Were the people in the
Bible any different to us today?
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Or ordinary
people like you and me?
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What can we find out
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from their lives
that will help us?
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Find out with
Pastor Geoff Youlden
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and Rosemary Malkiewycz
here on People Just Like Us.
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Death is something that
touches every one of us.
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If you're alive,
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you can be sure that
sometime you're going to die.
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We just don't know when.
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Today we will be
discussing what happens
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when we die through a story
found in the Gospel of John.
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And Pastor Geoff
is here to lead us
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through this topic.
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Welcome, Geoff.
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Thank you very much, Rosemary.
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It's good to be here. Good.
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I'm glad that
you're here with us
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because this is
an important subject.
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It is an important subject
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and it's a very
thrilling subject actually.
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And it's a very thrilling story.
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It's one of the largest
stories in the New Testament.
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Yes.
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Jesus enacted with...
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Our friend Lazarus,
was Jesus' friend Lazarus.
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And so we want
to talk about him.
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Maybe,
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you know, one evening
after working in the vineyard
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or perhaps after
visiting Jerusalem on business,
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Lazarus was feeling very unwell.
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His two sisters made sure
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he went to bed early
that night giving him,
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you know, the medicine that
they thought that he needed.
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But when he woke
up in the morning,
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he was no better.
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The next day the sisters
did, I guess what we'd all do,
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called the doctor.
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Who left a few more
potions for him to take
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and then the following day
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when he was no better
the sisters were very worried
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and they said to one another,
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"If only Jesus was here."
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But Jesus wasn't there,
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He was far away on the
other side of the Jordan River.
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So they did the only thing that
they could do in those days.
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They sent a messenger
to find Jesus and tell Him.
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They did not ask
the messenger to say,
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"Come at once."
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But they said that he said,
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"Whom you love is very sick."
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And they left the rest to Jesus.
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When Jesus got the message,
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He said to the
messenger and to the disciples,
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in John 11:4,
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and perhaps we
ought to read that,
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Rosemary. Yes.
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John 11:4,
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and if our viewers
have got their Bible handy,
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you might like to open it
to the 11th chapter of John,
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because that's
where we're going to get
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our story from today.
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Verse 4, it says,
"When Jesus heard that,
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He said,
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'This sickness
is not unto death,
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but for the glory of God,
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that the Son of God may
be glorified through it.'"
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Well, that's good to
know it's not unto death,
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obviously, he's
not going to die.
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Well, that's what you
would immediately think,
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wouldn't you
from what Jesus said.
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And I would imagine that
that sounded very strange
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to the disciples,
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because to all intents
and purposes, they thought,
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well, he's not going to die.
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That's why there was
no rush to get to Bethany.
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But He immediately
waited another two days.
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And once again,
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the disciples
would not have thought
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that that was very unusual,
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because it was not unto death.
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And He was busy.
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Yes, very busy,
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you can just imagine the crowds
around Him wherever He went.
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Now, back at Bethany,
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the two sisters
were worried sick
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and distraught over the turns
that poor Lazarus was taking,
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as they were
sitting by his bedside
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of their brother.
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Another friend was out
on the fork of the road
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where the road
comes up from Jericho.
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It's actually, Rosemary,
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a very steep climb
coming up from the Jordan River
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up to Jerusalem and...
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To Bethlehem to Bethany there.
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Yes, to Bethany.
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And it's the road
to Jerusalem really,
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Bethany is on the other
side of the Mount of Olives.
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Yes. But...
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It is very steep.
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Very steep and you need
to be fit back in those days
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because everywhere
you went, you had to walk.
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And as I said,
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the Jerusalem is about
2,500 feet above sea level.
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And the Jordan is about down
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there would be around
about 600 feet below sea level.
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So it's quite a climb,
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coming up.
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And every time
they saw the crowd,
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you know, coming up
the road they thought,
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this is Him, this is Him.
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But as the group got closer
they were disappointed again.
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And it's interesting
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that as we listen
to Jesus' statement
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a little further
on here in verse 11,
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that says,
"These things He said,
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and after that He said to them,
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'Our friend Lazarus sleeps,
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but I go that I may wake him.'"
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Because what
happened is that Lazarus died
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and they buried him
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in this tomb
cut out of the rock.
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And it's very
common back in those days
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to actually bury the
person in a tomb in the rock,
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and then on the
mouth of the tomb,
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they would have a rolling stone.
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If any of our friends
want to go to Jerusalem,
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opposite to the
King David Hotel,
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there is a very
clear illustration
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of a tomb with a
rolling stone in front
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Well, actually,
I've got a photo of one
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because when we were in Israel,
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they were excavating.
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There it is on the screen now.
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There were
excavating the road there
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and as they were
preparing to build for the road,
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and they were digging
out the side of the hill,
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they found a tomb that had been
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underneath all the earth
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over the centuries
the earth had covered it
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and now they found it again.
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So it's right just off the road,
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just a couple of meters.
