glove was designed to achieve. It can't do it. It's just gonna sit there. And you know what's gonna happen? It'll be, I guess, sad. Because it's never used what it was intended to be used for. Listen, a glove was designed for the hand, watch. And we are created in the image of God. We are created in God's image. We are a glove designed for the hand of God. We are a glove designed for hand. But watch, when sin came, we became like a glove without a hand. Adam became that way. We were born that way. We were born just a glove laying out on the ground. Just laying over here without anything to do. We were lifeless without God. We had no purpose without God. We had no eternal future without God. But at some point God had to come back into our life with that resurrection life just as a hand would have to be put into that glove for that glove to operate with the purpose that it was intended. Jesus said this. He said resurrection life is necessary. Over in John 3 He was talking to Nicodemus and He said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Jesus said, marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again. Jesus also said this resurrection life, not only is it necessary, but that resurrection life that we need is available, I'm so glad for this, it is available to all. It is available to everyone. Revelation 22, 17 says, And the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and he that heareth say, Come, and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely. Listen, it is available to you. You need resurrection life if you're gonna live after this life, but it is necessary to live, and it is available to you if you would take it today. So this brings the question now, if it's necessary, if it's available, what moves God to move into our life and make our dead spirit alive again? What is it? I told somebody the other day, I used the word, maybe I used the word mechanism. What is the mechanism that causes God to say, okay, I'm making your spirit alive again? What is it? What is it that causes God to take that glove, your life and go, Life's going into that. Well, it's really simple, really. Believe, confess, receive. You can use different words, but we're gonna look for the Word of God says. Romans 10, 9, and 10. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. When I'm dealing with somebody on salvation, I spend a lot of time right here Believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead." Would you stop and think about this please? Stop and think. Do you really believe there's some Jew that lived 2,000 years ago that the Roman government crucified and executed, who was buried, and three days and three nights later people are running around going, he's alive, he's back. No, we wrapped him up and we put the 120 pounds or 100 pounds worth of spices inside that wrapping and we put him in there and we put the cloth over his head. And the one who could call life was now dead. So who's gonna, what human is left to call life back from him? There's nobody left, right? He's dead, he's dead. But now, wait, no, he's alive again. He's alive. He was seen of all of the apostles. He was seen of 500 witnesses. He stayed on planet earth for 40 days. He wasn't just hiding out somewhere, right, or supposed to be. He was out in the public for 40 days. And then they watched him ascend back into heaven. No, do you really believe that? Listen, you can't be saved if you don't believe that. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. What an emphatic statement that is. heart man believeth unto righteousness. With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Acts 16.31, and they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house. What does that mean? Well, whoever wants to. Whosoever will. Acts 221, it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10, 13, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You see, because resurrection of Jesus Christ, it's important. It's important because if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, neither will we. He's the first fruits of all creation. He's already got his glorified body. We're waiting for ours. Yeah. But see, we've seen already this morning. We need resurrection life. Jesus is resurrection life. And we've seen that resurrection life is available to whosoever will. That's you, if you don't have it. But it is up to you if you are gonna go to God personally and remedy your problem. What's your problem? Well, your spirit's dead. What's your problem? You're a sinner, separate from God. You're a sinner by nature, and if you don't like that, you're a sinner by choice. And you have offended a holy God, your Creator, and you're separate from Him. I've used this illustration before, I just used it yesterday. But I said, suppose, suppose young man, young lady, Older adults, suppose you're back in your younger youth, you're 16, 17, 18 years old, you know everything. I mean, you've got life figured out. You can't believe how dumb everybody is. And because I understand it more as a guy, I'll just say, maybe as a man, you're a man here, and 18 years old, you thought, I know everything, and you had some words with your father, and you said, I'm out of here. I'm done. You're a dope. And you left. Made your own way, joined the military. Tired of people telling you what to do? Join the military. And you're just living life. About 10 years later, you realize, and it may not just be a dad or a mom, but you know what I'm getting at. You realize, oh, they were right. I was wrong. You have a choice. You can continue with that truth that you now live in and still be accurate. Now you have the right view of your father. He was right. And now you're living life with this correct view of God, or of your father, okay? You're living with the right view. And you can carry on the rest of your life that way. He was right, I was wrong. He's right, I was wrong. But if you want to restore the relationship, you're gonna have to turn around and go home. Remember that prodigal? Finally came home, didn't he? You're gonna have to go home. And you're gonna have to look at your father, you're gonna have to look at your mother, you're gonna have to look at that individual, that relationship that was broken because of you and not them. You'll have to look at them and go, you know, you were right and I was wrong. Would you forgive me? You know what you've done at that moment? Now we can never be sure a human will, another man or woman will respond correctly, but we always know God will respond correctly. He always forgives. And the moment, listen, the moment that you go back and deal with them personally, face