Read your Bibles with me to John chapter 11 and I will be reading from verse 38 to verse 44. John chapter 11 verses 38 to 44. We're going to be dealing with the whole chapter but I just want to read this passage before we begin. John chapter 11 verse 38 through 44.

Reading out of the ESV. Then Jesus deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It 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 order for he has been dead for four days." 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." When he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The man who had died came out. His hands and feet were bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with cloth.

Jesus said to them, "Unbind him and let him go." Let's pray. Heavenly Father, help us to know the impact of this resurrection. What it means to us, what it means to the world, what it means to mankind. Open our eyes, Lord God, as Jesus prayed that they may hear Christ in his prayer and believe.

Open our eyes, Lord, that we may also hear him and believe. We pray, Father God, that this time you would anoint it, you would bless it, that you would surround us, Lord God, with your holy presence. Help us know that you are here with us, that you hear our prayers, that whatever burdens, Lord God, that we have brought before you, may the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Lord God, change that radically.

May your face shine, may your voice be declared, that your children may hear it and follow you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. As I've already mentioned, all over the world, millions and millions of people are gathered together. They've already gathered in some place, obviously, because of time zone, and they have celebrated this week.

Our church, you know, every year it seems like our celebration is getting bigger and bigger, you know. We did quite a few things this week. We had, you know, some people came early in the morning and did devotions, but, you know, Thursday night we had the Passover meal we did for the first time.

And so I was very blessed by just the preparation and the time we were able to spend together, and it really highlighted the communion table that we had on Friday night. And obviously this morning we got together and we had the early rise service, and I know some of you guys are already fatigued and tired, as I am, you know.

And then we had morning service, this service, and then we're going to have lunch, and maybe play some softball afterwards, all right. So it's a long day. It's been a long week. But I can honestly tell you each year that goes by, the celebration seems to be more meaningful after all these years.

You know, after more than 35 years of celebrating Lord's resurrection, each year I learn more about the significance and the meaning and the impact of this. And every year that we celebrate it, I really, like, the impact of it is striking me more each year. You know, I felt like I understood very little when I first became a Christian, but the more I dig into it, that everything Christ did, he prepared for this moment, for his resurrection.

Everything he did, every law that was given, every punishment for sin, every grace that he showed, every disciple that he called to himself, every prophet that he sent to proclaim who he was, everything was to point to this moment for the resurrection. Because the resurrection wasn't simply just him coming back to life and saying, "Hey, there's hope after death." There's so much power in what he did.

And the reason why, even after 2,000 years, 2,000 years of human chaos, of wars and famines and even wrong doctrines and heresy, even people of God that was being sent, people who were being burned at the stake for simply wanting to translate the Bible for them to read, in the midst of 2,000 years of chaos, we're still here, all over the world, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Because God will not allow this to die, because this is the hope of mankind. We cannot overstate the significance of this day and why it is appropriate for us to celebrate it as we are doing, and maybe in a greater way. I'm not sure what we have in store for next year, but maybe we'll make it even bigger.

Jesus, you know, obviously everything that he did was preparing for his coming, but we see in this story that takes place in John chapter 11, the resurrection of Lazarus, that as Jesus is going to the cross, he's been telling his disciples that he's going to be crucified, he's going to be raised on the third day.

But his disciples couldn't understand it. And it's made it very clear, over and over again through the Gospels. In fact, in the Gospel of Mark, in particular, it says he made this very clear, he made this very clear. But every time he said it, their response was, well, who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God?

They didn't get it. It was clear that they didn't understand, because when Jesus was going to the cross, they all fell away, because they didn't understand, what is Jesus doing? Jesus was preparing for his crucifixion and ultimately for his resurrection. And what happens in John chapter 11 sets up for that spectacular event that's going to take place in about a week or two.

In this story of Lazarus' being raised from the dead, there are four people, three people and one group of people that I want to introduce to you, because every single one of them became spectacular witnesses of his resurrection. And the way that Jesus prepared them for that is Lazarus' resurrection.

So today's outline basically is going to, we're going to be following along in chapter 11 and look at the four different people that are introduced to us and their faith and how God impacted them. So in order for you to just kind of follow along, so the first person I want to introduce to you is obviously Lazarus.

