Raising Lazarus

John chapter 11 is where we are today. If you want to take your Bibles and go to John's gospel chapter 11 We are making our way through the gospel of John on Sunday mornings and we come now to chapter 11 This is one of the most in my opinion one of the most beloved stories in all of the Bible Because it shows this compassionate tender and even emotional side of Jesus in response to a very sad and tragic Event the untimely death of a very close personal friend and the anguish of that friend's Family, and so this is kind of a long read but I got to read verses 1 through 44 So you see the whole story here? This will be a story that is familiar no doubt to many of you Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead and I'll read starting at verse 1 down through verse 44. It says now a certain man was sick Lazarus of Bethany the town of Mary and her sister Martha It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother Lazarus was sick Therefore the sisters sent to him saying Lord behold he whom you love is sick And when Jesus heard that he said this sickness is not unto death But for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified through it now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus And so when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was Kind of an unusual thing. We'll talk about in a moment and then after this he said to his disciples Let us go to Judea again the disciples said to him rabbi lately the Jews sought to stone you and you are going there again and Jesus answered are there not 12 hours in the day if anyone walks in the day He does not stumble because he sees the light of this world But if one walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him these things He said and after that he said to them our friend Lazarus sleeps But I go that I may wake him up and then his disciples said Lord if he sleeps he will get well However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking about taking rest in sleep And so then Jesus said to them plainly Lazarus is dead and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there that you may believe Nevertheless, let us go to him and then Thomas who was called the twin said to his fellow disciples

Let us go also that we may die with him And so when Jesus came he found that the that he had already that's Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days Now Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles away And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother Now Martha as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming went and met him But Mary was sitting in the house now Martha said to Jesus Lord if you had been here My brother would not have died But even now I know that whatever you ask of God God will give you and Jesus said to her your brother will rise again Martha said to him. I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day Jesus said to her I am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me though He may die he shall live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die Do you believe this and she said to him? Yes, Lord I believe that you are the Christ the Son of God who is to come into the world And when she had said these things she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister saying The teacher has come and is calling for you as soon as she heard that she arose quickly and came to him now Jesus had not yet come into the town but was in the place where Martha met him and Then the Jews who were with her in the house and comforting her when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out Followed her saying she is going to the tomb to weep there Then when Mary came where Jesus was and saw him she fell down at his feet saying to him Lord If you had been here, my brother would not have died Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping he groaned in the spirit This is an interesting expression by the way groaned in the spirit in the Greek. It's Mbembe and it means Well, in fact vines dictionary translates it to snort with anger like a horse So I want you to see this righteous indignation that Jesus has here and for probably a few reasons one Primarily because they think he's late and so he's like groaning in the spirit He's he's troubled and he said to them verse 34 Where have you laid him and they said to him Lord come and see verse 35 Jesus wept And then the Jews said see how he loved him and some of them said could not this man who?

The eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying then Jesus again groaning in himself same word He's like snorting with anger He came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it and Jesus said take away the stone Martha the sister of him who was dead said to him the Lord by this time there is a stench for he has been dead for Days, Jesus said there. Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying and Jesus lifted his eyes and said Father, I thank you that you have heard me and I know that you always hear me But because of the people who were standing by I said this that they may believe that you sent me Now when he had said these things he cried with a loud voice Lazarus come forth and he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes And his face was wrapped with a cloth and Jesus said to them loose him and let him go Let's pause there and pray Lord this is a great story familiar to many of us No doubt We pray you would bring fresh meaning to our hearts today as we look at this story with fresh eyes And as we desire to hear you speak to us today through this Through this event. That was just a miraculous Magnificent event Lord. Thank you for preserving it in the pages of your word We love you, and we thank you that you first loved us and sent your son Jesus to die for us Lord Be with us now as we share together from your word is in Jesus name. We pray and everyone said amen Well as I was looking over this story and again, it's a story that is familiar to many of us I was praying about what angle from which to to teach it and You know, I could have taken it from the vantage point of Lazarus and Entitled it dead man walking But actually I gave a similar teaching back in Luke 7 because Lazarus is not the only one that Jesus raised from the dead He's just the most familiar of the three that Jesus raised from the dead. So back in Luke 7 we talked about The way that Jesus raised the son of the widow who lived in name and I kind of focused more on the resurrection Story there so decided not to take that angle prayed about it thought well I could take it from the angle of Mary and Martha and Entitle it sassy sisters Because I I do think I've said this publicly I might have to apologize to him one day

