That we may die with Him - J..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Well, brethren, we continue in our study, in our contemplation, in our meditation upon the 11th chapter of the Gospel according to John. We know the context.

We've been here several months. We haven't gone very far. So we know the context. Jesus sent his disciples on the eastern side of the Jordan River in a safe place. It's not long ago that they were in a unsafe place.

They were on the other side of the Jordan River. They were among the Jews in the temple space in Jerusalem feeling the brunt and the fury of the religious leaders of the day who had a despising attitude towards our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ and thereby an attitude of hate and resentment towards his disciples. Now the disciples are not there right now. They're in a safe place. They're what you call in a green zone where the fury of the Pharisees and the Jewish religious leaders is at bay.

And they, at the moment, for the time being, are experiencing safety and security. until their rabbi, until their lord, until their teacher opens his mouth and says, come, pack your bags. Off we go. We're going back to Judea. Now, the disciples were afraid.

They remind our lord, do you know what just happened recently over there? Of course, Jesus hadn't forgotten, but I think they wanted to convey their concerns, their fear, their anxiety, and I can understand it. I hope you can understand it. This is not an easy thing to be walking into that sort of territory. It's not an easy thing to go back into the place where men, furious men like a mob, had stones in their hands ready to cast those stones, not only at Jesus, but you're with Christ.

So it's very well that you could have been persecuted with your rabbi. It's not easy. Sometimes we far remove our thinking from 2,000 years ago and think, well, it was a different context back then. Well, it wasn't. These men had families.

These men had lives. They had work. Their families relied upon them for income. They relied upon them to provide for them. Going back into that place, which could mean death or persecution, would come at a very great cost.

I can understand that fear. Do you think it's a really good idea, Jesus, for us to go back, they say? Of course, Jesus had a bigger plan in mind. He knew what they were going through. After all, He is the Son of God.

He is God in flesh. He actually knew what was going on in every one of the hearts of His own people. He didn't need anyone to tell Him. But the bigger plan, the bigger picture that Jesus had in mind was something beyond the physical, beyond the here and now, beyond the temporal. Jesus had their faith in mind.

Jesus wanted to build and strengthen their faith because that's more important than anything. It is more valued than all the gold in the world. And it's refined through fire. It's refined through suffering. Sometimes suffering beyond what we can bear.

as a passage I read or referenced last week from 1 Corinthians chapter 1. But even then, the Lord will allow for you and I, as He did the Apostle Paul, to go through suffering that you cannot bear, beyond the weight that you can bear, so that you come to the Lord, to His feet and say, I can't bear this. If I'm going to survive another day, it's got to be you that carries me from this point on. The Lord was strengthening the faith of these disciples beyond through the suffering because of what they're going to experience not long from now. In a few days' time, they're going to experience a miracle of epic proportions.

He wants to build their faith, so he tells them, pack up. We're going back to Judea. And that's when we come to the final verse of this chapter, or this section. The section that begins in verse one and goes through verse 16. It is the narrative that speaks to Jesus' dialogue with the disciples before they pick up and go.

The journey we know nothing about. All we know is there's a point where they pick up, they decide, Jesus decided to take himself and the disciples to Bethany. And then next thing you know, he's there in Bethany. But before we get there, we have the words of the Apostle, or the disciple, Thomas. These were his words, verse 16.

So Thomas called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go, that we may die with him. It's actually the first time we hear from the disciple Thomas. I hope you realize that. In fact, he's mentioned in every single one of the Synoptic Gospels. That's Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

But when he's mentioned in the other Gospels, he's only mentioned by name in the list of disciples, but his words are not mentioned anywhere other than the Gospel according to John. He's mentioned here, only in John, and we get a little bit more information here. Firstly, the information we get here, as well as in chapter 20, is that this Thomas was a twin. Tumah. Tumah in Hebrew, if there's anyone who speaks Arabic, would know Tum is a word that means twin.

Tum. Or Didymus in some of your translations, that's just the Greek word for twin. What does that mean? Well, it means that there was another Thomas around there somewhere. There's another Thomas somewhere.

He's a twin. He had a twin brother. That's why they called him the twin. And at this point in time, you're saying, brother, who was that twin? You want to know?