Lazarus, it says in John 11, 1, he came from a certain, now a certain man was ill. Lazarus was of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Lazarus was the brother of this prominent family, Mary and Martha. Now you know about Mary and Martha because they're introduced to us before this.

In Luke chapter 10, you don't need to turn your Bible there, but if you remember in Luke chapter 10, Mary and Martha are introduced to us in the context of Jesus sending out his disciples two by two and talking about the kingdom. And all of a sudden there's this blip in the middle in Luke chapter 10 about how Martha was angry with Mary.

You know Martha's personality was the go-getter, she was going out and cooking and cleaning and doing all this stuff and she was angry that Mary was not helping. So she incites Jesus to say, "Can you just rebuke her and tell her to come help me?" thinking that she was going to get Jesus' ear and get him on her side.

Instead Jesus rebukes her and turns the table around. Well the question is, we study a lot about the meaning behind that and who are Martha's and we are all Martha's and we need to be Mary's and all of these things are significant. But before we even study the meaning behind it and why Jesus said it, we have to ask ourselves, why are they in the Bible in the first place?

It sounds like a random thing that happens. He's talking about the kingdom, he's talking about sending disciples two by two and all of a sudden he has these two sisters who has a spat and then they show up in the biblical narrative and then they just disappear until this happens.

Why are they mentioned to begin with? Is it just random? And obviously nothing in the scripture is random. Most likely the reason why they are mentioned there is because Mary, Martha and Lazarus were very prominent people in the early church. Not simply before the resurrection but after the resurrection.

They were the first and the most prominent witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And I'm going to be explaining that as we go. So Lazarus comes from this family which clearly that Jesus had a special connection with them. And as a result of that, they said well Lazarus is ill, Jesus healed so many other people but Lazarus had a special relationship with Jesus.

So they sent people to go get him and this is the encounter that they have with Jesus, John 11 verse 4. 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." Jesus says that he's ill and obviously his illness wasn't just any illness.

They were concerned that it may lead to death. So we don't know exactly what he had but it was serious enough that they sent somebody way over to where Jesus was to tell him to hurry up and come. Assuming that if Jesus is compassionate to complete strangers that he would surely come and save our brother.

And he promises them, "Don't worry, he's not going to die. It is going to be for God's glory." That this was God ordained. That Jesus already knew about it even before the people came to get him. And then in verse 5 right after he says that it says, "Jesus deliberately stayed two more days." And they said, "Okay, he stays two more days, maybe his illness wasn't that serious." And so think about all the people who are waiting, Lazarus was sick, anxious that Jesus is not quickly responding.

And when Jesus finally responds in verse 17, it says, "By the time he comes he is four days dead." He waited until he was dead and he was buried in the tomb already for four days. You have to remember in the Bible, number three is the number of confirmation.

So you need three witnesses to confirm something. That the Trinity, they have a, they confess or complete one another in the Trinity. So the number three is the number of completion. Jesus dies and on the third day he is raised to confirm that he was actually dead. He didn't just swoon, he didn't just faint, he actually died and came back to life.

The fact that Lazarus was dead for four days is to confirm not only was he dead, but there is absolutely no hope for him. And that's exactly what Jesus was waiting for. Jesus deliberately waits until he is dead, until he is in the tomb, and they have completely lost hope.

And we know exactly what happens. Jesus shows up, people are concerned, "Why didn't you show up in time?" Jesus gets to the tomb in chapter 11, verse 43. He says, "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 them, 'Unbind him and let him go.'" Lazarus, it is the darkest thing that ever happened to him. I mean, you can't get worse than that. The worst thing that can happen as a human being is obviously get ill and then die. And that happened, and he was in the grave for four days.

But his most darkest, excruciating experience as a human being turns into his greatest testimony. You can imagine that Lazarus was a fantastic witness about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If there was anybody that had any credibility about what he saw, it probably would have been Lazarus. Because Lazarus himself experienced death, and then he came back to life.

And again, the reason why this family was so prominent was because they actually experienced what they were going to see in Jesus in a few days. You can imagine Lazarus, maybe Apostle Peter, and some of the other people who experienced the miracles of God sitting around talking, maybe at a campfire, sharing their testimonies and stories.

And Peter talking about how he walked on water, and Bartimaeus talking about how he was blind and now he sees. And the lame man who was risen, and he was lame all his life, and then all of a sudden he rises and they share all of this and comparing their notes.

