The Promise of a Future

Dear God, our Father in heaven, we are so, so thankful that we can come together this evening to worship you in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and that we can worship you in the presence of your Holy Spirit.

And as we come to you, our God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we pray that you would still our hearts and we pray that we would come in a posture of worship, of joy, of thanksgiving, and of hunger.

Because as we come to you this evening, we come knowing that we need you so, so much.

And so we want to come before you and bow before you.

And as we've been singing, recognizing that you are our maker, our saviour, our God, our King.

And we want to come and bow before you.

We want to lift our hearts and our eyes to you in praise and thanksgiving.

And we want to hear your voice speaking to us through your word.

Because, Father, we need you more than anything else.

And we need you more than we even realize ourselves.

And so we pray that as we come here together, that we would meet with you, that you would bless us, and that we would all be drawn closer to you.

So, Father, we pray that you would help us as we come to you just now.

We're so conscious that we can do nothing on our own.

But we thank you for all the promises that you give us, for your promise to be with us, to help us, to speak to us, to teach us, and to build us up.

And we pray that as we come together this evening, that we would be renewed and refreshed in our faith, that we would be taught and built up in our minds and our understanding,

that we would be strengthened with greater courage and determination to obey you and follow you in our lives.

And we pray that our hearts would just burn with ever deeper love for you and for one another.

So we pray that you would bless us as we gather here this evening.

And we thank you for everybody who is here tonight.

And as we come together, we come with so many different needs and with so many different burdens that we carry.

And we just want to pray, especially for any who are here tonight who have had a really tough week.

We pray for any who are here just feeling tired or anxious or bruised.

We pray for those who are maybe feeling that their faith is hanging by a thread.

We pray for those who feel discouraged.

We pray for those who are anxious about people that they love and who are coming to you this evening with sore hearts and anxious minds.

We pray, Father, that whatever our circumstances, that you would meet with us all.

And we pray that we would hear your voice speaking to us in your word.

We thank you so, so much for the gospel, for the words of eternal life spoken and demonstrated in our Savior Jesus.

And in all that you have woven together across the pages of Scripture as you've accomplished your purposes.

And we just pray that we would hear your voice more tonight.

And that for all of us, you would meet with us and build us up, binding us closer to one another and leading us on so that we can serve you in all of our lives.

And we want to especially pray for anyone here or anyone in our families or in our workplaces or around us where we live who do not yet know you.

We pray, Father, that you would be working in people's hearts.

And we pray that for those who've got no word of you, that you would just press eternity into their hearts and that you'd unsettle them and that you would get their minds questioning and get their hearts seeking so that they would look to you and realize how much they need you.

And we pray for those who are seeking you and for those who maybe know how much they need you but who are struggling to come to any sense of assurance or certainty.

We pray that they would just see the simplicity of the gospel, that they'd hear your voice calling their name tonight and that they would just be able to receive and rest on Jesus Christ for their salvation.

And we pray that for those of us who are following you, we pray that we would be built up and encouraged in our faith as we seek to live out our lives for you.

As we do that, we are conscious, Father, that so often we fail and we come tonight confessing our sin before you.

And we do that with sorrow and with frustration, aware that very often it's not just new sins that we fall into, but often it's the same old ones that we keep slipping back into.

We confess that before you and we come to you tonight in repentance and we want to turn away from sin.

And as a new week begins, we want to go into that week obeying you and following you and listening to your voice speaking to us in your word.

And we thank you so much that as we confess our sin before you, we do so knowing that the promise of the gospel is that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

And how we thank you for that promise.

And may the reality of that cleansing in the gospel just energize us as we seek to serve you in the days ahead in our lives.

We want to pray for anyone who's in particular need in our communities or connected to this congregation.

We pray for those who grieve, asking that you'd comfort and sustain and help them.

We pray for those who are unwell just now.

We pray for those who are under pressure at work or with other responsibilities in their lives.

We pray for those who struggle with addiction, asking that you would help them to turn to you and that you would break the grip of addiction in their lives.

And we pray for any others for whom these may be difficult days.

And we know that for people around the world, these are very difficult days in some areas.

We pray for war-torn regions.

We pray for areas of conflict.

