S1: He wants every body to know that if Jesus didn't
S1: do it, it wouldn't get done. And so you and
S1: I must realize that sometimes the reason he hasn't come
S1: to your problem yet is because it's not bad enough yet.
S2: Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
S2: junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
S2: I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us. As today we're
S2: beginning a message called Resurrection Power. You can't keep a
S2: good man down. Certainly a fitting theme. Thinking of resurrection
S2: power this week of Easter. But we're not actually going
S2: to be looking only at the resurrection of Jesus. In
S2: today's broadcast, we're also looking at Lazarus. Many of you
S2: know the story of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus from the dead.
S2: You're aware that Jesus did that. It was one of
S2: his biggest miracles. But have you ever thought about why
S2: Jesus waited as long as he did to do so?
S2: I mean, Jesus knew that Lazarus was sick. He knew
S2: that Lazarus was probably going to be dying days before
S2: he ever went to him. But, you know, the Jews
S2: believed that it took a number of days, four days, actually,
S2: for the spirit to leave your body. And so Jesus
S2: wanted to wait so that they knew for sure that
S2: Lazarus was dead, so that when he did raise him,
S2: that full resurrection power would be on display. There would
S2: be no doubt that this was a miracle done by Jesus.
S2: You know, sometimes God allows us to wait in our pain,
S2: to wait in our struggle, to wait until we are
S2: convinced that there is no way this is going to
S2: work itself out in a good way, unless it's done
S2: by Jesus. You know, I hope that as you think
S2: about the story of Lazarus and the way that Jesus
S2: waited to resurrect him gives you a little sense of peace,
S2: knowing that sometimes God's waiting for us to come to
S2: the end of our rope so that we know for
S2: sure that that deliverance or that miracle was through him.
S2: If you can join us in John chapter 11 as
S2: we begin the message resurrection Power, here's Pastor Ford.
S1: It was pitch black. No moon. You could hardly see
S1: your hand before your face. But even though he knew
S1: it wasn't a wise decision, the man got off the
S1: bus and decided he would cut through the cemetery because
S1: he lived on the other side. He cut through the
S1: cemetery even though he knew it was too dark to
S1: be walking through that cemetery at night. As he's walking through,
S1: he gets about halfway and he doesn't see the open
S1: grave and falls in. He's struggling for about two hours
S1: to try to get out. But he's hollering. Nobody's hearing him.
S1: He can't even see anything in front of him, behind
S1: him or over his head. So finally goes in the
S1: corner of the grave and just sits down and says, well,
S1: if I have to wait till daylight when the caretaker
S1: comes in, I'll have to wait till daylight. I knew
S1: I shouldn't have walked through here was pitch black. I
S1: couldn't even see my hands before my face. He's sitting
S1: in the corner for about a half hour, and all
S1: of a sudden he hears another guy falls in and
S1: doesn't know he's in there because he can't see him,
S1: because you can't see your hand before your face is
S1: so dark. He's struggling to get out. He's struggling. Finally,
S1: the guy couldn't keep it any longer. He said, buddy,
S1: you're never going to get out of this grave. But
S1: he did. Oh, yeah. Some of you will get it
S1: on the way home. Yeah, yeah he did. Today we
S1: celebrate the fact that Jesus got up so we could
S1: be fixed up, and after death, be woke up at
S1: the rapture, be taken up. So we came here today
S1: to lift him up. You ought to raise your hands up. Hallelujah. Amen. Amen. Now,
S1: that's not great theology, but that's great anthology. Hey, it
S1: took me a little while to hook that one up. Yeah,
S1: I did it in my study. I said we got
S1: Jesus got up so we can be lifted up and
S1: fixed up so we can be woke up and go up.
S1: So we came here to lift him up. Hallelujah. He
S1: is risen. Here's what the Bible says. Romans one four
S1: proved to be the Son of God by the resurrection
S1: from the dead with power. Yeah, yeah. He's saying it
S1: was this power that raised him. Resurrection power. You know
S1: what that means. Ask me. What does that mean? You
S1: can't keep the God man down. No, no, because he's
S1: going to get up. It's resurrection power. If anybody's in
S1: here today and you've experienced Christ's resurrection power, you know
S1: it was resurrection power that took that alcohol and reefer
S1: out of your hand and put a Bible in it. Yeah,
S1: it was resurrection power. It was resurrection power that took
S1: you from the crack house and brought you to the
S1: church house. It was resurrection power. I know you ain't
S1: going to pray with me, but I'm going to preach
S1: it anyway. It was the resurrection power that helped you
S1: to understand that if your outgo exceeds your income, then
S1: your upkeep will be your downfall. I ain't going to
S1: get no help. Yeah. Preach. Pastor Ford, I'm doing the
S1: best that I can. Yeah. You used to spread the gossip.