I do think they had an attitude when not one but both of them said to Jesus if you'd have been here My brother wouldn't have died. Yeah, I don't think they meant that cheerfully. I don't think that they were complimenting Jesus I think they were bothered and I think it shows their disrespect now We can cut them some grace though, because they probably said that out of their grief But I decided not to take it from that angle either and instead I felt like the Lord was directing me to teach this story from the angle of Jesus and the topic of death and We're gonna answer two questions. Hopefully in the course of today's study the first question is what does this story teach us about Jesus that we can emulate and Number two, what does this story teach us about death that we should anticipate? those two questions Now this story is unique to John's Gospel. It is not found in any of the other Gospels anywhere else in Scripture It is unique to John's Gospel and when this story opens we are introduced to a family of siblings Lazarus kind of the main guy because he's going to get raised from the dead, but he has two sisters Martha and Mary Martha's listed first So that's likely means that she is the oldest and then Mary and then Lazarus is probably the youngest of the three siblings There's no mention of their parents. So some presume that at this time their parents are dead These are likely adult children adult siblings who are unmarried and living together in the same house and that house is located in a town called Bethany and Verse 18 tells us that Bethany is about two miles from Jerusalem Now we know that Bethany is two miles east of Jerusalem It's just on the other side of the Mount of Olives and Bethany in Hebrew is bet on ya but Tanya is from two Hebrew words bait meaning house and Ani meaning poor so Bethany translates house of the poor if you have that name ladies It's a wonderful name in English But house of the poor is what it means in Hebrew and You know, we use this expression. Sometimes we talk about you know, when somebody falls on hard times. It's kind of an older expression We don't hear it much anymore. But you know, I remember my grandparents saying, you know Falling on hard times and my grandpa

Parents, you know, were products of the depression era. And so they were like, you know, sometimes we were wondering if we would end up in the poor house. You've heard that expression, perhaps. Well, Bethany is the poor house. It's the house of the poor. Bethany was a place where people who were destitute would live and housing would be provided for them. So that fits the narrative, too, because it's likely that these adult siblings, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, are probably on their own, hard to make a living. Mom and dad are dead. These are young adults, unmarried, living in the same place in Bethany, the house of the poor. And it tells us in this story that we learn that Jesus was very close personal friends with this family. In fact, it tells us in verse five specifically, not that John needed to tell us this, but he emphasizes Jesus loved. Jesus loved Martha, her sister, Mary, and Lazarus. And it is that Greek word agapeo. It's that highest supreme kind of love Jesus has for this family. And one of the members of this family, Lazarus, is sick and he's dying. And so they want, the sisters want to get word to Jesus before he dies.

This guy is sick. He's near death. So they get word to Jesus. Now, we find out, you don't need to go back, but I'll just reference it. In chapter 10, it tells us where Jesus was at this particular time. Chapter 10, verse 40 says that he was down on the other side of the Jordan, other side of the Jordan River, where John the Baptist would traditionally baptize people. Now, we know that traditional site today. That traditional site is on the Jordan River down closer to the Dead Sea around Jericho. And so Jesus is on the other side of the Jordan River. He's on, in what would be today, the side of Jordan, the country of Jordan. He's at least 20 miles away from Bethany. So they need to get word to him because it's gonna be a couple of days walk to get back to Bethany. And they desperately want Jesus to come to their sick and dying brother's side. And so they send word. Now, remember, this is the day before texting, phones, email. So they literally have to dispatch a person on foot to go find Jesus. He's down there around where John the Baptist baptizes people.

Go get him. And this messenger shows up and tells Jesus, he's been sent by the sisters. The hour is urgent. Lazarus is dying. And what is so interesting, and it is odd to us who don't understand the big picture, and clearly it's odd to the family and friends who are waiting for Jesus, is that Jesus, when he gets news that his friend, his best friend is sick and dying, Jesus just decides to stay where he is for two more days. Two more days. We're just gonna stay put right here. Look again in verse six. It says, so when he heard, when Jesus heard that he, Lazarus, was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. This is challenging on different levels. I mean, you just get word that your best friend is sick. You are the great physician. You are Jesus, Messiah, healer. And you decide to stay put and not to render aid, at least not immediately, to the very family that it tells us in verse five, you love dearly. And so I think we can learn a few important things about Jesus that we might emulate in our lives as well. So for you note takers, here's the first thing.

