Well, good morning, everyone. Thank you for the kind invitation to come and share God's word with you this morning and this afternoon. Thank you for your prayers for myself and for my wife and children. Let me covet those prayers again. that you would continue to pray for myself and for Laura and my two boys, Zach and Luke, as we seek the Lord's guidance for the days that would lie ahead and for whatever path he would choose to take us along. It's been a great time of fellowship with Joan William of England and the children this morning. We've enjoyed breakfast together, and we enjoyed a bit of crack, as we would say, last night. I have to watch what I say. I was a pastor down in England for a time, and I talked about having a bit of crack. I got a phone call from one of the members that afternoon, and he says, Angus, you need to watch your language in the pulpit. And I thought, have I inadvertently sworn or something like that? And he says, no, you talk about having a bit of crack. Well, for those of you who may not know, when we talk, from where I come from, when we talk about having a bit of crack, it's a bit of fun, fellowship together. I do appreciate the international flavor that there is in this fellowship. In some ways it gives us a view of what heaven will be like because God is drawing out for himself a people from every tribe and tongue and nation. And that seems to be reflected here. Of course, when we get to heaven, we will always speak with Northern Irish accents, since that is the accent of heaven. But nevertheless, it's great to be with you and to minister God's word. A thing that has really thrilled my soul this morning is to see the emphasis that is placed upon the reading of God's word. Folks, I hope that everything that you hear today and everything that you hear every Sunday from this pulpit is the truth. But the only thing that we are certain 100% about that is truth is what is read from this book. And what we read in this book is our authority. I stand before you today as a preacher of the truth of God's word, but I stand not on any authority of my own except upon the authority of this book. And it is this book That should be the words of it should be precious to us for the words are the words of life. I hope that I share what I share with you this morning is truth. I believe it to be so. But folks, do not forsake the reading. John William, may I commend you, brother, for the public reading of God's Word. I'm passionate about the truth of God's Word and the public reading of it. May you continue to be blessed by it. One thing that I have to say as a bugbear of mine, is when ministers get up and they say, for the sake of time, we'll only read one or two verses. No, no, read, read the word of God. Let's hear the voice of God. John MacArthur says, if you want to, if you want to hear God's voice, then read his word. And if you want to hear it audibly, if you want to hear God's voice audibly, don't go to a Pentecostal church, but read God's word out loud. And so folks, as I read these words, may it not be the voice of Angus Common you hear this morning. May it not be a Northern Irish accent that you hear this morning. May you hear these words as the very words of the living God himself. So with that in mind, let's turn to John chapter 11. John chapter 11. John chapter 11 we commence our reading at verse one. This is the living word of the living God. Now certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sister sent him saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. But when Jesus heard it, he said, this illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciple said to him, Rabbi, the Jews are now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again? Jesus answered, are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. After saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died. And for your sake I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him. So Thomas called the twins and said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the town four days. 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. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God who's coming into the world. When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to wait there Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping. He was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews said, see how he loved him. But some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying? Then Jesus deeply moved the cane and came to the tomb. There was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God? So he took away the stone and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me. When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to him, unbind him and let him go. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what are we to do? where this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to him, you know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God that are scattered abroad. So from that day on, they made plans to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness. to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, what do you think, that he will not come to the feast at all? The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know so that they might arrest him. Amen. We trust that the Lord will bless the reading of his word to our hearts. There is this idea that is often prevalent among believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, that once you get saved, that everything will become rosy in the garden. In fact, I remember as a young believer in the Lord Jesus, that this was put almost forward as, you know, if you're suffering troubles, come to Christ and everything will become rosy in the garden. And we see how this has gone to extreme lengths today where we have so-called prosperity gospel preachers who will say that, yes, this is your best life now. Live in Christ and God will grant you all that you need and all that you wish for. There is this idea that once you become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that everything becomes a life of bliss and happiness. Let me say, folks, John William knew from what portion of scripture I was reading from today, but he did not know what I was going to say. but he read from Luke chapter nine. And if there is this idea that becoming a Christian makes everything rosy in the garden, then Luke chapter nine blows it completely out of the water. John William read it for us earlier on. Jesus says, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself. Deny himself. Not embrace himself, but deny himself. Take up his cross daily, Daily means every day, not just on a Sunday morning. Take up his cross daily and follow after me. You see, that's the truth of the Christian life. And anybody who's lived the Christian, a true Christian life for any length of time will know that it is not a bed of roses, will know that everything is not rosy. We ought to be living contrary to the word, and yet today we find that the word says, believe in self. I had the privilege of being at the pride parade in Glasgow yesterday, and to be part of the team who were preaching against such abominations. But everywhere you looked around, here were people full of self. Here were people full of promoting self. And sadly, among them were people who professed to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They professed to believe this nonsense that Christ comes into your life and he doesn't change anything, but he lets you live as you please. And everything is wonderful and everything is rosy in the garden. And even believers from evangelical churches in this land believe that today. And yet when we consider, when we consider the life of the biblical Christians that we read about, such as the apostles, every one of the apostles, according to church history, and perhaps Bethany, you might correct me on this later on if I'm wrong, But every one of the apostles, with the exception of John, died a violent death. John, of course, suffered his own persecution. Here were Christ's closest confidants, those part of Christ's inner circle, and they suffered to the point of losing their lives. So what makes us think that life is going to be any different? What makes us think that somehow here in Aberdeen in 2023, that somehow life is going to be different for us? Because folks, if you think that, then you're in for a bit of a shock this morning. Because life for the believer is not a bed of roses. It is not all rosy in the garden. But what I want to share with you this morning is what happens when things don't go the way we want. What happens when things go wrong? What happens when things are not as pleasant as we would like? Brothers and sisters, I don't want you thinking, oh, Angus is talking about what has happened in his personal life in the past. No, I truly believe that the Lord laid this message on my heart for people here today. Because the reality is that the Christian life is often one of disappointment and discouragement. And is there any hope in the midst of our discouragements? We heard about people being out in the streets of Aberdeen yesterday. and how you just go out in the streets week after week after week after week. And that can bring great discouragement at times because you think, why are these people not listening to me? These people whose souls are in mortal danger, why are they not listening? And it can become very discouraging. When we pray and pray and pray and pray for our families, and we still don't see them coming to Christ. Do we get despondent? Do we get discouraged? I've got two lads, one's 20 and one's 17. Zach has made a profession of faith. Look, while he comes to church with us every Sunday, and he's a decent young man, He has no interest in the things of God. And it's heartbreaking. And it's a heartbreak that many of you will know. So is there any hope? In the midst of these discouragements that as believers we face, is there any hope? We know that the scriptures say God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. We know that. And yet, when we sometimes face what can only be described at times as the depths of despair, how do we make the amazing truth that God is our refuge and strength of very present health and trouble, how do we make that a reality for our lives? Well, I want us to consider this family at Bethany. This family in a wee village just a couple of miles outside Jerusalem. It appears that there were only two sisters and one brother. Mary and Martha and Lazarus were not given any clues or any indication from scripture anywhere else that there was an extended family or anything, that there was only these two sisters and one brother. There were no other males in the family. Now, we think today, well, that doesn't really mean much. But back in Bethany, 2,000 years ago, that meant something. Because males were the breadwinners of the family. And if there were no males in the family, then the females became destitute. And there were only