A hope to change your world John 11:25-26 April 1, 2018 Introduction I can tend to overstate things with my children to get them to perform.

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1 A hope to change your world John 11:25-26 April 1, 2018 Introduction I can tend to overstate things with my children to get them to perform. You all probably do as well: If you don t eat those lima beans you will never grow up to play major league baseball. If you don t hurry up and get ready for bed, you are going to lose all electronic devices for the rest of your life. This dessert I made will change your life. If you watch that TV much longer you will lose brain cells. Transition: Now this morning we are going to look at a statement that Jesus made, that literally did change the world, and my hope this morning is it either has changed your world, or will change your world. 1

2 Retell the Story Point out John 11:4-6 But when Jesus heard it he said, This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (ESV) John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (ESV) Finish the story of Lazarus I. Outrageous claims of Jesus Christ. (These are only over stated if they are not true) His first claim is that of. 2

3 A. I am the Resurrection: To bring back to life. 1. You know what resurrection means to me personally: Hope. Illustration: First time fishing with Caleb. Sent the fish away floating. I lied about what really happened. Main Point: As a Pastor I have to do many funerals, and I will pursue the Obits. Why? I like to make sure my name is not listed. No, because I want to be reminded of what is my future. This is what is coming my way, a picture with a couple paragraphs, and if that is all there is to my life, than I am living a very sad life. Illustration: Commercial I saw years ago where a young man standing at a graveside funeral, asks another man, How much do you think he left behind? The older man replies, All of it. 3

4 None of us gets out alive, we all one day will float, instead of swim. The only Hope I have is that Jesus is true to his word, that He is the resurrection. I Thessalonians 4:13-14 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (ESV) 2. This is what Easter (Resurrection) Sunday is all about. Death does not have the final say. I Corinthians 15:54-55 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your 4

5 victory? O death, where is your sting? (ESV) Transition: Resurrection for all who believe in Jesus Christ, that was his first outrageous claim. His second outrageous claim was B. I am the Life. I am the resurrection and the life 1. Jesus here is talking about life in general. I call this purpose. 2. Jesus came that we might have purpose. 3. Yes, he claims to give eternal life, but part of His claim is to give purpose and meaning to life, which flows out of resurrection and hope. 4. Hope that your life counts for more than just what you see in the here and now but counts to make an eternal difference. Illustration: Drive you Nuts. 5

6 Main Point: Jesus claim is that if you put him in the center of your life the rest of it will make sense. Some of you are sitting here this morning juggling all that life throws at you: Job, family, recreation, finances, family loss, relational problems, and none of it seems to make sense. That is because you either don t know, have forgotten, or for a season put Jesus here on the outskirts, and so the rest does not make sense. That is why John 11:4 is so important. When Jesus is in the center, all your life has purpose. Even the difficult things in life have meaning and purpose. In this story even Lazarus death God could use for bigger things. In fact, the story ends by saying: John 11:45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, (ESV) You may be here this morning and you have forgotten, or not known, or ignored that God 6

7 created you special, and He has created you with a purpose in life that brings Him glory and praise. Jesus claims that he alone is the giver of purpose. Transition: Jesus makes outlandish claims. He is the resurrection, He is life, and then he says he is C. Jesus gives Eternal life. John 11:26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (ESV) 1. Jesus made the outrageous claim that he alone could give eternal life. Does that strike anyone as outrageous? It does me!! Illustration: In the movie End of the Spear martyred missionary Nate Saint was attempting to reach a completely unreached group of people in Ecuador to tell them about Jesus Christ. This tribe was incredibly 7

8 violent and had been known to kill almost any outsider that attempt to come into their village. Nate and his mission team were attempting to make personal contact with this village with the hope of introducing these people to the gospel of Jesus Christ. When Nate s son asked him if he would use his shot gun to protect himself from the would-be killers, Nate Saint responded, No I will not shoot them because I am ready for heaven, they are not. Main Point: Now that is an incredible amount of freedom knowing the eternal fate of one s soul. That is why the author of Hebrews can write to a church of people who are being persecuted because they are Christians: Hebrews 13:6 So we can confidently say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me? (ESV) 8

