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[0:00] These famous verses 25 and 26 in John 11 we read. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.

[0:11] He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

[0:22] Believe us though this. Now I realise these verses get quoted a great deal at gravesides and in funeral services and so on. But it does us no harm to look in a little more depth at what Jesus is actually saying here.

[0:38] In the first instance we would need to recognise that this saying in John's account of the Gospel fits into what I've taken by some as sort of almost a series of sayings throughout John's account of the Gospel.

[0:52] Namely the I am sayings. I am the bread of life. I am the dough of the sheepfold. I am the good shepherd. I am here the resurrection and the life.

[1:04] And so on. Jesus declares himself repeatedly in these terms. I am. And this is partly what infuriated his opponents.

[1:14] If we look for example at the end of chapter 8. When Jesus says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then they took up stones that casted him with Jesus in himself.

[1:28] And went out of the temple going through the midst of them. And so passed by. Now of course the reason why Jesus, Or one reason why Jesus uses this phrase, I am so much, Is that he is declaring himself to be God in the flesh.

[1:45] You'll remember how when the Lord appears to Moses in the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3. And he says at verse 14 after Moses says, Well, what will I say to the children of Israel?

[1:58] And they'll say, I'll say the God of your fathers has appeared to me. And I say, Well, what is his name? And the Lord replies, Verse 14 of Exodus, I am that I am.

[2:09] Thus shall ye say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. There is, in a sense, Nothing more to declare about God. We can't say, Oh, God is like this.

[2:20] Or God is like that. Or God is big. Or God is holy. Or God is pure. All these adjectives. Yes, you could multiply descriptions. And it wouldn't actually encapsulate The nature, The character, The presence, The person of God.

[2:36] But this phrase, I am. God is being from all eternity And shall be to all eternity. And in this context, In this way, Jesus is, In John's account of the gospel particularly, He is stating repeatedly, Whether it is the bread of life by which we are sustained.

[2:55] Whether it is the door by which we enter in. Whether it is the shepherd who guides us. Whether it is that which looks after and sustains us. Or whether it is, As we have in this case, The resurrection and the life.

[3:09] He is declaring himself to be God. I am. But here also, We have the fact, He makes this claim, This statement, That resurrection is in himself.

[3:22] Now, Resurrection, As you'll be aware, Of course, Is something over which the Jews disagreed. The most part of the Jews, Accepted the resurrection.

[3:32] That there was an afterlife. There was another world. There were angels. There were spirits. There was a spiritual realm. And Martha certainly, Declares herself, An adherent of this particular understanding.

[3:45] Verse 24, I know that he shall rise again, In the resurrection, At the last day. And of course, The Sadducees, About whom we might be able to vote tonight, Were those who denied, That there was any resurrection.

[3:59] They denied there was an afterlife. They denied that there were angels, Or spirits. They believed in God, But they believed that God, Had given us this one life. And that as far as, His holy scriptures, Particularly, The first five books of the Old Testament, Declarated the books of Moses.

[4:15] This life was all that we had, As far as they could understand. And that's why you had to make the most of it. That's why you had to believe, And trust in God now, Because there was nothing after it.

[4:26] That's what they believed. Jesus, of course, Declares explicitly, In the gospel accounts, How wrong they were, To think that this life, Was all that there was.

[4:37] And Paul himself, Of course, In Acts 24, He declares, Says, We have hope toward God, Which they themselves, Also allow, That there shall be, A resurrection of the dead, Both of the just, And of the unjust.

[4:55] Now here is something, That we must also recognize. Jesus says, He is the resurrection, And the life. And likewise, He that believeth in me, Though he were dead, Yet shall he live.

[5:05] And yet, There is this sense, And it's true, That scripture teaches, That there is a resurrection, Not only of those who are saved, But there is a resurrection, Also of those who are lost, Of those who are damned.

[5:20] And this is what Paul, Makes reference to here, In Acts 24, Verse 15, There shall be a resurrection, Of the dead, Both of the just, And unjust. And if we think about, What he says in 2nd Corinthians 5, At verse 10, For we must all appear, Before the judgment seat of Christ, That everyone may receive, The things done in his body, According to that he hath done, Whether it be good, Or bad.

