Let's open this second hour.
For those of us just joining us, we have Sean Reynolds to
preach for us today. He's come up with his family
from Lakeland, and we're very pleased that he's here. So thank
you, Sean. Let's open this second hour with
hymn number 212 from your hardback hymnal, Nothing But the Blood,
212. Let's all stand together. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon, this I seek, Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow, That
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone, nothing
but the blood of Jesus, naught of good that I have done. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness
Nothing but the blood of Jesus Please be seated. Good morning, brothers and sisters.
For our call to worship this morning, let's turn to Revelation
chapter five. Revelation chapter five. And I saw in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside,
sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and loosen the
seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in
earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book and
look thereon. And I went much, because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the line of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne, and in the midst of the four beasts,
and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits
of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came, and he took the
book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
And when he had taken the book, The four beasts and the four
and 20 elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of
them harps and golden vows full of odors, which are the prayers
of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof. For thou was
slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation. and has made us unto
our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about
the throne, and the beast, and the elders, and the number of
them was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of thousands, saying
with a loud voice, worthy is the land that was slain to receive
power. and riches, and wisdom, and strength,
and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such that
are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying,
blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the land forever and ever. And the
four beasts said, amen. and the four and 20 elders fell
down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever. Our most holy,
perfect, precious Lord, we thank you again for this time here
together. You promised us where two or
three are gathered in your name, you're here amongst us, Lord.
Open our ears, soften our hearts. We thank you for the first sermon.
Lord, we'd ask you to bless it to us. We'd ask you to be with
our brother as he brings forth your gospel in the second message. We're thankful that through your
mercy and grace, you've raised a candlestick here and down in
Lakeland, Lord. We'd be so bold as to ask you
to keep these candles lit for many, many years to come. Be
with us always and watch over us, Lord. Cause us to remember
your promises. Your promises are all yea and
amen, Lord. cause us to remember that you've
said, you'll never leave us, you'll never forsake us. Keep
us always looking to you, the first cause of all. We thank
you for all these things in the most holy and perfect name. Amen. Let's stand together once again.
We'll sing the hymn that's on the back of your bulletin, the
hymn on the back of the bulletin. Let's all stand. Prepare me, gracious God, to
stand before thy face. Thy Spirit must the work perform,
for it is all of grace. In Christ's obedience flow, and
wash me in His blood. So shall I lift my head with
joy among the sons of God. Do thou my sins subdue, ? Thy
sovereign love make known ? ? The spirit of my mind redo ? ? And
save me in thy Son ? ? Let me attest thy power ? ? Let me thy
goodness prove ? Till my full soul can hold no more of everlasting
love. Please be seated, Sean. Well, I'm going to start a little
differently this time. By the time I got back to my
seat, I was already being convicted. I misspoke in something I said
in the first message. And as the Lord revealed it to
me, I have all these thoughts coming back to me. I've been
preaching now for about 24 years, and I know that when I first
began to preach, under the pastor that I was under. He always told me never to say
anything to the people if you mess up. Well, I don't believe
that. But in the first message, I referred
to the Lord as the second Adam. That's incorrect. He's the last
Adam. And for some, maybe it doesn't
mean either one to you, but for me, staying true to the word
is very important. And so I ask you to forgive me
for that. I read an article recently about, it was on that topic and
the person was making the argument for the second atom theory, said
everyone was making it too much of a big deal. And I would also
warn you there that when you read error, or you subject yourself
to error, we get polluted by everything. So as I said, I'm
sorry about that. I misspoke and the Lord quickly
corrected me according to his word. So he's a faithful Lord.
If you'll turn with me over to John 11 this morning. John 11,
very familiar chapter I'm sure to all of you. And I'm sure the text is very
familiar to you. Our text this morning is John
11, 35. Jesus wept. The magnitude of those words,
the Son of God wept. I say to our people sometimes,
let that sink down in your ears. Let it sink down in your soul,
and I know only the Lord can bring it there. But the magnitude
of the Son of God wept. What would cause Him to weep? I have a feeling that if I polled
most of the people in the room, what they knew about John 11,
35, is they would tell me it's the shortest verse in the Bible.
