The Coming Lord Who Overcame (John 11:17-27)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:06.799 Brothers and sisters. Let's turn to John, Chapter Eleven, this Central Point 2 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:13.230 in the gospel of John. A whole chapter and a long chapter devoted to 3 00:00:13.390 --> 00:00:21.739 this. One of Jesus's most amazing miracles. It's miracle in which he raises 4 00:00:21.980 --> 00:00:31.260 Lazarus from the dead. I want to focus this morning on versus seventeen through 5 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:36.090 twenty seven, but let's begin at the beginning of the chapter. So I'll 6 00:00:36.130 --> 00:00:41.890 read one through twenty seven. So this is God's word. It will not 7 00:00:42.210 --> 00:00:50.320 have returned to him empty. Let's hear it now. Certain man was ill, 8 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:55.920 Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It 9 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.439 was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, 10 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:04.189 whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him saying, 11 00:01:04.430 --> 00:01:08.390 Lord, he whom you love, is ill. When Jesus heard it, 12 00:01:10.230 --> 00:01:15.909 he said this illness does not lead to death. It is not. It 13 00:01:15.109 --> 00:01:19.420 is for the glory of God, so that the son of God may be 14 00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:25.540 glorified through it. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 15 00:01:26.019 --> 00:01:29.700 So when he heard that Lazarus us was ill, he stayed two days longer 16 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:33.489 in the place where he was. Then, after this, he said to 17 00:01:33.650 --> 00:01:38.250 his disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciple said to him, 18 00:01:38.250 --> 00:01:42.329 rabbi, the Jews were just seeking to stone you, and are you 19 00:01:42.409 --> 00:01:47.480 going there again? Jesus answered, are there not twelve hours in the day? 20 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:52.079 If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees 21 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:56.159 the light of this world, but if anyone walks in the night, he 22 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:00.430 stumbles because the light is not in him. After saying these things, he 23 00:02:00.549 --> 00:02:05.870 said to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to 24 00:02:06.030 --> 00:02:09.789 awaken him. The disciple said to him, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, 25 00:02:09.990 --> 00:02:15.550 he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they 26 00:02:15.710 --> 00:02:20.620 thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, 27 00:02:20.699 --> 00:02:24.819 Lazarus has died, and for your Sake, I am glad that I was 28 00:02:24.939 --> 00:02:30.050 not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him. 29 00:02:30.849 --> 00:02:34.250 So Thomas, called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us 30 00:02:34.289 --> 00:02:38.650 also go that we may die with him. Now, when Jesus came, 31 00:02:39.610 --> 00:02:49.439 he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days Bethany was near 32 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:53.039 Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to 33 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:58.629 Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that 34 00:02:58.710 --> 00:03:02.430 Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in 35 00:03:02.509 --> 00:03:07.629 the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, 36 00:03:07.949 --> 00:03:12.110 my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever 37 00:03:12.150 --> 00:03:15.379 you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, 38 00:03:16.180 --> 00:03:21.659 your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he 39 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:25.419 will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, 40 00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:31.530 I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though 41 00:03:31.650 --> 00:03:37.969 he died, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in 42 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:44.319 me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him. 43 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:50.159 Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of 44 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:58.669 God, who is coming into the world. Amen. God gives to us 45 00:03:58.710 --> 00:04:03.469 several reasons for why this miracle occurred and why Jesus did what he did. 46 00:04:04.789 --> 00:04:11.419 One of them is found in verse four. Jesus says it is for the 47 00:04:11.539 --> 00:04:16.420 glory of God, so that the son of God may be glorified through it. 48 00:04:17.939 --> 00:04:24.019 Here we are reminded of Jesus's into meant, and that's not a close 49 00:04:24.019 --> 00:04:29.850 