I don't know. We're not told. We're not told who the twin was, but we don't need to know if we're not told. But also we're told here in the gospel according to John, of what Thomas says. We hear from the lips of Thomas words that we don't have in any of the other synoptics.

The more I get tuned with the Apostle John, the more I find myself in his word and the word of Christ through John, but the more I get to know him as an author, the more I realize that the Apostle John presupposes in his writings that his readers already have a working knowledge of the Synoptic Gospels. That's Matthew, Mark, and Luke. So John doesn't put a lot of effort into repeating what's already there in the Synoptic Gospels, but rather he's more interested, I think, by the power of the Spirit of God to actually fill in the gaps. To give you and I and the readers and the Christians in all generations a blessed fourth book that gives us more information than the three Synoptic Gospels. He fills in the gaps.

Like, for example, in the Gospel according to John we have seven miracles that are listed for us apart from the miracle which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Out of the seven miracles there's only two that were repeated in the synoptic Gospels. Five are unique to the Gospel according to John. Every one of those have been listed for us, and He tells us in chapter 20, so that those who read them will believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and by believing, have eternal life in His name. He's purposed.

He hasn't just gone ahead and said, I'm going to fill in the gaps, and I'm going to give you a lot of information, so you know a bit more about what took place. But rather, He has a purpose for His book, that those who read His book, the Spirit of God would use those words, that is Scripture, to penetrate the very heart of the reader. That by not even seeing Christ, not being present there, not being there in that contemporary age to hear His words and to see Him, or to see Him hung upon the cross. Or like the 500 or so who saw Him resurrected after the resurrection. And the disciples who saw Him ascend into the right hand of the Father, that you and I have not seen Him, but by reading the words, the scripture, he trusts and believes that the power of the Spirit of God will actually peace the soul and bring salvation.

How? By faith. By apprehending Christ that these words are true. How do you know? Prove it.

I know because the Spirit of God has revealed to my heart they're true. The Apostle John has written with a purpose in mind. And here, he's given us on three occasions what the apostle or then the disciple Thomas, who is silenced supposedly in the Synoptic Gospels, on three occasions in the Gospel of 2 John, we hear the words that come from his mouth. And it's because of what Thomas says in the Gospel of John that is the basis of the nickname that the Christians have been, and even those in the secular world, have been giving Thomas for over 2,000 years now. I'm sorry, I'm stuttering a bit with my words.

What is that nickname? Believing Thomas. Is that it? No. Doubting.

Doubting Thomas. Poor fella, it doesn't matter what he went on to become a faithful follower of Christ and according to church tradition and extra biblical writings which is not authoritative because this scripture is but there's some things that we can learn that Thomas did end up going south East, South East to India and to proclaim the good news of the gospel and there he was martyred for the sake of Christ. It didn't matter. It didn't matter. Because Thomas, according to scripture, which is the only authoritative text that we have, according to what he said in scripture, that Christians from all generations and even those in the world have now labeled him doubting Thomas and that's all there is to it.

And it's because of the three accounts, as I said, that the Apostle John writes for us under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The first time he opens his mouth up in the Gospels is here in John chapter 11 verse 16. From here, it's going over to John chapter 14. And in John chapter 14, he comes across as a little ignorant to the teachings of Christ, because Jesus says, I'm going away to my father's house, because he's there who will prepare a place for you. And where I'm going, you will know.

And then Thomas says, well, where are you going? We don't know where you're going. How can we go there if we don't know where you're going? Shows a little bit of ignorance, but it's more so what he says in chapter 20, which is the primary reason why people have given him that title, Doubting Thomas. Some smiles because you know what we're getting to.

What does he say in chapter 20? We're told the other disciples came to Thomas and told him. What did they tell him? Well, they were together and Thomas wasn't there and Jesus had presented himself after the resurrection to the disciples and they were all stunned and they came and told Thomas and then they told him, we have seen the Lord but he said to them, unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails. And as I place my finger into the mark of the nails, I want to see it and I want to touch it.

And place my hand into his side where the spear had struck Christ and blood and water had dashed out. Unless I place my finger in my hand into those places, he says, I will never believe. And thus, Doubting Thomas was created. And so with that in mind, Doubting Thomas' word everywhere in scripture is interpreted in a pessimistic way. After all, he is Doubting Thomas.