And you're right. But that's tragic, if that's
all we can say about it. Because really, there were no
chapters and verses in the word of God, so it's really not, but
there's a lot in those two words. Jesus wept. But why? Why would the Lord weep? He's
surrounded by all of his friends. He's surrounded by his disciples. I understand that Lazarus was
dead. I understand that Lazarus was dead,
but he already knew he was going to raise him. So why is he weeping? The Jews thought they knew why
he was weeping. In 36, they said, then said the
Jews, behold how he loved them. It must be he really, really
loved Lazarus. Well, he did. but he's the one
that gives life to Lazarus and always has. Only one other time
in the scriptures are we told that Jesus wept. I wanna take
you to it this morning. Go with me over to Luke 19. Luke 19. And look at verse 41. And when he was come near, he
beheld the city, and he wept over it, saying, If thou had known, even
thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto
thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes, if only you
knew the things that you could have peace in your soul with.
But you don't. For the day shall come upon thee,
that thine enemies, Rome, shall cast a trench about thee, and
come past thee round, and keep thee in on every side. And they
would. And they would destroy Jerusalem.
And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children
within thee. And they shall not leave thee
one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of
thy visitation. He wept because they knew not.
But why did they know not? He certainly told them. He certainly
warned them. They knew what was imminent. They knew what the penalty was
for not believing in him, but that was the problem. It was
unbelief. They didn't believe. And Jesus
wept over the city. As we return now to our text, well, I tell you what, before
we go back to our text, let's go to Hebrews 3. Let's see what
Paul wrote about unbelief to set the stage for what our message
is on today. In Hebrews 3, if you begin with
me in verse 12, he's warning the brethren, take heed, listen
to what I'm about to say, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief. the sin of sins, unbelief. He calls it evil. It's evil not
to believe him in departing from the living
God. But exhort one another daily while it's called today, lest
any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For
we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast unto the end, if only we believe. While it is said today, if you
will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation.
For some, when they had heard, they did provoke. How be it not
all that came out of Egypt by Moses? But with whom was he grieved
for forty years? Was it not with them that sinned
as carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom swear he that they
should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not. And we saw that throughout all
of that journey. The time that comes the most
to me is when he provided the brass serpent for them. And all
they had to do is look and live. And many of them wouldn't, because
they didn't believe. as we are today, same as relevance
to our day and age today. Many don't look to Christ. They
look to themselves. They look to their intellect.
They look to their ingenuity. They look to the world. They
look to their name, their title, their riches. They just don't
believe. And I wondered this morning,
As now that we know why Jesus wept, because of unbelief, I
wonder how many of you weep because of your unbelief. When the Lord says to you, thou
art the man, you don't trust me. My morning's been filled
with unbelief. I get attacked a lot on Sundays
that I preach. This morning was a little different,
because I had to get in my car and drive quite a long way. And
of course, I'm worried about everything. Traffic, blowing
out a tire, traffic stopping on I-4. Just
don't trust him. Just don't believe. And that
grieves me. Oh, Lord, I believe, but help
my unbelief. Who was he grieved for 40 years?
Was it not them that fell in the wilderness? And to whom swear
he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that
believe not? So we see that they could not enter in because of
unbelief. And we can't enter into communion
with the Lord with unbelief. Now let's turn back to John 11. Maybe you haven't seen John 11
like this this morning. Because I want you to, I want
you to see all the events that are leading up to the magnitude
of these two words. Jesus wept. Look at verse one. 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. You would think that
that would be enough. They have followed him everywhere.
Jesus has always been true to his word. And he tells them,
this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. You're
going to see the glory of God, that the son of God may be glorified
in his son as he always is. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus. When he had heard, therefore,
that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place
where he was. Then after that, saith he to
his disciples, let us go into Judea again. Now it's time to
go. It's the Lord's time. Everything
is best in the Lord's time. I hope he's proved that to you.
