Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. The king lives. Conquering death. The king lives liberating captives. The king lives returning Soon.
We are to be eagerly and expectantly watching for the Savior from heaven. He's alive. This is the verdict. The Bible teaching ministry of Pastor John Monroe. On that first Easter Sunday, our Lord Jesus Christ bodily rose from the dead.
He is victorious over death, and those who trust in him as Savior and Lord receive eternal life. But what about our lives today? Today on the verdict, we're exploring the personal implications and freedom that come with this new life in Christ.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with today's lesson. When dealing with the subject of death, Many people simply ignore it. It's just too difficult for many people to think of their own mortality. Then There are other people who fear death. They might be suffering from a terminal illness or Dealing with death for the first time.
But the Christian's answer to death is not found in ignoring it. Nor is it found in fearing it, but rather it is found in facing it. The reason we can face death is because our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered death. Not only Did he die for our sins on the cross and was buried? he rose again on the third day.
Yes, Jesus is alive and that makes all the difference in our lives now and for all eternity. I want us to think of this. that the king lives conquering Death. The king, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the king, the king of kings. He lives.
And because he lives, he conquers. Death. I'm going to read From the fourth gospel, the gospel according to John chapter 11. It's a story of Lazarus. And we're going to read of how he was sick.
And then he died. John chapter 11, and I'm reading from verse. 17.
Now when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb. Four days, notice that. Dead four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, to the east in fact of Jerusalem. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him. but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, If you'd been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, Your brother, will rise again.
Martha said to him, I know that he'll rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?
She said to him, Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ. The Son of God who is coming into the world. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The man who had died Came out.
Jesus raises this man Lazarus from the dead. And in doing so, Jesus is demonstrating this. that he conquers death. Jesus, and only Jesus, is greater than death. And he gives new life, resurrection life, to this man Lazarus, who's been in the tomb for four days.
What's Jesus doing? Jesus is conquering Death. This is what John is telling us here in John 11: that Jesus conquers death, He gives new life. What could Lazarus do in the tomb? The man died.
A dead man can do absolutely nothing for himself. What does he need? He needs new life. Not his old life. But he needs a new life.
Alive from outside of himself, that is the very life of God in his soul. The raising of Lazarus is, it actually happened, it's a historical event, but it's also a parable. It's a paradigm. It tells us that spiritually speaking, you and I are dead. We're spiritually dead.
God made us in the beginning, He made us perfect. We're made in the image of God. Adam and Eve were made perfectly, but we know that our first parents did what we all do. And that is sin. And sin has come into the world.
And we're all characterized by failures and mistakes. And wishing that we did things differently, and wishing that we hadn't said something. And so the Bible says the wages of sin. It's death. The wages of sin is death, that's the penalty.
And this is the wonderful uniqueness of the Christian faith. That my Lord Jesus Christ, in love for you and for me, came into this world. And when he died on the cross, he bore the penalty of my sin. He died so that I may live. He went into my death.
He died my death. He paid the penalty for the sins of John Monroe. Not only did he die, not only was he buried to establish that he truly was dead. He rose from the dead. And because he lives, I can live also if I am united with him, that is, if I trust him, if I know him, so that his life becomes my life.
That is the only way to defeat death. And that's why I point you. to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what our Lord Jesus meant when He said, I'm alive forevermore. And I have the keys.
of death And of Hades. Isn't that interesting? The only one who's got the keys of death is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's sovereign over death. He's the only one who conquered death.
He's the only one who can unlock the gates of heaven and let you in. He's got the keys of death and of Hades. The only one. Who has defeated death and now calls on us to trust him and to love him and to follow him. And just as Jesus 2,000 years ago spoke personally to Lazarus, he speaks personally to you.
He called Lazarus by name. Lazarus, come forth. And he says your name. You say, does he know me? Of course he knows you.
He made you. He's your creator. He knows all about you. He knows you at your best and he knows you at your worst. He knows every single thing about you.
He is your Creator. He is also your Redeemer. He knows you by name. He loves you. And he knows that you need new life.
You need that old life The sins of the past to be wiped out. To be born again, to receive the very life of God in your soul.
So, this is what Jesus says: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me Are you believing in Jesus Christ? Not believing about him. I think the vast majority of us believe about him. I'm asking you, do you believe in him?
Are you trusting in him? Whoever believes in me, though he die. Yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?
And this eternal life is not just in the future. The life of God impacts the present. It is offered to you here and now. The moment you trust Christ for salvation, you receive this new life, this eternal life. This is the only way to conquer death, the only way to defeat death.
