All right, if you'll turn back
there to John 11. Now let's look at this together. John 11.
I want to read just these last few verses. John 11, 43. And when he thus had spoken,
the Lord Jesus Christ, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth. And he that was dead came forth,
bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound
about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him, and let him go." We experience a great deal of
sorrow in this world. That's what this world is, the
cause of sin. We experience sorrow over our
loved ones who become sick, We experience sorrow over our loved
ones who were dead, both physically and spiritually. And we generally
experience sorrow, genuinely. But the Lord is gracious. He's
gracious to those whom He loves. And He comforts those whom He
loves. And I pray this morning, I pray that He will speak and
cause somebody to have life. And I pray also that for those
He's given life, He'll comfort you. He'll comfort you. Let's
begin here in John 11 verse 1. What's going on here? Well, there
was a certain man 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. This was a woman who the Lord
loved and who loved the Lord by his grace. Therefore his sister
sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is
sick. Don't we long to see those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and are sick to be comforted. Don't we long to see those who
are spiritually dead to be brought to life? And we ask God, we ask
Him, And notice here, what did they say here about the Lord
or to the Lord concerning this one Lazarus. This was a certain
man. This was a child of God. This
was one who believed on the Lord by his grace and was a chosen
child whom he loved. And they said, this was their
petition to him. They said, Lord behold, he whom
thou lovest is sick. That's all they said. He whom
thou lovest is sick. They wanted him to come. There's
no doubt about that. They wanted him to do something.
But this is what they said. Lord, him whom thou lovest is
sick. Well, but the Lord didn't go
to him immediately. He didn't get up and run to him
right away. Why not? He did it for two reasons. Two reasons. Look at verse 4.
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. Now Lazarus is going to die. He's going to die. But He's saying
why he's dying. This is for the glory of God,
that the Son of God may be glorified thereby. Now look at verse 5. That's the first reason. God's
going to be glorified. His Son is going to be glorified.
Here's the second reason He waited. Verse 5. Now Jesus loved Martha
and her sister and Lazarus. He loved Martha and her sister,
Mary and Lazarus. God said to His people, I've
loved you with an everlasting love. Everlasting love. Now watch this. when he had heard,
therefore, that Lazarus was sick. Therefore, because he loved Martha
and he loved Mary and he loved Lazarus, because he loved them. Therefore, he abode two days still in the
same place where he was. Is that what we consider love
when we think of it? Somebody's hurting, and they're
sorrowing, and they're in pain. We don't generally associate
it as love, not to just jump over ourselves to try to get
to them and help them right away. But He did this for love, because
He loved them. And He did this so that God's
glorified, the Son of God will be glorified. Remember this,
in sorrow, in a face of opposition, in a face of sorrow, in a face
of Oh, things that just break our hearts. Remember this, God's
working everything to glorify His own name. Even the wrath
of God will praise man. And the remainder of wrath, He'll
restrain it. But if it's vented, if it comes
out, He's doing it to praise His name. And even death and
sickness and even opposition, these things are done to glorify
His name. And He's going to bring glory
to His name. And He's going to make it so that His people understand
that He's God and He's our Savior. Now, some of us sitting here
will say, well, I know that. I already know that. Why are
you telling us that again? I'm telling this again to us
because in verse 44, when Lazarus came forth from that tomb, that
one who'd been dead, when he came forth by the voice of the
Lord, he was bound head and foot with grave clothes. He had a
napkin bound on his face, grave clothes. And you and I, whom
God has called by His grace, have a lot of grave clothes still.
We have a lot of grave clothes. As long as we're in this flesh,
we're going to have grave clothes. We're carrying around a body
at death. And as long as we're carrying
around this body at death, we got grave clothes on us. Grave
clothes that only the Word, the voice of Christ, can remove. Grave clothes that only Christ
Himself can remove. Grave clothes that He'll only
remove in His time. Why? That he might get all the
glory because he loves those that the Father gave to him.
That's why he does it. That's why he waits. The title
of the message this morning is Believe on Christ. I've titled
it that because each one of the headings is going to begin with
Believe on Christ. The first thing we're going to
look at is Believe on Christ in the face of all opposition. The second thing is believe on
Christ and behold God. And when we behold Him, we behold
Him, believe in Him that God's on our side. And then the third
thing we'll see is believe on Christ in the midst of weeping.
