Jesus at the Tomb: Belief When God Seems Late

Before we get into the word today, which is going to be a life-changing for someone here, even those listening online, I tell you, God has a word for you. It's going to be good. Before we do that, I want to just spend some time in intercession. Uh intercession is when we pray for someone else. If you're unfamiliar with that word, it just means that you're you're interceding on behalf of someone else. Either they can't pray or you're praying for something for them. It's it's absolutely uh it's it's it's lifechanging. It's what Jesus did for us in John chapter 17. Specifically, I come before you with the request for a young lady named Paige. Paige Wood is her name. She got in a car accident a week ago today. Uh she was on her way from Eugene to her home here in Central Oregon uh to go to church and she fell asleep and was in a horrific car accident. Uh by all accounts, she

should have died, but she is alive and she needs a miracle. Uh, she needs more than a miracle. She needs your prayers today. I'm asking Journey Church, can we just intercede on behalf of Paige this morning? She's in Portland right now and it's not looking great, but that's usually the place where God shows off the most, where he gets the glory. I I don't want to go into all the details. I'm just asking for you to pray big bold prayers of of protection against infections for divine miraculous healing in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The one that healed the lepers. The one that made blind eyes see. The one that made the lame walk. Would you just pray for divine healing over Paige? We're also going to intercede on behalf of her family and the anointing of the Holy

Spirit. Her mother's name is Heidi and her father's name is Jeremy. He's been battling stage 4 cancer. So right now I'm going to ask you to pray out loud. And the reason I ask you to pray out loud is so that you would hear yourself. People around you would hear you. If this is uncomfortable, you don't have to do it. But I would just say if there's any place to get uncomfortable is church. So I'm just going to say that we would just join together out loud. Wherever you are in your journey of faith, if you want to pray like a child, the Lord loves those prayers. They don't need to be eloquent or the right words. I just need some sincere prayer warriors to join me that we're going to see some major breakthrough that Paige is going to wake up and things are going to be different.

That we're going to see something different. Can you can you all join me on that? So, so right now those who are watching online, you could you could join out loud in prayer. Those who are here in person out loud for just a minute or so. We're just going to intercede on behalf of all those that love. She's only 16 years old. Uh, so we're going to pray right now that this this her story and and you're going to see this in today's text. This isn't spiritual language. Her story would be used for God's glory. I speak that over your life as well. You're alive. God made you not just so that you would live life, but your life would be used for his glory. Nothing is wasted with God. Nothing. So we say, Lord, use this right now for your glory. So join me out loud just right right where you are. Pray for Paige. Lord, we come together in the mighty name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth who came in the

flesh. You are Messiah. And we say, Lord, would you heal Paige, wake her mind up, God, if there is anything that is impossible, that's who you are, the God of impossible. So we say, Lord, would you restore that which is wrong right now, we say, protect her like right now in the name of Jesus Christ. We plead your blood, Jesus, over her body, God. Protect her from infections. Everything that the devil would bring against her, we rebuke right now in Jesus' name. We say she is yours, Lord. You made her. So you you did wonderful with her life. And we declare in Jesus' name, use her life for your glory, God. Let her parents know that God, you are writing her story. We ask in the name of Jesus for your Holy Spirit to anoint that room right now. That the

manifestation of your glory would be great. Doctors would be in awe of you, Jesus. We pray every nurse would know the power of you, Jesus. Use Paige's life for your glory. And while we lift her up, we say, God, comfort this family. Comfort her mother. You are the helper, the comforter. I ask right now in Jesus' name for you to heal her father, Jeremy. In Jesus' name, God, we just rebuke cancer right now that every cancer must bow down at the name of Jesus Christ. We say, Lord, this is a time to show off. This is a time to declare who you are. Let the world know your fame for your coming soon, God. We thank you that you've heard our prayers today. We thank you that you're going to do greater things than we can ask for. We thank you for who you are. You're faithful. You're good. And you never stop being God. So we love you and we thank you today in Jesus' name. All

God's people just join together and shout amen. Amen. So be it. That means we believe it's true in Jesus' name today. Hallelujah and amen. I will give you updates as I know them. But I had a call yesterday. Someone asked if we would be praying for her and I said this is an appropriate time for the whole church to be praying. We need to be a praying people. Do you agree with that? I don't know where you are in your journey of faith, but I'll tell you what it starts with and what it continues with is prayer. You don't stop praying. A few years ago, the Lord pressed on my heart that we need to do things differently at Journey Church and we started doing things differently. We we we took God at his word and we started to be a praying church and we started pursuit nights where we we press

into the presence of God and we worship and we pray and there's there's those that come forward for prayer and we lay hands and we anoint those who need a healing or a miracle with oil. And I tell you, the last few years have been some of the most important years of my life because as we decided to do things differently at Journey Church, some people didn't like it and they left. Some people saw that there was change and so they just had to go do something new. Some people just decided that they had to talk about us on the way out and slander and gossip and say all sorts of things aren't true. And I'll just declare I don't regret a single thing because God gets the glory for the powerful healings and the workings of God since we take him at his word.

