The title of this message, A
LOVED ONE DIES. A LOVED ONE DIES. This message
is mainly directed to believers because this is what our Lord
is dealing with, two believers, two sisters. He's dealing with
two sisters who believe on Him. And the comfort that we have
in this hour is is they believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They're with Him. That's our
comfort. Last week, the loved one was
sick. He was sick. They said, he whom
thou lovest is sick. Well, this week, the loved one
has died. He has died. But we see here
in this portion of scripture that he's not really dead, but
that he's alive. He's alive. The Lord said, he
that believes in me shall never die. The believer never dies. The body does. But the soul doesn't. You see, it's like this. I am
a soul. I have a body. The body will
die. The body, this body of corruption
will go to the grave. But my soul, which is me, will
live with the Lord forever. Now, the Lord put Martha and
Mary through this painful experience to teach them A valuable, valuable
spiritual lesson. And He's the lesson. He's the
lesson. I am the resurrection. Christ
Jesus is always the lesson. If we miss Him, we miss the lesson.
We really miss the teaching that's going on. So he puts them through
this painful experience to teach them a lesson to strengthen their
faith. You know, it may be, it may be
that Lazarus, we know he died after this again, as far as this
world's concerned. He may have died before they
died or either one of them died. And I bet they took it better
the second time. I bet they took it better. They have greater
understanding of what was going on than they did this first time. So he does this to strengthen
their faith and to glorify God. If what God puts me through,
if what God puts you through, if it glorifies God, is it worth
it? Absolutely. It's worth it. Martha and Mary and Lazarus were
put through this, not only for themselves, but for us also. I can't imagine what it must
have been like for Lazarus to walk out of that tomb knowing
he was dead. Because he had grave clothes
on him, he had a napkin on his face. He walks out of there with
his face covered. and he's bound with these grave
clothes. What must he have thought? How
much his faith was strengthened when he experienced being raised
from the dead? I don't know. That had to be
an awesome experience. But I have no doubt here that
Martha and Mary were confused. They were confused. Why would
he not come and heal our brother? He's only two miles away. He
was just two miles away, that's all it was. About two miles away. How long does it take to walk
two miles? 20 minutes? 30 if you're like me. Takes to walk
two miles? He's just two miles away. And
they sent someone to him, in 30 minutes he could be here and
this is over with, he's healed. But he stayed away. Our Lord
stayed away. Could such love allow such pain? They knew, they knew He loved
them and He loved Lazarus. They knew that. That's why when
they sent the messenger, they said, you tell him, he whom thou
lovest is sick. They knew He loved them. The
Lord made that evident to them. But now he puts them through
this painful experience of losing Lazarus. And Lazarus may have
been what I call the breadwinner. He may have been the one who
was supporting them. I don't know. But they're devastated. They're
devastated. God's love is not always demonstrated
in what he gives, but also in what he takes, isn't it? Was
God's love demonstrated to Job when he was taken, when he took
the 10 children? All that he had, all of his wealth,
his health, all of it was taken away. Was God's love being demonstrated? Absolutely. God's love is always
being demonstrated on his children. He chastens those whom he loves. He's always demonstrating His
love to us in what He gives us and what He takes away. Now the Lord in verse 17, He
goes to raise Lazarus. You see, it's time for Him to
work the works of Him that sent Him. He had a work to do. He's
going to redeem, but on His way to the cross, He's going to perform
miracles. He's going to glorify His Father.
And He's going to save some sheep along the way. From the cradle
to the cross, He has a work to do in between that. He has a
law to keep in order for you and I to have a righteousness.
We don't have one apart from Him. The Lord is our righteousness. He's our righteousness. So he
goes and he's going to go and he's going to raise Lazarus.
It's time to glorify the Father. And he's always about his father's
business, always. And he goes to Bethany, which
is, it says, nigh to Jerub, about two miles away, about two miles. You see, that made it even more,
that made it even more difficult for Martha and Mary because he's
just two miles away. If he were 50 miles away, they
would say, well, you know, just not enough time to get here.
