Jesus and the Heart That Grieves | Sunday Message

A New Beginning presents a new book from Pastor Greg Laurie. We are offering a brand new resource called The House of David Devotional and it's based on the great Psalms of David as well as the life of David. So I'm going to put this brand new devotional in your hand so you can learn from this man of God. Or your gift of any size at harvest.org.

It's the official companion resource for the new Amazon TV series also called The House of David. Let's pray. Lord we're so thankful that we are yours and you are ours. We are your children. We are your sheep. We come here today to be fed from your word.

To get perspective. Because so many of us are dealing with so many things and you know. You know what we're dealing with.

You know the questions in our minds and in our hearts. And Lord you have what we need today. So speak to us from your word.

Touch us. Draw us closer to you. For those that have joined us who may not know you yet, may this be the day they believe. And that they'll be prepared for the afterlife. So we commit this time of Bible study to you now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

You can all be seated. Well House of David is really doing well on the Amazon streaming platform. Yeah. How many of you have seen it yet?

Raise your hand up. Okay well that's a lot of you. And a really cool thing that happened is we shot a little documentary when we were over in Greece called Beyond House of David. And that is also on the Amazon platform. And if you go to the House of David click it you will see extras.

It is there in extras. And what is great about that is we actually have the gospel in it. So Amazon is now giving a platform for the proclamation of the gospel. So we are excited about that. Next Sunday we are going to continue in our Jesus and You series. And the title of my message will be Jesus and the Last Days. Did Jesus say much about the end times? Answer.

Yes. He said a lot. Most notably He talked about it in what is sometimes called the Olivet Discourse.

Matthew 24 among other places. He gave an in-depth look at what is going to happen in the days ahead. So we are going to talk about that next time.

We gather next Sunday. And also joining me will be prophecy expert Joel Rosenberg. And you all remember Joel? So Joel has a new book coming out called The Beijing Betrayal. I don't know if you know this about Joel but he is actually an outstanding fiction writer. And he has this character.

I believe his name is Marcus Stryker. I may have that wrong. So this is a work of fiction but it is based on what is going on in our world right now. You know sometimes people say or it has been said that the greatest threat in the world today is climate change.

Give me a break. The greatest threat in the world today is nuclear weapons. And China is arming itself to the teeth and is emerging as an economic military powerhouse and showing aggression like never before. And the question is are they spoken of in Bible prophecy?

I believe they are. And we will talk about that with Joel next Sunday in this message, Jesus and the Last Days. But today we are in John chapter 11 and the title of my message is Jesus and the Heart that Griefs.

Jesus and the Heart that Griefs. Well we probably all experienced it. That knock on our door late at night.

We are hoping it is just the 48th package from Amazon that week. But then you answer the door and it is something that is very troubling. Or maybe it is that phone call in the middle of the night and before you answer your heart starts beating and you are praying don't let this be bad news. But then you get that call. You hear that diagnosis. The message is given to you.

Maybe it is even a text and it is the worst case scenario. Someone you love has died unexpectedly. And you know death doesn't really care who you are. It knocks at every door and it takes no prisoners.

It doesn't matter if you are a billionaire or a barista, a janitor or a CEO. As it has been said, the statistics on death are quite impressive. One out of every one person will die. And it is something we need to think about. Only those who are prepared to die are really ready to live. It is not a bad thing to discuss your mortality. It is not a bad thing to acknowledge that death is coming.

But it is also a motivation for us to make sure that we are living our life in a meaningful way. I have started a podcast. It is not out yet.

We are still sort of stockpiling a few of them. But I did a podcast yesterday with Levi Lasko. And Levi of a lot of things in common. I have known him since he has been a little boy. And now of course he is a very gifted preacher and wonderful husband and father. So we are talking about what we have in common which is we both had children die.

And his little daughter Lenya died not long after our son went to heaven. And so we are talking about that and talking about life and talking about death. And he is talking about how he has been really contemplating his life at the age of 42.

And he is thinking, wow, you know, I am at the midway point of my life and is my life going the way I was hoping it would or where it should be going. And he says, you know, studies show that most people die at the age of 72. I said, do you know that I am 72? I mean you pick the exact number. And he said, oh no, that is globally. In America they live longer.

