Resurrection Power – Part Two

John 11:36-57 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “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 up 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 are 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. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples. And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.

Continuing Pastor Kyle’s message, he states that the third observation about how God works His resurrection power is that God is right there when we are hurting, but we have to look for Him in the fog of grief. God eyes are on us, but are our eyes upon Him? In all the distractions of life, we need to seek and find the Lord. Psalm 34:15-22 says, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is  against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord  is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many  are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.” Even when it feels like everything is dropping, know and stand firm on the fact that God has this. We are finite; God is infinite. The Almighty hears and delivers us.

Fourthly, sometimes God uses totally unlikely sources to communicate truth. We have to lose ourselves to find God. Truth from God can come from anyone, at any time. The Chief Priest of the Pharisees stated that ‘one man should die for the people” and thereby communicated an eternal gospel truth in Christ’s death for the sins of the world. The truth of God convicts us and sets our coarse in life. Fifthly, the Resurrection changes everything. God’s resurrection power is available today and leads to eternal life. When things seem dead, God can make them alive. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace everyday in the Christian life. We are raised with Christ and that resurrection applies to us today; right here and right now. That is resurrection power. The living God is alive and active in His creation and His creatures lives.

In John 11:25-26 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?”

In Christ, Brian