Spiritual Enrichment Nights | I Am... The Resurrection & The Life - Gary Hamrick

Well, so good to be with you again this evening. We're gonna continue in our series, Jesus, I Am Statements. Thank you for being here. There are a lot of other places you could be, so thank you for being here tonight in church at High Point, and thank you for anyone visiting and for other area pastors. Praise God for the body of Christ, amen. Praise God for the body of Christ. Well, you can go to John chapter 11 in your Bibles if you brought your Bibles tonight. Jesus, as we've been saying, makes seven I Am Statements that only John's gospel records. When he used these I Am words, he was echoing what God said in Exodus chapter three when God revealed himself to Moses. Moses said, who shall I say has sent me? And that's when God said, tell them that I Am has sent you. And so God uses this name, I Am, it's where we get his proper name, Yahweh, and then the New Testament, Jesus is taking that same phrase and he's using it to help us understand more about him and at the same time, he's asserting his divinity. He is saying, I am God. I am using the same phrase that God spoke from the burning bush to Moses so that everyone who would hear Jesus would come to understand that he is the great I Am, he is the Lord, he is God in flesh. And so we have these seven, we'll put these up on the screen for you, these seven I Am Statements. So let's read these aloud and together. Number one, I am the bread of life. Number two, I am the light of the world. Number three, I am the door of the sheep. Number four, I am the good shepherd. Number five, I am the resurrection and the life. Number six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And number seven, I am the true vine. And so tonight, we're looking at number five on our list, I am the resurrection and the life. Let's pause and pray. Father, it is good to be in your house. It is good to settle our hearts before you. And for those who have had a tough day, we just give it all to you, Lord. The good of it and the bad of it. Thank you, Lord, for the good parts of our day. Thank you, Lord, for the challenging parts of our day. We just lay it at your feet now. We pray that you'd be glorified and you'd speak to us through your word. And we give you the praise, Lord. Thank you for refreshing us tonight. Thank you, Lord, for pouring into us. And God, may we leave here more refreshed than we came. And we trust you in Jesus' name and all God's people said, amen. John chapter 11, I'm gonna read verses one through 37. This is a familiar story, I'm sure, to most of you. It's a little lengthy, but this is a wonderful story. This is John 11, starting at verse one. 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 sister sent to him saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. 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 Lazarus, and her sister and Lazarus. And so when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. And then after this, he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone you, and are you 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. Then the 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 and sleep. And 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 also go, that we may die with him. I am, verse 17, rather. So when Jesus came, he found that he was already, 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, here it is, 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? 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. And 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. And therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And he said, where have you laid him? And they said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. 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? Your attention now, we come to one of the most beloved stories in all of the Bible here, at least I think so, because it shows this compassionate, very tender, even emotional side of Jesus. In response to a very sad and tragic event, one of his closest friends, Lazarus, has died. The Bible speaks often of the relationship and the friendship that Jesus had with Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. The three of them, it seems, live together. There's no mention of their parents anymore, so they're probably in their early adulthood years, and perhaps mom and dad have already died, and Jesus associates regularly with them. And he's very close to this family. And Lazarus has died, and so we see here now this compassionate, tender, emotional side of Jesus in relation to the fact that one of his closest friends has died. Now, as close as Jesus was in friendship to Lazarus and vice versa, when Jesus got word that Lazarus was sick and near death, it says here in the text that Jesus chose to remain where he was and made no effort, made no effort to go help him. I mean, the great physician who had the power to heal Lazarus while he was still sick decided to stay right where he was and do nothing, waiting for Lazarus to die. Now, let me tell you how, let me just try to illustrate how this would hit home. Let's say, Pastor Al, let's say you got word that, and I'm gonna