And Lazarus just steps in and says, "I died, and I came back to life." Nobody can trump his testimony. Anywhere he went, he has the most interesting story. And I would imagine everywhere he went, people would sit around him, and say, "Lazarus, what was it like? When you died, where did you go?" That's a question we ask all the time.

Where did Jesus go? "Lazarus died. Where did you go?" I could imagine, you know, we talk about like, "Where is paradise?" Jesus told the robbers, "Today you shall be with me in paradise." And so there's a lot of different opinions about paradise. They probably ask Lazarus, "Lazarus, what is that?

Where did you go? What did paradise look like? Were you sleeping? Were you actually with the Lord? Where did you go?" So I could imagine that Lazarus was probably the center of attention wherever he went. That even his death turned into a preparation for the greatest testimony to prepare for his resurrection.

We don't know what God is doing in our lives. But when you encounter the resurrected Christ, whatever hardship, whatever bitterness, whatever hatred, whatever you've experienced in the past, the resurrection changes everything. Because we are so afraid that if we make the wrong decisions, that we're not going to live well here.

And if we make the worst decisions, that we might possibly die. But when Lazarus came to the greatest fear of mankind, he met Christ. He met Christ like he never met before. And so he became the greatest witness for the resurrection of Jesus Christ because he personally experienced that himself.

The second group of people that I want to mention to you are mentioned in verse 31 and 33. Verse 31, he says, "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 weep there." And then verse 33, "When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled." The people who came that are talking about this group of people, these were probably people who were friends of this family.

This is a prominent family. There's possibly a large number, considering that it's near the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that they needed to come to Jerusalem anyway. And we know that later on, that as a result of this resurrection of Lazarus, that the word began to spread.

So these people probably either they went home and stayed in Jerusalem. They were the first ones who were to testify, "He has to be the Messiah." We were there. Lazarus wasn't just ill. He was in the grave for four days. But if you see what they say when it says in verse 34, "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?" So some of these Jews were looking at Jesus weeping, and instead of having compassion, they started getting bitter.

Why are you weeping? We asked you to come when he was alive, when there was hope. That's why we sent our friends. Why did you wait two days? Why did you arrive four days later when we made it clear to you that he was about to die? So instead of having compassion, it's that clearly he loved them.

But if you loved him, why did you not do anything? They heard about Jesus' miracles. They heard that he had the power to open eyes of the people who are blind, walking on water. He had power over nature. The Pharisees, the powerful leaders of Israel, he would just walk right among them and they couldn't do anything.

And yet, when their close companion that he loved, when he was ill, he seemed to just nonchalantly stroll into town after he dies four days. And so they're asking, probably with some bitterness and anger, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" They asked this question because they did not know what Jesus was about to do.

Their understanding of Jesus was limited to what they saw and what they heard. They didn't understand that Jesus came to save those who are sick and under bondage. They were Jesus who knew Jesus with his miracles, but they did not really know who he was. Small Phillips writes a book entitled "Your God is Too Small" and he says this in his book, "The inadequate conceptions of God would still linger unconsciously in many minds and which prevent our catching a glimpse of the true God." In other words, he's saying, it's because our God in our mind is too small, unconsciously, and that's the reason that we never really truly see God.

Oftentimes our prayers are limited by our faith. We only pray for things that we think are possible because we don't want to be disappointed. We don't want to come before God and pray for things that are too big in our mind. These are people who believe Jesus to a certain extent, but once he was dead, that's where his power ends because they did not understand who he was.

But that's not where it ends. Jesus does this purposefully. He does this right before he goes to the cross because these people were going to be the first groups of people who were going to be the witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Basically the mourning of a lost one would take at least seven days, maybe longer than that.

And considering that they're near the Passover and they're considering that they're near the festival of the unleavened bread, they might have just come in to Bethany and maybe just stuck around. Most likely, these were among the first 500 people that are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15.6 that saw, was the eyewitness of Jesus Christ.

They were probably the first groups of people who saw the resurrection and they probably understood Jesus' resurrection better than anybody else because they saw Lazarus come back from the dead. So if anybody would have been easy to convince, if Jesus can raise Lazarus, surely he can also come back from the dead.