[5:46] A resurrection of the just, And of the unjust. Now, In that sense, We have to recognise, That if Jesus is saying, I'm the resurrection, And the life, Does that mean that, He's the resurrection, For even those who are lost, Even those who, Who end up, In a lost eternity, Who end up, In hell.

[6:06] Well, We have to understand, That this teaching, That there is, That a life after death, There is more, This goes way back, Right through, Into the Old Testament, And Job himself, You know, If you remember it, In chapter 19, Where he says, You know, Oh, That my words were now written, Oh, That they were graven with an iron pen, And led in the rock forever, For I know that my Redeemer liveth, And that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, And though after my skin, Worms destroy this body, Yet in my flesh, Shall I see God.

[6:44] Now, Although he would die, Although his body would be laid in the grave, He is believing in a resurrection, Of a body being restored to life. Ecclesiastes, Of course, Tells us at the end, Chapter 12, Verse 7, Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, And the spirit shall return to God who gave it.

[7:04] Is that contradicting what we have about the resurrection of the body? Well, No, It's not. But there was a measure of uncertainty with the disciples, With the Jews, And also with ourselves.

[7:18] Is the resurrection, Is it immediate? Upon when we die, Do we go to heaven or to hell immediately? Or are we sort of asleep until the last day?

[7:28] And then, Then we rise, And then we have the judgment, And then we're assigned to either heaven or hell. And the fact that there is uncertainty, Is that what you know, That the disciples themselves were unclear.

[7:41] Mark, Chapter 9, At verse 10, When Jesus is coming down from the mountain, Of transfiguration, And we read, They kept that saying with themselves, Questioning one with another, What the rising from the dead should mean.

[7:58] Because as they came down to the mountain, He, That is Jesus, Charged them, They should tell no man what things they had seen, Till the Son of Man were risen from the dead.

[8:08] And they kept that saying with themselves, Questioning one with another, What the rising from the dead should mean. And this would tend to be people's difficulty.

[8:19] If it is this body that rises, How can it do it, When it's decayed, And when it's corrupted, And it's been in the ground? You know, In those days, People didn't so much bury people in the ground.

[8:34] They had caves, And sepulchres, Or tombs, And they would roll away the stone, Like they did for the one with Jesus, And they put the body in, And they just roll the stone back, And leave it, For a year or so, Until the body had just decayed into bones.

[8:48] And sometimes, If you might have a few deaths, In the family, Or amongst the extended family, You might be putting in a body, When there's still another one, That is in the process of decay, Somewhere on the shelf, Inside the tomb, Or inside the sepulcher.

[9:05] And you can see people, The remains of people round about, So clearly these bodies, Haven't risen, Or not yet, At this stage. So what is this resurrection?

[9:16] What, How can it be, Or when is it? And is it just good people? Well, Jesus himself, Of course, Says John 5, Verses 28 and 29, I marvel not at this, For the hour is coming, In which all that are in the graves, Shall hear his voice, And shall come forth, They that have done good, Unto the resurrection of life, And they that have done evil, Unto the resurrection of damnation.

[9:46] So there's a resurrection of both. And, If he's talking about people, Who are in the graves, He must be in bodies. Because, If we recognize, What we read in Ecclesiastes, If you think about it, As at the point of death, The body returns to the dust, The spirit to God who gave it.

[10:05] We shall all stand, Before the judgment seat of Christ. When the disciples, Put up the mount of transfiguration, They saw, Moses and Elijah, But it could not be their bodies, Because Moses, The Lord, Buried him out of sight, Nobody knew, Where his sepulcher was to this day.

[10:22] Elijah, Yes, He ascended up to heaven, In a fiery chariot, But remember what Paul says, The Corinthians, Flesh and blood, Cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So his, Fallen physical body, Could not be in glory, It is therefore, His glorified soul, Which is with the Lord.

[10:43] It is his glorified soul, Which is being seen, The physical appearance of it, With Moses, Elijah, Together talking with Jesus. Souls have an appearance, Clearly.

[10:56] But they are not reunited, To their bodies, Until the last day. At which point, Jesus says, A day is coming, When those that are in the graves, Shall hear his voice, The dead shall rise, At the command of Jesus.

[11:15] And I think we should understand, This is partly the sense, In which he is saying, I am the resurrection, And the life. Nobody is going to rise, From the dead, Except by my say so.

