All right, if you would, let's
open our Bibles now to Psalm 85. Psalm 85. Lord, thou hast been favorable
unto thy land. Thou hast brought back the captivity
of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity
of thy people. that has covered all their sin,
that has taken away all thy wrath, that has turned thyself from
the fierceness of thine anger. Now turn us, O God of our salvation,
and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry
with us forever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger
to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again,
that thy people may rejoice in thee? Show us thy mercy, O Lord. and grant us thy salvation. I
will hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace
unto his people and to his saints, but let them not turn again to
folly. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, that
glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the
earth and righteousness shall look down from heaven. The aid
of the Lord shall give that which is good, and our land shall yield
her increase. Righteousness shall go before
him and shall set us in the way of his steps. We'll turn to 287, please. 287.
Like a river going. Like a river glorious Is God's
perfect peace Over all victorious In its pride and praise Perfect
yet in all ways fabric yet it groweth deeper
all the way. Stained upon Jehovah, hearts
are fully blessed. Binding as he promised, perfect
peace and rest. Hidden in the hollow of his blessing, Never folk can follow, never
trainers can. Not a surge of worry, not a shipwreck. What a blast of hurry! Touch the spirit there. Stained upon Jehovah, arms are
fully wed. Binding as He promised, perfect
peace and rest. Every joy or trial, all is from
above. Raised up on our dial by the
Son of Love. We may trust Him wholly, all
for us to do. They who trust Him wholly find
Him wholly true. Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are
fully blest. And now over to 318, 318. I need Thee every hour, O gracious
Lord, O tender voice, my guide, and peace of mind. I need Thee, O I need Thee, every
hour I need Thee. O bless me now, my Savior, I
come to Thee. I need Thee every hour. Stay thou nearby. Temptation's either now or never. I need Thee. Oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior. I come to thee. I need thee every hour. Enjoy your day. Come quickly and hide, for life
is vain. I need Thee, O I need Thee, Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee. I need Thee every hour, Most
Holy One. O make me Thine indeed, Thou
blest Son. I need Thee, O I need Thee, Bless me now, my Savior, I come
to Thee. If you would open your Bibles
with me to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. that
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God. How be it we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor
of the princes of this world that come to naught. But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world under our glory, which none of
the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,
I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit. For the spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. We'll end our reading
there. Let's bow together in prayer. Our father, We bow in your awesome presence. We bow in submission. We bow
in worship. Father, we bow thankfully that
sinful men and women such as we are to come not to a throne
of justice, but a throne of grace in the person of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And Father, we're thankful. Father, I beg of thee this evening
that you would Give us an hour of true heart worship. Enable
us to worship you tonight in spirit and in truth. We've gathered
together here tonight from different walks of life, different circumstances,
but with one need, to hear, to be enabled by your spirit to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I pray you'd send your
spirit upon us and enable us to believe the things of Christ
that we hear preached this evening, enable us to lay hold upon the
Lord Jesus Christ as he's preached. Father, how we thank you for
this place that you've given us. We thank you for this opportunity
to meet together and to worship you. So thankful you brought
Brother Don and Shelby our way. Father, we pray that you bless
Don in a mighty way this evening, that you uphold him with your
spirit, that you speak to his heart, and that you'd open his
mouth to enable him to, in clear and simple terms, to proclaim
the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, these eternal things
of our Savior. Give us an ear of faith and a
heart of faith to hear and believe the things we hear preached.