When you look at the life of Jesus in the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, he did three things consistently. He preached the gospel. He cast out demons. And he healed the sick. And I just want to testify. I want to do the same. And we are seeing God do that which only God can do. And he gets the glory. We started making proclamations that don't even sound like they make sense unless you have a mustard seed of faith. We declare the central Oregon shall be saved. Now, some would say that's cliche and we're just trying to uh have hype, but this isn't hype. We believe there's hope for everyone. Either God's great enough to save every soul in Central Oregon or he's not. And I believe in a God that can rescue and save anyone. We started making statements like Journey Church shall be a cancer-free zone. We said that because so many people are struggling with cancer. And we said it

and I'm not even sure some of us believed it, but we said it and we started praying over those who have cancer. And I'll say in the years that we've been saying this, we have seen over and over, our God is faithful. Just this week, just this week, I've heard of three people healed of cancer. Just this week, I tell you. And it's not one type of cancer. lymph nodes and breast cancer and liver cancer. And on Friday, if you haven't uh remembered, we've been praying for a brother in our church named Andrew who's been battling cancer. And it just looked like cancer was taking over. And what we just did for Paige for healing, we did for Andrew several times here at church. We we

interceded. We we we begged God and prayed and we we asked God to heal him from cancer. And as we prayed, things went from bad to worse. You ever prayed that prayer before? God, get me out of this. God, rescue me. God, heal me. And then things don't get better, but they get worse. Well, Andrew's wife called my wife on Friday. Just this past Friday. She called her and said, "Hey, Andrew is completely healed of cancer. I don't know if you heard me, but he is completely healed of cancer. And I'll tell you, we've had to press into some prayers. And on that same day that I got that testimony, one of our own uh sisters who's on staff here, Lina, our experience director, she text me uh this

message on Friday morning. She said, which let me just give you a context. her sister was told she has a cancerous tumor. And so Lena's been interceding for her in prayer and she writes me Friday morning says, "I just anointed my sister and her surgeon with the oil you gifted us from Israel. Thank you." So she she writes me that and it wasn't but just a few minutes later that I I get a follow-up text message that says it starts off this way. Shut up. Praise God. That's when you know it's going to be a good text message. They just did an ultrasound so that they could mark where to remove it from and it has shrunk and no longer looks like cancer and does not need to be removed.

Thank you, Jesus. Now, I always know there's the naysayer that says, "Oh, was that tumor really cancerous? And maybe it wasn't as bad as they thought." And then there's the naysayers that say, "Yeah, but you're you're praying and there's still people that have cancer in your church." Or or what about those that prayed and nothing happened? And I want to just declare to you today based upon the text we're going to tackle that God is greater than your questions. Any God that can't handle your questions is not a God that can be trusted. God's greater than your doubts. God's greater than your fears. God's greater than your frustrations. And there is a myth that's been hanging around American Christianity too long that says following Jesus is easy. It's

comfortable and predictable. And I'm here to tell you today, Christianity is anything but easy, comfortable, and predictable. Because if you believe in Jesus, it will be hard. It will be uncomfortable and wildly unpredictable. If you think you got your life figured out, you're not believing in Jesus. And lest you think somehow, well, I'm not sure I want to follow that God, let me tell you, it's always worth it. He gets the glory for who he is. And today, if hope seems dead, today, if you feel stuck in some tomb that's not letting you live, whether it be fear, depression, or addiction, it's time to step out and hear the voice of Jesus. You're not meant to live in that place. You're not meant to to stay stuck.

You're not meant to be in a tomb. You're meant to have life. And according to Jesus in John 10:10, life abundantly, you're meant to experience the fullness of who he is. We find ourselves in the book of John. And I'm going to have to dive right in because we have much to cover. And and I expect that God's going to say something that you need today in his word. We're looking at the relentlessly real life of Jesus told through the lens of John. Someone who walked with Jesus. He talked with Jesus. He touched Jesus. And he's very methodical in telling us about the life of Jesus. He gives many sevens in this book. The number seven is a representation of perfection, completion. And he's pointing you to Jesus who's perfect. He's completely God. God who came completely in the flesh to display to you his glory of what he's able to do and who he is. He

declares seven times these statements of I am. The name God gave himself in Exodus chapter 3. I am who I am. The God that was, is, and will forever be. Almighty God. Jesus says, "I am." Today, we'll look at one of those I am statements. John records seven signs. This is the word he uses for miracles, for it's a sign of who Jesus is. Seven signs. He is perfectly able to do absolutely anything. We've looked at six of the seven and today we come to the climax to the crux of who Jesus is, the grand finale of his miracles that we would believe in him and what he's able to do. We've looked at Jesus turning water into wine. He's the one that provides for you when it looks like you've lost your way, when it looks like you've run out of of provision. He's the

one that provides in the most unorthodox of ways. He Heals the ruler's son. He's the one that healed the invalid at the pool who was looked over year after year, decade after decade. Uh he he is the one that that brought sight to the blind. He is the one that fed the 5,000 men, but also the women and children there that day. He is the one that walked on water. And today you're going to see that he is the one that brings the dead to life. The whole point of this book of John is not to learn what Jesus did. Is not even just to learn who Jesus is. It's not enough just to know about Jesus. John says in chapter 20 30 and 31, now Jesus did many other signs. He

