I wish I could express, and I can't, the joy that I have to be here. Take your Bibles with me and
turn to the gospel according to John chapter 11. It's wonderful to be able to
worship with God's people, but oh, the joy to be able to worship
with your children. There was a man, his name was
Lazarus, and Lazarus was sick. And his two sisters, Martha and
Mary, appealed to the Lord, not based on Lazarus's love for the
Lord, but upon the Lord's love for Lazarus. Lord, he whom thou lovest is
sick. And in the good providence of
Almighty God, God stayed away until Lazarus, at the appointed
time, died. They buried him. And the Lord came to Bethany. And at the time appointed, He
was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. The scripture says, before he
called Lazarus from the dead, out of the tomb. Verse 41 says,
they took away the stone from the place, John 11, 41, 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." Now, he said to his father, Father,
I'm praying to you verbally. And here's the reason. That those that are around me There are some that Almighty
God knew in electing grace. And here is how I know it. After he had prayed to his Father, the Scriptures said in verse
45, Then many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the
things which Jesus did, had seen these things truly with corporal
eyes. I know that. But they saw something
else. They saw the glory of God. And God Almighty did something
for them. And the Scripture says they believed
on Him. They believed God. Our Lord had performed a miracle. He performed a miracle that was
a picture-type setting forth how God calls sinners from the
dead. The Scripture says in verse 43,
when He had thus spoken after He prayed, I'm praying unto you. And I'm
praying unto you that those that are standing by, those that are
hearing, faith cometh by hearing, they heard God speak. And He said with a loud voice,
a powerful voice, Lazarus, Comfort. And the Scripture says that that
man that he called on purpose, Lazarus, came forth. And he that was dead came forth a dead man. A dead man heard God speak. God gave him some ears. And that
man that was lying in that grave heard the voice of God. And that man got up and did something
that man by nature can't do. And the Scripture says that man
came forth. He was dead, came forth, bound
hand and foot with grave clothes. His face was bound about with
a napkin. And Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him. Let him go. This man was bound hand and foot.
His face was covered up. And here's a man who says he
was bound hand and foot. How could he come forth? God
called him from the dead. We walk by faith. In this life, but I'm telling
you, this man saw and came forth. His feet were bound up, but he
walked by faith. Let him go. Now here's something
that's just about to be revealed that happened. when everybody
standing around heard the Lord speak. But there were two effects. Verse 45, we just read, 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. One group evidenced that they
were eternally loved of God. They believed God. I want you
to turn with me for a second to the book of Acts, verse 13. Acts 13. Acts 13, verse 44. The next Sabbath day came almost
the whole city together to hear the Word of God. But when the
Jews saw the multitude, they were filled with envy and spake
against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting
and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said, it was necessary that the Word of God should first
have been spoken to you. But seeing ye put it from you,
and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation. under the ends of the earth.
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the Word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. As many as God Almighty had purposed, I shall give you life. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God The Lord gave them faith. Faith is not the cause
or the condition of our salvation. It's not the
cause or the condition of God's decree to eternal life, but it's
the effect of it. How do you know that Almighty
God has eternally loved His people? Before they leave this world,
they're going to believe God. Almighty God is going to call
them out of darkness, call them unto life. Those that the Lord
has purposed to save, He gives them a new heart. I'm going to
give you a new heart, new will, new desire, new love. Life eternal. finds its source in the electing
grace of God. Moses said unto the Lord, ask
the Lord, Lord show me your glory. Show me your glory. I've said
this before, this is the most, this is a precious, precious
truth. You look at that word glory there
in the New Testament. And it will tell you, it's from
the source of it, it's from this Word. And you go to that Word,
and here's what it means to think. Lord, show me what you think. I want to know what you think.
I want to know what your opinion is. And here was the Lord's answer. He saith to Moses, I'll have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion." So then, the Apostle Paul concluded under
the inspiration of God's Spirit, it's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Here's the heart of our hope. In Christ. Here's the heart.
