Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / March 31, 2024 | Easter

Transcript

March 31, 2024 | Easter · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Happy Easter.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Good to be with you.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody looks fantastic.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Great job, moms.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Did good.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um got a problem, which is that uh I'm a little nervous.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think Easter has lost the battle between you know the holidays, the Christian holidays.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Against Christmas, I think Easter has lost the PR battle.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I've been thinking about this because it's a big deal because Easter is arguably more important than Christmas.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's the resurrection of Jesus.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: His birth is important too, all big things, but you know, in balance, him rising from the dead for the hope for the future is a really big deal.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, what can we do about Easter?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure we need Mariah Carey to make an Easter song.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Zhuzh it up a little bit, give us a little bump.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but Easter is so important, it really is.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And uh when we talk about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, um, you can't separate it from Friday night, which was Good Friday, and we talk about Jesus being crucified for the sins of the world.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really two sides of the same coin.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: His death and his erection are not things that are separated.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: But as we look at his resurrection, and really every time we do that, it is about our hope for the future and what his defeat of death means for us, both now and in eternity.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, at the same time, occasionally the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ, they become these Bible stories, right?
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: They are just things that we've heard and maybe we've been taught, but they don't really rest within our hearts.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so, in the short time we have this morning, my goal is to kind of take a little bit of that hope from the future and to bring it into the now.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because there are a lot of things that the death of Christ has done for us beyond just, you know, the big things about getting to be with God forever.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, uh, there will be a passage that we look at where we'll see that Jesus, in his giving of the ultimate solution to the world's problem, is also very concerned about the daily problems that we have the pain, the suffering, the difficulties.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he doesn't gloss over them, but in fact, he uses the future hope to help us in the present.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, if you're not super familiar with your Bible, you might be unfamiliar with the idea that Jesus wasn't the only one who resurrected.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in fact, there were a number of people who got resurrected in the Bible.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of God's favorite things to do to show that he is the author over life and can defeat death.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but one of them happens in the New Testament, and it's a friend of Jesus actually.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: His name is Lazarus.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens with Lazarus is um Lazarus becomes sick and he dies.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: We actually don't know a whole lot about Lazarus, but he has two sisters that make an appearance a couple times in the Gospels.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Their names are Mary and Martha.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens is Jesus in the book of John, and I'll show you in a moment, but Jesus walks into town and Martha meets him there.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus had known that Lazarus was sick and dying.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: But as Martha meets him, she's angry.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And as he's walking sort of down the road, she goes, Where were you?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: If you had been here four days ago, that was when Lazarus died, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: You could have saved him.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And she's frustrated with him.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: She believes in him.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Their whole family, they know that he is the Messiah, they know that he is Christ, they know that he has the power over death.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so they're angry.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: They say, Lord, like why were you not here?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: You could have been here.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: You knew that he was sick.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Why did you not come and fix this problem for us?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Martha says, Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: And later on, Mary comes up to Jesus and says the exact same thing.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, if you had been here, we wouldn't be in this situation right now.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: We wouldn't have a funeral going on for my brother, who the Bible makes clear is stinking up the tomb right now.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And, Lord, we would not have to be in this pain.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: You have the power to do it.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Why didn't you fix this?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: The response that Jesus gives them is kind of a surprise.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I am the resurrection and the life.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Do you believe this?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now, okay, that's not a direct answer to Mary's question.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, where were you?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Why weren't you here?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: And he goes, I am the resurrection and the life.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: And there are some huge things that are revealed in this statement.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus does tell her the truth of eternity, which is that he is the way to life.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, that he is the one who holds the power to defeat death.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that there is a life after death.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that belief is the key to unlocking that.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Martha's response displays both her faith and her misunderstanding.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: She goes, No, no, no, no, no, no.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what I was talking about.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Why weren't you here four days ago?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Not that you have the power to raise people from the dead.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: I know that that's going to happen in the future.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: You've told us that.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: We believe it.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: My problem is my brother is dead right now.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: But the way that Jesus speaks to Martha with mercy, with love, as the story continues on, he is not dismissing her pain.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: He is not going to Martha and going, hey, cheer up, Martha.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: It could be worse, right?