So let's go back to John chapter 11, verse 16. When our Lord tells his disciples to pack up their bags, in spite of their fear, in spite of their anxiety, Pack up your bags, we're going back to Judea, we're going to Bethany, we're going back. We hear him say, let us, we'll look over to the disciples. We don't know if Jesus had heard these words, but John, who's narrating the text, was there and he knows. And he says, let us also go, that we may die with him.

Christians in all generations have interpreted those words very negatively, when in truth, beloved, They may not have been as negative as you think. And to complicate matters even a little bit further, grammatically we cannot even be sure who Thomas is referring to. Let us also go, he says, that we may die with him. Who's the him? Is he referring to Lazarus, who he now has, and the disciples has just been informed that he has died?

Or is he referring to Christ, who by saying, we're going back to Judea, is engaging in a suicide mission, and in the mind of disciples, and Thomas, of course, he's entering into death. Grammatically, it could be either. It could be either. No, I'd like to think it's the latter. I'd like to think that Thomas is saying that let's go and die with Christ, especially of the words in the first part of the phrase, where it says, let us also go.

Let us also go. Lazarus is going nowhere. He's been buried. He's in a tomb. Christ is going somewhere.

So I think, or I believe at least, Thomas is referring to Christ. would make sense of the second phrase let us also let us go also let us let us also go and then he says that we may die with him referring to Christ we go with him and we and we die with him Makes better sense to my mind at least, but I can't be 100% sure because men who are much smarter than I am have said grammatically it could go either way. Now there is another difficulty here if you haven't recognized it already. It's the tone he uses. Could you hear the tone?

I was very careful when I read the text earlier on to be as monotonous as I could be. But that's not even a possibility because I always sway one way or the other. You can't hear the tone. It could have been that Thomas was saying, let us also go, that we would die with him. Hint of sarcasm, probably, or possibly.

What would you expect from doubting Thomas, right? Or it could be, brothers, let us also go, that we die with Jesus, that we die with him. Where Jesus goes, we go. If he dies, we die by his side. Pick up and let's go.

Which one is it? Which one is it? You're looking at me and asking the question in your mind. You're saying, brother, can you tell us which one it is? Good question, and thank you for that question.

It's a good question. My answer to you is, I don't know, but I'll preface that with this. I don't need to know. Because I believe the reason the Apostle John, under inspiration of the Spirit, has given us Thomas' response is not so that you and I would determine his attitude. Because if he wanted us to determine his attitude, he would have given us some indications of it.

Because either way, whether his attitude was one of positiveness or pessimism, It doesn't matter. I believe Thomas is missing the point both ways. I think he's missing the point of the passage, and I think he's missing the point of what Jesus is trying to proclaim to his disciples, even if he is speaking in courage. I hope to show it to you this afternoon. Let me say this much.

There's a lot of truth though in what Thomas is saying. Attitudes aside, there is a lot of truth in what Thomas is saying. Whether spoken in faith or not, the fact of the matter is the disciples or the only reason why the disciples are going back to Judea is because they're following after Christ. They're fearful, they're afraid, they know what they're going to expect over there. They've been on the eastern side of the Jordan River, now only very temporal.

It hasn't been a lot of time. And as far as we know, there are no indications that the fury of the Jews has subsided in any way, shape, or form. They do say that, they say that with time heals, what's the saying? Time heals all wounds. It escapes me.

Is it time heals all wounds? Okay, it's not true. Time doesn't heal all wounds. But there is some truth in the sense that time does actually help for someone to meditate upon what they've done and be able to repent. However, not much time has actually passed.

And so we know that the Jews and their fury is still up there. It's still going to be a very dangerous exercise to go into Judea. So whether Thomas is being pessimistic or speaking in courage or in faith, he recognises to follow after Christ. It's a dangerous exercise. It could cost you your life.

It could cost these disciples their lives. There's no walk in the park to follow after this Jesus. Wherever He goes, He makes enemies. No fault of His own. Because the system of the world is dark.

It's dark and it's black. And He is light. He exposes what's there. And if you know anything in your sinful nature, as well as mine, you don't want to be exposed for who you are. Any dark little secrets, you want to keep them inside.

