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[0:00] Please stand for the reading of God's Word. Father, our soul thirsts for you.

[0:22] Amen. Sometimes we mask that thirst with other things. We try to find satisfaction in creation.

[0:38] But nothing can satisfy us but you, our Creator. Our soul is thirsting. Lord, my soul is thirsting. My soul thirsts for you.

[0:51] Psalm 63, Father, thank you for that great psalm that has blessed my life for many years. Oh, that we all would know what David knows.

[1:02] But his soul was thirsting because he was under attack.

[1:15] He was in the midst of suffering. And you brought him to see that what he needed more than deliverance from his adversaries was you.

[1:31] You. Oh, that we would find our hope in you. May Jesus be our hope.

[1:42] May Jesus be the center of our joy. May Jesus be the satisfier of our thirst. He is the living water. So, Lord, even today, even now, will you satisfy us with yourself.

[2:03] As your Word goes forth, may it illuminate our need and may it do that holy work that only it can do and go down deep in our souls and do that most holy surgery to heal us even though it has to cut us sometimes.

[2:26] Heal us, Lord. Satisfy our thirst. Show us what our real thirst is. Deliver us from lesser thirsts and lesser things that only mask our true need.

[2:40] Use your unworthy servant to proclaim this Word of truth, this Word of Christ, to preach Jesus in all of his benefits. You have been faithful for 11 years to do that.

[2:55] Thank you for that. To trust in you. In Jesus' name. Amen. John chapter 11, verses 28 to 57, I said.

[3:22] Yeah. Hear now the word of the Lord. When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, the teacher is here and is calling for you.

[3:37] 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.

[3:56] 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.

[4:09] 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?

[4:21] They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews said, see how he loved him.

[4:33] 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.

[4:46] 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 will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.

[4:59] Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? So he took away the stone and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

[5:13] I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around that they may believe that you have sent me. When he said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.

[5:30] The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go.

[5:42] That is the word of the Lord. Please be seated. Thank you, praise team, once again for, man, beautiful music.

[5:57] Thank you. Helping us worship. A theologian whose theological persuasions I do not share, he would never have been ordained in the PCA, to be honest with you.

[6:12] But it's striking that he tells a story from this passage, from this chapter, and the power of God fell. I'm not sure he really understood, but the power of God fell.

[6:24] This particular theologian, Robert McAfee Brown, was a chaplain on a troop ship with 1,500 Marines who were returning from Japan to America for discharge.

[6:43] To his surprise on the ship, some of the soldiers gathered, came to him and said, would you lead us in a Bible study? Well, so he seized the opportunity. At the end of the voyage, they were studying this chapter.

[6:59] Afterwards, a Marine came to him saying, everything in that chapter is pointing at me. He went on to say that he had been in hell for the last six months.

[7:14] He had gone straight into the Marines from college. He had been sent out to Japan. He had been bored with life, and he had gone out and gotten into trouble. Bad trouble.

[7:28] Nobody knew about it except God. He felt guilty. He felt his life was ruined. He felt he could never face his family, although they need never know.

[7:43] He felt he had killed himself and was a dead man. And, said the young Marine, after reading this chapter, I have come alive again.

[7:55] I know that this resurrection Jesus was talking about is real here and now. For he has raised me from the dead to life. That young Marine's troubles were not finished.

[8:11] He had a hard road ahead of him. But in his sin and his sense of guilt, he had found Jesus as the resurrection and the life.

[8:23] He is the Lord of life who wants to give you life from death. But where are you choosing to live?

[8:36] Where are you choosing to live? In his life or in death? Subtitle for this message is Lord of Life 3.

[8:49] The subtitle is Life from Death. Jesus, remember, he wants to glorify himself even in your suffering. Remember, his timing is perfect.

[9:02] He is growing your faith. And he is also offering you hope. Him. The resurrection and the life. Hope. And when he is glorified in your suffering, you will be transformed more into his image.

[9:21] Because that is the great goal, that we will be like him. Not like Mike. Not like one another. But the goal in the Christian life is transformation into the image of Jesus more and more.

[9:38] And when that happens, you will know more of his presence and peace in your life as you are being transformed. A lifelong process that will never be finished in this life.

[9:49] Amen. So keeping with our theme, the Lord of life, here's the next point we want to look at. The Lord of life feels our pain in suffering and death.

[10:03] He feels our pain. I hope you're following along with me with the Bible, with the Bible in front of you. Because I'm not going to read the verses all over again for the sake of time. But John wanted us to see this scene here.

