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00:00:01 today's passage is taken from The Book of John 11: 1-44 reading from the NIV 2011 version now a man named Lazarus was sick he was from Bethany the village of Mary and her sister Martha this Mary whose brother Lazarus now lay sick was the same one who po perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair so the sisters sent word to Jesus Lord word the one you love is sick when he heard this Jesus said this sickness will not end in death no it is for God's glory so that God's son may be glorified through it now Jesus loved
00:00:46 Martha and her sister and Lazarus so when he heard that Lazarus was sick he stayed where he was two more days and then he said to his disciples let us go back to Judea but Rabbi they said a short while ago the Jews there tried to Stone you and yet you are going back Jesus answered are there not 12 hours of daylight anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble for they see by this world's light it is when a person walks at night that they stumble for they have no light after he had said this he went on
00:01:28 to tell them our friend Les laus has fallen asleep but I am going there to wake him up his disciples replied Lord if he sleeps he will get better Jesus had been speaking of his death but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep so then he told them plainly Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad I was not there so that you may believe but let us go to him then Thomas also known as simus said to the rest of the disciples let us also go that we may die with him on his arrival Jesus found that Lazarus has
00:02:11 already been in the Tomb for 4 days now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother when Martha heard that Jesus was coming she went out to meet him but Mary stayed at home Lord Martha said to Jesus if you had been here my brother would not have died but I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask Jesus said to her your brother will rise again Martha answered I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day Jesus
00:02:52 said to her I am the resurrection and the life the one who believes in me will live even though they die and whoever leaves by believing in me will never die do you believe this Yes Lord she replied I believe that you are the Messiah the Son of God who is to come into the world after she had said this she went back and called her sister Mary aside the teacher is here she said and is asking for you when Mary heard this she got up quickly and went to him now Jesus had not yet entered the village but was
00:03:30 still at the place where Martha had met him when the Jews who had been with Mary in the house comforting her noticed how quickly she got up and went out they followed her supposing she was going to the tomb to mour there when Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw she fell at his feet and said Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled where have you laid him he asked come
00:04:08 and see Lord they replied Jesus wept then the Jews said see how he loved him but some of them said could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying Jesus once more deeply moved came to the tomb it was a cave with a Stone laid across the entrance take away the stone he said but lord said Martha the sister of the Dead Man by this time that is bad odor for he has been there 4 days then Jesus said did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God so they took away the stone then
00:04:51 Jesus looked up and said father I thank that you have heard me I knew that you always hear me but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here that they may believe that you sent me when he had said this Jesus called in a loud voice Lazarus come out the dead man came out his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face Jesus said to them take off the grave clothes and let him go this is the word of God thank you Amanda um for reading 44 veres of the scripture of John it's very
00:05:32 long thank you for that good morning church morning can you hear me at the back yes outside yes on top yeah very good yeah thank you Mary for being ever so responsive it gives the speaker a lot of encouragement thank you so much um before I get to the sermon proper I just want to introduce the speaker for next week um he doesn't need any introduction is our brother Anna Lim yeah uh he's going to talk on Roman 18: 18-39 yeah on U resilient Joy so I suggest you come yeah it's a good topic uh Then followed by it will be Dr
00:06:21 Peter on New Freedom new family he's starting the series on galatian yeah chapter 1: 1 to5 and then we'll have brother John Lee preaching on the second installment of galatian 1: 6-12 gospel 2.0 he must be a Tac man yeah all right so before uh we get down to the sermon this morning I just ask that you bow your head and pray with me ABA father we thank you for the privilege to be here this morning to engage you in your word and as you deliver your words through your humble servant father I ask that
00:06:58 you prepare the hearts of the audience you know not just to see the truth but see you in person and be able to take this truth and manifest it in our life and leave it For Your Glory father and I also ask that father because I'm a mere man who can't do anything significance without you nor say anything that would have eternal significance so I ask that father your spirit descend on me right here right now father so that Lord you know whatever that's coming forth for the next 45 minutes will be pleased pleasing and
00:07:30 acceptable to you and it will change lives thank you Lord we ask all this in Jesus name and all God's people say amen yeah now uh oops see it doesn't work give me a minute yeah all right so this morning we are going to I mean it's in the midst of New Year right chines New Year still counts yes or no after 15 days yeah no more yeah but nevertheless it's a new year isn't it but this morning um I want to tell you that I'm going to talk about something that you feel very uncomfortable you know uh it's the topic