Father, I pray you'd bless Don and Shelby as they travel and
continue to preach in various places this week. Bless them
and watch over them and continue to bless that ministry there
in Danville, that you continue to bless your word as it's preached. Father, at this time, we pray
for our country, this dark day in our country's history. Father, we pray that you preserve
and protect this country. Certainly, certainly not, because
we deserve it. But Father, for your goodness,
out of your goodness to your people, which you preserve, Protect
the freedoms that we have here to worship you, to follow you. All these things we ask, Father,
in that name which is above every name, the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, for his glory and in his name we pray and give thanks. Amen. On a rugged hill Stood a rugged cross And upon that cross There
hung in shame God's beloved Son, Christ the
lovely One, Who from heaven to the sinner came. Where the Prince of Glory died
for me. Alone, he suffered untold agony. Sinless, there he bore my burdens,
That from sinful shame I might be free. On the cross of Galilee. On that rugged hill stood a walking
throng, Scorning Him who came to save the lost. It was not in vain that the Savior
came, To redeem His own at priceless call. Thou free rugged hill of sorrow,
where the Prince of Glory died for me. Wounded, crushed, and brokenhearted,
alone he suffered untold agony. Sinless, there he bore my burdens,
that from sinful shame I might be free. O glorious day, he took my sins
away. Our speaker this evening is no
stranger to any of us. Pastor Don Fortner of the Grace
Baptist Church in Danville, Kentucky. I'm very honored that he brought
his dear wife, Shelby. We're so glad that you're here
with us. Don is such a dear, dear friend of mine. I wish I
could even tell you what a friend and a helper he's been. And I
thought today, there's three things that must be the greatest
compliments that you can give a preacher of God's gospel. Number one is he's faithful.
I first heard Don Fortner preach, I was 11 or 12 years old. And
my 11 or 12 year old self could tell you what that man preached.
And it hadn't changed one whit. I'm 54 years old now, I haven't
changed one whit. Be faithful. The next thing is
being plain. Being plain spoken so people
can understand what you're saying. Somebody might leave here tonight
not believing what you're going to hear, but I can tell you this,
you're going to understand it. You're not going to leave here
not believing it because you don't understand. Plain spoken. Plain. And the third one is,
I like to hear a preacher who's got my best interest at heart.
When he's preaching, I want to know that he cares that I believe
Christ. That's our brother Don. I am
so thankful that he's here. I don't mean to embarrass you. Well, it's been a little while
since I've been here, and some of you are getting older. I remember years ago, Brother
Mahan and I, we had some meetings down in Florida. And an old man
got up to preach. I can remember what he said.
He said, he was about 80, 83, 84 years old. He said, I can see through my
bifocals and my hearing aids work just fine. I can live with
my arthritis, but I sure do miss my mind. I'm approaching that. It's good to be with you again.
Turn with me to the 11th chapter of John's gospel. Tonight I want us to look at
these 57 verses of inspiration and learn from them. Sometimes
you see things better and understand them better by looking at them
in great detail. Sometimes you see things better
by looking at the whole picture. And I try in preaching to give
both as I go through the scriptures. I have several of Brother Marvin
Starnaker's paintings. I have a copy of his first painting
that he was commissioned to do, The Battle of Franklin. It's
actually two paintings. And I never really looked at
them very closely. I didn't see any point in getting up and getting
my nose right against the canvas to see what was on there. I found
it interesting and helpful to look at them as a whole. One
day I had a fellow in who was actually a plumber doing some
work for us and he saw the paintings, asked about them, and he walked
over And got just as close as he could to him, pulled his glasses
up, and looked at him and started telling me who was in the battle.
And I was glad to know it. But sometimes it's better to
get the whole picture. And this chapter gets bigger
and bigger every time I look at it. And it's gotten bigger
as I prepared this message. This chapter is all about three
people. Mary, Martha, and their brother
Lazarus. Actually, it's about one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved Mary and Martha and their brother
Lazarus. The marvelous work he performed
here, by which he demonstrated his power as God, raising a man
from the dead by his mere word. And he demonstrated his tenderness
as a man, weeping with Mary as she wept at her brother's tomb.
Here is our Savior in all his glorious dignity and power as
God. And here is our Savior in all
his glorious dignity and humility as a man. There is much here
for us to learn. This little town of Bethany sets
before us a number of things to which I wish to call your
attention this evening. For you who are gods, I have
been praying that God might be pleased to give me a message
to give you comfort and peace, to reprove and expose your sin,
to draw you afresh to the Lord Jesus, and for you who are yet
without my Redeemer, oh, may God be pleased today to give
you life. and faith in his darling son. That's what he does by his word. He gives poor, lost, dead, helpless
sinners life and faith in his darling son. Oh, may he work
that in you for his everlasting glory. Let me call your attention
to a few things in this chapter. I will try not to be very long. Here's the first lesson. You
see it in verses one through four. True believers often suffer from
sickness and disease in this world. Now a certain man was
sick named Lazarus of Bethany. The town of Mary and her sister
Martha It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment,
and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
Therefore his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he
whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said,
this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Sickness, my brother. Sickness, my sister, is not in
any way a sign or an indication of God's displeasure, God's disapproval,
or a lack of faith on our part. The fact is, sickness is sent
by our Heavenly Father for our benefit. Always for the benefit
of the object of His love. Always. Most of you here are
parents. Most of us, or many of us, grandparents.