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And they've preserved it now.
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And so our bus
driver stopped on the road
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just for a couple of minutes
so we all had our cameras ready
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so we could take photos
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and it was just marvelous to see
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it because this is
the same sort of tomb
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that Lazarus was
in and Jesus was in.
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The same one with that big,
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round rock to
roll like a doorway.
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There it is, there.
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It's a very
clear picture that one.
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And it's there
right by the road,
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we saw it.
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And the one that
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I saw opposite
to King David Hotel
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has been used as a latrine.
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And so the stench inside,
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it wasn't particularly inviting,
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and I didn't want to
stay in there too long.
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But you can see that
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the different
niches in the rocks
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where they would have different
family members had been placed.
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Very real and
helps us to understand
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the story here in John 11.
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And as He said,
Jesus said in John 11:11,
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"These things He said,
after that He said to them,
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'Our friend Lazarus sleeps.'"
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In other words, when
He talked about Lazarus,
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He didn't just
refer to him as dying.
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He did mention that he was dead,
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but He calls death here a sleep.
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Yes.
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Now I find that very,
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very interesting because
as you read the Bible through,
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you will find time
after time, in fact,
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55 times in the Bible,
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which is a lot of times
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that the Bible
refers to death as a sleep.
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You know, when you
go to sleep, Rosemary.
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We don't know
anything because, I mean,
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you...
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I wake up in the
middle of the night,
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and I have no idea
how long I've been asleep
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until I look at the clock.
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I look at this
when I had an operation
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and I was talking to the
people in the operating theatre
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and the very next
moment they were saying,
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wake up, wake up.
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It's all over and I'm going,
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"What are you talking about?"
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I had no idea that I had
been through the operation
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and now I was coming
out of the anesthetic
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in the recovery ward.
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Yes.
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And I thought this is
what it is like when you die
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and Jesus comes again.
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It's like the very next moment.
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It was a wonderful
experience as far as that goes.
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Well, I love the
way the Bible expresses.
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In fact, let me just read
you a couple of other verses
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on this very point
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before we get back
to the story of Lazarus.
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In 1 Thessalonians 4
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here Paul writes the 4th chapter
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and verse 15, it says,
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"For this we say to you
by the word of the Lord..."
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God is speaking here,
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Paul is saying, this
is what the Lord says,
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"That we who are alive
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and remain until
the coming of the Lord,"
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so may the Second Coming,
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"will by no means precede
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or go before
those who are asleep."
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So, God has said...
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This is not just Paul speaking,
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this is God saying,
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those of us who
are living on the earth
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when Jesus comes back
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are not going to get to heaven
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before those who are asleep.
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"For the Lord Himself
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will descend from
heaven with a shout,
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with the voice of an archangel,
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and with the trumpet of God.
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And the dead in
Christ will rise first."
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So the very first
thing that's going to happen
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according to the record
is that when Jesus comes back
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then the dead in Christ
are going to rise first,
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then we who are
alive and remain...
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So there's going to
be a whole generation
00:10:05.00\00:10:06.50
who are alive
when Jesus comes back.
00:10:06.53\00:10:09.50
"We who are alive and remain
00:10:09.54\00:10:11.04
shall be caught up
together with them,"
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that is the dead that
have just been raised,
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"in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air,
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and thus we shall
always be with the Lord."
00:10:19.45\00:10:22.58
And Paul adds here,
00:10:22.62\00:10:24.55
"Comfort one
another with these words."
00:10:24.59\00:10:26.25
Yes.
00:10:26.29\00:10:27.62
And what a
wonderful comfort they are.
00:10:27.66\00:10:29.19
And I just love
the idea of sleep
00:10:29.22\00:10:31.43
because when our loved ones die,
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and we see them dead,
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they just look
like they're asleep.
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They do.
00:10:38.67\00:10:40.00
And that's exactly how
the Bible describes death.
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And that verse in Corinthians
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that all of us know well
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who listened to
Handel's Messiah.
00:10:49.58\00:10:54.12
Here in Chapter
15 of 1 Corinthians
00:10:54.15\00:10:57.19
and I want to
pick it up in verse 51
00:10:57.22\00:10:59.65
where the Bible says, "Behold,
00:10:59.69\00:11:03.29
I tell you a mystery.
00:11:03.32\00:11:05.59
We shall not all
sleep," there it is again,
00:11:05.63\00:11:09.76
"but we shall all be changed,
00:11:09.80\00:11:12.33
in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye,
00:11:12.37\00:11:14.94
at the last trumpet.
00:11:14.97\00:11:16.30
For the trumpet
will sound." Yes. So
00:11:16.34\00:11:18.97
It doesn't happen before that.
00:11:19.01\00:11:20.34
The dead are not
going to be woken...
00:11:20.38\00:11:21.74
until the last trumpet
sounds It's going to be
00:11:21.78\00:11:23.45
Yep.