You don't want the world to see them. And here you have this million Illuminae. Is that the word? Illuminae, our strong light is light, spotlight, wherever Jesus goes with his words and he reveals everything. He creates enemies.

Because he's the truth. And He's light. And people love their darkness. They love their sin. When light comes, it exposes that sin.

It makes them infinitely uncomfortable and there's only two things they want to do. Either run back into the darkness or put out the light. There's nowhere for these religious leaders to run. This is Jerusalem. This is our temple.

This is where we need to be. We've got these people in our grasp, in our grip. So we're not running anywhere. We're going to put out the light. Wherever he goes, there's hatred towards him.

And his disciples know it. If they hated me, they will hate you also. They've experienced it with the wrath of the Jews. They've experienced it with others. They'll continue to experience it as apostles when they're sent out into a hostile world to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and turn the whole world upside down through persecution, mind you.

And Jesus, in only a few chapters time before these disciples, it'll only be in a month or two, Jesus himself will say these words to his disciples. If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. In other words, no pity me. Poor me, none of that. If you're following after me, Jesus is saying, if you're walking faithfully, you're going to receive opposition from this world.

It's going to come in the form of hatred and it's because they hate me. They hate the light and you're reflecting my light. Be aware and be ready. He goes on to say in the same passage in John chapter 15, a few verses later, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

We're told in the New Testament, we're told that he who seeks to live a godly life will suffer, will suffer. You know the word will means certainty? Persecution. To follow after Christ is a dangerous exercise. There will be persecution, there will be hatred, there will be hostility by the world.

But it's also a dangerous exercise to your own flesh. Because one thing that requires full attention and acceptance when you are following after Jesus is this, followers or a disciple of Christ, if you're going to be a sheep who willingly follow the Lord Jesus Christ and value Him above all things, then you're going to have to give up. You're going to have to give up the things that you value. You might have to give up everything you value to follow after Him. The question is, is the Good Shepherd worthy?

Is he worthy for you and I to give up everything we treasure in this world? Because you're going to have everything that you treasure on the one hand and Christ alone on the other. The reconciliation to the Father, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, brothers and sisters, we have a relationship with the Triune God through Jesus Christ. We don't stand before the Triune God of the universe apart from the blood of Jesus Christ. Is he worthy?

Perhaps Thomas, perhaps Thomas has the Lord's words in Luke chapter 9 ringing in his mind when he opened his mouth. Do you remember those words? Jesus had the disciples before him and he said if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow after me. The cross is not a lovely ornament simply that is placed on one's neck, or on one's car, or one's bedroom, or whatever it is. Beloved, the cross in the first century was an emblem.

It was a symbol of suffering and death. The cross was excruciating pain to be crucified upon the cross. And Jesus is saying that if you're going to follow after me, you better be ready to pick up your cross and follow after me." How often? Daily.

Daily, he says. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world? Remember, the whole world on one side and Christ alone on the other. What gains a man if he...

So, for what would A man profit if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul or forfeits his own soul himself. For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the son of man be ashamed when he comes to the glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." Whether he's doubting Thomas or courageous Thomas, it doesn't matter beloved. Whether he understands what he's uttering, whether it's intentional or he's speaking greater than what he understands, the truth in his words is remarkable. To choose to follow after Jesus Christ is to choose the path of death.

Death to yourself, death to your own selfish desires, death to your selfish pursuits, death to your sinful ways, death to even maybe some good things that get in the way of fulfilling the purpose and the mission of God that he has for you. Death, in a word, to self. No longer would you be known as an individual. No longer are you known as a person who just simply lives for the glory of yourself, self-centered, but rather you'd be known as a Christ follower. You adopt, you take upon Him, upon yourself, His own name.

Beloved, are you willing to die for Him? Are you willing to live for Him? Are you willing to put death to all that is attached to your old self? Your trophies, your accolades, all those accomplishments, the goals, your dreams, are you willing to die for Christ? Are you willing to give these things up?

These are confronting questions and only you know the answers to those questions. Is Christ your identity? Beloved, do we call ourselves Christians or are we Christians? You know, there's a difference between the two. One can call him or herself a Christian, but the question is, are you Christian?

