It’s Time to Stop Limiting God - I AM the Resurrection and the Life

[Music] [Music] hello this is david hernandez and you're watching spirit church here on the encounter tv network jesus declared i am the resurrection and the life in this statement he is claiming ultimate power and authority over death this is a very bold statement indeed and we're going to explore this truth as i continue my series on the i am but first stephen mokta zuma's here with me he's going to lead you in some very anointed worship and then we're getting right into this message let's worship now of the living god [Music] fall afresh on me [Music] fall afresh [Music] full of [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] me me use me your spirit me [Music] fall afresh on me [Music] so i'm going to conclude my series on the i am by exploring this declaration i am the resurrection and the life this is found in john chapter 11 verse number 25. jesus told her i am the resurrection and the life anyone who believes in me will live even after dying now the context surrounding this powerful declaration of the lord was actually a terrifying situation this is what the scripture says in john chapter 11 i'm going to begin reading at verse number one a man named lazarus was sick he lived in bethany with his sisters mary and martha this is the mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the lord's feet and wiped them with her hair her brother lazarus was sick so the two sisters sent a message to jesus telling him lord your dear friend is very sick but when jesus heard about it he said lazarus's sickness will not end in death no it happened for the glory of god so that the son of god will receive glory from this so although jesus loved martha mary and lazarus he stayed where he was for the next two days finally he said this to his disciples let's go back to judea but his disciples objected rabbi they said only a few days ago the people in judea were trying to stone you are you going there again jesus replied there are 12 hours of daylight every day during the day people can walk safely they can see because they have the light of this world but at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light verse 11 says then he said our friend lazarus has fallen asleep but now i will go and wake him up so this is a terrifying life or death situation yet jesus addresses the situation very calmly very confidently even in death god would get the glory from the power demonstrated by the lord in this particular situation now i asked myself when reading this why didn't jesus just send forth the word like he did with the centurion servant and i believe it was because he wanted to demonstrate his ultimate power over even death his ultimate authority over even the grave verse 11 says then jesus said our friend lazarus has fallen asleep but now i will go and wake him up jesus knew that lazarus would die and he knew the very moment that lazarus had died he was all-knowing he is all-knowing and this is a demonstration to us that we can trust him even in those situations that seem impossible even in those situations that seem so dark jesus knew that lazarus would die but he was confident that that sickness would not end ultimately in death and jesus connected with the heavenly father knew the very moment that lazarus as he put it fell asleep and in this story we see the demonstration of the power of the i am continuing to read at verse 12 the bible says the disciples said lord if he is sleeping he will soon get better they thought jesus meant lazarus was simply sleeping but jesus meant lazarus had died so he told them plainly lazarus is dead and for your sakes i'm glad i wasn't there for now you will really believe come let's go see him thomas nicknamed the twins said to his fellow disciples let's go too and die with jesus remember this was an area that had threatened to stone the lord only a few days prior when jesus arrived at bethany he was told that lazarus had already been in his grave four days bethany was only a few miles down the road from jerusalem and many of the people had come to console martha and mary marion their loss when martha got word that jesus was coming she went to meet him but mary stayed in the house martha said to jesus lord if only you had been here my brother would not have died but even now i know that god will give you whatever you ask jesus told her your brother will rise again yes martha said he will rise when everyone else rises at the last day jesus told her i am the resurrection and the life anyone who believes in me will live even after dying everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die do you believe this martha martha had a very limited view of the lord's power she was depending upon a certain day when they knew that the dead would rise but jesus says to her i am the resurrection and the life now a powerful two-fold reality is revealed in that statement in this instance because jesus was telling her that it's not the day of resurrection that has power it's me jesus demonstrated his authority his power over both time and death time and death cannot even stop the will of god and he did not say i give life or i cause resurrection he said i am the resurrection and the life in those words i am we see something familiar something we saw in exodus chapter 3 but moses protested to god who am i to appear before pharaoh who am i to lead the people of israel out of egypt god answered i will be with you and this is your sign that i am the one who has sent you when you have brought the people out of egypt you will worship god at this very mountain but moses protested if i go to the people of israel and tell them the god of your ancestors has sent me to you they will ask me what is his name and what should i tell them god replied to moses i am who i am say this to the people of israel i am has sent me to you moses made excuses when being called by god because moses like martha had a limited view of god's ability you see we say we trust god we say we believe god we say we have faith in his power to do above what we can imagine yet when