He's two miles away. This even adds to it. This adds to their confusion.
This adds to their pain. Not just the death of their brother,
but it could have been prevented. He's just a couple miles away.
And many of the Jews, it says, came to Martha and Mary to comfort
them. You know, as believers now, speaking
to believers, we do have something to comfort one another with.
When the Lord takes one of our brothers or sisters home, we
have something to comfort them with, God's Word. Over in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4, you're very familiar with that. At the very end of
that chapter, it says, comfort one another with these words.
It's really only the Word of God that gives us comfort in
these difficult times. When we can find in God's Word
the answer, we can find comfort. But when Martha, as soon as she
heard that Jesus was coming, someone said, the Lord's coming.
And no doubt Martha was probably the oldest. So they told her. And so she goes out to meet the
Lord. You know, Mary still, she stays
in the house. I don't know that she's even
heard that the Lord is coming. Martha did. You see how the Lord
deals with his children individually? He doesn't just deal with us
as a group, though he does here as his church, but he deals with
every one of them individually. He's going to deal with Martha,
and then he's going to deal with Mary, just like the woman at
the well. He sent the disciples away to
get food, and he dealt with that woman at the well, just him and
her. See, there always comes a time when the Lord deals with
you personally, whether it's in saving you or
whether it's in a painful situation you're in. He deals with you
personally. You see, Mary sat still in the house. And when
Martha comes, she comes to him, and boy, she gives him a stinging
rebuke. You know, I've learned over the
years, don't take everything to heart people say. Because
if it is, you'll be offended about it every time you turn
around. We say stupid things, don't we? Especially in an hour
when we don't have all of our wits
about us. Or when we're very emotional and things are painful,
sometimes we lash out. You know, if we're sick and you're
not feeling well, you snap somebody's head off that you love. And Martha here, Martha then
said, Martha, unto Jesus, Lord, this is how she addressed him
properly. She did address him properly.
Lord, Now, I don't think she said it with an attitude personally,
but I think it's a rebuke. If you had been here, if you
would have came when we sent for you, my brother would not
be dead. He would not have died. You know,
the Lord could have spoken the word from where he was and healed
him. And what that centurion said,
speak the word only. You don't have to come to my
house. I'm not worthy for you to be under my roof. But if you
just speak the word only, my servant or son, whichever one
it was, will be healed. And she said, Lord, if you'd
have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. But let me ask you this, what
would that really have done with their faith in God's glory? If it would have been more advantage
advantageous to their faith and God's glory for him to just speak
the word and Lazarus be healed he would have he would have our
Lord does nothing unnecessarily everything he he did everything
our Lord did everything our Lord does is the only way it can be
done you see you and I you and I are like caught between two
opinions which way do I go which way We don't know, but God's not
that way. The way, and I've learned this,
the way that God does it is the only way it can be done. It's
the only way. And one day when we see Him in
glory, when we stand in glory, these things will appear to be
just as Paul said, light afflictions. And I'll tell you something else
we'll see. He did all things well. He did all things well. But here's a question I asked
myself when I was reading this. Where was God? Where was God
when Adam died spiritually? On the throne. Where is God in
all our troubles? On the throne. On the throne. But here, listen here, she expresses
her faith though. You see, she never lost confidence
in him. She's walking in the light she
has, what she's doing. She's walking in the light she
has. And that's a good thing. But I know, I'm confident of
this, that even now, right now, whatsoever thou would ask of
God, God will give it to you. She believed that he could raise,
That if whatever he asked of God, God would give it to him.
And she had no doubt as to who he was. She believed he was the
Messiah. She believed he was that prophet. She believed he
was the son of God that was to come into the world. She expresses
this later. I know this, after she gave this
rebuke, she said, but Lord, I know that whatever you ask of God,
he'll give it to you. And Christ said unto her, thy
brother shall rise again. And he doesn't say that again
in the resurrection. Thy brother shall rise again.
