We're turning to John chapter 11, John's gospel chapter 11. I'll tell you the story anyway, I'm smiling. On Wednesday night, the Reverend Patrick Baker, well, he let out of the bag that we would be in John chapter 11. And someone decided to tell me in the bus, who will remain on me, and said that, the Lord could well waken you up in the middle of the night and change your message. Well, I'm glad he didn't. We're in John chapter 11, and so we're with the same message that I had already prepared. The Lord didn't do that, and we're very thankful to him for that. So we're in John 11. Let's read a portion of the scriptures, and let's hear now the word of God as it's found under the penmanship of the Holy Spirit and under the penmanship of John. Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary, and her sister Martha. It was at Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, The sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. And after that, saith he to his disciples, let us go into Judea again. The disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and ghost thy heather again. Jesus answered, are there not 12 hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of the world, this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. These things said he, and after that he saith unto him, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death, but they thought that he had spoken of taking rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go, that we may die with him. Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany was now on to Jerusalem, about 15 furlongs off, and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died, but I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection in the last day. Jesus said unto her, 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. Believest thou this? And she said unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. Let's bow our heads in prayer, please. Our loving Father, bless now the preaching of the word. May thy presence be our portion. May thy spirit be upon us. May the Word come with power, and may our hearts be ready to receive the Word. May all, O God, foolishness be put away, and all secondary thinking, Lord, be brought into captivity. Now center our hearts on this central act of worship as we come around the Word. We pray these prayers through the Savior's holy name. Amen. there was only ever going to be one place that we would turn to this Lord's Day, especially on this Resurrection Sunday as we continue in our series, considering the names and the titles of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is to John's Gospel and the chapter number 11. In this chapter, we come to read of the sickness and of the death and the resurrection of one of the Savior's closest friends, Lazarus of Bethany. This man, along with his two dear sisters, Mary and Martha, resided in the village of Bethany, a village some two miles east of the city of Jerusalem. It appears that the Savior had become a close friend to these three siblings who, I believe, cohabited in the same house. However, the peace and the tranquility of that home was going to be shattered with the brother of the home, Lazarus, falling sick. The sickness that took hold of Slazarus must have been concerning enough to his sisters because they now send a message to the Savior who is some distance away. That message can be read in the end of the verse number 3, Let me just pause there and make a comment. I remind you this afternoon that just because a person a child of God does not mean that that person will never fall sick. This event in the Savior's earthly ministry is a blow, a blow to the false notion preached by some, especially those in the prosperity gospel movement, that true Christians should never become sick. Here we find a believer, a man who is dearly loved by the Lord, because that's what the sisters say. He whom thy lovest is sick. A man who was dearly loved by God comes to be inflicted with an illness, with a disease. Now the Lord Jesus Christ could have very easily prevented the illness if he had thought fit, but he did not. Rather he allowed his child Lazarus to become sick and eventually die in order that his glory would be revealed to a far greater degree if Lazarus had remained in perfect health. And so this thought that you never become sick as a Christian is a thought that has no biblical basis whatsoever. And hearing the news of Lazarus's death and sickness, John tells us that the Savior remains in the locality where he presently is for two days. During that hiatus of time, Lazarus dies. By the time the Lord Jesus Christ gets to Bethany, Lazarus has already been in the grave for four days and his body is already corrupting. His body is already decaying because the sister says, behold, he stinketh. Martha, she rushes out to meet the Savior. Mary sits still quiet in the family home. It's during that interaction between the Lord Jesus Christ and Martha, an interaction that really focuses on the doctrine of resurrection, that the sword Jesus Christ will utter words to Martha in the verse 25 and the verse 26, where he says to Martha, 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. Believest thou this? It is this self-designation of the Saviour that He is the resurrection and the life that we want to consider today as we come to rejoice on this Resurrection Sunday that Christ is risen indeed. I believe that there needs to be a comment on the prefix that we find with regard to our Savior's word. I refer to those words, I am. These are words that we will meet throughout our series, and thus, being the first time in meeting this very prefix, there needs to be a comment made upon it. You'll be aware that the Lord Jesus Christ will use this I am statement throughout John's gospel, and it is exclusively found in John's gospel. He will use this statement seven different times. In John 6.35, he says, In John 8, 12, and John 9, verse 5, he says, I am the light of the world. In John 10, 7, he says, I am the door of his sheep. In John 10, 11, I am the good shepherd. John 11, 25, I am the resurrection and the life. In John 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 15, verse 1, I am the true vine. By employing the term, I am, the Savior had an eye to the revelation of God in the Old Testament Scriptures. You'll remember whenever God commissioned Moses to go to Egypt and return to Egypt to deliver his people from the house of bondage, that Moses asked God a question regarding his identity. For seeing that the Hebrew people would come and question him who had sent him, Moses inquires of God, what shall I say to them? Who is it that has sent me? What is the name of this God who has sent you on to us? In Exodus 3, in the verse 14, we read God's reply. And God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me on to you. And thus in Judaism, this two worded phrase, I am, would have been unquestionably understood as the name of Jehovah. Now in the Greek language, there are two ways that you can say I am. I know that you have an hour less in bed and so, This may part go over you, I trust it a lot. But there are two ways that you can say I am. The first way is using the verb, and you'll know this verb, ego. That's where we get the word ego, our English word, I. The ego is all about I. And the verb, I am, can be the verb ego. Or there is another word, another verb, it's am I. Ego, am I. However, whenever the Lord uses this statement, I am the resurrection and the life, He doesn't use the verb ego, neither does He use the word am I. But rather the Lord Jesus Christ, He brings the two verbs together and so it literally reads, ego am I, the resurrection and the life. The only other time that you find that combination, that unique combination of those two verbs together, it's normally one or the other, but the only other time you'll ever meet those two verbs being brought together outside the I Am statements of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament is found in the Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures known as the Simtuatant. And you find it in Exodus chapter 3. when God says, I am that I am. Ego imi. I am that I am. And therefore, whenever the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking to these Judaizers and these Jewish people, individuals who would have been well acquainted with the Greek translation of the Old Testament scriptures, their minds would have went immediately back to the only other time that they would have ever read those words because the New Testament scriptures had not yet been written and so they would have went to their minds to Exodus chapter 3 when God comes to reveal himself as I am not I was not I will be but that I am I presently am I am the God of the present And thus, whenever he used the I am in the New Testament, they would have very well been aware that this was a veiled reference to the sacred name of Jehovah. And thus, when Christ says, I am the resurrection and the life, he was declaring, I am no less than God. I am no less than God. Christ's claim of deity was very much understood by the Jews. That is why in John chapter 8, when the Savior will take the I Am title and apply it to himself, in John chapter 8, we're told in John 8 and the verse 59 that the Jews did something. It says in John 8 verse 59, then took they up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself because the Lord Jesus Christ said that he was the I am. I am, before Abraham was, I am, he said. Verse 58, before Abraham was, I am. And thus the Jews knew full well, when our Savior takes this title, I am, this prefix, Jesus Christ was claiming, and rightfully so, all of the majesty, all of the supremacy, and all of the glory of absolute and essential deity that was inherently His by right. I am the resurrection and Now, as we consider this title, I want to consider just two things with you this afternoon. I want us to consider, first of all, what Jesus meant when he said, I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus Christ is standing staring death in the face. He's entered a home, or he's outside the home, but he's come to an event where death reigns supremely. Lazarus is dead. The bodily corruption has started to take place. His body is starting to stink as a result of that human corruption and of that human decay. And as the Savior stands there, staring the enemy of death in the face, the Lord Jesus Christ makes this definite and definitive declaration. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. And it's not going to be very long before he comes to verify that claim. Now we can all make claims. I could make a claim today to say well I'm a brain surgeon. Well I would need to try and verify that for you, put you on an operating theatre and start to dissect your head and cut it open. I'm sure you wouldn't want me too near you with regard to that. We can make many a claim, but there needs to be the verification of that claim. And so Jesus Christ, he makes us this magnificent claim, I am, this is the I am of the Old Testament, I being Jehovah, I am the resurrection and the life. And now he comes to verify that claim, and he does it in two ways. First of all, he verifies it by him raising Lazarus from the dead. Here is my proof. Here is the proof that I am who I claim to be. I am the resurrection and the life. And as a result, I am going now to raise this man, this man who is dead and who is fully dead. I'm going to raise him to life and I am going to raise him from the grave to give verification of what I claim I am. Not only does he verify it by the raising of Lazarus to life, but secondly, he will verify it by his own triumph over death and the grave. When he comes forth from the sepulcher on that first day of the week, When Christ comes out of the grave as the victor and as the conqueror of death, three days after his own death by crucifixion on the cross, Jesus Christ, some days, some months down the road for the saviors coming into his the last months of His earthly ministry, He is going to come and verify this claim to His disciples that He is the resurrection and the life, because He has power to lay down His life and He has power to take it up again. And therefore, I verify it in the mouth of these two witnesses, every word is established. The witness of Lazarus' raising from the dead, the raising off, myself from the dead, the raising of Jairus's daughter from the dead. These are the verifications. These are the evidences that what I declare is true. I am the resurrection and the life. But what did the Son of God mean when he uttered these sublime words? Well, when Jesus Christ said to Martha and Mary, or to Martha, I am the resurrection, the life, He was not merely asserting that he was a teacher about the resurrection. He wasn't just saying, I'm an expert about resurrection. He's not even saying that he believed in resurrection or that he himself would be raised or would be resurrected from the dead, but rather he was stating that he was the divine author and the divine source of resurrection. Whether that resurrection be a physical resurrection or whether that be a spiritual resurrection in its nature. In his divine person, He is the resurrection and the life. And we need to come back to this Greek construction. Ego imi. I am the resurrection and the life. If that was to be written as it should be written, I suppose, in the Greek, or as it is written in the original, the order is not, I am the resurrection and the life. This is how it literally is found in the Greek New Testament. The resurrection and the life I am. The resurrection and the life I am. You see, whenever you read, I am the resurrection and the life, what do you come to focus on? You come to focus on resurrection and life. But in the great New Testament, the focus is not on resurrection and life, as important as that is, but the focus is on I am. It's on Christ. The focus is on Him. Resurrection and life I am. This is who I am, resurrection and life. In this divine person, He is the resurrection and the life. Now, we often think about the resurrection as an event. We think about resurrection as an event. But Jesus Christ, He comes to remind us that resurrection is not just an event, but rather resurrection is an entity. I am the resurrection and the life. It's in an entity. The Lord Jesus Christ was conveying to Martha and all who stood with her that he is the giver and the sustainer of the people's physical, spiritual and eternal life. God was saying more, the Son of God was saying more than he, that he effects a resurrection. Now he does. He will raise us up on the last day. But he's saying more than that it is the effect of resurrection. He is saying that he is in essence resurrection and life. You may think I'm a bit confused. You're not the only one. I was listening to Dr. Alan Cairns with regard to this particular portion and he quoted J.C. Ryle. He spoke about the great mystery that there is in this statement of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is, in essence, resurrection and life. It's not just the effect of life and resurrection, but He is, in essence, resurrection and life. The Savior was communicating in these words that He Himself was the possessor of life itself, a life that He can dispense to whomsoever He will. You see, all living things derive their life from God. As human beings, we do not possess life in and of ourselves. The life that we possess is a life that has been given to us by God. We cannot make things live. If I stood in front of that communion table, and I prayed over it, and sought for it to be brought from an inanimate object, from a non-living object, to be brought to some kind of life. I could stand here until Christ returns and that table will always remain a table, because I in and of myself, I do not possess life. It's not inherent to me, but the life that I am living is a life that has been given to me. Physical life and spiritual life. Life has been given to us by God. Let me give you a number of verses. Whenever John writes his introductory remarks to his gospel, he will pen the following words in John 1 verse 3 and 4. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of man. You see, all life which had a commencement is a derived life. It is a life that is given to us. A life that has a commencement is a derived life. It is not inherent life. However, Christ's life was underrived. It was inherent. He already possessed life, and therefore, this inherent life evidences that He is divine. He possessed life. He possessed life. We are given life. There's the difference when Paul preaches on Mars Hill. In Acts 17, he makes this declaration. God hath made the world and all things are in, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth. Dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worship with men's hands, as though he needeth anything. Seeing, seeing, now underline these words, seeing he giveth life, giveth to all life and breath and all things for in him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17, verses 25, 26. 28, without God we would not exist. We live and we move and have our being in Him. Jesus said this about Himself in John 5 verse 26, He declares in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh on to the Father but by me, Jesus Christ, the source and the cause of life." Now let me develop that for a little period of time. Jesus Christ is the cause and source of all life. Jesus Christ is the source of all natural life, to all. As the creator of all things, from whom life has been communicated to all living beings, He is the giver of life. God created man in the garden of Eden. We read there in Genesis 2 verse 7, and God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils. What did he breathe into his nostrils? The breath of life. And man became a living soul. This is where man was an empty corpse, or an empty body. And God then comes and he breathes life into mankind. And we come to find that this is what God has done, not only in Adam, but in all of his posterity. God put life into Adam, and into all of Adam's descendants, God puts life. Not only is God the giver of natural life, but He's also the sustainer of natural life. Speaking of God, Job declares in Job 12, verse 10, Paul writes in Colossians 1, 17, that Christ is before all things and by Him all things consist? God preserves our lives. He gives us life and God then preserves life. He brings us to life and he permits that life to continue as long as he has purposed for that life to continue. Now here's the application You've missed all that I've said, all a little bit complicated today. I want to speak and bring it now to application. I want to say to the boys and girls here today, God has given you life, natural life. You're living today. The heart is beating, the pulse is beating, the lungs are filling and they're emptying. And I want to ask the children here today, Will you take the life that God gave you and will you live it for self and sin? Or will you give that life to God? First of all in salvation and then to serve Him in whatever way He directs you to serve Him. And young people here today, God gave you life this week. He permitted you to live while others died. And while others had their death notice placed on funeral times or in some column of a newspaper, that was not your lot, that was not your portion, young person. God gave you life this week. Now I want to ask you, what did you do with the life He gave you? What did you do with the life He gave you this week? Did you live it for Him? Did you live it for His glory in the last seven days? Or did you engage yourself in acts of sin and rebellion against the One who gave you life? And older person, regarding the life that God has given you, how have you employed it? When you come to give an account of your life, what will you have to show for the 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years of living? Have you done anything to advance the cause in the name of Christ during your life? Oh, how we need to take stock from time to time and ask ourselves the question, the challenging question, what do I have to show for my life? This one who's given me life, what do I have to show for my life and for my living in this world? C.T. Studd said, only one life. will soon be passed and only what's done for Christ will last. Do we believe it? Are we living in light of that? Are we exhibiting lies that we believe that our life will soon be passed and only what's done for Christ will last? Are we living in light of that? You know, part of my calling as a pastor and as a minister is to prepare us all for the day that we'll stand before God and give an account of our lives. That's part of my calling. If God was to bring you to account for the life you have lived to this moment, what would you have to say to him? Lord, here's my car. I got a Lord. Put a lovely set of alloys on her, Lord. And that's what I gave my life to, and that's what I gave my time to, and that's what I put my money into. Lord, Lord, here's my passport. And here's all of the lovely holiday destinations that I enjoyed holidaying in before I ever put myself to serve Thee. And Lord, here's the home that I built with all of the mod cons that I put before serving. Lord, here's the business that I idolized. Before I even thought about serving thee, Lord, here's my car, here's my passport, here's my house, here's my business. Nothing wrong with a nice house. Nothing wrong with a nice car. Nothing wrong with having a good going business. There's nothing wrong with that. Don't get me wrong. But if you have given your life simply to that, what will you have to show for your living? Paul said, That for me to live is Christ, and to die is Gideon. Is that our testimony? You see, the natural life that God has given to us, He will call us to account for. Every decade, every year, every month, every week, Every day, every hour, every minute, every second. Oh, to live for Him. He gave me life. How am I investing that life? What impact am I making for eternity? What am I doing with the life that God put into me? Oh, to invest my life in the things that count for eternity. Say that, child of God. Make it your prayer. Now, Jesus Christ is not only the cause and source of natural life, and there's one o'clock already. Maybe that clock's wrong. I don't know. But he's also the cause and source of spiritual life to his people, a life that requires resurrection. Let me unfold this just a little. The sinner in their sin is depicted in Scripture as being dead in their sin, Ephesians 2, 1, the classic proof text. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. You jump on down that chapter to the verse number five and you read a similar statement, even when we were dead and sins have quickened us together with Christ. It is from that dead and state that we are brought to spiritual life and that requires a God-initiating quickening. It requires resurrection. If we are to be brought from death to life, it requires resurrection. And Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the resurrection and the life. There's a quickening. This term quicken means to make alive. It's used by John. It's used by Paul to speak of what occurs in regeneration when a dead and sinner is made alive. And we're brought to consider that. In an illustrative way, there in the valley of very dry bones in Ezekiel chapter number 37, God's servants brought down into the valley. He preaches in the valley to a valley that's full of very dry bones. And as he preaches, bone comes to bone and sinew to sinew and all of that. But then we read these words in verse 8, but there was no breath in them. There was no life in them. What was required to make those dead bones live again was the wind of God, the breath of God. And he said unto me, prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say unto the wind, thus saith the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived. They lived. and stood up on their feet an exceeding great army. And so it is in salvation, dead, and trespasses, and sins, a sinner is quickened, made alive by God. I tell you, there's people in this house today, and you need to be resurrected. Spiritually speaking, you're in deadness of sin, and here you are, sleeping in the house of God. You need to be raised to life. The power of God needs to come into this meeting house today and into that soul of yours and to bring you from your dead and state to life in Jesus Christ to bring you out of death's darkness to translate you into the kingdom of God's dear son. Have you passed from death to life? Have you passed from death to life? Have you been quickened? Do you feel the life of God pulsating in that soul of yours today? If not, may God quicken that heart. Very quickly, I say it at two points. Jesus Christ is, in essence, resurrection and life. What comfort can be derived then from this title? Well, the Savior goes on to divulge the primary comfort that is derived from the truth that he has just stated. Because he says, I am the resurrection and the life, he goes on to say, In verse 25, He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. We come to believe in Christ, we're brought from death to life. God gives to us eternal life. And with such a life being given to us at our conversion, Christ goes on to say that we shall never die. Never die! Never, never will I die. Oh, you may say, but preacher, there's coming a day when your body will drop to the ground and they'll place you into a coffin. And I know what it'll be like. I haven't picked it out yet. They'll put us into a coffin someday and they'll bury me into the ground. And you say, preacher, but you'll be dead that day. I say, I'll be as alive as I've ever been. I'll be more alive than I've ever been because my soul will have soared the starry skies. And they, that soul, will have entered into glory itself. And I'll be before the Father and before the Son and before the throne of God. Yes, we'll die physically. I will be carried to a graveyard and will be placed when life expires from the body, but these souls will go to live with God and those souls will then be united on the day of general resurrection. I tell you, there's comfort there, child of God. There's comfort for your heart today. The Christian will never die. The second death, that death that takes body and soul out from the presence of God forever, will have no power over the believer and the child of God. Christ's life, a life that never ends, is our life. And his resurrection is a guarantee of our resurrection. Because I live, he says, ye shall live also. and so sorrowing child of God, and I know there are widows here, maybe widowers, maybe daughters, sons, husbands, wives, maybe children, you've lost parents, maybe you've lost a child in your life. Your dear loved one, that loved one who died in Christ, you are to be comforted by the knowledge that They're enjoying life. Now in the presence of God himself, having believed in Christ, for that's the key, they never died. And today they are with Christ, which for them is far better. It's far better. And if you're a doubting child of God, wrecked by doubts, With regard to salvation, let these words of Christ drive those doubts away. He who cannot lie said that if you believe in him, you shall never die. That's what he said. The literal rendering from the original goes something like this. Whosoever liveth and believeth in me in no wise shall die forever. Having believed in Christ, we will never die. Regardless of how you feel, regardless of what you do or what you don't do as a Christian, if you have believed in Christ to the saving of your soul, you will never die. And there's comfort in that, child of God. And there's a secondary comfort, and with this I close. And it's related to those in our family circles and in our circle of friends are still in their sin, since He is the resurrection and the life, He can raise. He can raise those who are yet in their sin from their spiritual deadness and give to them spiritual life. He can raise them. We cannot raise Him, this preacher cannot raise Him, regardless of His oratory, regardless of His scale in preaching, though that be very poor, but he can raise them. You look at them and you wonder, is that the case? Of course it is the case. Bring them to the one who is the resurrection and life. Plead that very title. Lord, my daughter, my son, my children, my neighbors, my loved ones, my countrymen, they're dead in their sin, but Lord, you are the resurrection and the life. And those who are dead in sin, Lord, raise them to life. Bring life to them. I say there is no soul today that Christ cannot bring to life. Hopeless case, you might think. Beyond the peel, you might have concluded, not possible. Not possible. You might have said to yourself, and from a human viewpoint, of course you're right. Of course they're hopeless. Of course they're beyond the peel. Of course that's impossible. But not with God. Because with God all things are possible. Not with him. who is the resurrection and the life, mother, father, son, daughter, pray on. Pray to the one who is the resurrection and the life. Now, the question I put to you at the conclusion of this message is simply this. It is the question that Jesus Christ asked Martha. Believest thou this? Do you believe? with saving faith that Jesus Christ is a resurrection and life, if you do, you'll never die. You'll never die. Oh, that a response from your heart would mirror that of Martha's response. Believest thou this, Martha? And she said unto him, Yea, Lord. I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." On this resurrection Sunday, Jesus Christ declared, I am, and does declare, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoso liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Live in him. Believe daily on him. You will never die. Oh, that today we will be like Paul, that we would know him and the power of his resurrection. May this land come to see that God is who he said he is. He is the resurrection and the life. May God raise you today dead in sin and bring you to new life in Jesus Christ. May God bless his word to our hearts. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Let's just take these moments just to pray. Maybe there's a loved one, a friend, maybe an individual that you're burdened for and they're still in their sin. Pray to the one who is the resurrection and the life. Pray that God would raise them today and bring them to himself. Let's seek the Lord together. Loving, gracious Father, we do thank Thee for Thy word to our hearts this day. We thank Thee for the one who has given us life. who will require us to give an account of our lives. Lord, we realize that not all will be ministers, not all will be missionaries, not all will stand in a pulpit, not all will be called to that. But Lord, thou hast placed us providentially in this province, in various places of employment and schooling, order that we might live out the gospel. We pray, Lord, that we'll do that. And those that come into our sphere of influence, Lord, will be impacted by the fact that there's a man, there's a woman, there's a boy or girl teenager, a young person who's a genuine Christian. The life of God is in them. Oh God, may that be a challenge and may that bring them to saving faith in Christ. Lord, raise the dead. We think of those who would listen in and think, what a strange man, what a strange prayer. Are they starting to pray like that in the Free Presbyterian Church? Yes, because we understand our theology. We understand the record of Scripture. that men and women and boys and girls are born in a deadened state. And unless God speaks, they will stay in such a state. Lord, raise the spiritual dead, we pray. Bring them forth, Lord. May they hear that effectual call as Lazarus did. Lazarus, come forth. May there be a coming forth unto Christ. even in this house today, answer prayer and bring us again to the house of God rejoicing and ready to hear the word and the gospel preached and give help to the preacher on that occasion in the will of God.