Here's our peace. Here's our comfort. Here's the
truth. According to Ephesians 1-4, as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. That Almighty God would choose
His people, place them in the Lord Jesus Christ, And never
look to them. To look to the surety. To look to the One that shall
answer. To look to Him who is the mighty
God made flesh. Back in John 11, some believed on Him. Why did
they believe? God purposed that they were going
to believe. He took that stony heart that ruled and reigned
in every one of His people, that heart that was against God, and
He said, I'll remove that. Oh, the presence of sin is still
there. Yes, sir. I know that. You know that. It's what you
just said. It's there. Oh, I'm telling you,
that heart does not rule anymore. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. Oh, the plague of the presence
of that sin. But there's a new man there.
There's a new man. There's a man that's born from
above. And that which is born of God
sinneth not. You know the only one I can see?
The only one I see? I see the old man. And I know that there's a new
man that believes God. But even in the believing Him,
Lord, I believe. Help mine unbelief. Lord, I know
You. Why'd they believe? God gave
them a new heart. When did they believe? Turn with
me to Ezekiel 16. I'll tell you when they believed. Ezekiel 16. Verse 4, And as for thy nativity,
in the day that thou wast born, thy navel was not cut, neither
wast thou washed in water to supple thee. Thou wast not salted
at all, nor swaddled at all. None I pitied thee to do any
of these unto thee, to have compassion on thee. But thou wast cast out
into the open field to the loathing of thy person in the day that
thou wast born." Now you just picture, here's a little baby,
born, just cast out. No comfort, no swaddling, no
clothing. and when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine
own blood, I said unto thee, When thou wast in thy blood,
live." You know, I read that and I think,
Lord, in the day that it pleased you, Would it please God, that's
what Paul said, who separated me from my mother's womb and
call me by His grace. The Lord walked past old Matthew,
there was Matthew sitting at the seat of customs at his table
there and all of his money, his papers, everything. And the Lord
walked by him and he said, Follow me. And he got up. Do you know when you came? When
he calls you. I passed by thee, saw thee polluted
in thy own blood. I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thy blood, live. I have caused thee. to multiply
as the bud of the field. Thou hast increased and waxen
great. Thou art come to excellent ornaments. Thy breast are fashioned. Thine
hair is grown, whereas Thou was naked and bare. Now when I passed
by Thee and looked upon Thee, behold, Thy time was the time
of love, and I spread my skirt over Thee. and covered thy nakedness,
yea, I swear unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith
the Lord God, thou becamest mine." Oh, he always was in a covenant
with him. He just told me about it in time.
He had always purposed to have his own. Thou becamest mine."
When? When he told me about it. That's
when I knew about it. Almighty God, who has eternally
loved His people, calls them by grace and tells
them in time what He's eternally purposed, accomplished back in
John. Many of the Jews which came,
John 11, verse 45, came to Mary and had seen the things which
Jesus did, believed on Him. As many as received Him, they
had nothing to glory in. They had nothing to boast in. As many, John 1, 12, as received
Him to them, gave He power. Gave He the privilege. He gave them the privilege. We
talk about believing God, and we speak so lightly. We don't
know. Gabe, you're right. We don't
know what to say. We don't know how to pray. We don't know what to ask for.
As many as received Him, to them gave He His power, the privilege
to become, to come into being, to be made manifest, the sons
of God, even to them which believe on His name. Some believed. Some of them believed. Back in
John 11, verse 46, "...but some of them went their ways to the
Pharisees and told them what things Jesus had done." They
went their ways. There is one way. There is one
way unto God. He said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the light.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. But what a sad epitaph. Some of them went their ways
to the Pharisees, told them in open defiance of what they'd
seen. Surely, there was one, the Scripture
says, that was in hell. There was a rich man in Lazarus.