He's about to rise here in just a little bit. She doesn't know
that. Do you know what God's going
to do next? He does. That's all that matters, isn't
it? He knows what he's going to do next. I don't know. But he says here, thy brother
shall rise again. He ought to know because he's
going to raise him. But Martha shows here her knowledge of her,
her knowledge of the doctrine of the resurrection. But what
she doesn't have and what she doesn't know and what she doesn't
put together is Christ, the one standing in front of her and
the resurrection being one. Being one thing. Martha said to him, verse 24,
I know, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection
at the last day. And she took comfort in that.
And we can take comfort in that. We can. Our love, those whom
we have buried in the Lord will rise again. They're going to
rise again. They're not dead. Not dead. I have buried believers here.
They're not dead. They are as live right now, except
the difference is they're in his presence, in his heavenly
presence, in paradise. They're in paradise. And you
and I are here, but you know what? Before God, we're together. Before God Almighty, the whole
congregation, the whole church from beginning to end is before
him right now. That's real. That's real. She took comfort in this truth
that her brother would rise again, but she didn't connect it with
Christ. Not yet. And the Lord said to her, I am
the resurrection. This is one of those seven I
am's. The mighty God. I am the resurrection and the
life. I'm not just the resurrection,
I'm also the life. You know, we have to quit separating
Christ from doctrine. You'll never understand doctrine
right until you understand it in Christ. When we talk about election,
you know who the elect are, or is? God said, Behold, mine elect,
in Isaiah 42. Jesus Christ is the elect. He
was chosen of God, and we were chosen in Him. He's the elect. You know, people start talking
about election, they start talking about the people whom God chose,
but they miss Christ. He's the elect, and we were chosen
in Christ. So if you really want to understand
and truly love the doctrine of election, you've got to understand
it in Christ, the elect, the elect one. the resurrection and
life are a person that's what he's doing he's taking her from
an event and he's putting her mind on him I'm it I'm it I'm
the resurrection look in Colossians 3 4 it says this when Christ
who is our life it does not say when Christ who gave us life
though he did But we have life because we have
Him. He's the life in us. Eternal life is a person. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
source and the fountain of life. The Lord is turning her thoughts
from a future event unto the person standing in front of Him. When you leave here each week,
I hope that I have preached well enough that you leave here thinking
of Christ first before you think of any doctrine. Or if you think
of a doctrine, you think of it in reference to the Lord Jesus
Christ. THAT'S THE PROPER WAY TO THINK
OF IT. AND HE SAID HERE IN VERSE 26, AND WHOSOEVER LIVETH AND
BELIEVETH IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE. BELIEVEST THOU THIS? DO YOU BELIEVE
ME? DO YOU BELIEVE THIS? BELIEVEST THOU THIS? YOU SEE,
IF HE DIES, HE'S ALIVE, BUT IF YOU'RE LIVING, YOU'LL NEVER DIE. DEATH NEVER TOUCHES THE SOUL
OF A BELIEVER! THAT'S WHO YOU ARE! YOU'RE A
SOUL! NEVER TOUCHES YOU! YOU LITERALLY JUST GO FROM HERE
TO THERE! YOU NEVER EXPERIENCE DEATH! YOUR BODY DOES! BUT YOU DON'T! AND MARTHA SAYS IN VERSE 27,
YAY! SHE SAITH UNTO HIM, YAY LORD! I BELIEVE! And really, she says, this is
what I believe. This is what I believe. Here's
her confession of faith. I believe that thou art the Christ,
the son of God. I believe thou art the Messiah,
the son of God, who should come into the world. That's what I
believe. You know what Peter said? When the Lord said, who
do men say that I am? He said, thou art to Christ,
the son of the living God. Isn't that what the eunuch said?
I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. That's where
faith starts. Who Jesus Christ is. If we really,
truly, really, truly believe and understand who he is, we
will know that what he did is effectual. He can't fail at it.