enough word, but I'll say up for now, intimate relationship with God, 50 00:04:29.930 --> 00:04:34.089 the father. He does this so that God the glory. So he does 51 00:04:34.129 --> 00:04:38.129 it for the glory of God, so that the son of God may be 52 00:04:38.410 --> 00:04:45.000 glorified through it. Another reason we are given in this passage for this miracle 53 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:49.720 and the way that Jesus does it is love. We've thought about this in 54 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:56.589 a previous sermons, but we read in verse five now Jesus Loved Martha and 55 00:04:56.829 --> 00:05:00.350 her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he 56 00:05:00.509 --> 00:05:09.019 stayed for two days and then later he went. He loved them. This 57 00:05:09.060 --> 00:05:15.139 is a theme that is emphasized over and over again throughout this passage. And 58 00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:20.420 then finally, we are told in to to the disciples. He says in 59 00:05:20.490 --> 00:05:25.009 Verse Fifteen I and for Your Sake, I am glad that I was not 60 00:05:25.170 --> 00:05:30.490 there, so that you may believe. You see, very importantly, Jesus 61 00:05:30.529 --> 00:05:34.959 is doing all of these things within the context of a number of relationships. 62 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:40.959 His relationship with the father, his relationship with Lazarus and Mary and Martha, 63 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:45.360 his relationships with his disciples, and all of it is done out of love. 64 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:51.189 This is hard to understand when you're waiting for someone, and for God 65 00:05:51.350 --> 00:05:57.230 in particular, to come and help. It's hard to trust when you are 66 00:05:57.310 --> 00:06:04.459 feeling your own body. I'm wasting away, struggling, dying. It's hard 67 00:06:05.019 --> 00:06:10.300 to trust God, to trust in his love, when you know and feel 68 00:06:11.180 --> 00:06:16.459 the deathly sins that are still in you, sins that way you down. 69 00:06:18.129 --> 00:06:25.089 But this passage is all about calling you, even as he called his disciples, 70 00:06:25.250 --> 00:06:30.089 even as he called to Martha and her sister and eventually to Lazarus, 71 00:06:30.970 --> 00:06:36.199 to believe in him, to trust in him. So, though this is 72 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:43.160 an amazing thing that happened and happened a long time ago, it is very 73 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:49.870 much for us here and now. Jesus is call is a present reality. 74 00:06:50.949 --> 00:06:56.709 Even now, as I read to you the words of scripture, God's Word, 75 00:06:56.910 --> 00:07:02.660 God's call to believe, is being spoken, and we pray that God 76 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:10.939 makes that call effectual, that, just as Jesus would call into the tomb 77 00:07:11.579 --> 00:07:15.529 for Lazarus to come out, that his word and his spirit would be at 78 00:07:15.569 --> 00:07:21.529 work even this warning in our hearts, to call us out of our death, 79 00:07:21.769 --> 00:07:27.490 out of our sin, to become Christians for the first time, to 80 00:07:27.569 --> 00:07:31.439 be reborn and regenerated or perhaps, if you are a Christian, to be 81 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:40.639 strengthened in his life, to be made stronger in his power to walk, 82 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:44.790 as Paul said, not in the old ways that have died, not in 83 00:07:44.870 --> 00:07:51.269 the flesh, but in the spirit and in the newness of life. That's 84 00:07:51.310 --> 00:07:56.870 important that this is happening, that this chapter is placed where it is. 85 00:07:58.310 --> 00:08:03.139 John is about to open up to us, after this chapter, the events 86 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:11.339 that lead into Jesus eventual death, the betrayals, the false trials, the 87 00:08:11.540 --> 00:08:16.930 suffering that he would endure on across. John is preparing us for that so 88 00:08:18.089 --> 00:08:22.370 that we would understand and read it rightly. And what are the things that 89 00:08:22.449 --> 00:08:28.199 we're supposed to understand? That this one, this savior, who is about 90 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:33.039 to die, is one who has power over death, and we need not 91 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:39.320 fear that. When Jesus goes to the cross, he goes so with authority 92 00:08:41.429 --> 00:08:48.470 as a king, as God, with authority to both laid down his life 93 00:08:48.629 --> 00:08:52.789 and take it up again. And it's because of this authority, it's because 94 00:08:52.950 --> 00:09:01.299 of this power that Martha and Mary and Lazarus and you and his disciples who 95 00:09:01.299 --> 00:09:13.009 eventually gave their own lives for Jesus. Live and believe in him. The 96 00:09:13.090 --> 00:09:16.409 disciples didn't feel this way at first. You remember, in our passage last 97 00:09:16.409 --> 00:09:20.730 week we noticed how the disciples were not so keen on going to Bethany. 