In the midst of all your sorrow, believe on Him. Believe on Him. And fourthly, believe on Christ,
trust in Him to do what only He can do. Alright, first thing
here is believe on Christ in the face of all opposition. Let's
look at verse 7 through 10. After that, He said to His disciples,
let us go unto Judea again. His disciples said unto Him,
Master, the Jews of late sought to stone Thee, Goest thou thither
again? We just left from there not too
long ago, and they were picking up stones ready to put you to
death. Are we going back there? Jesus
answered. Now listen to this answer. Listen
to this answer. Are there not twelve hours in
the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because
he seeth the light of this world. That's a simple, simple illustration. Any man walks in the day, that
big old sun's shining right there on us and we got all the light
we can see and we don't stumble, we can step right over everything
because we're walking in the light. We see by the light. But if a man walk in the night,
in dark, he stumbles because there's no light in him. Our
Lord is declaring here what He declared back in John 9. Let
me read this to you. You can look back at John 9.4. John 9, verse 4, He said, I must
work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day. The night
cometh when no man can work. Now what does He mean by that,
while it's day? He means this, as long as I'm in the world,
I'm the light of the world. Does that mean He's not because
He's not in the world now? No, He's just saying, I'm the
only one that can work the works of God. And He's saying, I'm
the light of the world. This is the light Christ the
light. This is the one in whom we live
and move and have our being. This is the light and this is
the one who gives light to those who are spiritually in darkness.
Now he's telling us here what he did as he walked this earth
as the mediator, as the righteous servant of God. He's going back
into the face of opposition. He's going back into the face
of those who just got finished picking up stones to stone Him
because He declared He's the Son of God. Come to work out
a righteousness for His people. That He's laying down His life
for His sheep. And He just declared to them
plainly, and you don't believe because you're not My sheep.
That's the reason why you don't believe. You're not My sheep.
And they picked up stones to kill Him. And He's going back
to that place. He walked this earth faithfully
trusting the light of God the Father. He walked this earth
as the righteous, faithful one, the faith of Christ, the fidelity
of Christ. He walked in the light, trusting
the Father who had set the hour. And He trusted the Father that
His hour was not yet come. And so He's telling us, He's
telling us, you and me here, walk in Him. Walk in His light. Believe on Him. And we won't
stumble. Look to Him in the face of all
opposition. And we won't walk in darkness.
We won't stumble. We'll have light. We'll have
light. Look at what they did when they were looking at the
enemy. This is what happened when they
looked at the enemy. And it says here, verse 8, They
said unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought the stone thee.
We can't go back there. They're looking at those who
had the stones in their hand. They're looking at those stones
in their hands. They're looking at the enemy. And what did it cause them to
do? Verse 12. Then said his disciple, verse
11, he said, our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may
wake him out of sleep. And they said, if he sleeps,
he'll do well. They misunderstood the Lord. This is what happens
when we look at the enemy. We stumble. we stumble. We think the enemy is stronger,
and we stumble at the word. We stumble at the truth of what
he said. We face a lot of enemies. We
face our own sin. We face our own self-righteousness.
We face this flesh, what we are. We face a lot of enemies in this
world. We face a lot of trials and a lot of circumstances, a
lot of things that God brings to pass on purpose. But the greatest
enemy the believer faces is unbelief. That's the greatest enemy we
face. And you know what I'm so thankful of? When we see unbelief
in this scripture, even though we see unbelief in it, Christ
saves in spite of the unbelief. It's not the strength of our
faith that saves. It's the strength of Him who
is the object of our faith that saves us. Oh, this is what the
Hebrew writer said after he gave that long list of witnesses who
believed the Lord and walked through this life of sorrow looking
to Him and are now with Him in glory. After that, he said, wherefore
seeing we're accomplished about with this great cloud of witnesses,
he said, let us lay aside the sin and the weight and the sin
that does so easily beset us. What is that sin that just takes
us right out of the path? It's when we look away from Christ
and see that enemy and we start doubting what our Savior is able
to accomplish. He said, run this race set before
you with patience, looking to Jesus, the author and the finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, ran
this race looking straight ahead, walking in the light Himself. And He said, for, consider Him,
consider Him, who endures this great contradiction of sinners
against Himself, lest you become weak and troubled and weary and
stumble in your minds. This is the great hope, brethren.
