38.4 God Will Not Abandon Us

(Psalm 16)

Protect me, O God; I trust in you for safety.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
all the good things I have come from you.”

How excellent are the Lord’s faithful people!
My greatest pleasure is to be with them.

Those who rush to other gods
bring many troubles on themselves.
I will not take part in their sacrifices;
I will not worship their gods.

You, Lord, are all I have,
and you give me all I need;
my future is in your hands.
How wonderful are your gifts to me;
how good they are!

I praise the Lord, because he guides me;
and in the night my conscience warns me.
I am always aware of the Lord’s presence;
he is near, and nothing can shake me.

And so I am thankful and glad,
and I feel completely secure,
because you protect me from the power of death,
and the one you love,
you will not abandon to the world of the dead.

You will show me the path that leads to life;
your presence fills me with joy
and brings me pleasure forever.

38.3 Praise Be God for Our Resurrection

(1Peter 1:3-5)

Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope, and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away. They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God’s power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

38.2 All Who Believe Have Eternal Life

(John 3:11-15)

I am telling you the truth: we speak of what we know and report what we have seen, yet none of you is willing to accept our message. You do not believe me when I tell you about the things of this world; how will you ever believe me, then, when I tell you about the things of heaven? And no one has ever gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from heaven.”

As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him have eternal life.

38.1 Those Who Believe Will Rise To Eternal Life

(John 11:17-26a)

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been buried four days before. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Judeans had come to see Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother’s death.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but May stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “If you had been here, Lord, my brother would not have died! But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask him for.”

“Your brother will rise to life,” Jesus told her.

“I know,’ she replied, “that he will rise to life on the last day.”

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.“