00:08:13 of death you know now this is a topic that we will avoid at all cost now let me ask you when was the last time you went to a party and then you greeted someone and you asked are you ready for death yeah no right because I guarantee that you will not be invited again and also you have faced the risk of being thrown out of the party literally yeah now even at the mention of the word death you know especially during ch's New Year somebody is bound to exclaim choy choy choy you know yeah for our brothers who are not Chinese you know
00:08:49 Choy Cho is a exclamation of someone who is uh hearing something that's really terrible you so he say cho CH Choy why is your mouth so foul know go rinse it with that yeah now let us put this to further test this morning I want to tell you that the numeric for for those who are not Chinese sounds like death in Chinese in Mander in Cantonese you name it yeah so may I have a show of hands how many of you have car numbers or motorbike numbers or house number number four raise your hands please yeah yeah we have a brother there he's
00:09:26 not Chinese yeah brother you're liberated any more oh you are liberated brothers and sisters you know one more at the back there yeah another two there oh brother uh ulam wow Liberator yeah brother an also yeah so you but nevertheless only four hands you know can you see my point yeah death is something that we are not prepared to face however the Bible takes a very different view on death you know because King Solomon say this yeah he says that Ecclesiastes 7: 1-4 he said the day of death is better than the day
00:10:07 of birth is he not to what yeah mourning is better than feasting and sorrow is better than laughters and the half the heart of mour is better than the heart heart of pleasure I beg of pardon I can't roll my tongue this morning is isn't is Solomon a sad this now according to the Bible he's not like yeah in fact the Bible says that he is the wisest man ever lived you know and he knew for a fact that running from the reality of death is one of the silliest thing a person can do so this morning you and I shall not run like the rest of
00:10:45 the society we're going to engage the face uh the question of death head on because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you and me now this sermon is divided into uh three sections yeah so you have the love of God transcends time the love of God infuses hope and the love of God enters our pain so I want you to take a photo of this if you can and open your Bible to uh John chapter 11 to better follow my sermon now verse one says this yeah now a man named Lazarus was sick and he was from Bethany and the village
00:11:23 of Mary and the sister Mar and listen to what the sister have to say in verse three yeah now referring to their brother Lazarus they say Lord the one you love is sick if you think they were pretty clever Yeah Yeah by emphasizing that the one you love is sick yeah they were trying to move Jesus to come to Lazarus rescue immediately and now isn't that the way how we often approach our heavenly father now when we call out to God you know we expect him to come and help us immediately don't we and then John further underscored
00:12:03 their plea with the affirmation in verse 5 and he says Jesus Lov Martha Mary and Lazarus this is a confirmation that this is not a one-sided claim yeah Jesus indeed love Lazarus very much now what would you do brothers and sisters you know friends and family if you receive such an urgent request from the loved one someone you love so dearly and I suppose that you will drop everything and you will be set out you know for their rescue on the dable wouldn't you yes right but strangely Jesus didn't do any of that now John
00:12:42 says that he stayed two more days Jesus stay two more days yeah this is ridiculous isn't it the Bible just told us that he loves Lazarus very much now shouldn't his love for Lazarus compels him to go immediately should his love for Lazarus you know means rushing in to heal Lazarus or to ease his suffering and to prevent the worst from happening to him and in this case he's going to die you know but the story this morning challenge our expectation with a heart truth and that is God's love calls for
00:13:23 waiting it doesn't come immediately God does not operate on our timeline because his time is not our time and his love is not proven by how quickly he comes to our rescue his love is proven by how we wait on him when he doesn't move the way that we expect him to move now you see what feels like a delay when we are in desperation is not a lack of love from God you know now Jesus's love for Lazarus was never in question because John affirmed it and yet Jesus delayed in coming to him why now because God's delay are always
00:14:06 rooted in Greater purpose yeah the purpose that no one could see at the moment and sometimes sometimes you know God allow our situation to get worse so that his glory can shine brighter and sometimes sometimes he keeps us waiting so that our faith can grow deeper and sometimes you know he doesn't move at all when we expecting him to because he's teaching you and me to trust him not just in things that he can do for you and me but in his timing and in his Sovereign plan now John tells us that Jesus was on
00:14:48 the other side of the Jordan River now if you take a look at the map that I'm projecting to you you will get an idea what stands or lies between Jesus marked by the word J the J and bany marked by the word b now what stands between is some harsh and rugged Wilderness with steep Ascend and descend and that location is about 30 km 20 mi from batony and I want you to keep this in mind yeah in the first century there's no um messaging you know there's no WhatsApp and there's no email so for them to send words to Jesus means that