All I know is you said 72. But you know I can joke about that because I am not afraid to die. I don't want to die. I wish I could go to heaven without dying. And maybe I will.

Well Greg are you nuts? Well there is something called the rapture that could happen. We will talk about that next Sunday. But you know there is a generation that will not see death. They will not be buried in a grave. They will be caught up in a moment in the twinkling of an eye into the presence of God.

I would love to be in that lot. But that is up to the Lord. But here is the good news you know. I know I am getting to heaven.

Maybe it is Uber. Maybe it is some. But whatever. I am going to get there. And that is the most important thing. But a lot of people have opined on death. Steve Jobs the creator of Apple made this well-known statement, quote, no one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. Woody Allen made this statement, quote, I am not afraid of death.

I just don't want to be there when it happens. A little humor there. William Shatner best role for playing the role of Captain Kirk in the Star Trek series made this statement.

And by the way he is 93 now. He said, I am so not ready to die it petrifies me. I go alone.

I go to a place I don't know. It might be the end. I might become nameless and I have spent a lifetime being known, end quote. I like Denzel Washington's statement on death best of all.

He says, live your life so that when you die the only thing left for people to say is, wow, that was a man of God, end quote. True. That's what should be said. Or a woman of God. May that be said of you.

May it be said of me. But you know a lot of people don't want to talk about death. They'll act as though it's not real. They'll use little word games to change the biting sting of death. A person does not die they expired or they passed on.

I know your milk can expire in the fridge too long but you know they use that phrase of dying. We don't call an undertaker that anymore. Now they are a mortician.

Sounds a little more impressive I suppose. The graveyard is a memorial park. The coffin is a casket. But you can call it whatever you want and use these terms if you like. But the reality is death is coming. It's not a friend. It is an enemy.

It takes people in their prime. It cuts lives short. It leaves behind sorrowing spouses, children, parents, and friends. And the Bible says the last enemy to be destroyed is death in 1 Corinthians 15 26.

So here is the bottom line. It was not God's intention for us to die. When He created us and put us in the Garden of Eden our first parents Adam and Eve. If they had made the right choices and not the wrong one we would have not died. But with their sin that entered into the entire human race came sickness and death and all and aging and all the things that affect us in this life now.

But that was not God's original plan. So I bring this up because I'm going to look at a story now with you in the Bible. A familiar story. A beautiful story.

A powerful story about three people. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They were actual friends of Jesus.

A lot of people might claim to be friends of our Lord but they actually were His personal friends. He spent a lot of time with them. They lived in Bethany.

Martha clearly was a great cook. And Jesus liked to spend time there. And they were a tight-knit family. And one day their brother got very sick. So they send word now to Jesus that Lazarus is ill. So John chapter 11. I'm going to read verses one to three. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sister said to him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. I would underline that phrase, he whom you love. He whom you love is sick.

Now here's point number one if you're taking notes. Life is filled with pain, sorrow, and the death of loved ones. Is that not the most depressing point of all time? I'm sorry but it's worth noting life is filled with pain and sorrow and the death of loved ones. And we should not be shocked when it happens to us.

The Bible even says in 1 Peter 4.12, don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though something strange were happening to you. Now when you're younger you don't understand this. I remember as a young person actually thinking, where do all these old people come from? And then one day you wake up and you're one of the old people having someone tell you you're going to die like Levi. And so this is inevitable. This is what happens.

This is life. And you know your grandparents will eventually die. You know your parents will eventually die.

But then something may happen that's shocking. It could be the death of your spouse. It could be the death of a close friend. It could be the death of someone sibling perhaps. And that's really a wake up call to you because you realize wow if it could happen to them it could happen to me.

Well of course it could. And worst of all the death of a child. Okay so point number one, life is filled with pain, sorrow, and the death of loved ones. Number two, God loves us even when we suffer. God loves us even when we suffer. Now we wonder why didn't Jesus rush to their side and heal their brother? They send word to him, Lord the one that you love.

They remind Jesus, Lord you love this guy. He's your friend. The one that you love is sick. Well if God really loved us why would He allow sickness in our life? Well this is not a question we can easily answer.

But I don't think we want to miss this point. God does love us. And no matter what happens to us we must remember He loves us. Whatever He does or allows to happen in our life as His child it's motivated by His everlasting love for you. Whatever He does or allows in your life as His child is motivated by His everlasting love for you.