And they were probably the first witnesses, the first evangelists that 1 Corinthians 15.6 talks about. And though they may have had defective faith, though their faith was weak and did not understand the bigger picture, that at the resurrection they are changed, completely changed. And my guess is that many of them were also crucified, just like the disciples.

Many of them were also fed to the lions, many of them were also burned at the stake, along with many of the other disciples. They were the first witnesses. But they were utterly changed. You see, you can come to church all your life and participate in worship, participate in communion, to teach, maybe even go to missions at times, become a great Bible teacher, but until you encounter the resurrected Christ, you can talk about God, you can talk about how he helps us in our weakness and how he binds the brokenhearted, but until you encounter the resurrected Christ, you do not know him.

Because the Christ that they knew before his resurrection, the Christ that they knew after the resurrection, was the same Christ, but their faith was completely changed. They were completely changed. And this is why this day is so important to every single one of us. Until you come face to face with this resurrected Christ, our testimony is nothing more than regurgitation of things that you have heard before.

Bible teaching is nothing more than studying materials in a book and then sharing it with somebody else. That's all it is. So if you happen to be a good teacher, you become a good pastor. But that is not what Jesus calls us for. He calls us to be a witness.

Until we encounter the resurrected Christ, our testimony is just information. These people encountered Christ and they were the first groups of people who probably risked their lives and many of them gave their lives to share about Jesus' resurrection. The third person I want to introduce to you is Mary.

Mary is the one that was commended over Martha in Luke chapter 10. In John 11, 32, it says, "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.'" We know that Mary loved Jesus.

In Luke chapter 10, when Martha comes running and asks the Lord, "Tell Mary to help me," and remember what Jesus said? "Martha, you are worried about so many things, but Mary has chosen," what? "The best." And what was she doing? She was just there soaking up everything that Jesus had to say.

Martha was so busy serving the Lord, but she wasn't paying attention. And that's sometimes when people talk about being getting burnt out at church, it's because we're so busy when we come to church, like, "What does God want? What do I do? What do I have to do?" And then when we live our lives like that, after a while, we get bitter just like Martha, "How come nobody else is helping me?" Not realizing that we come to him because we are in need.

We don't come to church because he needs us. And the moment we put on that hat of, "Somehow, I'm going to help the kingdom of God," eventually we get burnt out. See, Mary knew early on the commandment that Jesus said. The greatest commandment is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." And so she was sitting there in love with Christ, just soaking up his word.

And Jesus said, "That's what I'm looking for, worshippers who will worship me in spirit and in truth." And when her brother dies, just like any other human being, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died in her grief." She's complaining to Jesus, "Where were you?

I loved you. And I know you love me. Why did you not come?" It's because she didn't understand. It wasn't because Jesus didn't love Lazarus that he allowed this to happen. It was exactly the opposite. It was because Jesus did love her. It was because Jesus did love Lazarus and Martha, why Lazarus died.

In fact, in John 11, verse 5, it says, "Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus." And it was clearly declared that he loved her, he loved them. But they were chosen for this because he loved them. They were chosen for this because they were going to be the first witnesses outside of the disciples to go proclaim what was going to happen.

We know that she loved Jesus. But she's introduced to us in John 11, 2-3 this way, "It was Mary who anointed the Lord with the ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill." Now this encounter where Mary wipes the feet of Jesus with her hair, this anointing of Jesus happens another time in Luke chapter 7 of a sinful woman.

And when she does that, the Pharisees look at that and say, "Man, if Jesus really was a prophet, they should know she was a sinner and wouldn't have allowed her to touch his feet." But this is not that encounter. Mary was different than that. In fact, she doesn't anoint him until after the resurrection of Lazarus.

And it's recorded for us in John chapter 12, 1-3. It says, "Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was," and this is after the resurrection, "whom Jesus," resurrection of Lazarus, "whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there.

Martha served," obviously. That's who she is. So she was out there serving. And Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table. I think he was a younger brother, so he's not serving. So he's just hanging out. And then, "Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her." I mean, it is such a touching scene.

They're all grieving. Just a week ago, they were just grieving and weeping. Where were you? Why come you didn't come? And all of a sudden, they're having a banquet. And Martha, this time, is serving. And my bet is she was serving with joy, not like the other one. Not like Luke chapter 10.