We pray for areas of disease and shortage and famine.

And we just pray for all those, Lord, who are just suffering so much just now.

And we pray for those who are in authority and able to make decisions or that they would make decisions that make for peace and for justice and for healing and for hope.

And more than anything else, we pray that people all across the world would hear the good news of Jesus and turn to him and find the peace that only you can give.

And so we pray that your blessing would be upon each one of us.

Bless this congregation, bless all the work that they are doing and guide them in the days ahead.

That they would just be a beacon of hope and light and joy to Stornoway.

And that you would build them up and that you would immensely bless the work of the gospel here and across our island in all the days that lie ahead.

We pray that in it all, your majestic name would be glorified.

And it's in that name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

We're going to sing again, this time from Psalm 119 in the Sing Psalms version on page 159.

So Psalm 119, we're singing the fifth part, verse 33 to 40.

Psalm 119 on page 159.

I love Psalm 119.

It's a psalm that speaks so powerfully of just recognizing the beauty of God's word.

And as we're singing to God's praise in these words, we're also committing ourselves to follow the teaching of God's word.

Praying that it would shape every part of our lives.

And that's one of the amazing things about the Psalms.

They're songs of praise and they're beautiful prayers.

And so we praise and pray to the Lord together as we rise to sing these words.

We'll sing to Rockingham, Psalm 119.

Teach me to follow your decrees.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Teach me to follow your decrees.

And I will keep them to the end.

In this I come, I'll keep your love.

With all my heart to it attend.

Lead me in your forgiveness, God.

For there, O Lord, delight I find.

In the Lord, delight I find.

In the Lord, delight I find.

From selfish gain, please stand my mind.

O time, my eyes from worthless things.

Get life according to your word.

To be, O Lord, delight I find.

To be, O Lord, who will be, O Lord.

To be, O Lord, who will be, O Lord.

You look on me, O Lord.

You're lost and self in uprightness.

O Lord, O Lord, who will be, O Lord.

Please send me in your righteousness.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

We're going to read God's word together in the Gospel of John and Chapter 11.

John Chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention

And we'll read from the beginning.

It's on page 108.1 of this Bible, but it might be different in the Bibles that you're using.

John Chapter 11, verses 1 to 44.

John 11:1–44

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother

Lazarus was ill.

So the sister sent to him, saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill.

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.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this, he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again.

The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you.

And are you going there again?

Jesus answered, are there not twelve 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 walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.

After saying these things, he said to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I

go to awaken him.

The disciples said to him, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he will recover.

Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he meant taking rest and sleep.

Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died.

And for your sake, I'm glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.

But let us go to him.

So Thomas called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go, that we may die

with him.

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha

and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated

in the house.

Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.

Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.

Martha said to him, I know that he'll rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

Do you believe this?

She said to him, yes, Lord.

I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, the teacher

is here and is calling for you.

And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.

Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had

met him.

When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go

out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him,

Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died.

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply

moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

And he said, where have you laid him?

They said to him, Lord, come and see.

Jesus wept.

So the Jews said, see how he loved him.

But some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this

man from dying?

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb.

It was a cave and a stone lay against it.

Jesus said, take away the stone.

Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there'll be an odour,

for he's been dead four days.

Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believed you'd see the glory of God?

So they took away the stone and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that

you've heard me.

I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around

that they may believe that you sent me.

When he'd said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.

The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face

wrapped with the cloth.

Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go.

Amen.

This is God's word.

May he add his blessing to it.

We're going to sing again together, this time from Psalm 37 on page 252.

So that's in the Scottish Psalter version.

Psalm 37 on page 252, singing from verse 3 to verse 7.

Set thou thy trust upon the Lord and be thou doing good.

And so thou in the land shalt dwell and verily have food.

This little section that we're going to read, verses 3 to 7, has three wonderful commands.

It says, set thou thy trust upon the Lord.

It says in verse 4, delight thyself in the Lord.

It says in verse 7, rest in the Lord.

And these are three wonderful things for us to do as we sing together.

So Psalm 37, verse 3 to 7, stand and sing to the tune Evan.

Psalms 37:3–7

And so thou in the land shalt dwell and verily have food.

Feel like thyself in what you give.

Thy heart's beside to thee.

