Okay. Exodus 33. Can everyone hear me? Okay. I'm conscious of my voice. I know it's softer than many.
Exodus 33, verse 18. We find here Moses, the prophet
of God, speaking to the Lord. And after all that Moses has
seen, all that Moses has heard from the Lord, there's one thing
that he yet desires. In verse 18, and he, Moses said,
I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Moses makes this request and
it is echoed by the redeemed throughout all time. Do we not
also say, Lord, show me thy glory? In verse 19, and he, the Lord,
said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will
proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will
show mercy. Before I continue, let's go to
the Lord in prayer. Moses here in these two verses,
he heard from God of that which shows forth his glory, God's
goodness, the name of the Lord proclaimed, and his sovereignty
in showing graciousness and mercy. Would we see God's glory? Exodus
33 is just a jumping off point for me. Let's turn over to John
chapter 11. John chapter 11. Mary and Martha
and the disciples of our Lord here in John 11 were told that they will see
God's glory. Moses has heard of it. Martha
is going to see it. In John 11, our Lord has come to
Bethany where Lazarus has laid dead in the grave for four days.
Let's begin reading in verse 20. John 11, verse 20. 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. But
I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will
give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Believest
thou this? Do I believe this? Verse 27,
She saith unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ,
the Son of God, which should come into the world. And when
she had so said, she went her way and called Mary, her sister,
secretly, saying, The Master is come and calleth for thee.
As soon as she had heard that, she arose 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 and comforted her,
when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out,
followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
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, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned
in the spirit and was troubled, and said, Where have you laid
him? 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. It was a cave, and
a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the
stone. Martha, the sister of him that
was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for
he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, said I
not unto thee, that if thou shouldest believe, thou shouldest see the
glory of God? Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up
His eyes and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me.
And I knew that Thou hearest me always, but because of the
people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that
Thou hast sent me. And when He had spoken, He cried
with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came
forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was
bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came
to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on
him. but some of them went their ways
to the Pharisees and told them what things Jesus had done. For our message today, we'll
focus on verses 40 through 45. Our Lord plainly tells Martha
in verse 40 that she is about to see the glory of God. When
she sees it, The goodness of God will be revealed. The name
of the Lord will be proclaimed. God's sovereignty in graciousness
and mercy will be revealed. The glory of God is a vast topic. But Martha, the disciples with
our Lord, some of the Jews gathered with them, saw the glory of God
in this passage. May the Lord give us eyes to
see it as well. Let's consider for just a moment
what the disciples witnessed as they followed Christ to Lazarus'
grave. Earlier in the chapter, the Lord
told them that Lazarus sleeps. And they said, that's good. If
he rests, it does him well. But the Lord plainly told them,
Lazarus is dead, and we're going to him. They knew, these disciples knew,
before Christ told them that Lazarus was dead, they knew that
Lazarus was loved of Christ. Lazarus and Martha and Mary had
a special place in Christ's heart. He loved that family. And those
disciples knew that. Before he was dead, they knew
that he was loved. So they went with him saying,
well, if he's going to comfort them, let us go too. Actually,
they said he's going to die there and we'll die with him. Then
they watched and listened as first Martha came to our Lord
and he spoke with her. And then as Mary came, they saw him weep. Our Lord,
being touched with the feelings of our infirmities, He mourned
with Mary. Being moved by her weeping, He
groaned in spirit and was troubled." They saw those Jews. Some of
these Jews that were with them may well have been the ones that
they referred to in verse 8, that they said were going to
stone the Lord, who had tried to stone Him earlier. Those same Jews, they saw them
confess or at least acknowledge that Jesus had loved Lazarus
before he was dead. They witnessed Martha plead to
keep the true nature of Lazarus hidden. Take the stone away. Lord, my brother's been dead
for four days. He stinketh. you're going to
reveal His corruption. They've witnessed our Lord pray
to the Father for the command for life to come and with it
the power went forth and the dead came forth bound hand and
foot in grave clothes. These disciples witnessed many
People of the Jews believe on Jesus after Lazarus was raised. They also witnessed those that
went their ways. We can use our natural imaginations
and journey along with these disciples and enter in a little
bit to what they saw, what they heard. We can even, if we really
get into the account given to us. We can almost imagine ourselves
there. We can put ourselves in similar
situations to some extent. But only if the Holy Spirit anoints
our eyes this morning will we behold the greater glory that
Martha saw. I pray that we might today. In
this account, we have the glory of God revealed in the salvation
of His elect sinners. In Ephesians 1.12, Paul writes
to the saints and the faithful in Christ Jesus that we should
be to the praise of His, God the Father's, glory. Those elect redeemed sinners
that God has set aside, that He has set His love upon, we're
going to be to the praise of God's glory for all eternity. Nowhere else in all time can
the glory of God be manifest as fully as it is in the salvation
of one of His elect sinners. Creation manifests God's power,
God's glory and power. The provision for all the creatures
of this earth manifest His glory and wisdom. His long-suffering
to rebellious men shows forth His glory and mercy and patience,
but only the salvation of a sinner reveals all of His glorious traits. From the account before us, we
can see that God's glory and salvation is eternal. that he
receives all the glory for the sinner's salvation because of
the total inability of the lost sinner. We see the great cost
of our salvation, so great that only God can accomplish it, and
we see the wonderful blessing to the sinner. Our salvation is eternal. Before Lazarus died, Jesus loved
him. Our Lord stands as the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, and He must be the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. For Paul writes again
in Ephesians 1.4, that God hath chosen us in Him, that is in
Christ, before the foundation of the world. God set His love
upon us in eternity before Adam. Before Adam was created, before
Adam sinned and died. We are loved of God by an eternal
love. God's love is like Himself. It has no beginning and it has
no end. It is. He loved us in Christ
before He created us in time. In time, God created man in his
likeness and fellowshiped with him face to face for a time.