You bear the name of the Lord Christian. Is he your identity? To die is gain and to live is Christ. Do you believe those words? The question really is, you have the world on the one hand, and you have Christ on the other.

You have to ask yourself, is Christ better? Isn't that the message of the book of Hebrews? I think that's the message. If I was going to summarize the book of Hebrews, it would be, Christ is better. Better than all your achievements, better than all your goals, better than all your stuff.

The next question I have is how tight is your grip on this world? How tight is my grip on this world? Because you can't have both, remember. You can't gain the whole world and also win your own soul. It's one, it's one or the other.

Do you share the same sentiment of the Apostle Paul? At least a semblance? Do you have the same desires of the Apostle Paul when he says in Philippians chapter 3, but whatever gain I had? You know, if we sat down and we wrote down on a piece of paper everything that we've ever accomplished, it wouldn't be 10% of what the Apostle Paul had accomplished at that point. But then he says, whatever I gained, whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as Our ESV Bibles are quite polished. Rubbish. In order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends upon faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. There's so much in that passage I hope to be able to explain as we work our way through John chapter 11, but not for today.

My question is, are the Apostles' desires, can you at least somehow relate to what he's saying? Is it really death to follow after Christ? That's a question. Is it really death to follow after Christ? Hear me.

Or is it life? That I may know him, the Apostle Paul writes, and the power of his resurrection. Is he pursuing death or life? There's something interesting about Christianity. Christianity, with all due respect, is like a game of opposites.

The first in this world will be last. The honored in this world will be dishonored. The seeing in this world, those who claim that they have wisdom and knowledge and they can see, they're the ones who prove to be blind. The strong in this world prove only to be weak. The wisdom of his age, the wisdom of his world is what?

Foolishness. And life in this world is but death. For whoever would save his life will lose it, Jesus says. But whoever loses his life for my sake, don't forget that, for my sake will save it. You may have been speaking out of sarcasm or ignorance or even sincerity, I'm not sure to be honest.

And although there is so much truth in what you've said, my brother, I think you've missed the point. Your focus, your emphasis is on the wrong thing, my brother. This is a chapter that has death in it, yes. We read about death in this chapter. Right now Lazarus before us is buried in a tomb.

But it's not a chapter on death. This is a chapter about life. Resurrected life. Thomas' focal point was driven from fear and anxiety and death. Not life.

Let us go that we may die with him also. But our Lord is pleased No, he rejoices in the fact that Lazarus has died. Because he'll teach his disciples a critical lesson about not only life, but who is the author of life. Who has power and authority over death. Who is the resurrection and the life.

Jesus will teach His disciples and He's pleased right now because they will grow and be strengthened in their faith. Because their hearts will be turned from that which produces fear and anxiety and trepidation. That which is fixed upon, I don't want to die. To now, to die is gain. And to live is Christ.

For some reason I believe that the emphasis of the disciples was still affixed upon death when it should have been the opposite. Because I believe Jesus' emphasis is not on death here, but upon life. Last week I said that I'm going to take you back. We'll get to verse 16. And then I'm going to take you back a few verses to back to a point that I left on the table because I want to leave it there till last.

And it's actually back to verse 11. So if you put your eyes down to verse 11. Brethren, am I making sense? Yeah, you can hear me. Verse 11, Jesus' words.

He says, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. You see, the disciples are no longer ignorant of what Jesus was saying. The Lord, when he said, sleep, they're no longer thinking sleep is actually the snooze or to be slumber. But rather now they understand because Jesus has told them plainly that Lazarus is dead.

Now, not here in verse 11, but we've made it to verse 16, so I'm just taking you back. They now understand that Jesus means dead. They now understand that Jesus is going back not to wake Lazarus from his sleep, but to raise him from the dead. It brings light to a lot of what Jesus is saying now that we've gone through to verse 16. Especially going back to verse 4 when Jesus says this illness does not lead to death, for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

But especially in what our Lord says in verse 11. Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. Oh, that's what you meant, Jesus. So now you're saying that Lazarus is not asleep, he's dead. And you're not going to wake him up from his sleep, you're going to Judea, you're going to Bethany, you're taking us along with you because you're going to take us there and you're gonna raise Lazarus from the dead.

