JESUS SAID - I Am The Resurrection And The Life... // One Church Podcast, 30th March 2026

We are one church. We love God, love people, love

His mission, and love His church.

Welcome to the One Church podcast.

I want to share a story about a day that God arrived late, but

he got there on time. Now that sounds like a paradox.

If you're late, then you can't be on time, except you're

Nigerian. Now, I said that because here in

the Western world, when is when? If something is fixed for 3:00,

you're all seated by 5 minutes to three.

But in Nigeria, we have something called Nigerian time.

If something is fixed for 3:00, it means we start getting ready

for to go at 3 now we don't get there at 3:15.

We get we start getting ready at 3:00 now.

But even for a Nigerian, anyone coming four days after the

event, that is a new world record.

You can imagine someone calling for a party and they say, what

are you here for? I say I'm here for an event and,

and they ask you about the event and they say it happened four

days ago. They'll be like anyone listening

to you like Bros. You're this is, this is, I don't

even know what to tell you, but I want to share that story this

morning. Now, I remember just in

December, just last December, my wife was a part of a three women

group to set up the end of year party for the team, the team she

belonged to. Now we went shopping I think was

in range and she got herself a Christmas hat, but she really

didn't like that Christmas hat. So she went online and ordered

for yet another one. Now have you been ever expecting

something or expecting someone and it came late.

Now it wasn't just about the heart, it was about the heart

coming on time. So they said it will be there on

time. Now the day of the event came,

the party went, it was beautiful, it was lovely,

pictures were taken, all of that was done.

The heart did not arrive. Now of course he had to go back

online and then cancel the order.

It wasn't because the the heart was no longer valuable, it was

about the timing was about the timing.

And so I'm about to say a story about 3 lovely people the Bible

says about these three siblings, Marta, Mary and Lazarus.

The Bible says here in John 11 verse 3 and verse 5 it says, so

John 11:3

the sisters sent word to Jesus. Lord, the one what the one what

the one you love is sick. Now that is what the one of the

sisters said. He said one of the sisters sent

what I said the one you love. So just in case she was she was

the one saying that Jesus loved him.

The Bible says in verse 5 it says now Jesus did what loved

Mata and her sister and Lazarus. So it wasn't just our opinion.

The Bible actually records that Jesus loved these three

siblings. So you would expect that if God

really loves these people, then nothing bad should happen to

them, don't you think? So it makes sense.

Now let me tell you, let's go on.

There's something about the story that really excites me.

So the Bible says that now they sent for Jesus.

Jesus, yes, that the one he loves is sick.

And this is what Jesus did. So when Jesus heard that Lazarus

was sick, he got up and started on his way to get there before

he died. Is that what the Bible says?

What does he say? Wow, do you really love Lazarus?

He says. So when he had, he stayed back.

That's what you do when you hear so on this so on.

Now. Now I would have understood this

because this whole story is filled with a lot of paradox.

Because if you love somebody and you hear they are sick, the

Bible says so when he heard he stayed back, it's of him running

towards the situation. He stayed back.

Have you ever felt like, Lord, if you truly love me, you should

be here right now to help me. If you say you love me, why

would this be happening to me in the 1st place?

And sometimes we're there in that part and we're wondering,

this cannot be love. This is not how love looks.

I mean, we've all, at least we've heard stories of the

knight in shining armour and all of that.

They run towards battle, they don't, they don't stay back.

And that's the way it ends. It then goes on.

Now it then goes on to say that Jesus after two days now says

let's make the journey. And he gets there not one day,

not two days, not three days. I want to tell you why this is

important. He got there four days later.

At this point, you know the Bible says in verse 6 it says,

so when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed back.

Then the next verse says that he got there late.

By the time he got there, Mary and Martha said to Jesus at

different times. He said to him, if only you were

here, my brother would not have died.

You know, I want to say it this way.

The way they were saying is that with all due respect, Jesus, if

it's not that we know you and we love you, I would have spoken to

you in a way you would not really like, Jesus.

That's what they were saying. They said if only you were here

because we have heard about a God that shows up before the

problem starts. We've heard about Jehovah Jarry,

the Lord who sees the need ahead of time.

