Questions for Reflection

• Do you believe that the God you trust is the God who resurrected from the dead? Do you think God can solve the problems you encounter in your life?

Introduction

This chapter discusses an event that occurred before Jesus was crucified, namely, the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. If we look at the first half of this chapter, its theme can be defined as: Understanding the essence of life through the resurrection of the dead. What the old John wrote here is actually to make us understand: What is the essence of being alive? If you approach a place and see I am the resurrection and the life, you would probably know that there is a Christian funeral taking place.

This passage is used in any Christian funeral:

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. (John 11:25-26)

This is actually talking about the essence of human life, that is, if a person does not understand the essence of life, he will definitely live a miserable life.

There was a man named Lazarus, a good friend of Jesus, who became terminally ill. Before he died, Lazarus's sisters, Martha and Mary, sent someone to find Jesus, knowing that Jesus could certainly prevent her brother Lazarus from dying. He could definitely heal his illness, because Jesus could make the blind see and the lame walk. She knew that as long as Jesus was there, Lazarus's problem would definitely be solved.

As a result, Jesus did not go, but stayed where he was for two more days, waiting for Lazarus to die before setting off to Lazarus's place. When Martha and Mary saw Jesus coming, they said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. This was actually a tone of complaint. We sent someone to call you, but you didn't come, and even stayed there for a few more days. What were you doing? Then Jesus said this:

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she replied, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. (John 11:25-27)

The Lord Jesus is the Lord of life. Next, Jesus did something: Jesus went to the tomb, opened it, prayed for a while, and the dead man came out. In fact, Lazarus had been dead for four days and buried in the tomb, but Jesus resurrected Lazarus. A person who has been dead for four days can be resurrected. If this is true, I think all the concepts about life and death in people's minds must be reconstructed.

People must have a new understanding of life. When a person sees the miracles performed by Jesus, a person who was lame from birth can walk, and a person who was blind from birth can see, we must let this person know the essence of life.

Seeing Through Life and Death, Living in Freedom

This story reveals people's views on life and death and Jesus' view on life and death. People's views on life and death have a very important impact on our lives. Before Jesus resurrected from the dead, people's views on life and death were very helpless. Even today, we must know that people's views on life and death are in a state of unsolvability. Unless you are a Christian, you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord, and then your life is in His control, otherwise you in this world cannot decide when you are born, and you cannot decide when you die.

That is, there are not many things you can decide. But there is one thing we can decide, and that is entanglement. People are often trapped in entanglement, caring about things that don't matter, which is people's greatest ability. That is to say, when people can see through life and death, nothing can control you. People are controlled in this world because they cannot see through life and death. If a person can see through life and death, you will live in freedom. When God created the universe, He saw that all things were free. Only things that are free are good in God's eyes. That is to say, anything that controls people is not good.

The control that comes from the devil is all things that deprive people of freedom. If you have a free view of life and death, you will live in freedom. Money cannot control you; interpersonal relationships cannot control you; your parents cannot control you; your children cannot control you; that is to say, nothing can deprive you of the freedom of life, because God sees freedom as good.

Someone asked me: Pastor, why did God have to create a tree of the knowledge of good and evil? And then people eat it, and after they eat it, they die? Can't God create a group of puppets and let them have no choice? God sees that it is good for people to have freedom. If the people God created do not have the freedom to choose, God sees that it is not good. So if we humans study life, you will find that we all put freedom in a very high position. Now people have turned freedom into human rights.

Later, I discovered that freedom is also valued by God. Any loss of freedom is a spiritual bondage. If money can make you lose your freedom, you should throw the money away. Don't be controlled by money. If anything, if work becomes your control, you should throw away your work. God wants you to live in a state of freedom. In fact, the state of freedom is a very beautiful feeling, you know? For example, a person is going to take an exam, I have to take the college entrance examination, I have to pass it! He didn't see through the college entrance examination. If he saw through it, he would go to the exam freely and come back very freely.