00:11:23.48\00:11:24.81
They won't be changed
until the last trumpet.
00:11:24.85\00:11:26.18
Correct.
00:11:26.21\00:11:27.72
"For the trumpet will sound,
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and the dead will be
raised incorruptible,
00:11:29.48\00:11:33.46
and we shall be changed.
00:11:33.49\00:11:35.29
For this corruptible
must put on incorruption,
00:11:35.32\00:11:39.09
and this mortal
must put on immortality."
00:11:39.13\00:11:41.96
So this actually takes place
00:11:42.00\00:11:44.73
when Jesus comes back
when the last trumpet sound.
00:11:44.77\00:11:48.70
And so when Jesus returns,
00:11:48.74\00:11:50.91
it's going to be
a very noisy event.
00:11:50.94\00:11:52.97
Sometimes people have
thought that the coming of Jesus
00:11:53.01\00:11:55.71
is going to be very secret,
00:11:55.74\00:11:57.71
that there's nothing secret
about blowing the trumpet.
00:11:57.75\00:11:59.91
No, that's right.
00:11:59.95\00:12:01.28
And with the voice of
the angels and so forth.
00:12:01.32\00:12:03.22
And all these people
coming up out of the grave.
00:12:03.25\00:12:04.92
Absolutely.
00:12:04.95\00:12:06.29
There would be a
tremendous amount of noise.
00:12:06.32\00:12:08.52
You know, our...
00:12:08.56\00:12:10.13
Even secular world recognizes
00:12:10.16\00:12:14.40
that what the Bible
saying here is true.
00:12:14.43\00:12:16.16
For example,
00:12:16.20\00:12:17.53
you've been to the
cemetery like I have,
00:12:17.57\00:12:19.60
Rosemary, and we see on
some graves, three letters.
00:12:19.63\00:12:23.20
Yes. What are they?
00:12:23.24\00:12:24.57
Rip. Rip, yes.
00:12:24.61\00:12:26.44
Which simply
means rest in peace.
00:12:26.47\00:12:30.58
So long, long ago,
00:12:30.61\00:12:33.62
it was always
taught by the church.
00:12:33.65\00:12:37.65
That's why they still
have it on the traditions,
00:12:37.69\00:12:40.29
continues on in many areas
00:12:40.32\00:12:43.09
where the words rip because
the person is resting in peace.
00:12:43.12\00:12:46.26
They're not riding in
hell or somewhere else,
00:12:46.29\00:12:49.06
they're resting in peace,
00:12:49.10\00:12:50.43
whether they're good or bad.
00:12:50.47\00:12:51.80
And they're not sitting
on a cloud playing a harp.
00:12:51.83\00:12:53.60
Correct.
00:12:53.64\00:12:54.97
Another, you know,
00:12:55.00\00:12:56.34
the word cemetery
is an interesting...
00:12:56.37\00:12:58.11
It's an old English
word, old Latin word,
00:12:58.14\00:13:00.71
which means to lulled the sleep,
00:13:00.74\00:13:02.41
you know our
English word cemetery.
00:13:02.44\00:13:05.35
And so when we
get to a cemetery,
00:13:05.38\00:13:07.95
when we use that word,
00:13:07.98\00:13:09.52
we're saying they
have been lulled to sleep,
00:13:09.55\00:13:12.22
they're asleep.
00:13:12.25\00:13:13.66
So our very terminology today
00:13:13.69\00:13:16.36
is it agrees with
what the Bible teaches.
00:13:16.39\00:13:20.00
It's very
unfortunate that many of us
00:13:20.03\00:13:22.43
have been
influenced by Greek paganism,
00:13:22.46\00:13:26.13
in the teaching of
this immortal soul.
00:13:26.17\00:13:31.37
But the Bible
doesn't teach that,
00:13:31.41\00:13:32.74
the Bible
teaches that when we die,
00:13:32.77\00:13:34.74
we sleep.
00:13:34.78\00:13:36.11
And, of course,
00:13:36.14\00:13:37.48
going back to the story of John
00:13:37.51\00:13:38.98
and Lazarus in John Chapter 11.
00:13:39.01\00:13:43.82
We find that
Jesus finally arrives
00:13:43.85\00:13:47.52
back in Bethany,
00:13:47.56\00:13:49.92
and it's now four days
have gone past since He...
00:13:49.96\00:13:54.23
Since the message came through,
00:13:54.26\00:13:55.60
and He died.
00:13:55.63\00:13:56.97
So there's been a
long period of time
00:13:57.00\00:13:58.33
and it says here in
the 11th Chapter of John,
00:13:58.37\00:14:03.81
and I'm going to read
verse 17 when I can find it,
00:14:03.84\00:14:08.64
John 11:17, it says,
00:14:08.68\00:14:11.98
"So when Jesus came,
00:14:12.01\00:14:13.92
He found that he had already
been in the tomb four days."