But that man sinned against God and he died. Just as Lazarus
died and could no longer have any fellowship with his family
and his friends, Adam sinned against God and he died. And in that death, he no longer
had communion with God, his Father. Life cannot have fellowship and
communion with death. It's not possible. Because we
are the offspring of a rebel, we are born dead to spiritual
life. All we, like sheep, have gone
astray. We have all turned, every one,
to his own way. Being separated from God and
life, we cannot return to him any more than Lazarus could get
up out of that tomb and return to his sisters, though they wept
much for him." It is God who must come to the
dead sinner and give life. We have no ability to approach
Him. We can't take the first step. We can't make a decision for
Him. We're dead. and cannot do anything
for ourselves. But God, in Jesus Christ, He
Himself being God, came into this world, the seed of woman,
free from the rebellious nature of our father Adam, and bearing
the likeness of our sinful flesh. But without any sin of His own,
He came into this world. Christ came into the world just
as he, in this account, went into that graveyard where Lazarus
was laid. Consider how many dead may have
been laid there. The dead from years gone by,
the dead from a couple of weeks ago, the dead like Lazarus, maybe
just a few days ago. For all we know, there may have
been a funeral procession heading to that graveyard at this very
moment. It doesn't really matter though.
Every one of those people that were buried in a tomb in that
graveyard have one thing in common. They're dead. The only difference
between them at this point is the amount of corruption revealed
in their flesh. None of those dead people in
that yard knew it yet, but the Lord of life walked among them. And he had come for one of them. Just as our Lord walked into
that graveyard, He came into this world full of dead sinners. He walked among us. We beheld
in this world the triune God robed in flesh. And we are so
dead to spiritual things that we could not see Him. Even though
these Jews had the Scriptures, and they were supposedly looking
for the Messiah to come, He was revealed in those Scriptures
they had. When He came, they didn't know
Him. Throughout this country today,
we're about to celebrate Christmas, and there are signs going up
everywhere, Jesus is the reason for the season. People confess
all over this country, I'm looking for Him. I've got His Word, I
read it, I'm looking for Him. And we can't see Him. We are
dead in trespasses and sins. Christ walked among us openly,
showing forth the power that He was given, speaking those
things given Him of His Father, Yet we couldn't see Him until
the commandment came. And He opens our eyes and we
behold Him as He is, the Son of God. Now, I'm sure all of
you have heard this, but I'm going to remind us anywhere.
There is no picture, no type, no shadow, no miracle recorded
in this book. that can fully capture all of
God's glory in one piece of scripture. It takes the whole book to get
it all put together. And that includes our text. There's
an element missing here. We have the dead sinner, we have
the God of all glory, and we have the sinner revived to life.
There's an element missing, and it's a very important element,
and that element is the sacrifice, the shed blood. I've tried to establish how that
we enter this world just as dead spiritually as Lazarus is physically. Paul says in Romans 5.12, As
by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sin. And in 6.23 he
says, For the wages of sin is death. We earn our death. You don't get wages for anything
except that for which you work for. While Adam rested in God's Word,
while he trusted what was told him, and did not partake of the
fruit of that tree, he lived. But when he stretched forth his
hand and took of that forbidden fruit and ate it, he sinned against
God and he died. We can't undo what's already
been done. We died in Adam. We're held captive
under the penalty of that first sin, much less the ones that
we commit ourselves. And the sentence of that sin
is death. Hebrews 9.22 states, Without
shedding of blood is no remission. Without the shedding of blood
there is no release, there is no pardon of sins. And we need
a pardon that is so effectual that it pardons our sins so that
they don't even exist. Justification. We must be justified. For thousands of years, the Old
Testament records the sacrifices offered upon altars. Those sacrifices
were separated from the people who offered them. Every sacrifice offered, whatever
was placed upon that altar, was innocent of the sins it was placed
there for. The first sacrifice we read of
is those animals slain to provide a covering for Adam and Eve.