This time, she was like, "Oh my gosh, thank you." And she's serving. That's her way of expressing her love to Jesus. She's not serving and they say, "Look at Mary. She's sitting down again." Because that's her way of serving. That's her way of worshiping. You could imagine Lazarus is sitting there reclining and I'll bet he was not alone.

My guess is everybody that came to this party was sitting around Lazarus asking, "So what was it like? Did you see the light? Did you hear his voice when the linens came off? Did it just come right off? What did you do with that stink? You must have stunk.

What did you do? Where did you go? Did you go to paradise? Were there other people? Did you see Moses and Elijah?" I'm sure they had tons of questions. They're sitting there in this party and it is at that scene, Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, which would have been the cost of a whole year's salary.

And again, this was a very prominent family. It's unlike what we saw with the sinful woman. They probably had the money. But it was still a lot of money. But again, this is not a sinner. This is a prominent woman who probably had a great reputation. Prestigious maybe. And she humbles herself and she says she wiped Jesus' feet with her hair.

Now you have to understand the culture that they're in, that the feet was considered the dirtiest part of the human body. Now you and I live in a culture where that is not the case. We have all kinds of things to clean our feet. Get manicured, pedicure. You take your shoes off.

Oh, your feet looks nice. That's not this culture. So if you've ever been to India, you know that in that culture, that's the way they view feet. In fact, those of you who've been to India with us or you've been there by yourself, you know that part of the things that is a no-no in India is when you sit, you never do this, which I just did.

You never do this because to show the bottom of your feet to somebody in India is basically disrespecting them completely, right? Because they consider that the dirtiest part of the body. And then those of you who've been with us there to the villages, you know what their feet look like because they don't normally wear shoes, a lot of them.

And so when wintertime comes around and it gets really dry, their feet crack. And when we say crack, we're not talking about a slight little line and just kind of put a bandaid on. We're talking about like cracked in half, you know? And it's pretty gnarly. And so the feet is considered the dirtiest part of the body.

So the culture that Jesus was living in is very similar because they either wore sandals or they didn't have good shoes, so their feet were pretty gnarly. And so remember when Jesus is teaching his disciples to get on his feet, to show them, to humble themselves, he washes the dirtiest part, right?

That a master would never touch. Even the lowliest of the slave in the house would only touch, and Jesus does that. And so she is getting on her knees, and not only is she touching his feet, it's with her own hair. And again, this is not a sinner who's already humbled.

This is a woman of prestige. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 11, 15, Paul says the glory of a woman is what? Her hair. So even in our culture, you know, people don't like it when people touch their hair because you consider that disrespectful. In this particular time for a woman to humble herself and let her hair down and to use that hair which was considered her glory and to wipe Jesus' dirty feet, and that was her expression of love for Jesus.

If she loved Jesus before Lazarus died, can you imagine the depth of affection she must have had for Jesus? That's the intimate scene that we see here in chapter 12. But the real significance of this is not simply that she loved Jesus. It says that she anointed him. She anointed him.

It wasn't just a wiping. It wasn't just to make it clean. It wasn't just a pedicure. What did she anoint him for? It seems like she knew what was coming. The disciples heard and all they were talking about who's the greatest, you know, and Pastor James gave the great sermon on Friday talking about how Jesus going to crawl to the cross and Peter is saying, you know, they may all fall down but not me, and he didn't understand.

Mary was soaking up what Jesus was saying. How much she understood, we do not know, but she must have clearly understood. She was anointing him for his death, for his burial, and his resurrection. What an intimate scene. This encounter of this woman who loved Jesus, but she had no idea to what depth Jesus loved her.

Martha, the last person I want to introduce you to. Martha, again, was a sister in the story in Luke chapter 10. If you study Martha carefully in the few passages that she comes out, Martha is the female version of Apostle Peter. She gets rebuked by Jesus for rebuking him about not rebuking Mary.

Doesn't that sound very similar to Peter? Peter gets rebuked for rebuking Jesus. Them two are the only two that actually, like, you're the son of God, but let me tell you what's up, right? That's Martha. In Luke chapter 10, 41 to 42, Jesus says, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things." Again, whenever you see somebody's name being mentioned twice, watch out.

Jesus doesn't waste words. When he says, "Martha, Martha," something's coming. Usually something is coming. "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." She gets rebuked before rebuking Jesus. But looking at the response that she gives to Jesus when Jesus shows up, you can see that there was a change in Martha.