pick on, where's Pastor Junior here? Where's Pastor Junior? All right, Junior, all right, now. So Pastor Al's the senior pastor, so you're like a junior pastor, so I'm calling you Junior Junior. So Junior Junior over here, Pastor Al gets word that Junior Junior is sick, and he's near death. And Pastor Al says, well, that's too bad. I'm just gonna stay where I am for two more days while Junior Junior dies. Now, how unimaginable would this be for Jesus just to say, I'm just gonna tarry here a little bit longer while Lazarus dies? So a few observations from this passage. First of all, if you're taking notes, this is a slide if you wanna put this up for us. Jesus is never frantic or in a hurry about anything. Bad news doesn't alarm him. Sad news doesn't paralyze him. There is a steadiness, and there is a calm confidence about our Lord that is not only admirable, it is desirable. Because I'm sure that we all want that kind of peace that passes all understanding. If y'all remember in your Bibles, in Mark chapter five, there's a story where Jairus, the synagogue ruler, makes this appeal of Jesus to come and heal his daughter who is sick, near death. Kind of a similar situation. She's near death, and she's sick. And Jesus makes his way with Jairus to go to Jairus' house to heal his daughter. And along the way, there in Capernaum, this woman who had had this issue of blood, this physical infirmity for 12 years, she reaches out, remember this story? She reaches out, she touches the hem of Jesus' garment, and Jesus stops dead in his tracks. And he says, who touched me? And his disciples have to say, well, you're surrounded by a lot of people here. What do you mean, who touched me? He says, no, I perceive the power has gone forth from me. And he stops, and then he ministers to that woman, and he heals her of her physical condition that she had had for 12 long years. Now, if you were Jairus, put yourself in his shoes for that moment, because your daughter is sick and near death, and Jesus is stopping to take care of somebody else. If I were Jairus in that story, I'd be like, come on, Jesus, come on. My daughter doesn't have much time. Let's hurry along here. But he's not in a hurry. He's on a divine timetable, and he has this peace, and he has this confidence and this calm assurance that everything's gonna be all right. Now, by the way, in the middle of when Jesus is healing this dear woman who needed his touch also, they get word that Jairus' daughter has died. So there are times when God seems to be delayed, there's for a greater purpose. He is on a perfect timetable. He's never frantic. He's never in a hurry. He just has this abiding peace. This is Philippians 4, 6, and 7, isn't it? Be anxious for nothing, but in all things, with thanksgiving, through prayer and supplication, make your requests known to God, and the peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Oh, how we need that kind of peace in our day. And it is through prayer that we develop that kind of calm confidence in the midst of bad news. So that's the first thing. Jesus was never frantic or in a hurry about anything. Number two, if you're taking notes, Jesus is not driven by emotion. He is guided by devotion to the Father. He's not at all driven by emotion. He is guided by devotion to the Father. Despite an emotional moment, hearing that one of your closest friends is near death, Jesus decided to stay right where he was for a few more days. And you know, because Jesus knows things, you know that in the back of his mind, Jesus is already anticipating how disappointed people will be in him because he didn't seem to show up when they thought was on time. And nevertheless, he's just not driven by emotion. He does, even though I'm sure he anticipated the pushback that Mary and Martha would give him, he was not moved by that. He was determined to do what the Father told him to do, and he really didn't care what other people were thinking. His devotion was to the Lord. Now, I may have to apologize to a few people in heaven, and I may have to apologize to Mary and Martha one day, but when they said to him, because when you read the story, you see how both Mary and Martha each say to Jesus when he shows up, what was the one thing they said to him? They both said this. If you'd have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. I don't think that was a compliment. I kind of see them with hands on the hip and kind of shaking their head and like waving a finger. If you'd have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. I might have to apologize to those two ladies, but I think they were disappointed in him, and they believed at the same time he could have healed their brother, but now they're disappointed because he did not show up on time. But Jesus is not driven by emotion. He is guided by devotion to the Father. We often do impulsive things because of emotion. We say impulsive things because of emotion. We think irrational things because of emotion. Now look, emotion is not always bad. God has wired us. He has given us emotion. God expresses emotion in the Bible. God expresses love. God also expresses anger. God expresses emotion. So not all emotion is wrong. He's wired us with