Morning chapel. Praise the Lord. Praise would you open your Bibles to the gospel according to John. The gospel according to John. We are going to be reading from chapter 11. So we are reading the Gospel of John chapter 11, and this morning we shall pick our reading from verse 17. So please would you rise as we read God's word. Here now, the reading of God's infallible, inerrant, and holy word. So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. Martha, therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him, but Mary still sat in the house. Martha, therefore, said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." Judah said to her, your brother shall rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Judah said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even he who comes into the world. And when she had said this, she went away and called Mary, her sister, saying secretly, the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she arose quickly and was coming to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him. The Jews, then who were with her in the house and consoling her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw him and fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. And so the Jews were saying, behold, how he loved him. But some of them said, could not this man who opened the eyes of him who was blind have kept this man also from dying? Jesus therefore again, being deep removed within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, remove the stone. Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God? And so they removed the stone, and Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou heardest me, and I knew that thou hearest me always. But because of the people standing around, I said it, that they may believe that thou didst send me. And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! He who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings and his face wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go. This is God's word. Please be seated. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you so much for this portion of God's word. And as we come together to sit under your feet, O Lord, we ask that you would give us your spirit, the spirit of the living God, to guide us and to lead us now so that we are able to understand these things and to apply them to our lives. Be with us, we ask, through Christ, O Lord, we pray. Amen. So we are continuing with our sermon series on the great sayings of our Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. These sayings that have come to be known to us as the I Am sayings of Jesus Christ. And today, the I Am that we are looking at is this, I Am the resurrection and the life. The narrative recorded for us here begins with Lazarus being sick The messenger is sent to tell Jesus, saying, him whom you love is sick. And Jesus predicts, or rather promises, that this sickness is not going to end in death, but that the Son of Man, that Jesus will be glorified, that God himself will be glorified by this death. In verse 17, where we began to read this morning, Lazarus has been in the tomb four days. But when we come to verse 44, which is where we ended our reading this morning, he's out of the grave and he's about to be unbound so that he can be up and about. Praise the Lord. So this passage begins with sickness, then death, but by the end of it, we are in victory. Lazarus is alive again. And most of us, if not all of us, fear death. I was reading recently a book by one American writer called Randy Alcorn. Randy Alcorn has written so many bestselling books and this one which I was reading is titled Heaven. And in it he writes about some two individuals. First he writes about Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. This man had commissioned the servant to stand in his presence each day and say, Philip, you will die. And so this man was just employed to say that to Philip and would come every day, each morning and say, Philip, you will die. Philip, you will die. And then there was this man, Louis XIV, who was the king in France. For him, he decreed that the word death should not be uttered in his presence. So here we have somebody who was not fearing death and the one who was fearing death. So I don't know which category you belong to this morning. In any case, where you belong doesn't matter. The truth is Jesus is the conqueror of death. And so it says in this passage, Let me read for you these verses again, verses 25 and 26. Jida said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies. and everyone who lives and believes in me shall not die. Do you believe this? Let me first give you some two illustrations in the two individuals again in the Bible that one died, another one did not die. Because if you see in verse 25, Jesus said, he says, everyone who lives Let me read that again. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies. So if you die, you shall live. But then he says in verse 26, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. So in the Bible, we have two individuals. One died. He's called Moses, he died, and the Bible says, according to Deuteronomy 34, he was buried by God. And then we have somebody in the Bible who never died. His name is Elijah. And so, what is interesting is that when we read in the New Testament, we find that these two individuals, one who had died and the one who never died, Elijah, all of them on the Mount of Transfiguration were speaking with Jesus, meaning that the one who died and the one who never died, they are all alive because Jesus, my friends, is the resurrection and the life. But I'd like to bring very quickly to our attention two thoughts from this passage, at least for me those things which stand out that I would like to share with you. First, this text presents Jesus to us as the object of our faith. So remember the reason why Jesus performs all the signs in the Gospel of John, the signs, the miracles, the reason why Jesus performs all of these is that we may believe. Let me remind you some of those verses again that we read in John chapter 20, verses 30 and 31. He says, many other signs Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. So the reason Jesus has been performing these signs, or these miracles, if you will, that John loves to call them signs, is so that we may believe. and so that we may believe in none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. So when Jesus declares that he is the resurrection and the life, he then asks Martha, do you believe this? Notice what it says here in verse 21 of our text. Martha therefore said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Jidah said to her, your brother shall rise again. And Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jidah said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Do you believe? He doesn't say, do you understand this? Have you taken time to analyze this? He said, do you believe? Because you see, this gospel is supposed to spark faith in our hearts towards Jesus as the object of our faith. I'm glad that the answer that Martha gives in verse 27 says, she said to him, yes, Lord, I have believed. that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world. Some have suggested that even Martha was missing the point here. Maybe that Jesus was saying, do you believe what I just said now, now that your brother shall rise again? But she said the answer seems to be off because she said, yes, I have believed you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. Regardless of what you are thinking right now, I think the answer is still good. She said, yes, I have believed you are the Christ, you are the anointed one, you are the Messiah, who is to come in this world. And so I like that. We must believe in Jesus as the object of our faith. In fact, throughout the scriptures, we find that this is what we are told. This is not even the first time we are seeing faith being emphasized in the Gospel of John. For instance, in John 3, verse 16, we know that the Bible says, Romans 10, verses 9 and 10 says, John 1 verse 11 says, he came to his own. And those who were his own did not receive him. But as many as did receive him, even those who believed in his name, he gave them the power to become children of God. But notice also in verse 42 of our text what the Bible says. Verse 42, and I knew that you hearest me always. But because of the people standing around, I said it, that they may believe that you did send me. And also, if you read verse 45, this one we didn't read, but we can read it now to emphasize the point. It says this, Many therefore of the Jews who had come to Mary, and beheld what he had done, believed in him. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. So we are to look to Jesus as our object of faith. There are some groups who say, OK, we believe in Jehovah, but we do not believe in Jesus. My friend, we are to believe in Jesus because by believing in his name, we are given life and life eternal. So the first point I just wanted to make to you, and I think I have made it, is that Jesus is the object of our faith. But number two, I want us to consider that Jesus here is presented to us as the originator of life. And if you don't like that term, you can say as the author of life. In verses 23, Jesus said to Martha, Jesus said, your brother shall rise again. because Jesus is the author of life. The man had been dead four days in the tomb. But Jesus comes and he says, your brother shall rise again. Why? Because the author of life has arrived. and Lazarus will rise again. In the book of Acts chapter 3 verse 15, Jesus is described as the author of life and the word author can be translated leader or founder or you can even say fountain or source. He is the origin, he is the source, he is the author of life. and he is also not affected by time. Notice what it says in this passage, first of all, in verse 21. Martha said, therefore said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. In other words, the human language is this. Jesus, it's a little bit too late, because if you had been here, my brother would not have died, but you see, you just came in a little too late. By the way, that thought is repeated in verse 32. It says, therefore, when Mary came, where Jesus was, she saw him and fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Too late. But my friends, let me tell you, Jesus is the author, he is the originator, he is the source, he is the fountain of life, both physical life and spiritual life. When he comes, he says, your brother shall rise again. And like we said, this story begins with sickness to death, but at the end of it all, we have life, we have victory, we have success, because the author of life has come. And so Jesus is also in control, he's not affected by time, and he's in charge of these things, because he is the author of life. But let me also say this, number three, let me say this. Jesus not only is he the object of our faith and also the author of life, I want you to see that Jesus here is presented to us as the omnipotent God. And his omnipotent power here is displayed when we continue to read again Let me begin here in verse 33. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled and said, where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Where have you laid him? In Uganda here, when you say, where have you laid him? People would be suspicious of you. What do you want to do? But Jesus is about to do something powerful to the glory of God. And he's demonstrating his omnipotent power, that he has supernatural power, that he has that divine power to exercise here. It says, but some of the, in verse 35 says, Jesus wept. And so the Jews were saying, behold how he loved him. But some of them said, would not this man who opened his eyes of him who was blind have kept this man from dying? There is a Rwanda proverb which says, I'm just trying to prepare things to do, I'm about to do something and you are even beginning to complain. So these people are saying, could this man who opened the eyes of the blind, could he have not stopped this man also from dying? But Jesus is coming, he's not done yet. And so, in the demonstration of his omnipotent power, verse 38, Jesus, therefore again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave and a stone was laying against it. Jesus said, remove the stone. Remove the stone. Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days. Again, this is human thinking. It is impossible. It is too late. But Jesus says, remove the stone. And then there is this verse, verse 40, Jesus said to her, did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God. And so Jesus is here wanting to display the glory of God. And the aim is so that people may see the glory of God and may believe in him. And by believing him might be saved, my friends. Verse 41, And so they removed the stone, and Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou heardest me, and I knew that thou hearest me always. But because of the people standing around, I said it, that they may believe that thou didst send me. And when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And listen to what the Bible says. He who had died came forth bound hand and foot with wrappings and his face was wrapped around with the cross. Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go. Hallelujah, praise the Lord. Unbind him, let him go. So Jesus here, he demonstrates his omnipotent power. I like what John MacArthur comments on this verse. He said, Jesus here has too much power, that if he just said, come forth, it was going to be the final resurrection. Everybody who had died would have come. But he limits it and he says, Lazarus, come forth. The rest of you stay where you are. And so here we see that our Jesus has this omnipotent power. He has omnipotent power. And this, I just want also to tell you that what Jesus does here in resurrecting Lazarus, of course he brings hope, he brings joy to this family, but the main thing is also he's expecting his own resurrection. In other words, like he's saying, I want you to see that resurrection is possible. If Lazarus can rise again, you should also believe me that when I say I will die and on the third day rise, it is going to be possible. So he's also anticipating his own resurrection. By the way, some people in their zeal to be more God-centered and to make a distinction between the resurrection of Lazarus and that one of Jesus have even gone ahead to say that for Lazarus it was not a resurrection, it was a resuscitation. I object to that because the context here says, Jesus didn't say, I am the resuscitation. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. So I call Lazarus' case also a resurrection, although we know there is a greater resurrection of Jesus Christ. Of course, Lazarus died again, Jesus resurrected and he lives forever. But at least from the context we see, it was also a resurrection. I want to say that this is also a demonstration of how he provides both physical and, more importantly, spiritual life. So let me close with this. You see, from a spiritual standpoint, all of us here present, we are all Lazaruses, if I can use that language. We are all dead men and dead women. Actually, I was... I was teaching my class recently, and I said to the class that the moment we are born, we begin to die. And I said, why are we even? I gave an example of myself. I said, you guys, why do you think I'm using my glasses? It's because I'm beginning to die. And one of the students said, you are dead. Anyway, the point here that I want to make is this. is this, that from the spiritual standpoint we are all dead. At least the Bible says before we come to Christ we are all dead in our sins. It is only after Christ calls us from our deadness, like He called Lazarus, that we gain spiritual life. And so we need to put our trust. We need to cling to Jesus. So we need to rejoice in our sorrows. We need to look to Jesus and believe in Him. In our sadness, in our moments of sadness, in our challenges, in every situation, even in times of joy and happiness, we are to look to Jesus Christ, who is the object of our faith, and who is the author of life and who has omnipotent power as our omnipotent God. So may God bless you and may God keep you even as we ponder these things more. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we are so thankful for who you are. You are our God. You are the author of both physical and spiritual life. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the gospel. Thank you for the word of God that calls us every day to put our trust in Christ so that we may have life in him. May your name now be praised. May it be glorified in our midst from this time forth and forevermore. Amen.