Those animals had nothing to do with Adam's transgression.
They had taken no part in it, they hadn't helped, They were
innocent of what he did. But by their shed blood and death,
Adam's nakedness was covered. But those animal sacrifices can
do nothing for us. It is man who sinned against
God, and only by man can we hope to be accepted by Him. Our Lord
Jesus Christ came from glory and veiled His holy person in
the likeness of sinful man. He lived perfectly before God
and satisfied the law's demands on the behalf of those He loves. He willingly bore our sins laid
upon Him by God our Father. He suffered the just penalty
of those sins and He laid down His life. No man took it from
Him, but He laid it down. Our sin offering died, the just
for the unjust, and His sacrifice was pleasing to God the Father,
because He rose again for our justification. Those of us redeemed
by Christ are as just and holy before God right now as His own
Son, because we're seated with Him. We may not be so to ourselves. We may not be so to one another.
We see our faults. David said, my sins are always
before me. But God sees things as they are.
He sees us in Christ, and in Christ, I'm made holy and complete
in Him. Because He bore our sin, our
death, He has made us whole before God. Because He's done that,
in time, all those for whom He died, all those for whom He loves,
they'll hear of Him. The Lord will cross their path
in the sound of the gospel, and the Holy Spirit will call, as
our Lord did at Lazarus' grave, and say, come forth. And the dead shall come forth. God will awaken us from our spiritual
death, and we will walk in newness of life because of the Spirit
of Christ living in us. Now think of it. Moses heard
of God's glory. Martha, the disciples, saw the
glory of God in the resurrection of Lazarus. But Lazarus experienced
the glory of God. Think of what he experienced.
He became aware that he had been dead and now he had life. He looked around the world about
him and it had changed. Judy and I spoke a moment about
this last night. The world was made new. Lazarus had never seen it quite
like this before. Those things that he was so wrapped
up in before he died, having a good job, providing
for his family, getting bigger and better things.
What did they matter to him at this point? Our children, We want them to
have good jobs. It makes life easy. But that's
not important. I want my children under the
sound of the gospel. It may be the Lord will open
their ears. It may be that he gives the command,
come forth to one of them. What else matters? Then Lazarus looks and he sees
Christ. He loved him before, but oh,
the love that man had for Christ now, who raised him from the
dead. How do I know what Lazarus experienced? God saved this dead sinner and
has given me life in Him. Oh, may God anoint our eyes this
morning to see His glory revealed in the salvation of sinners. See His goodness displayed. that
he doesn't leave this rebellious, undeserving sinner lost, without
God, without hope in this world, that he would have mercy upon
me? Goodness of God revealed in the salvation of sinners. Is there any other way to proclaim
the name of the Lord than to proclaim our Lord Jesus Christ? His very name being associated
with salvation. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. Our Lord, the Son of God and
the Son of Man, loved us with an everlasting love. came into
this world as a man and fulfilled God's law in every jot and tittle,
shed his blood for his people. As a man died upon a cross, laid
in the tomb. As a man, he rose again, not
by somebody else coming and telling him to come forth, but of his
own power. He came forth out of his tomb. And right now, seated at the
right hand of the majesty on high, sits the man, Jesus Christ. His name is glorious to all those
who know Him. His glorious sovereignty in choosing
to be gracious and merciful to those that He loves. I love the
sovereignty of our Lord. He who does as He will, when
He wills, with whom He wills, that's a glorious God. And that He would be good and
gracious to sinners who by all rights deserve nothing more than
His wrath and condemnation. Our God, as He is revealed in
Christ Jesus, is glorious. But if you meet Him outside of
Christ, you'll meet a just God. You'll
meet a God who will judge you by what you want to be judged
by. Your own supposed self-righteousness. You're guilty. I'm guilty. All the world is guilty outside
of Jesus Christ. And we have no power of our own
to become innocent. It is only in Christ, covered
by His shed blood, that we can bear the judgment of the just
and holy God with whom we have to do. Come to Christ. Fall upon Him. He alone has life. Trust Him. For with His stripes we are healed. Amen.