that that was a beautiful violin special but from where I grew up in Tennessee boy that was some wonderful fiddling going on there that was that was tremendous thank you honoring our Lord Jesus and the challenge of missions we're delighted to have you as pastor said today if you're visiting this morning you say well who's this guy speaking it's not the pastor I'm one of the guest missionaries My wife and I serve with Baptist World Mission, and it's been my privilege this week to be the keynote speaker. And if you were here Wednesday night, you know that we embrace the theme that Jesus Christ is greater. And we saw that John, on Wednesday night, quoted our Savior, who said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself. And we developed that concept of being lifted up because it's used later in the book of Acts and also in the epistles to speak of Christ being exalted. So our goal this week has been to lift up Christ, to exalt him so that every one of us would be reminded that he is greater. We have thus far seen that he is greater in his deity, he is greater in his death, and this morning he is greater in his deliverance. So if you would turn with me, please, to John chapter 5, we have been primarily in John's gospel. John pointed out in the theme verse of this book that his purpose is that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we might have life through his name. So he begins in chapter 1 with presenting the unveiled glory of Christ's deity And then he moves down to verse 14, and he said, and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So John, in this book, is presenting the glory of Jesus Christ so that we might behold him and understand that he is greater. So this morning, the glory of his deliverance. A Baptist pastor in England of the 1600s said this. No man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter who doth not in some measure behold it by faith here in the world. You have to know Christ as your Savior. You have to believe that He is God, that He died for your sins, that He rose the third day, that He's been exalted at the right hand of the Father as Lord and Christ, Peter said in Acts 2, if you're going to be saved. And when you come to know Christ as your Savior, you glory in him. Paul said God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. So this morning we're going to focus on Christ's deliverance on his resurrection and the resultant resurrection that comes to each of us. So in developing the theme of the glory of Christ in John chapter 3 we have the story of Nicodemus and there is the glory of Christ's regeneration. Jesus said to this man who was a leader in Israel, except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Christ's glory in regenerating the sinner. And then in chapter 4, we see the glory of his wonderful mercy and redemption in the story of the woman at the well who came to him and was saved. And now in chapter 5, we come to a section where he presents the glory of his resurrection, not only his personal resurrection that he is prophesying in this passage in John chapter 11, but also the resurrection that you and I who are in Christ shall someday experience. Because he lives, we shall live also. You know, the Bible asks some very intriguing questions concerning life and death. As a matter of fact, the book of Job, which is, as far as we know, the oldest written scripture in our Bibles. In the book of Job, the question is asked, if a man die, shall he live again? And then, of course, in Corinthians, the question is asked, how are the dead raised, and with what body do they come? You know, there are a lot of questions about a resurrection. There's a lot of questions about death and putting that loved one's body in the ground and what's going to happen and what is heaven like. A lot of questions but we praise the Lord today that those questions do not go unanswered. Now we must admit that we don't know everything about heaven and we don't know everything about the glories that will come. But Christ has given us truth especially here in John chapter 5 about the glories of his resurrection and what's going to take place in our lives. So this morning we want to look at the fact that he is greater because of his deliverance, because of his resurrection, and we're going to see three great truths in John chapter 5, John chapter 11, and also the revelation of Christ. So first of all we begin with his glorious resurrection power is rooted in his divine person. Look at chapter 5, verse 24. Jesus stands forward after a lengthy discourse on his being given the power of the Father because he's one with God. He has healed the man and the Jews have hated him because of it. And he points out that he is God and he has all powers and all rights. And then he says in verse 24, verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life. And that person shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." Jesus is saying in this passage that He is sovereign over eternal life. the way a man has eternal life, the way a man has the promise of living in heaven forever with Jesus Christ is by believing in him and on him and trusting him as Savior and when that happens they are moved from death unto life. Jesus Christ is sovereign in eternal life. But we find in verses 25 through 29 that Jesus transitions from being sovereign in verse 24 in the gospel message there, to being sovereign over earthly life, and by that I mean the raising from the dead all those who believe in him. So let's begin reading in verse 25 down through verse 29 and note this very deep theological truth that Christ is