[11:27] And if we look at what he says, Then in John 5, 28 and 29, He is envisaging, A situation where he speaks, And the dead are raised, And some are going to be saved, And some are going to be lost.

[11:40] And all shall come forth, They that have done good, To the resurrection of life, They that have done evil, Unto the resurrection of Daniel, Should they all rise. There is a resurrection of everybody, In the entire world, That has ever lived.

[11:56] But they only rise, Their bodies only rise, At the command, And word of Jesus. There is no resurrection, At all, Without him.

[12:09] And because, All judgment is given unto him, And all authority, Is given unto him, People either stay dead, Or rise, According to his word.

[12:22] Now, Martha, With her faith, Which is not misplaced, Said, Well I know that he'll rise, In the resurrection of the last day, And Jesus doesn't say, Ah, you're wrong, Because he's about to rise just now.

[12:34] He doesn't say that's wrong, Because Lazarus, Even though Jesus would have raised him from the dead, Eventually Lazarus would die, Again, If we can say that reverently, He would die, In the normal way of things, And at the resurrection of the last day, Lazarus shall be raised, Along with everybody else, Whether, Whether to be saved, Or whether to be lost, All those, Whom the Lord commands, Will rise from the graves, The sea will give up the dead, And the bodies will be reunited, With their souls.

[13:02] That is the resurrection of the body. Now, When she says, He'll rise at the resurrection of the last day, Jesus says, I'm the resurrection. He'll rise when I say, He may rise at the last day as well, But, Look at what's going to happen, I have the power to bring people back from the dead.

[13:22] The resurrection is in me, The resurrection is at my command. I'm the resurrection, And the life. Now, In so far, As it is as, At Jesus' word of command, As we read there, In John 5, Verses 28 and 29, It is at Jesus' word of command, That the dead will rise, Right across the board.

[13:44] Regardless of whether they're going to be saved, Or whether they're going to be lost. It is at Christ's word of command, The dead will rise. But he is not just the resurrection, In that sense. He is the resurrection, And the life.

[13:56] Because some are going to be raised, To everlasting death. You might think, Well, How is that a benefit? If the soul is already in hell, What's the benefit of adding the body to it?

[14:09] And if the soul is already in glory, Which it's going to be, If it's a saved soul, From the moment of its departure here, It's going to be with the Lord. What's the benefit in having, The body restored to it?

[14:21] We are not required, To understand, And know all the details, Of why God orders it this way. Jesus doesn't say to Martha, Do you understand all of this?

[14:35] He doesn't say, Can you get your head around this? He doesn't say, Can you explain back to me, What I've just said? Unpack it for me. He just says, Believe us on this.

[14:46] Now when we're taught, About the resurrection, Of course, As Paul points out in 1 Corinthians, People are curious. They go, What is the body like, With which we come back?

[14:59] Verse 35 of 1 Corinthians 15, Some man will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Thou fool, That which thou sowest is not quickened, Except it die.

[15:12] And that which thou sowest, Thou sowest not that body that shall be, But bear grain. It may chance of wheat, Or of some other grain, But God giveth it a body, As it hath pleased it, And to every seed his own body.

[15:25] Now he's using an illustration there, From agriculture, As Jesus often did. He's saying that if you plant, For example, An apple seed in the ground, In the fullness of time, The apple tree that comes up, Will not be the same as the little seed, That you stuck in the ground.

[15:43] Now when you have your harvest, Or your wheat, Or your barley, Or whatever, Then what springs up, Will not look exactly the same, When it stalks, And sheeps, And so on, As the little seeds you put in the ground.

[15:55] And yet, It is indeed, In fact, Precisely the same material. The apple tree is precisely from, The seed.

[16:07] The field of grain is precisely, From the particular seed. It is the same. And yet, It is different. Paul goes on to say, You know, There's one glory of the sun, Another glory of the moon, Another glory of the stars.

[16:23] For one star differeth, From another star in glory. So also, Is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. When we put the body, Of a loved one, Into the ground, It is sown in corruption.

[16:37] Not only are we, Fallen in this world, And our, Our body is finite, And weak, And shot through with sin, And illness, And so on. It is put in the ground, And it decays.

[16:47] It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. The body that is raised, Will never again decay. It will never die.