No one could perish for whom he died. No one. And when she had so said, she
went away and called Mary, her sister, secretly saying, the
master. You see, he's already talked
to Martha, and he's revealed himself to Martha as the resurrection. I'm the resurrection. And just
telling her that doesn't give her understanding. He has to
give her understanding of what he's saying. She has to look
at him and say, I see. I see. This is more than an intellectual
comprehension. It's literally with the heart,
understanding and embracing Christ as your all in all. I see. And she says, the master has
come and calleth for thee. And as soon as she heard that.
She arose quickly and she came to, she ran out of that house.
The master has come and he's calling for you. Mary, the Lord
says, for you to come to him. And she gets up and quickly just
darts out of that house. She gets out of that house. Now, the Lord was, it says there,
the Lord was, he hadn't come into the town yet. He was still
in that place where Martha met him. And the Jews said, when
they saw Mary take off hastily, they said, she's going to the
grave to weep. Let's go with her. You see the Lord is not
only going to talk to Martha, now he's going to instruct Mary,
but now there's going to be some Jews that's going to come out
and they're going to hear what he has to say. And Mary came
to him and she said the same thing, but I want you to notice
something here. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and
saw him, what did she do? She did what she always had done
before. Well, down at his feet. You remember
when Martha was complaining, she said, Lord, have my sister get up and help
me. He said, Martha, Martha, you're
coming about with much serving, much doing. You're just so anxious
about everything. But Mary has chosen that good
part, and it's not going to be taken away from her. You know
where it says she was? At his feet. Do you know who washed his feet
with their tears and dried them with their hair? It was this
same Mary. You know how much you have to
cry to wash somebody's feet? You can't just have a teardrop
or two and wash somebody's feet. She was bawling her eyes out
because God had saved her. God had forgiven her of her sins.
Her heart was so, it was so broken, so humbled, and yet she fell
in such love with the master who had put away all her sins.
If God ever shows you your sins and me my sins, we'll love him
because he's the only one who can put them away. He's the only
one. And she fell at his feet, and
notice here what she said the same thing. Lord, if you'd have
been here, my brother would not have died. I have no doubt they
were saying this to each other. When he died, they said if the
Lord had been here, he wouldn't have died. He could have healed
him. And when Jesus therefore saw
her weeping, and the Jews weeping which came with her, he groaned
in the Spirit, and he troubled himself. He opened his heart
up to their feelings. Our Lord is not numb to our feelings.
He's not numb to them. He knew the effects of sin. He knew how devastating it was.
He knew how heartbroken they were. And he said to them, where
have you laid him? And they said, Lord, come and
see. And Jesus wept. Our Lord wept. Your scripture
says, And the Lord never tells us to do anything that He Himself
does not do. Weep with those who weep. Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Don't be afraid to weep with those who weep. Open yourself up to it. Open
yourself up to their pain. He did. Listen. Hebrews 4.15,
But we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are yet without sin. He felt their pain. But he also,
he not only felt their pain, but he saw the devastating effects
of sin, death, death. it says listen here it says in
Matthew 8 16 17 when the evening was come they brought unto him
many that were possessed with devils and he cast out the spirits
with his word and healed all that were sick that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by isaiah the prophet saying
himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses this also shows how human he
was and is, he was a real man who felt our pain. Then said
the Jew, behold how he loved him. Oh, how he must have loved
him. But the poison of asthma comes
out. It always does. It's there. It's going to come out. It's
going to come out. And some of them said, well,
could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, could
he not have caused even this man not to have died? Boy, Satan. Could you just hear Satan in
that, casting that doubt, throwing that doubt out there? Some said,
oh, how he loved him. And the others said, no, no,
no, no. If he'd have loved him, he'd have been here. If he'd
have loved him, that Lazarus wouldn't have died. If God loved
you, you wouldn't be sick. If God loved you, he wouldn't
cause you such pain. That's Satan. That's the spirit
of Satan. And verse 38 and Jesus, therefore,
again, groaning in himself, come up to the grave because he heard
this. You see, he also felt their unbelief.