[10:17] He could have gone from Martha straight to the tomb. But instead, John stops by at this scene. I mean, he could have, Mary could have met Jesus at the tomb.

[10:31] There was no need for this. Yes, there was. Especially we see here that Mary greets our Lord with the same words her big sister Martha had used.

[10:46] Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. They say the same thing. This could be just a statement of fact. But I hinted last time, it could be more.

[11:02] Disappointment. I didn't talk a lot about that last time, but let me dive in for a minute. See, many people act as if God, if he exists, owes us a pain-free existence.

[11:16] Especially if we're following Jesus. Christians, we think that we somehow should be exempt from the pains of this life. And believe me, nobody wants pain.

[11:29] I know I don't. I'm allergic to it, actually. Tim Keller in his book, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, says this. Often the unstated assumption of many people is that it is God's job to create a world in which things benefit us.

[11:48] When we stand back to consider the premise that God owes us a good life, it is clearly unwarranted. If there really is an infinitely glorious God, why should the universe revolve around us rather than around him?

[12:06] Perhaps the real puzzle is this. Why in light of our behavior, and this includes you, as a human race, does God allow so much happiness?

[12:21] And we know the answer to that, don't we? Grace! It is because of God's love and grace that he gives us so much beauty and joy in life.

[12:33] In spite of the fact that we, even his people, are all guilty of sin in thought, word, and deed. Family, don't you know what the scriptures say?

[12:45] The wages of sin is death, not happiness. Death. That's what we've earned. But God, but God, but God has sent his son who has begun the process of setting all things right.

[13:04] Only when he returns will that process be completed. Until then, family, listen, bad things will happen. Even horrible things.

[13:15] Even in our own lives, tragedy will strike. Pain will be real. But we are not alone.

[13:29] We have resources from on high. We have him, Emmanuel. God with us.

[13:40] The Lord of life. The resurrection and the dead. With us. John wants us to see the humanity of the Son of God as he enters into our pain in this passage.

[13:54] You see, it was custom for women in the village to gather with the bereaved family and weep with them. Some called them professional mourners. And this was no quiet crying, but wailing.

[14:11] They would go to the tomb daily to perform this ritual. So they thought that's what Mary was doing now. When Mary gets up to leave the house, they think she's going to the tomb once again to grieve loudly.

[14:26] But Mary was now going to meet with Jesus. Jesus. And falling at his feet. That's where we're used to seeing Mary, isn't it? At the feet of Jesus. If you know the story, you know that she sat at the Lord's feet listening to his teaching.

[14:40] That's where we're used to seeing Mary. She assumes her position. As a humble learner of Jesus. She repeats the words of disappointment.

[14:52] Jesus, you did not come on time. What is most important here is how the Lord responds to all this weeping and pain around him, including Mary's weeping.

[15:07] Notice how he responds. He is not untouched. The passage is beautifully worded, saying that Jesus was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

[15:25] Verse 33. One theologian says, Jesus showed us a God whose heart is wrung with anguish for the anguish of his people. The greatest thing Jesus did was to bring us the news of a God who cares.

[15:41] This God cares. The mission is clear. The Son of God has come because he cares. First, he's deeply moved and troubled in his spirit.

[15:53] That's significant because the Stoics, the Greek philosophers who were called Stoics of their day, of that day, believed that mastering your emotions and indifference to changing circumstances was the highest virtue.

[16:07] They didn't believe that the gods could be moved, like the gods didn't have emotions. Because they believed that if you were emotional, you could be controlled by others.

[16:21] Jesus blows that out the water. Jesus comes as the Son of God who shows his emotions and is moved by the pain of his people. He challenged their view of what was good, what was virtuous, as he still does today.

[16:39] He enters our humanity to feel what we feel. So he could truly represent us to the Father and be a very sympathetic and empathetic Savior.

[16:57] Do you believe this? Do you believe? I feel like I'm talking to Martha. Do you believe this? That Jesus not only knows your pain, he feels it. Hebrews 4, verses 15 and 16, you know this passage.

[17:13] For we do not have a high priest, beacon of Jesus, who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

[17:26] Because that is so, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

[17:36] Why is it that we can pray and go to Jesus when we're hurting? It's because we should know that he understands. That he understands what it means to grieve.

[17:49] He understands what it means to feel every nerve in his body on fire with pain. He knows what it means to be betrayed, stabbed in the back by people you trust.

[18:06] He understands. He knows. His humanity is meant to move us to run to him in prayer. And he gives us grace and mercy when we do so to help us in that time of need.