I hope he's still proving it to you. So the Lord says, let
us go into Judea again, and the first thing we hear is unbelief. His disciples said unto him,
Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and goest thou
thither again? You can't go back there. There's
danger there. But the Lord has already said,
this will be for the glory of God. The son of God will be glorified
in where he is going and what he is doing. But it wasn't enough. And so as soon as the Lord said
it's time to go, the first answer, and I'm gonna tell you something
about unbelief. Unbelief talks. It babbles. It always answers
back. It does. It always answers back,
Lord, I wouldn't do it that way. I don't know why this is the
way that it is. You can't go over there. That's
dangerous. Jesus answered and he says, are
there not 12 hours in the day? And I want to direct your attention
right now to the long suffering of our Lord that you're going
to see all throughout this passage. Long suffering over and over. Are there not twelve hours in
a day? Am I not here to do my Father's work? If any man walk
in a day, he stumbles not, because he sees the light of this world.
But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because there's
no light in him. I am here to do my Father's will.
These things said he, and after that he said unto them, Our friend
Lazarus sleepeth. But I go that I may awake him
out of sleep. And immediately unbelief answers
again with reason. Then the said his disciples,
Lord, if he sleeps, he shall do well. It's good, Lord, that
he sleeps. The Lord tells him he's sleeping.
And they say, yeah, Lord, yeah, it's good that he sleeps. Don't
go wake him up. Why don't they believe? Why do we not believe? Now listen, I've heard many people
make excuses for unbelief. I've heard many excuses for these
people's unbelief because the Holy Spirit hadn't been poured
out yet. Okay? But they saw all the miracles.
They saw the healings. If you and I walked out those
doors, and we all walked out together, and we all looked up
in the sky, and we saw pigs in the sky, and we saw them flying
all over the place, we would all be in agreement that pigs
can fly, because we've seen it. We've seen it. We've proved it
out. They've seen that He's the Son
of God. They saw everything that he did. He turned water to wine.
He healed the sick. He cast out devils. He raised
the dead. Maybe not yet, but he's life. But they say to him, he does
well if he sleeps. So Jesus spoke of his death,
but they thought that he'd spoken of taking of rest and sleep.
Then said Jesus unto them plainly in his long suffering, and love
towards them again. He said, Lazarus is dead. And I'm glad. He tells us why. I'm glad for your sakes that
I was not there. To the intent you may believe.
What I'm doing is that so you believe in me and you believe
the Father sent me and you believe that I and the Father are one.
That you believe. Blessed are they who don't see
these things and believe today. That's you and I. And we believe
by faith. Because of our gracious, long-suffering
Lord gives us that faith. And sustains that faith. And
brings us back into the way to believe again. It's going to get a little tiresome
for you to keep seeing the unbelief. But if you're like me, it's very
examining. This is me. He's so good to me. He's done everything for me.
Why can't I trust him? Why can't I believe? I'm quickly reminded that this
isn't heaven. That I do have an old man. I am a sinner in need of him
every hour. I'm glad for your sakes that
I wasn't there to the intent you may believe. Nevertheless,
let us go unto him. You would think that would be
enough, but it's not. Then said Thomas, which is called
Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die
with him. Another answer, another not understanding
but yet feel like you have to talk. Why are we that way? You would think that people filled
with so much unbelief would want to not speak. But it's the opposite,
isn't it? Because we want to prove to everybody
in the room that we do believe, that we do know something. Then when Jesus came, he found
that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany
was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off, and many
of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning
their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard
that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary sat
still in the house, Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou
hadst been here, my brother had not died. Do you know what that
is? That's unbelief. She said to
him, if you would have came when I called you, he wouldn't have
died. That's what she's saying. Can you feel it with her? I mean,
can you mourn with her? Can you understand? Have you
been there where you question the sovereignty of the Lord and
why he does what he does? Oh, if you'd just been here,
my brother had not died. But I know, I know that even
now, whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will give it to thee. Jesus said unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. And then Martha, who's correct
in her doctrine, says, I know that he shall rise again in the
resurrection at the last day. Well, Christ isn't a doctrine.
He's a person. Sometimes we miss the Lord right
in front of us. We miss the power of the Lord
that only faith can take us to. And Jesus said unto her, I am. I am the I am. I am God. Look to me. Don't look to doctrine. Dear ones, don't ever let doctrine
define who you are. Christ must be your life, not
your doctrine. I am the resurrection. I am the
life. He that believes in me, he that
has the faith of the Son of God, he that trusts me, He that ventures
everything upon me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Why? Because he's the resurrection
and the life. Do you believe this, Martha?