emotion. It's just that emotion is unreliable, and we should not trust our emotions. We should be guided by our devotion to the Lord. So when our emotions try to dominate our thoughts and actions, we have to stop. We have to take a breath. We have to say, what does God want me to do here? And trust him. The immediate answer is not always the right answer, especially when emotion is involved. So we need to let God lead, not your emotions. Number three, God's delay is often for his display. God's delay is often for his display. God doesn't work on our timetable, friends. Has anybody noticed that? He works on his timetable, and we have to adapt to his timetable, not ours. Let me tell you the reason why Jesus intentionally delayed getting to Lazarus, all right? Here's the reason, so that Lazarus could die. That is the reason. He could have responded to heal him of his sickness, and Jesus waited so that he could die. Now, let me ask you a question. Given the same outcome that Lazarus would be made well, was it a greater miracle for Lazarus to be cured of an illness to be made well, or for Lazarus to be raised from the dead to be made well? You see, God's delay was for his display. He delayed going, because there was a greater miracle to behold. But at the time, they didn't see that, and they wouldn't know that. So he delayed in order to display something more magnificent. Listen, some of you have been waiting on the Lord, and you think that he's late. Let me tell you something, God is never late. God is always on time, and it could just be that it's because you're gonna get a bigger miracle than the one you thought. So continue to wait on the Lord. The miracle here was to raise Lazarus from the dead. Sometimes we want God to fix something, and we want God to fix something now. And God says, not now, later, because what I'm gonna do later is greater. And so we need to rest in the Lord on that. God's timing is perfect. Sometimes God says later, because God wants to do something greater. And so Jesus waits until Lazarus is dead so that he can show he has power, not just over sickness, but over death and the grave. So when he arrives at the place where they had buried him in this cave, it says that Jesus wept, John 11, 35. It's one verse that everybody can memorize, ladies and gentlemen. Jesus wept. You know, the Bible says that there are times when Jesus cried that are not recorded in Scripture. Hebrews tells us that. But there are two times that Jesus wept in Scripture. This is one of them. What was the other time that Jesus wept? Over Jerusalem. When he wept over Jerusalem, he's descending down the Palm Sunday Road, and he weeps over Jerusalem. He says, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, oh, that I would have gathered you under my wings like a hen gathers her chicks, but you were not willing. You were not willing. They had rejected him, and he wept. So these two times that Jesus wept, but in the Scriptures, they are two different Greek words. When Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus and when Jesus wept over Jerusalem. When he wept over Jerusalem, the Greek word that is used means loud, wailing, and sobbing. He is sobbing over Jerusalem because they had rejected him. When he weeps here at Lazarus' tomb, the Greek word means he shed a tear. He shed a tear. It was a very, it was a delicate moment, but he wasn't sobbing and wailing. Why? Because he knew. He knew. He knew Lazarus is gonna be raised from the dead. Lazarus is either in paradise and gonna stay there, or he's coming back and it's gonna be a wonderful miracle. Either way, it's gonna be great. And so Jesus already knew. So he wasn't sobbing here. He was shedding a tear. He was moved by emotion. Some say that he wept because he was bringing Lazarus back from paradise and felt sorry that he had to deny him that. I don't know if that's it. Like, sorry, buddy, gotta bring you back from paradise, back to this bad world. Some say he was sad about how people were disappointed that he showed up late. You know, some commentaries you read said, maybe he was weeping because, you know, he was so sad that people were disappointed with him. I don't think that Jesus was moved by what people thought. I think simply he weeps here because he is emotionally present in the moment, and he is identifying with the feelings of those around him, because he's a compassionate Lord. Isaiah 53, verse three, describes him as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. That's our Lord. He's compassionate in that way. So when Jesus arrives at the tomb, he instructs people what to do. Let's read the rest of the story. If you have your Bible still there in John 11, look at verse 38. Then Jesus, again, groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Notice this word groaning in the Greek is splagnitomei. It's a big, long word. It means he's, it actually literally means he's snorting like a horse. It's an interesting definition in the Greek. He's snorting like a horse. I think he's frustrated also that for people's lack of faith in him. And here they are in his presence, and yet they don't really see the greater miracle. And so he's groaning, comes to the tomb. It was a cave, it says in