Every year, the Chinese college entrance examination season is actually a period with a relatively high mortality rate. Why? Because many people regard the college entrance examination as their life. If a person has not seen through life and death, his state is a very strange state. We look at those people like monsters, and they look at us like monsters too. Because we have seen through life and death, we have seen through many things. Work cannot control us, the college entrance examination cannot control us, learning cannot control us, and then we live in a very free state. We can choose to study hard or choose to work hard.

Why can people live in freedom after seeing through life and death? Because after seeing through, your eyes are the same as Jesus' eyes, and then you will say, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. (John 11:25-26) Does it sound convoluted when you read this? Why will those who live and believe in the Lord never die? Because it refers to people entering eternal life. The Lord Jesus' definition of death is different from yours and mine. If people's definition of death stays in the state of worldly people, it is actually quite sad. It is a very sad thing for a Christian to stay in the worldly people's perception of death.

Is Jesus' definition correct, or is our definition correct? From a medical point of view, a person's death is when his heart stops beating and his brain cells stop functioning. But the medical definition of death is completely different from the Bible's definition of death. Whoever is connected to Jesus will never die; whoever is disconnected from Jesus, even if he is alive, he is dead.

Before going to Bethany, Jesus stayed where he was for two more days before returning. What was Jesus doing? Before Jesus was crucified, He wanted to show the world what it means to be alive and what it means to die. Lazarus died for four days. After Jesus prayed, He called Lazarus, and Lazarus came out of the tomb, and the burial cloths wrapped around his body were untied. Jesus resurrected a normal life.

Jesus' View on Death

Today, how big is the difference between your view on life and death and Jesus' view on life and death? You need to know that Jesus was already preparing to go to Jerusalem to be crucified at this time, and He fully knew how He would die. I once met a person who felt it was a pity to die! He felt that dying at the age of ten, dying at the age of twenty, and dying at the age of thirty were completely different. If you die at the age of fifty, die at the age of sixty, die at the age of seventy, or die at the age of eighty, that is also completely different. But through the words of Jesus, we need to know that in fact, it is the same no matter when a person dies.

Today, brothers and sisters, we need to know what people's views on death are? After Jesus finished speaking,

Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. (John 11:16)

Did Thomas know what he was saying? Actually, he didn't know.

Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. (John 11:21-24)

Regarding people's views on life and death, let's read these verses carefully again:

When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Where have you laid him? he asked. Come and see, Lord, they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, See how he loved him! But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. (John 11:31-38)

When people do not understand life and death deeply enough and look at it from a human perspective, Jesus feels particularly sad. Why did Jesus feel particularly sad? Because they did not know what life and death were all about. Their eyes saw Lazarus dead and lying in the tomb, and then they were mourning there, and Jesus also cried with them. But Jesus cried not because Lazarus died, but because people's views on death were too superficial.

People's views on death are the views on death that we normal people have. Christians' views on death should be based on what Jesus said in the Bible. Normal people's views on death are that when a person dies, his heart stops beating and his brain cannot function; he doesn't enjoy eating anything and doesn't enjoy drinking anything, he kicks his legs and closes his eyes, and that is called death. The death that Jesus spoke of is actually the death of a person's spirit.

Today I want to share with you what Jesus' view on death is? When a person's spirit is separated from God's Spirit, that is called death. When a person's spirit is connected with God's Spirit, that is called life. So Jesus is the Lord of life, because through life, we can be connected with God. Because of this, Jesus can despise death; because of this, Jesus can let the dead Lazarus come out of the tomb. If Lazarus coming out of the tomb is what Jesus did and is recorded in the Bible, what do we think was old John's view on life and death? What was Paul's view on life and death? And what was Peter's view on life and death? They all inherited one thing: that is Jesus' view on life and death.

Even today, some of our brothers and sisters also pray for cancer patients, but they do not understand life and death either. When I see everyone ministering to some cancer patients, I do encourage you to let this person's body be healed. But what does Jesus want? It is that his spirit and God's Spirit can enter into a state of unified connection. When a person's spirit and God's Spirit can enter into a state of connection, even if he dies, he will be resurrected, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

In fact, physical death, don't think it is a sad thing, at best it is going on a long journey, entering a trip. Our views on life, birth, and death should gradually become like Jesus', I think that is a healthier way of living.