to face, acknowledging, confessing with your mouth, they were right, believing in your heart, they were right, and confessing that, do what you've done, you've restored a relationship. If you're here today and you've never been born again to the Spirit of God, you need resurrection life. know how that comes to you? You're going to have to go to God personally. And you're going to have to go to Him and you're going to say, Lord, I believe what you say about myself, I'm lost. I believe that you are right and I am wrong. I believe who your Son is. I believe He is the Son of God. I believe what He did on the cross, and the blood, and all that stuff. I believe that it was sufficient and that you accepted it. I believe that He rose from the dead. I believe all of it. And I believe He is the only way to you. Jesus said it, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. You're going to go to God personally. You're going to say, I believe that. I want eternal life. I want that life. Can I tell you this? All that the Father gives me, Jesus said, shall come unto me. And him that cometh unto me, he said, I will in no wise cast out. Can I tell you what? If you come with a heart like that, God will never say no. Never. I was 27 years old when I came to God with that heart, finally. A lot of knowledge, no heart. 27, I finally came to the heart. You know what I said to the Lord in my own words? I'm lost. I know I am. I know I am. I know I am. You know what He did? Exactly what He said He would do. Resurrection life. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. Got up from that place and that floor a new person. Oh, the flesh was still there, but my spirit had been made alive. and a resurrection life. And you remember that day too, don't you? You remember that day when resurrection life came into you. Can I tell you, if you would come to God this morning with a heart of belief and confession, Jesus himself will move into your life. Your dead spirit will be made alive and you shall be, as Jesus requires, you'll be born again. you'll be born again, and you shall never die. John 1028 says, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. You're not going to die, and no man can take that eternal life from you. Why? It's eternal. Duh. How do you stop eternal? Do you have resurrection life this morning? Do you have resurrection life? Christian, what a hope we have, amen? You put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you've believed him. Nobody could talk you out of it. You know what he's done, you know what he's still doing. Can I tell you no matter how this life chews you up and spits you out, you know what we don't dwell on today? We don't dwell on those things. Why? Because we have an eternal hope that causes us to trust and obey even when it doesn't make sense. Resurrection life. Yeah. Because he lived, we shall live also. Can I tell you what? I can face anything in this life because he lives. Absolutely. Do you have resurrection life? Our Father, we thank you this morning for the Lord Jesus. We thank you for the plan of salvation. God, it's so simple. It's so simple. We just pray your Holy Spirit now, withdraw those that need to be saved this morning. They've never been born again. They can never, in their mind, they can never see a day when they came to you personally. and admitted and confessed that they were wrong and that you were right and they believe Jesus and they have never come to the place of asking you for that eternal life. Lord, would you do that work today and that they would come today. If they're watching online, that they would call or they would write or they'd get a hold of us and deal with it today. Father, I thank you for the encouragement for those that are in Christ. Thank you for the hope that we have regardless of how this life deals with us We have a city whose building and maker is God. We're moving on. This world is not our home. We're just passing through. And we shall ever be with you. And we look so forward to that. And we thank you for that assurance that we have. Father, I pray your Holy Spirit would encourage us in that today. No matter what the deep waters that we're living through today and wading through and trying to navigate and figure out, may you remind us today we have a resurrection life. And we shall never die. We'll thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Why don't you stand with me this morning if you would, please? The instrument is gonna play. The invitation is open. Christian, maybe you just need to get alone with the Lord today and thank him for that resurrection life and that hope that you have that is unshakable and unchangeable. The altar is open and you come pray. You spend some time with the Lord today. The altar is also open here today if you need to be saved. Nobody is looking around. If you would please just keep your heads down, eyes closed, nobody looking around. I'm the only one watching. I wouldn't call you out or anything. But it's possible somebody is here today and they say, you might say this. This might be your words. I don't know if I died today, if I was going to heaven. I just don't know. But I sure would like to know. I really would. Anybody like that? Raise your hand. I won't call you out. But you can say, I'm not 100% sure. I'm just not sure if I died today if I would go to heaven. I don't know. I don't know. Anybody like that? We'll pray for you. And even if a hand is not raised and I can't see a hand through the live stream or anything like that, God knows your heart and we'll be praying for those that need to be born again. but you need to before it's too late. For what is your life? It's even a vapor that appears for a little time and vanishes away. Friend, we have no, listen, we have no guarantee of tomorrow. No guarantee of tomorrow. You cannot get right with your creator after you die. It must be now. If you need to be saved, you can call us, you can call me, you can text you anytime, any time, any day, and we will get with you and we'll show you how you can know for certain that when you leave this life, that you'll live forever. Let's be dismissed in a word of prayer this morning. So glad everybody was able to come out today. And be careful going home. We'll be back tonight, regular evening service, five o'clock. And if you have nowhere to go for lunch for the check, has a lot of food, he said, come on over. I think he had Coon and Rabbit, did you say? Yeah, Coon, okay. So, perfect Thanksgiving meal on Resurrection Sunday. Anyway, praise the Lord. Let's be dismissed in a word of prayer this morning. Brother Davidson, would you close us please in prayer?