00:14:13.95\00:14:18.19
You know, we got to
remember something too that,
00:14:20.42\00:14:22.59
over in those
countries, they back...
00:14:22.62\00:14:24.69
Especially back in these days,
00:14:24.73\00:14:26.06
they didn't have
freezers to keep the body.
00:14:26.09\00:14:29.26
No.
00:14:29.30\00:14:30.63
That's why they
buried their persons quickly.
00:14:30.67\00:14:36.24
Yes.
00:14:36.27\00:14:38.14
And it's still practiced by...
00:14:38.17\00:14:39.87
In many countries.
00:14:39.91\00:14:41.24
By Middle
Eastern countries today,
00:14:41.28\00:14:43.08
because it's a
tradition that's been held,
00:14:43.11\00:14:44.95
right from the days when
they didn't have freezers.
00:14:44.98\00:14:47.25
Well, some of the hospitals
I know when we were in Nepal.
00:14:47.28\00:14:49.98
Some of the hospitals still
don't have proper mortuary.
00:14:50.02\00:14:53.39
No. Yes.
00:14:53.42\00:14:54.82
They have to...
00:14:54.86\00:14:56.36
Well, in Hinduism,
00:14:56.39\00:14:57.76
they have to
cremate the day they die.
00:14:57.79\00:14:59.93
There's no way of
holding the body somewhere.
00:14:59.96\00:15:01.86
No.
00:15:01.90\00:15:03.23
Well, this is true
in the days of Jesus.
00:15:03.26\00:15:05.17
Now, it says here in verse 18,
00:15:05.20\00:15:07.34
"Bethany was near Jerusalem,
00:15:07.37\00:15:08.97
about two miles away."
00:15:09.00\00:15:11.54
As I said, it's not very far.
00:15:11.57\00:15:14.08
"And many of the Jews had joined
00:15:14.11\00:15:17.55
the women
around Martha and Mary,
00:15:17.58\00:15:19.71
to comfort them
concerning their brother."
00:15:19.75\00:15:21.52
And you can just imagine this,
00:15:21.55\00:15:22.88
you can picture it in your mind.
00:15:22.92\00:15:24.65
Their friends
were there to comfort
00:15:24.69\00:15:27.32
like we would do today.
00:15:27.36\00:15:28.96
Well, it says there were many
00:15:28.99\00:15:30.33
so obviously they are
a very popular family.
00:15:30.36\00:15:32.16
Well known. Yes.
00:15:32.19\00:15:33.90
"Then Martha, as
soon as she heard that
00:15:33.93\00:15:36.26
Jesus was
coming, went and met Him,
00:15:36.30\00:15:38.77
but Mary was
sitting in the house."
00:15:38.80\00:15:42.17
And so that it says in verse 21,
00:15:42.20\00:15:45.74
"Now Martha
said to Jesus, 'Lord,
00:15:45.77\00:15:49.11
if You had been here,
00:15:49.14\00:15:51.48
my brother
would not have died.'"
00:15:51.51\00:15:53.05
What a condemnation.
00:15:54.12\00:15:55.45
Well, I don't know
00:15:55.48\00:15:56.82
whether she was
saying it as a condemnation.
00:15:56.85\00:15:58.19
I think she was saying
as a matter of faith "Look,
00:15:58.22\00:16:00.19
if you had been here,
00:16:00.22\00:16:01.56
this thing would
never have happened."
00:16:01.59\00:16:02.92
Yeah, why weren't you here?
00:16:02.96\00:16:04.29
why weren't you here? Because...
00:16:04.33\00:16:05.66
That's what I mean
by the condemnation.
00:16:05.69\00:16:07.03
Yes.
00:16:07.06\00:16:08.40
Why weren't you here?
We sent you a message.
00:16:08.43\00:16:09.76
It's a very human reaction.
00:16:09.80\00:16:11.60
It is.
00:16:11.63\00:16:12.97
And verse 22 says,
00:16:13.00\00:16:15.00
"But even now I know
that whatever You ask of God,
00:16:15.04\00:16:19.27
God will give You."
00:16:19.31\00:16:21.14
You know, she had
a tremendous amount
00:16:21.18\00:16:22.61
of faith in Jesus, didn't she?
00:16:22.64\00:16:24.05
She did.
00:16:24.08\00:16:25.41
And, "Jesus said to her,
'Your brother will rise again.'
00:16:25.45\00:16:29.28
And Martha said to Him,
00:16:29.32\00:16:31.05
'I know that he will rise
again in the resurrection...
00:16:31.09\00:16:34.22
at the last day.'"
00:16:34.26\00:16:35.59
So that's what
we've just been reading
00:16:35.62\00:16:36.96
about in 1 Corinthians
15 and 1 Thessalonians 4.
00:16:36.99\00:16:41.30
Correct.
00:16:41.33\00:16:42.66
And once again,
00:16:42.70\00:16:44.23
Mary and Martha knew very well
00:16:44.27\00:16:46.77
that they would
see their brother
00:16:46.80\00:16:48.17
in the resurrection.