Then we've also heard about the God that shows up in the midst

of the fire. He shows up in the midst of the

storm. Can you imagine the three Hebrew

boys and you are going through the the whole fire thing and

you're like anytime now, Lord, anytime now.

The fire is getting hotter anytime now, but he died.

It could be likened to something like saying I wish the trauma

never happened. Lord, you should have shown up

for me before the trauma. You'd have shown up for me

before I got into this challenge.

You'd have shown up for me before the problem.

I prayed, I cried, I shouted, I believed, I trusted you.

Not only someone puts it this way, not only did the person

die, the person died the more after you prayed and after you

called out. But this is the point and this

is the main thing I'm going to. Then on the 4th day, Jesus

showed up. Now he arrived late, but he got

there on time. Because when Jesus shows up, you

know, there's some some things happen in this story that I find

very interesting. When Jesus showed up, Mary and

Mata had to leave the company of those that were comforting them.

This is important. Now the comfort was necessary,

but when Jesus showed up, the story was about to take another

turn. I don't know if there's someone

here that thinks that the story has ended.

You've prayed, you trusted God, you believed God, but it's all

over now. And you're like saying, well,

Lord, I'm not going to hate you, but I trusted you.

If only you were here. If only you were here.

I trusted you. But it's too late now.

So it's fine. It's OK.

It's, it's OK. I'm I'm not upset with you.

It's OK. I just want to tell you that if

only you were here, this wouldn't have happened.

But let me say this. When Jesus shows up, the story

changes and there are some things that we need to do when

Jesus shows up. The first thing is this.

When Jesus shows up, we need to show him the place showing the

problem. Jesus showed up and he said in

verse 34 he says where have you done what?

Where have you laid him now? They just told him that he's

dead now, but he said, where have you laid him?

Have you ever felt like it's too late?

No need. Don't need to pray about this

anymore. There's no need to talk about it

anymore. I'm OK with it.

I'm hurt. The sky is there.

There's no need to talk about it anymore.

It's too late. But I'm saying to you this

morning, whatever that situation is, whatever that problem is,

show it to him. It doesn't make sense anymore,

but still show it to him. It's over, but still show it to

him. Let me tell you something about

four days. So I was reading and preparing

for this and I read something that in the Jewish tradition

back then, the 4th day was quite significant because the Jews

believed that when someone dies, the first three days their

spirits, well that's what they believed, was still hovering.

But by the 4th day it was finalised.

You couldn't call back. And on the 4th day, that's what

the Jews believed. Everything he was doing was

intentional. You see, Jesus had raised

Jarius's daughter. That was just a few hours after

she died. Jesus had raised the boy that

was being taken to be buried, but at this point he was in the

grief. There's really no need to bother

Jesus at this point. That's that's that's the thing.

If so, somewhere in your head something is telling you no need

to bother Jesus. It is too late.

The case is sealed and dead and done.

He's saying, I'm saying to you today, show it to him.

Why? Because Jesus has arrived.

Now the second thing is, and this is important as well is

when Jesus arrives, hear him, the Bible says in verse 39, he

says take away the stone, he said, and this was their

response. But Lord said Mata the sister of

the dead man, by this time there is a bad odour for he has been

there for what for days? The trauma, the pain, the

situation. Jesus, if only you did not allow

that to happen to me. But it's happened.

It's too late now. Not just show him, hear what he

has to tell you. Because someone here God may be

saying to you forgive and you're saying it would have been easier

if you never allowed the bad thing to happen to me.

Then I would not even be in a place where I'm struggling to

forgive. You may be in a place where He's

saying that rejoice and praise me despite the fact that the

situation is dead. And you are saying, Lord, it

would have been easier if you answered my prayer maybe before

I got into the problem or while I was in the problem.

But right now the problem is not only dead, it's been dead for

four days. Why are you still asking me to

praise you? But he's saying, I'm saying to

you that when he comes, He will give you instructions now

because the miracle is in his word.

And he says as the water comes from the heavens and it must

touch, Have you ever seen the rainfall?

And then he goes like it comes down, it goes really close to

the flood and goes, no, I'm not going down.

Have you ever seen the rain do that?