98 00:09:22.970 --> 00:09:26.840 Bethany is just a couple miles away, as put John tells us, from 99 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:31.360 Jerusalem, and their concern was not without warrant. As we read in our 100 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:39.710 passage, many of the Jews had come to Mary and Martha. Jesus had 101 00:09:39.750 --> 00:09:43.309 been in Jerusalem previously. They had tried to stone him, they had tried 102 00:09:43.389 --> 00:09:48.230 to murder him, and now he wants to go back into the same area. 103 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:52.659 And two miles is not far, certainly within walking distance, because they 104 00:09:52.659 --> 00:09:58.059 did it all the time. And these Jews had walked, maybe ritten things, 105 00:09:58.100 --> 00:10:03.220 I don't know, but they had moved themselves to Mary and Martha's House 106 00:10:03.259 --> 00:10:05.980 and there they were mourning, all of these people, people who no doubt 107 00:10:07.019 --> 00:10:11.450 had connections with the leadership and the authority. There, there they were at 108 00:10:11.490 --> 00:10:18.730 the house. Was Jesus walking into a trap? Was Jesus taking his disciples 109 00:10:18.210 --> 00:10:24.440 into a place where they would all face their deaths? No, not yet. 110 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:31.320 Anyway, it was not yet time all of this was happening according to 111 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:39.429 Jesus's perfect timing. And so he comes, he comes into their home and 112 00:10:41.389 --> 00:10:46.230 we have this interesting Mary and Martha Dynamic going on here. That's, I 113 00:10:46.309 --> 00:10:50.100 think, worth noting for a moment. Most of us are familiar with the 114 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:52.860 story about Mary and Martha, where he comes and visits them in their home 115 00:10:54.379 --> 00:11:01.179 and a Martha is all busy with hospitality things and serving and helping and Mary 116 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:09.090 is just sitting there a listening to Jesus and a little bit of conflict there, 117 00:11:09.289 --> 00:11:16.850 and Jesus commends Mary, commends her for being there and being with him. 118 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:22.200 Here we have another important Mary and Martha Story, one that also deserves 119 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:26.799 to be told here. It would seem as if Mary might be a little 120 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:35.110 bit sad, her introverted quiet self that maybe at one point encouraged her to 121 00:11:35.230 --> 00:11:39.909 just sit and rest and be with Jesus, as maybe now brought in a 122 00:11:39.990 --> 00:11:46.870 little bit of sadness. And Martha, extroverted, Busy Martha. She can't 123 00:11:46.870 --> 00:11:50.899 even wait for Jesus to arrive. When she hears them coming, she runs 124 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:58.580 out to meet him and is and has all kinds of things to say in 125 00:11:58.700 --> 00:12:03.929 these examples I mentioned. These examples of these sisters, because we see in 126 00:12:03.250 --> 00:12:09.490 both of them two different people, perhaps with different strengths, different weakness is, 127 00:12:09.610 --> 00:12:13.169 different personalities, yet both of them, at different times and different ways, 128 00:12:13.289 --> 00:12:20.919 coming to the Lord, being honest before him. We hear that in 129 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:28.559 Martha's words, Martha's wonderful, wonderful words, much like the psalms she says 130 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:35.389 in Verse Twenty One, but sounds to me like something of a lament Lord, 131 00:12:35.429 --> 00:12:39.789 if you had been here, my brother would not have died. She's 132 00:12:39.909 --> 00:12:46.059 telling him how she feels. She's not putting a strong face on it or 133 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:54.340 just trying to cover up her disappointment. She says the truth. This is 134 00:12:54.500 --> 00:13:01.769 what Christians do. They say the truth. The psalms are full of these 135 00:13:01.850 --> 00:13:07.529 kinds of lamentations, wonderings. Where is the Lord? Where was the Lord? 136 00:13:09.330 --> 00:13:15.120 But our faith doesn't stop there, though we are honest about our feelings, 137 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:20.559 though we're honest about our disappointments with God. At the same time it's 138 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:26.590 important that we submit our feelings and submit the way we think to what God 139 00:13:26.789 --> 00:13:33.950 has said, to who he is. If we simply give free reigin to 140 00:13:33.070 --> 00:13:37.509 our feelings, if we simply allow our feelings and our ideas and things that 141 00:13:37.590 --> 00:13:43.220 we think to rule us will then we become our own gods. We may 142 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:48.340 be being honest, but it's also idolatry doesn't