00:16:48.20\00:16:49.90
That "Jesus said to her,
00:16:49.94\00:16:53.04
'I am the
resurrection and the life.
00:16:53.07\00:16:54.74
He who believes in Me,
00:16:54.78\00:16:56.31
though he may
die, he shall live.
00:16:56.34\00:16:59.51
And whoever lives and
believes in Me shall never die.
00:16:59.55\00:17:03.39
Do you believe this?'"
00:17:03.42\00:17:04.85
That sounds like a
contradiction of terms.
00:17:04.89\00:17:07.92
And I used to have a
problem with verses like that.
00:17:07.96\00:17:11.19
I remember someone showing me
the state of the dead one time
00:17:11.23\00:17:14.93
and it just all made sense.
00:17:14.96\00:17:16.40
Now I understood
what the Bible said.
00:17:16.43\00:17:18.80
But then one time I
heard about the second death,
00:17:18.83\00:17:21.94
which I hadn't known anything
about in Revelation Chapter 20,
00:17:21.97\00:17:25.54
I think it is,
00:17:25.57\00:17:26.98
talks about the second
death and with the second death,
00:17:27.01\00:17:30.71
it's the penalty of sin,
00:17:30.75\00:17:33.31
whereas this sleep
is a consequence of sin.
00:17:33.35\00:17:38.89
And so Jesus is saying here,
00:17:38.92\00:17:40.86
"He who believes in
me though he may die,
00:17:40.89\00:17:43.16
he shall live."
00:17:43.19\00:17:44.53
So if we believe in Jesus,
00:17:44.56\00:17:46.93
though we die a physical death,
00:17:46.96\00:17:48.90
and we are put in the
grave or cremated, whichever,
00:17:48.93\00:17:52.63
that we shall live
again when Jesus comes
00:17:52.67\00:17:55.14
but then in the
next verse He says,
00:17:55.17\00:17:57.44
"And whoever
lives and believes in me
00:17:57.47\00:17:59.17
shall never die."
00:17:59.21\00:18:00.54
I mean, but
then He's just saying
00:18:00.58\00:18:01.91
in the verse before
that He's shown He may die,
00:18:01.94\00:18:04.31
you know.
00:18:04.35\00:18:05.68
And I thought
that's a contradiction
00:18:05.71\00:18:07.05
until I learned
the second death.
00:18:07.08\00:18:09.65
Because the
second death is the death
00:18:09.68\00:18:12.29
that the believer
in Jesus will not die.
00:18:12.32\00:18:14.89
Well, the second
death is the eternal death.
00:18:14.92\00:18:17.33
That's right.
00:18:17.36\00:18:18.69
There is no
resurrection from that.
00:18:18.73\00:18:20.06
This, the death
that we all experience
00:18:20.10\00:18:21.76
here on earth but
then there's another death
00:18:21.80\00:18:23.70
that we don't experience
if we are followers of Jesus.
00:18:23.73\00:18:27.10
And that's what that
verse is talking about.
00:18:27.14\00:18:30.61
Then the story goes on.
00:18:30.64\00:18:31.97
Thank you for that, Rosemary,
00:18:32.01\00:18:33.34
that's very good.
00:18:33.38\00:18:34.71
Then the story goes
on to say in verse 32,
00:18:34.74\00:18:36.08
"Then, when Mary came
where Jesus was, and saw him,
00:18:36.11\00:18:39.95
she fell down at
His feet, saying to Him,
00:18:39.98\00:18:41.78
'Lord, if You had been here,
00:18:41.82\00:18:43.15
my brother
would not have died.'"
00:18:43.18\00:18:44.52
So isn't that
what the sister said?
00:18:44.55\00:18:46.02
She's saying exactly
the same as Martha had said.
00:18:46.05\00:18:51.33
Maybe they'd rehearsed
00:18:51.36\00:18:53.03
it in their minds
many times before He came.
00:18:53.06\00:18:54.60
I'm sure they
said to one another
00:18:54.63\00:18:56.20
"Why isn't He
here? He can heal him."
00:18:56.23\00:19:00.20
He would have still being here.
00:19:00.24\00:19:01.87
So I'm sure they were...
00:19:01.90\00:19:03.24
He heals everybody else,
00:19:03.27\00:19:04.61
why doesn't he heal our brother?
00:19:04.64\00:19:05.97
Well rehearsed, yes.
00:19:06.01\00:19:07.34
And 30, verse 33 says,
00:19:07.38\00:19:12.68
"Therefore, when
Jesus saw her weeping,
00:19:12.71\00:19:15.22
and the Jews who
came with her weeping,
00:19:15.25\00:19:17.39
He groaned in His
spirit and was troubled.
00:19:17.42\00:19:20.49
And He said,
'Where have you laid him?'
00:19:20.52\00:19:23.56
And they said to Him, 'Lord,
00:19:23.59\00:19:25.53
come and see.'"