presenting. Verily, verily, truthfully, truthfully, he says, I say unto you, the hour is coming, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself, and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, into which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth, they that have done good under the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil under the resurrection of damnation. Christ is saying to these Jews who have just condemned him for the healing of the impotent man, that I am God. I have judgment. I have life. I am the one who will raise the dead someday. And it will be my voice that will call people, some into eternal life and some into eternal damnation. It will be the voice of Christ that is the voice of resurrection. You know there is sometimes confusion over verse 29 where it says and they shall come for they that have done good under the resurrection of life and they that have done evil under the resurrection of damnation. Now there are some who confuse this and say well this is talking about a work salvation if you if you do enough good you'll go to heaven if you do enough evil you'll go to hell and And God's got this really big scale, and he puts your works in the scale. And depending on what you have done, you will determine your eternal destiny. The only problem with that is that Jesus has already said, why callest thou me good? There is none good but God. And we find through the teaching of our Lord that those who do good are those who believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. So there is no contradiction here. Christ is the one who is the sovereign over eternal life. He has just said in verse 24, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. That is the definition of good. To believe on Jesus and trust Him as your Savior and you'll have eternal life. And someday you'll be raised incorruptible. But it also reminds us that there are those who've done evil, and they will be raised for eternal damnation. You know, all of us are born evil. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they did a really good job of plunging humanity into depravity. As a matter of fact, every person in this room is born going astray, they're evil from the very moment they're born. There is none righteous, no not one, Paul would say in Romans 1 through 3, that great treatise that leads up to salvation in Romans chapter 5. He says that the Gentile nations have turned the image of God into the image of the creature. When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. And every man in his natural condition is evil and headed to hell. But Jesus came that we might be saved. And as verse 24 reminds us, He that heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life. So what is your point, John, in chapter 5? It is this. The eternal destiny, the glorious resurrection power that will raise people from the dead someday and give them an eternal home in heaven, it is rooted in the person of Jesus Christ. That's why he will say to Martha in John chapter 7, I am the resurrection and the life. So we see, first of all, that His glorious resurrection power is rooted in His divine person. Now we want to see in this text, implied here but then developed later in the New Testament, that His glorious resurrection power is reserved in a definite program. It's reserved in a definite program. You know, there are a lot of people theologically today, and this is the normal teaching of liberal American Christianity, they teach a general resurrection. It's a wishy-washy works gospel that they preach, and they basically say that someday everybody's going to be raised in a general resurrection. And it really is the dominant theology of American Protestantism. And when you are raised in that resurrection, it will be determined at that time whether you go to heaven or you go to hell. That is the teaching of much of American works religion. The problem is that the Bible already tells us that we can know today if we're going to heaven. First John chapter 5, 13. These things are written that you might believe and in believing you might have life through his name, John said. you can know that you have eternal life. But the development of the scripture is very clear that there are two distinct resurrections yet to come, one for the saved and one for the lost. That is pointed out, look again in John 5, 29, Jesus says, or go back to verse 28, marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, it's a future time, in which all that are in the graves, all that are in the graves, shall hear His voice, the voice of the Son of God Himself, and shall come for they that have done good, those who believe the gospel, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. So Christ is clearly saying there are two very distinct resurrections in His program. The first one is called the first resurrection, or the resurrection unto life. And it actually is not one event, it is a series of three events developed in the Bible. This program is undertaken in three distinct stages and it is called, John 5, 29, The Resurrection of Life. It's only for those who know Christ who know God. The Lord Jesus is of course stage one of the resurrection of life. The Bible says, we don't have time to turn and read all of these, they're wonderful passages if you'd like to write them down, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 20 through 23, it says that Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection, the first part of the first resurrection, the resurrection unto life is the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ himself from the grave. He