did many other miracles in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. But these, he says, the seven that I did include, these are written so that you just slap your neighbor and say you. Come on, somebody. You, it's so that you. These are written that you that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. That's why we're reading the book of John. That's why we're looking at these miracles, that you would believe. And this testimony today is not so that you would leave here the same way that you would see that what Jesus did here, he's

able to do in your life. Unless you think that he works the same way in everyone's life, let me tell you, when you trust in him, you're going to find a creative God, that what he did in someone else, he may not do in you the same way, but he is the God that's able. So, wherever you are today, would you let Jesus write your story? It's already started. So, he's got a plan for you. I like how the King James version says in Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith." Would you let Jesus be the author of your life? Let him write your story. I tell you, he could do a better job with your story than you can. He's a redeemer. He's a rescuer. He's a restorer, as you're going to see today. He's he's the resurrection and the life.

In the NIV version of this text, it says that Jesus is the pioneer of our faith. He's the pioneer. Would you let him go before you to do in your life what you could never do on your own? Let's dive in. If you brought a Bible, John chapter 11. I'm not going to have you stand for the reading of God's word. I'm just going to go one verse at a time as we just look at this life of Lazarus. John chapter 1. Now, a certain man was ill. Who was this man? And it was Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. John quickly introduces us for the first time to these three siblings, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. We're told where they live. Bethany, Bethany is near Jerusalem, as we'll discover in this story. Bethany is not exactly the place that everyone

wanted to live. Some call it the house of figs, but really the name Bethany tells us what this town was about. It literally means the house of the poor. It's known as the the the place of affliction. Another phrase for this particular place would be the house of misery. Yet none of that stopped Jesus from visiting this place often. I want to know Jesus and I want to go where Jesus would go to reach people Jesus would reach because he went to Bethany. Not just in this occasion of John 11, but we're told that he went there often because he would hang out at the house of Mary and Martha. These sisters could not be any more different.

Isn't it weird that you could have the exact same parents, but yet the the siblings could be so different? In Luke chapter 10, we're told that Jesus is in Bethany at the home of Mary and Martha, and Martha is busy serving Jesus. I mean, she was the true superhero. She was cooking. She was cleaning. She was doing all the work. And where was Mary? At the feet of Jesus, learning from Jesus, being loved by Jesus, looking to Jesus. And so Martha goes to Jesus and has the audacity to tell Jesus what to do. Y'all ever been there before? I'm not sure if you see Jesus what's happening, but could you tell this person to clean it up? And so she tells Jesus, "Hey, Mary's not serving. You see

what I'm doing?" And Jesus responds to Martha regarding her sister Mary and says, "Martha, Martha." Sounds like a Brady Bunch episode, but we see here the heart of our God. He's trying to get her attention. Today, you can expect that Jesus is calling your name. He wants you to hear him. You are anxious and troubled about many things. That describes many of you today. You're anxious. You're troubled about many things. Today, we've come into the presence of almighty God. And Martha teaches us you can be right in front of the God of

glory, God in the flesh, the fullness of grace and truth, and still be holding on to your anxiety and troubles and still think you're right and still think you need to tell God what to do. And Jesus teaches Martha what he's really trying to teach you today. There's only really one thing in life that's necessary and Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her. Another translation says Mary has chosen the better thing. You will never at the end of your life regret doing the better thing, the greater thing. There's a lot of people

at the end of their life that regret working so hard. A lot of people they look back and they say, "I should have done things differently." And Jesus with his grace today is extending you an invitation. You don't have to keep holding on to your anxiety. You don't have to keep being troubled in your spirit. So here we have in Luke 11 the introduction of not just Mary and Martha, but their brother Lazarus. And John feels the need to tell us in verse two, "This was Mary who anointed the Lord with an ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill." Why include this detail? Well, we're going to read about this in the next chapter. This sort of sacrificial worship where you don't care about what anybody else thinks, but you just want to love Jesus with everything.

It requires you to let down your hair or we'll learn in the coming weeks for you to be judged by others. It will require you to to offer much. It's this Mary that sat at the feet of Jesus that anointed Jesus. It's this Martha that worked so hard to serve Jesus. And as we see here in verse three, these sisters knowing that their brother's situation was dire. It was desperate. They knew exactly who Jesus was and what he was able to do. So these sisters, verse three, sent to Jesus saying, "Lord," they don't call him rabbi or teacher or even Jesus. They say, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." For the record, Jesus is

far north, at least a a day's travel away. So they sent a messenger, which would have taken at least a day. They didn't have the luxury of a text message. They couldn't send him an email. So, they sent him a messenger. It would have taken him a full day to get to Jesus, which means it would have taken another full day for them to get back to Lazarus to do what Jesus can do so well. And they didn't say, "Lazarus, your follower, is ill." They didn't say, "Jesus, Lazarus, your disciple, is ill." They said, "Jesus, the one whom you love, is ill." Now, if you're unfamiliar, the Bible was not written in the English language. We understand the New Testament to be written primarily in Greek. And the word love here when you when you get to the root is fileo.