00:19:25.56\00:19:28.80
And then it says, verse 35,
00:19:28.83\00:19:31.93
this shortest verse,
00:19:31.97\00:19:33.34
"Jesus wept. Then the Jews said,
00:19:33.37\00:19:35.37
'See how He loved him!'
00:19:35.40\00:19:37.47
And some of them
said, 'Could not this Man,
00:19:37.51\00:19:40.11
who opened the
eyes of the blind,
00:19:40.14\00:19:42.81
also have kept
this man from dying?'"
00:19:42.84\00:19:46.15
Isn't it
interesting that Jesus wept.
00:19:46.18\00:19:49.45
Yes. Yes.
00:19:49.48\00:19:50.89
Well, that's a very
interesting comment,
00:19:50.92\00:19:55.79
and we need to talk
about that in a moment
00:19:55.82\00:19:59.06
because it does show that
Jesus was human, doesn't it?
00:19:59.09\00:20:02.86
Well, He was God but
He walked among humanity
00:20:02.90\00:20:05.80
as a human being,
00:20:05.83\00:20:07.17
and so He felt
the same as we feel.
00:20:07.20\00:20:09.67
But He was able to...
00:20:09.70\00:20:13.11
As a human being,
00:20:13.14\00:20:15.14
be touched by what we go
through because of death,
00:20:15.18\00:20:19.45
because of sin.
00:20:19.48\00:20:20.98
Death is an enemy,
it wasn't God's plan.
00:20:21.02\00:20:23.28
Yes.
00:20:23.32\00:20:24.65
And so Jesus felt our pain
00:20:24.69\00:20:27.46
and our grief at
losing a loved one.
00:20:27.49\00:20:30.46
He knew what it was like,
00:20:30.49\00:20:32.33
from being one of us not,
00:20:32.36\00:20:34.80
you know, he
would have lost Joseph.
00:20:34.83\00:20:38.27
And who will...
00:20:38.30\00:20:39.63
Who else knows
what other loved ones
00:20:39.67\00:20:42.10
or close people that
He actually experienced
00:20:42.14\00:20:44.01
losing in life?
00:20:44.04\00:20:46.37
But He was well
aware of how we feel.
00:20:46.41\00:20:51.01
Well then it goes on to say
00:20:51.05\00:20:52.68
because we're now getting
to the kernel of the story,
00:20:52.71\00:20:56.02
verse 38, that says,
00:20:56.05\00:20:57.39
"Then Jesus, again
groaning in Himself,
00:20:57.42\00:20:59.55
came to the tomb.
00:20:59.59\00:21:00.92
It was a cave,
00:21:00.96\00:21:02.29
and a stone lay against it."
00:21:02.32\00:21:04.53
It's like we saw in the picture.
00:21:04.56\00:21:06.56
"Jesus said,
00:21:06.59\00:21:07.93
'Take away the stone.'"
00:21:07.96\00:21:10.33
I find that interesting because,
00:21:10.37\00:21:12.03
I mean, Jesus could
have said "Stone rollaway"
00:21:12.07\00:21:14.74
and it would
have just rolled away.
00:21:14.77\00:21:17.04
But once again,
00:21:17.07\00:21:18.44
it shows how Christ
always works with us
00:21:18.47\00:21:21.41
in the story of salvation
as He does in the story.
00:21:21.44\00:21:24.61
"Take away the stone," He said.
00:21:24.65\00:21:26.11
And it wasn't
something that was impossible
00:21:26.15\00:21:28.38
for another person to do
00:21:28.42\00:21:29.95
so He wasn't going
to use divine action
00:21:29.98\00:21:32.55
to do something that
could easily be done.
00:21:32.59\00:21:36.49
And then Martha becomes
very practical, she says...
00:21:36.52\00:21:40.13
"Martha, the sister of
him who was dead, said to Him,
00:21:40.16\00:21:42.30
'Lord, by this
time there is a stench,
00:21:42.33\00:21:44.17
for he has been
dead four days.'"
00:21:44.20\00:21:46.97
"Jesus said to her,
00:21:47.00\00:21:48.50
'Did I not say to you
that if you would believe
00:21:48.54\00:21:51.34
you would see the glory of God.'
00:21:51.37\00:21:53.81
Then they took away
the stone from the place
00:21:53.84\00:21:56.31
where the dead man was lying.
00:21:56.34\00:21:58.21
And Jesus lifted
up His eyes and said,
00:21:58.25\00:22:00.62
'Father, I thank You
that You have heard Me.
00:22:00.65\00:22:04.82
And I know that
you always hear me,
00:22:04.85\00:22:07.62
because of the
people who are standing by,
00:22:07.66\00:22:09.69
I said that they may
believe that You have sent Me.'
00:22:09.72\00:22:12.73
And when He had
said these things,
00:22:12.76\00:22:14.80
He cried with a loud voice,
00:22:14.83\00:22:17.17
'Lazarus, come forth.'"