Jesus is never frantic or anxious about anything. He's never frantic or anxious about anything. Bad news doesn't alarm him. Sad news doesn't paralyze him. There is a steadiness. There is a calm confidence about our Lord that is not only admirable, but it is desirable. Who could stand to use a little more of what Jesus has? Right? I mean, he's just, he's not frantic. He's never anxious. He's never rushed. He's always very settled. He's never rattled about anything. You know, a storm creeps up on the Sea of Galilee. Where does the Bible say that Jesus was? Asleep in the bow of the boat, just asleep. Like nothing is stirring him. Nothing is causing him to worry. Nothing is causing him to be afraid or anxious. He has this constant calm demeanor, this confidence that all of us should strive to emulate. You know, there's another story in the Gospels where he's preaching in Nazareth and some of the people of Nazareth don't like what he's saying because they try to push him off the brow of the hill there. They try to kill him. And Jesus just calmly and confidently just kind of walks through the crowd

and he's not disturbed by it. This is just this wonderful. Meaner that our Lord has and I'm sure that we all want a little bit of that peace that passes understanding To guard our hearts and minds, especially in times when we hear bad news Especially in times when there are anxious things happening in our lives Well Paul Paul gives us the formula for this in Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 and 7 Familiar verses probably to many of you. He says this be anxious for nothing I mean just stop right there and let that soak in be anxious for nothing. But in all things through prayer and Supplication which are just different forms of appealing to the goodness and grace of God Approaching the throne prayer Supplication making you request known to God with Thanksgiving this is the rest of that Philippians 4 6 & 7 and The peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus So Paul tells us if you want this Increasing measure of that calm confidence that comes in the Lord Then he says there Philippians 4 6 & 7 be anxious for nothing But in all things through prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving make your requests known to God and the peace that passes all understanding Will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? The peace that passes all understanding? There will be times because you have received from the Lord this peace that overwhelms your troubled soul that people will look at you and not understand how you have such peace in the midst of your life imploding and Doesn't often make rational sense. Where does that kind of peace come from? Oh, it passes understanding This is the kind of peace that God gives that won't make sense To others when they look at your life and see the peace that you have in the midst of the storm and it won't even Sometimes make sense to you. You'll just be saying I just have this piece. I don't know why I have this piece I mean, I know why but but it doesn't make sense Otherwise because it's the hand of God on my life because I should be really worried. I should be anxious I should be troubled but I just feel this calm assurance from the Lord This is what happens when we spend time with him praying

Supplication so we got to get in our closets. We got to get alone with God We got to pray until we're all prayed up and then we pray again Listen, the more you commune with God the more you will be immune from fear and worry Okay, and I came up with those two things. That's worth repeating the Commune immune listen, you could tweet this the more I give you permission the more you commune with God The more you will be immune from the kind of fear and worry and anxiety That often besets us. So this is the model that Jesus Sets for us by example He's never frantic never anxious We need to tap into that the second thing we can learn and emulate from Jesus as he's not driven by emotion He is guided by devotion to the Father He's not He's not driven by emotional things This is a very emotional moment. You just got word that your best friend is sick and dying It's easy for your emotions to stir and for us to do things Based on emotion, but Jesus decided to stay put right where he was for two more days Because he was led by the Father not driven by his own emotion so he's he's tuned into the Father to understand what God wants him to do in the moment and You you have to know that in the back of his mind. Jesus is already hearing the sisters of Lazarus Who are gonna greet him the way that they both did if you'd have been here my brother wouldn't have died Now again, I might have to apologize to the sassy sisters But I I think that that's the way they meant it. I think the message Bible translates it. Yeah late, you know, okay That's that's how they're coming across yeah late like they'd be like greet him they both greet him separately the same way So, you know in the back of his mind, he's thinking, you know I'm gonna get grief because I'm gonna I'm gonna in their minds be late and I'm gonna hear it You know and you can already anticipate when you try to make decisions based on what God wants you to do and you're not just Emotionally driven there won't be all the time people who will necessarily agree and understand and you can already hear in the back of your mind This is what they're gonna say. It's what they're gonna think and okay