two ways forward for them. One was begging, and the other was selling themselves. I realize we have children here, so I want to be careful about what I say. But that was only two options open to Mary and Martha. Lazarus, their brother, had died. The breadwinner had died. What were they going to do? How were they going to sustain themselves? How were they going to be kept? They certainly didn't want to turn to selling themselves. So the only option really left would have been begging. Begging in the streets. You see, they didn't only have the profound sadness of losing their brother that they loved, but they also had this prospect of destitution and hardship. And into this situation, into this very desperate situation, walks the Lord Jesus Christ. Can Jesus Christ bring hope when it seems that all hope is lost? Can he bring some semblance of help into a desperate situation? Well in order to glean some understanding of this situation, I want us to look at three things this morning about what Jesus says. When Jesus says to Mary and Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and he who lives and believes in me shall never die. I want us to think about why, or who's saying this? Why he is saying this, and what he is saying to us here today through this. Firstly, who is saying this? Who's saying this? Well, you say Jesus is saying this. Of course Jesus is saying this, but who is Jesus? Martha tells us in verse 21. Verse 21. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you have been here, my brother would not have died. But even even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. And then Jesus says, I am the resurrection, the life. And he says, Do you believe this? And Martha says, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God who's coming into the world. Now, We, in some ways, have lost the whole idea of just how wonderful and glorious this is. But here is a Jewish woman, part of the nation of Jews that were anticipating, that were longing for the Messiah, for the Christ. to come into the world. And here Martha realizes that this person is sent from God. This is the Messiah who's come. She says, yes, Lord, I believe that you're the Christ, the son of God, who's coming into the world. She calls him Lord. She doesn't just call him Christ, but she calls him Lord, and the Greek word for Lord is kurios, and generally that word means supreme being. It would be the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament Yahweh or Jehovah, depending on what way you look at it. The members of this crowd who had gathered around Mary and Martha's house, even they recognized that Christ was someone special. They knew that he had, at the very least, extraordinary powers. Verse 37, but some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying? This man before them was none other than the eternal God in the flesh. Some of them knew him as a miracle worker. Martha recognized him as the Messiah. But he was much more than that, because here in the midst of this crowd, and in the midst of these two sisters that are facing a desperately sad and terrible situation, here stands the living God. Not a representation of God, not some figment of somebody's imagination of God, but the living God is standing before them. The eternal God, who we are told, remember, in Exodus, that to look upon with sinful eyes would have meant immediate death. The living God, who had to hide Moses in the cleft of the rock, that Moses would not see his glory and be consumed by his glory and die. Here is the living God, that same living God, standing in the midst of this crowd. Here he is, come into this situation with Mary and Martha. This desperate situation. As John says, He is the word who has become flesh and has dwelt among us. Can you imagine that? The eternal God, the one who spoke and created this universe. The one who is the heaven of heavens cannot contain him. The one who the angels constantly cry out, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. Here he is standing in the midst of these people. He is now condescended to man. And he has become a man and dwells among his people. This crowd, by their own omission, they knew that Jesus was a great miracle worker. The disciples themselves had witnessed the great works. that were done by God in Christ. They had seen the dead raised already. There was the widow of Nain, her son was raised from the dead. There was Jairus' daughter raised from the dead. They had been in the boat whenever it appeared they were going to drown. And Jesus says to the wind and the waves, peace be still. And here he is, in this desperate situation, standing in the midst of it. Words are inadequate to describe the glory and the majesty of this situation when it seems that all hope was lost. Once again, Mary and Martha find themselves receiving this personal visit by the eternal son of God. And yet even they don't fully understand the magnitude of this visit. Yes, they have been blinded by grief. And perhaps they are fearful for their future. But it doesn't take away from the fact that standing in the midst of this desperate, terrible situation, is the son of God, the one who gives life and the one who takes it away, the one at whose command Lazarus died. Even though he was miles away at the time, Jesus knew that Lazarus would die. Because in eternity past, God had appointed the same as he had for every one of us. God has appointed that time of our passing, that time that none of us will go by one second, nor will we go before it one