verse 38, and a stone lay against it. Verse 39, 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. I like the King James Version here. It says, for he stinketh. And Jesus said to her, verse 40, did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God? And 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. And when he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. I heard one Bible teacher say, he had to specifically say Lazarus, because if he just said come forth, every grave would have opened up. He's very specific here, 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. What a wonderful day this was. He stumbles out of the grave. He's wrapped like he's a mummy with linens, and he's trying to stumble out, his head's covered. The poor guy probably has no idea what's going on. And Jesus says, loose him and let him be, let him go. What a remarkable scene that this man had been dead four days, and he walks out of the tomb, still wearing his grave clothes. And this is Jesus, this is Jesus. I am the resurrection and the life, so that we would understand his power over death and the grave. And then he demonstrated that power by raising Lazarus from the dead. And yet, think about this, this is an incomplete picture of the resurrection. Why? Because Lazarus would die again. Lazarus would die again. This guy would die twice. That's kind of a bummer, isn't it? This guy would die twice. This is just a glimpse, a glimpse of the glorious resurrection. The miracle of Lazarus was just a glimpse of it. It was an incomplete picture. It was only intended to give us hope about what is to come. That's why Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. He was intending to show us by his actions that he has power over death and the grave so that we would know that what the Bible says about life after death is true. And so for the remainder of our time, I just want to mention three things about death and dying. Let me tell you a statistic. 10 out of 10 people die. Unless Jesus returns first, there will be a generation that does not experience death. We got a glorified body on the way up, but everybody's gonna die. I've done more funerals for people under 40 at my church than over 40. So don't anybody think that you have necessarily a long life to live. All the days appointed for us are written in his book before one of them came to be. I take comfort in that. God's got your days numbered. We don't know them, but all the days ordained for you are written in his book for one of them came to be. I don't particularly like flying, I will admit. I don't really like getting on this metal tube and getting closed with people I don't even know, hoping that this person up in the front cockpit knows what they're doing. I've never met them, I don't know. They might be having a bad day and decide to nosedive that thing, I don't know. I'm sitting in this metal tube all compressed and I'm thinking to myself, you know, I don't know. But then I take comfort knowing, you know, Lord, all the days ordained for me written in your book before one of them came to be. So I'm just gonna rest, I'm gonna trust you. But then I look around the airplane and I wonder, but what if it's their day? Because if it's one of their days, then it's all of our days. But regardless of what the number is, and only God knows, we better be ready, amen? We better be ready. So here's three things about death and dying. Number one, if you're taking notes, death is not a destination, it's a transition. For the believer, I'm talking about for believers here. Death is not a destination, it's a transition. Upon death, we are instantly in the presence of God. Our spirit separates from our body and because we know Christ, our spirit goes immediately to be with the Lord. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 5.8, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Jehovah's Witnesses have this wrong, friends. Jehovah's Witnesses teach something called soul sleep. They teach that a person's body is unconscious in the ground and they have no awareness of anything and they don't rise from the dead until Jesus comes again. That's not what Paul says, I just quoted it. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The moment you breathe your last, when you know Christ is your Savior, your spirit separates from your body and goes to be with the Lord. Our bodies return to dust. From dust we were created, to dust we shall return. Some people ask me sometimes, Pastor Gary, is it okay to be buried or is it okay to be cremated? I don't know, what does the Bible say? Actually, Saul was taken off the wall of Beit She'an and Saul's body was cremated. I don't think there's anything wrong, it's a personal choice whether you're buried in the ground whole as a body or whether you're cremated. Listen, if you're buried in the ground, it takes about 30 years to decompose and return to dust. If you're cremated, it takes about 30 minutes at 1600 degrees Fahrenheit, so take your pick. You're going back to dust, friends, one way or another. And by the way, the human body is the same 17 chemical elements as dirt. Scientifically, we are hydrogen, oxygen, and about 15 other trace elements. We're the same as dirt. That person sitting next to you, they're dirt. All right, they're dirt. We're all dirt, we're going back to dirt. And notice, notice, the dirt colors are all beautiful shades all beautiful shades. I've seen white sandy beaches and beautiful dark sandy beaches. There are no purple people. There's no green people because we're all different shades of dirt. So we're going back to dirt. But the good news is the moment we die in Christ, our spirit is going to be with the Lord. Our spirit is going to be with the Lord. We get a glorified body later, but our spirit goes to be with the Lord. Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind since age two, she said this, she was a believer. 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. I shall be able to see. Billy Graham, who died in 2018, he said this, quote, 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, end quote. And by the way, we are not alone in that transition from here to heaven either. In Luke chapter 16, remember that story about Lazarus and the rich man? And in Luke chapter 16, 22, there's this unnamed believer. And then there's that believer Lazarus, different Lazarus from what we're reading in John 11. And when Lazarus died, Jesus said in that story in Luke 16, that he was carried by the angels to paradise. You are never alone when you die. The Bible says that angels will actually accompany us. I've spoken to people over the years who have been so concerned about their loved ones, saying my loved one was alone when he or she died. No, they weren't. Because if they were a believer, the Lord's dispatched his angel to come and take them directly to be with him in heaven. And so this is our hope. Death is not a destination, it's a transition. Number two, death is a reunion with our loved ones, for those in Christ. Death is a glorious reunion. One of the greatest joys and comforts regarding death is knowing as believers that we shall be reunited with and recognize our loved ones. How do we know that we're gonna recognize our loved ones? Well, for example, in John chapter 21, after Jesus rose from the dead, he had his glorified body. But his glorified body still retained the same resemblance. The only reason at first they didn't recognize Jesus, it says because of joy and amazement. They were so overwhelmed. They're like, what could this be? But then they realized it actually was. Jesus was recognizable in his glorified body. You and I will be recognizable in our glorified body in heaven, so that we'll be able to recognize one another, and there will be a glorious reunion of our loved ones in the Lord. Also in Luke chapter nine, on the Mount of Transfiguration, it says that Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him up on the Mount of Transfiguration. And who appeared with Jesus up on the Mount of Transfiguration? Who appeared? Moses and Elijah. And Peter spoke up, and he said, Lord, maybe we should build three huts, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. Now, have you ever wondered, first of all, Peter's very impulsive in stuff that he said and did. We need to preserve the moment. Let's build little huts. The other nine disciples were at the base of the mountain. He didn't care about them. He's like, we've got Peter, James, and John. We've got Jesus, Elijah, and Moses. That's all we need. Let's build some huts and stay up here on the mountain. And it's interesting that Peter recognized Elijah and Moses. Peter had never met Elijah and Moses. Elijah and Moses lived centuries before Peter. They had long been dead, but when they, by their spirit, appeared there with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter instantly knew, this is Moses, this is Elijah. There will be an awareness of people, even those you've never met. You're not gonna get to heaven and wonder, where's John the Baptist? You won't be able to know who John the Baptist is. And here's another reason why we are certain that we will know our loved ones in heaven. Because of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13. He said, now, in this present world, now I know in part. But then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. So if you know your loved ones here, and we only know things in part now, of course you're gonna know them when you're in heaven, because you will know all things, even as you are fully known. So there's greater understanding in heaven, not less. So when we get there, we will know our loved ones. And listen, friends, this is the hope of the church. 