is the firstfruits. When a Jewish farmer would have the time of harvest coming for his crops, he would go into the harvest and he would bring out a sampling, a portion called the firstfruits. And he would take those firstfruits up to the temple and he would offer them to God as a testimony of praise to the Lord for the promise of a great harvest yet to come. It was called the firstfruits. And here Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 15 that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave is the first fruits of all other resurrections. It's the promise of a great resurrection to come. I would remind you that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a literal bodily resurrection from the grave. They took him down from that old rugged cross. He died, as we saw the other night, for our sins upon the tree. And they placed his body in a borrowed tomb from Joseph of Arimathea. And on the third day, that Sunday morning, he came forth alive, bodily from the dead. And Paul says, because he lives, we shall live also. Christ himself said, because I live, you shall live also. Folks, Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection. What's interesting, Jesus was not the first person in our Bible to be raised from the dead, but he was the first to be raised never to die again. He's the firstfruits of the resurrection. So stage one of the first resurrection, the resurrection unto life that John 5 29 talks about is the resurrection of Christ. Stage two of this first resurrection is the resurrection of church age saints. Again, if you'd like to study it more, you can write down 1 Corinthians 15 23, where Paul says, but every man in his order, or we might translate it in the stage two of the resurrection Christ the firstfruits after they that are Christ at his coming. When Paul uses the term they that are Christ he is talking about the church age saints. Paul is writing to the church at Corinth and there is a distinct difference between Old Testament Israel and Old Testament believers and New Testament saints. So stage two of this great event is the bodily resurrection of all the church age saints. Now take your finger and turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We're just going to read a few verses where Paul talks about what this resurrection is going to be. You know this passage very well. Paul is writing to the Thessalonians and some of them have believed that perhaps Christ has already come. Look at verse 13, we'll read down through verse 18. Paul says, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those which are asleep, in other words, the believers who have already died in the church age, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, there's the first fruits, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, the church-age saints, will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord, wherefore comfort one another with these words. Paul said, there is coming a day. John quoted Christ. Christ said, there is coming a day when my voice will be heard and those that are raised will be raised to life. And the first fulfillment of that is what we know as the rapture of the church. You know, folks, it could happen this afternoon. Now, dear missionaries, I don't want to discourage you. God has called you and you're raising your support. But I would just as soon you all not make it to the mission field. I would just as soon Jesus come back today and all the saints of the church age would be raptured out and we would be with Him forever in glory. What a great day that would be. But our hearts do understand the longsuffering of our Lord, that He is not willing that any should perish. but that all should come to repentance and therefore he tarries that hour and we do not know what it is but we're to live like it could be today the imminent return of Christ now what's going to happen in this second stage of the resurrection when Christ comes back in the clouds and the trumpet sounds those who have died in the church age who were believers their bodies will be raised from the ground and they will go in the air to meet the Lord the spirits of those believers who've been with Christ in heaven will be reunited with their body, and body and spirit, the New Testament saints will be raised to a new body, to new life. For those of us who are alive when that happens, instantly we will be changed. You know, Pastor, that's going to be a great day. When that happens, in that twinkling of an eye, my glasses will fall off, My hair will be back and it will be dark brown again, folks. It's going to be wonderful when we're caught up together to meet them in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. You see, Christ is coming back and He is going to raise the church age saints at the time called the rapture. But there is another group of people that are not yet raised to have believed in this one who is our creator God. They're called the Old Testament Saints and they're also going to be yet future a group of them called the Tribulation Saints. The time of the tribulation which will begin immediately following the rapture is called by Daniel, Daniel's 70th week. And it is a uniquely Jewish time on this planet. So what is happening here? This stage three of the resurrection unto life is the resurrection of the Tribulation Saints and the Old Testament Saints. You say, where do you find that, Brother Stedman? We will go a little later, but let me just simply say that in Revelation 20, verse 4, John writes, they, the Tribulation Saints, lived, that is, they were resurrected, and they reigned with Christ a thousand