He overcomes our unbelief. I want to show you something
before we move on. Luke 12, 49. Turn back there with me. I think
this will be a comfort to you. Luke 12, 49. We're talking about our Lord walking
in the midst of His own house. Those who were the house of Israel
and amongst some that were in the earth that were natural descendants
of Mary and Joseph, they rejected Him. They despised Him. They weren't all His sheep, that's
why, but they despised Him. But look at what our Lord says,
Luke 12, 49, I've come to send fire on the earth. We looked at this in 1 Peter.
It's going to be a fire. Reproach for his name is that
fiery trial, so fiery. And he said, and what will I
if it be already kindled? And it was. That's what they're
saying. Lord, the Jews are already, they're on fire to kill you already.
They got rocks in the hand. He said, but I have a baptism
to be baptized with. And how am I straight until it
be accomplished? He had a baptism of wrath before
the Father to be immersed in, a baptism of rejection, a baptism
of opposition, a baptism of being completely deserted of everybody,
even those He loved dearest, His own sons and daughters. Suppose ye, He said, that I've
come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division. For from henceforth, and he's
talking mainly here, first of all, preeminently about himself,
about what he suffered, what he was gonna, why he was gonna
be baptized with that fiery trial that he was facing. And he's
speaking about what we're gonna face, too. For from henceforth,
there shall be five in one house, divided three against two and
two against three. It's gotta be a wholesome, life-giving,
soul-comforting, soul strengthening word to divide sons and daughters
in our own house and mothers and fathers, doesn't it? But
it is. It is. And it's that same word
that keeps us. That word is Christ. That's he's
the eternal word, the eternal word. All right, let's go back
now. Back to John 11. This is what
faith does. This is what we do in the midst
of opposition. I'm not sure how Thomas said this. Thomas doubted
some later, but this is still what faith says. Verse 16. Then said Thomas, which is called
Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die
with him. That's what that's what we do.
We just say we take up the cross and say, I believe you, Lord. And we'll just die with you.
We'll die with you. And we need to everything that
causes us to want to side with the opposition needs to die.
Needs to die today. It's grave close. And everything
that needs to trust him is what needs to be strengthened. Let's
just die with him. We'll just die with him. I remember
I put in the bulletin today, Brother Jack Shanks, he used
to say this, before I was converted and now that I have been converted,
called by God's grace, he said my verse of scripture, same verse
of scripture, my favorite verse of scripture, he said it was
then and it is now. And he said, but before I said
it like this, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me. And he said, now I say, I can do all things through Christ
that strengthens me. That's the difference. That's
the difference. Alright, secondly, believe on
Christ and behold God. John 11, 17. When he starts to
go, Martha comes out to him. Let's start in verse 21. Then said Martha unto Jesus,
Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But
I know that even now whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will
give it to you. Whatever you ask of God, God
will give it to you. Jesus said unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. And Jesus says, let's just stop
just a minute. Let's just stop just a minute.
Oh, aren't you glad He stops? Aren't you glad in the midst
of all our knowing that He stops and teaches us so we really know?
He stopped and He said, Martha, I am God. That's exactly what
He said to her. I am God. Look at verse 25. Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection. And I am the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, though he dies, he'll live. And whoso
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Listen to her answer. She said
unto him, Yes, Lord. I believe that thou art the Christ,
the Son of God. God the Son, come in human flesh,
which should come into the world. And this is what he was selling
to her. He'll go over in verse 40. He said, said not I unto
thee that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory
of God. And I don't think you do any
harm to that to change, to invert that. You'll see the God of glory. Believe and you'll see the God
of glory. Let me show you this now. Let's go back and look a
few verses. This is what the book of John is declaring. The
Gospel of John is declaring that the eternal Word who is God has
come. He's God now. He's come. Look
at John 1.14. We can see all of these scriptures
right here in John, but I want you to see them. We need to see
this. John 1.14. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. What does that mean?