There was something about her faith that stood out among others. In John 11, 20 to 27, it says, "So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him. But many remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'" So her response was just like anybody else.

She was grieving over her dead brother. "Lord, how come you didn't come?" But here's a distinction between her faith and the others in verse 22. "But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." When everybody else lost hope, Martha did not. Martha was grieving, was hurt, was saddened, just like everybody else.

But she understood something about Jesus that the other people did not. Even now, even in his death, if you will, you can raise him. Jesus said to her, again, Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the third day." She didn't know exactly what he was going to do, but she still had hope.

Jesus says in verse 25 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?" And that's the question that he proposes to her, to every Christian, and even now, all over the world.

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we're not just celebrating something that happened 2,000 years ago and saying, "Do you think he came back from the dead?" He said, "Do you believe that because he rose from the dead, that even if you die, you shall not die? Do you believe this?

That our life is not here? That even if you are in sickness, even if the worst possible thing that you can possibly imagine happened to you, that even if you die, you shall surely live? Do you believe this?" Because based upon whether you believe this or not, it changes your life.

You can come to church all your life and superficially confess you believe without really believing and never have anything be changed in your life. Just take advantage of the benefits of being around other Christians, because who wouldn't? Typically Christians are more gracious. Typically Christians are more generous, more supportive.

Who wouldn't want to be part of this community? Even if you weren't a believer, I would. But that's not what the church is about. And that's the greatest tragedy sometimes of being raised in a church, where you love the benefits of Christianity without knowing Jesus. That question that he proposes, "Do you believe this?" is the question that everybody needs to be asking themselves this morning.

Not do you confess this, not do you sign on the doctrinal statement, but do you believe this that even if you die, you shall live? Martha answers the question. She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." That sounded a lot like Peter's confession in Matthew 16, 16.

Who do men say I am? Well, who do you say I am? Jesus, Peter says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And this is why I said, Martha is the female version of Apostle Peter. She says all the wrong things, but she says the right thing.

They both come out of the same person's mouth. And that's Martha. Martha seems to have paid attention when she was rebuked in Luke chapter 10. "You're so busy, but you're missing the point." Martha seems to have paid attention to him. And eventually, as a result, she encounters him. What Jesus means when he says, "I am the resurrection," isn't that Jesus is going to give you life.

He says, "I am the life." He didn't say, "If you come to me, I will show you the truth." He says, "I am the truth." He didn't say, "If you hunger and thirst, come to me and I will give you bread." He says, "I am the bread. I am, I am, I am, I am." The whole point of Christianity is to come to Christ.

Coming to church doesn't mean you're coming to Christ. Reading the Bible doesn't make your relationship with Christ intimate. You can know all your theology, you can do all the right things and completely miss if you do not encounter the resurrected Christ. If you do not believe that what Christ has done was not necessary for this life.

Does our faith go up and down based upon our personal circumstances? When things we want doesn't happen the way we want? Or people in church or our families disappoint us and all of a sudden our faith tanks as a result of our circumstance? Because God didn't provide or give what we wanted?

Does our faith go up and down based upon how good or bad we think God is to us? He says even if you die, even the worst possible scenario you can imagine, even in death there's hope in the name of Jesus Christ. Do you believe this? And if you believe this, it changes your life.

I don't have to tell you, change your life. I don't have to tell you to be disciplined. I don't have to tell you to read the Word of God. Because in it is life. If you want to live, you don't travel, you don't watch movies, you don't eat good things.

If you believe life is in this book, you will come to this book. If you believe that Jesus Christ is a resurrected life, why would you not go to Him? Why would you not want to talk to Him? Why would you not want to have fellowship with Him? Why wouldn't be the greatest desire of our heart, soul, mind, and strength be Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus?

That's what Jesus is saying. Do you believe this? Do you believe this? Jesus' resurrection was unlike Lazarus. There's been many resurrections before Lazarus. The widow of Nain's son in Luke chapter 7, Jairus' daughter, Luke 8. Many who died when Jesus was resurrected, they said the saints also raised from the dead.

Old Testament prophets, widow of Zarephath's son, Shunai woman's son, the man raised in Elisha's grave. Even after Jesus' resurrection in Acts chapter 9, Tabitha is raised. Eutychus in chapter 20 of the book of Acts. Jesus was not the only one raised from the dead. It wasn't just Lazarus. But the difference between all of that was Jesus was raised for our sins.