years. So what's going to happen? When Christ comes back and the church age saints are raptured out, this world is going to be plunged into seven years of tribulation. There will be 144,000 young Jewish men who will be saved by grace near the beginning of the tribulation period. They will go into all the world and they will preach the glory of Jesus Christ to all of those people who are in the tribulation and who are lost. And there will be a great multitude of people in the tribulation who will come to Christ, and most of them, according to the Scripture, will be martyred for their faith. So you have, as you come near the end of the Revelation, you have these tribulation saints who have died. They trusted Christ during the tribulation. They're the fulfillment of Daniel's 70th week. And they're before the throne crying out, God, when are you going to avenge us? And John says, they shall be raised and they shall live with him. And they will enter into the millennial kingdom with the church who's coming back, Revelation 19, on white horses. and they'll go into the millennial kingdom and Christ will rule and reign for a thousand years. Daniel also tells us, Daniel 12, 1 through 3, that at that same hour the Old Testament saints will be raised from the dead. Do you realize that King David's body still lays in the ground today? But David, as typical of Old Testament saints, At the end of the tribulation period, when Christ comes back and we're with him, the Old Testament saints are going to be raised and King David, in a glorified human body, will be co-regent with Jesus Christ on the throne of Jerusalem. And all those Old Testament saints who put their faith in the God of the Old Testament, who is Jesus Christ, they will also be in that Millennial Kingdom with us. So what we have in the first resurrection is a three-phase program. Christ the firstfruits, afterward those that are Christ that is coming, and then at the end of the tribulation, the tribulation and Old Testament saints. So every believer of all of the ages will enter the millennial kingdom in a perfect glorified human body. And folks, what does that tell us? That everything that was lost in Adam will be regained everything and more will be regained folks in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive and we live because he lives and he is greater because of that deliverance we have a living Savior today I had such a nice time the other night sitting around the table with some of the sixth grade girls here from the church And my wife was there with me at the fellowship after, I think it was after Friday night. And one of the little sixth grade girls, she and I were talking, I said, did you know he's alive? And she said, yes, he is alive. And we rejoiced in the fact that he's alive, folks. It is not a myth. It is not a theological concept. We have a living Savior, and I talked to him this morning. He's alive. Because he lives we shall live also. Now the purpose of this first resurrection is a resurrection of life and we will live forever because of him. But there is also in John chapter 5 verse 29 you don't need to turn back there we'll actually be going in a moment to Revelation 20 but there is a second resurrection which is a resurrection unto death or John says in John 5 29 a resurrection unto damnation. The facts are that the death of Cain, the first God rejecter, all the way through until the end of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, remember at the end of the Tribulation by that time all of the saints to that point will have their glorified resurrected bodies. And there will be people in the Millennial Kingdom who will believe in Christ and they'll live very long lives during that time. But by the time you come to the end of the millennium, there will be people all the way from Cain to the end of the millennium who have rebelled against Christ, and they will have died, and their bodies will be lying in the ground. When a person today dies, they immediately, according to the Scriptures, go to a place called hell. And there they suffer a form of torment. Their body goes to the dust. At the end of the millennial kingdom, there will be the appearance of a great white throne and the one who sits on that throne is none other than Jesus Christ himself because he is greater. So let us go to Revelation chapter 20 and read about the second resurrection unto death or damnation. Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 through 15. John writes And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. Why? Because He's greater than all. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. Now remember, the dead at this point are the unsaved dead, because through the end of the tribulation, everyone who's been saved to that point has already got their body. And though it is not stated in this text, any believers who died during the Millennial Kingdom certainly would have had a part in the first resurrection, though it is not stated clearly in the text. But here are the unsaved dead at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, all the way from Cain, the Christ rejecter, all the way through that time. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. You see, God is keeping books. Salvation is not by works, but condemnation is by works, as well as by the guilt of our fallen nature. You know, God is keeping a book record of every man's sin. And in that day, the lost of the ages will have their book open, and God will rehearse somehow in His eternal sovereignty and wisdom all of the wickedness and filth of the person who is lost, and they will be judged out of those books. And then He will open another book, which is a book where the names of every believer in Christ are written, the book of life. And if that person whose sin is so vile and wicked does not have his name found in the book of life, he will be cast into the lake of fire. Let's read about it. And the sea, verse 13, gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. It's the resurrection unto death. And whosoever was not found written the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Now folks, we do not know everything about the current state of people in hell, but we do know some things. We know from the story of the rich man and Lazarus that today there are people in hell that are burning, and some of them have been there for centuries, millennia. who rejected Jesus Christ. And they will be there until this great white throne judgment. They do not have their resurrection bodies yet. But they do have some form of a bodily response because there is pain. And you remember the rich man said, can he come and touch the tip of my tongue with water? So there is some bodily form in hell. But at that day, the great white throne, all of the souls who've been burning in hell for generations and been suffering that terrible torment, Their souls will be raised out of hell. Hell itself will be raised up before the Great White Throne. And their bodies will be raised out of the ground or out of the sea, wherever their bodies were. And they will be reunited body and spirit at the Great White Throne. And if their name is not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life, they will be cast body and soul forever into the Lake of Fire. Now folks, there's a lot we don't know about the Lake of Fire, but we know this, it is far greater than hell because it can contain hell within its confines. Folks, there is an eternal place, a final state of judgment. It is called damnation. And you and I don't want to go there. But the good news is, we don't have to go there if we have Christ as our Savior. If we receive Him in this life, if we receive Him and trust Him, we have life. And we will never see condemnation because, as John 5, 24 says, we are passed from death unto life. So we see that Christ's glorious resurrection power is centered in His glorious person, but it is also fulfilled in a definite program where He will raise all men either to life or to death. You say, well, Brother Stabman, I don't believe that Christ will raise people bodily. I just don't accept that. There are people like that today who have known those gospel truths but have not received them. And I think one of the reasons that Christ gave us an illustration of his resurrection power is, as John wrote, that men might believe. So the third and final point, as we close, is his glorious resurrection power is revealed in a demonstrated proof. So turn with me, if you would, to John chapter 11, please. John chapter 11. Here we find the story of Lazarus. Lazarus was a friend of Christ. He and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, lived in the little village of Bethany, which was on the backside of the Mount of Olives. Christ frequently was in their home and enjoyed fellowship with him. And the story is told in John 11, verse 1, Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. And Christ, verse 3, hears that he is sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. Verse 14, then said Jesus unto the disciples plainly, Lazarus is dead. Now folks, we must pause and point out that there is, because of the fall of Adam, a forerunner of death, which is the infirmity of humanity. It's called sickness, it's called death. Now, most people die by sickness even today, though there are some that die in battle, there are some that die by accidents. But the bulk of humanity dies because of the infirmity of the fall, which is sickness. And we should be encouraged by these words that it said that Jesus loved Lazarus and yet Lazarus was sick. We find later on in the text that this sickness was for the glory of God. And folks, I don't know what you may be going through. You may be babbling cancer. You may be going through a terrible infirmity in your flesh that has no human cure. And you wonder, what did I do wrong that this sickness, this pain, this suffering is so great? I'm here to tell you that even those that Jesus loved get sick. because of the fall of Adam, because of the fall of man. But though we have sickness and death in these bodies, Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Lazarus died. And of course he had in chapter 11 the discourse with the disciples and Thomas said, Lord, let's go and die with him. And there was a lot of interaction taking place. And he comes to where Lazarus is, he waits. for several days and he comes to where Lazarus is and there is Martha and she greets him and there's this interchange between them. Look at verse 25. Martha saith unto him, I know that Lazarus shall rise again in the resurrection of the last day. She is referencing that resurrection at the end of the tribulation period, though she may not have fully understood that. She is looking at this from the Old Testament standpoint of resurrection. She says, I know there's a resurrection of the Old Testament saints coming in the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am that eternal self-existent one. 