Oh, well, I just have to be obedient to God because I need to be more devoted to God that I am Driven by emotion. Jesus is not driven by emotion He's guided by devotion to the Father and it's true that we often do impulsive things based on emotion We say regrettable things based on emotion. We think irrational things based on emotion. And I've even known people to abandon truth based on emotion. I got a phone call a while ago from an elected official who didn't like the fact that I made the comment that I did a while ago about the whole transgender policy with Loudoun County Public Schools and how it's my opinion that when you lie to a child by affirming their whimsical choice of whatever gender they want, which would defy God's beautiful biological design of their sex, if you affirm a child and just let them say, yeah, I just want to be this gender or that gender, the phrase I used was it's emotional child abuse. I get this call from this government official like maybe you should recant your comments and I'm not recanting my comments. Are you kidding me? That's lying to a child. Well, you know, I knew that she was a woman of faith. I said, I said, you know, you know what Scripture teaches. God created male and female, right? And we need to celebrate the uniqueness of those two sexes and stop contributing to the confusion and the chaos and lying to children this way. And this is what she said to me. She said, yes, as a woman of faith, I agree with you in principle. But she said, but I have a family member who struggles with this and now I don't know what to believe. They see what she said to me. Emotion entered the equation. And see, when we love friends and family members

and we see them struggling with something that might be counter to what we know God says is true or false in his word, then sometimes it pulls on the heartstrings, you see, and we end up kind of catering to things that we shouldn't because emotion takes over and that's the danger. Look, there's nothing wrong with emotion. God gave us emotion. He created us as emotional beings and God himself displays emotion in Scripture. But the point is that emotion should never give us direction or help us to make decisions. We cannot be driven by emotion. It's an unreliable source of direction and decision. So when we get into emotional situations, what we have to do is no doubt what Jesus did, which was just kind of pause, take a breath and say, okay, Father, what do you want me to do? You know, Lord, what do you want me to say? You know, Lord, help me to sort through my emotion of the moment to reflect you well and to be guided by you instead of driven by emotion. Again, nothing wrong with emotion. God wired us with emotion. Jesus displayed emotion here. He was unapologetic and unafraid to weep here. But he would not make his decisions about what to do based on that emotion. And we have to learn sometimes to just kind of rein in emotion, submit it to God and to say, God, what would you have me to do in this situation?

And this is what Jesus did here. The third thing we can emulate from Jesus, and I've said this before, but it's worth repeating here in this story, God's delay is often for his display. Despite what the sisters and everyone else probably thought, Jesus was not late. Jesus was right on time. God is never late. God is always on time. He just doesn't operate according to our timetable. And the reason he delayed coming to Mary and Martha for another two days after he got word that Lazarus was sick was to allow time for Lazarus to die. I mean, that's just the truth. He wanted to allow enough time for Lazarus to be good and dead. So, he waits two days before he even departs from where he was. And where he was was 20 plus miles away. That's at least another two days journey. By the time Jesus gets there, we're going to see in the story as we just read that Lazarus has already been dead four days. So, Jesus stays where he is because he calculates this. And why does he deliberately do this? Because listen to me on this, he knows that the greater glory God will get and the greater impact the miracle will have on the people is to wait for Lazarus to die. You're going to get the same outcome.

But which is the greater miracle? To heal a sick Lazarus or to raise a dead Lazarus? And so, Jesus intends... Once a greater glory for God and a greater impact on the people if he had just healed Lazarus Well, that's wonderful. Jesus healed other people to not taking anything away from that miracle either But in this moment, it was the will of the Father to display something particular which is that Jesus has power over life and death and This is what he wanted to communicate to us by the raising of Lazarus from the dead You realize Lazarus did die again? Eventually, this was a temporary raising from the dead to prove that Jesus that God himself has power over life and death That there is life after death so it was just kind of this microcosm a small little picture a little taste a little preview of What happens to all of us in Christ who die we shall live again And he's like I want you to just all see this Jesus is basically saying I have power over life and death That's how I can call this dead man up from the grave but he had to wait for Lazarus to be good and dead for the greater glory of God and For the greater impact on the people and this is why he waits and what was best Was his delay? so that God could be on display and Sometimes we want God to fix something and we want God to fix it now. I Know I'm not talking to anybody here. You know, probably a couple people watching online, but But when we want God to fix something we typically want him to fix it like now and when he doesn't do it now You know, what's easy to happen. We become disillusioned with God Which is why I think John emphasizes in verse 5 Before all the other events right at the beginning verse 5 John's like I just want everybody to know Jesus loved Martha her sister and Lazarus So that nobody would be mistaken That when Jesus doesn't quote show up on time, it must mean he doesn't love us