Thy way to go, go with him trust.

Good thing God.

For like noontide of the day.

Praise Him, the Lord, and patiently

Wait for Him, do not pray

For Him who prospered in His way

The sustenance in the day.

As we turn to God's Word, let's just pray for a wee moment.

Father, as Your Word is opened before us,

please may we be open before You.

Give us ears that can hear, minds that understand,

and hearts that burn with love for You.

Amen.

I'd like us to turn back to John 11,

and let me read again at verse 25.

Jesus said to her,

I am the resurrection and the life.

Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live.

And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

Do you believe this?

The Bible is full of amazing promises that God gives to His people

and that God continues to give to us today.

Promises that run right through from Genesis all the way through to Revelation.

And in so many ways, the Gospel rests on these promises of God.

And one of the wonderful privileges that we have when we come to study God's Word together each week

is that we can come and hear these promises from God anew.

We can unpack them.

We can think about them more.

Because life is so often full of broken promises.

So often things don't go the way we want them to go.

So often we are hurt and let down by other people.

So often things turn out the way that we wish they hadn't.

So often life can be difficult.

And in all those difficulties and challenges that life can bring,

the promises of the Gospel are what give us hope and comfort and strength.

And one of the most amazing promises that God gives

is found in these verses that we're going to look at tonight.

So we're going to think a little bit more about the words of John 11, 25 and 26.

And as we do that, we're going to ask four questions.

What does this promise tell us about God?

What does this promise tell us about ourselves?

What is God promising?

And what does God require of us?

So first of all, we're asking the question,

what does this promise tell us about God?

As we read, the context around these verses

is the illness and death of Jesus' friend, Lazarus.

And as we read, Jesus had heard reports that Lazarus was ill.

He had waited a little longer before he travelled to Bethany.

And by the time he arrives there,

Lazarus has died and he's been in the tomb for four days.

As Jesus approaches Bethany,

Martha, one of Lazarus' sisters and a close friend of Jesus,

comes to meet him.

And John records their conversation.

Martha said to Jesus,

Lord, if you'd been here, this is verse 21,

Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that whatever you ask from God,

God will give you.

Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.

Then Martha said to him,

I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

And it's in response to these words

that Jesus gives the magnificent promise of 11, 25 and 26.

And that, of course, is one of the great I am sayings

that we find in John's gospel.

But what does it teach us about God?

Well, what I want us to think about tonight in this section

is that here we are being reminded of the connection

between God and life.

And so it's so crucial that we maintain that connection.

And if you look at the conversation,

Martha has been confronted by death.

Her brother has died.

And her response to that is to look to Jesus.

And Jesus responds by telling her,

your brother will rise again.

Martha replies by saying, well, yes, that's true.

He's going to rise again on the last day.

And what Martha says is true,

but it's not the whole truth.

Because Martha believes in the resurrection,

but when she thinks of it,

she thinks of the resurrection as a thing

that's going to happen then.

In other words, it's an event that lies in the future.

That's not wrong.

But it's not the whole truth.

Jesus responds to that by saying,

I am the resurrection and the life.

Now, I want to just unpack that statement a little bit more.

First of all, Martha was thinking of resurrection

as a thing that's happening then.

It's an event sometime in the future.

Jesus directs her to himself.

And he says, I am.

And this, as we said,

is one of the seven I am sayings

that we have in John's gospel,

along with I am the light of the world,

I am the way, the truth, and the life, etc.

These are crucial descriptions of Jesus.

And in all of them,

there's a very deliberate link

to the nature and character of God himself.

I love the fact that the two smallest words in the Bible,

I am,

are probably the two most important words in the whole Bible.

Because if you think back to the Old Testament,

particularly when Moses met Jesus,

when God met Moses at the burning bush,

God reveals his name.

And his name is these words,

I am who I am.

And so when Jesus says,

I am,

it's actually a really loaded phrase

because it's making a direct connection to God.

All of this is teaching us

about who Jesus really is

as God the Son.

It's teaching us about God.

And so Jesus says,

I am the resurrection.

And he says,

I am the life.

And these two words,

resurrection and life,

these two words are pointing us

to what we could call,

we could call them meta realities.