If you have probably was in your dreams, not in real life.

The rain must touch the flow. And so also the word that God

sends must perform what it has been sent to do.

And the miracle is in the Word. So He speaks this word.

He doesn't have to make sense. He just has to make faith.

You may say I don't feel. He says it's smelling.

It doesn't make sense to try to do anything at this point.

It doesn't have to make sense. God doesn't call us for us to

understand what he's saying. God calls us to believe him.

There's a difference. You see, sometimes we ask for

details when we don't trust the person just in case someone is

somewhere and you say where are you right now?

Say I'm I'm, I'm I'm with a friend.

Give the phone to the friend. Let me hear his voice.

That's when you don't what trust.

Then you ask for details. Take a picture, round up

building. Let me be sure you are in

church. You know you're asking for

details because you don't trust. But when you trust him, just do

what he says doesn't have to make sense to you.

He says, praise me in the midst of the storm, praise him.

He says forgive and let go. You say, well, but they hurt me.

It feels better to hold on to that pain.

It feels better. And as I was sitting out there,

that's something that dropped my spirit.

You know, we may go. It feels, but it's not about

feeling. It's about faith.

You see, when Jesus showed up, one of the things they had to do

was they had to leave those that were comforting them.

And I feel also in my heart that God may be saying to someone

here that you may also have to leave your current company, not

because the company is bad. You know, for a long time I

thought that Jesus sent everyone out when He wanted to raise

Jerry's daughter because their unbelief was going to affect

him. But then as I was meditating

yesterday, I realised Jesus raised Lazarus in front of

everyone. So it had, it had, it wasn't

that their own belief was going to affect Jesus, but I realised

that their own belief was going to affect Jarius.

And so he had to tell them, put them out, put them out not for

Jesus, because Jesus said yeah, Lord, I thank you because you

hear me always. How do I know?

Because he said he kept saying to Mary that didn't I tell you

belief? Why I said this is I want you to

understand that God does not need everyone to agree with you.

It just needs you to believe. It doesn't have to make sense to

everyone. And you see, if they stayed with

the company of those that were comforting them, they would say

it doesn't make sense because even those people said see how

much when the only place in the Bible is in this story that

Jesus cried only place in the whole Bible how he loved them so

much he wept. You will be wondering why are

you crying? You raised that you you raised

Jairus daughter a few hours you you raised the boy before he was

buried. You healed so many sick Jesus.

Why are you crying at this point?

Wouldn't it have been easier to have come days before now the

fact that he loves you doesn't mean something bad will happen.

But I'm here to tell you that the story has not ended.

The story is about to unfold. So he says come out.

They came out from them so that their fate will not be affected.

And then last but not the least is that when Jesus shows up,

obey. It doesn't make sense.

The miracle is in the obedience. The miracle is in the obedience.

As the story rounds up, you see, after they did all these things,

Jesus said to her, said where have you placed him?

He's been dead for four days. Don't worry, just show me.

The sky is there, don't worry, just show me.

They've caught me. Don't worry, just show me.

I don't feel like praying anymore.

Don't worry, just show me. I've been offended.

Don't worry, just show me. Then he gives you an

instruction. Yeah, but then don't stop there.

Obeying. The Bible says so.

They took away the stone and this is the part I love.

You've done your part. Now Jesus looks up and said,

you've done your part. You don't have to.

It doesn't have to make sense. You don't have to feel it.

You don't have to understand how it's going to do it.

Just bring it to him. God is saying to someone here,

I'm not only coming to heal you, I'm coming to make you whole.

I'm not just coming to. And the reason why he's doing

this is so that when he changes the story around, even you will

know. This has to be God.

There's no, no one can explain it.

No one can understand it because, you see, we live in a

time where it's a bit challenging to preach the gospel

because there's so much, you know, resistance.

But you see, one of the biggest ways we overcome is by the words

of our testimonies. I may not be all I can tell

someone sometimes that Jesus did it for me.

I don't know what you're talking about.

All I know that I was dead. Now I'm alive.

All I know was that I was struggling with this.

Now my life has changed. You can argue with whether Jesus

is real or not or who is great. All I know is that Jesus changed

me and that's why that's what he wants to do with your testimony.