John 5, 25. The glory as of the Father. What does that mean? John 5,
25. He said I'm the resurrection and I'm the life. Look at John
5.25, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and
now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that hear shall live.
This is the second person in the Trinity, the Son of God.
And they hear His voice, they shall live. For as the Father,
God the Father, hath life in Himself, so He hath given to
the Son to have life in Himself. Now, the Son already had this
authority, didn't He? Well, listen to what He said.
And hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because
He is the Son of Man. He's God and man. He's the Son
of God and the Son of man. He's God-man, the glory-man,
the man who is God in human flesh. And He says this, Marvel not
at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the
graves shall hear His voice. and shall come forth, they that
have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done
evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." They're going to
do this when they hear, they're going to come forth in resurrection
when they hear His voice. This one, this Jesus, who is
God in human flesh. Look at John 6, 44. He said, I am the resurrection.
No man can come to me, he says, except the Father which has sent
me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. I will. I will. Look at John 54. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. I will. Look at John 11, verse
40. Again. Oh, I'm sorry. John 14,
verse 5. Thomas said to him, Lord, we
know not whither you go, how can we know the way? You see, we don't delight in the doctrine. No matter how true it is, we
might delight to argue with somebody about it. We might delight in
thinking we're superior to them because we know something that
somebody else don't know or something like that. But there will be
no lasting delight whereby we'll sit and hear the gospel preached
consistently unless the doctrine is a person of a person of Christ
the Lord. He's our joy. And he said, we
don't know the way. How are we going to know where
you're going? We don't know the road you're going to take. We
don't know how to go there. And he said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh unto the father
but by me. And he said, if you had known
me, you should have known my father also. And from henceforth
you know him and have seen him. Do you hear that now? He said, you've seen my father.
Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and I'll be satisfied. You just showed me the Father. Jesus said unto him, How I've
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
He that hath seen me hath 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." See, this man, Christ Jesus, He is
God. It pleases the Father that in
Him all fullness should dwell. The fullness of the Godhead and
the body. God is all, and Christ is all. Because Christ is God,
and God is Christ. Get that? I don't know how I
can say it. He's God. He's God. When we get
to glory, we're going to see the man, Christ Jesus. And seeing
the man, Christ Jesus, we're going to see God. We're going
to see our God. We're going to see our God. And what's so good about this?
What's the comfort of this? What's the sole comfort of this?
Because this one who came forth This man that came forth, that
Phillip was sitting there looking at. And we're going to take it
real easy on Phillip, and we're going to take it real easy on
Thomas, and we're going to take it real easy on Martha. Because
in all these grave clothes that we're in, how often do we not
behold who it is that's on our side? It's easy to stand here right
now and say it, when the trial's coming. When the trial, when
we're in the middle of the fire. But listen, this one who came
is God providing himself a lamb. It's God providing himself. He's that lamb. So that he is
just in all that He does in justifying
His people, because God has justified us. And because He's the One
who did it in the person of His Son, He is the justifier, so
that all the glory goes to Him. You remember that mercy seat
in that tabernacle? All eyes on the Day of Atonement
were just facing that one place. And they were just sitting there
waiting. Because that mercy seat over that broken law was the
place where God said, I'm going to meet with you. And I'm going
to meet with you, not without blood, because the life's in
the blood. And you are dead, and you owe
me eternal damnation. You owe me eternal condemnation,
and I'm not letting you slide. And so Christ came and his blood
paid it all. His blood paid all the debt we
owe. All the debt of every one of
the people that he represented. Why do you always qualify it
like that, Clay? I qualified like that because
I want you to know Christ's death was real and it accomplished
that which He set out to accomplish. He didn't make a stab at it.
He didn't give it an attempt. He didn't just do something and
purchase a gift and lay it up on a shelf and say, well, I just
hope somebody will come and take it. If they'll come and take
it, it's theirs. If you come and take it, it's yours. But
all hell is keeping you from coming and taking it. And if
God hadn't justified us, and if God don't break down the door
of our stony heart and come in to this dead tomb and be the
life within us, we won't know what He's done. We won't even
have a clue who He is. This is the glory in it. Without
controversy, it's a great mystery. But God was manifest in the flesh.