Now that's just a fancy way of saying big stuff.

It's making us think about the big stuff,

the big questions,

the big realities of life.

And in many ways,

if you think about it,

the resurrection is pointing us

to the very end of history.

It's pointing us to the last day,

the end point

in the history of the universe.

It's the big moment

that everything is heading towards.

And if you think about the word life,

and if you kind of stretch

what lies behind that word,

we're thinking about the big reality

that makes the universe

more than just existence.

When you look at the universe,

it doesn't just exist.

It's not just a lump of stuff.

The universe contains life.

Earth is not just a bare planet.

It supports life.

And so if you think about it in those terms,

we start to realize that

resurrection is pointing us

to the very last day,

the climax of everything.

Life is actually pointing us back

to the very first day,

thinking about where that came from,

thinking about the source of everything.

And that's why we're saying

that this is talking about meta realities.

We're talking about the source,

where everything has come from,

and the destiny to which everything is going.

And you think to yourself,

okay, that's the big stuff,

the big meta realities.

And we ask the question,

what lies behind those?

And that's a question

that the whole world

has spent centuries trying to answer.

What lies behind everything?

And some people might think,

well, nothing.

And there are many people

who would hold that view today.

Others might think more

in terms of like a force,

maybe a force of physics,

like gravity,

maybe something to do with biology,

like DNA,

maybe more something like fate

or chance

or something like that.

Other people think

that behind those realities

is just a machine

that keeps going round

and round and round in circles,

that life just keeps on going round

and round and round.

Lots of people have different ideas

as to what lies behind

these big meta realities.

The Bible tells us something different.

The Bible tells us

that behind these meta realities

is a person.

And that means

that according to the Bible's worldview,

the absolute

that underlies all reality

is a person.

Now, that person has life.

So he thinks and speaks

and acts and wills and relates.

And that person gives life.

He's the source

from which all other life comes.

And all of this means

that the foundation of life,

the foundation of all meta realities

is not something,

it's someone.

A true, real, living someone.

And that person

is Jesus Christ.

He is the one who lies

behind it all.

If you imagine it

a wee bit like this,

if any of you

like listening to music,

imagine maybe you like

listening to Ed Sheeran

on Spotify.

If anyone's not heard

of Ed Sheeran,

he's just,

he's like a not quite

as good version of Costello.

And you like listening to him.

And you think to yourself,

well, I love listening to him

on my Spotify,

so I'm going to go and see him.

And so you book a concert

in Glasgow at the Ovo

or whatever location it might be.

And you think,

oh, I'm listening to this music.

I've got my tickets.

I'm going to go.

And I'm finally going to get

to see Ed Sheeran.

And if you got there

and all you saw on stage

was a guitar and a stand

and a chair

and a voice recorder,

you'd be thinking,

that's not what I came to see.

And it would make no sense.

The whole thing only works

if Ed Sheeran is there himself.

In other words,

from the first moment

when you've listened

to an Ed Sheeran song

to the day when you finally get

to an Ed Sheeran concert,

behind all of that music

is a person.

And the Bible is saying

that exactly the same

is true of the universe.

Behind it all lies Jesus.

Now, that tells us

two incredibly important things.

It tells us, first of all,

how massive this statement is.

When Jesus says,

I am the resurrection and the life,

he is saying something massive.

He is saying that he

is the foundation of all reality.

He is the end point of all reality.

You cannot have a first day

or a last day without Jesus.

He is the center of all existence.

He is the ultimate meta-reality.

And so we're discovering

how massive this statement

Jesus makes is.

But even more so,

this is showing us,

this whole passage is showing us,

that the someone

who lies behind all existence,

the absolute

from which everything else comes,

is someone

who is utterly lovely.

He's kind

and wise

and patient

and fair

and true

and compassionate.

And this is one of the amazing things

about what the Bible teaches us.

If you peel back the universe

to find its ultimate source,

you find loveliness.

you find all the beauty

and goodness

and grace

of Jesus.

And perhaps most importantly of all,

what you discover

is that this person is a son.

He is a son

who has a father.

This means that he's not solitary,

he's not isolated.

Instead,

he is relational.