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like there are other bad things that happen in life, and so let's move on here.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus doesn't dismiss her pain, but rather what he is doing is he is giving her the ultimate solution.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: What she is asking for, even though it might not seem this way, is a temporary fix.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: What Jesus is offering and what he is telling her about is a permanent solution.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: What ends up happening is Jesus, he doesn't just leave Martha in her distress, leave Mary in their distress.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: He goes and visits the tomb.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And he does, the story's interesting the way it's described in the Bible, because Jesus does a lot of things so that other people can understand what's happening.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: So for instance, he um he prays out loud and kind of describes what's happening during the prayer.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: In effect, he goes, Uh, Father, I am praying to you right now.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Normally I do this quietly, but I'm doing it so that other people can see that this is something that normally happens between us and that we have this relationship with each other.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then he goes to the front of the tomb, which is covered by these rocks, and he commands Lazarus, who I reiterate, because it's an important detail, has been dead a long time.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then Lazarus comes out of the tomb.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: It says, basically, dressed like a mummy.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: He's covered in the linen that he would have been dressed in for his burial.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so as Lazarus is sort of tearing off all of the burial clothing that he has and comes out of the grave, it's this amazing moment of rejoicing, right?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Mary and Martha, they're distressed, gone.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Brother, back from the dead.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we knew Jesus could do all along.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yet, Lazarus is going to die again.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Poor guy has to do it twice, right?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Lazarus is going to die again.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Mary and Martha, they are going to grow sick at some point.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Their eyes will fail.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Their joints will creak.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: They will experience disappointment and loss.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: And every time they walk through the pain of this world that we all know exists and have experienced, Jesus won't always be there in that way to solve their problem.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is why it's so important to see the difference here between the two, between the quick fix, even though it's desperately desired, and the ultimate solution.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Couple months ago, I um went with my family.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: We went to go visit a friend near Oscaloosa, and as we were driving, we had to go through some construction, and we got to their house at the end of this long dirt road, and as soon as I step out of the car, right?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's the sound of my tire, okay, deflating, because a three-inch nail had gotten stuck in it.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so as we're getting out, it's late, right?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's dark, nobody's open.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so my friend and I, we pull our car into uh his garage, and we use like a tire repair kit.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was meant for his mower, okay?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: And we use this tire repair kit, and we're finally, after like a half hour, we're finally able to sort of patch the tire enough that it can hold a little bit of air, and that we can pray that we can make it home, you know, sort of babying it.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so we do.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: We we make it home, and I even send him like photo evidence.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, we've pulled into the driveway, everything is okay.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, the next day, like I still need to call a tire shop and get a new tire.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: I had a three-inch nail stuck in my wheel, and I can't just continue to ride that patch forever.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't work.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: I can't just keep patching it every single day.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: It is a busted tire.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the same sort of difference that we see in this story.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: That though life brings death, right, the hope of eternal joy comes not in seeing small things in this world be made right, but that we are able to look to the future where all is made right, where there is no more suffering, there is no pain, there is no more disease and death, and we're able to draw some of that into this world because the Bible consistently tells us that one of the things that this world's pain is supposed to represent to us is as a reminder that it's not our home, that this world is busted, it is broken, it is in need of a whole fix, not just a minor patch.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is what Christ's death and resurrection accomplishes for the world.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Later on, when it was, I will say, Jesus' turn to resurrect from the dead, we see that there are many people who weren't even expecting him to do it.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: There were a group of women who had been following Jesus, faithful disciples, and they came to the tomb.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: And when they did so, they were shocked with what they found.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: But before we read, you have to understand that the women who were going to visit Jesus this morning, they were bringing with them oils, herbs, and spices to anoint his dead body.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: They were not going because they were anticipating the resurrection.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: They were going because Jesus had to be buried in a hurry Friday night.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't have time to fully prepare the body, and so they wanted to do it right.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so, as the women come to the tomb, the angel who's sitting there says, Don't be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who is crucified.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: He's not here.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: For he is risen just as he said.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Come and see the place where he lay.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, come look.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Then go quickly and tell his disciples he has risen from the dead and is indeed, or indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: You will see him there.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, I have told you.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, in the same way that we have the story with Mary and Martha, where they are people in distress and in pain and in mourning, the response that God gives them is not necessarily, let me fix what's hurting you right now, but let me show you what's coming in the future.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: The women who come to the tomb, they don't see the resurrected body of Jesus just yet.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: They're told, look to the future, go and tell some people, go spread the news, keep going, because Jesus has provided an ultimate solution for you.