So you're telling us, Jesus, that we're going to see a miracle of epic proportions. That you're going to raise a man who's been dead for several days. And you're going to bring him back to life. That's what Jesus is saying. You see, Jesus is not taking his disciples back to Bethany to mourn the death of a loved one.

He's taking his disciples back to Bethany to celebrate life. Resurrected life. Do you see what Jesus is doing? He's not concentrating. He's not focused.

He's not emphasizing death, but he's emphasizing life in his name. He's emphasizing life. And he's been doing that with the disciples, but they have not seen it as of yet. The emphasis of our Lord is life, and when Thomas comes and says, let's go and die with Him, whatever he means is not emphasizing life. But Jesus is.

You're going to experience life when we go down to Bethany. You're going to experience resurrection life, and your faith is going to be strengthened. This is a chapter, beloved, on life. How to put yourself to death. Self-denial, that won't come if you fix your attention, your efforts, and your emphasis and your focus on death.

The only way you and I are empowered to put sin to death in our lives and produce a fruit that is pleasing to the Father and to be able to bear any persecution that the Lord is pleased to bring our way by way of suffering is not to concentrate your efforts and to focus your efforts upon death but on life and the one who is life. This is why the book of Hebrews says that you fix your eyes upon the author and the perfecter of your faith, the One who is life incarnate, the One who is the fountain of life, the One who is the source of life. Only if you fix your eyes upon Him by faith are you strengthened by Him to endure whatever this world has. Only then are you strengthened by Him to put to death the misdeeds of the flesh. Only then are you strengthened by Him to desire Him above all things.

when our eyes are fixed upon Christ who is the author of life itself. Even when facing death, it's life that Jesus is emphasizing, not death itself. I love the way our Lord speaks. It's obvious to me we're not gonna get through the whole text that I've hoped, but we get through as far as I can. I love the way Jesus says those words in verse 11.

Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. You know, there are many things our Lord associates with the disciples and his people. The shepherd is in union with his sheep. There's a beautiful union. We are united in Christ.

The disciples are united in Christ. And often our Lord uses those pronouns, you know, we or us or our. You see that all the time. When Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, he uses the word we. When he speaks to the Samaritan woman at the well, he says, we, us Jews, he says, speaking about himself and the disciples, we know who we worship.

But you don't know as far as the Samaritans are concerned. No, no, because God didn't command that you worship on Mount Gerizim. But in Zion, Mount Zion, that's where the Lord has mandated worship to take place. But he uses that word we and our to associate with his people. It's beautiful.

In fact, when the apostle, back then it was Saul who became The Apostle Paul, on the road to Damascus. Damascus. Not Emmaus. Damascus. When he was on the road to Damascus.

And he met with Christ on the road to Damascus. Do you remember what Jesus said? Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? There's a deep, intimate association that Jesus has with His church. Much of what He said, even in the Gospels, He includes Himself and His disciples with the pronouns that He uses.

Many of the undertakings he does with his people and continues to do with his people, but there are assignments and duties and work where he has to do it alone. And that's when he uses I. And when Jesus says I, you take note, because Jesus is demanding and commanding your attention. Because now he's saying that now, what's going to take place, the assignment and the task that I'm going to engage in, is me alone. You can't do this with me.

This is what he says here. He says, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. Before he said, we go to Bethany or to Judea. Our friend, there's a collective there.

Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I go to awaken him. But I go to awaken him. Do you think Jesus is beginning to make a major point to the disciples? A point that would leave him, or cut the ground at least, for the time where it comes in verse 25 in a few days time, where he says, I am the resurrection and the life.

Lazarus is dead. Only I can raise him from the dead, is what Jesus is saying. You can come along, yes he's our friend, you can come along, but you'll watch. Because only I have the power. Because Jesus saying these words means there's a power, there's an authority that is required that you don't have.

It's the very power of God that can bring life from death. And Jesus is saying, I have that power. Let's go all of us as a collective to Bethany. We'll all go, but you're going to watch because I go to awaken Him. I'm the one who's going to raise Him from the dead.