do us much good. But 143 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:52.779 if we go before the Lord and we say this is who I am in 144 00:13:52.940 --> 00:14:00.409 my suffering and my struggles and my disappointments, and yet I know who you 145 00:14:00.649 --> 00:14:05.529 are and I submit myself before you, and that's what she does here. 146 00:14:05.649 --> 00:14:07.850 She says, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not 147 00:14:07.970 --> 00:14:13.159 have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, 148 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:20.759 God will give you. Notice that she doesn't cajole Jesus or manipulate him or 149 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:24.429 or I try to force him, I'm, into doing something that he doesn't 150 00:14:24.470 --> 00:14:33.669 want to do. She simply says I whatever you ask of God. I 151 00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:43.460 also want you to notice that Martha is understanding, or seems to understand anyway, 152 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:48.659 something that Jesus has been emphasizing over and over and over it again throughout 153 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:54.490 this Gospel, and so I emphasize it here as well, that Jesus is 154 00:14:54.009 --> 00:15:01.929 the son of God, distinct from the father and yet receiving all things from 155 00:15:01.970 --> 00:15:07.360 him in such a way that he is equal with the father in power and 156 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:13.519 glory in life and in wisdom in such a way that he deserves to be 157 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:20.120 worshiped and glorified with everything that we would glorify and worship the father with. 158 00:15:20.750 --> 00:15:26.429 She sees Jesus and understands him in his relationship to his father. And this 159 00:15:26.470 --> 00:15:35.070 is what he's been talking about chapter after chapter after chapter. The trinitarian nature 160 00:15:35.070 --> 00:15:41.899 of our salvation is not an add on, a plus, some kind of 161 00:15:41.059 --> 00:15:46.700 take it or leave it thing. It's the bedrock of her faith. It's 162 00:15:46.740 --> 00:15:50.169 the bedrock of WHO Jesus is it. That's not the right way to put 163 00:15:50.169 --> 00:15:56.210 it is who Jesus is and it should be the foundation of our faith as 164 00:15:56.330 --> 00:16:00.450 well. He is who he is and he is this son of God in 165 00:16:00.690 --> 00:16:07.960 this way, and so she says, it's in this way. We also 166 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:15.240 read her words in Verse Twenty Seven. Jesus makes this not just about Lazarus 167 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:19.070 or her guests or anything else, but he looks here in the eye, 168 00:16:19.230 --> 00:16:26.389 so to speak, and he says, do you believe this? That's a 169 00:16:26.710 --> 00:16:37.100 very personal question. That's a very, very personal question, and sometimes it's 170 00:16:37.139 --> 00:16:41.940 not always right to ask very, very personal questions. But Jesus is always 171 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:47.019 right. Jesus always asks and says the right things at the right time, 172 00:16:47.250 --> 00:16:53.690 and here it's perfect and here it is a reminder to us that God doesn't 173 00:16:53.769 --> 00:17:00.370 just give us a bunch of truths sort of floating around in the sky for 174 00:17:00.409 --> 00:17:03.400 us to sort of consider and ponder and then move on with our lives. 175 00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:11.240 He asks us, he requires us, to relate to them, to believe 176 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:18.589 in them, to believe in him. Jesus says to her these wonderful words. 177 00:17:19.150 --> 00:17:25.470 I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though 178 00:17:25.509 --> 00:17:29.910 he died, yet he shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in 179 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:36.539 me shall never die. How easy it is, in our sinfulness, to 180 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:41.940 stay in our pride and push these things off on to other people, to 181 00:17:41.059 --> 00:17:47.289 say, wow, Jesus, that's so true, you're so good, that's 182 00:17:47.369 --> 00:17:52.650 so important. If only my brother would have heard that in time right, 183 00:17:52.170 --> 00:17:56.410 or if only my sister Mary would have come out to meet you, she 184 00:17:56.650 --> 00:18:06.880 could have heard this too. Jesus doesn't allow that, any of that kind 185 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:11.960 of thinking, and he honestly, he never allows it. He pushes his 186 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:15.950 word upon us again and again, and he says to her and to us, 187 00:18:17.990 --> 00:18:27.460 do you believe this? So I ask you, do you believe, 188 00:18:27.500 --> 00:18:34.059 yes or no? Do you believe what Jesus says? Is He the resurrection? 