Down through the centuries, people have done many, many things in order to try and defeat death, in order to prepare themselves, as it were, for the afterlife. Earlier this year, Goody and I, We're down in Orlando and we went to Epcot.
Some of you, many of you have been there. And we visited the China Uh exhibit. And there is a replica, very well done. of the terracotta warriors and horses. What are these warriors?
And horses all about.
Well, it depicts the armies of Qin Xing Wang, the first emperor of China. They were buried with the emperor In 210 BC, for what reason? to protect him in the afterlife. Here is this emperor. This great man, but he realizes I'm going to die and I need protection.
I need someone to help me. To conquer death, to protect me in the afterlife. Warriors and horses. Can't help you in the afterlife. They can't conquer death.
The only one who conquers death is our Lord Jesus Christ. And he still says to you, fear not. My dear friend, there is no reason to fear death. There is no reason to fear death. as long as you know, the one who has conquered death.
Jesus never asks us To go anywhere where he himself has not already been. We are followers of Christ. That's what being a Christian is. We are following Christ. Christ Himself has gone into death.
He has conquered death. And so we follow him. This is why the psalmist says: even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. Why, for you're with me. And your rod and your staff, they comfort us.
Christ is with us in all of life, in death, through death, and to life eternal. He is the Living One. He's alive forevermore and has the keys of death. And hell, will you trust them? John Donne writes, I love this quote.
No man. ever saw God and lived. And yet I shall not live. Till I see God And when I have seen him, I shall never die. That's what Jesus is saying.
I'm the resurrection and the life. The one Who believes in me? She'll never die. To live. Forever.
The king lives conquering death. But furthermore, the king lives liberating captives. Verse forty four of John eleven, we read the man Lazarus who died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him and let him go. Lazarus is released.
When he comes out, it must have been quite a strange sight. He's bound with the crave the the grave clothes. Roam is body. His face is wrapped around with a cloth. Must have been very difficult for him to walk, but somehow he manages to get out.
He has new life. He's raised from the dead, but he's still not truly free. He's still not liberated. And so Jesus instructs them to unbind him, to loose him. He's to be completely free.
From the old grave clothes. What a wonderful picture. of what Jesus does. as the Eternal One. He not only gives you new life, He gives you liberty.
He not only conquers death, He does that. He conquers our bondage to sin. All of us experience wanting to do good things and find ourselves sometimes not doing them. All of us Sometimes don't want to do bad things, but we find ourselves doing them. Jesus comes.
And when you trust him, Not only does he conquer death, he liberates you from the bondage, from the chains, from the captivity of our own sin.
So John writes in Revelation 1, verse 5: to him that's Christ, the living Christ, King Jesus. Who loves us? And has freed us from our sins by his. All of us want to be free, don't we? Here is true freedoms.
And one of the wonderful metaphors of the New Testament, the follower of Jesus, is that we're told to put off our old clothes and to put on new ones. The old clause, the old attitudes, the mindset, what we were before we trusted Christ. Attitudes and conduct and speech patterns and habits which are inconsistent with our new life. In Christ, they are to be put off.
So Paul tells us, for example, Put off lying. And anger. And dishonesty, and abusive speech, and immorality, and unforgiveness, and bitterness. These are the old graveclothes. Any of you Do any of these still clinging to you.
They can so easily, can't they, as we try to follow Christ, creep up on us, we are to put them off. We're to put on new clothes. Kindness. Humility. Forgiveness, generosity, grace, and purity, and truth, and love.
I ask you, those of you who are following Jesus, Are you still bound by some of these old habits, some of these old sins? Don't you want to live a life of freedom? a life of true liberty. Perhaps your hands are still tied with the old grave clothes and that prevents you from serving Christ as you should. Perhaps your mouth is still the mouth of the old life.
A mouth which is dirty, a mouth which is abusive. Perhaps you need to be free from a critical attitude. Set free from a covetous, complaining, envious attitude. Set free from sexual lust. Set free from an unforgiving and bitter spirit.
This is when our Lord Jesus comes. As Wesley put it so well, he breaks the power of cancelled sin. He sets. The prisoner Free. Live a free life.
So Paul says it was for freedom that Christ set us free. Why are you going back to the old graveclothes when Christ has liberated you? Put them away. And put on The new clause. to display our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is what Christ does. He conquers death. He liberates captives. Third, finally. The king lives, returning Soon.