second, for the word of God clearly tells us it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment. So your time and my time, has been chosen and appointed by God from eternity past, just as Lazarus, his time had been appointed. And Jesus knew. This desperate situation is receiving a visit from the very creator of the world. I'm sure, like me, you've read of surprise visits that VIPs make to various places. My eldest boy's into this whole Marvel thing at the minute, and the Marvel films and all. And there's a guy called Will Poulter, who is a Guardians of the Galaxies actor. I've never seen the movie. I've only read about it. But it's said that his sister is a teaching assistant in a classroom. And Will Porter, this Hollywood star, he just suddenly turned up at his sister's class one day and surprised the class. And of course, we read about how Queen Elizabeth, the late Queen Elizabeth, used to turn up at places and would have spent time with the old commoners like you and me. But even the greatest celebrity visit couldn't begin to compare with a visit from the living God. Folks, no one can overestimate the importance of who Jesus is. For the Jews, this was their long-awaited Messiah. For believers like us today gathered here, this is as God in the flesh. The one whose glory reigns from eternity to eternity. The one to whom the word of God tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And Jesus, in his words to Mary and Martha, He declares who he is because he says, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he who lives and believes in me shall never die. And of course, to use that title, I am, is a title that is reserved for God alone. Remember back in the desert when Moses encounters God in the burning bush. And God says to him, go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go. And go and tell my people that they're going to be set free. And Moses, of course, he's trying to come up with all these excuses, you know, about why he couldn't do it. He's a man of slow lips and all this. And then he says, he says, well, who will I say sent me? And God says, tell him I am that I am. Tell him that I am sent you. I am that title that means everything, that God is all sufficient in himself, that he needs nothing from anything or anyone. God is completely self-sufficient, completely fulfilled in himself. It's something that we as Christians ought to remember, that God is completely fulfilled in himself, that God does not need you or need me. Yet he is pleased, he's pleased to save us and to use us for his glory and his own. And Christ is the living embodiment of the one true God. He is the one who's standing in the midst of this desperate situation. This situation where it appears there is no hope. So who is saying I am the resurrection and the life, none other than the embodiment of the living God? Why is he saying this? Why is he saying this? Verse 15. Jesus says, for your sake, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. that Jesus is saying this not only to his disciples, he's saying it also to Mary and Martha, and he's saying it to the crowd gathered around him. He says, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. Verse 25 and 26, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he who lives and believes in me shall never die. And he says then to Martha, do you believe this? Why is Jesus saying that he is the resurrection and the life? So that Martha and Mary would believe. So that the disciples would believe. And not just that. Verse 40. Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me. So in other words, Jesus says this, first and foremost, not to encourage Martha and Mary, not to encourage the disciples. He doesn't say that first and foremost. He says that first and foremost, that people would believe. that they would believe. This world is dead in sin and rebellion. The sin that brought about the death of Lazarus and indeed the whole of humanity, it may have been some individual sin of Lazarus. It may not have been The reality is that the wages of sin is death and that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and therefore we all deserve to die. We all deserve the wrath of God. There is not one of us sat here today who does not deserve to be cast out from God's presence for eternity and to suffer his eternal wrath against sin. We deserve to die. Lazarus deserved to die. Because Lazarus, like the rest of us, was a sinner. And the only hope for sinful people is the merciful intervention by a holy God. Now let me be clear, Lazarus is as dead as dead can be. There is no doubting that Lazarus was dead. Four days Jesus waited before the tomb was opened. And there's a relevance behind that because Jewish tradition had it that after a person took their last breath, that their spirit hovered above their body for three days. And then it was there trying to re-enter into their body again. But after three days, if it did not re-enter into the body, then it was gone. And the person was as dead as dead can be. Well, four days later. This isn't just, there's, Jesus waits because it does the idea away with it. Perhaps Lazarus has just failed it or is going into a coma or something like that. No, Lazarus is dead. And Jesus makes that very clear to the disciples. He says, first of all, that Lazarus is asleep. He meant that he was dead, but he used that terminology. And then he clearly says, Lazarus is dead. Even the decomposing process of a body had started to take place. Because when Jesus says about opening the