I'll turn with me back to John
chapter 11. Many of our brethren overseas, Gabe and Kevin and
Greg and others have wanted to express their love to us and
their prayers for us and we're thankful. We're thankful for
a family around the world. I wanted to say as we prepare
to come to the Lord's table soon to contemplate what it is for
the Lord Jesus Christ to say, take the stone away, and then
to speak to Lazarus, come forth and take the stone away. There is a human responsibility
and a human activity the Lord gives his people to do. You take
the stone away. Whatever stands between the Saviour
and him calling his own to himself, Whatever stands between the child
of God and he who is the city of refuge, may it be taken away. And then they also had to make
sure that there was provision in the city of refuge. There
was to be a place, there was to be a house, there was to be
a room provided for that person, a nourishment provided for that
person. And of course that's a glorious picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ and he's the place of refuge, he's the city of refuge,
he's the city of refuge from the storms of this world. And
the person was safe in there. until the death of the high priest.
We have a high priest who died and lives forevermore, so the
people of God are always perfectly safe in the refuge. And you can
run to the refuge and the avenger of blood can't touch you. And
so it's a glorious picture of our Saviour. But you take all
the impediments, the people of the city have to take all of
the impediments out of the road. The road was to be made like
a highway to the city of refuge. And that's what I pray the Lord
would falls in us as the stone is taken away. We want to take
away everything that steps between a sinner in need of a saviour. We want to take away that stone
of our self-righteousness. We want to take away the notion
somehow that you have to get yourself good enough to be with
God by your works-based legalism, by freewillism, by sacramentalism. We want to take away the stone
of people thinking that you have to know a certain thing. Salvation
is knowing a person. And if you know the Lord Jesus
Christ, you'll know all about him and you'll know him in the
glory of his salvation. There is a stone of ignorance,
isn't it? There's an ignorance of salvation
by grace, there's an ignorance of who the Lord Jesus Christ
is. And that's why I love that he says, you whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Honour whosoever. I'm a calling one. I've called
and called and called, and I love the fact that we can call on
behalf of other people, but they will be made to call. Whosoever's
just called on the name of the Lord, they cry out to Him who
is able to save. We have a glorious Gospel and
in that Gospel we are declaring you take away all the stones.
Everything that is dead that impedes a sinner from being in
the presence of God, we take it away. That's what we're called
upon to do, isn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ called
his people into this world to suffer with him and to go through
trials with him. And he says the trial of their
faith, which is of greater value, more greater worth. I do love
what Peter says, greater worth than gold, he says. that the trial of your
faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though
it be tried by the fire, might be found unto praise and honour
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom, having not
seen, you love. in whom, though now you see him
not yet believing you, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation
of your souls. Faith in Christ is a heart matter. He touches our heart. He circumcises
our heart. God's children have wounded and
soft hearts. I find the notion of legalistic,
hard Christianity so abhorrent. It's a stone of stumbling, isn't
it, that you have to perform in a certain way. Faith in Christ
is a heart matter. It's about heart obedience. It's
about heart worship. It's about heart love. And it's
not without feeling or emotions, but it is. It is just the most
reasonable and glorious truth in all of the world. It's infinite
beyond our understanding, and it's deep and it's glorious. But it impacts the children of
God in such a way that we have a heart that reaches out to everyone
around us. And we have a glorious gospel
that saves to the uttermost. And we have, as I said at the
beginning, we have a gospel that reaches and a gospel that is
going and I trust and I just, I cannot help but believe that
the Lord has taken us through all of this pain that
we share with those we love so much. that there will be glory,
brothers and sisters. There always has been throughout
the life of our fellowship when there have been deep trials and
deep pain, the Lord in the darkness and in the depths of our anguish. And in the depths of us being
brought like Mary just to be at the feet of the Lord Jesus
Christ and say, you're absolutely sovereign. You are God. and we are your children and
you weep with us and you love us infinitely and you love us
in your son in a way which should cause us not just to weep with those who
weep, but we long for the glory of God in the midst of this,
that we might just find ourselves at rest in who he is and what
he's done, and the glory of the promises that he's made to those
of us who weep. There is no death for the child
of God. Their death was died 2,000 years
ago. Their life before God was lived
2,000 years ago. And we take away the stone, the
wall that puts people between The Lord Jesus Christ and his
people, we just want to proclaim him. We want to live lives in
this world that reveal his faithfulness to us. And I'm thankful for the
faithfulness of those around me that have been in extraordinary
trials and in the midst of them have just said, our God is faithful. I just trust him. I'm so thankful
to God for you. I'm so thankful for the faithfulness
that he brings to his people. I'm so thankful that in the midst
of this we can still reach out to those that we love and are
lost and we have the glorious hope. We have a glorious hope
in what We, those loved ones of ours, have gone and we've
got a glorious hope for what God will do in the midst of his
people through the declaration of the gospel that necessarily
comes about. Because people are caused to
think about things that are serious and eternal, and that's a good
thing in this land. It's better, according to the
wise man, it's better for us to be in the house of mourning
than the house of rejoicing. That we might think, we might
be caused to think about eternal things. So we remove the stones
and we just want to be there. We want to be there in the lives
of people around us such that they know that they are loved,
such that they know that they are accepted back into our fellowship,
that they know that we care for them in the Lord Jesus Christ.