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: And though you have come to dress his body, it's not needed because he's not here.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: When we look at these things, right?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like it is a it is a desire that God has imprinted upon us that we would both recognize, like, let me take a step back.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: It makes sense that when we see painful things in this life, we recognize that they are horrible.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: It is disease, it is death, it is hardship, it is loss, it is disappointment, it is all of those things.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: It makes sense that it would sort of churn within us and make us recognize that this is not a fun thing to experience because it was never supposed to be this way.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: But the response that God provides is not, let me solve everything that is going on in your life in this moment.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Let me patch it and fix it and patch it and fix it.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because those are going to be temporary.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: What Jesus, how Jesus responded to Martha, almost sort of bypassing her concern, Lord, where were you four days ago?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, I am the resurrection of the life.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: That is the answer.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: The answer is not actually that Lazarus rises from the dead again, even though that's a pretty awesome thing to do.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: No, what is the answer?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Is Jesus says, if you believe in me, even those who die will experience life.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not a riddle, that's a pathway to promise.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so when Mary and Martha later on were able, and Lazarus, to watch Jesus as he rose from the dead, and actually the Bible tells us that he stayed around for 40 more days before he ascended to heaven where he's at now, they were able to interact with him.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus had called his shot.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Hey, I'm going to die for the sins of mankind, and then on the third day I'm going to rise again.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: And what we're told is that very few people actually believed that he was going to do it.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And not only did he prove even his followers wrong, but he made it a sign to the entire world that the things he had been talking about throughout his whole ministry, he was faithful to accomplish them.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: So therefore, when he says the amazing things about, hey, in the future, there will be a time when there is no more pain and suffering, and people go, Well, okay, how are you able to say that?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: When he rises from the dead, that's how he's able to say it.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because he is the author of life and he has the power over death.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: The uncomfortable part of this, though, and the reason why this jumps out from a Bible story into our heart is because we often keep this truth as just a Bible story.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: But just as we recognize that this world is filled with pain and suffering and disease and death, and as we've all encountered it and seen others encounter it, the other truth that is very important to understand is that it is our sin which has broken this world.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: The pain and suffering that you experience is a product of your own sin and foolishness, the sin and foolishness of other people, and the fact that the curse upon this world is because we are rebels in God's kingdom, we have committed mutiny, and so this world is experiencing a slow death because we have brought it.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Quick example the beginning of the Bible tells us that weeds growing in the garden are a sign of our sin in the world.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: I know as spring is bringing up here and you're starting to see them pop up.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of those reminders.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: This world is not our home.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: So how do we bring these two things together?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: How do we bring the future hope of the resurrection into the present now?
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because you say, well, sometimes that doesn't really feel like it matters because I am hurting right now.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like Mary and Martha, and I want answers now.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Peter gives us some hope and a way to connect these two things.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: In 1 Peter 1, verses 3 through 9.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: He continues on, though it's not on the screen.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Though you have not seen him, you love him.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: So let me summarize what Peter just said there.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, There is hope for the future.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually it will arrive.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is what Jesus has purchased with his blood on the cross and through his resurrection from the dead.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: We anticipate it, we are waiting for it.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: It is imperishable, it is unfading, it is glorious, and it is coming.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yet, though for a time you experience very various griefs and trials.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Excuse me.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: And Peter's connection between the two is actually that we can take a portion of this hope for the future and bring it into the present and allow it to inform the way that we handle and walk through pain.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: The world says that we just need to distract ourselves, we need to shove it down, we need to suppress it, we need to do whatever we can to just sort of get over the hump and into the next thing.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: And what the Bible says instead is actually, hey, your pain, it has a purpose.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean it's not painful.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody's dismissing your pain and saying it's nothing.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: But rather that you can redeem that pain by giving it a purpose.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that purpose is that it reminds us that this is not our home.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: It reminds us of the future hope of resurrection.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: It reminds us that we have a need for a savior because we live in a sinful world that we add to every day, and it reminds us that Jesus is returning.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: It draws our minds forward.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: This is the truth of the resurrection.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a patch, but a long-term fix.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: It is ultimately the healing of the world.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Quick story.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: Couple months ago, we had somebody from our church pass away.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Her name was Jane, and uh she was going to be our next treasurer.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And uh Jane uh found out in the span of 22, well, I should say, from the moment she found out she was very sick until she passed away, was 22 days.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: She went to the hospital, they said, Jane, you're sick.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Jane, you've got cancer, and Jane, you don't have um years or months to live, you've got weeks.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in that position, you might ask, what does somebody do?