[16:58] It will never fade away, In that sense. That is fantastic news, If you're in glory. That is very, Very difficult news, If you're not in glory, Because it means, That the body, With which you are then, Endowed, In a lost eternity, Cannot die.

[17:16] No matter how much, Torment it endures, It cannot die. Now if you were being, Tortured by some, Brutal regime, And they were doing, Hideous things to you, Then eventually, The body would give out.

[17:29] Probably you'd pass out, And unconsciousness, First of all, But if they kept on doing it, The body would give up, And die. Because it couldn't take, What was being done to it. A body in eternity, Doesn't die.

[17:41] No matter how much, It endures, It doesn't die. It is sown in corruption, It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness.

[17:52] It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, And there is, A spiritual body.

[18:04] Now how are these, The same but different? Well because, One is a natural body, It goes into the earth, Into the ground, The other is a spiritual body. When it is raised, It is different.

[18:15] It is the same body, But it is different, Because it is raised, By the power of Christ. And you think about, Christ's own, Resurrection body. It was the same body, And he said to the decider, Look at my hands, And my feet, And put your hand at my side, You can see, That it is me.

[18:35] You can see, That it is I myself, Handle me and see, Because a spirit of not flesh, And bones as ye see me have. And then he said, If you hear any meat, They gave him a piece of a broiled fish, And a honeycomb, He ate it.

[18:48] He ate and drank, In their presence. It was a real body, It was his body, But, This is a body, That could pass through locked doors, This is a body, That could vanish out of people's sight, And the house of the mayor, After he had broken bread, This is a body, That could appear, And reappear, And disappear, Without anybody being able, To tie it down, A resurrection body, It is now no longer, A natural body, A spiritual body, But it is, A body nonetheless, And it is the same body, But with different qualities, Now again, I know I've used this illustration, Often in the past, I personally find it helpful, But you might not, I think in terms of, Most of you have got, You know, Whatever age you're at, You'll have photographs, Of yourself, With your brothers, Or sisters, Or your parents, When you're young, When you're young, Now you look at a picture, Of yourself, Age five, And you look at it,

[19:49] And you think, Oh that's what I looked at, Oh wasn't I cute, Or I was not cute, Or whatever the case may be, And you look at that, And you think, Okay, And then you look up in the mirror, And it looks a bit different now, Doesn't it? You know, Whether we're all lying, Or gray, Whatever the case may be, We look different now, From what we did then, And yet, Nobody has transplanted, Some kind of bionicle body, Under our head, And changed us around, We indwell, Exactly the same body, Now, Aged whatever we may be, As we did in that photograph, Of when we were five, Or four, Or a baby, Or whatever, Same body, Exactly the same body, But with different qualities now, We are changed, We are different, We are not the same, As we were then, And yet we are the same, And in one sense, That's kind of what, The resurrectional body, Well it'll be older, And it'll be grayer, And it'll be more decaying, No, It will have different qualities,

[20:52] Such as the nature, Of the resurrection, But Jesus says, I am the resurrection, And the life, Because there is a resurrection, Of the death, And it is, A lost eternity, And you don't want, To have, Anything to do with that, If you can possibly, Avoid it, Although he is the life, And I think, That we think, Well that, He says, Whosoever believeth in me, He believeth in me, Though he were dead, Yet shall he live, That's not too much, Of a problem for us, Because we can think, Well, It doesn't mean, If you're already dead, Somehow in eternity, Then you can believe in Jesus, We've got no evidence, For that, Whatsoever, Almost certainly, What he means is, Although he were dead, In trespasses and sins, Although he were dead, In unbelief, Yet shall he live, Because he believes in me, He will be brought alive, And all of those, Who have been born again,

[21:53] By Christ, Can testify, That the difference, Between their life, Now in Christ, Compared to their old life, Before they had Christ, To their saviour, Is the difference, Between life, In all its fullness, And just dead existence, Before, Because we were, Effectively dead, We were just chugging along, In what was, A physical, Tangible existence, But it was just, An ongoing death, It was existence, Not compared to the, The life, That is in all its fullness, In Christ, He that believeth in me, Though he were dead, Yet shall he live, He will have life, In all its fullness, But here's this, Slightly problematical, Verse 26, Whosoever liveth, And believeth in me, Okay, You've got your faith, In Christ now, You're alive, In Christ now, You're converted, You're born again, And enjoying the Lord, And going on with the Lord, Shall never die, Oops, Seems a bit of a problem there, Because we know,