When people see physical death, they regard it as death. What the Lord Jesus sees is that spiritual death is the real death. That is to say, spiritual resurrection is a very magical thing. Lazarus's spirit left his body, but his body was placed in the tomb. After the Lord Jesus prayed, he pulled Lazarus's spirit back from the spiritual world and put it back into his body, and he was alive again. Does this conform to science? It does not conform to science, but it is a very real thing.

When I was a child, I encountered some things like this: During the Chinese New Year, a group of children were playing cards together. At that time, the children took a few cents of pocket money to play cards. A few cents was a lot of money. Four children were playing cards there. One of the children always lost, so he lit two incense sticks and inserted them on both sides of a grandfather clock and worshiped there, asking for something. He didn't know what he was worshiping, and then he was tossing around there saying May the heavens and the earth be efficacious. Then the four children saw an adult woman leading a group of little ghosts, saying: These four children are going to play cards with us. The four of them said: We don't want to play cards with you. Then the woman waved her hand and let a group of little ghosts tie them up and carry them away.

In the real scene, the neighbors saw that all four children had fainted, had no breath, and were lying on the ground. The neighbors and people in the village used acupuncture needles to prick the philtrum of these children. Slowly after a while, the people woke up. After waking up, they described what they saw. They saw that after these ghosts took them away, they were about to cross a river, and those little ghosts let them go. They came back, their souls entered their own bodies, and then the people came alive.

To Set the Mind on the Flesh is Death

Today, we must understand one thing: when a person's spirit departs from the body, it is death. During the Cultural Revolution, such events unfolded repeatedly in rural areas. If we have some understanding of this matter in our lifetime, we will know whether to live a spiritual life or a life of the flesh. Therefore, people must understand life and not continue to live in the flesh. It is a tragic thing if people do not see through life and death. Jesus would weep because you do not understand what life and death are all about.

Some people have a very strong desire to live, but they seek physical life. For example, someone has cancer and is about to die, but they do not understand death. They think that when a person dies, it is over. They are extremely afraid of death. That is to say, when you encounter someone who is extremely afraid of death, it is actually a lack of understanding of life and death. If people have some understanding of life and death, they should not be afraid; they should face it calmly.

How did Jesus face death? He faced it calmly. Lazarus could not face death calmly because people at that time did not see life and death clearly. That is why they sent people to find Jesus to heal Lazarus. Today, I tell you, Lazarus was resurrected after four days, but you do not see Lazarus today; he died again later. Why? Because his soul had to be taken away. There is a time to be born, and a time to die. The human soul dwells in the human body for a limited time. When the time comes, you must leave.

So sometimes, if a person has an understanding of spiritual matters in this world, they begin to pursue spiritual things. If they do not understand spiritual matters, they pursue carnal things. But if a person pursues carnal things, they will surely die and go to hell. To set the mind on the flesh is death. For example, many people today do not understand life and death. If they have a physical illness and say they need to go out to exercise in the morning, is that useful?

Spiritual Matters Must Be Resolved Spiritually

Can someone extend their life by a minute through exercise? No. Because you do not understand spiritual matters. If you understand spiritual matters, you will not use carnal behavior patterns to solve the problems of your illness. You will solve it through spiritual means. Today, why do I say that we must have a deep understanding of life and death? The reason lies here. If human life and death are related to the spiritual world, all diseases are also closely related to the spiritual realm.

Some people argue with me from a carnal perspective. They say, Is every disease related to demons? I say, Yes. They say, Look, this is heresy. Where is the problem? In Genesis, it says that death came because people ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then they would surely die. Death is a process. Adam lived to be over nine hundred years old, but nine hundred years old is also a process of inevitable death, which is birth, old age, sickness, and death. If our view of death is a human view, then you think that birth, old age, sickness, and death are a natural law.