[18:23] Why haven't you lost your mind? In the midst of horrible pain and suffering and tragedy, is it because you've run to Jesus?

[18:38] Not to the medicine cabinet, though that can help. Not against it. But you need more than drugs to deal with the stuff out here.

[18:49] We need the resurrection and the life. He understands your emotional pain.

[19:00] And his life is healing ointment for it. That's one side to this deeply troubled, this deep expression of emotion.

[19:12] He's a feeling. That's one side to it. There's another side to it, too. And the theologians go back and forth, but it's here. Deeply moved occurs again in verse 38 as well.

[19:27] It occurs at the tomb of Lazarus. He's deeply moved again. You see, the word actually means anger, indignation, even outrage.

[19:42] It's one word in the Greek, two in English. It was used to speak of the snorting of horses in their fierce agitation and restlessness.

[19:52] Jesus is angry here as well. He's angry at death itself. This interloper who has invaded his good creation, this enemy of life that has caused so much pain, bondage, and fear in humanity.

[20:13] He's angry at death. And he has come to war against it. He, the life of God, has come to defeat death.

[20:25] Hebrews 2. I love this passage. You've heard me mention it before. 14 and 15. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things.

[20:39] Flesh and blood. That through death, he might destroy the one who has the power of death. That is the devil. And deliver, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

[20:59] If you fear death, you're a slave. That's what the Bible says. If you fear death, you are a slave.

[21:09] You will do anything. Anything. Make any compromise. Do anything to keep from suffering and ultimately dying.

[21:24] But if you see Jesus as the resurrection and the life, if he is your champion, you know, back in the day before I was born, you know, warring kingdoms sometimes to settle a dispute rather than have all the army fight, they might choose a champion.

[21:49] If you saw Brad Pitt play Achilles in the movie Troy, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

[21:59] It's fiction, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. You saw what happens when Achilles represents the Greeks and he goes out to do battle. It's just him and this huge guy.

[22:10] Now, Brad Pitt's not very big, y'all. He's got a little cut for the movie, a little pumped up, but he's not very big. And this guy he's fighting, he's huge. But Achilles was the greatest warrior of his day.

[22:23] Took him down like that. Didn't even blink. Jesus is the greatest warrior who's ever walked the earth. Go back and read David's fighting men.

[22:37] Those boys could handle themselves. They were amazing warriors. Samson, Gideon, but none of them compare to the divine warrior, the son of God.

[22:52] He is the one who, and only he, can defeat death and did so. Martin Luther was right when he sang in that wonderful hymn, A Mighty Fortress.

[23:06] Let goods and kindreds go. This mortal life also. The body they may kill. God's truth abides still.

[23:19] His kingdom is forever. You can sing that when you've allowed Jesus to be your champion and defeat death for you. He's angry at death.

[23:33] But one commentator also made a point. Dr. Carson made a point. He's angry at something else, too. He sees their weeping and wailing as somewhat pagan.

[23:49] Because it was full of despair and hopelessness. Remember, I said they're professional mourners. And they would wail.

[24:00] I mean, those ladies knew how to get it going. But there was hopelessness in it. And despair in the face of death.

[24:18] Paul talks about this to us, doesn't he? In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 13 to 14. I don't think it's, I'm not sure it's on the screen. I don't think so. But listen. He says, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers.

[24:31] I've used this in many homegoing services. Don't be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep. That is, they've died. Listen. That you may not grieve as others, though, who have no hope.

[24:47] But for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 and 14.

[25:00] Paul acknowledges that it is human and right to grieve. If you are not grieving when you should be grieving, you're going to have sickness. Emotional and maybe physical as well.

[25:14] It is right to grieve, brothers and sisters. But Paul adds that phrase. When grieving for believers, we do not grieve as those who have no hope.

[25:31] You know, you watch those movies, people falling into the grave with their loved one, you know. Overdone, I know, but the movies. People giving up.

[25:43] Like, life has ended because that person has gone. Not so for us who trust in Jesus. We grieve.

[25:54] But we know where they are. Ho, ho, ho! We know who they see. We know in whom's presence they have appeared. We know, I know my dad and Sandy's mom stands and lives and worships in the presence of the living God.

[26:13] Oh, yes, I still grieve. After almost 30 years, my dad's been gone. I still, at times, have moments. I wear his watch every Lord's Day in this church.

[26:26] This is his watch. I wear it in remembrance of him as I preach. Out of respect and longing.

[26:38] But I got hope. Because my dad put his faith in Jesus. That alcoholic got sober. And became a witness for the living God.