Oh, behold Him. Believe on Him. In the midst
of this opposition, in the midst of this trouble, in the midst
of this sorrow, in the midst of this sickness, Richard, you
don't know mine. You don't know what mine is.
I don't care what it is. I'm not saying I don't care what
you've seen it, but I'm saying it does not matter what it is.
It doesn't matter how great it is. They had lost their brother. But they had God on their side.
God on our side. He said, believe, you'll see
the glory of God. The glory of God. Here's the
third thing. I'll give you a scripture to
read at home. Let me just read it to you. We
know the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding
that we may know Him that is true and we're in Him that is
true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. This is Him. Eternal life. Life that can't ever be altered
by anything you do, anything you say. Even when you sit there
and say, start thinking about a day or
a road or something other than Him, looking at the doctrine
rather than the person of the doctrine. Even then, He overcomes
our unbelief. All right. Your life's hid with
God in Christ. Now here's the third thing. Believe
on Christ in the midst of weeping. This, oh, how amazing. Now this is, this
is how just delightful this is. How, I don't even pretend to
be able to tell you I can enter into even a, just a, just a glimpse
of the totality of this. But this is my comfort. This is where my comfort comes
from. This one who just says he's God. This very one who just
says he is God. In verse 35, Jesus wept. He wept. Go back just a few verses to
verse 28. Mary runs out there to him. A lot of the Jews went out there
with her. Look down at verse 32. Then when
Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at
his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother
had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her
weeping, when Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews
also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the Spirit,
and was troubled or he troubled himself. And he said, where have
you laid him? And they said unto him, Lord,
come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, behold how
he loved him. 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? Jesus therefore again,
groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. What does this groaning
mean? What does this, what does it
mean? Was the Lord Jesus just sad? Was He just sad like we
are when we go to a funeral and we cry? He was touched exactly
like we are in every way. But this groaning is something
infinite more. Isaiah 53 says, He took. He took and He bare our sicknesses
and our sorrows and our griefs. He took them and buried them.
What does that mean? It means that He was, this One
who was totally sinless, in proving the perfect faithfulness
that He is, this One who was totally sinless, was touched
so that He knew the exact awful, awful feeling of our infirmities
which is due to our sin. is due to our sin. And not only
this, but He took it. He took the sin that causes it. The Scripture says in heaven,
we're in glory with God, there won't be any tears. There will
not be any tears. Tears are the result of sin.
And He groaned in Himself. He took our sin. He took it. He took it all. This man, Christ
Jesus, this very one who is God, and this one knows He knows better
than we know the feeling of our infirmities. And he comes to
where we are. Denise, he comes to where you
are, and he says, there's nothing you've suffered that I haven't
suffered. I'm your comfort. Look to me. Look to me. And he comforts. And he says
to you, Scott, he says, I'm your comfort. Look to me. And that's where our comfort
is. It's not just a feeling, though it is a delightful feeling.
It is a feeling that rejoices our hearts, even in the midst
of our natural sorrow. But this comfort is this man,
Christ Jesus, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Now,
when we behold Him in the face of this opposition, Oh, this
one who knows our pain and our suffering, he comes and he sends
forth his spirit who makes groanings that can't even be uttered for
us. You ever prayed to God when you
just couldn't simply put it into words? You ever prayed like that? Best you could do, just get a
jumbled word or thought in your head and you just couldn't put
it in a word. We don't even know how to pray
as we ought to when we stand and pray or when we do say something
that comes out of our mouth or in our heart. All but the Spirit
of our God makes intercession for us with groanings that can't
even be uttered. It can't even be uttered. Too
great for us. Too great for us. All believe
on Him. So here now, when we believe
on Christ in the face of opposition, we walk in the light. He gives
us His light. When we believe on Christ, we
see the God of glory. We see the One who's protecting
us is God Almighty, our Savior. When we believe on Him, we see
that He knows every feeling we know, and He comforts our hearts
in the midst of our weeping. And here's the final word. And
when He brings us there, when He brings us to that place, we
do this. Believe on Him and trust Him
to do what only He can do. Verse 39, He said, take away
the stone. Take it away. He's going to use
some instrumentality. It's, please God, through the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. I pray this
morning through this empty vessel whose nobody, Who took away the
stone? Don't ask me. He didn't call
them. He didn't say, so-and-so, so-and-so's
gonna take away the stone. I don't know who he's gonna use. And that's not important. I hope he takes away the stone.