He didn't just come to prolong Lazarus' life. Even if he was raised from the dead and they celebrated for a while, eventually Lazarus died. The lepers were suffering in their disease. Jesus cleanses them. Eventually they also died. The blind man who saw for the first time was celebrating. Eventually he died.

All these people who were brought back to death, they were prolonged. Maybe their life was a little bit more comfortable. But eventually they all died. Jesus did not come to bring a band-aid for cancer. So many people around the world are flocking to Jesus because they want a band-aid.

They want something to eat. They want better relationships. They want better marriage. They want a better future. They want better health. But the problem of mankind is not a cut. It's that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And the sin that brings death reigns.

It's not just living among us. It's not outside of us. It reigns. And that's why Jesus says, "It's not what you put into a man that defiles him. It's what comes out." We are sick from the inside. Every single one of you have lived long enough to know the damage that sin does in our lives.

Damage of pride, damage of coveting, of lying, of adultery, of pornography. You know what that damage is. You've had first-hand look in yourselves, in your family, in your friends, your coworkers, and in the world. There is no remedy for that outside of Jesus Christ. No politician is going to fix that.

No economic upturn is going to fix that. No investment is going to fix that. Aligning yourself with the right people isn't going to fix that. It is only when we encounter the resurrected Jesus Christ. That's what this day represents. It's not just a man died and then he came back to life.

That's great. The answer for me, you, mankind, past, present, and future is represented in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And until we believe that with all our heart, nothing changes. First Corinthians 15, 53-57, "For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on the immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, 'Death is followed up in victory.' O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law." When he says here, the perishable will be raised imperishable, the perishable is not simply talking about your physical body.

It's physical body definitely is something to look forward to. The older we get, especially those of you who are athletic at one point in your life. It's a fond memory you had, but it's no longer. Let's be honest. We look at some of you guys in your 20s with envy.

I used to do that. In my mind, I was thinking, "Can I take this guy? Could I have taken this guy when I was 20?" I never say it, but I think it all the time. So something to look forward to, that the perishable will be put away, the imperishable.

So we're going to have even playing ground when we get to heaven. But what we really long for is not the physical. It's a damage that you've experienced because of sin. Sins that you've committed, and sins that was committed against you. There's a lot of you in this room, staggering from relation to relationship, looking for a fix.

For a counselor to answer your questions. To find a church, or a group of people, or a mentor, or something, because of the damage of sin. The only answer to that isn't the resurrected Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus says, "All who are weary and heavy laden, come to me." He didn't say, "Go to church." He didn't say, "See my disciples." He said, "Come to me, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your soul." The only rest for the damage that sin has done in our lives is Jesus. That's what this day represents. I want to encourage you in Romans 10, 9 through 12, as we wrap up.

It says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.'" I pray with all my heart that you will believe this with all your heart.

Meet the resurrected Christ. There is nothing like him. There is nothing like him. Sometimes life gets hard. You live in this earth, and you'll experience pain. You'll experience pain in relationships. The heaviness of paying your bills, raising your children. Just like everybody else, you're going to experience the suffering of living in a fallen world.

But the darker that the world becomes, the more precious the light of Jesus Christ becomes. So I want to invite you, come to the Lord. Hear his voice. It's not this church. It's not me. It's not some Bible study. It's not some person. Jesus. It's my sheep, they will hear my voice.

They will follow me. So I invite you this morning, if you heard the word of Christ, and the question that Jesus asked, "Do you believe?" That's the question I want to ask you this morning. Do you believe? So as our worship team comes up, I'm going to invite you to take some time to pray.

If you're here, and you've never confessed your sins to Christ, and you feel like you've never met him in that way, again, we ask you to come before the Lord in honest prayer. Because Christ is our mediator, we don't need another mediator to come to Christ. You can go directly to him and ask for forgiveness.

Ask the Lord to open your eyes, to help me. I believe, help my unbelief. And afterwards, if you need further guidance, and you have some questions, and you just want to sit and ask, or you want somebody to pray for you, just come to the table outside, and we'll be able to help you with that.

Or just come up to the front afterwards, and we'll sit down and try to pray with you. But we want to invite you to take advantage of that today. So as our worship team leads us, let's take some time to pray.