Believest thou this? Do you believe that I'm the resurrection? Do you believe me now? It's a good question. The Lord
asks us questions daily. He asks me questions. Why do
you not believe? Have I not been faithful to you
every time? I still get nervous to stand
up and preach. I've never been a public speaker.
I've ran from public speaking my entire life. It's something
I've grown to despise. But the Lord's faithful. The
Lord's gospel, He is faithful to put the gospel on the lips
of a donkey. He can use me for His glory. Praise God, it's all a hymn.
You know why? Because he's the resurrection
and the life. Believest thou this, that you'll
never die? Do you believe that his life
is eternal? She said unto him, Yea, Lord,
I believe that thou art the Christ. Interesting answer. Didn't really
answer the question, but she did say, I believe that thou
art the Christ, the anointed one. And I'm not about to stand
up here and make fun of little faith or ever belittle little
faith. Because when the Lord just drops
the crumbs from the table, they're enough. They're enough to sustain
the child of God. The faith of the size of the
grain of a mustard seed can move mountains. That faith can say
to the sycamore tree, up and into the ocean, into the sea. I've seen the faith of Christ
move mountains in my life. And I know it can only be the
faith of Christ. I've had so many people tell
me in my life, in my walk, just have faith. Just believe. Well, there's a reason Jesus
said, Believest thou this? It's examining. The child of
God is always examining. is being examined. The Holy Ghost
is always convincing us of sin. The sin that lies in our door.
The unbelief, the not trusting, the complaining, the murmuring. Whosoever lives and believes
in me shall never die. She said, yes Lord, I believe
that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come
into the world. And when she had so said, she
went her way, and she called Mary, her sister, secretly saying,
the master has come and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard
that, she rose quickly and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet
come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
The Jews then, which were with her in the house, comforted her.
But when they saw Mary that she rose up hastily and went out,
they followed her, saying, She goes unto the grave to weep there. Now I hope things are different.
After all, this is the one who sought the one thing needful.
This is the one who was brought to his feet when Martha was cumbered
with many things. When Mary was come where Jesus
was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, rightful place.
Everything's going well. That's where we need to be, at
his feet. And she said unto him, Lord, if thou had been here,
my brother had not died. If you'd have came when we called,
he'd still be alive. Do you see it building? Do you
see the angst in the soul of our Savior? All of these people
love Him. All of these people have seen
His work. All of these people believe that
He is the Son of God. And yet they're not believing. I tell you, dear ones, we're
dependent. Jesus came and he put that little
child right in front of me and said, unless you become like
him, that's how dependent we need
to be every day. As a child looks to his mama
and his daddy to give him everything, to protect him, to keep him from
all harm and evil, to show him the way, That's what Jesus is
teaching. We need him. We need this deadness mortified.
Well, he's the mortifier. He brought her to her feet, but
she said these words, if thou had been here, my brother had
not died. When Jesus saw, therefore saw her weeping, And the Jews
also weeping, which came with her. Oh, he groaned in his spirit. He groaned in his spirit. The
angst, the sorrow. I asked you a question already.
Do you grieve over your unbelief? He grieves over our unbelief. I want to be there. I want to
hate it so much that when I do do it and the Lord quickens to
me that I've sinned again, that I hate it so much that tears
roll down my face. I want to hate it so much that
I don't want to sin against this Lord that hung on a cross for
me, who drank the cup of iniquity for me. who died in my place
willingly, who endured the wrath of the Father for my sin, and I'm going to treat it flippantly?
