Let's open our Bibles to John
chapter 11. John chapter 11. Last Wednesday night, we looked
at verses 21 and 22 where Martha says to the Lord, Lord, if you
had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that
even now, Whatever you ask of God, he will give it unto thee. And our Lord responds to her
in verse 23 when he tells her in a very general sense, thy
brother shall rise again. He gave her just enough revelation
of truth to keep her hopeful but not enough so that she didn't
have to remain in faith. She didn't understand what all
of that meant. And her response to the Lord
in the next verse is clear that she doesn't understand because
she said, Lord, I know that my brother will rise in the resurrection. At this point, Martha didn't
really know much more about what the Lord was going to do than
the general doctrine of the resurrection which all Jews believed in. There were a few of the Jewish
scholars that didn't believe in resurrection, but the vast
majority of them did. And our text tells us that that
Bethany, which is where they were, was nigh unto Jerusalem. And so we see in Martha's response
no more revelation, no more real light, no more real understanding
than what the Jews had who lived only two miles away. I can relate to Martha. I hope that you'll be able to
tonight as we go through this conversation that she has with
our Lord. I've titled this message, Faith
is Always in the Present Tense. It's always in the present tense. We cannot rest the hope of our
salvation in some future event. For the comfort of the Holy Spirit,
we have to be in the presence of Christ presently. And that seems to be what Martha
didn't understand. For the Lord responds to Martha
when she says to him, I know that my brother will rise in
the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her in verse
25, Martha, I am the resurrection. Martha, you're looking to some
future event for the hope of your brother. but your brother's
hope is standing right before you. And that's what I want us
to see tonight. And I hope that the Lord will
remind us that our comfort and our faith is not found in some
sort of future Well, it's not found in a doctrine,
certainly. She was holding to a doctrine. It's found in the person of the
Lord Jesus. Many God-honoring and Christ-exalting
sermons have been preached on the seven IMs of the Gospel of
John. We are so encouraged when the
Lord reminds us of who he is by this name. As you know, this
is the name that the Lord revealed to Moses when Moses asked the
Lord, whom should I say sent me? What is your name? Up until
then, the Lord had not revealed his name. And he told Moses,
tell them that I am has sent thee. And in that name, the Lord is
revealing his self-existence. He's revealing himself as the
uncreated creator and sustainer of all of life. He's revealing
himself as the eternal one. And the Lord Jesus takes on that
name. And it was that name that offended the Jews when he said
to them before Abraham was, I am. It was by that name that he assaulted
those Roman soldiers that came to arrest him in the Garden of
Gethsemane when they said, when he asked them, whom seekest thou? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
Then he said, I am. And they fell backwards. It is the name of God and it
speaks of his eternality. It speaks of his immutability. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. It speaks of his singularity
and independence. Who is a God like unto thee?
There is no God like him. All of the glorious attributes
of God are wrapped up in this name that
he's given us of himself, the all-powerful, almighty God. And if the Lord's pleased to
speak that name to our hearts, we'll find ourselves falling
at his feet in worship. There's nothing in me like him.
He's the mighty God and the Jehovah of all of creation. And so we
see that when the Lord speaks of himself in John chapter six
as the bread of life. The ones that he fed thought that,
you know, he was going to provide for them physical bread. And he reminded them that it
wasn't Moses that gave them that bread from heaven. It was his
heavenly father that sent that bread and that I am the bread
of life. You're looking for some other
thing but you don't realize that everything you're looking for
is in me. That's what he's, that's what
the Lord's telling us when he says I'm the bread of life. When
he tells us that he is the light of the world, the Pharisees thought
that they had some understanding because of their study of the
scriptures and their education and the Lord made it clear to
them that they didn't understand anything. They were walking in
darkness and that he himself is the light of the world. So we don't want to look outside
of Christ for the bread of life. We don't want to look outside
of Christ for the light of the world. I am, and I am here in
your presence. In John chapter 10, when the
Lord tells us that he is the door into the sheepfold, there's
no other way into the presence of God. He is that one door. And robbers and thieves, those
who would rob God of his glory and would climb in some other
way. But the porter has to allow the
shepherd to come in through the one door. And Christ is that
door. We're not looking anywhere else
except for the Lord Jesus Christ, for our entrance into the presence
of God. And even when he said, I am the
way, that's what he's speaking of. When the Lord tells us that
he's the good shepherd, He's the one that provides everything
his sheep need so that we can say with David in Psalm 23, the
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, I shall not be in want. Martha is hanging her hopes for
her brother on a doctrine that was true but I believe what the Lord's saying
to her and what the Lord is saying to me and you is I'm here. I'm here. Don't look for anything. Everything that you need is in
me. I am. That's why I wanted to emphasize
what the Lord told the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
The hour is coming and now is, now is. It's a present person. It's so much easier to believe
in a future promise than it is to find ourselves in the presence
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That takes faith. Faith is always exercised in
the present tense. And Martha, bless her heart,
she just like I am. I mean, she had already said,
you know, Lord, I know that whatever you ask of God, he'll give it
to you. Hinting perhaps that, you know, maybe Lord you could
do something for my brother. And now she looks to a doctrinal
truth for her hope when she speaks of a future resurrection and
the Lord directs her attention once again to himself. Martha,
I am the resurrection and the life. And then towards the end
of the story, when When the Lord says, look at verse 39, the Lord's
at the tomb of Lazarus and says, take ye away the stone, and Martha,
the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this
time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. The Lord has to constantly remind
us of who he is and where he is because we're so distracted
by our circumstances and we're so easily brought into a state
of unbelief and know after everything that the Lord told her and even
after what she said she's now the moment of truth has come
is it possible that the Lord Jesus is gonna raise my brother
from the dead and she's afraid Lord don't don't don't uncover
the tomb he's he's decaying It's easier to believe the potential
of something that is future than to submit
now and follow the command of a person. I believe the Lord would have
us walk by faith and not by sight. I know he would. And I know by
His grace we'll do that. And as Paul said in 1 Corinthians
chapter 4, we look those things which are seen, we look not on
the things which are seen for the things which are seen are
temporal, but we look on those things which cannot be seen.