00:22:17.20\00:22:19.53
And I can just hear that
voice of Christ calling Lazarus.
00:22:19.57\00:22:24.87
It's a sound of triumph.
00:22:24.91\00:22:26.78
Absolutely.
00:22:26.81\00:22:28.18
And I think, Rosemary,
00:22:28.21\00:22:29.54
if Jesus had not said, "Lazarus,
00:22:29.58\00:22:34.02
come forth."
00:22:34.05\00:22:36.18
Every person who
had died in the Lord
00:22:36.22\00:22:38.72
would have come forth.
00:22:38.75\00:22:40.46
If He said, "Come forth"
00:22:40.49\00:22:42.66
then all of the dead
would have been raised.
00:22:42.69\00:22:44.46
But He located Specific.
00:22:44.49\00:22:47.33
Yes, the specific name Lazarus.
00:22:47.36\00:22:49.23
And it wasn't Lazarus,
00:22:49.26\00:22:52.27
if possible,
00:22:52.30\00:22:53.77
would you resurrect?
00:22:53.80\00:22:55.97
It was "Lazarus, come
forth" it was a command.
00:22:56.00\00:22:59.54
"And when he who had died
00:22:59.57\00:23:01.21
bound hand and
foot and came forth."
00:23:01.24\00:23:03.24
You know, that evening,
00:23:03.28\00:23:04.61
I can just imagine
the wake in Bethany.
00:23:04.65\00:23:08.38
I don't think there
was a wake any more.
00:23:08.42\00:23:10.02
Well, the wake where everyone,
00:23:10.05\00:23:12.29
all the neighbors would
have come in that evening.
00:23:12.32\00:23:16.09
Because we don't know
what time the resurrection
00:23:16.12\00:23:19.69
of Lazarus took place.
00:23:19.73\00:23:21.10
But the neighbors were there,
00:23:21.13\00:23:22.86
I mean, the
disciples were there,
00:23:22.90\00:23:25.30
as well as that
there were Mary and Martha.
00:23:25.33\00:23:28.10
There was Lazarus,
00:23:28.14\00:23:30.77
I mean, who wouldn't
want to be talking to Lazarus?
00:23:30.81\00:23:33.34
And then, of course,
there was Jesus Himself.
00:23:33.38\00:23:36.71
And it's
interesting that in this record,
00:23:36.75\00:23:41.28
if you believed that
Lazarus had gone to heaven
00:23:41.32\00:23:43.79
when he died,
00:23:43.82\00:23:45.29
the natural expression
would be "What was it like?
00:23:45.32\00:23:48.46
Tell me about it."
00:23:48.49\00:23:50.76
Because they
would be so inquisitive,
00:23:50.79\00:23:52.69
but those
questions are never asked
00:23:52.73\00:23:54.33
because they didn't believe
that he's going to heaven.
00:23:54.36\00:23:55.70
There is no
answer given like that.
00:23:55.73\00:23:57.20
He being in the tomb.
00:23:57.23\00:23:59.13
And this was really
the greatest of miracles.
00:23:59.17\00:24:03.24
And it's recorded here
to comfort our broken hearts
00:24:03.27\00:24:06.68
is that to record,
00:24:06.71\00:24:08.48
to encourage the
faith of the disciples
00:24:08.51\00:24:12.21
and you could imagine
Lazarus walking around
00:24:12.25\00:24:15.68
after he'd been
raised from the dead.
00:24:15.72\00:24:17.55
Four days. Well, no.
00:24:17.59\00:24:19.25
I'm talking about... Now,
00:24:19.29\00:24:20.62
after he'd been
raised from the dead.
00:24:20.66\00:24:21.99
Four days dead. Yes. Oh, yes.
00:24:22.02\00:24:23.59
Yes! Imagine how
people would want to stop him,
00:24:23.63\00:24:27.30
and talk to him, and touch him,
00:24:27.33\00:24:29.70
and ask questions.
00:24:29.73\00:24:31.90
And this is why if you read
the story on you'll find that,
00:24:31.93\00:24:35.17
of course the Jews wanted
to kill him, because he...
00:24:35.20\00:24:37.51
As well as Jesus.
00:24:37.54\00:24:38.87
He was now a testimony
to the power of Christ,
00:24:38.91\00:24:41.61
because no one else
could raise the dead.
00:24:41.64\00:24:43.71
That's right.
00:24:43.75\00:24:45.08
You know, the
shortest verse in the Bible
00:24:45.11\00:24:47.28
tells us something about Jesus.
00:24:47.32\00:24:49.52
Why did He weep?
00:24:49.55\00:24:51.35
Jesus knew that He
was about to raise Lazarus
00:24:51.39\00:24:53.56
from the dead.
00:24:53.59\00:24:54.92
So it was not because
Lazarus was dead that He wept,
00:24:54.96\00:24:57.83
He wept because He
wanted to show His sympathy
00:24:57.86\00:25:00.33
and compassion.