S1: Gossip so much you told your own business. But resurrection power.
S1: Now you mind your own business. And instead of sharing
S1: the gossip, you're now spreading the gospel. It's resurrection power. Why?
S1: Because you can't keep the God man down. Yes, it's
S1: resurrection power that kept you from dressing like you're a
S1: 12 ounce Coke bottle when you know you're really a
S1: two liter. Nah, I don't have anything wrong with the
S1: two liter. I'm a two liter. Uh, no, I'm not
S1: coming against two liters. I'm coming against two leaders who
S1: are in the 12 ounce Coca-Cola stretch pants. Uh, yeah.
S1: You're making them earn their name. Stretch pants? Yeah. And
S1: some of them are begging. Please buy a dress. Yeah, yeah.
S1: And it's resurrection power that you looked in the mirror
S1: and said, nah, I got too much back here to
S1: be talking about wearing some stretch pants. Preach, man. Y'all
S1: don't like me this morning, do you? Yeah. it's resurrection power.
S1: It's resurrection power that made you buy a belt, pull
S1: up your pants and quit showing your drawers to everybody.
S1: It was resurrection power. Yeah, that's what it was. It's
S1: resurrection power. And what does it do? Resurrection power. Come here.
S1: Come up close. Let me whisper. It is more intoxicating
S1: than Henny and Courvoisier. And a credible Hulk. Say, what
S1: do you know about an incredible Hulk? Somebody told me.
S1: For those of you who are incredible Hulk challenged, that's
S1: a drink. Hey, uh, who said I know? Yeah. And
S1: it's because of resurrection power. Because what does it do?
S1: It makes us Elder Estrada. It makes us live, right?
S1: It makes us think right. It makes us walk right.
S1: It makes us act right. It makes us better instead
S1: of bitter. It makes us with a biblical Personality instead
S1: of a toxic personality. Resurrection power helps us to live
S1: like a cat in a bird house. We expect a
S1: delicious outcome. And so here, this resurrection power, we finally.
S1: Now we're getting ready to bring Lazarus out of the tomb, y'all.
S1: And go ahead, tell me. Say, bring him out quick. Uh,
S1: and so, uh, if you don't mind, there's some people
S1: who weren't here last year. So what I'm going to
S1: do is give you an understanding of the whole chapter
S1: in a few minutes, and then we're going to talk
S1: about Lazarus coming out of that tomb. I want you
S1: to see what's going on in John 11. How many
S1: of you are familiar with the story? How many of
S1: you are familiar with the story? Okay, the rest of you,
S1: here it is. Uh, Jesus hears that Lazarus is sick. Uh,
S1: the sisters send and say, go tell Jesus Lazarus sick.
S1: The one that you love is sick. Did you hear that?
S1: The one that he loved is sick. You know what
S1: that means? That means, then, that Jesus can love you
S1: and let you get sick. Jesus can love you and
S1: let you lose your job. Jesus can love you and
S1: let you have problems in your relationship. Jesus can love
S1: you and still things will happen to you. And just
S1: because it happens to you doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't
S1: love you because he loved Lazarus. But he didn't come
S1: when Lazarus needed him. But he did come when Lazarus
S1: needed him. Say, what are you talking about? The old
S1: preacher said, this way he may not come when you
S1: want him. You say, yeah, but he's always right on time. Yeah.
S1: So here's what he's doing. Elder green, first of all,
S1: let me let Vern help me. First of all, he
S1: gives us a sovereign situation. He sets up a sovereign situation.
S1: What's he doing in this sovereign situation? He's creating a
S1: nobody can fix it but me situation. Yeah, because see,
S1: if you can get yourself out of it, then you
S1: may be tempted to give yourself the credit. Well, you know,
S1: my ship just came in. Well, you know, it's all
S1: who you know. Or, you know, I got it like that. No, no, no.
S1: Sometimes he wants everybody to know that if Jesus didn't
S1: do it, it wouldn't get done. And so you and
S1: I must realize that sometimes the reason he hasn't come
S1: to your problem yet is because it's not bad enough yet, right? Amen. Yeah,
S1: a sovereign situation. See, God will allow some things to
S1: die in your life so that the only help is
S1: a resurrection. Ah, you remember the fishes and loaves? I've
S1: taught you this so many times. Somebody ought to come
S1: up here and preach it. The fishes and the loaves.
S1: So he took a boy's happy meal. Lunch. And what
S1: did he do? He fed 5000. Well, here. Remember? Remember,
S1: here's the Greek. He says he took it and he
S1: broke it. Now, anybody remember what tense it was? It
S1: was what? Past tense. It's called aorist past tense. What
S1: does that mean? He only broke it one time. But
S1: then when it says he passed it out. It's a what?
S1: A participle, what's a participle? I know we all went
S1: to public school, but you ought to know what a
S1: participle is. It's words that end in ING. So he
S1: took it and broke it one time, but he kept
S1: on passing it out. Wait a minute. He broke it
S1: one time. Kept on passing. Where did the multiplication take place?
S1: In his hands. See, see, that's the key. I gotta
S1: move on, because I just want to bring everybody up
S1: to where we are. But maybe your finances are dead
S1: because they're in your hands and not in his hands.
S1: Maybe your marriage is dead because it's in your hands
S1: and not in his hands. Maybe the job situation is
S1: tore up from the floor up because it's in your
S1: hands and not in his hands. Maybe your children are
S1: dead because they are in your hands and not. Maybe
S1: the church is dead because it's in your hands. In
S1: my hands. Instead of in his hands.
S2: I don't know how you can listen to that and
S2: not want to just yield everything into his hands. I
S2: know it is so tempting for us in our human nature,
S2: in our fear, to want to hold on to everything
S2: so tightly. But as we learn and begin to trust
S2: more and more that he is sovereign, we can learn
S2: to release those things completely into his hands. You're listening
S2: to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. If you want to
S2: listen to this broadcast again, come to our website. It's
S2: Treasure Truth radio.org. But let's continue with the message again.
S2: Here's Pastor Ford.
S1: But then there was purposeful procrastination. The text says that
S1: Jesus waited for days. Uh, now why did he wait
S1: for days? He's dead. He said we ain't going anywhere
S1: yet because he ain't dead enough. What do you mean?
S1: I thought dead is dead. No. The Jews believed that
S1: it took four days for your spirit to leave your body.
S1: And so Jesus wanted to make sure that they knew
S1: he was dead. He was dead. And so purposeful. Procrastination.
S1: Verse 11 says he delayed until he was dead. And
S1: he said he told them. He said, now let's go
S1: to Lazarus. He sleeps. And then they misunderstood him. Okay,
S1: well then he can wake up. And Jesus said, no, no,
S1: he's dead. Wait a minute. Jesus, why would you tell
S1: them he's asleep and they don't understand it? It's a
S1: euphemism for a Christian dying because we don't die. We
S1: go to sleep. And anything, anybody that goes to sleep
S1: has the anticipation of waking up. So Jesus would say
S1: to them, look, look, I don't see situations the way
S1: you see situations you see, you know, he's dead. I
S1: know he's asleep. See, you can't do anything about the
S1: state that he's in. But I am the resurrection and
S1: the life. Yeah. Jesus doesn't look at things the way
S1: we look at things, and sometimes he waits in his
S1: purposeful procrastination. Help me preach this. Look at your neighbor
S1: and say neighbor. Neighbor. How you see the problem is
S1: the problem. Yeah. And so we're saying, why doesn't he
S1: stop this? Why doesn't he step into this situation? Can
S1: I tell you something? Lean up close. Let me whisper
S1: it to you. God doesn't get glory out of what
S1: never happens. Alright. Did you get that? Let me say
S1: it again. God never gets glory out of what never happened. See,
S1: if you never got sick, then you can never be healed.
S1: And he never get the glory. If you never were broke.
S1: You never get blessed. And he wouldn't get the glory
S1: if you never had a problem. See, that's what the
S1: songwriter said. If I never had a problem, I wouldn't
S1: know that God could solve em. I wouldn't know what
S1: faith in God could do. So through it all, through
S1: it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus. I've learned
S1: to trust in God. I've learned to depend upon His word.
S1: When our pain goes public, his praise does too. When
S1: our pain goes public and we may come out battered
S1: and we may come out beaten, and we may come
S1: out bruised, but we come out better. Yeah. Amen. Mhm. Yeah.
S1: And God gets the glory. We are able to say
S1: no I didn't do it. Jesus did it. And people
S1: begin to look at us and they begin to wonder
S1: about our Jesus. And we say can't nobody do me
S1: like Jesus. Can't nobody do me like the Lord. Pick
S1: me up, turn me around, set my feet on solid ground. Oh, then.
S1: But then there's the limited revelation. Mary and Martha, a
S1: little teed off. Uh, they they a little miffed at Jesus.
S1: You know, if you would have been here, our brother
S1: would not have died. In other words, where was you?
S1: You've been eating at our table. Come in. When you
S1: come to Bethany, you come to our crib eating our chicken.
S1: Drinking our Kool-Aid. Eating our greens and macaroni and cheese.
S1: How come you didn't come? If you would have come,
S1: he could have been healed. Limited revelation. That's right. Wait
S1: a minute. Don't you understand who you're talking to? He said, listen,
S1: your brother shall live again. She said, yeah, I know
S1: the Bible says. He said, wait a minute. Let me
S1: tell you something. I am the Bible. Now here's what
S1: I like about her. Here's what I like about her.
S1: She had great theology, she had great Christology, and she
S1: had great eschatology. But her problem was she was lacking. Duology. Yeah, alright. Yeah, yeah,
S1: a whole lot of us have the Bible, but the
S1: Bible doesn't have us. We mark the Bible, but the
S1: Bible doesn't mark us because we read it, but we
S1: don't heed it, and it's limited revelation. And you only
S1: get from God in proportion to who you know he is.
S1: And so I gotta let your brother die so I
S1: can increase your comprehension of who I am. Yeah. Yeah,
S1: I'm going to I'm going to preach this thing. She says,
S1: the Bible says. And let me quote Tony Evans. Jesus said,
S1: I am the Bible. See, here's what's going on. Jesus
S1: is trying to do it for them, not for you,
S1: but for them. He's trying to turn their thoughts about
S1: him into experiences with him. Yeah. So you don't have
S1: to talk about the person in the pew in front
S1: of you that was healed from cancer. You can you
S1: can testify for yourself. You don't have to talk about
S1: the person that was next to you that got delivered
S1: from something you could tell them. God delivered me. I
S1: had that experience. I know what he's able to do
S1: because this is what he delivered me from. Uh, sister
S1: was dying, and, uh, they sent the chaplain. They said
S1: she's only got a couple hours. And so he came up,
S1: and he just happened to be a Catholic priest. And
S1: he said, I came to give you absolution. And she said,
S1: what is that? He said, that is when I pray
S1: for you before you die and your sins are forgiven.
S1: She said, let me see your hands. He said, what?
S1: She said, let me see your hands. And so he said, okay, well,
S1: go ahead, look at my hands. And she looked at
S1: his hands. She felt them all over and rubbed them
S1: and everything. And then she said, no, thank you. He said,
S1: what do you mean? She said, you can't pray for me.
S1: But why can't I pray for you? Because you can't
S1: forgive my sin. Wait a minute, I can I give absolution,
S1: she said, you can't give me absolution. He said. Why?
S1: She said, because there ain't no nail prints in your hand.
S1: There ain't no nail prints in your hand. Yeah, see,
S1: I know who he is. Yeah. And for all of eternity,
S1: we everybody will recognize him because he's going to be
S1: the only thing in heaven scarred. The only thing in
S1: heaven with nail prints in his wrist and in his feet.
S1: And a spear print in his side. Yeah. Here's the point.
S1: If you're going to know Jesus in a deeper way,
S1: then you have to go through deeper situations. Mm. Yeah.
S1: I saw one of our former members here with us
S1: today live in Detroit. I ain't going to call his
S1: name Jerome Barker. I looked at him. I said, man,
S1: you look good. You look like you looked when you
S1: walked out of here. Except with the mustache. And he was.