Not one of you would send anything to your child, to your grandchild,
that you intended thereby to do him injury, harm, and hurt. I would expect my only child
to know that's true. I would expect my two grandchildren
to know that's true. Why can't we? We know that's
true of our Heavenly Father. He only sends to His own that
which is good for them, not just good for them, that which is
best for them. And He sends it to them in the
very best way possible. That which is aggravating to
our bodies is often good for our souls. You see, sickness
tends to draw our affections away from the world Christ our
Savior. Sickness sends us to our knees. Sickness sends us to our Bibles. Sickness sends us to our Savior. Anything that does that for you
is good for you. Anything that does that for you
is good for you. Sickness reminds us that life
in this world at its best is is just a vapor and is soon gone. Sickness forces us to look to
the grave, to look past the grave to judgment, and to look past
the judgment to eternity. Whenever sickness comes, be it
nothing more than a cold or something as serious as cancer or heart
disease, let us be patient before God, ever mindful that sickness
is the fruit of sin. Sickness is the forerunner of
death. Sickness and health, life and
death are alike in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ to dispense
as he will. For believers, sickness is never
unto death. For believers, sickness is never
unto death. I recall my last visit with Brother
Charlie Fain. I drove over to the hospital
to see him, and I knew he'd been sick, had a lot of difficulties,
but I didn't realize how sick he was at that time. These are
the last words Charlie spoke to me. You were with me that
night, weren't you? Shelby was with me. I said, well,
I hope to see you soon, Charlie. He said, well, I'll come out
of here better or well. Better or well. Sickness for
the believer is never unto death, and our sicknesses, whatever
they are, are for the glory of God. Whatever they are, be they
just a temporary setback, be they a permanent disease, whatever
they are, they're for the glory of God. Now here's the second
lesson. True faith submits to the will
of God. Rarely, immediately, Rarely, immediately. Because
God would never remind us that we are but dust. That we are
but flesh. That we cannot believe except
He work faith in us at any time. So rarely do we immediately bow
to God's will. But He's so gracious, so good,
that He sweetly forces us to bow to His will. and bow to his
will. Read the 107th Psalm and you'll
see it written over and over and over again. When men and
women in any trial are at their wits end, that's when you're
going to pray. That's when you're going to pray,
when you're at your wits end. But here, Mary and Martha sent
word to the Lord Jesus. I find it remarkable. They send
a letter, just a brief note, to their master, their most tender,
most caring, most affectionate friend. And this is what it said,
verse three. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. They didn't ask him to come to
Bethany. though obviously that's what they wanted. They didn't
ask him to heal their brother, though they certainly wanted
him to do that. They simply left the matter in
his hands. They said, Lord, he whom thou
lovest is sick. Happy we are when we can bow
to God's will, leaving the most painful as well as the most delightful. the most uncomfortable as well
as the most comfortable things entirely in his hands. Saying
as Eli did when God killed his sons, it is the Lord, let him
do what he will. It is the Lord, let him do what
he will. Our very best, ablest, wisest,
most considerate helper is God our Savior. Christ is our best
friend, especially in time of need. It's best to leave everything
in his hands. In the hurry and excitement of
trouble, in the annoyance and pain of sickness, always remember
that none can help like him who took our infirmities and bear
our sicknesses. That brief statement in Matthew
chapter 8, I have been studying for better than 50 years and
I don't have any more idea what all it means now than I did the
first time I read it. But it does mean this, I'm certain. He knows by experience exactly
that which you come to experience and come to know by experience.
Our blessed Savior took our infirmities, all our weaknesses, and bare
our sicknesses, just as he took our iniquity, transgression,
and sin. None is so kind, so gracious,
so caring as our Redeemer, our High Priest, who sits on the
throne of absolute dominion, the Son of God, whose touch with
the feeling of our impermanence. That which touches you, touches
him. That which affects you, affects
him. That which you feel, he feels. He has felt. And now he's able
to sucker them that believe. Isn't that wonderful? Sucker. That's not a word we use much
in our day. I remember When I was a boy, I would go visit my grandparents,
my relatives in the mountains of North Carolina, and they'd
use that word once in a while. I hadn't heard it in years, and
I started pastoring to look out, and some of the folks there would
use that word once in a while, sucker. It's a good old English word.