So John wanted to drill that in right from the beginning. Listen if you're still waiting Because you've been praying for something and God quote hasn't shown up yet. I Just want you to know something. It's no reflection on any lack of love on his part. He loves you dearly He wants his best for you And sometimes we can't see in the moment why God is not acting and moving and working and changing this situation. Neither could they but when Jesus showed up in God's perfect timing. It was a greater display of God's glory and Sometimes God will delay for the greater display of his glory So don't lose heart and don't think he doesn't love you. He loves you dearly and he loves you so much He's not going to show up any sooner than his perfect timing God is always on time and we have to trust him in this way. Well when he arrives Jesus wept John 1135 the shortest version of Bible some of you're like I can never memorize the Bible Well, just try John 1135. All right, try that one. Jesus wept get that one down Now why did he weep a lot of people speculate some people say well Maybe he wept because he was you know, he was sorry that he was bringing Lazarus back from paradise had to return to this You know fallen world some say he wept because you know, he was sad about how disappointed people were They thought he hadn't showed up on time It's more likely that he simply weeps because he is emotionally present in the moment and he is Identifying with the feelings of those around him Isaiah 53 3 he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief And so when Jesus arrives at the tomb he instructs people what to do roll back the stone and Then he just calls to Lazarus Lazarus come forth Somebody once said that the reason he specifically said Lazarus his name is because if he just had said come forth every grave would have risen from the dead Said Lazarus. I'm just talking to you today Come forth and It's interesting because you know, he was wrapped in these linens And so he would have come out, you know hopping like this, you know

And by the way, you know Martha says to Jesus Lord, you know, if we roll back the stone, it's been four days You know, he's there's gonna be a stench the King James Version says he stinketh you know that but God can take even the rotting flesh of a corpse and bring it back together in a miraculous glorified way and Here comes Lazarus hopping out wrapped in these grave clothes. That's why at the end there in verse 44 Jesus says loose him and let him go Loose him and let him go. What a what a remarkable scene here. What a miraculous scene What a wonderful event But I'm telling you it says more to us than Than just one Guy got raised from the dead God is communicating a few things to us about death and I want to transition quickly in the last few minutes. We have left Jesus specifically said in this text here. I am the resurrection and the life so that we would understand listen There is life after death. I Am the resurrection and the life There is life after death and that Jesus alone has power over life and death and that if we believe in Jesus as our Lord And Savior we will never die in the sense that our spirit Separates from our body and our spirit goes to be with the Lord and we never die and we get a glorified body That's for another Bible study But our spirit lives forever with the Lord when we know him as our Savior in Heaven and with that in mind three quick things that we can anticipate about death number one death is not a destination It's a transition It's a transition for the believer upon death we instantly Leave our bodies and our spirit goes to be with the Lord. I don't care what the Jehovah's Witnesses are telling you They will tell you that the soul sleeps in the grave and that you don't rise from the dead until the resurrection until you know The return of Christ that's baloney Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 5 8 to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord in Christ you die physically your spirit goes to be with God immediately you are in his presence and This is a transition That we experience we leave this earth. We transition to heaven and it happens in the twinkling of an eye Helen Keller

Expressed this whole idea of transitioning. She's never remember Helen Keller was deaf and blind since the age of two She said quote death is no more than passing from one room into another but there's a difference for me You know because in that other room I shall be able to see Billy Graham who died in 2018. He said one day you'll hear that Billy Graham has died Don't you believe it on that day? I'll be more alive than ever before. I've just changed addresses and And I read a Facebook post a while back that Tony Evans posted dr Tony Evans the senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas He's a great pastor. He lost his wife to cancer Lois in 2019 and He posted on his Facebook page quote Just before the Sun came up this morning the love of my life Transitioned from earth and watched her first Sunrise from heaven Death is not a destination. It is a transition to a new place Number two death is a reunion with friends and loved ones who are also believers one of the greatest joys and comforts regarding death is knowing that as believers we shall be reunited with and recognize our loved ones and friends Who also know Jesus in? John chapter 21 you remember after Jesus rose from the dead one of the occasions he appeared to his disciples He was on the shore of the Sea of Galilee They were out fishing. They noticed Jesus from a distance and after they got over the initial shock of seeing him in his resurrected body They did recognize him Because in our resurrected bodies in our glorified bodies, we will still bear a resemblance to who we are now It'll just only be that much better. Okay, everything here will only be that much better there So if you're looking in the mirror, like seriously, I'm gonna still look like this It's gonna be a new and improved you and If others of you're like, well, of course, I'm gonna look this good then What was you I don't know what you're gonna look like in heaven it's gonna probably anyway, I won't go there but But