Fileo means a brotherly love. It means a fond affections. It means I like you better than than I like the ordinary man. Meaning I like to hang out with you. Well, we could put in our vernacular, Lord, your best friend is really sick. So not just any guy. Jesus, the guy you laugh with, the guy that you like a lot, your best friend is sick. And one would assume Jesus would drop everything and come do what he's done for so many others. He would come and heal them. But when Jesus heard this, he said out loud so that these words could be recorded, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God." Someone say, "Glory of God." Glory of God. This sickness is going to be used for God's glory. Which tells me that even that

which the enemy intended for evil, God could use for good. Your depression, your addiction, your divorce, I don't care what it is, your life could be used for the glory of God in the hands of Jesus so that the son of God, that's Jesus, may be glorified through it. It's all about Jesus. So, whatever you're going through, it doesn't have to be easy. It doesn't have to be comfortable, but it does have to be about Jesus. In some sense, Jesus is saying, "I got this." But I don't know how you read this. If you take your own time and read this text, this is either comforting or it's frustrating. You ever gone through something horrific and someone tried to encourage you with some like Christian cliche stuff?

I mean, you're like suffering and someone's like, "Oh, don't worry. God's going to work it for good and you just want to slap them in the face and be like, "That's not what I need right now." It's like when you've lost a loved one and they try to be, "Oh, they're in a better place." I don't need you to tell me that. I just need you to sit with me and just say something like that so that you understand what I'm going through. And when I read this, part of me wants to say like like Jesus, he's sick. He doesn't need you to be like, "I'm going to get the glory through this." But but Jesus knows what he's saying. when you're suffering, he wants you to see that it's not wasted. It's not in vain. He's going to get the glory. Now Jesus, verse five, now Jesus loved, someone shout loved loved Martha and her

sister and Lazarus. John finds it necessary for you to see that Jesus loved these siblings. Now, this word here is not fileo that Mary and Martha said about Lazarus. So when they sent word to Jesus, they said, "Jesus, your your friend, the person you fileo is sick." John now says Jesus agapeed Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Now, if you're unfamiliar with agape, that's the most powerful Greek word that we have translated into our English, love. And in the old English, you'll see this in King James version is translated charity. It means that God is unconditional in the way that he loves you. meaning you could do nothing to make him love you

more. He just loves you because he loves you. And John notes here they could do nothing to make Jesus love them more. If I can just speak that over your life today, he loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. You might be ill right now. It might seem like God's delayed in doing what you would like him to do, but God's word says he agapees you. He loves you. Not because you're a better version of yourself, not because you're healthy and good-looking or strong or doing the right things. He just loves you. So when he heard verse six that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Could someone just shout, "What?" Lazarus is sick. And John notes in verse six that he stayed. It was a choice. Some would say it's selfish. Some would say it's confusing. Some would say that Jesus didn't fully understand how sick he was. But we learn in the next context that Jesus knew exactly what he was doing. And I I need you to work with me here because I want to get through this text. Verse 7 tells us, "Then after this, after two days, and we know it took a day for the messenger to get there. So we know it's been at least three days since they sent word. After this, he said to his

disciples, "Hey, let us go to Judea again. That's where Bethany is. They're up north. Judea's in the south. It's where the capital Jerusalem is. Bethy's right outside. Let's go to Judea, guys. And the guys say this. The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you." And you're going to go there again? All you got to do is go to last week's text in John 10 and see that Jesus said, "I and the Father are one." And what they want to do to him, they wanted to put him to death. They wanted to stone him. It was the third time since John chapter 5 they wanted to kill Jesus. And they're like, "Do you really want to do this again, Jesus?" Jesus answered, "Are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone,

verse 10 tells us, walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him." I'm going to come back and address Jesus teaching in just a moment. After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." So, we need to we need to get this guy up while we can. While it's still day, let's do the works of the day. He's asleep. Let's go wake him up. Now, the disciples said to him, verse 12, "Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he will recover. We don't need to go wake him up, Jesus." Have you ever missed it with God? Come on. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he meant taking rest and sleep. So then Jesus just told them plainly, "Lazarus has died." And for your sake, Jesus says, "I am

glad that I was not there so that you may what? Believe. But let us go to him." They have to travel a long distance. He's going to risk his life. So Thomas, so Thomas, do do you all remember what the nickname is for Thomas? The Thomas you're probably thinking of doubting Thomas. It's the first time we're introduced to Thomas. John will mention him four more times. He doesn't sound like a doubter here. I think that's a bad rap, everybody. So Thomas called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go that we may die with him. If he's willing to risk his life, if we know that they're going to kill him, I'm willing to die with Jesus. Who's in me?" Thomas says, "This is a man of courageous faith." But we've got to first work backwards

here in the text to understand it. The disciples miss the moment that Jesus says, "We're going to go do something great. Wake up Lazarus." And they're thinking to themselves, "Well, why why does he need us to do that?" Even though sleep was a a a common understanding of death throughout even the Old Testament, they missed the moment that Jesus was simply saying this is a guy that needs to be brought back to life. So he uses very plain language. Not sure if you understood this, but in the Greek it says Lazarus has died. In the English it says Lazarus has died. He's dead. And I'm glad that we didn't go early so I could just show you what I'm able to do. And Jesus said, "As long as it's day, do the works of the day. As long as it's night, do the works of the night."