189 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:40.819 Is he the life? If you trust in him, will you never 190 00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:48.529 die? I hope the answer is yes, because if you trust in him, 191 00:18:48.930 --> 00:18:52.569 you will never die, even if you lose your life like Lazarus for 192 00:18:52.690 --> 00:18:56.640 a moment, the Lord Jesus, on the day of Resurrection, that last 193 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:02.000 day that Martha talks about, will call forth to his people and they will 194 00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:07.599 rise up out of their graves in a glorious state, even better than Lazarus 195 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:19.150 will. Will rise up in a moment. Here this blessed woman confesses her 196 00:19:19.349 --> 00:19:27.380 faith and says, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, 197 00:19:29.299 --> 00:19:34.019 the son of God, who is coming into the world, and saying 198 00:19:34.180 --> 00:19:41.970 that she is hearkening back to those promises of the Old Testament of this coming 199 00:19:41.210 --> 00:19:49.690 Christ, Messiah, this anointed one who was going to come, the one 200 00:19:49.769 --> 00:19:55.440 that was promised even back. Well, well, if Moses Deuteronomy Eighteen, 201 00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:59.039 when he said that there would be a prophet who would come that would be 202 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:03.799 greater than him, and under David, when God promised to David that a 203 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:11.109 son would sit on the throne of David as the son of God over an 204 00:20:11.109 --> 00:20:18.750 eternal kingdom forever. The promises to Abraham that, hit out of his offspring, 205 00:20:18.869 --> 00:20:23.259 all the nations of the Earth would be blessed, a promise that there 206 00:20:23.299 --> 00:20:27.740 would be another Allie Ajah someday, a promise that one day there would be 207 00:20:27.900 --> 00:20:33.099 this, this person, this this, this figure, this savior, this 208 00:20:33.339 --> 00:20:37.490 Lord, this king, the son that would come and fulfill all of these 209 00:20:37.609 --> 00:20:47.130 things. Martha thinks back on all of these promises, century after century after 210 00:20:47.289 --> 00:20:51.880 century, of God fulfilling these things and bringing everything to this moment, and 211 00:20:52.319 --> 00:21:00.240 she stands in front of that man, that God, and says yes, 212 00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:14.789 Lord, I believe, praise God, and that means that Martha will receive 213 00:21:15.150 --> 00:21:21.900 the same blessing and better than her brother Lazarus will, and she's not even 214 00:21:21.940 --> 00:21:27.980 dead yet. She has the confidence that she she she is given reason, 215 00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:33.289 I should say, to have assurance and confidence that for her life she can 216 00:21:33.369 --> 00:21:41.289 take every step knowing that she has nothing to be afraid of, that she 217 00:21:41.369 --> 00:21:47.519 has everything to hope for, because Jesus doesn't only say that he will be 218 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:52.319 the resurrection and which our bodies are lifted up and and renewed, done to 219 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:56.200 life, even eternal life, but he caught. He also says that he 220 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:02.910 is the life, and I take this as a reminder that it's not just 221 00:22:03.109 --> 00:22:08.869 our bodies but also our souls, our whole selves, will be glorified by 222 00:22:10.069 --> 00:22:15.660 God in the Glory of Christ and this is important to men remember, because 223 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:22.700 as much as we make a mistake and we sin even in in in fearing 224 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:29.740 pain and suffering and fearing these things, when God has said there's no reason 225 00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:36.049 to fear. You have life. I promise you resurrection, we also make 226 00:22:36.130 --> 00:22:38.210 a mistake on the other side, not only on the sort of pain side 227 00:22:38.250 --> 00:22:44.720 of things, but also on the pleasure side of things. When we enjoy 228 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:49.640 things, we often enjoy them halfheartedly. When we see beautiful things, we 229 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:56.599 only noticed maybe we notice them or we notice them in part. We're often 230 00:22:56.680 --> 00:23:00.029 not very sensitive to win. You know, a good thanks muting meal becomes 231 00:23:00.390 --> 00:23:06.990 too much of a good thing. Well, warning there right. We enjoy 232 00:23:07.230 --> 00:23:11.750 things that we take them in and then we go too far or we fail 233 00:23:11.829 --> 00:23:15.940 to enjoy them in the first place, or we we make mistakes and we 234 00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:19.299 sin in all kinds of ways. So you get the idea. The point 235 00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:25.259 here is that when Jesus brings us out of death and into life. He 236 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:32.369 doesn't just bring us into sort of a nondeath state. We're not zombies. 