It means to help, but it's more than help. It means to help with
feeling. It means to help with compassion.
It means to help with sympathy. As a mother, helps her child
in trouble, as a father helps his son in difficulty. Help with
compassion, with feeling, with tenderness, because you care.
Our Lord Jesus helps his own, because he's touched with the
feeling of our infirmities. And faith submits to him. We must never expect perfect
faith in this world. And we certainly ought to know
better than to expect it of ourselves at any time. But God the Holy
Ghost works faith in us. And our Lord promises us in the
40th verse of this chapter, that if we would believe, we would
see the glory of God. We would see the glory of God
if we would just believe. And it doesn't limit that in
any way. Eric, if we would believe, we'd see the glory of God in
the gospel of Israel. If we would believe, we would
see the glory of God in all his works and prophets. If we would
believe, we would see the glory of God in every event of life. If we would believe, we would
see the glory of God in the resurrection of the dead, if we would believe. Oh God, turn us, oh God of our
salvation, and we shall be turned. It's very easy to talk about
faith when we're healthy and strong and have money in the
bank, but it's hard to practice faith when we're sick and weak
and broke, when all this darkness when neither the sun nor the
moon nor the stars appear in the sky, then it's not very easy
to be confident. The fact is, I repeat, we believe
God only as he works faith in us. God worked that faith in
me. Moment by moment, hour by hour,
day by day, give me grace to trust you. Here's the third lesson. The Lord Jesus, our blessed Savior,
our God, loves his people. He loves his people. When the
women were in the house with Mary and she ran out to meet
the Savior, they presumed she was going to the tomb to mourned,
so they went with her. And as they went, the Lord Jesus
beheld them, and he saw Mary and Martha in their mourning.
And the scripture says, Jesus wept. And they said, behold,
how he loved them. Oh, how he loves us. He loves
his people, all of his people, in exactly the same way to exactly
the same length with infinite, immutable, everlasting love. And that love for us does not
in any way depend upon us. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were
three distinct people. They were all partakers of God's
grace. They were all born again by God's
spirit. They were all washed in the blood
of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. They all served
God in this world, but they weren't exactly the same. Martha, well,
to be honest with you, Martha's one of those ladies, if she was
in the church, you'd let her do whatever she wanted to do,
but just stay out of my house, that's all you can. She was pushy. Pushy women are
just, they're hard to put up with. She didn't work, but she
was pushy. She was pushy. Mary was a very
caring, tender woman, but most likely, and I'm just surmising,
and if I'm mistaken, Mary will forgive me. She'll understand
the point that I'm making. Maybe Mary was one of those Bible-thumping
women who thought she was a theologian. They're worse than pushy women. We're not told anything about
him. The only thing we're told about Lazarus is that he died,
the Lord raised him from the dead, and he was sitting down
in John chapter 12, and the Pharisees sought to kill him because the
Lord had raised him from the dead. That's all we know about
Lazarus. But the scripture tells us that Jesus loved Mary and
Martha and their brother Lazarus. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful
words. the Son of God, He who rules
the universe, He who governs the hearts and the minds and
the deeds of all men, He who rules all of heaven and all of
hell, every angel and every demon. Yes, even the devil himself. Our savior rules absolutely everywhere,
all the time, performing his will. And he loves me. He set his heart on me from eternity.
Having loved his own, he loved them unto the end, we're told
in John 13. Love them to the end of his business
here. Love them to the end of his work
here. And he loves them still. He loves them still. Tell you
something else about this situation here. Talk about love. These women who went out with
Mary to the tomb, they came to the house to mourned with Mary
and Martha. We're not told much about them,
but they, in their effort to be of help to Mary and Martha
in their time of sorrow, all they could do was weep with them.
That's a pretty good thing to do, and that's all you can do.
All they could do was weep with them. But the best way I know to make yourself
happy is to do what you can to help other folks through difficulty.