And so they lean into that. Jesus the one whom you love, He is sick. Another translation puts it this way, Lord your dear friend is very sick. Now Mary and Martha do provide us with an excellent example of what to do in times of crisis.

They show us what we should do when someone we love is sick or when we have a need. And so they bring their troubles to Jesus. And we see this pattern throughout the Bible. When the Israelites criticized and turned against Moses we read in Exodus 15 25, He cried unto the Lord. Is somebody criticizing you right now? Has someone turned against you? You should follow the example of the great lawgiver Moses and cry unto the Lord. When Hezekiah received a threatening letter we read in Isaiah 37 14, He spread it out before the Lord.

Have you received a threatening letter? Spread it out before the Lord. When John the Baptist was beheaded his disciples went and told Jesus, Matthew 14 12.

I like that. They just went and told Jesus. And that is what you need to do and what I need to do and what we need to do when Christ says just go and tell Jesus.

Why? Because Scripture tells us He is a present help in times of trouble. So they go to Him.

Now it is interesting they didn't say, hey Lord you kind of owe us. You know you have showed up at our house a bunch of times with your friends. You chow down. Then you crash.

We have never charged you anything. It would be kind of nice if you were to reciprocate, reciprocate, reciprocate, reciprocate. I can't even say that. Recipicate.

Right? Recipicate. It sounds weird. You ever say a word and it sounds weird and you are saying it right?

That just happened to me. Recipicate. That is a weird word. No.

Reciprocate. This is not a conversation. It is.

I invited your criticism which I felt was pretty harsh. No. You are very nice to me. You are smiling idiot. He is losing it.

He is 72 years old. He can't even say reciprocate. I forgot what I was talking about.

Lord the one that you love is sick. They remind Him. They could have said we did all this stuff for you.

And sometimes we can feel the same. Well God you have got to come through for me because I have been such a good Christian. I don't even like that phrase good Christian. They are a good Christian. I am a bad Christian.

I don't know about you. Are you a bad Christian? I am a Christian. I am a follower of Christ but I fall short so I don't even like the phrase good Christian. Well I have been a good Christian and I have read my Bible and I have done my devotions and I have shared my faith with others and I have done all these things. So Lord you owe me.

No. I never appeal to God on the basis of what I have done. So they say Lord the one that you love is sick. They didn't even say the ones that love you are calling upon you. Lord you said you loved Him.

Okay. He is sick. That is a good basis to approach the Lord on.

Now we see His response. John 11 verse 4 to 7. And when Jesus heard about it He said, Lazarus' sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God that the Son of God will receive glory from this. And although Jesus loved Mary or Martha, Mary, and Lazarus He stayed where He was for the next two days.

I would underline that. Although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus He stayed where He was for the next two days. Finally He said to His disciples, let's go to Judea. Wow.

Wait. He loved them. So He stayed two days. And so by the time He arrives of course Lazarus has died.

But this is a question we ask. If God really loved me why did He let this happen? But here is we are going to see in a few moments Jesus was going to do abundantly above and beyond that which they could ask or think. They wanted a healing.

He wanted a resurrection. So sometimes you are praying for something and you are telling the Lord what you think He should do. And that is okay. But that doesn't mean He is going to do it.

You can say whatever you want to Him. But you must recognize that He is looking at the big picture while you and I are looking at the small picture. And He had another purpose in mind for all of this.

So He intentionally delays. And when He finally arrives they are devastated because their brother has died. So not only did He not heal their brother as they were hoping He would but He even missed the funeral. Lazarus was buried.

It was over with. John 11 verse 20. Then Martha as soon as she heard Jesus was coming went and met Him.

But Mary was sitting in the house. Then 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 He will give You. And Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know he will rise again on the resurrection of the last day. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me though he were dead yet he shall live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Wow. So Martha is pretty direct.

She is pretty accusatory. Even critical to His face. Lord if You would have been here my brother would not have died.

Which brings up a very important point. In your prayers you can be honest to God. You think you are going to say something that will shock Him? Have you ever read the Psalms of David where He laments. He laments about what is happening in His life. He complains about the hardships that He is facing. But then often He will correct His own thinking. You know He will say, why art thou cast down on my soul. Hope thou in God. But prior to that He is talking about how hard everything is for Him. So a prayer is just honest communication to God. Friends can tell friends the truth. And the Lord listens.