But I believe that there is a spiritual root behind disease. Why? Because eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil came from the devil. The devil deceived people, and people ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then death entered the human spirit, and then people will die. This process is birth, old age, sickness, and death. But today, Jesus has risen from the dead and brought Lazarus out of the tomb before being crucified, proving that everything is spiritual; life, death, and disease are all spiritual. If I say this, everyone will begin to have a new understanding, allowing your spirit to revive.

Is going out for a walk really that important? Not important! My mother is a particularly stubborn old lady. I said, Mom, don't go to the square dance; don't do that zombie dance. My mother said, It's for exercising! Then I said, If you want to go, then go! As a result, she went for three days and couldn't breathe. I said, What's wrong? Shouldn't exercise make the body healthier? As a result, she was infected with a lot of spirits of death. I prayed for her again and drove away the spirit of death. Her breathing improved and she was normal again. If it weren't for the victory in the spiritual world, my mother really wouldn't know how many times she would have died.

Some people also say, I have to play mahjong; it uses my brain. I can avoid getting Alzheimer's disease. All of that is looking at it from a carnal perspective. Today, I tell you that Alzheimer's disease is an evil spirit. This evil spirit is very interesting. The development process of Alzheimer's disease is like this: To set the mind on the flesh, I'm old, I'll get sick, I have to see a doctor, I have to have money. If I don't have money, I can't preserve my life, and then I love money. Loving money, loving money leads to Alzheimer's disease. Slowly observe it carefully; the process is like this.

But whether you love money or not, it can only cause him to have Alzheimer's while he is alive or not have Alzheimer's; it cannot determine his life and death. There is a time to be born, and a time to die. That is to say, our view of life and death determines our behavior patterns. If your view of life and death is still a carnal view, Jesus will weep and mourn for you! Why do I work so hard? Because I have to live. In fact, you don't need to work so hard; you can still live. Some people ask me, Are you serious?

I tell you, I never work hard, and I am still alive. I live to fifty-five, and I live better than you. So why do many people work so hard? Because they look at life with a carnal view. Why don't they have time to worship the Lord? Because they are busy! Then go ahead and be busy to death. I encourage you to be busy vigorously, busy until you die. Is it interesting? Not interesting! People's view of life is very important! So the Lord Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. (John 11:25) Life is all in the Lord. If you are not connected to the Lord, what are you doing? So today, I think whether we listen to these testimonies or experience them personally, the most important thing is to overturn your inner concepts about life and death.

If all your concepts about life and death are overturned, do you need to be afraid of death? If you have a fatal illness, you don't need to be afraid of death either. That is to say, no matter how many miracles I have performed in your life, there is one thing I cannot do, which is when your time to die comes, I cannot make you continue to live. Do you understand? If my time to be born and time to die are fixed, and God wants to take us back, that is an incomparably good thing, so I wish I had died yesterday. Do you think I am lying? This is determined by God, so I don't need to worry. Really no need to worry. There is a time to be born, and a time to die. This matter is already determined because it says in the Bible:

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. (John 11:25)

What are you worried about? If a person has a strong desire to live, in the hospital or in the church, I tell you, you will surely die. Can you begin to resolve: I don't care about these things at all; there is a time to be born, and a time to die, and that's all! Pray, heal, what's there to fear? So Jesus calmly walked the road to the cross because He knew that after He was crucified, He would rise again on the third day. He told His disciples again and again that He would rise again on the third day.

That is to say, the road that Jesus has opened up for us today is not a road of death, but a road of life, not a road of living this life, not a road of being healed of this life, but a road of entering eternal life in this life. What does it mean to believe in me and never die? When you are alive, you are in eternal life, which is a part of eternal life. What death, although the body dies, the spirit still lives, not eating anything tasteless, drinking anything bland, still eating, still drinking, our spirit still lives, and lives even better.