The best way I know to make yourself miserable is to live for yourself. And often, in serving others,
we unwittingly serve ourselves. These women went out to mourn
with Mary and Martha. And because they were there at
the time, they were, by God's providence, put in the position
to see a man show himself God the Christ, the Messiah, the
Redeemer, for whom folks looked from way back in the garden when
Eve was given a promise that she would bear a son who would
not be the son of man, but the son of God to curse the serpent's
head. Many of them believed because
of what they heard. Oh, God give us wisdom and grace
to help one another in times of need. Doesn't take much to
help. Sometimes all it takes is being
there. Sometimes the best thing you
can do is just be there. Folks in trouble, generally do
not need and do not want a lot of advice. They've had enough.
Folks with heavy hearts generally do not need and do not want a
lot of advice. What they do need is care. Your care and mine. Years ago,
I read a story. A little boy had a neighbor and
the little boy was kind of given to making himself too much at
home at his neighbor's house. And his mother told him, said,
now, you stay away from his house. Don't be bothering him all the
time. And one day, he was gone for a little while. She went
out and called him. And the man had just lost his wife. The children
were all scattered. And a little boy came running
from over that house. And she said, I told you not
to be bothering him. What were you doing over there?
He said, I was just helping him cry. That's a pretty good thing
to do. When folks are brokenhearted,
weep with them. When folks rejoice, rejoice with
them, but care, and make your care known. Here's the fourth
lesson. God's time is always the right
time for everything. Oh, the wonder of God's wise
and good providence. Three things cheer my heart all
the time, the absolute sovereignty of God my Savior, the blessed
substitutionary sacrifice by which He redeemed my soul, and
His wondrous, wondrous, wondrous good providence. God moves in
a mysterious way His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps
in the sea and rides upon the storm. And his time for everything
is the right time. Look at verse 6. When he had
heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode two days still
in the same place where he was. Look at verse 11. These things
said he, and after that he saith unto them, our friend Lazarus
sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Then
said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep he shall do well. How
be it Jesus spake of his death. But they thought that he had
spoken of taking rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. I am glad for your sakes that
I was not there. I'm so glad he wasn't there.
I'm so glad he wasn't there. To the intent that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto
him. Then said Thomas, which is called
Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die
with him. Then when Jesus came, he found
that he had lain in the grave four days already. Why didn't he intervene earlier?
Our Lord came at a time when The sickness had brought death
and the death had brought pain and sorrow. But he came after
Lazarus had been dead for four days and laid in the tomb. I
can't help but think there is by divine arrangement here a
picture of our redemption. Peter tells us by inspiration
that with God one day is a thousand years and a thousand years is
one day. And by that calculation, four days after we died in the
garden in the fall of our father Adam, the last Adam came and
accomplished our redemption. When the fullness of time was
come, Christ Jesus came to redeem. In all affairs, all the affairs
of our lives, we need to realize that God's time is best for everything. J.C. Robb made this observation.
Nothing so helps us to bear patiently the trials of life as an abiding
conviction of the perfect wisdom by which everything around us
is managed. Everything that happens to us
is well done, done in the best manner, done with the right instrument,
and done at the right time. We all naturally want things
done right now. We pray like Moses concerning
Miriam. Heal her now, Lord! But we don't know what's best,
ever, about any circumstance, ever. God does. And we are wise to commit everything
to his hands. Who's too wise to err, too strong
to fail, and too good to do wrong. Look at verses 11 through 14.
and learn this fifth lesson. Because Christ is the resurrection
and the life, and we live in him and with him, God's elect
shall never die. Look at verse 11. These things
said he after, and after that he saith to them, our friend
Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of his sleep.