[22:54] That believers, In every age, Since the world began, Though they're redeemed by Christ, Yet, They die, Don't they? That's kind of a problem, That they, Physically die, Well, Is that what Jesus means, They'll never physically die, Well, All the evidence, Of scripture, Would suggest, That he cannot, Have meant that, Because although, We are redeemed, By Christ, We have still, Been born, And conceived, In sin, Even if we had never, Committed any of our own, Yet, We would have been born, And conceived, In sin, And, Hebrews, You'll remember, Of course, Tells us, That, As it is appointed unto men, Once to die, And thereafter, The judgment, So Christ, Was once offered,

[23:54] To pay the sins of many, And unto men, That look for him, Shall he appear, The second time, Without sin, Unto salvation, So if we are appointed, To die, How can Jesus say, He'll never die, Well, I would suggest to you, What he means, Is that, Once we are trusting, And believing in Christ, We are united, To the Lord, Death, Is essentially, Separation, Death is ultimately, Separation, From God, That is really, What the Lord meant, When he said to Adam, And Eve, In the garden, Or said to Adam, Technically, And then Adam told Eve, Afterwards, In the day of the deed, Thereof, You shall surely die, And he didn't mean, You'll drop dead, That instant, He meant, You will be separated, From me, And the devil, Of course, And we seek to capitalize, On that, The serpent, Planting the seed of doubt, Saying,

[24:55] Oh, You're not sure, You'll die, God, No, She'll be like God, It's knowing good and evil, Now, Of course, Technically, At this stage, That's not, Untrue, You're not going to drop dead, That second, And you will be, In a sense, Like God, Knowing good and evil, If you partake, Of the tree of the knowledge, Of good and evil, And temptation, Is not soon, And Adam still, Hasn't entered into it, At that point, And then Eve, Takes the fruit, And then she gives it to Adam, And then he takes it, And then the separation sets, And immediately, Right away, Their eyes are opened, They knew they were naked, They knew shame, They knew fear, They knew separation from God, They hid themselves from God, And although Adam went on to live, For 917 years, Still he lived, In that state, Of having been separated, From God, And despite the fact, The Lord instituted, That covenant of grace,

[25:56] And despite the fact, The sacrifices, And the blood shed, For the animals, Literally, Clothed their nakedness, To point us, To how Christ, Clothes and covers, Our nakedness, With his own righteousness, Through the shedding of his blood, All of that covenant of grace, Yet, In this world, This fallen world, There is always, A degree of separation, From God, And that is why, It's not heaven, That is why, It is earth, Since this world, Fell in Adam, It has been separated, From God, And we, In this world, Are separated, From God, But what happens, When the believer, Leaves this world, His or her soul, Is then, Reunited, To the Lord, That is not, So much death, That is life, From the dead, We could call that, The resurrection,

[26:57] Of the soul, It's not technically, Resurrection of the soul, Because the soul, Doesn't ever die, So we can't, Rise again, Technically, But the resurrection, Of the soul, Is a good way, To understand it, Because the soul, Immediately rises, To go to be with the Lord, That is not death, So much, As a life, From the dead, In this old, Fallen world, Separated from the Lord, By the fall, We escape from it, To be restored, To the Lord, But it's still hard, For those, Who are left behind, To say, Well, Surely, We're not supposed, To have dead, We can't continue, In this world, This is a world of death, In escaping, From here, We escape, To life, In all its fullness, I would suggest, To you, That is what, Jesus meant, When he said, He that liveth, And believeth in me, Shall never die, The larger, Catechism, I think I've made, Reference to this, In the past,

[27:57] If so, I apologize, Has two questions, That put this, I think, Perfectly, Question 84, In the larger, Shall all men die, Answer, Death being threatened, As the wages of sin, It is appointed, Unto all men, Once to die, For that all, Have sinned, Fair enough, Question 85, Death being the wages of sin, Why are not the righteous, Delivered from death, Seeing all their sins, Are forgiven in Christ, Now isn't that a question, We've all perhaps thought, At some point or other, Death being the wages of sin, Why are not the righteous, Delivered from death, Seeing all their sins, Are forgiven in Christ, Now isn't this, What Jesus, We would like to think, It was hinting at, He that liveth, And believeth in me, Shall never die, The answer to the catechism, Gives us this, The righteous, Shall be delivered, From death itself, At the last day, And even in death, Are delivered,