I'm the one who's going to bring life where there's only been death. You may come across as Jesus It's gone to simply break a hold of death upon Lazarus and to bring him out, and when I say simply, it's a profound thing. But there's something interesting that takes place in that passage, and it's actually the word that the Apostle uses here. The word that's been translated, awaken. It's a unique word.

When Jesus says, I go to awaken him, That word is actually only used here. It's used nowhere else in the New Testament. This is the only place. And you're probably thinking, and you're right in thinking this way, that throughout the Gospels, many times you hear awake or wake up or these things, but it's a different word. This word is a different word that he's using here.

It's a word that's made up of two parts, sleep and the first word ek means out of. So it's important that the sleep, because we know the sleep is a metaphor for death now, we know that, so we can change that over, because the disciples understand that. But Jesus is saying, I'm going to go to take Lazarus, I'm going to take him out of death. I'm going to pull him out of the realm of death. I'm gonna grab him and I'm gonna make a complete departure from where death is and all its limits and I'm gonna take him out of death.

He's gonna be removed from that state. That doesn't mean that Lazarus doesn't die again physically. Because in a few days time, he will raise Lazarus from the dead, physically speaking. But I think Jesus is making a very, a very important point. Everything that Jesus does, even in the physical sense, always points to a deeper, richer spiritual reality.

We know that. We've worked our way through this book, through the Gospels, we know. Even when we've worked our way through the Old Testament, we've seen on several occasions, much of what you see is a type and is a shadow of something greater to come, a bigger, grander spiritual reality to come. And it's no different here. You remember back in chapter nine when that chapter on the man who was born blind.

Do you remember this whole chapter that the apostle John dedicates to that one miracle, that one sign? And it's not a chapter to simply say that Jesus restored or brought sight to a man who'd never seen before. That's glorious, but there's something deeper and grander that the Apostle John is trying to get at when he dedicates a whole chapter. to that miracle. There are verses in the Synoptic Gospels that say the whole town came and brought these various diseases, people with various diseases, and Jesus healed them all.

There's like hundreds of healings there, one verse, and yet he commits a whole chapter, and that's because what is taking place physically. points to a spiritual reality. I was hoping that I made that point as we worked our way through chapter 9. And the spiritual reality is beyond a man who could never see with his eyes, now who can see the light of day, but rather the darkened, sinned, darkened, depraved soul that has never seen the glory of God, is never seen True spiritual life that is sourced in God alone is made to see, is made to become not blind, but to see. And the revelation of the glory of God is shown in the soul of a man, in the face of who?

Of Jesus Christ. There's a physical picture that points to a spiritual reality, and I think that's taking place here. Jesus is demonstrating. He will demonstrate how he's the resurrection and the life, which is beyond the physical. He's going to demonstrate the spiritual element of being the resurrection and the life, both the spiritual and the physical.

They're going to be both at play, I believe. And the interesting thing here is this, that Jesus Christ is the only one uniquely to bring life where there's death, whether it's physical death or spiritual death. Christ is the resurrection and the life. So he says, I go to awaken him. What hope would Lazarus have if Jesus doesn't go?

What's Lazarus doing in the tomb right now? Is he praying for... Lazarus is doing what dead men do best. He's just lying there in the tomb. His body is at least.

To be dead in the body is to be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord. But it's Christ and His will. to make that beeline and take his disciples for so many reasons, so many reasons that the faith of Mary, the faith of Martha, the faith of Lazarus himself, the faith of his disciples, the faith of the Jews who are around him will come to believe the glory of God ultimately, and the glory of God is seen through the glory of the Son of God, which would make the Son of God, God himself, to receive the same glory and honor as God himself. But I love the way Jesus says, He says, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. Let me ask you a question quickly.

Could Jesus not have brought Lazarus back from the dead, from over the Jordan? He's proven he can. The royal official's son in chapter four, you remember, one was in Capernaum, the other one in Cana, some 20, 25 Ks away, he didn't even open his mouth. He just willed it and said to the father, you can go now, your son's fine. Father goes, and at the very hour Jesus had spoken to him, the son was well.

The power of God is upon the son of God in the incarnation because he is the son of God. So Jesus could have brought Lazarus back from the dead, from where he was across the Jordan, but Jesus says, I go to him. And I hope to explain this in future weeks, but the resurrection and the dead, that is Christ. The power he has over death. Not only has God the power over death, but what was required for you and I, Christian, to enjoy and experience one day the final resurrection.