We will recognize our loved ones in in Luke chapter 9 on the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus is there with Peter James and John and appearing with Jesus as Moses and Elijah and Peter James and John Recognized them even though they had never met them They had an understanding They they knew and and why is this because see Paul would write in 1st Corinthians 13 12 Now on this earth now, I know in part, but then I shall know fully even as I am fully know In other words what we know now on earth is very limited But when we're in the presence of the Lord, we will understand things We will know things to a greater degree. So if we know each other now We will only retain that knowledge and even more When we go to heaven, so yes, we will recognize our loved ones we will recognize our friends and It is part of our hope, because Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4.13, we grieve, but not like those who have no hope. Because our hope is knowing that we're going to have a glorious reunion with our loved ones and friends in heaven when we are in Christ. Third and final thing is this, death is not the end, it's the beginning of eternal life. Jesus would say in John 14.19, And we need to understand that the human soul, the spirit of a person never dies. You will live eternally either in the presence of the Lord in heaven or in eternal suffering in hell. Heaven is real, hell is real. God wants no one to go to hell, that's why he made it possible for anyone who chooses to go to heaven. But both are real places. There was a tombstone in England, this is a true story, a tombstone in England featuring these words, quote, "'Pause now, stranger, as you pass by, as you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be.

So prepare for death and follow me.'" Somebody came along and scribbled their own response to that, and it said, quote, "'To follow you I'm not content until I know which way you went.'" Yeah. Some of you might say, what kind of a God would even create hell? You know that the Bible says in Matthew 25, verse 41, that hell was originally created for the devil and his demons. God doesn't want anyone to go there. In fact, in 2 Peter 3.9, it says he doesn't want any to perish but all to come to repentance. So hell was originally designed as punishment for the devil and his demons, the fallen angels who rebelled against God. The only way we go to hell is to choose to rebel in like manner against God. This is why God opened up heaven for us, because he doesn't want anyone to go there. This is why Jesus dies on a cross for us. He sheds his blood. He expresses his love. He demonstrated his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, so that by believing in Jesus, who paid the price for our sins that we committed, Jesus took the penalty and suffered in our place, so that by faith in Jesus, we then can have our sins forgiven and go to heaven, that he has opened wide because of his sacrifice on the cross.

Praise God. This is why death is not the end. It's the beginning of eternal life. And this is why Jesus said in John 3, 16, that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Do you know him? Let's pause there and pray. Father, we thank you for this time in your word, and we thank you for the hope of heaven. I pray that everybody here and those watching online, people listening to this later, will have that assurance that they're going to go to heaven when they die, because death is not a destination, it's a transition. And our spirit will live forever, either with you in your presence to enjoy a glorious reward, something that we didn't earn or deserve, but you've given to us through faith in Jesus, or we will be eternally separated from you in a place of torment and suffering. It's not palatable these days to talk about hell, but Lord, we need to because you opened the way to heaven so that none should go to hell. You want none to perish, but all to come to repentance. You sacrificed your life to secure for us our eternal reward. We only go to hell by choice. We receive heaven as a free gift by choice. It's ours, Lord, you've given to us. I pray that everybody who hears this Bible study

will put their faith and trust in you, so that there's no doubt when someone dies where they're going to go. And I pray right now, Lord, if anyone has that doubt, that today they'll settle in their heart, that they know you in a relationship, so that they can be assured when they leave this place today that heaven is their ultimate destiny. I'm going to pause in my prayer to offer you an invitation. If you want to know for sure that you're going to heaven when you die, it begins with a decision. A life with Jesus begins with a decision. It's not just pray a prayer, one and done, go back to your old way of life, but it is start with a prayer, commit your life to Jesus, and then enjoy the wonderful hope and promise of heaven that he's opened wide for all who believe. And if you want that, and you don't already know Jesus, then I invite you to pray right now and put your faith and trust in him. I invite you to pray a simple prayer like this. Just say, Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me. Thank you for dying for me on a cross. Forgive me of my sins. I repent of my old life, and I trust you right now as Lord and Savior. Save me, Lord, today. I trust you as my Lord and Savior in Jesus' name. Now look at me, everybody. If you prayed that prayer for the first time, we want to send you home with a Bible. So there'll be a pastor down front here to hand out Bibles to anybody who prayed that. Feel free to get one before you go. And for those of you online, we'll send you a Bible.

There's a number there. You can text the church at 703-844-9969. Listen friends, nothing better than having that assurance that you know where you're going the day you die. It's just a transition. It's a new address. May we all be ready. Amen? Amen. Praise Jesus. Thank you, everybody.