00:15:23 they have to send someone on food yeah to go get him and given the challenging Terrain 30 km can take a full day just one way now so if the news took one day to reach Jesus and Jesus delayed another two days yeah and by the time that he take another day to journey journey to bany uh by the time he arrived a total of 4 days about four days would have elapse and so by the time Jesus arrived at bany Lazarus would have been dated well dat for 4 days verse 17 but why four days you know John said it twice in this passage verses 17 and 39
00:16:05 so it must be important isn't it yeah so what's the significance of 4 days now according to Jewish uh tradition or Superstition the spirit of the dead person would hover around the Cs for three days and within that three days uh there is a chance that the spirit might be able to return to the body you know and the person will rise again but after 4 days the spirit would have totally abund the body and Decay would have set him now there's no chance yeah for the dead cop to come back alive now in other
00:16:38 words yeah Jesus deliberately delayed his trip for 4 days to ensure that Lazarus is de de before he appears in front of the corpse and this is so that no one can downplay his deity when he does his miracle and claim that Lazarus has recovered from a coma no Jesus do not want to heal Lazarus he wanted a greater glory for God and therefore he wanted to resurrect Lazarus and similarly many times you know God is delayed when we call upon Him wasn't he now have you ever prayed a prayer like asking for Relief asking for
00:17:21 answer asking for miracles asking for provisions and God left you on rent you know on right yeah yeah you you you know your WhatsApp message you send a message you see a double tick green tick yeah the person had read the message but he or she refuses to reply you that's on R yeah hey Jesus my father is sick and he's suffering and I'm hurting inside and I need you to come and heal him hey Jesus my boss is crazy and he's killing me and I need you to take me out of this hell Ho Hey Jesus I'm broke and I need you to come and pay my
00:18:18 mortgage hey Jesus my wife is going to leave me and I need you to come and fix my marriage hey Jesus my impossible husband is driving me crazy and I need you to come and tell him how not to be so crazy to me hey Jesus I need you to come and do for my son what the medicine and the doctor cannot do and calm him down and yet you despite your desperate calls you know and your chist all you here is dead silence you and you feel like heaven is close to you and you left to wonder Lord are you even listening do you even care for me in the
00:19:17 first place but this morning the truth from this scripture challenges us you and the truth is this brothers and sisters friends and family family you know Jesus loved you dearly he died for you he have to love you you know and in fact he loves you so much is not going to show up any sooner than his perfect timing and I want you to let this thing in yeah God's love is not measured by how quickly he intervenes in your challenges absolutely no no his love is proven by the way he walks with you through the fire through your challenges
00:20:00 you know his love is proven by the way that he strengthen you when you are weak when you feel helpess you can't do anything about the situation and his love is proven by the way he uses your waiting seasons in your life you know to prepare you to prepare me for something greater than whatever you and I can ever dream out or imagine and sometimes you know God's love is proven just by him chosing not to do anything for you at all well after the 4 days sorry um my computer just died on me so so I got this
00:21:00 uh computer that I'm not very familiar with so please pardon me yeah well after 4 days yeah Jesus and the disciple finally made their way uh to Bethany you know and when Martha heard of Jesus's arrival she being the extroverted one yeah rushed out to meet Jesus in verse 20 and Mar can you imagine being heartbroken you know so naturally she couldn't contain her emotion so when she saw Jesus she engaged Jesus in a tone mixed with sorrow desperation frustration and you even can hear a hint of reproach in Her
00:21:41 speech to Jesus because Marr say this he say oh Lord why do you come so late if only you have come on the dable Lazarus would not have died can you hear the resentment but despite her expression of Grievances and disappointment she ENT another line you know and she say that but I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask verse2 so how do you make sense of this yeah so this statement actually reveals that Mar has some faith in Jesus yeah she saw Jesus as someone who has a unique connection to God and she is
00:22:20 capable of interceding also of other Miracles that Jesus have done you know in a hopeless situation like the one Lazarus is facing you know but the the way I looked at it her statement reveals that her faith at the very moment was intellectually constrained at best don't you think so yeah it was not a full-blown belief just like some of us this morning in our midst you know sometimes we believe Jesus sometimes we don't you know sometimes we take matters in our own hands when we do not believe now marus failed to see that
00:22:58 Jesus Jus is the Messiah he fails to see that Jesus is God incarnated and she feels to recognize that Jesus has Divine Authority and sovereignty over all creations and so to that end Jesus stared deep into the brown of her eyes you know and he uttered these words to her he said your brother will rise again verse 23 and spontaneously M replied to him yeah I know he will rise again you know in the resurrection of the last day well she wasn't wrong yeah she was right to say that Lazarus would rise
00:23:36 again in the last day now but that is not what Jesus was talking about yeah now to edify her Jesus say listen Marty it is great and well that you believe in future Resurrection but I'm not talking about the future Resurrection I am telling you that the resurrection is standing in front of you I am the resurrection he and he says that the one who believe in me will live even though they die ridiculous you know and what and whoever lives by believing in me he say you shall never ever die you know so Mar do