it comes to certain instances certain circumstances certain difficulties we struggle to see how god is going to move we base what god can do off of what we've seen him do already we base what god can do for us off of what we've seen him do for others and if we say well i don't know that god would do it for me because i've never seen god do it for anyone else then that shows us that our faith is not in the i am but rather experience but god is above all he's above time he's above death he's above the laws that govern the universe god is able to do above what you can imagine because he is the resurrection and the life people say they believe god but they only believe him up to a certain point martha knew jesus could raise the dead but she was thinking on the day of resurrection moses knew who god was and that he was capable of using flawed people but he didn't think that god could use him and it is in the identity of god that we find the confidence to believe for the unimaginable because god said i am not i give not i will be not i was i am in other words everything that you need from him he is he doesn't just give healing he is healing he doesn't just give freedom and deliverance he is freedom and deliverance he doesn't just give salvation and hope he is salvation and hope he is peace and joy and love he is time and eternity he is justice and goodness he is the bread of life he is the light of the world he is the door he is the way he is the good shepherd he is the resurrection and the life he is all that you will ever need and he has power and authority over anything that might ever trouble you continuing now with the story of lazarus we see yes lord she told him i have always believed you are the messiah the son of god the one who has come into the world from god then she returned to mary she called mary aside from the mourners and told her the teacher is here and wants to see you so mary immediately went to him jesus had stayed outside the village at the place where martha had met him when the people who were at the house consoling mary saw her leave so hastily they assumed she was going to lazarus's grave to weep so they followed her there when mary arrived and saw jesus she fell at his feet and said lord if only you had been here my brother would not have died and here again we see a limited view of god despite all the miracles they had seen mary is fretting if only you had been here my brother would not have died verse 33 when jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her a deep anger welled up within him and he was deeply troubled where have you put him he asked they told him lord come and see then jesus wept the people who were standing nearby said see how much he loved him but some said this man healed a blind man couldn't he have kept lazarus from dying jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb a cave with the stone rolled across its entrance roll the stone aside jesus told them but martha the dead man's sister protested lord he has been dead for four days the smell will be terrible jesus responded didn't i tell you that you would see god's glory if you believe so they rolled the stone aside then jesus looked up to heaven and said father thank you for hearing me you always hear me but i said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here so that they will believe you sent me then jesus shouted lazarus come out and the dead man came out his hands and feet bound in grave clothes his face wrapped in a head cloth jesus told them unwrap him and let him go in verses 33 and 35 we see the emotions of jesus we saw anger we saw weeping now there are many different reasons that people give as to why jesus felt these emotions in this moment perhaps he was angry because of the lack of faith of the people perhaps he was angry at the pain that death caused them perhaps he was weeping over having to remove lazarus from heaven or perhaps he was weeping because he was weeping with those who wept whatever the reason we know that jesus responds to the situation and he preaches a simple message only believe do you know who your god is only believe all things are possible only belief your god has authority over anything and everything even the grave do you realize that because we serve the resurrection and the life we have been liberated from fear ultimately we fear nothing why consider the fact that the world is full of fear why are they full of fear they're full of fear because ultimately they're afraid of death fear ultimately is based on the fear of death the consequences in the afterlife but you and i were set free from all fear you and i are set free from all of those apprehensions we know where we go when we die we know who we belong to he is the resurrection and the life the one who has power over all things he doesn't just give he is father in jesus name i pray for that one receiving this word right now and i ask you lord to begin to touch them fill them in a fresh way stir their faith caused their faith to go soaring to new heights they never thought possible and remind us lord that you are the i am that you are everything we will need that you are time and eternity that you are bigger than anything we will ever face we honor you and we bless you and i pray your power touches your people now lord let healing flow let delivering power flow break off every bondage and addiction remove every sickness and disease we pray in jesus name i want you to say it because you believe it say amen well that is it for the lesson and for the series titled i am i want to welcome now the new members of spirit church there you are up on the screen we love you we're praying for you i always say that because i always mean it if you like information on how you can join spirit church go to davidhernandezministries. com church and now to your comments these comments come from a lesson that was a part of a series on the spiritual gifts this lesson is titled gifts of the holy spirit leadership gifts and if you haven't seen this yet i encourage you to go and watch this i talk about the pastor the prophet the apostle the teacher and