And the things which cannot be seen are eternal. Martha's having a hard time with
her faith here. Martha's not setting her affections
on Christ and just listening to him. She's looking at her
circumstances and she's, it's so beautiful, I believe, how
the Lord gently brings her to the place where she needs to
be and takes her through all of her wavering and all of her
unbelief and reminds her over and over again of who he is.
And he goes from, Your brother will rise again. That was the
first thing he said to her. Your brother will rise again.
That was a very general revelation. As I said, it was a word of hope, but it was also
a word that required Martha to keep her eyes on Christ. It was
not so much revelation that she didn't need faith. And I believe
the Lord deals with us the same way. I am the resurrection. My resurrection. And not just
a historical event of the resurrection that took place 2,000 years ago,
but the fact that I am alive is proof that I've thoroughly
fulfilled the requirements of God's law. It is proof that I've
satisfied God's holy justice. It is proof that I have put away
your sin once and for all. The fact that I am alive, you
see, Yes, we look and we believe that the Lord Jesus raised from
the dead and we believe that he's the firstborn among many
brethren and we believe doctrinally that when he was raised from
the dead we were raised in him for we were in Christ. But here's
my point, Martha was looking at a doctrine and as precious
as those doctrines are we cannot separate those doctrines from
the person of the Lord Jesus. That's why he said to Martha,
Martha, I am, I am the bread of life. I am the light of the
world. I am the resurrection and the
life. I am the way, the truth and the
life. I'm the door, I'm the good shepherd. I am, yes, that name
speaks of his nature, but it also speaks of his person. And here's our promise. The promise
that the Lord gave us is that he will never leave us nor forsake
us. He tells us, he go out into all
the world and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of
the world. When we come together for worship,
as precious as this time is, let us be mindful of his presence. Let us be mindful of the one
that we are here to worship. May God enable us to not go through
the motions of religious activity or not go through the habits
of prayer and Bible study, but always, always looking for, seeking
after. That's what the Lord told that
woman at the well. The hour is coming and now is
that they that worship God must worship him in spirit and in
truth. Yes, according to the revelation
that's been given to us in God's word, but in Christ, in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a lot easier to believe
things about God than it is just to believe God, isn't it? It's a lot easier to have faith
in some past event or some future hope than it is to find ourselves
in the very presence of the Lord Jesus. But that's where faith
is. That's where faith lives. Faith
always lives in the present. And I believe that's what the
Lord's telling us here. At the cross of the Lord Jesus,
we see the wrath and anger of God and its full fury. And we
also see the love and the tenderness of our God's heart on full display
as he obtained for us peace and pardon. I am. Fear not, it is I. Now what the Lord told those
disciples when they were being tossed about in the boat on the
Sea of Galilee, he let them get out there in the middle of that,
and then he sent a storm, and they're afraid, and he comes
walking in the water. They think he's a ghost. Fear
not, it is I, it is I. Martha really didn't have any
better understanding than the Jews had when she said, I know that he will rise again
in the resurrection at the last day. So often, so often we act and
we think not much differently than religious people who have
some understanding of the Bible. But how faithful our Lord is
to make us to differ and to not leave us in just finding some
peace in truths, plural. but that we would be brought
by him to find our peace in truth singular. What Martha says to the Lord
is exactly what the woman at the well said. Right after the Lord said to
her, the hour cometh and now is. When they that worship God must
worship him in spirit and in truth for such the Father seeketh
after." She comes right after that and she said, I know that
when Messiah comes which is called the Christ, he'll teach us all
things. And then the Lord Jesus said
to her, I that speaketh unto thee, I am, I am he. How often we hang our hopes on
a better tomorrow. We think, well, this soon will pass. Things are going to get better.