Yeah, that's just my unbelief again. Oh, Lord, I believe but
help my unbelief. Lord, increase my faith. Increase
it, Lord. where it lays hold of you and
trust you. And then he said, where have
you laid him? This is the Son of God asking
the question. It's the Son of God knowing where
he's at. But he asked the question again
to those who followed her and he said, where have they laid
him? And they said, Lord, come and
see. Because apparently they don't
believe that he knows where he is. What is that? It's unbelief. I tell you, it makes the faith that the Lord
gave the centurion, it really magnifies that faith. Turn with me there, Matthew 8. Now remember, they said, come
and see. Come and see where we laid him, where they laid him. Look at Matthew 8. Let's look
at verse 5. And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him and
saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously
tormented. And Jesus said unto him, I will
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof, but
speak the word only. You're the son of God. You have
the power to speak it into existence. You don't have to be there. You
don't even have to be in the area code. Just speak it, Lord. I trust you. Speak the word only and my servant
shall be healed. He shall be healed. He didn't
say just speak the word Lord and maybe he'll be healed from
here. No, there's resolve in that faith. There's power in
that faith. And that's why Jesus says, well,
he says, for I'm a man under authority having soldiers under
me. And I say to this man, go, and he goes. And to another,
come, and he comes. And to my servant, do this, and
he doeth it. So he has an idea of what authority
is, and he's bowing to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ because
he's the Son of God. And Jesus says, when he heard
it, he marveled. And he said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, I have not found so great a faith, no, not in
Israel. And we see that this morning.
And dear ones, I am not sitting in condemnation of my brothers
who don't have faith or not the amount of faith they need to
lay hold of Christ. I'm sitting right with them in
their dependency upon the Lord. And I'm sitting there right with
them saying, Lord, increase my faith. That's the faith I need every
day. Some people think that, you know,
well, if I can just get to Sunday, that's my worship day. Or if
I can just get to Wednesday, to where I hear the gospel again.
The Lord increased my faith. The Lord's in here. He dwells
within the inner man. He's a ready help in time of
need. When do you not need Him? I would
probably pull the room and ask you, how many of you stop sinning? We don't, unless His faith is
present. Anything without faith is sin. I tell you, I can't stress that
fact enough. We need Him. We need Him. So Jesus wept. He wept. And as I said, the magnitude
of those words, I felt it building, did you? I felt my shame coming
up because I know that's me. Then said the Jews, behold how
he loved him, because they don't understand. And then look at
37, and some of them said, could not this man, which opened the
eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not
have died? More unbelief, as if it's not bad enough. I
told you, the long suffering of our Lord, oh, he's full of
mercy, full of love for his people. He suffers long. Jesus therefore again, groaning
in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave and the stone lay
upon it. Jesus said, take ye away the
stone. I wish they would have just took
away the stone. But Martha again, the sister
of him that Lord just told that he was the resurrection, said
unto him, Don't do that. He stinks. The sister of him that was dead
said unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh. He's been dead
four days. You don't wanna move that stone.
It's gonna gag all of us. It's gonna smell. Don't do it. Now think about the magnitude
of that statement. This is what our unbelief does.
It robs us of rest, but it robs the glory from the Lord. I mean,
we put ourselves in there, our own knowledge, our own intelligence. Well, I know this, he's gonna
stink. This is the Son of God. And then
Jesus said to her, didn't I say to you, that if thou wouldest
believe thou should see the glory of God? And you look at that
word verbatim and you say, no, that's not what he said to her.
But didn't he? Didn't he tell her that he was
the resurrection and the life? Didn't he tell her that he is
the glory of God? He is the glory of God to his
people, to his church. He is the glory of God. Did I
not say to you that if you would believe, if only you would believe,
do you believe thou this, that whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die? She's like, yeah, but he's in
there dead. But he's the resurrection and the life. Hebrews tells us
that all our life we're subject to the fear of death, and I believe
it. I don't like going to hospitals. I tell you, even when I get something
as simple, and I say simple, as the flu, there are times in
the depths of the sickness when I'm really bad or my fever's
really high, there's times I think I'm gonna die. Mind just goes to that. And you
know what comforts me? The resurrection and the life.