From all existence,

he has existed

in this beautiful relationship

between God the Father,

God the Son,

where the love,

the infinite,

eternal love

between them

is carried forth

by the Holy Spirit.

He is loved,

he loves,

he is dependent,

he is dependent upon,

he is precious to his Father,

his Father is precious to him.

All of this is pointing us back

to the Bible's absolute of all reality,

the living God,

the persons of the Father,

the Son,

and the Holy Spirit.

Now,

I hope all that makes sense.

A lot of that's very big stuff

to think about.

I hope that that's not too complicated.

Put simply,

Jesus is telling us

that the absolute

that lies behind reality

is not a dead thing.

It's a living person.

It's him.

And that means

that the norm

for reality

is not deadness.

The norm for reality

is life.

And that's an incredibly important thing

for us to remember.

And I hope we'll see that in a moment.

We need to go on to question two.

What does this promise

tell us

about ourselves?

Well,

the big thing that I want to highlight here

is that

this passage is telling us

that your life is precious.

Now,

you might be thinking,

well,

I know that.

And we all spend a lot of our time

trying to preserve and protect

our lives.

But

what I want us to see

is that your life

actually matters

way,

way more

than we tend

to realize.

we tend to think

that life is precious

because it's short

and fragile.

And that's true

in so many ways.

And we want

to protect ourselves

because

we know that actually

our lives

sometimes

we're confronted

by the fact

that we realize

our lives

are actually

hanging by

not very much

and it's far more fragile

than we sometimes realize.

And so we think

when your life is short,

life goes by

so quickly

and so we think

we need to make

the most of it.

We need to protect it.

Life is precious.

So we tend to think

life is precious.

Be careful with it.

Life is precious.

Make the most of it

because it's short.

God doesn't think like that.

God thinks

in a way

that is far better.

God thinks

life is precious.

Make it last forever.

So when we read

of Lazarus

being ill

when we read

of two sisters

losing their brother

we think

well that's a shame

but it's normal.

And Thomas

sums it up

really well

in verse 16

when he said

to the other disciples

well let's go to Bethany

so that we can die

with them.

Because to Thomas

to the disciples

to all of these people

death just seems

inevitable

and we think

like that as well.

So though we try

to push it away

though we try

to protect ourselves

from it

when it does come

we kind of resign

to it and think

well death is going

to come.

It's inevitable.

We just have

to accept it.

Jesus does not

think like that.

Jesus does not

think like that.

Because from

Jesus' perspective

death is not normal.

Death is not

inevitable.

Death is not

acceptable.

death is

fundamentally wrong.

And that's brought

out very very

powerfully in this

passage but we

don't actually see

it very clearly

in the English

translation that

we have before us.

So if you look

at verse 33

of John chapter 11

John 11 · chapter mention

it says that

when Jesus saw

her weeping

and the Jews

who had come

with her also

weeping

he was deeply

moved in his

spirit

and greatly

troubled.

And so when you

read that verse

you tend to think

of Jesus

sees Mary

coming and

sees her weeping

sees the Jews

with her also

weeping

and you see

his heart

I don't know

how you describe it

but you see him

feeling sorrowful

and moved

and sympathetic

and sad

to see them

suffering.

but deeply

moved isn't

really what the

word in Greek

means.

The word in

Greek that

describes how

Jesus felt

in this moment

actually means

outraged.

It's a word

that means

angry

means very

angry.