I don't know about you, but in the middle of the night when the lights are off and you're trying to keep them off to like honor the other people in the house as to not turn the lights on, that's when you stub your toe. You know what I'm saying? That's when you're feeling for the things that you're familiar with because you can't see that which is already there, but it's not exposed because that which is in the dark. And Jesus is saying, "I'm here. Let's go do the things that I can do while I'm here. And John would later write in first John that if you have Jesus, you have the light of the world. Because Jesus proclaimed, I am the light of the world. John 1 John 1:6, he says, for if we say we have fellowship with Jesus while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. What does that mean to walk in darkness? It could mean a whole slew of things. It could just be you being disobedient to God.

He wants you to be more more bold in prayer. He wants you to share the good news. He wants you to he wants you to do the works of the day while it's day. But as long as you're living in the darkness and you say you have Jesus, you're not showing the world what kind of light you actually have inside of you. Meaning, whatever you've been through, give God the glory. I'm not saying it's easy, but I am saying it's worth it. I am saying that whatever you're going through, just let God use your life while you still have it. You got breath in your lungs, Jesus would say, "I'm not done with you. Don't go back to your old habits, your old hiccups. Don't go don't go back to those old ways of thinking. You've got the light of the world inside of you." Thomas seems to be the only one saying, "I'm in, Jesus. Let's go." Now, when Jesus came, it would have taken them a full day's journey to get back.

He found that Lazarus had been dead in the tomb for four days. Four days. We're we're going to come to that understanding in just a moment of what that means. Bethany was near Jerusalem. This was the place of the poor. This is the place where Jesus would frequent and about two miles off. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. Here's the thing about the Jewish culture. They know how to grieve. The American culture, we're we're not very good about grieving. It seems to be in my experience that when someone dies, we're always like surprised. They died and then we're confused what to do. Now we got to plan it. Now we got to figure out how to finance it. Now we got to figure out how to get everybody together. And I've seen

these things push out for months and sometimes even a year to gather everyone together to grieve. But you know in the Jewish culture even today when someone dies they they bury the body immediately within hours of the person dying and then you grieve for days immediately. You don't wait weeks to figure out like oh yeah they died. I think I need to process this grief. They grieve for eight days immediately. So when it says there were a lot of people here, it's because they know that when someone dies, you honor their life by gathering together with those who grieve. And sometimes you would hire someone to play the flute or you would hire other people to grieve to recognize and honor their life. And so John is setting the stage here that people are gathering. He's been dead for a few days. They're in the middle of this grief process.

So when Martha heard the news that Jesus was coming, he must have been right outside of town. She went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Can you see how differently these sisters are? I can imagine Martha being like, "Come on, Mary." And she's like, "Shut up. You go. I'm just staying here. Someone's got to you go." You know, you could tell these these sisters are different. Martha runs outside of the village and meets with Jesus and said,"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." That's a prayer many of us have prayed. Lord, if you would have done something differently, my parents wouldn't have gotten divorced. I wouldn't have been molested. I wouldn't have had that fraud happen in my life. I wouldn't have lost.

and you you fill in the blank of what Lord, if you just would have done something differently than what you did, you delayed too long. You you waited too long. But yet, you see in Martha, and by the way, I really respect Martha. No matter how much we pick on her, we see this flicker of faith inside of her. And if you don't know, all God needs is like a spark. He just needs a little mustard seed of faith inside of you. says, "But still, I know you didn't do what I wanted you to do, but verse 22, even now I know whatever you ask from God, God will give you." And I love Jesus because we see the heart of God. He does not condemn Martha

for the words that she said. Jesus did not say what so many of us say, "I'm sorry for your loss." Here's what Jesus said to Martha. your brother will rise again. Martha misunderstanding this as another spiritual illustration of Jesus said to Jesus, I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. I I I know you're referencing some spiritual truths that we've been taught. She was missing the moment that Jesus is like, just get ready. Get ready. Get ready. Get ready. So Jesus said to her, here's the fifth of the seven I am statements. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone, Jesus

says, who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Martha said to Jesus, "Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who is coming into the world. Hallelujah. Listen clearly to the loud claims of Jesus. This is not religious etiquette or some rabbi's teaching. This is the reality that God is in the flesh and he proclaims, "I am the resurrection and the life." You see, death is your greatest enemy.

The devil knows this. Jesus has taught us in this book of John that death is the result of sin. And God has a solution for sin. And Jesus is the solution. He defeated the devil and he defeated death. And in making this proclamation, I am the resurrection and the life. He tells us how you can receive eternal life is not by being a better person. Is not by following the rules. It's not by being born into the right family. Jesus says if you believe in me, you will never die. Paul says to the Corinthians that by believing in Jesus, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. This is the hope that we describe to our region. There's hope for everyone. We point them to the person Jesus. That by

believing in him, no matter what you've been through, no matter who you are, you can be saved by Jesus. By who he is by believing in him. And he leans into her just like he's speaking to you today. Because he didn't say, "Martha, do you believe this?" He simply says, "Do you believe this?" And I know today that Jesus is asking you that question. Do you believe this when you're hurting? Do you believe this? He's still the resurrection and the life today. Do you believe this when you're grieving? Do you believe this? Today, if you are lost, I ask you the words of Jesus. Do you believe this?