[26:53] Became a witness for Jesus, even in this hospital room. Witnessing the people. To the doctors, nurses. To the druggies who came to visit him. He witnessed. He told them.

[27:04] Do you know the Lord? I have hope. And hope in the Bible doesn't mean I don't know for sure. Hope in the Bible means certainty.

[27:17] Certainty. That in Jesus, he's all good. It's all good with my mother in love. And my dad. And your loved ones too who died in Jesus.

[27:33] And even when people die outside of Jesus, we must trust in God's good plan and will. Because there's nothing you can do.

[27:47] So pick yourself up in Jesus. Look at him. See him smiling at you. He is your resurrection and life. You see, he empathizes with our pain and suffering.

[28:05] He feels it. Jesus wept. Shed tears. Not wailed. He shed tears. That verse all by itself just to blow our minds. It was the first verse in the Bible that I learned actually was Jesus wept.

[28:19] And my cousin told me, Jerome told me to say it. Say Jesus wept. Jesus wept. They were doing a Bible thing in Sunday school in Georgia. Down in Georgia.

[28:31] I didn't know anything about God, the Bible, Jesus. I couldn't tell you that thing. I must have been about, I don't know, six, seven years old. And they were going around saying verses and he knew I didn't know anything.

[28:45] So Jerome, my cousin says, say Jesus wept. The first Bible verse I learned and no one explained it. But oh my goodness, that's a sermon all by itself.

[28:57] I'm not going to do it. I'm moving. But what happens here is in this indignation, sometimes Jesus will confront our lack of faith in him in the midst of our pain.

[29:12] Watch it. There's gentleness here, but sometimes he has to do that. Grieve, but not as those who have no hope. See, he identifies, but then he confronts. So hold it now.

[29:23] He had to say that. Paul had to say that because that was happening. People were grieving like the pagans. You know, want to kill themselves. I'll die with you. You know, I'll never, you know.

[29:34] He said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Jesus comes from, Jesus, there's an indignation here. And he's seeing these folk in their just lostness.

[29:49] You see, family, whatever or whoever we have lost, we have not lost him and his kingdom. Can I say that again? Whoever or whatever you have lost, if you are a child of God, you have not lost him and his kingdom.

[30:07] There is hope because he's the Lord of life. And these ladies are going to experience his healing because even in their disappointment with his will, his timing, they in faith still ran to Jesus.

[30:24] You catch it? They still ran to Jesus. What about you? Are you still running to Jesus in your disappointment? In your pain, are you still running to Jesus?

[30:38] You don't have to be perfect. Just run to him. He's come for you. Like he came for them. Well, lastly, I want you to notice the Lord of life reveals God's glory in giving us new life.

[30:54] He stands at the door of arguably the greatest power known to humanity outside of God. It is the power of death. It is the inescapable reality.

[31:08] All who live must pass through these doors. Hebrews 9.27, As mentioned last week, it was not part of the original creation.

[31:24] It is one of the twins of sin, suffering and death. Yet in Jesus, death has finally met its match. For the Lord of life conquers death as he stands at the door, as it were, stepping into the ring.

[31:40] He stands at Lazarus' tomb. He is once again deeply moved. He's agitated and he trembles with emotion. He orders the stone to be removed.

[31:54] Did he yell? Was it a quiet demand full of emotion? I think he yelled. Remove the stone! Martha's aghast.

[32:05] Lord, there's an odor by now for his body has been decaying. The King James says it, of course, humorously. Lord, by now he stinketh! It is no accident that he mentions that last has been dead.

[32:21] They mentioned that last has been dead for four days. That's no accident. There's something, some meaning there. Because in Jewish thought of that day, the spirit of a person would hover around the body for three days.

[32:35] After three days, the body started to decompose and the spirit could not enter. That's not true, but it was their thinking of that day. So by saying four days, Martha is saying there's no hope.

[32:50] He's truly dead, Jim. And Jesus has to remind her of what he said to her.

[33:00] Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? Remember, he told her, your brother will rise again. I am the resurrection and the life, right? He told her that.

[33:11] She didn't get it. That was off-common among the disciples. They didn't get what Jesus was saying. But listen, but look at her faith. She backs down and lets them remove the stone because Jesus said so.

[33:28] Why? Jesus said it. I don't understand it, but Jesus said it. So move the stone. Come on, somebody. That's where you are right now. You need to listen.

[33:39] He said it. That's why. Trust him. So Jesus utters this public prayer. He expresses his confidence in the Father. He does it in their hearing.