I'm trying this morning to set forth a word to you that'll help
take away the stone. help take away the stone, but
he's the one that's got to take it away. He's the strength to
take it away. But he said to him, take away
the stone. And Martha said, he's dead. He's been dead for four
days now. The Lord said, I said unto you, if you believe me,
you'll see the glory of God. Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid. Notice how many times
here it says he was dead. He's dead four days now. He's
dead. This is what we saw this morning. This is the condition
of everybody born in this world, dead. Dead, D-E-A-D, dead. And this is where we're going,
to the grave, dead. And if we're going to be resurrected
in the first resurrection, which is being born of the Spirit of
God in this life, it's going to be by this right here, just
like what he does right here. And when we're born of that first
resurrection, and being born of that first resurrection, the
second death has no power on us. No power on us. That's what
he said, he that liveth and dieth, he won't die. He's going to live
forever. But look at what he does now,
let's see what he does. And Jesus lifted up his eyes
and he said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
Now he's going to speak that which he groaned before. And
he said, I knew that thou hearest me always, but because the people
would stand by, I said that they may believe that thou hast sent
me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice. And
he said, Lazarus, He knew His name. And He said
to him, Lazarus, it's a particular call. There's a call going out
right here this morning that everybody here is hearing. You
all came in here and you're all going through the same motions
and you're all doing the same thing. We're all going to stand
up and sing. We're all sitting here at the same place, all reading
the same scripture. But we ain't all worshiping God.
When He speaks, we'll worship. We'll worship Him. And when He
speaks, We worship Him. This is a particular call, Lazarus. And He says, Lazarus, come forth.
And His voice is life. His voice makes dead to live.
His voice commands you to do what you can't do. Oh, you with
a withered hand, you with a hand that's been crippled up like
this and turned inside and it can't do anything at all, which
is what we are spiritually, just crippled. He says, Stretch forth
your hand. And when he speaks it, the dead,
crippled sinner does whatever he commands. Because he's the
power of the commandment. He's the strength of the life.
He's the life of the life. And his voice is the voice that
causes it to come to pass. He said, Lazarus, come forth!
You're speaking to a man that's been in a tomb for four days.
He's bound. We wrapped him up with grave
clothes and put him in this grave. We know he's dead. And you're
telling him to come forth? You're telling a dead man to
do what a dead man can't do? Oh, when he tells him to do it,
he can. He don't command what he is not
the strength to do. That's right. He says to the
Unable, do what you're unable to do. Take up your bed, you
that's laid on you. You've been laying on your back
in your bed, now put your bed on your back and walk out of
here. Impossible with men it is, not with our God, not with
our Savior, not with our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what he'll
do in the end, he's gonna speak I pray he speaks now and he causes
you to have life. I pray he speaks right now. Some
name here who's dead. It may be somebody who thinks
they're alive and are dead. I don't know. I pray he speaks
life. I pray he speaks life. You know
what? I do know it will be somebody
who thinks they're alive and they're dead. It's always that
way. whether it's a religious false refuge or it's just plain
out dead in rebellion. He always speaks life and makes
those who think they're alive to see they've really been dead.
I pray He does that and I pray He does this. I pray He says
what He said right here to us who know Him and believe Him
and trust Him. Verse 44, He that was dead came forth bound hand
and foot with grave clothes. And his face was bound about
with a napkin. And Jesus said unto them, unto
them, loose him. Let him go. I pray today he'd
use this message for you who are suffering and facing all
kinds of trials and opposition. I pray that he would speak and
loose us from the grave clothes of our unbelief, and calls us
to behold this one who's God our Savior, that we might rest
and rejoice. Amen.