Mary teaches us how we ought to be saved. She proclaimed, "Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who is coming into the world." This is what one must do to be saved. Say, "Yes, Jesus. Yes, Lord. I believe." I love that the Bible doesn't say, "Go get your life right first, then you can be saved." No, my friends, you believe in Jesus, he makes you righteous. And it's on that journey of faith that you continue to see greater things. I'm not even close to done yet. I'm so sorry. I saw you in my shadows. No, Haley's the best of the best of the very, very best.

I I know we're going to run out of time here and I knew this today and I pray that we could edit that out because Haley, you always have a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. But I don't want to rush this either. I'm I'm really serious. I don't want to rush this because I don't want you to miss salvation. I'm spoiler alert. Lazarus is dead. Jesus is going to bring him back to life. But let me tell you, he's going to die again. And what Jesus was concerned about was not a healing miracle. He was concerned about salvation. Because if you get a miracle and you're not saved, you will die and go to hell forever. And Jesus is offering you today the free gift of eternal life.

So in the seriousness of this moment, I actually I I resonate once again the words of Jesus. Do you believe this? And it's in that place when she had said this, she said, "Yes, Lord, I believe." She went and called her sister Mary. And I'll rush through this. I know for the sake of time, but she said, "The teacher is here calling you." When Jesus, when she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in that same place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were in the house consoling her saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to go to the tomb to weep there. Look at verse 32. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to

him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." She says the identical same thing that Martha said. I got to imagine they were saying that to each other. If Jesus was here, this wouldn't have happened. If Jesus was here, that wouldn't have happened. If Jesus was here, that wouldn't have happened. Because they both say the exact same thing. But I need you to see clearly that God does not work in the same way. When you approach him, he's going to respond very differently to Mary than he did with Martha. With Martha, he reveals salvation. With Mary, he gets into her story. Pay attention here. Now when Jesus saw her weeping. Verse 32. And the Jews had come also with her weeping, he was deeply moved. Someone say deeply moved. Deeply moved in the spirit and greatly troubled. Say greatly

troubled. Greatly troubled. And he said, "Where have you laid him?" And they said, "Lord, come and see." So on this journey of going to the tomb, it says in John 11:35, you can memorize this. Jesus wept. I want you to see these three things so that you understand the original language that John's writing these things. Deeply moved. Let me explain what the Greek means here. It means he was angry. Don't just miss that he was just deeply moved. Why would John write this? It says that he was upset inside of him that death ends up being a part of our story because of sin. God's not satisfied that people are dying because of sin. Suicide is not God's option. Overdose is not God's option. I tell you when we see death, this was not God's plan. It was a result of rejecting God's plan. Sin entered the

story and death is a result of sin and it deeply moves Jesus. Do you see this? This is why he went to the cross. He was deeply moved. He was greatly troubled. So, so his outside matched what was happening on the inside. And they could see that his his mood had changed. With Martha, he was calm. With Mary, he's deeply moved. He's greatly troubled. And then it says, "Jesus wept." That word wept in the Greek is a word that you use for a horse when their nostrils get inflamed really large. This is the weeping that you can't control your breathing. It's when the snot bubbles come out, your lips quiver. This is the ugly face.

What did Jesus do when Mary was hurting? He met her there. And so I proclaim to you today, if you are hurting, he's not a distant deity. He He's the one that promised and his word cannot fail. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Jesus promised in Matthew 28, "Oh, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." So if you're hurting, I'm hurting and I'm right here for you. Amen. Amen. Oh, and the Jews were confused over this. Just like people are confused when we have healings here. When we proclaim proclamation, people will see their weeping and they will be confused. Some people said, "See how he loved Lazarus?" Oh, no. It's deeper than that, my friends. Some of them said, "Could he

who opened the eyes of the blind in John chapter nine also have kept this man from dying?" Don't let the criticisms of the naysayers dictate your faith. Trust in Jesus. trust in his timing. His delay is not a denial. Jesus deeply moved again. He came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." This word stone in the Greek is the same word that we read in the Hebrew, which is the Old Testament for the word law. The law was written on on stone, the tablets. There's a direct reference here that if you just try to be good enough to get into heaven, it will be like a stone holding you back in a tomb.

The law says you're a sinner and you stay dead. You're dead in that tomb. But Jesus says, "Roll away the stone." Grace has shown up, my friends. Grace is in the place and says, "You can't be good enough. You can't do enough." Just listen to grace and truth. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by the time by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead for how long? Come on, four days." The Jewish tradition of the day, believed that a spirit lingered around a body for three days just in case. But by the fourth day, that spirit was long gone. Why did Jesus wait for that messenger to go home? Why did he have to stay there two more days? Why did he have to travel another day, four days? Because he's going to prove that this body is dead. This isn't the first time he raised somebody back to life. He raised a widow's son, but it wasn't four

days. Remember, he raised Gyrus's daughter who was 12 years old, but it wasn't four days. But now, he's going to show that he is the resurrection and the life. He has authority over death. And so, he says, "Roll away that stone. I know it's stinky because it is. He's dead. That body would have been decomposing and rotting. Let me take a time out for just a moment. You have dead areas of your life that stink. And if you want resurrection, start with the stench. It's dead. Hallelujah. Your faith might be dead. Your marriage might be dead. Your career might be dead. Your dreams might be dead. And I just declare to you today, go ahead and acknowledge it's been dead for a long time. But my God is not afraid of the stench.