00:24:21 you believe this verses 25 to 26 now these statements are staggering isn't it yeah what does it mean that I will never die everybody dies you know everybody without exception will go to the Grave one day unless Jesus come back before we go isn't it yeah so how can Jesus say that whoever lives by believing in him will never die mind boggling isn't it yeah now let me see that if I can bring to life this underlying truth to you V ly because it's very much needed for you and me who believe in Jesus who live in
00:25:03 this crazy world and first and foremost no Jesus is saying that physical death is not the final reality for a Believer now while our body will perish when we go to the Grave our true life that is our eternal life will be untouched yeah now Second Corinthian chapter 5:8 says that when we leave our body we will be home with the Lord you know and therefore death is not the end but merely a transition but I figure that you guys already know this truth isn't it this morning those who love Jesus you know
00:25:39 that yeah it's not a it's not the end you know but the greater truth that most Believers fail to see is this that Jesus's promise of eternal life is not just about the afterlife it begins now brothers and sisters you know now it doesn't begin when we die you know when we go to the grave but it begins the moment you and I call Jesus Lord and savior because through faith in Jesus Christ we are reconciled to God and sin loses its power over us immediately yeah and as such you know spiritual uh um spiritual death has no hold on those who
00:26:20 belongs to Jesus now that means that brother and sister death has no hold on you where you're sitting right now and John 5 verse 24 says that we enter into eternal life with Jesus right now in the present and therefore you and I who love Jesus we are already participating in the Resurrection Life that Jesus offers so brothers and sisters and friends you family life is full of uncertainties in yeah I just say you open the newspaper and see how crazy the word is yeah sometimes we wake up in the morning you
00:27:00 know and we feel that the weight of responsibility crashing down on us before we can even get out of bit you know for example there are bills to pay and bills that we do not have the means to pay and some of us are carrying the burden of our children don't we yeah wondering know if our children will ever leave the life or the opportunity that you and I have dreamed out for them and some of us including my friends you know are silently battling depressions and despair waking up each day feeling like they're sinking deeper and deeper
00:27:42 into a dark hole that no one else you know has noticed and some of us are watching a loved one sleeping away and yet we feel so powerless to change it and personally I think of my mom who is 83 years old and not yet a Believer you know I tried bringing her to Christ but to no success so far and I'm praying for a salvation but there's a lingering fear in my heart and the question is what if she passes before she comes to the Lord and I wrestle with these questions you know just as some of you do this
00:28:22 morning like when you watch your parent growing old and frail or when you sit by a hospital bait you know waiting for the worst news that can change your life forever but this is all well and good yeah but what does knowing that we are spiritually Alive Now and Forever never to be separated from God again helps you and I to face and endure our challenges how does he help us to pay the bills how does he help us you know to overcome the sadness of a Dying loved ones you know how does he overcome my work problem my
00:29:01 financial problems now let me illustrate this to you in a simple way uh what it means to have Jesus's resurrection life right now now I want you to imagine the two person are struggling through a scatching desert and they each carry a very heavy backpack and the journey is exhausting I don't have to tell you yeah and the Sun is scorching and every step feel feels unbearable with endless Rolling Dunes you know that feels like a sinking ground when you walked on it you know it is hot like hell it is Harsh like
00:29:39 sandpapers it is dry like a boon and the first person on the left believe that this journey leads to a dead end and to him he only sees an end unending stretch of sins you know suffering and hopelessness and so by having this mindset he grows wary he grows discouraged and because of that he finally give up and he collapses under the weight of disbelief and burden but the second person on your right you know however knows with certainty that at the end of The Journey there lies a beautiful oiles and he knows that there
00:30:25 are Cool Waters and also plenty of food waiting for him and most of all he knows that his loving family is waiting for him there to embrace him at the end of this torturous Journey you know and because of this mindset and belief he presses on drawing strength for what he knows it is aead of him and therefore the weight of the backpack disappear did it no right the weight is still there in reality you know Still Remains but it is no longer crushing on him yeah the scorching sun is still burning and beating down on him
00:31:02 but he is able to withstand it you know why two same difficult Journeys but two radically different motivations and ending what gives it is the power of Hope isn't it right the second person representing Believers sees a hope and a future at the end of The Journey but the first person representing non-believers or half Believers if I may say so only sees drudgery and de end and are you and I not like this Brother and Sisters in Christ yeah we are wired for hope we cannot just leave today and not bother about or think