Jesus is

outraged

at what he

sees

and that's

so important

for us to

recognize

because to

Jesus

the illness

and the

death of

this man

was wrong

and the

pain

that these

sisters

felt

was wrong

and the

agony

of separation

that many

of you

have experienced

is wrong

because to

Jesus

death is not

just this

inevitable part

of life

that we hate

that we have

to accept

to Jesus

death is

an utter

outrage

and if you

think about it

no wonder

it's an outrage

because he is

the source

of life

he is the

one from

whom

life has

come

and here

it's as though

Jesus is

standing

before the

tomb of

his friend

and his

arch enemy

is mocking

him

as though

to say

look at

this

you didn't

get it

in time

look at

this

your friend's

gone

look at

this

there's

another one

in the

tomb

and there's

many many

more

coming

look at

all these

precious

people dying

Lazarus

is just

one of

the many

many lives

that you

can't

save

no wonder

Jesus was

outraged

and no

wonder

he says

take that

stone away

and no

wonder

he says

Lazarus

come out

and in

doing that

Jesus is

giving us

a glimpse

of what

his mission

is all

about

he has

come

to give

life

he has

come

to defeat

death

and all

of that

tells you

that your

life matters

and I want

you to

recognize that

whether you

are young

and hoping

for a lot

of life

ahead of you

whether you're

in the middle

like me

and you're

like well

I don't

know if

I've got

as much

ahead of

me

as I do

behind me

or whether

you're

further on

and you're

absolutely

aware

that

most of

your life

story lies

behind you

I want you

all to

recognize that

your life

matters

and so

if you are

ill

and your

body is

suffering

because of

the fact

that sin

has left

us decaying

if you are

hurt

where life

has bruised

you and

battered you

and knocked

you

and if

you are

confronted

with death

either the

fear of

death

yourself

or the

agony of

death

in losing

somebody

you love

I want

you to

realize

that the

absolute

of the

universe

is

outraged

and why

is he

outraged

because

your life

is precious

because

you

matter

to him

so

what is

God

promising

that's

our

third

question

go back

to verse

25

Jesus said

to her

I am

the

resurrection

and the

life

whoever

believes

in me

though

he die

yet he

shall

live

and

everyone

who

lives

and

believes

in me

shall

never

die

do

you

believe

this

as

we

said

a

minute

ago

in

this

passage

and

for

all

of

us

in

our

experience

there's

just

a

kind

of

inevitability

about

death

you see

it

in

Thomas

you see

it

in

Martha

and

Mary

and

they

kind

of

come

saying

if

only

you'd

been

here

as if

to say

well

obviously

otherwise

it's

just

completely

inevitable

and we

all face

the same

reality

so no

matter

what

our

lives

are

the

final

clause

in our

life

story

is

always

going

to

be

yet

he

will

die

yet

she

will

die

and

so

you

might

get

a

brilliant

job

and

you

might

have

a

really

successful

career

and

everything

might

go

every

way

you

dreamt

of

in

terms

of

what

you

achieve

in

your

work

yet

you'll

die

you

might

be

able

to

build

the

house

of

your

dreams

and

you

think

everything

that

you

dreamed

of

and

you

build

the

house

and

it's

there

and

you

make

a

nice

garden

and

it's

just

everything

that

you

wanted

it

to

be

yet

you'll

die

and

you

might

think

well I

really

want

to

make

a

name

for

myself

and

many

people

have

made

a

massive

name

for

themselves

and

even

the

people

who

are

the

most

famous

in

the

world

have

the

same

final

clause

in

their

life

story

yet

she'll

die

yet

he

will

die

it's

inevitable

and

all

the

other

stuff

just

kind

of

shrinks

in

terms

of

its

significance

the

house

the

job

the

success

the

fame

the

whatever

because

our

death

is

inevitable

and

it

takes

all

of

that

away

and

the

key

point

I

want

you

to

see

in

these

verses

is

that

Jesus

is

promising

us

a

new

inevitable

Jesus

is

promising

a

new

inevitable

so

if

you

look

at

verse

25

you

can

see

that

the

clause

where

it

says

though

he

die

so

you

see

it

just

towards

the

end

Jesus

said

though

he

die

I

was

useless

at

English

in

school

so

I

don't

really

know

the

grammatical

term

for

this

but

basically

those

three

words

have

what we

could

call

it

actually

doesn't

matter

statement

because

that's

what's

being

conveyed

here

the

fact

that

those

three

words

actually

don't

matter

they're

not

the

final

story

those

words

don't

have

the

final

say

what

has

the

final

say

is

the

words

that

come

after

in

other

words

the

though

she

may

die

though

he

may