tomb, they say, well, Lord, if you open it up, he's been there four days. He's already starting to stink. There'll be a smell and aroma, as the ESV puts it. Wouldn't have been a very nice aroma. And when Jesus is challenged by Martha, he reiterates what events, what these events are all about. That is that he is revealing who he is, and he is seeking belief in his name, verse 40. Jesus says, did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? So here is a desperate, dark situation. And Jesus comes in, the son of God, God in the flesh, comes in and he says, believe and you will see the glory of God. Can you imagine if it was your loved one? I'll be perfectly honest, folks. I've lost my father and mother. I lost my brother when I was 42 years of age. Brother wasn't saved that I know of. And it was a dark, dark time. It was a dark time, nowhere near as dark as what Mary and Martha here, I wasn't facing destitution, but it was a dark time. And if someone would have come and said to me, Angus, believe and you'll see the glory of God. I would have wondered, have they been smoking something funny? But here, is God himself saying, believe and you will see the glory of God. And folks, this is where the rubber hits the road, so to speak. This is where our faith becomes real. Our faith in some ways becomes sight. Because it's the easiest thing to say, I believe. It's the easiest thing to say, yes, I believe there's a God, when things are going well. But when things start going very, very difficult, when things go really bad, when the rug is pulled completely from under us, when we are in a desperate, dark situation, we are told, believe, and you will see the glory of God. That's when the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so to speak. That's whenever we truly prove God. How do we know if our faith is real unless our faith is put to the test? How often do we hear of people whose faith is put to the test and they walk away, they say, I can't stand it. Here's two people, two sisters, facing destitution. whose faith was being put to the test. And Jesus says, if you believe, you will see the glory of God. Well, you see, it's easy for us to say, yeah, that's great, because we know how the story ends. We know how things worked out. But Mary and Martha didn't know what was going to happen. But Jesus says, believe. Believe. and you will see the glory of God. However, Martha's belief up to this point only stretches so far. It's a bit like Thomas after the resurrection. Actually, we read earlier on how Thomas says, come on, we'll go. He was prepared to die. Then he's the one that doubts. Well, he's the one that's recorded the doubts. All the other disciples have doubted as well at one time or another. Their belief only went so far. Jesus had raised others from the dead before the disciples have witnessed this. Jesus had shown his power over nature. The disciples have witnessed this. And no doubt Mary and Martha, if they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, they certainly would have heard about it. But this miracle is going to be the most public display of Jesus' authority over all the world until up to this point. You see, power over life and death is solely reserved for God. I've already said it's appointed on the man once the day. It's appointed by God. The power over life, and death is reserved for God alone. Job in his trials in the darkness and despair says the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. The Jews believed that the power over life and death was solely for God alone. And Jesus is about to give them the clearest demonstration of his divine credentials to prove who he is. and who he claims to be. To show that he has power over life and death. To show that he is the one whom John writes in Revelation and records for us in Revelation, has the keys of death and hell. Shortly after this account, Jesus would be standing before Pilate, an accused criminal. And when Pilate questioned Jesus, Pilate, in his arrogance, claimed to have power to decide whether Jesus would live or die. Now we can scoff at that, we can laugh at that. But if we were in Pilate's shoes, would we not have done the same? Would we not have been puffed up with our own arrogance and said, you realize that I have the power for you, whether you live or die? And what was Jesus' response? You would have no power except it was given to you from heaven above. Jesus himself says in the chapter before John 11 here, he's talking about being the good shepherd and how the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. He says, no one takes my life from me, but I lay it down that I may take it up again. Jesus shows and is about to show here to not just to Mary and Martha, but to this whole unbelieving crowd. that he has the power over life and death. This is why he does not say primarily, I am the resurrection and the life, to comfort Mary and Martha. But he says it to display the glory of God at work in his life. But even though what he says is verifiably true, and backed up with these miracles, yet still, still people who behold this wondrous act, who behold this glorious miracle that he performs in raising Lazarus from the dead, still they harden their hearts against him. First 45. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what are we to do? And they plotted and they schemed against them. But little did they know, when they plotted that one man should die for the kingdom, that Jesus would die for a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly kingdom. That Jesus had come to die to deal with eternal issues. When the false teachers of Israel were more concerned about worldly gain. Such concern would then cause them to crucify their own Messiah. Jesus came that people would believe. But rather than people believing in him, they hardened their hearts and crucified him on the cross. Who is saying, I am the resurrection and the life, none other than God himself. Why is he saying it? That people would believe. And what's Christ then saying to us today, sitting here in Grace Baptist Fellowship in Aberdeen? What's he saying to us through us? When he says, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? First of all, that's the question we ask ourselves. Do we believe that? And do we believe it, not just with some sort of mental ascent, but do we believe it with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind? Do we believe that God has appeared in Christ Jesus and he has suffered and died upon the cross, giving his life as a ransom? for the sin of his people, and them being gloriously raised up on the third day, ascended up into heaven, and one day coming back in power and in glory." Folks, this is amazing. This is wonderful. This is the most wonderful thing we can ever hear about. Do we believe it? Do we truly believe it? That whenever the dark times come, whenever we suffer persecution for our faith, whenever we suffer loss, do we hold on to the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we hold on to the one who says, I am the resurrection and the life? that we hold on believing that no matter what happens to us in this life, it is only but for a short season. And one day, because of what Christ has done for us at Calvary and raising again from the dead, one day we will spend eternity, not just 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, maybe 90 years on a sin sick world, but eternity. in a glorious land that knows no sin, that knows no sorrow, that knows no pain, for all the former things are past the wage. The group of men that I was with yesterday, we went and treated ourselves to Nando's after we had finished. And we were sitting having a discussion about heaven. And there were some were saying, you know, well, there was one was saying about how we will remember things that happened in this earth. No, folks, no. No, we will remember nothing of what happened in this earth. Why will we remember nothing? Because heaven is a place of perfection. There will be no unclean thing enter therein. There will be nothing of sin. There will be nothing to bring us heartache. There will be nothing to bring us pain or sorrow. Surely if we remember the sinsick word, it will bring us pain and sorrow, especially in the light of the perfection of heaven. No, folks. Heaven will be about Christ, it will be about the Lamb of God who came and took away the sin of everyone who would believe in his name and now he is exalted and given that name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Heaven is about Christ, it is perfection as he is perfect, we will be perfect, completely sanctified, Forget about the dark days, there is greater days ahead. Yes, we will face terrible times. Yes, life for the believer is not rosy. Yes, it will become desperate as it was for Mary and Martha. But folks, Jesus, God in the flesh, came and he raised a dead man. to life again, restoring joy into that family. Let me ask you this morning as I close. Have you received that new life in Christ Jesus? Have you been raised out of the deadness and the darkness and the depravity of your sins? Have you found hope in Christ alone? Brothers and sisters in Christ, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, let me ask you, when you face the darkness of the trials of this life, does your faith become real? Do you cling to the Lord, our only hope? Or is Jesus just a mere utterance on our lips that whenever times of trial come, We discard him, we run about like headless chickens panicking about what's going to happen. Folks, he is our hope for the future. He is our only hope for the future. He was the only hope for Mary and Martha. And he's the only hope for you and me today. When we face those dark times, remember who is our light. Remember who has given us this new life. Remember who is the resurrection and the life. And remember that because of him that death, physical death, is but a mere door into the presence of the loving God. Amen. May God bless and encourage us through his word this morning. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your written word. We thank you, O God, that in it we have everlasting truth, that it reveals to us your plan of salvation, that it reveals to us who you are, that it reveals to us your Son, crucified, risen again, ascended into heaven and coming in power and glory. O Lord, we pray that not just in the good times that we would remember Jesus, but in the bad times, in the dark times of our lives, Lord, that we would know the saviour, that we would know his promises, that we would know the joy of his presence, that what the psalmist writes, that you are a very present help, that that would become a reality to us just as it was to Mary and Martha all those years ago. Lord, we pray that if there be any that does not truly know Jesus, that He would become their true light. That they would believe in Him. That they would come to know Him as Lord and Savior of their lives. That they would know Him whom to know as life eternal. Lord, hear our cry. In Jesus' name, Amen.