9 Transition: Three outlandish statements by Jesus Christ. These are no simple statements to make. So now I want you to see what Jesus asks of Martha, it is the same question I want to ask you today. II. Jesus demands a response. John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (ESV) Many of you can insert your own name right here. Do you believe this (insert your name.) Many of you can continue to try and do things your own way, or you can trust Jesus that these statements are true. I Corinthians 15:12-18 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even 9

10 Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (ESV) The resurrection of Jesus Christ demands a response of either: A. Belief. B. Unbelief. 1. He is either who he said he was or he is not. 2. He either did what He said He will do, or He can t. 3. He is who he said he is, or he isn t. 10

11 4. Please stop making Jesus out to be simply a good teacher, or great moral compass. 5. He is the one who brings the dead back to life, who give purpose in this life, and give eternal life to all who believe. 6. Or he is a deranged liar. Main Point: This is why what we celebrate this Sunday, Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday is the lynch pin of Christianity. BTW: The Bible is not calling you to believe the way we might be called to believe in the Tooth Fairy (This stirs images of Dwayne Johnson in my head). The call is belief in historical fact. Paul, upon writing the letter to the Corinthians makes clear that the risen Jesus appeared to many many people including over 500 people at once, (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) and he dares the readers of this letter to go ask those that saw him. 11

12 And so, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit raised from the dead, this authenticated these outlandish claims that He made. Let me add one thing to what I just said, these claims are not outlandish if they are true. And these claims would cease to be true if Jesus was not raised from the dead. I am going to tell you Jesus Christ of Nazareth is my hero, and my only hope, because when a man steps out of his own grave he is anything that he says that he is, and he can do anything that he says he can do. Conclusion During an edition of the news program 60 Minutes, Dan Rather interviewed Jack Welch, the outspoken former CEO of General Electric. At the end of the interview, Rather asked Welch, What s the toughest question you have ever been asked? 12

13 Welch replied, Do you think you ll go to heaven? When asked how he had answered that question, Welch continued, It s a long answer, but I said that if caring about people, if giving it your all, if being a great friend counts despite the fact that I ve been divorced a couple of times, and no one s proud of that. I haven t done everything right all the time. I think I got a shot. I m in no hurry to get there and to find out any time soon. Main Point: This is what I say all the time, the message of the Bible is not that you get to heaven by being good. You get to heaven by being perfect. We already live in a place with lots of people that do lots of good things, and I think we would all agree this is not heaven. And I think we would all agree that we are not perfect. So where does that leave us? It leaves us in need of saving, by a savior. 13

14 A savior who did what we could not, living a perfect life. Jesus did that. A savior who paid a debt we could not pay. Jesus did that dying on the cross for our sin. A savior who authenticated His outlandish claims by conquering the penalty of sin, by rising again. Jesus did that. And when we repent of our sin and trust in Jesus, His righteousness is gifted to us by grace through faith, so that we can go to heaven, by His perfection freely granted to us. Jesus makes the claim that eternal life is not guess work. He says that we can know for sure that we are destined for heaven if we exercise faith in Him. He is eternal life. John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (ESV) Do you believe this? 14

15 Pray I suspect many of you in this room, can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, absolutely Pastor Shaun I believe this. But if you could not and you have not. What are you waiting for. Make today the day. Easter Sunday, April 1 st 2018 that you declare with Martha: John 11:27 Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, (ESV) If that is you and you are ready, allow me to lead you to the Savior through prayer: Heavenly Father, I acknowledge today that I have lived my life not believing that Jesus is the Son of God. And I acknowledge I have been doing life my own way. Today, I turn from doing my life my own way, and I trust in your Son, Jesus Christ, as my salvation from my sin. I trust that He is who He claimed to be. And He is the one who is the Resurrection and the life. I confess that I need to be saved from the penalty of my sin, 15

16 and that Jesus is my savior. And it is in Jesus name I pray. Amen 16