And Martha is accusatory in a way. If you would have been here my brother would not have died. But I love how she then corrects it and says, however I know even now whatever you ask of God He will give it to you. But this reminds us of a couple of very important things when Christ says I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me though He were dead yet shall He live. And that is that death is not the end.

It is a transition from this life to the afterlife. Death does not have the final word. Christ does. We must remember that. And the final word He gives to us is He that lives and believes in me shall never die.

You say well what are you talking about. Of course we die. Well yes in one sense we do. Our body is laid in the ground but the Bible promises one day we will be resurrected. Our soul, our spirit goes immediately into the presence of God. What happens to a Christian when they die.

They go into God's presence. Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. At one point he wrote I have a desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better. And the point is that if He were to die He would immediately go to be with Christ. And that is the hope that every Christian has. The moment you take your last breath on earth you take your first breath in heaven.

You close your life your eyes on earth and you open them in heaven. So this is a promise that God has given to all of us. And I love this verse in John chapter 11. And I love to quote it and I love to think about it. And I just feel like there's so much in it.

And it's helped me on many occasions. I mentioned our son going to be with the Lord and and there was a time not long after it happened and I was driving along and I saw something that triggered a memory about him. And I actually said I'll never see him again. I'll never hear his voice again. And then I just preached to myself. I said Greg shut up. It's kind of fun to tell yourself to shut up. Don't use the word shut up.

I used it. Because sometimes people need to just shut up. Greg shut up I said. Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life.

He that believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. And immediately it corrected my thinking. Immediately even my emotion changed. Though it won't always change I have to be honest. But it changed my perspective in a nanosecond.

That's right. I had to remind myself of the promise of God. But we felt this way. Lord where were you? Where were you when my marriage dissolved? Where were you when my parents divorced? Where were you when my child went astray? Where were you when my loved one died?

Well he was there with you and he will always be with you. And you should bring your needs and your concerns and your questions to God. But now Mary is going to approach. And she is going to say something very similar to Martha. Drop down to verse 32. Then when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him she fell down at his feet saying to him, Lord if you would have been here my brother would not have died. Jesus therefore when he saw her weeping and the Jews who came with their weeping he groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

And he said, Where have you laid him? And they said, Lord come and see. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, See how he loved him. Jesus wept. The shortest verse in the Bible.

Don't tell me you can't memorize scriptures. Say Jesus wept. Go.

Say reciprocate. Very good. Forget that. Jesus wept. Okay so now you know a Bible verse. At least one right. You can memorize more as well.

You would be surprised how much you can memorize. But I love that statement. Jesus wept. You know we don't think of Jesus weeping. But here he was weeping. And why was he weeping? Well his heart was broken. He knows what it is like to feel our pain and sorrows.

He knows what it is like to lose a son. He saw his own son beaten beyond human recognition and crucified on a Roman cross of Jesus. The Bible says in Isaiah 53, He was despised and rejected a man of sorrows, acquainted with the bitterest grief. We turned our back on him and looked the other way.

When he went by he was despised and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried. It was our sorrows that weighed him down. So when you go to Jesus with your heartache and with your pain, know that he's been there. He's walked in your shoes and then some.

And then he's walked in your shoes and then some. So you can bring your needs to him. And Jesus voluntarily put himself in the way of danger as he bore our sins on the cross and he bears our sorrows as well.

And why would he do this? The answer is given in Hebrews 2 verse 17. It was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us. That's why he had to enter into every detail of human life. And when he came before God as high priest to get rid of people's sins he would have already experienced it in all himself. All the pain. The testing.

And would be able to help where help was needed. So death breaks God's heart. Why did he weep?

Because he was heartbroken as well. Let's go back to the text. John 11 verse 33. And then I am going to read verse 38. Verse 33. When Jesus saw her weeping and the other people wailing with her he was moved with indignation and he was deeply troubled.

Then drop down to verse 38. And Jesus deeply troubled. They came to the grave and it was a cave with a stone rolled across his entrance. Now this word troubled could be translated he was mad. So he was sad and he was mad. At the same time who was Jesus angry with? The mourners? No. Mary and Martha?