He's not afraid of you saying, "Lord, it needs the power of almighty resurrection and life to do what I can't do. Nobody else can do it, but I'm going to release to you. You said move the stone, then I'm going to move the stone." Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" Do you want to see glory or not? Because I'll tell you, if you want glory, it's not easy. It's not comfortable, and it's not predictable. But you still trust in his timing. And so they took away the stone. Jesus lifted up his eyes and he prayed. Here's powerful prayer. Father, I thank you that you've heard me. Start thanking God right now. You want to know God's will for you to be thankful. Grateful people get to see miracles. Start thanking God for what he hasn't even done. I knew you would always hear me. Jesus prayed. But I said this on account of the people standing around that they may believe that you sent me.

Now Haley, I'll take you. Thank you so much. I love you so much. You don't even know. The goal of Jesus was what? That we would believe. Everyone say believe. Believe. He prayed so that they would believe. When Jesus had prayed these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." I need you to hear today. He did not whisper in a soft voice. He He did not say this like a rabbi that was dignified. He cried out. And as so many scholars have said before, he said Lazarus because if he just said come out, all of those that were in the tomb would have come out. But he just wanted one person to come out that day. He said Lazarus come out. John tells us in verse 44, the man who had died, his name was

Lazarus, came out with his hands and his feet bound with linen strips. His face was wrapped with a cloth. And as he came out, Jesus said to them, "Unbind him and let him go." Hallelujah. You want a miracle, you got to listen to the voice of Jesus. There are too many of you that when Jesus tells you to exit that tomb, you stay in the same place. You've got to go. Even if you feel bound, you got to go. Even if it still feels dark, you got to go. Even if you don't know what's going to happen next, he came out bound in the old grave clothes. Step out of that tomb of fear that has paralyzed you from moving forward. Step out of that tomb of depression that has killed hope. Step out of that tomb of addiction that's killing every relationship. But you got to be obedient to the voice of Jesus.

And when you come out, he redefineses your future. Take off those grave clothes. Shame no longer defines you. Guilt no longer defines you. Fear no longer define you. Just get them. Some of us need to help each other and rip off those grave clothes. You see someone coming in here to church and they start telling you their story. If you know that's not Jesus, you just rip off those grave clothes. No, you're righteous. You're beautiful. You're a child of God. Let me tell you who you are. You're agape. You are so unconditionally loved by Jesus. But today, I ask you this question. Do you believe this? God may wait, but he's never ever late.

Here's what I've learned with God. I still haven't figured out what time zone he's in, but here's what I've learned. He's not in my time zone. I tell him, "I need you to do this by 9:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. We're on the West Coast, the best coast. So, do it, God." And then I only realized that, oh, he he's on a different time zone. And he's not late. He's not early. He's never ever early. He knows exactly what he's doing. So So if you're complaining to him what he's doing, it's because your time zone is wrong. So So faith says, "I'm going to follow God even if I can't see it." The American way says, "Oh, I won't believe it unless I see it." But Jesus wants you to believe it even if you don't see it.

But you say, "Oh, I smell it and it stinks. My life is dead." Don't worry. God's not afraid of going to the house of the poor. He's not afraid of going to the tombs. He's not afraid to calling out that which looks impossible. For nothing is too hard from him. Four quick invitations before we leave today. And they're absolutely critical because if you come here and the voice of Jesus is speaking to you and you leave the same, you'll continue to live in death. But I tell you today, Jesus came that you might believe and have life in his name. The first person I ask you, are you waiting? Are you praying and you've not received what you've been praying for? This is an invitation to the waiting.

Trust in his timing. God's delays are not his denials. So if he's not done it yet, he's not rejected you. He's not stopped loving you. If you're in the waiting, he's with you. For the hurting today, you've lost a loved one, a parent, a child, you've lost someone that's so close to you. I only invite you to see that Jesus weeps with you. The third person is really the most important because I want you to be rescued from hell. God doesn't send anyone there. He gives you a great invitation to eternal life and it's free. But you must follow him. The Bible says you got to believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. And it doesn't stop there. You've got to confess him as Lord. You've got to confess that he's no longer dead. On the third day, he rose from the grave.

He defeated death by the power of the Holy Spirit. So for the spiritually dead today, I say hear his voice and come alive in Jesus name. And finally, for the person who has believed, but you're still bound. You know that there's more to this life than what you're experiencing. I tell you today, take off those grave clothes. You're going to discover next week, it's not always easy when Jesus does a miracle in your life. Some people actually are going to persecute you. Some people will misunderstand you. In the case of Lazarus, they want to kill him. But I will say it's worth it because you make it in the word of God, which makes it in history. Take off the grave clothes.

It's never too late with God. You're never too old. You've never sinned so much that God's like, I'm I've ran out of grace with you. Okay, everyone else good, but you. God says, "Actually, I'm so rich in grace. Come on, my child. Take it off. Whatever's holding you back, confess it today. Release it." In this moment, I'm going to just ask that you close your eyes. And while you close your eyes, I'm going to ask that the prayer team or pastors or elders come to the altar right now. We're just about to end our service, but I want to give an invitation. And I want to address all four, and I'm going to do it quickly. So, I need you to respond quickly. The first one is, are you waiting? You've been praying but not getting an answer of prayer. Would you in this moment of eyes closed, just raise your hand? I want to pray over you and the waiting that God's not finished with your story. He's going to write it.

He's the author. Praise God. Hands all over the place. God, you see those who are waiting and I come before you in the name of Jesus Christ. That you would remind them that they're not stuck. They're in the waiting room. This is not your rejection. But I pray today that you would remind them that you're the God that's faithful. May they take you at your word that Lord, we can love you and you will work all things together for good. I declare these things are finished by the promise of what you said on the cross to tell us thy it is done. It is finished, paid in full in Jesus name. Amen. With eyes still closed, I want to talk to the hurting for a moment. If you're grieving right now, if your heart is full of sorrow for any reason, would you slip your hand up? Would you receive the help, the comfort of the Holy Spirit today, Lord? There are so many hands right here. You know every single story. You did not just raise Lazarus from the

grave. You taught us that you wept with Mary. So I say today for those who are hurting, would you help them, Holy Spirit? Would you would you let them know that you're weep with them? That your presence is the great comfort that we need. I ask that you would encourage your church, Lord, to let them know that you are not alone in Jesus name. Amen. You could put your hands down for the person that needs to be born again today, which means starting a new life in Jesus. You want to know that you're saved. You want to know that you have the hope of heaven. If you want to be forgiven of every single sin today and know that God loves you and has a home for you, maybe you've called yourself an atheist before or an agnostic or maybe you followed a false religion. Will you denounce that today? Simply by raising your hand saying, "Yes, Lord. I believe in you." Would you just raise your hand?

Amen. Praise God. Anyone else just raise your hand say yes. I want to come alive. You've heard the voice of Jesus today. Don't wait. Come out of that tomb. Raise your hand high. Say, "Yes. I believe, Lord. I believe in you, Jesus. This is your day of salvation, friends. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Yes. Amen." Anyone else today? For those who are raising their hands, we're going to give you a booklet that tells your next steps. You're going to get baptized. And from this day forward, God's given you power, authority. He's given you his presence, the Holy Spirit. Anybody else just raise your hand. Yes, I want to be saved. Yes, I believe in Jesus. Lord, I thank you for those that raised their hands and I pray today that they would be reminded that they leave. They came in dead, but they are leaving alive

in Jesus name. Thank you for speaking to those hearts that say, "Yes, I am now saved." God, confirm in them salvation through many signs and wonders. And I pray that you would protect them against the schemes of the enemy that wants to snatch your promises. You are the resurrection of life. So God, give those who raise their hands today the resurrection power. And may they do greater things than they ever imagined because of you and for your glory, Jesus. Amen. Finally, let me just speak to the person that's bound just with eyes closed, but you being honest with God. If you know that God's made you for more, you've been stuck in some old habit, some old hiccup, would you just raise your hand today and say, "I'm taking off the grave clothes. I already know I'm saved, but I'm I need to start doing what God's called me to do. I need to remove the past. I need to move forward. I need to see who I am today

all over the place." Those with your hands raised, I declare over you in Jesus name. God destined you for greatness. Your life is a reflection of his glory. So Lord, I pray to today those who are confessing that the grave clothes are gone, but whether it's habits or shame or fear or addiction, it's gone in Jesus' name. I declare freedom today. You have broken every change of bondage that the devil tries to hold us back. But I ask a reminder of your word in your children's life today of who they are. You have set them free and in you Jesus they are free indeed. So Lord let them live in that liberty. May may joy exude from their life. May the fruit of the Holy Spirit be abundant as they crucify the flesh and allow you Holy Spirit to live greatly. Oh God I pray right now that this freedom would be so great it's contagious. Central organs shall be saved because we are

saved by you Jesus. We love you. In your name we pray. So be it and amen. Okay. Lastly, I know I'm going long. Stand up right now. I want to pray over every person here today. If you need prayer, you need healing, you need a miracle. If you want to be saved today, we've got people at the front of the altar. If you want to be born again, or maybe you need the baptism of the Holy Spirit today. You believe in Jesus, but you're missing power, come forward and receive that baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you need a healing in any way, would you come forward? But first, Lord, I declare praise over your people that we would be the ones to understand what you've done. You've called us out of the tomb. We are alive. We are born again. You called us from death to life. So let us live like it, Lord. May we be like you, Jesus, and go where you would go to reach people you would reach. May we grieve with those that grieve and rejoice with those

that rejoice. I declare revival in your church today. For you're the God that's able. Central Oregon shall be saved. Cancer shall bow down at the name of Jesus. Journey Church will be known as a place of healing, of hope, not because of any person here, but because of you, Jesus. I thank you for these things. In your name we pray. So be it an amen and amen.