00:31:49 about what lies ahead tomorrow we need a story we need a purpose and we need a destination to derive any true meaning of this life you know and therefore we need hope and this is where Jesus comes in you know because in Christ Jesus believer are spiritually Alive Now Jesus is walking with you and we are connected to God never to be separated from his love again yeah so you and I do not just go to Hades when we die you know instead immediately we go into Jesus's presence and we will live forever and ever in
00:32:24 Everlasting you know and we will never ever die it's Starts Now it starts today and that's not all you know that we will receive a perfect resurrected body like the one Jesus has you know when he returns and this is the hope that changes everything this is the hope of knowing that Jesus's resurrection Life Starts Now that changes everything when you and I can internalize this this morning if you can leave it so even the most mundane the most difficult situation in our life of our broken life in this s of the earth you know even
00:33:01 death itself sicknesses and death takes on a new and completely different meaning and perspective because this is the hope the hope of Jesus Christ that sustains Believers like you and me the hope that empowers Us free and therefore you and I shall not be afraid of the Brokenness shall not be afraid to talk about death that lies ahead of us do I hear an amen oh not very convinced yeah it's okay we'll continue yeah hopefully it'll be more convinced so with this let me serve you the profound truth of this 27 verses you
00:33:43 know that is Jesus's resurrection power gives believer Eternal hope and victory over them now if you are at a stage where our your lives or the lives of someone you love is slipping away from you how does this promise of resurrection and eternal life right now brings you hope and brings you comfort how does the Assurance of eternal life or Eternal hope through Jesus Christ color the way you think color the way you act or the way you govern your decisions you know your fear and your outlook of life and are your days regardless what
00:34:30 the weather Focus say you know are your days going to AE going to be filled with uh uh bright sun light you know sunny day or are they going to be gloomy and filled with Darkness even though the sun is shining brightly so what steps are you going to take you know to let go of the fear of the negativity of the doubt or the incapacity about the future and Fully live Brothers and Sisters in Christ Fully live life to the fullest trusting in Jesus Christ trusting in his promise Jesus's resurrection power caus
00:35:10 you and I to step out into the fullness of his promise victory over death and eternal hope now then when Mary come to came to meet Jesus uh similarly overcame by a sorrow and a feeling of personal betrayal that Jesus didn't calm you know quick enough she wept and she repeated a similar words of resignment to Jesus in verse 32 yeah and she say you know Lord you are a day late and a penny short you know now if you had come earlier Lazarus would not have died now John did not record a verbal response yeah to this line but instead
00:35:51 John recorded Jesus's intense emotional response you know because the text in verse 33 say that Jesus Jesus was deeply moved and trouble according to the NIV version yeah now in extra biblical Greek the root word of deeply moved is Embry Mai which refers to the snorting of horses you know the snotting of horses know something like that now when you when you apply this to human terms it translate to anger it translate to outrage and emotional indignation and if you look at the the the root word of trouble it is teraso in
00:36:35 Greek you know which means to stir up yeah to be agitated you know or troubled therefore a more accurate translation is that Jesus is angry and agitated you know and how can that be isn't it yeah how can Jesus be angry and agitated when he looked at Mary and the rest of the Jew following and they were weeping they were crying they were sad you know was Jesus insensitive to their feeling I think not I would say absolutely not now Jesus was angry and agitated on a couple of level firstly he was angry at the work of sin which which
00:37:14 causes death now he was angry at the Affliction and the ravaging destruction brought by sin and most of all Jesus was also angry and agitated you know at their lack of faith in him he's right there you know and he was angry at their failure to see their own sin as well you know and at the same time he was agitated by their unbelief towards him which would lead them to the same Destiny death and I will add the word permanent to it yeah permanent death and verse 35 says this not Jesus WEP wait something is not right right
00:37:56 it's not connecting here if Jesus was angry yeah how can he be crying because angry the emotion and crying the action are two contradicting things yeah it doesn't match now while many people thinks or deduce that Jesus wept because he was saddened by Lazarus death but that doesn't really make sense does he to say that Jesus wept because he was saddened by the passing of Lazarus make no sense at all in this situation because he was going to resurrect Lazarus and if you disagree with me you just have to go back in scripture and
00:38:34 look at verse four what did Jesus say Jesus told the disciple way back in verse four that this death will not end at this sickness will not end in death he knew he already prepared long ago that he's going to raise Lazarus so then you ask why did Jesus cry you know the only reasons may I suggest to you to you is that Jesus is able to enter into our pain our lust and our sadness and disappointment death causes pain death causes separation Interruption of our Liv And it causes colossal losses you
00:39:25 emotionally and physically and by weeping brother and sister Jesus identifies with our pain and losses and you must remember God is spirit and he's Eternal the only way God can feel your pain and my pain is through God incarnated the Lord Jesus Christ fully man and fully God he can feel our pain you know through Jesus Christ God is Not distant but he is intimately acquainted with you and I with every tear that you and I shed with every wound that we bear in our life and therefore he feels our losses