[33:49] He's already prayed about it. He's already talked to Father about it. It's past tense. But he says, I'm saying this, Father, because I know you always hear me. I'm saying this so that those around me may know.

[34:03] People listen to your prayers out loud, saints. What are you saying to God? Jesus steps up and utters those magic, beautiful words.

[34:19] Lazarus, come out. All of creation shuddered. I can feel it. I can see it. The whole earth must have trembled when he uttered those words because the laws of nature were broken at that point.

[34:35] You don't come out. You don't just get up because when you've been dead for four days, no machines hooked up to you, no medicines. This is not a revival.

[34:46] This is a resurrection. And Jesus steps up and Lazarus, the resurrection and the life shouts this command.

[34:57] And Lazarus, he can't help it. He comes out. He's returned. His spirit is returned to his body. And his body that was decaying is now restored whole.

[35:09] Jesus had told us about this before in John 5, 25 to 29. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now hear when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.

[35:22] Those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he granted the Son also to have life in himself. He has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man.

[35:36] Do not marvel at this when hour is coming, when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life.

[35:48] Those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. To resurrection. Everybody will be, everyone will be resurrected. Everybody will be giving their bodies back.

[35:59] But son to live in judgment and son to live in life. Lazarus is the living parable of that reality.

[36:12] He becomes the living parable of what happens when the dead in this life hear the voice of the Son of God. In this life, when the dead hear his voice, new life from the dead.

[36:23] People come out of the tombs of spiritual death to abundant eternal life. That's you. That's you. You came out of the tombs of death and now you live in the life of the Lord.

[36:35] You have abundant life. Lazarus came hopping out. And Jesus tells those nearby to take off his linen cloth. Why was he hopping? Because they tied him up.

[36:46] The linen cloths are wrapped around his legs. Tied them together. His arms are pinned to his side. He can't walk. He can barely shuffle. He's coming out like this. And they tell.

[36:59] And note this is important. Jesus then tells them to the people, the group, the community. Set him free. Take off the grave clothes. The grave clothes are dead clothes.

[37:10] That's the clothes of deadness. He's alive. If Lazarus had refused to help, he would not have been… He would have been… He had to have help.

[37:32] What grave clothes are still clinging to you? The grave clothes represent your old dead life. That's what they represent for Lazarus. His deadness.

[37:43] We have come to life in Jesus. But listen, we need the church, the body, to take off the grave clothes. We need each other to help us get freer.

[37:55] If you're denying help from the body of Christ, from the community of the faithful, if you're living online and not living in person with the body of Christ, your grave clothes will cling to you more than they have to.

[38:13] The vestiges of the old life are always nearby, brothers and sisters. And if you think you can be Lone Ranger in this thing, you crazy. You need that person next to you in the pew.

[38:26] The person behind you in the pew. And across the aisle from you in the pew. You need them to help you with your grave clothes. Because sometimes we can smell death on you.

[38:40] Amen. Who's helping you? Who are you letting in? Who are you letting in?

[38:58] Well, my family helps me. Amen. Amen. But you've been born into a bigger family. We want to keep everything private, see.

[39:14] We're private. We grieve privately. We suffer privately. You are foolish. Amen. I said it. You're foolish.

[39:26] You belong to us. And we belong to you. And we need each other to help with the grave clothes. Jesus designed it that way.

[39:45] Because there's some things you can't see. And you need... I see that grave clothes on your back. Hey, let me... Hey, brother, I love you. I love you, man.

[39:56] Can we talk about this area? Can we talk? Can we... Sis, sis, I love you. I see some... I see a grave... I see a cloth on you. And you can't reach it. You can't even reach it. Let me help you.

[40:08] Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. We care for one another's failures and faults. And we bear one another's burdens. And sometimes those burdens are sin that are holding us down.

[40:21] And you need someone to come alongside you and help you with the grave clothes. Somebody knows what I'm talking about. Let me...

[40:33] Let me just wrap this up. Listen. This is one of the most real passages in the whole Bible, in my opinion. Chapter 11. My pastor speaks 18 sermons on this entire chapter.

[40:46] I'm not going to do that. I'm not bringing it like him. This is what it means to follow Christ in a fallen world. A world of pain and suffering and death.

[41:02] Christ's love means your suffering is not in vain. Will you apply this passage to your life? Will you apply this setting, this situation to your life?

[41:15] Maybe to the life of loved ones who are going through a difficult time. Will you help them see? But without faith in Jesus as the Lord of life, your suffering is just pain.