Then his disciples said, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Albeit, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought he spoke of
him taking rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. Our Lord often accommodates our
weakness and speaks to us in language that we can't misunderstand
so as to accommodate that weakness. But don't forget what it said
in verse 25. Jesus said to Martha, I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall
he live. Now watch this. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. God's elect are immune to death. God's elect are immune to death. God's elect shall never die. These bodies must die. These
bodies must be torn down. This earthly tabernacle must
be dissolved. But even these bodies shall be
raised again. God's elect are a people who
possess life that can never be injured, harmed, or ended. When our bodies cease to function,
When our earthly tabernacle is dissolved, when these houses
of clay crumble, we shall be forever with the Lord. Those
who have experienced the first resurrection, the new birth,
shall never taste the second death. For the believer, death
is no more than sleeping, the sleeping of the body, while life
is going on inside, going on in the soul. going on in heavenly
glory. And yet while the body sleeps,
we're absent from the body, we're present with the Lord in a house
not made with hands, immediately present. Our Savior said, I am
the resurrection and the life. And we live in him by whom we
have been raised from the dead, with whom we live, and with whom
we were raised from the dead, and with whom we took our seat
at the right hand of God. Read the book of Hebrews. It's
already done. It's already done. When Christ
was raised from the dead, we were raised from the dead representatively. Now let me tell you what that
means. We tend to think representatively, that means This man does something
as a senator or as a congressman or as a lawyer, and he represents
me. So what he does, I do in him. That's true in a legal sense.
But our Lord's representation is something altogether different.
Our Lord's representation is not just a legal representation,
but a real representation. We're told concerning Levi that
he paid tithes in the loins of Abraham. Do what? Levi paid tithes in
the loins of Abraham. How? Because he was in Abraham's
loins physically. And Abraham represented him in
that regard. Physically. But you and I are
in our Savior's spiritual loins. One with Him. So really and truly
one with Him when He lived on this earth in perfect obedience
to God. Don Fortner lived on this earth
in perfect obedience to God. When he died under the wrath
of God, Don Fortner fully satisfied the anger, the white hot anger
of God Almighty in his infinite justice, for I died in him. And when he rose from the dead,
I rose in him. And when he took his seat at
the right hand of God, I took my seat with him. He is the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth on me, our
Savior says, though he were dead, that is, though his body is dead,
yet shall he live. Though you are by nature a sinner,
dead in trespasses and in sins, if you believe on Christ, you
shall live forever. And believing on Christ, you
shall never, never die. For the believer Death is a graduation,
an elevation, a freedom, a liberty, an entrance into life that we
haven't yet begun to imagine. Your pastor just read 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. I have not seen nor ear heard. Dale, neither has it ever entered
into your heart what God has prepared for you. I like to think about heaven
and eternity, don't you? I have some wonderful thoughts
about heavenly glory, and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface.
God's revealed them to us by experience, so we know the fact
of it. But what it is, we can't know except by experience. This
much I do know. Then, when I had breathed my
last breath, and not until then, Our most earnest prayers will
be answered. Then, our highest, noblest ambitions
will be realized. Then, our trials, temptations,
and sorrows will be over. Then, sin shall be no more. For the believer, there is nothing
to dread about death. Christ suffered all the fury
of God's wrath and took our sins away, past, present, and future. Christ earned for us the glory
of heaven. There is no judgment awaiting
God's people beyond the grave in the sense of being tried,
see, we're not worthy to get in heaven, how much of heaven
we get and all that stupid stuff. No, no, no, no. The only judgment
is that God makes known to wandering world the demons of hell and
rebels crushed under his wrath. God will make known to Satan
and to angels that all his own enter into heavenly glory by
right of justice. Because they are worthy and holy,
righteous and perfect in Christ the Lord. Then in verses 39 through
44, you can read them later, there's a picture here of salvation. The salvation of a sinner is
accomplished only by the life-giving resurrection power of the Son
of God. You who are here without Christ,
you're dead, spiritually dead. You who have sons and daughters,
yet without Christ. They're dead. Spiritually dead. And there's nothing they can
do about it. Now learn something. There's
nothing you can do about it. Nothing. Nothing. If you commit to do God's hand,
you won't. They're dead. and decayed just
like Lazarus in the tomb. I used to hear fellows when I
was a young man try to make gospel doctrine more palatable to the
flesh than men ought to try to make it. Never try to do that,
that's foolish. And they'd say, when we talk about total depravity,
I don't mean to suggest that you're as bad as you can be.