237 00:23:33.289 --> 00:23:40.049 We he gives to US life, capital L if I could put it that 238 00:23:40.089 --> 00:23:45.279 way. Maybe he gives to us his life. He gives to us the 239 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:52.440 life of God, perfection, life, everlasting. And so when you think 240 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:59.950 of the descriptions that are given in revelation and other places of Heaven and we 241 00:24:00.069 --> 00:24:11.940 notice beauty, community, order, strength, security, peace, protection, 242 00:24:14.660 --> 00:24:22.579 life, this is what God originally made us to be. God designed us 243 00:24:22.539 --> 00:24:30.890 to be creatures who lived in his image, who enjoy being in fellowship with 244 00:24:30.049 --> 00:24:36.329 him, walking as Adam and Eve did, in the guard and with him. 245 00:24:37.769 --> 00:24:41.720 Is this so hard for us to imagine? Because we are always at 246 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:48.759 war, to always be at war with the flesh, to always find being 247 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:56.430 struggling against Satan's temptations and our own fleshly nature? It's hard in some ways 248 00:24:56.549 --> 00:25:02.950 to imagine what life might be like if all that was not just absent, 249 00:25:03.950 --> 00:25:12.019 but in its place was every pleasurable, enjoyable godly thing you could imagine, 250 00:25:14.579 --> 00:25:23.690 never not not, never exceeding its bounds, never inappropriately enjoyed, perfect in 251 00:25:23.809 --> 00:25:29.170 every way. We get little tastes of this at least in our imagination. 252 00:25:29.329 --> 00:25:33.329 From time to time, lying on a warm beach, you know, with 253 00:25:33.809 --> 00:25:41.920 nothing to worry about per minute, or waking up in the morning being at 254 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:48.000 peace with your spouse and it's quiet and it's still and you're together, or 255 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:52.230 holding a new baby in your arms. These is little moments, at least 256 00:25:52.269 --> 00:25:56.789 in our minds right, at least in our imaginations, we experience these things 257 00:25:56.829 --> 00:26:03.670 when we say, well, that's lovely, that's wonderful. Can you imagine 258 00:26:03.750 --> 00:26:07.500 what it would be like if these these momentary, little tastes of things just 259 00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:14.980 here on Earth were always that way, if life with a capital l was 260 00:26:15.339 --> 00:26:25.769 nothing thing but peace, pleasure, enjoyment of God? What is man's chief 261 00:26:25.890 --> 00:26:32.960 end? is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, to be in perfect 262 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:40.079 communion and fellowship with God for all eternity, with nothing out of order, 263 00:26:40.920 --> 00:26:47.990 no remaining sins nagging at you, no undone things, no to do list 264 00:26:48.150 --> 00:26:55.190 that you feel guilty about, just perfect peace and communion. This is what 265 00:26:56.269 --> 00:27:02.819 Jesus promises us, this is what he is giving to us and this is 266 00:27:03.140 --> 00:27:15.809 what we receive when we say yes, Lord. I believe so. When 267 00:27:15.849 --> 00:27:26.089 you consider your own bodies, you consider your souls, when you think about 268 00:27:26.450 --> 00:27:30.839 your relationships and the weights of this world and your sin, and when when 269 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:38.880 you go in those moments where you feel trapped, suffering, struggling, not 270 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:49.630 knowing what to do, do this, believe on the Lord Jesus, and 271 00:27:49.869 --> 00:27:57.309 you will be saved. He may not whip you up out of the earth 272 00:27:57.470 --> 00:28:03.819 and a moment, but he does tell us that the things that we suffer 273 00:28:04.019 --> 00:28:14.490 in this life are light and momentary afflictions. And we say, how could 274 00:28:14.490 --> 00:28:19.170 that be? It doesn't feel light and it certainly doesn't feel momentary. I've 275 00:28:19.210 --> 00:28:26.609 been suffering with this for two decades, three decades, my whole life. 276 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:34.920 He says it's the light and he calls it momentary, because it can't even 277 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:41.509 begin to be compared with the eternal weight of glory that is given to us 278 00:28:41.549 --> 00:28:48.430 in Christ Jesus. And so this is why we put our faith in him. 279 00:28:48.470 --> 00:28:52.710 We trust in God and what he says, in what he gives, 280 00:28:53.150 --> 00:28:59.180 in his timing and not our own. And when we do so, we 281 00:28:59.460 --> 00:29:03.700 know, and you can know, that you are safe in this life and 282 00:29:04.380 --> 00:29:10.369 in the life to come. I'm in let's pray