1 Thessalonians 4.13, what a great promise this is. For those who lose loved ones, we grieve, but not like those who have no hope. We grieve. Grief is a very difficult emotion. The reason why grief is such a difficult emotion is because we were never wired to experience it. Remember, when God created Adam and Eve in the garden, he created them with the idea and the hope that they would never experience death. Death came to the human race because they sinned. And when they sinned, death came. But God originally did not intend for us to experience death, so guess what? The human race was never wired with that emotion of grief. That's why it's so hard when your loved one or your friend dies, because we're not created to experience grief. We were created to experience eternity. So grief is a very difficult emotion. But if you don't have Christ, it's even worse. And when you have Christ and you know your friend or loved one knew the Lord, then we grieve, but not like those who have no hope, because we're gonna see him again. And then number three, death is not the end. It's the beginning of eternal life. It's not the end, it's the beginning. John 14, 19, Jesus said, "'Because I live, you also shall live.'" Heaven is a real place, but friends, so is hell. Hell is also a real place. Everybody needs to understand this. The human soul never dies. The question is, where will your soul spend eternity? Now, before I came here to be with you, earlier in the week, I led a man to Christ. He probably is not a name familiar here in St. Vincent, but in America, he was very well-known in Hollywood. He was a great impressionist. He still, up until last week, was performing in Las Vegas, although he's now in his early 80s, but his name is Rich Little. I don't know if any of you have probably heard him here. Yeah, okay. Rich Little, I get this phone call from a friend who knew Rich Little, and Rich was not a believer, and he had a lot of questions about the Lord, about the Bible, and so these folks who are friends of his, that I knew, go to our church, called me and said, would you come over to our house and talk with Rich Little about the Lord? So I did, and this was one of his big stumbling questions about hell. He's like, I get the whole idea of heaven, but he said, if God was such a loving God, why would he create hell? And that was an issue for him. Now, I'm happy to report that he dealt with some of those questions, and by the end of our time together, he prayed to receive Christ. So Rich Little, I'm gonna see in heaven now, but let me tell you something. When that question comes up, how can a loving God create hell and send people to hell, all right? Please understand these two things. Number one, the reason why God created hell originally was for the devil and his angels who had fallen. This is out of Matthew chapter 25, verse 41. Hell was created for the devil and his angels. We only go there by choice if we rebel with them against God. God originally intended hell to be the place of punishment for the devil and the fallen angels. And the second thing is, we need to understand about hell, is that God doesn't want anyone to go there. God doesn't want anyone to go there. So when we start to put this onus on God, like how could you create hell, and how could you send people there? Listen, God created a way of escape so no one needs to go there. And that way of escape is Jesus. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that believeth and believeth in me shall never die. This is God's rescue plan. I had the same issue with the guy who came to my office years ago. He brought in a little snow globe that, you know, one of those things you can shake upside down, and in the middle of the snow globe was a picture of Noah's ark, was a little model of the ark. And this elderly man gave it to me. He said, my mom gave this to me when I was five years old. He said, I don't want it anymore. I said, why are you giving it to me? He goes, because I have a hard time believing that God would so love the world, but yet he would condemn the world, and that they'd all die in this flood. So I don't like the whole Noah story and the ark, and you can have this snow globe that my mom gave me. His name was David. I said, David, you're looking at this story from the wrong angle. You're looking at how all these people died in the worldwide flood, and you were forgetting what's in the middle of that snow globe. God provided an ark that anyone who trusted him could get on the ark and be rescued. And unfortunately, only Noah and his family ate in all believed and were rescued. Don't blame God. He gave them an ark. He brought a boat to rescue the people, and they decided they didn't wanna get on. Stop blaming God and recognize instead that God's provided the ark, that God has provided the cross, that God has provided Jesus so that anyone who believes in him shall be saved. Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. Who's looking forward to heaven, ladies and gentlemen? Who's looking forward to eternal life with the Lord? Father, we thank you that you are the resurrection and the life, Jesus. You came, you died, you rose again so that we might have the promise and the assurance of heaven, of eternity with you. What you did for Lazarus was just giving us a glimpse because he died again. But we, when we know you, shall die only once to be with you forever and ever. Thank you, Lord, that you are the great I am, the resurrection and the life, that you have given us life, you have rescued us from sin and death, you have conquered the grave, and we look forward to that day when we're all gathered together with you in one wonderful, glorious reunion in heaven above. Thank you, Lord, for giving yourself to rescue us from this world and from my sin and from death. We give you praise, we give you glory, we give you all the honor. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen.