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JOHN 11:25, 26

Intro: A question lies buried in the heart of every man from the beginning of history. "Is
       death  the end?" Little teaching in Old Testament concerning resurrection. Subtle
       hints,  expressions of hope. Jesus answered this question.

I. "I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE."
        A. "He that believeth in Me."
                1. This I feel is a reference to Old Testament saints already dead. "Though he
                   were dead."
                        a. In contrast with those who live and believe.
                        b. Many in Old Testament believed in Jesus Christ.
                                1. "Abraham rejoiced to see My day and say it." How? Through
                                   faith.
                                2. "These all died in faith not having received the promise."
                        c. The time of their resurrection was at hand.
                                1. Jesus when He died entered into hell to bring deliverance
                                   to the captive and to set at liberty those who were bound.
                2. "Though he were dead yet shall he live."
                        a. Death is not the final word.
                        b. It does not bring a cessation of being.
        B. "He who lives and believes in Me shall never die."
                1. Either Jesus failed in this claim or we do not understand what He was
                   referring to as death.
                        a. We think of death as the cessation of body functions.
                        b. Really death is the cessation of life.
                                1. You cannot prove that life ceases the moment the body
                                   functions stop.
                                2. He did not say that if you lived and believed in Him your
                                   body functions would never stop, but that you would never
                                   die.
        C. As a child of God, I long to be with My Father in His perfect kingdom.
                1. The environment is so different my body could not exist.
                        a. The air is probably not a 79 nitrogen 21 oxygen balance.
                        b. Imagine trying to enjoy heaven in a bulky clumsy space suit.
                2. A new body designed and adapted for that environment has been prepared for
                   me.
                        a. One that will not be subjected to pain, weakness, or aging.
                        b. Imagine never becoming tired.
                        c. "And we know that when the earthly tent of this body is
                           dissolved..."
                        d. Some desire to hang on to this body.
                                1. Just overhaul my transmission Lord.
                3. "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?"
                        a. The body that comes out of the ground is not the body you planted.

II. "BELIEVEST THOU THIS."
        A. Most radical statement ever made.
                1. How absurd in the mouth of any other man.
        B. Statement that divides the world and this assembly this morning into two categories.
                1. Those who believe and those who do not.
                2. Those who have hope those who have no hope.
                3. Those who will die and those who will live.