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? Mark Twain was a great American humorist. And it was reported in the newspaper that Twain had died when he had not. And he made the quip that the announcement of his death was somewhat premature. But the fact is, Mark Twain died. And as far as we know, died without Christ. Folks, Jesus said in this passage that the one who has Christ as his Savior shall never die. You say, well, my mom and dad were believers. I put their bodies in the ground. But folks, I'm here to tell you on the authority of the resurrection of Christ, they are not dead. They live. Now their body, Paul would write in 1 Corinthians 15, is doing what is called sleep. Now that is not the soul sleep of the cultic false teachers. It is rather a metaphor for the fact that those bodies that we place in the ground are placed in that casket, that hope chest, looking for the glorious hope of the coming of Christ and we look forward to that day and our loved ones are not dead, they live. And if you have Christ as your Savior, you close your eyes in this life and you open them in heaven and Paul said, that is gain and absent from the body is present with the Lord. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. And, of course, Mary weeping. Mary was broken. And Jesus stepped forward. We don't have time to read all of the text. But He went to the tomb that day, and the scripture says that Jesus wept. We have some friends here from East Tennessee today. They may know where this church is on Beach Creek. Beach Creek, where I lived during my high school years there in Tennessee, is the moonshining capital of East Tennessee. And there was a little mountain church on Beach Creek. I grew up in an unchurched family. My folks didn't go to church. I was brought to Christ at the age of 10 through a vacation Bible school outreach in a church that was not a very conservative church, but they did preach the gospel. And so we moved around a lot. Dad had different farms that he would fix up and sell. And when I was in high school, we moved to Beach Creek, the moonshine capital of East Tennessee. And there was a mountain church down there on Beach Creek. And Dad said to me, bud, if you're going to go to church, You got to go to that Mountain Baptist Church. So in the ninth grade I became the adult Sunday school teacher three Sundays out of the month because I could read the quarterly. That was the only requirement. Some of the class couldn't. The regular teacher worked at Eastman Kodak and he worked three Sundays a month and he was there so I did most of the teaching. And every week in our Sunday school class it was traditional that everybody would have a scripture memory verse. A lot of these people were poor mountain people and somewhat lazy. And I confess that that was their condition. But they always had a scripture verse. And I remember there were a number of ladies that every Sunday morning when it came their turn to say their scripture verse, with great emotion they would say, Jesus wept. And the next one would say, Jesus wept. And it became a joke in the class. But folks, Jesus weeping was no joke. When Jesus stepped forward at Lazarus' tomb, though the scripture does not develop what was going on in His soul, I can see all the weight of the sins of humanity for all of time bearing in on His being in His humanity. And now Lazarus, his friend, has suffered the consequences of the fall of man. And Jesus is stirred in his soul. And he weeps. And they said, behold how he loved him. But Jesus didn't weep long. He stepped forward and he cried out, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus came forth bound in the garments of the grave. And Jesus said, loose him. I cannot be dogmatic that it's true, but I heard one old southern preacher say one time, if Jesus had not used Lazarus' name, all the graves of the earth would empty when he said, come forth. Why? Because it's his voice that's going to call for resurrection. He is the truth. He is the resurrection. He is the life. And Lazarus came forth, a demonstration that Christ has the power of life and death. So he is greater because of his deliverance. Jesus Christ is the Lord of life. Think about it. He gives his people who trust him eternal life when they believe on him. I remember it like yesterday. I was at Solomon's Temple Baptist Church in Blairs Gap, Tennessee in a vacation Bible school. And a big barrel-chested preacher named L.C. Collins stood up and preached the glories of Jesus Christ. And I heard the gospel and I realized I was a sinner. And I went home and there on Lone Star Road by my bed, I cried out and asked Christ to save me and he saved me and he changed my life forever. He's given life. He sustains his people in their life. We saw the other night it's by him that all things are held together. It's by him that we consist and there is coming a day when this Grey-haired preacher will die if the Lord tarries, but don't believe I'm really dead, because he that believeth in Christ shall never die. Believest thou this, Christ said to Martha. But the tragedy is there are those who will not believe, and for those outside of Christ, he declares that they shall depart from him into the everlasting fire, the lake of fire. He will give them a resurrection body only to cast that body and that body will burn forever and ever and ever in the lake of fire. You say, what a horrible God. No, what a wonderful God. He doesn't want you to go there. He's not willing that any should perish. He loves you so much that He came and He bore all of your sins in His body on the tree. and the third day he rose to give you life and if you will receive him as your savior you will live forever. Folks, if you go to hell you will go trampling underfoot the blood of the cross. Jesus is greater. Let's bow our heads together. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Believest thou this