00:25:00.36\00:25:01.73
He wanted people to understand
00:25:01.76\00:25:03.26
that as a human being
He identified with us,
00:25:03.30\00:25:07.07
He understood the
feelings that we experience,
00:25:07.10\00:25:10.17
He was one with us.
00:25:10.21\00:25:12.27
On the other hand,
00:25:12.31\00:25:13.84
John lays great
emphasis on Christ divinity.
00:25:13.88\00:25:17.21
His gospel
starts with a statement
00:25:17.25\00:25:19.15
that "In the
beginning was the Word
00:25:19.18\00:25:21.25
and the Word was with God,
00:25:21.28\00:25:23.25
and the Word was God."
00:25:23.28\00:25:25.82
A little further down
the chapter, John says,
00:25:25.85\00:25:27.86
"The Word became
flesh, and dwelt among us."
00:25:27.89\00:25:31.63
Then he ends his gospel
00:25:31.66\00:25:32.99
with a statement that
these things are written,
00:25:33.03\00:25:35.66
that you might believe
that Jesus is the Son of God.
00:25:35.70\00:25:40.20
Yet John says
in the same gospel,
00:25:40.24\00:25:42.64
that Jesus grew
weary at Jacob's well.
00:25:42.67\00:25:46.37
He asked for a
drink, to quench his thirst.
00:25:46.41\00:25:50.01
Then he tells us, Jesus wept.
00:25:50.05\00:25:52.48
So we have a savior
who is both God and man.
00:25:52.51\00:25:57.29
And 40 days
after the resurrection,
00:25:57.32\00:25:59.22
He was taken up in to heaven,
00:25:59.25\00:26:00.79
and today He's
making intercession for us
00:26:00.82\00:26:03.46
in the heavenly sanctuary.
00:26:03.49\00:26:05.59
And I like to think that
when the winds of trouble blow,
00:26:05.63\00:26:10.40
and we feel
depressed, and down and out,
00:26:10.43\00:26:14.87
or we are going
through great pain and sorrow,
00:26:14.90\00:26:18.44
that we have a
savior today in heaven,
00:26:18.47\00:26:20.64
who understands our humanity,
00:26:20.68\00:26:23.48
He understands our needs,
00:26:23.51\00:26:26.15
He understands our sorrows.
00:26:26.18\00:26:28.68
He's the one who
says He will never,
00:26:28.72\00:26:31.39
ever leave us or forsake us.
00:26:31.42\00:26:35.36
There is no place
where our earthly pain
00:26:35.39\00:26:38.69
is felt more
keenly than in heaven.
00:26:38.73\00:26:42.23
The other great thing
that the story tells us
00:26:42.26\00:26:44.50
is that Jesus is
able to conquer death.
00:26:44.53\00:26:47.34
No other religious leader
has ever been able to say that,
00:26:47.37\00:26:51.34
and then
demonstrate the fact that
00:26:51.37\00:26:54.58
He is the
resurrection and the life,
00:26:54.61\00:26:56.38
only Jesus.
00:26:56.41\00:26:59.05
In the gospels, Jesus raised
three people from the dead.
00:26:59.08\00:27:02.58
Remember, Rosemary,
there was First of all,
00:27:02.62\00:27:05.75
there was Jairus' daughter.
00:27:05.79\00:27:07.29
That's right.
00:27:07.32\00:27:08.66
And then there was
the widow's son at Nain.
00:27:08.69\00:27:11.96
And then, of course Lazarus,
00:27:11.99\00:27:13.33
who had been dead for four days.
00:27:13.36\00:27:15.90
Now it was true that
there were plenty of others,
00:27:15.93\00:27:19.93
homes that weren't
raised but Jesus saw
00:27:19.97\00:27:22.50
the raising of
Lazarus as an illustration
00:27:22.54\00:27:25.11
of the great resurrection
00:27:25.14\00:27:26.47
that's going to take place
very soon before He comes back.
00:27:26.51\00:27:29.64
That's right.
00:27:29.68\00:27:31.51
And I hope that
you've been encouraged today,
00:27:31.55\00:27:33.72
as we've talked about Lazarus
00:27:33.75\00:27:35.65
and what happens when you die,
00:27:35.68\00:27:37.65
that God has a special plan.
00:27:37.69\00:27:40.36
Those who have died are asleep.
00:27:40.39\00:27:42.76
They're not in heaven watching
00:27:42.79\00:27:44.43
and wailing or somewhere else
00:27:44.46\00:27:45.93
where it's a
terrible place to be.
00:27:45.96\00:27:48.00
Read the Bible.
00:27:48.03\00:27:49.36
Learn what it says
about the truth of God,
00:27:49.40\00:27:51.83
and be confident and encouraged.
00:27:51.87\00:27:53.94
We'll see you next time.
00:27:53.97\00:27:55.34