Because someone can argue up and down and say, I don't believe in

miracles. You say, well, I don't know

about whether that preacher heals or doesn't heal.

All I know is that I was sick in, in, in, in the dead bed and

Jesus healed me. Argue with that, and that's what

God wants to do today. Praise God.

Like I said, this story is basically a story about the day

God came late but arrived on time.

One thing that struck me was, like I said, we've heard about

Jehovah Jireh, the one who sees your needs ahead of time and

makes provision for it. We have heard about Jehovah

Elroy. The one who sees you in the

midst of your problems. But today I'm also here to tell

you about the one who says I am the resurrection and the life

that even when it is dead, I will bring it back to life.

I want us to see that Scripture again.

John 11 verse 25. This is God's word to show on

John 11:25

John 1125. It says the one who believes in

me will leave even though they were dead about 30 years ago.

About 30 years, not up to 30, but almost 30 years ago.

I was in my 100 level and I just got into university.

All my life, I've always wanted to be a doctor all my life.

But you see, the list came out for Med school in Nigeria.

My name was not on the list the first time, second time, the

third time and the last time, my name was not on the list.

And I stood there looking at the list.

You know when when your name is on the list, every names looks

like your own. My name is a Debbie.

But then you see a deck here and you're like, you go up, down,

then you go sideways. Just in case, you know, my name

was not on the list, but God said to me, your name is on the

list or you can't see it. So I turned to my friend and I

said God just said to me my name is on the list, but I can't see

it. Now that doesn't make sense.

If you can't see it, your name is not on the list.

If it's on the if, if, if, if it's on, if it's on the list,

then you will see it. Jonah signs a paradox, but

that's what he said and I'm happy.

I told someone on my side. I said God just said to me, my

name is on the list, but I can't see it.

So in 200 level. So then I got into optometry for

that was the first time in my life I was yelling about

optometry. I didn't know there was a cause

called optometry. I only knew about medicine.

So I got in to read optometry 100 level.

So of course, my dream that I've always carried from a child to

be a medical doctor was dead, was dead, but I was in a service

like this and the man of God said someone here, he just said

even that dream that looks dead will come back to life.

It was late for me. God, you should have helped me

while I was praying to get on the list.

Not not now. I'm now doing the course they

I'm now I will have the attack. I have bad optometry.

It's too late. But you know what happened in

200 level they allowed. It's not common in my school

back then, so it's not the usual thing.

They allowed change of course it's not common.

I know some places it's common, but in my school it wasn't.

In 200 level they allowed change of course and I changed from

optometry to 200 level medicine as if I'd never lost a year.

Now the next year they didn't do change of course anymore.

They didn't do it the year I got in, they didn't do it the year

after. So it wasn't the yearly thing.

They did it exactly at that point.

And I remember that story. My name was on the list, but I

couldn't see it. Jesus is in the house and he's

the resurrection and the life and even that which looks dead

he will bring back to life. I just want you to just pray if

you're, if you're standing right here, just just put out your

hand and just begin to declare. Lord, I bring that situation to

you and I show you. Maybe it's a scar, maybe it's a

heart, something that looks dead, a dream that looks dead.

Whatever it is, Lord, I bring it to you and I show you.

You are the resurrection and the life.

You are the resurrection and the life, the one that comes even

after it is dead and done and buried, and you bring it back to

life. Thank you, Lord.

Lord, I speak your word over the situation.

I speak your word over that thing.

I don't know what it is, but they know that's all that

matters. They believe in you.

They may not know how you will bring it to pass.

They don't even have to understand how you will bring

it, but they trust you. They trust you and they bring it

to you. Lord, I ask that your life, that

same life, that same spirit, that same power that came and

raised Jesus from the dead, that same power and life comes into

that situation and brings about wholeness in the name of Jesus,

brings about life in the name of Jesus.

Thank you Father, thank you for healing, thank you for turning

around the situation, thank you for bring changing this

testimony, changing the story. Thank you Heavenly Father, for

in Jesus name we have prayed. Amen.

If you believe, let's put our hands together for Jesus.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine

upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards

you and give you peace.