00:40:07 he feels our pain he feels our Despair and our disappointment and you know in our life as we when we witness the suffering and Injustice that take place around us they can leave us feeling lousy isn't it helpless you know isn't isn't it and not just feeling helpless yeah they can shake our faith you know and make God seems very far from us and impersonal yeah I have a lot of friends who ask me God is so good you know he's so kind he's so loving why does he let all this happen you know and wor still yeah when this
00:40:48 suffering becomes personal is no longer observation yeah it's not a a viscar reality to us and that is the Tipping Point when our doubt truly begin to take place in our heart isn't it if you experience a personal losses you experience a personal failure then you think hey where is the god you know that is so powerful that I worship but in order to reconcile our faith with this reality this this reality of suffering we must first seek to understand God's perspective and his feeling on our suffering what did the
00:41:24 Bible say the bible say that Jesus is in Emmanuel right what is Emmanuel God is with us God With Us not is with God With Us and God With Us means that he's ever presence in our life every moment of it every second of it he's ever presence in our suffering he's the very present help in our trouble Psalm 46 And1 and Jesus has experienced yeah the ravaging destruction and The Colossal losses when he went to the cross and take our punishment of sin death you know personally and therefore you cannot say
00:42:02 that our God is distance and he is not relevant he feels every pain that you and I feels in our heart and in verses 38 to39 Jesus instructed those around him he said take away the stone you know now this instruction was immediately met and uh by an objection and guess what from someone that release uh uh expected to yeah it was Marty now she was concerned about the stinking smell because razus has been buried for four days you know and the body would have decomposed and the smell would have been
00:42:39 unbearable yeah now the King James version yeah if you care to check out express this much better it says the Lord his stinker you know now but I suspect that this was just another expression of martyr's L warm faith Now isn't it strange that how Mar in one moment can declare the most profound confession of faith in verse 27 let me show you she say yes Lord I believe that you are the Messiah the Son of God who is to come into the world and I challenge you you can comb the Bible line by line word for words
00:43:18 you will not find another confession that is so compelling as compared to what M has just said and yet a few verses down the line when Jesus say take away the stone you know Marr was the first one to stand in front here and say stop the same woman who just proclaimed Jesus is a messiah is now struggling to believe that he can do the impossible yeah she believes in the theoretical power of Jesus but when faced with the Practical reality of a decomposing body her faith faults she's called between belief and
00:43:59 unbelief she's caught between the glory of God and the Sten of death now we are very quick to pass judgment including me yours truly but before we do so you on MAR let me ask are we not so much like Mar are we not guys yeah humor me on Sunday today we are in church hands raised High you know heart Ablaze you know Hallelujah Jesus you are the Lord I believe you you are the Christ and the son of the Living God we sing we pray we feel the fire of Faith burning within us burning in our hearts but when come Monday when the
00:44:43 setting change changes when the work problems overwhelm when the cash flow runs dry when the illness the critical illness strikes you know and made the relationship is broken Beyond repair and suddenly you know we are like Marty standing before the tomb we tell Jesus Lord It's thinker yeah we go from Faith to fear from confidence to doubt from Sunday glory to Monday GM reality why the only answer to that is because we struggle to trust in what we cannot control we struggle to believe in the Unseen I trust you you believe in God we
00:45:39 believe in God but we are not sure whether he will isn't it yeah we trust him right but we're not sure whether he's going to act we trust God in the spiritual realm but strugger to trust him in the reality of this world when trouble strikes you know when Trouble Comes you we are all in when the stone is sealed in the Tomb but when Jesus says take away the stone hey wait a minute Lord we hesitate why because we are afraid of the risk of disappointment because when we fully invest our trust and our life in Jesus
00:46:17 Christ and he choses not to do what I asked him to do we cannot handle the disappointments can we but Jesus didn't leave Mar yeah in her doubt you know so Jesus go to her and rebuke her gently and he says this no did I not tell you that if you believe you'll see the glory of God verse 40 by this that Jesus is Calling martyr and in the same breath Jesus is calling you and me to a faith that doesn't waver yeah when he ask us to row away the stone of doubt in our heart you know a faith that doesn't string back when the
00:47:03 St of impossibility FS the air and he's calling us to believe not just in his miracles yeah he's calling us to believe you know in his timing in his power in his plan in his glory even though you cannot control it even though you cannot see it at this moment so tell me how have you been living in tension of faith and doubts like martyr how are you a Sunday believer but a Monday skeptic will you roll away the stone of doubt in your heart you know and watch and allow God to work in your life you know let go of the staring whe let go of