Now, how's that any different than the way the world thinks? You know, we're gonna get through
this trial and it's gonna get, what I believe the Lord's saying,
I believe what he said to me and I hope maybe he'll speak
this truth to you. Seek him in the midst of the
trial. Martha's hanging her hopes on
a future thing. And the Lord said, Martha, I'm
standing right here in front of you. Martha, your hope needs
to be in me. And I believe that's what the
Lord's saying when he said, why do you fret over what you're
gonna wear, what you're gonna eat or what you're gonna do or how
you're gonna get through this problem? These are the things the Gentiles
fret over. These are the things they worry
about. But you seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
and all these other things to be added unto you. The Lord's telling us again,
he said, set your affections on things above where Christ
is seated at the right hand of God. Look, I am here. It's so much easier, I know. It's so much easier to find comfort
in things getting better. But it's so much better to find
comfort in Christ now. Now. Right now. Doctrine is a good thing, sound
doctrine, the doctrine of Christ. But you can have doctrine without
having Christ. You can't have Christ without
having doctrine. And what a blessing it is when the Lord A doctrine
enlightens the understanding, the intellect. Christ changes
the heart. You can have doctrine without
your heart being changed. But when the Lord Jesus changes
the heart, then everything about us is changed. Our desires, our
motive, our joy, our behavior, everything about us changes when
Christ gets a hold of the heart. I believe that's what the Lord's
saying to Martha here. Martha? And he has to remind
her again, because she falls back into looking at her situation
and thinking, Lord, don't open that tomb. He's been dead four
days. Today is the day of salvation. Now, now, right now is the accepted
time. No one ever did anything tomorrow
and faith has never been exercised tomorrow. It can only be exercised
right now in the present tense. When we're overcome with concerns and fears
for our physical needs. Let us believe God. Let us seek
Him. When we're tempted to sin, let
us believe God. Oh, what's the Lord say? There's
pleasure in sin for a season, but in the end it's going to
lead to death. Lord, don't Let us see Christ in those things. When we're tempted to be angry
at somebody, the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness
of God, that's what the Lord says. And Abraham's called the father of
the faithful. And the scriptures are clear
that when God called Abraham, he was called to leave the Ur
of the Chaldees and trust God. He didn't know where he was going.
He didn't know anything about the land that God was gonna take
him to. He was just being led. When Moses brought the children
of Israel out of Egypt and they came to the Red Sea, and the
Bible says they crossed the sea by faith, I don't believe the
way that happened was the way that Hollywood portrays it. That
Moses and all the Israelites are standing on one side of the
Red Sea and all of a sudden God opens up this path and they see
a way through and then they go. I believe that water moved out
of the way one step at a time. They had to act on what God had
commanded. Let's walk in by faith. And with
each step, the water did move, but there's where the Lord, we faith can't weigh the potential
circumstances of its actions. Faith believes God, faith trusts
God, faith follows. The Lord Jesus, how often many
times he said, follow me, follow me. When the Lord called men to follow
him, some said, well, let me go bury my father. And what the
Lord said, let the dead bury the dead, you follow me. And
another man said, let me go bid them farewell. And the Lord said,
if a man put his hand to the plow and looks back, he's not
fit for the kingdom of God, you follow me. What we believe about God must
constantly be reaffirmed because we are over and over and over
again drawn back to walk by sight rather than by faith. We're dull
and slow of heart to believe. The Lord Jesus told the disciples,
and I hear him saying this to me often, I have many things
to say unto you but you can't bear them now. Or what Paul said to the church
at Corinth when he said, I couldn't feed you strong meat, I had to
feed you milk. Because you're acting like carnal
men, you're acting like babes. But how blessed it is that the
Lord feeds us with that food that is convenient for us at
the time in order to bring us through our unbelief. back to
that place where we can hear him say, I am the resurrection
and the life. The Lord measures our instructions
perfectly. He did this with Martha. He does
it patiently and he does it persistently. I'm so thankful that Even though
we're so much like Martha in her unbelief, the Lord is persistent. He doesn't leave us in that place.
Faith. is always in the present tense. Verse 25, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? And she
said unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the
Son of God, which should come into the world. And when she
had said so, she went her way and called Mary, her sister,
secretly, saying, The Master is come and calleth for thee. And as soon as she heard that,
she arose quickly and came unto him, unto him. And then in the next chapter,
where do we find Mary? Where do we find Mary? The Martha
is still struggling in her faith. She's still looking at her circumstances. She's still thinking that, you
know, we've got to take care of these things. And she asked
the Lord in the next chapter, Lord, tell Mary, I've got all
these people to take care of and tell Mary to help me. Oh,
Martha, many things encumber thee, but Mary, has chosen that
one thing needful. Where did we find her? Sitting
at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, listening to Him, believing
Him. Brethren, I know from my own
personal experience, it is a whole lot easier. It is a whole lot
easier, but it is because of our unbelief. that we find it
easier to believe in past events, record what we believe. We believe
what God has revealed in His Word. And it's a whole lot easier
to believe in a future glory and a future hope than it is
to be brought into the presence of the Lord Jesus right now and
to believe Him and rest in him and rejoice in him and rely upon
him and follow after him. Because that can only be done
by faith. And faith is only operative in
the present tense. Our Heavenly Father, forgive
us for our unbelief. Lord, enable us, enable us to come before Thee
and to sit at Thy feet and to rejoice in Thee and to seek first
Your kingdom and Your righteousness in Christ. For it's in His name
we pray. Amen. 218? 318.