Face Life and Death Calmly

Because He was not limited by the flesh, Jesus calmly walked the road to the cross because He knew that He was the Lord of life and that He could rise from the dead. Lazarus's resurrection from the dead proved one thing, the miracles that God performed among us proved one thing, which is The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. (John 6:63) These are all words spoken in John. If the flesh counts for nothing, then what are you preserving it for? To preserve it whether you live or die, aren't you suffering?

I saw a dying person call all his children and ask how much money they had. Pay up! I want to buy the best medicine. The best medicine can't help him. There is no best medicine in this world. The best medicine is Jesus. So today, I encourage everyone, among us there are some who have cancer. I tell you, if you want to be healed, the best healing is to see through life and death. If you see through life and death, you will live every day on earth fearlessly, and then your prayers will be very effective.

Later, I discovered that people who have seen through life and death have one characteristic. This characteristic is that they worship God there the night before, take their legs from the ground to the bed, and when they lie on the bed, they die. How wonderful is this! I hope that such a thing will also happen to me, but if such a thing happens to me, I think another way is better. There is one thing better than that, and that is to die for Jesus!

If one day there is this opportunity, God gives me this opportunity, let me die for Jesus, because I preach the gospel, or because I cast out demons, I am caught or beaten to death, you have to celebrate for me, really set off firecrackers to celebrate! That is a shortcut to winning rewards, not everyone has the opportunity.

You ask me how someone could like this? Because he understands the matter of life and death. Why did Jesus calmly walk the road to the cross? Because He understood the matter of life and death. If you don't understand it, you are living in a fog, living in a daze, so how can you do things in this world well? The matter of life and death is so important. So in this place, when Jesus called Lazarus out, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. (John 11:41-42)

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out. That is to say, today you need to know that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, not to prepare his body to live forever, but to let him come out of the tomb, completely subverting your and my concepts of life and death. I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me (John 11:41-42). Here I would like to explain in detail again, why did Jesus say this? You must know that this sentence is very important! When you are on earth, why does Jesus want you to always have faith? You must exercise faith, have faith!

I have been talking about the matter of little faith. That is to say, you need to know that you are a free person. You can see through and understand life and death. If you understand, do you know what will happen to you? That is that the Father always hears our prayers. If you ask me why there are so many miracles among us? Because the group of brothers and sisters I lead are all daredevils, all tired of living, all who have seen through life and death. Our Father in heaven always hears our prayers, and we also know that the Father in heaven always hears our prayers.

Be Free People in Christ

It's not because the Father tells us to do this and then we do that, to do that and then we do that. What are you doing? You are at best a puppet. We are people with free choice. You can choose to see through life and death, and then know that you have a proactive faith inside, that proactive faith is what God wants us to have. God the Father said last night, Go and call Lazarus back to life, and then I went today, and Lazarus came back to life. Does Jesus need to say this? Jesus said this to tell us that this is something Jesus wants to do, I want to raise Lazarus from the dead. He said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. Because you have heard me, Jesus is definitely not a puppet.

Today, we need to know that your faith can raise people from the dead. If you have such faith, you can turn around any situation. If you and I have both seen through life and death, do we really care about life and death? We don't care anymore, you can raise people from the dead. I hope that one day among us, something like Paul described in the New Testament will happen, that people can be raised from the dead, they have no breath, and when you pray they have breath.

Why? Because we are people who have understood what life and death are all about. Why do I call on everyone to constantly live out God's destiny? Because we have understood what life and death are, what it means for people to live. If you don't understand, don't think you can live well. Those who understand will definitely live better than those who don't understand. This is why the Lord Jesus made Lazarus live, but later Lazarus died again. This is to tell us one thing, The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. (John 6:63) Don't pursue anything in the flesh, but pursue in the spirit.

Many people in the entertainment industry go for plastic surgery. When they reach their forties and fifties, they can't be looked at, this piece and that piece, hard as a rock, that look is terrible. They care about their flesh, but their flesh is not very good. So brothers and sisters, the Spirit gives life, which is not only reflected in eternal life, but also reflected when you are alive. Today, let's not let Jesus mourn in our hearts, but be sure to know that what Jesus did is to let you and me know what life and death are all about, Amen!