00:47:56 the control and see how God can perform the impossible in your life and see how he can reveal his glory to him roll away the stone so that you will see and so reluctantly I suppose the stone was removed eventually yeah okay now in verse 43 Jesus shouted in a powerful way said Lazarus come out you know not only words yeah no fast no elaborated rituals or the Mambo jumo that you see yeah on TV now Jesus simply spoke with authority with power did he bargain with God the Father did he no he thanked God and then
00:48:45 he spoke with power Jesus spoke in the voice of The Great I Am remember who he is yeah who spoke light Into Darkness who spoke the word into existence and lo and behold Jesus's Divine words Echo into the depths of the Tomb and it breathe life into Lazarus and immediately lazarus's heart begins to beat again and his nerves impulse begin to begin to rais through the body yeah like the electricity you know and his rotting and decomposing body his flesh become whole all at once you know all at the same time
00:49:29 and Lazarus whose hands and feet are still Bound in grave cloth no he walked out of the Tomb how amazing it this scene isn't it yeah isn't it amazing because this is a gravity defying act this is a cosmic Rebellion brothers and sisters it challenges the very Foundation of signs and nature the reasons that govern our world and therefore this is a dark reminder brother and sister this morning to you and I that the god that we worship is not confined to the limits of the law of nature he isimportant yeah he transcends the law
00:50:12 of nature he shattered the laws of nature he rewrite and he redefines the law of nature that is the god you and I worship you and that backs us to the question yeah now if Jesus can Define the law of nature what can he not do for you in your circumstances you and I of little faith if he can breathe life into a dead man Lazarus why can't he not breathe hope into your hopelessness to breathe hope into your depression to breathe hope into your helplessness now if Jesus can restore decaying flesh why can he not restore your
00:51:06 Brokenness your hidden sin your sinful habits that you cannot break that you are fighting so hard now Lazarus once day is now alive yeah but he was still stumbling out of the Tomb because his head his hand was still bowing grave cloth now in other words he's alive but he's not free isn't he is he not free yeah he's free from death but he's not yet free to live He's not yet free to go and embrace M and marry and similarly brothers and sisters and friends this morning just like many of us you know we are saved by Jesus Christ
00:51:54 but we are still yet to be free to fully Embrace and live the Resurrection Life that Jesus had given to you and me now you know we are thinking oh when the day we die we're going to leave the Resurrection Life no we must be Unbound to leave the resurrection life so seeing that Jesus instructed those around he said unbind this man you know and let him go verse 44 and on a deeper level this is a picture of what Jesus Christ has done for you and me on the cross you see before we came to Christ we were all dead in our sin we
00:52:37 were all dead in transgression yeah we were trapped in our Brokenness and bound by the things that hold us back you know you name it yeah the things that hold us back know shame fear guilt you know addiction depression self-esteem low self-esteem and then Jesus came into our life he stepped in you yeah and he calls us out of the Tomb he said come out of the Tomb you know and he say you don't have to live like this anymore because you are freed By Me Be Unbound brothers and sister so with this I want to bring
00:53:15 forth another important truth to you that is Jesus's resurrection power breaks the chain of sin and empowers you and me to live unafraid of death not just death everything that bound Us in life you know I cannot put it in one sentence now in order to illustrate this to you I I use you know this man called Nick VI I think they doesn't need any introduction because many have come before me to speak about him yeah now Nick Story okay is a powerful example of how Jesus the resurrection and the life
00:53:53 breaks the chain of sin he breaks the chain of the disability he breaks the chain of fear because Nick was once Bound by despair how can he not be he was born without hands and legs you know but Jesus set him free and gave him new purpose and new life therefore he's no longer living in fear of his disability of his incapacity he's not living in fear of the death you know because he knows because I know w w who holds the future Jesus holds his future even though he has no hands and no hands brother no hands and legs I beg of
00:54:36 Pardon know he works amazing yeah and not just work he's actually evangelist and a motivational speaker he go around telling people motivate them to leave according to Christ he authored two books you know one is life Without Limits another book is Unstoppable how many of you have authored a book with hands and legs including me none he plays no hands and legs he plays he serves he loves brother and sisters you know he has a beautiful wife and four beautiful children two girls and two boys and most of all he
00:55:20 rejoices how do you serve when you have no hands and legs some of us can't get out of bed he live life to the fullest and let me ask you humbly including myself how many of us in his shoe would have given up life and even think of taking our own life because of the disabilities you that we inherit so Nick Story remind us that no matter how broken yeah no matter how limited we feel no matter how bad is our situation Jesus Christ can bring life out of death amen he brings life out of death amen amen you know he brings
00:56:02 meaning and joy out of sadness out of incompleteness out of disability and he can grant Freedom out of bondage of our sin so Nick is a powerful example of what it means to live in the fullness of Jesus Christ in his resurrection and his hope did he not yeah and yet you know when I lose a tennis game with two hands and legs you know I feel sorry for myself sometimes you know yeah see the see two the how different know is the motivation when you believe that Jesus's resurrection life is now and not the