[28:58] From the sting, And curse of it, So that although, They die, Yet it is out, Of God's love, To free them, Perfectly, From sin, And misery, And to make them, Capable, Of further, Communion, With Christ, In glory, Which they then, Enter, Upon, There's that, Verse, In Isaiah, I think it is, That said, That the righteous, Perish, And no man, Weith at the heart, Is it, No man, Considereth, That when the Lord, Takes the righteous, Away, He is doing it, Out of mercy, That he is, Not only taking them, To be with himself, But he is also, Sparing them, From what may yet be, To come, You'll forgive me, For a personal, Um, Anecdote, Some years ago, All of you know, My former, Life of ministers, In the church of Scotland, And all the turmoil,

[29:59] That was brewing there, At the time, Just a few years ago, We had a, A very godly, Faithful old elder, He was in his 90s, He was there, Every prayer meeting, Every service, And he couldn't get a lift, He would walk, Nothing put him up, Nor down, He wasn't a complicated guy, I don't mean that, Any disrespect, Quite a simple faith, A simple, Diligent, A faithful service, And attendance, On the Lord, Week by week, Day by day, That was his life, But I knew, Fine, He did not, Understand, All that was going on, In the church at large, And perhaps, He could tell, That things, There were rumblings, Underneath, And the potential, Of division, As things were coming, The Lord, In his mercy, He fell sick, And he, Died, Physically, And, Was buried, In the January, Or the February, Of the year, In which, Everyone kicked off, With that general, Self-dean-day, And as, The Bible says, About Ishmael, That he died,

[30:59] In the presence, Of all his brethren, Our old elder, Was taken away, When we were all, Still together, When we were all, Still brethren, And sisters, United, In a one place, In a one congregation, Before everybody, Was compelled, To go, Separate ways, And follow their own, Individual consciences, Which he would never, Have understood, And he would never, Have been able to grasp, Why is this, Why is the congregation, Breaking up on this, Why is this happening, Why is so and so gone, He doesn't understand, What would be different, On the ground, In the local church, And wouldn't necessarily, Grasp, And yet the Lord, In his mercy, Took him to himself, And he died, In the presence, Of all his brethren, And the Lord, Had mercy upon him, So that when, All the times of strife, Came, He didn't have to look at it, He didn't have to see it, He didn't have to endure it, Whosoever liveth, And believeth in me, Shall never die, Because the soul,

[32:00] Will not die, It will be with me, In life, For all eternity, The body, Yes, Will be carrying the grave, But only until, I give the command, And the day is coming, Jesus said, That all those, In the grave, Shall hear my voice, And they shall rise, Revelation tells us, The sea, Gave up the dead, And what of those, Who have been created, Or those, Who have been burned, At the stake, As martyrs, In the reformation, Or other times, What happens to their dust, How it is, The Lord, Reconstitute their body, With all the particles, Of dust, That have been split, To the four winds, You think this is, Too hard for God, You think it is, Too difficult for God, To bring dust, From all the corners, Of the four winds, What do you think, He made the first man, Out of, Dust, Dust thou art, And unto dust, Thou shalt return, He said to Adam, He can remake, The bodies, He can recharge, Them with his spirit, With his grace, He can raise them,

[33:01] From the dead, And they will endure, For all eternity, Either without him, Or, Please God, With him, For all eternity, Such is, The resurrection, Of the dead, That Jesus said, I am, The resurrection, Nobody will rise, To a blessed eternity, Without Christ, They will rise, They will rise, Because he gives the word, Of command, That doesn't mean, They love him, Any more than we read, In Philippians chapter 2, I think it is, Where it says, You know, Every knee shall bow, Every tongue, Shall confess, That Jesus Christ, Is Lord, To the glory of God the Father, That doesn't mean, They'll all like doing it, Every single Muslim, And Hindu, And atheist, And heathen, And unbeliever, And agnostic, They will all be bowing the knee, To the Lord Jesus Christ, At the last, And all those perhaps, Who have gone on, With nominal Christianity,