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you what Jane did, because I had the privilege of speaking at her funeral, and uh, one of the things that happens when you get to do that is you get to um, especially in this situation, plan the funeral with the person, which is pretty surreal.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And as Jane was walking through the trials and that she was enduring, and they were a lot, the basically they had sort of opened her up and closed her up and just said, it's not good.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so when I was talking to her, you know, she has a line through her nose that's delivering her painkillers.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And yet we're talking about the hope that Jesus has provided for her.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll be honest with you, who was talking the most about the hope was Jane.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: My role in being there probably should have been the one that was talking the most about it.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of our conversation, Jane's the one handing me a clean Xbox.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, why am I the one crying here?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: And she goes, because I know where I'm going.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm looking forward to it.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: I've done this life and not to get into it, but Jane had a lot of hard things that happened in her life.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: She experienced a whole lot of pain and suffering and death.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so as time was drawing near, um, one of the things that happens is all pretense falls away.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Everything where we say in our lives, like, I'll get to it later, I'll figure it out eventually, like I'll take it seriously at some point.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: All of that future stuff just becomes the present.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to really figure out if what you have said that you've believed your entire life is the thing that's going to sustain you whenever it is that God calls you home.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: And for Jane, what was revealed is that the end of her life was not some frantic time of uncertainty, but it was a time of peace, and therefore she was able to say with all sincerity, I know where I am going, and I'm going to be with Christ, and it is far better than here.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: So back to Mary and Martha.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: This is how I would like to finish.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: When Jesus responded to them and said, I am the resurrection and the life.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone who believes in me, who lives and believes in me, will never die.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Do you believe in me?
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: He goes past Martha's immediate concern.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't dismiss it, but he gives her the answer that she really needs.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the answer that we really need today as well.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: We are all sinners.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: We have all fallen short of God's standard for our lives.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: We're all in need of a savior.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we might be forgiven and counted as righteous in God's kingdom.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: And God could have finished the story there.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: I want to impress that point upon us.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: God could have finished the story with the death of Christ.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: We would still be counted as righteous in God's kingdom, but we would not yet have the hope of a future resurrection if it were not for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so Jane was able to experience the truth of Christ's statement here that even those who die are going to live.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is what Lazarus experienced temporarily, but it was only his faith in Christ as a savior that ultimately led him into eternity with God.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: So, Lazarus couldn't raise himself from the dead.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: We cannot save ourselves.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: That is only the business of God.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: And the question is, do you believe this?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Is this something that you can take out of a Bible story and let it rest within your heart, trusting in Jesus as your Savior, or is it still just something neat that happened a long time ago?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: The hope of the resurrection is both that the future is eternally glorious, and that the pain that we experience in this life now has an answer.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: It might not always be the answer we are seeking in the moment, but it is the answer that we need.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we come before you and your throne.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, we say that we are a people who are broken and in need of a Savior.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we have fallen short of your standard.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: And God, we know that you are the author of life and you have defeated death.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: God, we thank you for this promise that you have given to us through Christ.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you for the hope of the resurrection.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you that through Lazarus you show us that, God, we don't need a temporary fix.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we need a long term solution and that you have provided that through the empty tomb.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we praise you and we thank you and we rejoice in your resurrection.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.