What was required for you and I, Christian, to even now if we've come to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we've placed our hope and trust in Jesus Christ for the salvation of our soul, what was required is that the Son of God become man and He come to us. That He come to us. I go to awaken Him. No one can be awakened from the dead unless Jesus comes and visits your soul. You must hear His voice.

And His voice will be made heard to your soul through the gospel of Jesus Christ. But that required that He come from His abode in heaven where sin has never been. God is in heaven, in a place where sin has never, ever, ever been. Because He is in a place worthy of His ultimate, perfect presence. Where has sin reached?

I said it last week. Every single place on the creation. Every single place in the universe. Because Adam was the federal head of all creation. And sin entered through Adam.

And death through sin. Corruption has reached its ugly fingers everywhere. And Jesus... Jesus needed. And was required.

And in love He came to us. Into a sin darkened world. I must go. I must go to awaken my sheep from the dead. He came into this world, partook in our humanity.

He took upon himself a real body, a body that gets tired, and he thirsted, and he was hungered, and he felt the human experience that you and I have experienced, yet without sin. He knows what temptation is. He knows what suffering is. yet without sin. He came to us and then he experienced something that you and I would not even imagine.

How difficult, how horrendous. Not only did he experience death in the physical sense, He bore upon that cross the very wrath of God deserving upon His people who rebelled against Him. You see, it was required that Jesus Christ partake into this world, into your experience and my mind, the human experience, in order for Him to be able to wake us up from the dead. There was no other way. There was no other way.

Because God is a just God. And your sins and mine deserve death. The wages of sin is death. Who's going to pay for our sins? We could pay, but it would never be stamped paid in full.

A million, two million, ten million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, brother help me out. It goes beyond that. Whatever it is, and you've only begun. eternity. But the one who's of infinite worth, the one whose very God became very man.

And he hung upon that cross to shed his blood and bear the full cup of the wrath of God upon his people so that in a finite space of time, the infinite God of the universe who had become man and is man forevermore, the God-man, even now sitting at the right hand of the Father as your representative and mine, would bear our sins so that we would not have to bear death. Yes, we may die if the Lord tarries. I've said that many times physically. But if you've come to trust in Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul, for the forgiveness of your sins, then He is the resurrection and the life. That He's given you a life everlasting.

He's not only given it to you, He is the eternal life. He's given Himself to you. Beloved brothers and sisters, If that's you, if you can experience it, if you know this truth, I hope that your hearts are leaping with joy. I hope that you're moved from within. But if you haven't, if there's any among us who have not experienced that truth, if there are any among us who don't know Christ, who have not heard His voice, who have not heard the voice of the Savior, the voice of the Good Shepherd, if there are any who have not heard His voice, The Bible tells us that in humility you come before Him in repentance and faith.

Come before Him in repentance and faith. Trust Him and Him alone. Where else can you go? The disciples said, where else can we go? You have the words of eternal life.

You know that the final resurrection will take place when Jesus opens His mouth and utters the word. Rise! Come forth! John chapter 5, my intention was to take you there today, but I'm not going to. We'll do it hopefully in a few weeks time.

All will be resurrected with His Word. Those will be resurrected who are in Christ, who have embraced Him by faith, to the joy indescribable. Because they've heard His voice before, and they've heard it continually, daily, through His Word, and in their spirit, and they hear the voice of the Saviour, and to them it's sweet. for those who hear it for the very first time. What a terrifying voice that would be, that the God of all the world, the judge of all the earth, the one who sees all that you have ever done will stand before you and judge you.

What a terrifying thing. I'm sure on that day there will be many that would say, please, please just destroy us. They'll go to the rocks, the mountains, and they'll they would want those rocks, those mountains to collapse on their head, to destroy them. But it won't end, because they will be judged. What a scary reality, but for those who have found refuge in Jesus Christ, those who have placed their trust in Him.

Brothers and sisters, you can rest. You can rest in the One who is the resurrection and life. You can rest in the One who is eternal life. And if you are in Christ, rest in Him. Let's pray.