[34:02] Thinking, Well I'll just go to church, Now and then, And do my religion, But you know, I don't really need, To have this Christ, In my heart, And at the end of the day, They too will bow, They say, It was all true, He was all true, It was all about Christ, And they will all bow before him, It doesn't mean, They'll all be converted, And saved, But they will acknowledge, His authority, And likewise, At the last day, When Christ gives the word of command, They will rise from their graves, In the same way, As somebody who is unconscious, And somebody throws water on them, And they're waking up, It doesn't mean, They're delighted to be wakened up, Even when people are wakened up, From a nice night's sleep, They're not always at, Or most happy or pleasant, When you wake them up, They don't necessarily, Want to be wakened up, The body doesn't necessarily, Want to be awakened, By then of course, The soul is already, In its eternity, One way or the other, Jesus said, I am the resurrection, Not just the resurrection, But the life, There's not going to be, Any life except in me, Lazarus is not going to,

[35:03] Come forth out of the grave, Except through me, Nobody else is going to be raised, Except by me, He that believeth in me, Though he were dead, He may be dead now, But if he believed in me before, He will live, He may have been dead, In trespasses and sin, But if he believes in me, He will live, And he will live eternally, And whosoever lives, And believes in me, Shall never die, He will always be, United to God, Both here in this world, And in eternity to come, He will always be alive, In Christ the body, May be sloughed off, Just like when you're going, For the shower, You change your clothes, You take off all your dirty, Minky clothes, You put them for the wash, There's a thing, You're chucking them out forever, But you're peeling them off, You're shedding them, In the same way, As the soul sheds, The outer coil of the body, But it hasn't died, And it hasn't gone away, It's gone to be with the Lord, For all eternity, Whosoever liveth, And believeth in me,

[36:04] Shall never die, This is, Yes, Deep, The one sense, We have already, Died, To self, When we're in Christ, This is, What we read in Colossians, If ye then be risen with Christ, Seek those things, Which are above, Where Christ sitteth, In the right hand of God, Set your affection, On things above, Not on things on the earth, For you're dead, Your old self is dead, Your life is hid, With Christ in God, When Christ is our life, Shall appear, Then shall ye also appear, With him, In glory, I am the resurrection, And the life, He that believeth in me, Though he were dead, Yet shall he live, And whosoever liveth, And believeth in me, Shall never die, It's difficult, To get your head around it all, Jesus didn't say to Martha, Get your head around it, He didn't say, Go and read some theology, He didn't say, Go to the synagogue, And ask the rabbi, Search the scriptures, See if you can understand it, Because I only want, Intelligent people with me in heaven,

[37:05] He didn't say any of that, He didn't say, Can you plumb the depths of this, He just said, Do you believe it? Little boy going to Fay Isle, Doesn't have to know, All the ins and outs, Of navigating the North Sea, And then the trip, From Cetland, Down again to Fay Isle, He doesn't have to know, Where the boat will dock, Of where the house will be, That he goes to stay, He just needs to go, With his parents, He doesn't have to understand, Why he gets in one boat, In one place, And another one somewhere else, He doesn't have to know, All the wise, The wherefores, And mileage of the journey, He just goes, And when he's tired, And when he's tired, He falls asleep, And when he wakes up, He follows them, He does whatever it is they do, He goes with them, And so he's not afraid, And we don't have to be afraid either, If we put our trust in Christ, You don't have to know, All of the details, All you have to do, Is put your trust in Christ, And believe, And this is when he says to Martha, Believe us, That is, I've told you it now,

[38:06]  Do you believe it? She said, I do, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, The Son of God, Which should come into the world, By the time when she says it, He's already in the world, And at the time when we finally believe in Christ, He's already there, And by the time we give our heart to Jesus, He's already there, Into our heart, Whatever it is we do, The Lord is way ahead of you, In preparing the way for you, And the place for you, And the time for you, I am the resurrection of the life, He that believeth in me, Though he were dead, Yet shall he live, And whosoever liveth and believeth in me, Shall never die, That is Jesus' statement, And then is Jesus' question, Which only you can answer, Believe us now, This, That is,