S1: He's buff, man. He's buff man. Just embarrassing his pastor.
S1: I guarantee you he didn't get that from lifting £5. No,
S1: but as he began to get buff. Or what are
S1: they calling it now? Somebody. Somebody school me? What are
S1: you calling it now? It used to be hunk. What
S1: is it? Swole. Oh, that's what we used to say. Oh, okay. Yeah,
S1: he had to put some more weight on there. Yeah.
S1: And then after that got easy, he had to put
S1: some more weight on there. But the more weighty, the
S1: more weight he put on, the more swole. You understand
S1: what I'm saying? If you want to grow, you know
S1: what you're asking God to do? Put more weight on me.
S1: Give me more difficult situations. Give me something I got
S1: to wrestle with, struggle through and believe you and see
S1: you manifest yourself in all of your glory. And so
S1: then there was the divine declaration. I'm almost done with
S1: my introduction. I'm almost done with my introduction. Y'all laughing.
S1: This is my introduction. Then there was the divine declaration.
S1: That was last year. We had the Divine Declaration. I
S1: called it the greatest statement ever made. Why was it
S1: the greatest statement? Pastor Ford, I'm glad you asked me.
S1: You asked intelligent question because it was the greatest identification
S1: I am is the greatest declaration, the resurrection and the life.
S1: It was the greatest confirmation, though he were dead. Yet
S1: shall he live? It's the greatest invitation. Believest thou this?
S1: And it was the greatest application, she said, Lord, I believe.
S1: Now let's finish this text up. And the good thing
S1: about it is the body of my message is as
S1: long as my introduction. Amen. I didn't I didn't say anything.
S1: Anything about my conclusion. Uh, so now now we have
S1: resurrection celebration. Let's walk through. Imma drop em, not push em,
S1: as my friend Rommel would say. Resurrection. Celebration. Now we
S1: come to the actual event where the power that Jesus shows.
S1: I don't need to die to have resurrection power. I
S1: am the resurrection and the life.
S2: You know, as you may have figured by now, there
S2: is so much more to come in this message called
S2: resurrection Power. You can't keep a good man down or
S2: we're going to get to that on tomorrow's broadcast as
S2: we continue treasure truth with Pastor Ford. If you know
S2: you can't be listening to your radio, you don't have
S2: to miss out. You can listen to each and every
S2: broadcast online by coming to Treasure Truth radio.org. Or you
S2: can always sign up to begin the podcast. Again, you
S2: can do that at Treasure Truth Radio. Org. Well, I
S2: want to remind you just briefly that this is a
S2: listener supported ministry. You're hearing and being encouraged by Pastor
S2: Ford's teaching because of the generosity of someone else, someone
S2: who had the foresight to give so that treasured truth
S2: could be on the air. Maybe today's the day that
S2: you'll step forward and give your support. Either with a
S2: single gift or by joining our growing family of monthly partners.
S2: Now to give by phone, call us at 888644 7660
S2: or go online to Treasure Truth radio.org. And as a
S2: thanks for your gift of any amount, we're going to
S2: send you a book by John MacArthur called Why Believe
S2: the Bible? You know, God's Word is under attack in
S2: our culture. And many Christians find themselves unequipped to respond.
S2: Why believe? The Bible provides easy to understand answers to
S2: some of the most difficult questions about the Scripture. And
S2: shows you how to get the most from your reading request.
S2: Why believe the Bible when you give a gift of
S2: any amount? Call us at 88, 644 7660 or come
S2: to our website treasure. Truth. Radio.com. You can also write
S2: and send a check in the mail. Our address is
S2: treasure truth. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten
S2: and as I mentioned a few moments ago, you can
S2: also give your gift monthly. Become a monthly partner by
S2: giving a gift of $30 or more through auto gift,
S2: and receive a special 50% discount to Moody Publishers. Learn
S2: more when you come to the website treasure. Org or
S2: call us at 888644 7660. Well, I'm Steve Hiller, our
S2: producer is Amy Rios. Join us again Thursday as we
S2: continue this message called Resurrection Power. You can't keep a
S2: good man down. Treasure truth is a production of Moody Radio,
S2: a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.