Again no. Jesus is angry with the grim reaper if you will. He is angry with death itself. And he tells him to remove the stone blocking the tomb.

Martha protests knowing that her brother's body is already in the process of decomposition. I love the King James version of what she said to him then. She said no Lord because by now he stinketh. I just like the word stinketh. It is a much nicer way than saying you stink. And there are people that don't smell that great. And you could just say you stinketh. Try it.

I don't know. He stinketh Lord. He is decomposing.

This is a ridiculous request. But then Jesus thanks his father. And this happens. Verse 43. Jesus shouted Lazarus come forth and the dead man came out in his hands and feet bound in grave clothes his face wrapped in a head cloth. And Jesus said unwrap him and let him go.

Bringing me to my next point. God can be glorified through human suffering and he can bring good out of bad. God can be glorified in human suffering and he can bring good out of bad. So he raised Lazarus from the dead. That is great. Lazarus came back to life.

Is it great though? I mean let's think about this for a moment. Imagine if you died and you immediately went into God's presence. There you are in heaven. There you are being reunited with loved ones that have preceded you and you are so excited.

The Bible says it is there in God's presence. It is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. And then you go and you are standing before Jesus Christ and he says welcome. Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Thank you Lord.

It is so good to be here. By the way Jesus says I have got some good news and bad news. Seriously?

Yeah. What is the good news? You are going to come back again.

What is the bad news? You are going to have to return to earth because you are going to be raised from the dead. Would you want to be raised from the dead? Let me put it another way. Would you want to leave heaven after you had gone there?

No. Now the question is would we like our loved ones who have died and are in heaven to come back to us? Yes we would. Absolutely we would. But would they if given a choice want to return from the glories of heaven back to this miserable planet as much as they love you?

I don't think they would. And so Lazarus had to be raised up which is a great miracle. But poor Lazarus he had to die twice. Once isn't bad enough. Yeah he is going to die another time.

So this poor guy. But anyway you know what choice did he have you know. Lazarus come forth. It is a good thing Jesus said Lazarus come forth if he would have just said come forth every body and every grave would have burst out.

No. I am talking about Lazarus from Bethany in particular. And out comes Lazarus obviously wrapped in the bandages that they would use in the burial process.

So it is a little comical to me. He is coming out and saying, hello tada. He is more like someone unwrap me. Unwrap him Jesus says. So he is brought back to life and it is a great miracle.

And everyone is rejoicing. But it is in these hardships that we go through in life that we somehow develop a greater dependence upon God and we learn to trust Him even more. In fact you could even say through hardship we develop hope. Romans 5 3 says, only in tribulations does this happen. Because tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope. Here is the bottom line. Hope grows in the garden of pain. Now I am going to have to do something I don't know that I have done before.

I am going to use a drop for a contact lens that is giving me trouble in my left eye and must be attended to immediately. Are you ok with that? You don't have to reciprocate. Don't look. This is private. I don't know if that is going to work.

I am going to do the grossest thing you have ever seen. I have got to take this contact lens out. Because it is driving me nuts. How many of you wear contact lenses? I hate them. Ok here we go. No don't watch.

Can you look at your Bible or something? This is so awkward. Maybe it will just stay in. Well that is not going to help. Ok.

But thank you though. I have got to take it out. Here we go. This has been the weirdest sermon of all time. Were you at church when Greg mentally broke down? I remember the day well.

It started with him not being able to pronounce a certain word. Ok. Now of course I can't see as well because I needed that lens. That is ok. But hope grows in the garden of pain. We think oh no. Hope would grow in the good times and the great days and the wonderful experiences. No it is actually in adversity, in hardship that hope will grow. And so Lazarus went to the other side and he came back again. And that is the hope of all of us. If you have lost someone who has died in faith you need to know that you will see them again. You will be reunited with them again.

Because death died when Christ rose. So not long ago, not this last Saturday, but this Saturday before, I got a call from a friend of mine. His name is Larry Gonzalez.

He is the chief of police for the city of Riverside. He texted me and said, Greg I need to talk to you. So I called him immediately and he said, Greg my son just died. So I went to the hospital and I walked in this room and his son Larry Junior, only 23 years old, had died tragically. Now his son was a great athlete. He was very fit physically.