May the stones, may the stones be taken away and the glorious
gospel says, remove the grave clothes. When God's people are
raised to newness of life here in that first resurrection in
the new birth, we still have the grave clothes on us, don't
we? And we're continually in the preaching of the Gospel saying,
take the grave clothes off. Take that which obscures the
sight. Take that away. Take that away. There is in our Gospel and in
our We are now free to bow in worship. That's what it is to worship
him. It's to bow before him for who he is. The glorious liberty. There is a glorious freedom to
worship. There's a glorious freedom to
serve. There is a glorious freedom to
witness. There is a glorious freedom to
rejoice in the fellowship. A fellowship that is often expressed
without words, because words seem so hopeless so much of the
time, don't they? We pray for words to say, and
then when we realise, we realise so often that our words are weak.
And then we have June to remind us that when we're weak, then
we're strong. But we can, by the grace of God, with the freedom
of the Lord Jesus Christ, to fellowship and to love the truth,
to love Him who is the truth. to take the stone away, to remove
the grave clothes. That's what gospel preaching
is about, isn't it? God says, you comfort my people, you comfort
my people, comfort you, comfort you my people. Tell them, tell
them that their sins are gone. You tell them that their sins
are taken away in the glorious work and finished. Sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You comfort my people, saith
your God. Speak comfortably to Jerusalem. You speak comfortably to the
church. And cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received to the
Lord's hands double for all of her sins, as if all of your sins
are written in a book. And the double is to close them
over and cover them in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
loose him and let him go. The gospel is good news about
a saviour. It's good news about what's done.
Good news not about what we have to do, but good news about what
the good Lord Jesus Christ has done. There was another stone,
and no doubt John wants us to think about that other stone.
There was another stone across another tomb. In John chapter 11, it's the
messengers, isn't it? It's the witnesses that remove
the stone to allow access of the dead to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the work of the messengers
of God to remove the stone and to say, take the grave clothes
away. The word angel just means messenger. Who rolled the stone
away from the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ? The angels rolled
the stone away. The angels rolled the stone away. And Mary was there. and the very
first words of a resurrected God, a resurrected Lord, having
put away all of the sins of all of his people, and risen again
in glorious resurrection, which is a picture of the resurrection
of all his people. The first thing he says, woman,
speaking of Mary, but speaking of his church, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? And she, like us, needs to have
the grave clothes removed so she could see. And she supposed
him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne
him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take
him away. Mary had one interest, didn't
she? The child of God, and the church
of God has one interest. Where is he? I want to have him,
I want to have him, to hold him again. Jesus saith unto her,
Mary. He always speaks to his own,
doesn't he? He speaks to his own by name,
Mary. She turned herself and said unto
him, Rabboni, which is to say master, and Jesus saith unto
her, touch me not, for I'm not yet ascended to my father and
to your father. You want to hold on to me as
the resurrected Lord. In that great day, you will see
that I'm actually in you. I am far closer to you than you
were when you were holding me and touching me and when you
were dining with me and you were resting and you were anointing
my feet with your hair. I'm much closer to you now, brothers
and sisters in Christ. It's Christ in us, the hope of
glory. But go to my brethren, she said,
go to those who are born of the same womb. That's what brethren
means. You go to my family, you go to
my church, and you say unto them, I ascend unto my father and to
your father and to my God and to your God. His Father is our Father. The cry of the Lord Jesus Christ
is Abba Father. Dearest Father, it's hard to
translate Abba properly, but it's a term of deep endearment
and closeness and fellowship. I ascend unto my Father and to
your Father and to my God and to your God. of the gospel is the glory of
the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just three days
prior to this, the Lord Jesus Christ had expressed that love,
and we read about that love being his loved Lazarus constantly. That constant love took him to
the cross of Calvary, took him to a place where in his own body
he bore the sins of all his people, and he suffered the infinite
wrath of God Almighty. And in the midst of suffering
that, he had to suffer the abuse of men. who mocked his faithfulness
to his father, having scourged him and plucked out his beard
and spat upon him. Love, love took the Lord Jesus
Christ to the cross. Love caused him to come into
this world that he might come to his bride and say to her,
Mary. He might come to his own and
call them by name. He might have washed them so
clean in his own blood that they are now perfectly in the presence of God and they
are now not just without sin but they are robed in the very
righteousness of God Almighty. They are as holy as God Almighty. We are made holy. We are made
to be one with Him. We will never be more loved in
heaven than will never be more accepted in
heaven than we are now. And what rejoicing lies beyond
the grief for the children of God in this world. They're singing
in heaven. I just love to think of what
they're singing. I'm not very good at singing
and I don't, but I just rejoice. These songs must be amazing songs,
aren't they? You think of what's going on
in heaven right now. Listen to the song of heaven.