the evangelist and the bible really gives us a clear understanding as to why god gave us these gifts perhaps god has called you to be one of the fivefold now i'm going to read these comments but if you're going to go and search for that video i recommend that you follow us on all of our social media platforms and if you're watching us here on youtube make sure that you subscribe and click the notification bell when you do leave a comment in the comment section and i may read it on an episode of spirit church so here are the comments from gifts of the holy spirit leadership gifts christopher catbagan writes thank you david for this message it is powerful clear and in perfect timing angelina writes thank you david and stephen i am grateful for the teachings and the worship it has changed my life and my walk with the lord you both encourage us and are a blessing may god continue to bless this ministry abundantly hopkins writes thank you david i learned something new today the difference between a prophet and someone who can prophesy god bless you and your ministry mukesha andrew patrick writes thanks evangelist david i'm so blessed by your work in god's kingdom thanks stephen i love your worship ministry you inspire me and are one of my role models stephanie mitchell writes pastor david every time i hear you speak the word of god i take one more step toward god god bless you and your worship leader for taking the world for jesus well god bless you all and again if you want me to possibly read your comment on one of the episodes of spirit church leave a comment in the comment section and i love hearing from you because really these testimonies energize us spiritually because we can hear about all of the wonderful things that the holy spirit is accomplishing through his ministry now before we say goodbye i want to read something to you and it's found in first kings chapter number 17.

this is a powerful story that will stir your faith then the lord said to elijah go and live in the village of zarephath near the city of sudan i have instructed a widow there to feed you so he went to zarephath as he arrived at the gates of the village he saw a widow gathering sticks and asked her would you please bring me a little water in a cup as she was going to get it he called to her bring me a bite of bread too but she said i swear by the lord your god that i don't have a single piece of bread in the house and i have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug i was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal and then my son and i will die but elijah said to her don't be afraid go ahead and do just what you've said but make a little bread for me first then use what's left over to prepare a meal for yourself and your son verse 14 for this is what the lord the god of israel says there will always be flower and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the lord sends rain and the crops grow again so she did as elijah said and she and elijah and her family continued to eat for many days there was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers just as the lord had promised through elijah there we see a powerful demonstration of faith in action a widow woman afraid of the future not knowing how the supply would come not knowing how her next meal would come and then the prophet the man of god enters the situation and as the woman obeyed the voice of the holy spirit and supplied for god's ministry within the earth god not only met the need of the day but he supernaturally met the need day after day after day there is a real power to supporting the gospel there is a real power to supporting ministries this is biblical truth i want to tell you god will supply your need god will take care of you we don't give so that god takes care of us he takes care of his children we give because we know that god will take care of us and in knowing that god will take care of us there is freedom from fear and so i want to challenge you maybe in this season it's been a bit of a struggle maybe in this season it's been a bit of a challenge maybe in this season for you it hasn't been a challenge but you've been very blessed financially in this season wherever you are in life you can give in proportion to your faith and your circumstance and so i want to challenge you to not be afraid to not doubt but to obey the voice of the holy spirit and do whatever it is that he leads you to do in supporting this ministry i want to challenge you to become a monthly supporter of this ministry or give a one-time donation to help us continue to create the media to do the live streams to host events around the world and to continue hosting the holy spirit school online which is a free bible training program your support will sustain all of that and more as well as all the general ministry expenses but help us continue to expand help us continue to reach the lost help us continue to win souls and to build believers this is god's work this is what makes a difference in our world and i want to invite you to be a part of it sign up for a monthly gift at ten dollars or more a month and you'll receive wonderful partner benefits including access to our exclusive monthly zoom calls you'll receive a beautiful dove lapel pin to show your support of the gospel 10 discount on all ministry apparel reservations at all ministry events and you'll get an exclusive email update just for our partners at the 30 level you get all of those benefits plus you get to select one book from our book catalog at 100 or more a month you get all of those benefits except your discount doubles on ministry apparel and you get all four books in that book catalog but whatever you do do it today ask the holy spirit what he wants you to do and then act upon what he speaks i promise you the lord will not disappoint you so give to the gospel not to get but so that you might give out of love for god and out of love for souls do something today by going to davidhernandezministries. com donate that's where you can give a one-time gift you can become a monthly partner by going to davidhernandezministries.