00:56:48 future when you die so in closing I'd like to invite the worship team to come on now when a Christian closes his eyes on Earth he will open his eyes in heaven in Jesus's presence now the JW yeah the Jehovah Witness say that when a person dies his soul sleeps in the grave in transition and he doesn't rise until the resurrection sorry and don't you believe a word of it let me tell you why now chist because Christianity is not a zoom meeting there's no waiting room you know yeah waiting room for a Christian
00:57:35 is utterly unfounded let me show you can you give me the next slide please yeah Revelation 6 chapter uh chapter 6 9-10 says that further support this truth Yeah by showing John's vision of the mared soul in heaven fully conscious and crying out to God for justice and these Soul are not asleep in the grave but they are actively present and talking to God now in Luke 23 vers uh chapter 23:43 Jesus said that to the repentant teeth that was hung next to him what did he say he said truly I tell you today you
00:58:19 will be with me in Paradise Jesus said today he didn't say another day next week or when I come come again no today he say you know so this indicates an immediate transition to Paradise Upon Our death and by saying that the soul of the Dead Christian go to the grave in transition then they are calling both John and Jesus a liar isn't it and that is not acceptable yeah now in the word of Helen Keller who is deaf you know and and and cannot hear cannot hear and cannot talk that is no more than passing from one room to
00:58:58 another but there is a difference she say no because in that room I shall be able to see she was blind and deaf and Billy Graham say this now someday you will read that Billy Graham is dead and don't you believe a word of is I shall be more alive than I am now truly if you believe that Jesus's resurrection Life begin today you have the same mindset I will just have changed my address I would have just gone into the presence of God and what is better than the presence of God brother and sister is there any
00:59:37 [Music] no I think I provided enough evidence to you this morning that there is a great hope beyond the grave amen amen so God is asking you do you believe that Jesus is the rest resurrection and the life do you if you believe please say I believe say I believe do you believe that when you close your eyes on Earth You Will Open Your Eyes in heaven in the Embrace of Jesus Christ if you believe say I believe I believe thank you for showing your faith know now if you believe brothers and sisters I want to leave this with you
01:00:22 how would you today onwards you know stepped up from the darkness in to the light how would your life be [Music] free how would your life be free of the fear of [Music] dying of the fear of shortcoming of the fear of disability of the fear of inadequacy in the of the fear of not be able to control the future how would you live behind the things that bound you for example you know your fear your guilt your shame and the weight of the world and embrace the Hope instead of the eternal life that Jesus
01:01:09 has offered to you right now you know now the way I looked at it you have only two choices you know so the first one is life without Jesus and the second choice is life with Jesus but here's the catch oops sorry what do he say lives without Jesus is a hopeless end but life with Jesus is an endless hope can you remember this yeah let's repeat that yeah life without Jesus is a hopeless end life with Jesus is an endless hope amen amen so Psalms U vers 10 I don't have it with me says that a good life is the
01:02:00 three scores three score year and 10 that means 70 years yeah in Psalms chapter 90 know and what I'm trying to say is life on earth side is short so please Choose Wisely especially for those who are not in the Lord because in Christ Jesus we find Hope amid the uncertainties of life we find peace amidst the turmoil of life and most importantly we find life in the midst of death so Jesus the resurrection and the life overpowers death to guarantee hope and eternal life to believers do I hand amen amen amen thank you very
01:02:47 much I'm sorry I was I'm so in the spirit I forgot to pray after the sermon so would you please bow your head and pray with me Lord um we thank you for this um Timeless truth no Lord that Jesus the resurrection has uh conquered the grave to give us hope and eternal life so father help us to live this to internalize this and go out there you know because we know that in every situation the turmoil that we face you know the difficulties in life there is a hope if you live in your Resurrection life right now just like the guy who is
01:03:25 going to two guys who are going through the desert Lord no one is with hope one is without and we have hope in you and help us to live this father we thank you and ask this in Jesus name amen so now receive the benediction yes uh Brothers and Sisters in Christ you know in acknowledging that Jesus is the resurrection and the life so I ask that you go forth in his victory yeah be bold go forth in his victory because death has no hold on you fear has no power on you amen you know and because Jesus leave you know
01:04:00 you too shall live because he [Music] live all the challenges in life is bearable we look forward to an eternal life with him you know here is only three scores years and 10 yeah many of us are already living in borrowed time I'm almost there you know thank you yeah and with a moment of Silent meditations you know the service and over and our elders and our pastors are happy to pray for you if you have a need and are happy to engage you and pray for you as well and if you try to come forward I'll be at the connect
01:04:38 Corners yeah on the outside the table and you can come and talk to me thank you so much go forth in faith thank