Christ. Well, Sean, if you die, you're
gonna be with me. Believest thou this? Yeah, Lord, I do. But help my
unbelief. Yeah. Yeah. Didn't I say to you that
if you would have believed, you would see the glory of God? I
am the resurrection and the life, Martha. You need not cumber yourself
once again. You need not worry about the
things of this life. Dear ones, we don't need to worry
about them either. We don't need to worry about who's gonna be
president. We don't need to worry about the economy. Jehovah Jireh always provides
and He always will provide for your soul because He is in us. He's the
hope of glory. He's the resurrection and the
life. Then they took the stone away
from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up
his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you heard me, as the
Lord always was heard by the Father. And he knew that. And
I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which
stand by, I said it. Why? That they may believe that
thou hast sent me. Dear ones, I promise you the
Lord has laid this message on my heart today that you might
believe that the Lord sent His Son to die for you. If only we believe. If only we believe. How can we believe? How can we
believe? There's one way. There's one
way, and that's the rest of this. And when he had thus spoken,
he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. The only way you
and I are gonna believe is that very way. The Lord to bring us
from our deadness into the life of himself. Come forth unto me. all ye that have elated, and
I will give you rest. Come unto me, I am the life. Lazarus, come forth. Sean, come
forth. And praise be to God, the faithful
one is faithful to call us over and over. He is faithful. As I am not,
he is. And he proves himself to his
people every day. And he that was dead came forth,
bound hand and foot with grave clothes. That's our unbelief,
dear ones. That's our sins. That's the things
that so easily beset us. And our face was bound about
with a napkin. And Jesus said unto them, loose
him and let him go. Wicked one, loose them and let
them go. World, loose them and let them
go. Old nature, old man, loose him
and let him go. And dear ones, that's the only
way we have life. And praise God, because it is
the best way. And along those lines, turn with
me to John 14, and we'll finish up this morning. Just in case you thought it got
better, and there was no more unbelief after that, well, John
14, let not your heart be troubled, Love these words. You believe
in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. There's our surety. It's an absolute
fact. He will come again and he will
receive us to himself. And that's the same way moving
from our deadness to life, and the same way as He puts down
our unbelief and He gives us life and faith in Him, He comes
to us again and again and He receives us to Himself. That where I am, where He is,
which is in total peace and in total control, there ye may be also. And whither
I go you know, and the way you know. Now why do you think he
told them they knew? Oh, because he's told them so
many times. But guess what? Thomas said unto him, Lord, we
know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?
Lord, I know you just said we know, but I don't believe you.
I need you to be a little clearer. Where are you going? Where is
the way? Jesus said unto him, once again,
in his long suffering and love, I am the way, I am the truth
and the life, and no man comes unto the Father but by me. I'm
everything. What else do we need? He's our
way, he's the truth, and he's our life. We're sustained in
him. If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth ye know him,
and have seen him." Did we learn? Philip said unto him, Lord, show
us the Father, and it sufficeth us more unbelief. Show us the Father? I and the
Father are one. And Jesus said unto him, in the
long-suffering love once again, have I been so long time with
you, and hast you not known me, Philip? Those are piercing words. You know how many times the Lord's
used that in my soul? Sean, how long have I been with
you, and do you still not know me? Do you still not know I'm
faithful? Do you still not trust me? He that's seen me has seen the
Father. And how sayest thou then, show us the Father? Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words
that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father
that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I
am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for
the very work's sake." That's what he's telling them. You've
seen me do all of these things. Believe in me because I have
power over the water. I have power over death. He's
already raised Lazarus now. He's shown the power over death
and the grave. He's shown them everything. Believe
me just for the work's sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also,
and greater works than these shall he do. because I go unto
my father. And praise God, he has gone unto
his father. And he is sitting at the right
hand as our king of kings, lord of lords, in total control of
all things. And you know what? He does all
things well. May he receive all glory and
praise and honor due his name. Let's close with hymn 37 in your
spiral, hymn book number 37. Approach, my soul, the throne
of grace in every time of need. There's mercy for the needy one
who Jesus' name Though I'm a weak and sinful
wretch, I will approach the throne. I'll lean upon Christ's mighty
arm and plead His blood alone. The blood, the precious blood
of Christ has opened up the way by which I can draw near to God
and to my Father. Though Satan tempts my heart
to sin, I'll call upon my God. And when I fall, He'll lift me
up and cleanse me in the blood. The way is open, God will hear
my groans and cries of grief. Nothing can keep me from His
throne but my own. O Lord, my unbelief remove, and
turn my heart by grace. Compel me to approach your throne,
and there spread out my case.