Listen to this song of the Lamb. Listen to this song around that
throne where they see both the Lamb of God and they see the
King, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And look at, Behold, the
Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed,
and he has prevailed to open a book and loose the seven seals
thereof. He is absolutely sovereign over all things. And I beheld,
and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, 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. Sent forth, brothers and sisters,
to gatherings like this one. And he came and 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
twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of
them harps and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers
of the saints." How amazing it is that our prayers
are sweet odours in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ who
ever lives to intercede for us. How precious prayers are. How precious our Saviour is who
brings them to the Father. And they sung a new song. It's new every morning. That's
what's new about it. It's always new. It's always
fresh. Thou art worthy to take the book
and open the seals thereof for thou was slain. and has redeemed
us to God. That's what redemption is about,
isn't it? That's what the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is about.
To buy us back to God and pay the price that God demanded,
the very life and holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed
on a cross. Him bearing the infinite wrath
of God for all of our sins until God the Father says it's done.
There are no more. The sins of God's people do not
exist. They were put on the Lord Jesus
Christ and he bore them and he bore them away. Sin cannot be
in two places at once. This is salvation and redemption.
This is what they're singing. Thou 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. unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood. He loved us and you go through
your Bible sometime and find the number of times he loved
us and he doesn't just love and allow just to sit there he loves
us and washed us from Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we thank you that we come to the
throne of grace. We thank you that it's a throne,
and we thank you that it's a gracious throne, Heavenly Father, because
we are so much in need of your grace. And we praise you, Heavenly
Father, that on the throne of grace sits our blessed Redeemer. And not only sits our blessed
Redeemer, but he has promised that we're all seated together
with him. So united are all of the children of God to the Lord
Jesus Christ, that we are one with him in all things. And we
praise you, our Father, that his death under your wrath bore our sins
away. The sins that separate us from
our God are gone. And now you come as you did to
Mary, and say Mary, you come and you call us by name. You
come to remind us of the glorious victory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You come again to remind us that He cried out, it is finished,
it is paid in full. All of the debt we owe God is
paid in full. Oh, our Heavenly Father, we pray. We pray that you would cause
the witness of your dear and precious son to be precious in
our hearts, Heavenly Father, to know the assurance of his
finished work. And we thank you, Heavenly Father,
for the fellowship that you bring to your people in this world.
Father, we do pray for Rob and his family, for Kay and others
this week, that there might be a glorious testimony and a witness
to the Lord Jesus Christ, that he would be revealed yet again
to the hearts of all of his people, Heavenly Father, as being faithful. We thank you for sending Rob.
into this world heavenly father we thank you for the many things
that he brought into the lives of us here and we praise you
heavenly father for your sovereign hand of love and mercy in the
lives of all of your people Bless your word to our hearts, Heavenly
Father, give us and grant us a peace that goes beyond our
understanding, a peace to rest in who the Lord Jesus Christ
is and what he's done, a peace knowing that he who is the sovereign
comes and weeps with us and loves us, loves us to the end. Our Father, may we find ourselves
like John, yet again, leaning on the breast of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and know ourselves to be carried in his arms. close
to his heart through all the trials and troubles of this world
until we get to meet him in glory forever and ever and ever. We
thank you, Heavenly Father, that your children in this world cannot
die. Their death was died 2,000 years
ago. Your children in this world cannot perish, Heavenly Father.
They cannot be lost. They must be saved because of
the power and the efficacy of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Make him and his blood precious to us, Heavenly Father. May we
take these elements and be reminded yet again of his death, Heavenly
Father. And may we find that the life
they give to us, dear life, lived, resting and trusting and relying
on your dear and precious son. We pray in his name and for his
glory, our father. Amen.