From Death to Life

Introduction:

SMILE!

Introduce Myself

Honor the Pastor

Pastor’s Name: _____________________

Thank the Pastor for Having Me

Tell Congregation What a Great Pastor They Have

Promote the Festival

Festival Details:

Tell Congregation Something I Like About Their Culture or Country

Part 1:

Let me paint you a picture. There is a perfect family that is enjoying a peaceful life together. They all share with each other, they live in a nice neighborhood, they each have jobs, and the whole family loves each other very much! The siblings get along well, and they never argue or fight. The father has a good-paying job that allows him to provide for the family and he also spends a lot of time with the kids. The mother is able to stay home and take care of the children. Every one of their needs was met, and they did not have to worry about anything.

It seemed like nothing could ruin this perfect situation. For years this family enjoyed their perfect lives together. But one day, the father became very sick. The doctors told him that there was no cure for his sickness, and that he only had a short time to live. This seemingly perfect family began to struggle. The mother loved her husband so much, and the children could not imagine their lives without their father.

After only a few months, the father died. The mother had to begin working so that she could provide for her children. The children became lonely because their mother was always working and they no longer had a father to spend time with.

Only a few months prior everything was perfect for this family, but death entered into the situation and ruined everything.

Part 2:

Many of us may have probably had similar experiences with the death of someone we love. We may not all be a part of a perfect family like the one I have just described, but all of us have had some sort of experience with death. Maybe it was one of our grandparents, or a close friend. Maybe it was a cousin, a parent, or a brother or sister. Even if you have not experienced the death of a loved one, I’m sure that you know somebody who has. Whoever that person is for you, death is a common experience to mankind that all humans, since the beginning of time, have had to face. Death is something that humans cannot control. It is one of the mysteries of life and no human is able to control it. Death comes and goes as it pleases, always leaving behind damage without regard for anybody. This is the tragedy of living in this fallen world.

Transition:

There was a family in the Bible that had a very similar story. This family can be found in John chapter 11, and their names were Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

Part 3:

These two sisters and their brother loved each other very much. Unfortunately, like the family I described at the beginning, their brother Lazarus became sick.

The two sisters knew of this person named Jesus. He had become famous in ancient Israel for performing miracles such as opening the eyes of the blind, healing a crippled man who could not walk, turning water into wine, and even walking on water! Since their brother Lazarus was sick, Mary and Martha asked Jesus to come heal their brother because they loved him so much and could not imagine him dying.

Now this man Jesus was not well-liked by everyone. Not long before this, another group of people tried to kill Jesus by stoning him, and these people lived right near Lazarus. So if Jesus was going to go see Lazarus, he would have to travel back to the area where the residents there just tried to kill him! Now I don’t know about you, but if I were Jesus I would be pretty nervous to travel to a place where an entire group of people wanted to kill me! (How many of you would travel to a place where you were almost killed because the people there hated you?)

After the sisters asked Jesus to heal their brother, Jesus waited two days before he went to visit Lazarus, and Lazarus died before Jesus could get there. Mary and Martha became very sad and upset that their brother had died, and Martha questioned Jesus about why he did not leave right away to come help Lazarus.

Now we can turn to the Scriptures to read about Jesus’ response and what happened after:

In John 11:21-27, it reads,

21“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Some of this passage may seem confusing, such as Martha’s response that Lazarus will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. This is not a main point of the passage, but Martha is referring to the very end of time, which has not happened yet, where all of the dead will come back to life. During this event, some of the dead will go to Heaven, and the rest will go to Hell. This is what Martha is referring to when she says this.

Even though that is not the main point, there are a few important things to note in this passage. First, Jesus’ response that Lazarus would rise again. I don’t want to give any spoilers on what Jesus is about to do, but this is a clear foreshadowing statement, and Jesus already knows what will happen just a few moments later!

Second, it is important to recognize Martha’s faith statement that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Keep this in mind because we will come back to it later.

Third, Jesus says something incredibly powerful. I will repeat it again, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” Remember this statement too, it is very important!

After Martha had this interaction with Jesus, Mary came to Jesus and said something very similar. Here’s what happened, and this is found in John 11:32-35:

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

35 Jesus wept.

The stage is now set. Martha and Mary have confronted Jesus. Everybody is weeping. Jesus is at the tomb of his friend Lazarus.

I actually experienced something similar recently. My grandfather became very sick and had some bad health issues. His health had declined a lot, and it was very sad to watch him as he started to suffer. I always had great memories with my grandfather because I would visit him on holidays and we would spend a lot of time in the wilderness together. He was a very nice man and also very generous. But one day, I heard the news that he had passed away. Just like Jesus, I was not with him to say goodbye, and it was very sad knowing that I would never see him again.

My story is not unique, as I am sure that many of you have experienced something similar.

I know that this message has been sad and heavy so far. I have talked a lot about death and how it is a common experience to mankind. But contrary to what you might think, and unlike anything we have ever experienced, this story ends differently. Here’s what Jesus did, starting in John 11:38:

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

This story does not end in death! It ends in life! Lazarus, who had been dead for multiple days, came out of the tomb and was alive and breathing!

Even though he probably smelled pretty bad, I mean he was dead for four days, he walked out of the tomb completely alive! After he took a few showers and changed his clothes he was fully restored and alive!

What a beautiful story this is about Jesus raising one of his friends back from the dead! But actually, this is so much more than a story. Not only did this really happen, it reveals some things that have a huge impact on us today!

Transition:

First of all, Jesus is a real person! He’s not just a fairytale or an ancient legend. This story with Lazarus is a real event that took place in history. But who is this Jesus and why is he such a big deal?

As found in Scripture, Jesus is the Son of God, who came to Earth from Heaven. Jesus was miraculously conceived to a virgin named Mary, and he lived a perfect and sinless life! That means he never did anything wrong, and perfectly followed God’s commands. I don’t know if there’s any parents out there, but wouldn’t it be nice to raise a child that never did anything wrong!

Jesus walked the Earth for about 33 years, and throughout his ministry he performed many signs and wonders to the people he encountered. He healed the sick, opened blind eyes, helped people walk for the first time, and there is a story where he fed 5000 people from just five loaves of bread and two fish. All of this actually happened!

Not long after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he was betrayed, arrested, beaten, and murdered. He willingly gave up his life and died on behalf of humanity. It’s another death in the story, but what happened to Jesus is even better than what happened to Lazarus.

It might seem like these men had the same outcome since both died and were raised from the dead. But, even though Lazarus came back to life, he still died permanently at the end of his life. Lazarus had the same fate as all of us because he did end up dying for good.

- Here’s the difference: after Jesus was raised, he never died again! Jesus did not have the same fate as Lazarus, and he does not have the same fate as the rest of us. In fact, after Jesus walked out of the tomb he ascended into Heaven, which is where he still is today! Even though Jesus is not walking around the earth like he was with Lazarus, he is just as alive today!

Now let's return back to Jesus’ response to Martha. Here’s what he said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” All of Jesus’ statements here are pretty confusing. What does he mean that whoever believes will live, even though they will die, and that whoever lives will never die? That seems pretty contradicting.

Jesus is talking about the second death, which is an experience after physical death. After we live our full life on earth, we don’t just die and remain dead. Our souls will actually live on. For those that reject God and the name of Jesus, they will die a second time and end up separated from God for all eternity in a place of eternal punishment. But for those who accept the name of Jesus, they will be able to spend eternity in God’s presence in Heaven.

So whoever believes in Jesus will not die the second death, they will actually be gifted with eternal life! That’s what Jesus means when he says that he is the resurrection and the life, and that even though we may die here on earth, we will actually have life for all of eternity up in Heaven!

Here’s the main point of my message today, Jesus can bring you from Death to Life! Jesus can bring you from Death to Life! Even though we will all die at the end of our lives, Jesus is the one person who can rescue us from spending eternity separated from him. It does not matter what our lives look like here on Earth, they could be filled with sorrow, pain, fear, or doubt. All of these things lead to death, but here’s the thing: Jesus brings us life! He gives us life here on earth, but more importantly he gives us eternal life in Heaven.

Now you may be wondering how to receive this gift of eternal life, and I am very glad you asked. Do you remember Martha’s response to Jesus? She said, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” That is exactly how to receive this gift of eternal life!

Martha’s faith statement in Jesus not only opened the doors for Jesus to work miracles in her life, but it also granted her eternal life. Even though Martha may have died here on earth, this statement of faith gave her everlasting life with Jesus in Heaven!

There is not some magical power behind these words, but the Bible tells us in the book of Romans that we must believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and we will be gifted eternal life.

Here’s another beautiful thing, it is not based on our performance! We don’t have to live a perfect life like Jesus did. I certainly have not lived a perfect life. I constantly mess up, and disobey God. But Jesus took upon himself all of our sin and all of the things that we have ever done wrong, and died for us so that we can receive the gift of eternal life! That’s it! It really is that simple. All we have to do is believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross, and rose from the dead three days later.

That is what Martha did back then, and that is something that you can do today! You can do that right here and right now!

Let the Holy Spirit Take Over!

“Holy Spirit, take over in this moment. Let it not be my will but yours be done. Help me to be sensitive to what you have to say through me. Lead me in the Spirit right now. Amen.”

Salvation Prayer

Prayer for Healing

- Martha’s faith statement opened the door for Jesus to work miracles in her life. Like I mentioned earlier, Jesus not only raised Lazarus from the dead, he also healed many other people! And here’s some awesome news, he didn’t stop doing that! He can still do that today!

- I believe that Jesus wants to heal some of you.

- Please raise your hand if you need some sort of healing. We will have prayer leaders down here in the front for those of you that need healing.