Yes, you are. But still going to get worse. Things that you
Never dreamed you'd think, flood your mind all the time now. Things
you never dreamed you'd do commonplace now. Dead. Dead. The only hope for a dead sinner
is that Christ by sovereign power will invade you. Conquer you. And force you into
His arms. That He will invade you! Give
you life. And if He does, You'll find yourself
by irresistible power believing on the Son of God. The Lord Jesus
came to the tomb. And he said, take ye away the
stone. Why'd he do that? If he's gonna
raise a man from the dead, surely he could move the stone. Yeah,
but those men could move the stone. I tell you what. I would sure
like to be one who put his shoulder to that rock that day. They took
away the stone. That's what we endeavor to do
in preaching the gospel. Fill the valleys, bring down
the mountains, make the way smooth and straight. But the Lord Jesus
spoke a word personally. He said, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth.
He was called personally. He was called particularly, he
was called by irresistible power, and he came forth. And when he
came forth, he was still wrapped in grave clothes. And the master
said to those standing by, loosen and let him go. That's our business, pastor.
We keep trying to set God's people free, loosing them from the rags
of legalism, from the bondage of legality. from the bondage
of religion, from the bondage of fleshly notions, setting them
free by the gospel of God's free grace. Now there's one more picture
here. Look in verses 49 through 52. Here is a lesson about substitution. One of the chief priests in Caiaphas,
being high priest that same year, one of the Sanhedrin in Caiaphas,
being high priest that same year, said to them, you know nothing
at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one
man should die for the people and that the whole nation perish
not. And this spake he not of himself, but being high priest
that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation.
and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather
together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
Here's the seventh lesson I'll send you home with this. The
only way sinful men and women can be saved from the wrath of
God is by the substitutionary sacrifice of God's darling son,
this man who raised Lazarus from the dead. There's no other way
for sinners to be saved. Though he had absolutely no idea
what he was saying, this fellow Caiaphas, the high priest, was
moved by the Spirit of God to act as a prophet. And he made
two statements. He said two things that very
few preachers, let alone anyone else, ever come to know. But these two things are vital
to the gospel. First, justice must be satisfied. Justice must be satisfied. And
the Lord Jesus has fully satisfied the justice of God for his elect. When he who knew no sin was made
sin for us, God, in all the fury of his justice, slaughtered his
son. He shoved the sword of justice
into his son. until the sword was swallowed
up. And God now says to Jacob, fury
is not in me. The Lord Jesus has fully satisfied
that justice. God's elect stand before the
law of God, justified, justified, completely just before the law,
completely just before God, without sin, without iniquity, without
transgression of any kind. Justice says so. Read Jeremiah
chapter 50. The Lord says in that day I'll
open the book and I'll look. I'll look for the sins of Judah
and I'll look for the sins of Israel and there shall be none. because Christ took our sins
away when he satisfied the justice of God. Oh, may God give you
grace to believe his son. May he be pleased this very night
to open for you the fountain for cleansing of sin and uncleanness
and by his spirit give you faith in Christ the Lord. I sure hope I was listening because
that's preaching if I ever heard it. Let's bow together. Our Father,
we thank you for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that we've
heard preached this evening. Father, I beg that you'd send
your spirit, enable us to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let us leave here this evening, believing on him, resting
in him, finding our joy and hope and peace in Christ our Savior. Father, again, we pray to you.
Bless Don Shelby as they travel, Don as he preaches. Bless him
richly. Give much glory to your name.
Feed and comfort and edify and save your people. It's in Christ's
name we pray. Amen. We will turn to 272. Stand as
we sing. Sing the chorus after the first
and last verse. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but only lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, the leather crown All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness fails His lovely
face, I rest on His unchanging grace. Every high and stormy
gale My anchor holds within the veil His oath is covenant, his
blood Supports me in the whelming flood When all around my soul
gives way When he shall come with trumpet
sound, O may I live in him be found, Rest in his righteousness
alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On the priceless
solid rock I stand All other ground is aching sand All other
ground is aching sand Don't give me your kids for just one minute. I don't, if I'm going to be very
boring, I don't commit to rules. I know some of you are very concerned
with my will. I do have cancer again. It's
been in remission for the last 44 years. It's starting to get
even worse every day. They quit, and all that goes.
Every three weeks, it's death. And it's what's happening to
us now. The doctor said anything about
me dying. I'm doing all right. And it's
one thing we have to go through. And I appreciate your concern
and your prayers. But don't be over the concern. The first time I appeared in
Ashland Services to worship, I was in the hospital in Charleston,
West Virginia, and I checked out that Sunday morning because
I knew a woman who works with me. Thank you so much.