Very fit. And actually he had just run a marathon. And he threw his arms up in victory as he crossed the finish line.

He collapsed and they were not able to resuscitate him. So I went down to the hospital room and there his family was gathered, a lot of them, because they were in town because his grandfather was celebrating his 90th birthday. So it just so happened that family had come from all around the country to celebrate and they were still in town when Larry Junior was called home unexpectedly to heaven. And I walked in this room of pure sadness and I asked the chief, would you like me to say anything? He says, please do say something. So I went in front of these people and I said, well hi, my name is Greg Laurie. I am a pastor and I am a friend of Larry and I am so sorry that this has happened. But then I said, but our son died 16 years ago. So now they are listening to me a little bit differently. Because when you say you are a preacher, not everyone likes preachers these days.

But when you tell them you are someone who lost a child, okay well maybe he has something to say. And I quoted this verse that we already read. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. And I said, Larry is in heaven right now.

And he was running a race on earth. And I told them the story of how on the tombstone of our son, we have that passage of the Apostle Paul. I fought the good fight. I kept the faith.

I finished the course. And that is the same for Larry Jr. He was running a race. I said he ran this race and he finished his race and now he is in heaven. And then we did the best we could to minister to the family and pray for them and encourage them. And you know it is hard when you are looking death in the face to say these things. But I am telling you these things, these truths are something we can depend on. And as we get closer to the next line, to the next life, we are going to have to really think about them. And I know when you are young you think, well I don't need to think about that yet. You old people, what are you 72 Greg?

You can't say reciprocate? Yeah, anyway, you probably have one foot in the grave. I have my whole life ahead of me.

You don't know that actually, do you? You really don't. And so you want to be prepared. You decide in this life where you will spend the afterlife.

You don't want to put this off and say, well I will get to it later. I will wait until I am 95 years old on my deathbed and I will call on the Lord. You know and I have been with people who have called on the Lord on their deathbeds on a number of occasions. And thank God He hears our prayers even when we have literally rejected Him for our entire life. He is so gracious and loving He will say, I will forgive you and bring you to glory.

Just like He did for that thief on the cross. But you may not have the luxury of a deathbed. Not everybody knows when death is coming.

And sometimes it happens so quickly. You have no moment to pray. No moment to turn to God. And here is another problem. You say you will turn to God on your deathbed.

Consider this. If you reject Christ throughout your entire life your heart could grow irreparably hardened against Him. So it is not that you could not call on the Lord. But it is more like you won't call on the name of the Lord because your heart against God.

You don't want to let that happen. So while your heart is still a bit tender this is the time to get right with Him. The Bible says prepare to meet your God.

And I ask you in closing are you prepared to meet your God? Coming back to running a race. My son Christopher was a runner in high school as was I. But he was a long distance runner. I was a short distance runner. So I did good in short sprints. And he did good on long distances. So we would be walking along the beach as he was getting older and stronger and I would challenge him to a race. And I would pick a rock at a certain distance that favored my abilities not his. And sure enough I would beat him. It drove him crazy. I would beat him. How is my old dad beating me still? I would beat him.

Then one day I would say, you see that rock right there Christopher let's race. And off we went. And he beat me. He beat me by a lot.

And he was very happy about that. I said, you finally beat your old dad. Well in life pretty much the same thing happened. He beat me to heaven. But I know I'll be there too. And I know that we'll be reunited one day. That's the hope of the Christian. Do you have that hope? Is your life right with God right now?

You go okay how do you know? You have to admit you're a sinner. You have to turn from your sin. And you have to put your faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone to save you. And if you will do that you don't have to be afraid to die anymore. Jesus will give you everything you need in that final day. So in closing I want to extend an opportunity for any person who's joined us who may not be right with God.

Who may not have a relationship with the Lord. You don't know that you'll go to heaven when you die. You hope you'll be okay. But you're not sure. Why would you gamble with something like that?

You're so careful about every other area of your life and yet here is the most important decision you will ever make and you're very iffy about it. You can resolve this. You can know with certainty. I know I will go to heaven. You say why? Because you're a preacher.

No. Because you're a good Christian. I already told you I'm a bad Christian. I know I'll go to heaven. Not because of what I've done for God but because of what God has done for me. And you can know it too. You can know it too.