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