die

but

in

the

sentence

is

not

the

inevitable

but

there's

a

new

inevitable

the

new

inevitable

is

that

we

shall

live

and

there

is

no

comeback

on

that

everyone

who

believes

in

Jesus

shall

live

and

that

means

that

for

everyone

if

you

put

your

trust

in

Jesus

if

you

are

a

Christian

or

if

you

become

a

Christian

the

final

word

for

you

is

not

yet

you

will

die

the

final

word

for

you

is

yet

you

will

live

yet

you

will

live

forever

with

Jesus

so

you

might

have

an

absolutely

awful

week

this

week

yet

you

will

live

you

might

get a

terrible

diagnosis

this

year

and

maybe

some

of

you

are

living

with

those

diagnoses

yet

you

will

live

you

might

not

get

the

job

or the

house

or the

marriage

that you

dreamed

of

yet

you

will

live

you

might

have

your

heart

broken

many

many

times

in this

life

yet

you

will

live

that's

the new

inevitable

that the

gospel

promises

and it

all

makes

perfect

sense

because

the

reason

your

new

inevitable

as a

person

can be

life

is because

the

absolute

of the

universe

is a

living

person

who

gives

life

and

that's

so

so

crucial

for us

to

recognize

this is

how we

need

to

understand

reality

and

this

is

where

what

the

bible

teaches

and

what

everybody

around

us

thinks

are

completely

opposite

because

the

world

tends

to

view

reality

a little

bit

like

this

I

don't

nothing

nothing

nothing

nothing

nothing

nothing

and then

there's

this

wee blip

of life

for a

few

billion

years

where

the

universe

comes

into

existence

and

there's

life

and

everything

and

all

that

stuff

and

slowly

it

all

starts

to

burn

up

and

disappear

until

the

end

it

all

collapses

and

we

go

back

to

deadness

so

it's

a

little

bit

like

you

start

with

death

there's

start

with

deadness

there's

this

this

anomaly

in the

middle

called

life

and

then

there's

a

death

erection

at

the

end

but

everything

just

becomes

dead

again

and

that's

actually

how most

people would

view reality

in Britain

today

the Bible

says

the opposite

the exact

opposite

in the Bible's

worldview

the norm

is life

life is

what everything

came from

the life

of the living

God

father son

and holy

spirit

the anomaly

in the middle

is death

that's the

intrusion

sin has

brought in

something

that was

never meant

to be

there

something

that has

ruined

what God

has

created

and

that's

why

it's

all going

to end

with a

resurrection

everybody

restored

to life

everyone

appearing

before the

judgment

seat

of the

living

God

and the

whole

point

of Jesus

mission

is to

break

the power

of death

to undo

that anomaly

to put

right the

wrong

and to

give

you

life

and at the

heart of that

life is two

things that we

see in this

chapter

there's

individual

preciousness

and precious

togetherness

individual

preciousness

and precious

togetherness

so Jesus

restores

your life

for everyone

here who's a

Christian

for everyone

who becomes a

Christian

Jesus

restores

your life

because you

as an

individual

are precious

and so he

died to take

your sin

he died in

your place

and you are

united to him

in the power

of his

resurrection

because you

as an

individual

are precious

but Jesus

also restores

your life

so that other

people can enjoy

your company

and so that you

can enjoy theirs

so that there's

this beautiful

togetherness

in the new

humanity

that Jesus

is restoring

through his

death and

resurrection

and you see

this so

clearly

in Lazarus

Jesus

wept at

the grave

of this

individual

this dear

friend

who Jesus

knew and

loved

Lazarus

the individual

mattered

to Jesus

and you

as an

individual

matter to

him as

well

but the

amazing

thing

about

Lazarus

is that

you never

hear him

talk

when you

look at

all

he's like a

key figure

in the

gospel

but you

never

hear him

talk

instead

he's

always

described

in terms

of his

relationship

with other

people

so he's

described

as a

friend

as a

brother

and in

chapter 11

his death

is mourned

but in

chapter 12

you find

Lazarus

again

and he's

having a

meal

with his

friends

everyone

is enjoying

being

together

and so

Jesus

promises

you

life

because

you

are

precious

to him

and because

you are

precious

to others

that there's

this collective

preciousness

this beautiful

togetherness

that lies

at the heart

of the gospel

and the result

is that for all

of us who

trust in Jesus

we can enjoy

this amazing

togetherness

and I think

that the meal

that Lazarus

shares

is a glimpse

of this

I think it's a

beautiful picture

that Lazarus

has died

Lazarus

is restored

to life

through Jesus

the very next

thing we see

him doing

is having a