[41:29] You can psychologize yourself for all kinds of good thoughts. But without Jesus, your suffering is just pain. And there are two disastrous realities that can happen in your life.

[41:46] If suffering is just pain for you. One, you'll become bitter. Even Christians fall into this. Hebrews 12, 14 and 15.

[41:57] Strive for peace with everyone. And for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.

[42:07] That no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble. And by it many become defiled. The word defiled means polluted, contaminated, soiled with sin.

[42:24] Do you understand? Bitterness is contagious. When you and your pain are so overcome and you haven't brought that pain to Jesus.

[42:37] But you've allowed it to fester in you. It will do bad things in you. It will darken you. And what happens is we never keep those things to ourselves.

[42:49] We begin to share that pain with people around us. And the writer of Hebrews says it will infect. It will cause division. It will cause, it will contaminate whatever group that is.

[43:03] The writer is writing to the church. So he's talking to churches. How many churches have been destroyed and pulled apart because of bitterness in someone or some family that was never brought to Jesus?

[43:18] It was just pain. And they didn't bring it to Christ. And what happens is people who are not, and we're not very discerning sometimes. We think because someone says it so, it must be true.

[43:30] And we end up angry. And we don't even know why we're angry. Because that person or that family is angry.

[43:47] That's what happens when pain is not dealt with and brought to Jesus. Jesus, I saw it in psychiatry, on our clinics and in our units and where people would come in.

[44:02] We called them borderline personality disorder. And they would come in with all kinds of pain and suffering. And it would divide the entire unit. Some patients and staff loved them.

[44:13] Some patients and staff hated them. And the patients, and we're all fighting over this one person in the middle. And that person is not getting better.

[44:27] Bitterness. If you're not dealing with your bitterness, it will ruin your family. It will ruin your job. It will ruin your church. It will ruin you. Bring your pain to the resurrection and the life.

[44:43] The second thing, what can happen? You become fragile. If you don't deal with it, you become fragile. You become fragile. Withdrawn. Unable to deal with your pain. And anyone who touches your pain. Even a little. People can kind of say something just in passing.

[44:56] And they didn't mean it. They went talking. And you're all upset. No one knows why you're so upset. Because you become fragile. And so anything comes near your pain. Anything comes near your situation.

[45:07] You can't take it. And you go to pieces. You can't heal. Because you're not letting anyone get close to you because they might touch it. Somebody knows what I'm talking about.

[45:23] Both conditions distort reality. You can't see as you ought. Only by bringing your pain in faith to the one who suffered and died for you. Only by hearing his voice for you.

[45:35] To live. Come out of the tombs. Live. Only by responding well to those who sins in your life. To touch you with his love. Will you know the grace of God that heals and gives you courage to face.

[45:48] So what are you doing with your pain? What are you doing with your suffering?

[46:03] Don't waste this moment. Jesus wants to do a work in you. He wants to transform. He wants to give you. Show you real new life. But you got to see him.

[46:15] Is he the resurrection and the life. The Lord of life for you. Elders will you come. For communion. Is he life for you? Or are you walking in death? If you haven't met Jesus.

[46:27] You're living in death. Just walking occasionally. You're living in death. Death is where you are. Only he can bring you out of the tombs. Will you put your faith in him? Will you surrender to him today?

[46:39] Will you cry out to Jesus if that's you? And say Lord have mercy on me a sinner. Forgive me. Cleanse me. I don't understand anything. But I know I need you. Like that soldier on the ship. He knew he needed what Jesus was offering.

[46:54] You do too. Will you let him transform you? People of God. You who know Jesus. Will you let him transform you in your grief? Will you let him heal you in your sorrow?

[47:06] Will you let God's people be a part of that healing for you? Will you recognize his timing isn't your timing? And that's okay. His timing is perfect.

[47:18] Yours is not. He knows what you don't know. If you knew what he knew, you'd be like, okay, perfect. But you don't know. and he's not going to tell you necessarily he wants you to trust him do you believe this do you trust me will you hope in me when you give yourself to me he won't drop you he won't drop you he is life father will you bless your people with this word and so much pain and suffering in this church and around the city the country the world so much pain we need life death is all around us we need life open our eyes to see the Lord of life to see Jesus and allow us to experience by your grace that resurrection from the dead and to walk in that everyday to walk in life deliver us from bitterness and frailty that keeps us

[48:24]  Lord from healing and hurts the body and hurts our families and hurts everything help us to let go of our bitterness and our fear and trust you in Jesus name amen thank you