You know, if Jesus is alive and he is. The Bible makes it very clear that he's coming back. You wonder how human history is going to end? The Bible tells us, the book of Revelation tells us. And it's going to be when Jesus Christ returns.
Revelation 1, verse 7. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him. Even those who pierced him and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him, even so, amen. And then in the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22, verse 7, we read, Behold, I'm coming soon. This is what Jesus says.
He's alive. He's in heaven. I'm coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Verse 12.
Behold, I'm coming soon. Bringing my recompense with me to repay everyone for what he's done. I'm the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. And then in the second last verse of the Bible, Revelation 22, verse 20, he who testifies to these things says, Surely I'm coming soon. Amen.
Come. Lord Jesus. Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is coming back? He's coming and he's coming soon.
Jesus said that in John chapter 14 when the disciples were troubled. He said, I don't want your hearts to be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it weren't so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will What? Come again. And receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And so the New Testament is full of the spirit of expectancy. That the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back.
The angel said. to the men watching in Acts 1 as Jesus ascended. They said, This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. You say, when's this going to take place, John? I don't know.
I realize people are always trying to set dates. Don't listen to them. No one knows. But we do know He's coming and He's coming soon. God's timetable is very different from ours, but He is alive and He's coming back, and we are to be eagerly and expectantly watching for the Savior from heaven.
He's alive. What does he do? He conquers death. He liberates captives, he returns to the Soon.
Now what is your response? This is the good news of Easter. That Jesus died on the cross for your sins. I want you to take this very personal. I do.
He died for my Sense. But Jesus loves me. He died for my sins, he was buried, and he rose again. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Your response, my response?
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Jesus says, I'm the resurrection and the life, the one who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. But you are to believe in him. You are to trust in him. You say, well, this is the difficulty I have, John.
You're a pastor. It's easy for you to have faith. Not really. It can be very difficult for any of us. Don't focus on yourself.
Focus on the person in whom you trust, our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what it is to trust someone. You go to your doctor, he makes a diagnosis, gives you medication. says take this medication. And everything will be well.
Nothing to worry about. You trust your physician. You follow his advice. You go to your attorney with a legal problem which has kept you awake at night. Your attorney analyzes the legal problem and says, Sir, madam.
I'll take care of this. There's a legal remedy to there. I don't want you to worry about this. Yes, do pay my fee in advance. That would be helpful.
But other than that, nothing to worry about. What do you do? Based on your knowledge of your doctor, based on your knowledge of your attorney. These are people that you rely on. They are professional.
They give you advice. What do you do? You trust them. You don't just trust them in theory, you take action, you take that medication, you undergo that surgery. Why?
Because you trust your doctor, you trust your attorney, you trust your architect. You know what it is to trust someone. Let me tell you. Our Lord Jesus Christ is 100% reliable. His advice is never wrong.
Yes, doctors, attorneys, others can give bad advice, we know that. But our Lord Jesus Christ is perfect God. He doesn't lie. What he says is 100% true. He's God, he can't lie.
And he says to you, if you come to me. I'll give you a rest. If you believe in me, I'll forgive your sins. If you cry out to me, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Why don't you call on the name of the Lord?
Why don't you open your heart to Christ? Not just have an intellectual belief in the facts of the gospel, but to know Christ personally. Christ can be Trust it. I'm asking you. to trust him.
Today. As your Saviour. And your Lord. Will you do that? The king lives.
Conquering death. The king lives liberating captives. The king lives. Returning.
Soon, I'm going to give you an opportunity. If you would like to trust Christ, would you pray this prayer with me? Not just repeating the words, but if this comes from your heart. Will you pray it? Lord Jesus.
I admit But I've sinned against God. Pray with me. And I've gone my own way. I now turn from my sin. I repent of my sin and my self-centeredness.
Thank you for dying. For me. And paying the penalty of all of my sins. on the cross at Calvary. I believe You are the Son of God that you rose from the dead.
I believe you are alive. And I now trust you as my Saviour. And open the door of my heart to you. Come. and save me and cleanse me.
and give me that new life. Cleanse me and save me. and help me to live for you. Amen. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help he do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity.
Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website.
Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ. We invite you to join us for our Sunday services.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Do you believe that Jesus actually raised Lazarus from the dead? Do you believe that He can give you eternal life? Imagine being free from your past. The shame.
and the heart. and the pain. Imagine living without fear and experiencing peace. with God. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life.
This is our blessed hope. And this is why we celebrate Easter.
Next time, we'll return to our series in the Book of Esther. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