He knew it. He knew it. He knew they hated
him. He came to this cave and he said,
take ye away the stone. And Martha, the sister of him
that was dead, she said, Lord, by this time he stinketh. He just told her, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believes in me shall
never die. Even if he's dead, he's not dead. He's stinking, he'd been dead
four days. You know, I thought this, I thought, when our Lord
came, man had been dead four days. 4,000 years, 2,000 years
from Adam to Moses, and 2,000 years from Moses to Christ. 1,000 years with the Lord as
one day, and one day as 1,000 years. Man had been dead four
days, and he stinketh. He's been dead six days now,
6,000 years. And you know what? He still stinketh. That's all flesh can do, stink. And when she said, he stinketh,
that means he really did. This is no, they're not playing
here. He really did. Our Lord waited till his body
was in decay and stinking. And then he's gonna raise him. He's gonna bring that body that
is decayed and rotten. And here's a good picture of
what's happened in the resurrection. He's taken that body that's decayed
and rotting and stinking, and he's coming out of that grave
with a fresh body and no odor. Restored to complete health.
I thought of this, too. This is just an off thought,
if you wanna call it that. But I thought, you know, Lazarus
was sick. This is God's child. He's sick
with whatever this fever was, whatever this sickness, it was
bad enough to take him, take his life out of this world to
kill him, to die. His death was the end of that
sickness. That struck me. That just struck
me when I was in there studying that. I thought he did heal him.
His death and his death was the end of that sickness. When he
came out of that grave, it did not come out with him. When the
believer dies, all sickness, whatever it is, whatever it is
we have, whether we have a heart problem, whether we have cancer,
whatever it is we have, it ends at the grave. Death is the end
of it. And when we leave and go to be with the Lord, that's
over with. That's over with. He was healed. He was. But she said he'd been in that
grave for four days and he stinketh. And he told them, now listen,
he told them to take away the stone. He didn't tell Lazarus
to move that stone. Lazarus moved the stone and all. I'll give
you life. He didn't tell him that. Jesus
said to her, Martha, said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst
believe, you'd see the glory of God. You see how much unbelief keeps
us from. When we read the Bible, if we
could just read the Bible, trusting the Lord, how much more of the
glory of God we'd see in his word, if we just believe. How much we'd see evident in
our daily lives, if we just believe, we'd see the glory of God. And they took away the stone.
I'm going to wind this down. They took away the stone from
the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his
eyes and said, Father, I thank you. I thank you that you heard
me. You always hear me. I know that. But because of the
people that stand by, this is why I said it, that they might
believe, oh, what, what mercy? He said, I said this for their
sakes, because I know you always hear me. I know it. And when
he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth. He calls him forth with power.
He has an effectual call, a particular call, a sovereign call, a certain
call, a powerful call. But he called Lazarus out of
that grave. And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot
with grave clothes, and his face was bound with a napkin. So much
for taking the first step. So much for you take the first
step and God will do the rest. It says he's bound hand and foot. How are you going to go? How
are you going to go to the Lord? How are you going to do that? There's
only one way. By his power, he's going to call
you forth and you're going to go to him. And the Lord said to him, loose
him and let him go. But let him go. Take those grave
clothes off, he says. Take those grave, you know that
happens every time I stand here and preach. Grave clothes are
removed. Sometimes it takes a lifetime
to get them off. Takes a lifetime to remove these grave clothes. But he says here, remove him,
loose him. Let him go. Death has no more
power. Where's your sting? Grave, where's
your victory? The Lord said, loose him. Let him go. And he was alive. They unwound
him, took all that stuff off of him, and Lazarus stood there,
a healthy man, alive, alive and well. And this is what our Lord
does when he saves every sinner. He calls them from the dead by
name, and they come forth to him. And he says, loose and let
him go. He's mine. He's mine. Death has
no more power over him.