The rich man died, lifted his eyes up out of hell. And there
was old Lazarus who suffered in this life in the bosom of
Abraham. And the Scripture says that that
rich man spoke to the Lord. He asked Him, he said, Father
Abraham, would you let Lazarus dip his finger in some water
and just cool my tongue? The Lord said, there's a great
gulf fixed. He said, would you let Lazarus
go back and preach to my brothers? I've got some family. And they
don't know you. The Lord told him, he said, they
have prophets. They've got the preaching of
the gospel. If they don't hear the preaching of the gospel,
Though one comes back from the dead, they're not going to believe.
I heard you say, Brother Henry, one time, people are all taken
up with miracles. They said, boy, if somebody saw
somebody raised from the dead, they would be amazed and marveled
and believe. And you said, it was just for
a little while. They'd be amazed for a little
while. They saw a man called from the
dead. And they turned and went their
way and went to the Pharisees to tattle and tell them what
things the Lord Jesus had done, not to His honor. And then gathered
the chief priests and the Pharisees and said, what do we? This man
doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all
men will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take
away both our place and our nation." Here are those two groups of
people, chief priests and Pharisees. raising themselves up against
the anointed of the Lord. The heathens raging. And they
ask the very question that's at the heart of every man born
in Adam. What do we? What are we going to do with
this One called Jesus? Jesus of Nazareth. There was
no heart to bow to Him, no heart to believe Him, no heart to stand
still. Moses told the nation of Israel
there when they were right there at the Red Sea, and the Egyptian
army was right upon them, and what are we going to do? And
Moses said, stand still and see the salvation of God. Wait on
the Lord. Men by nature will not believe
that without Him they can do nothing. And all man by nature does is
consider his own honor and his own praise of men. They love
the praises of men. What are we going to do? If we
leave Him alone, everybody is going to believe
on Him. The Romans are going to come away and they are going
to take away our place and our nation. And we're somebody that witnessed God's miracle. They'd heard God Himself speak. Those that believed not had one
desire. We don't want to leave Him alone
because we're going to lose our place. He's going to mess up our religion.
But for those that the Lord had given a heart to love Him, to
love Him, they don't want to leave Him alone either. Some
don't want to leave Him alone because they hate Him, despise
Him. But some, some couldn't leave
Him alone for a different reason. Psalm of Solomon, turn with me
to chapter 3, and I'll try to wrap this up. Psalm of Solomon,
chapter 3. Here's the bride. Chapter 3, verse 1. By night
on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but I found Him
not. I will rise now and go about
the city and the streets and the broad ways. I will seek Him
whom my soul loveth. I sought Him, but I found Him
not." You know, it's a miracle of God's grace. We read that this morning. Lord,
take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Not that the Lord is going
to remove His Spirit from His people. The gifts of God are
without repentance. God Almighty who gives doesn't
change. But the Lord in His mercy and
grace... I'm sure I told you this. Brother
Maurice Montgomery told me one time. He said, God will put a
man out on a limb. and make him think He's going
to leave him there. For this very purpose right here. Whenever a little child, you
know, one of the kids, all of a sudden they realize, you know,
Mom or Dad is not there. And all of a sudden they're looking
around and they don't see them in there. And all of a sudden
they're so fearful and they start hollering, you know, Mama! Dad! Dad! You know, if I hear His
voice, then I'm okay. But in the mercy of Almighty
God, God Almighty will remove the evidence of His presence.
He's there. I know He's there. She said, I sought Him, the one
that my soul loveth. I sought Him. But I found him
not. I will rise now and go about
the city and the streets and the broad ways. I'll seek him
whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him
not. And the watchman that go about the city found me to whom
I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? Verse 4, It was but a
little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul
loveth, and I hailed him. and will not let him go till
I brought him into my mother's house, into the chamber of her
that conceived me." I think of old Jacob. It was Jacob. And the Scripture said he wrestled
with a man. And we know who he wrestled with. He wrestled with God. The Scripture says that the man
said to Jacob, days breaking, let me go. And this is what Jacob
said. This is the heart of every believer. I can't. I just can't. I can't
let you go, except you bless me. What's your name? My name is
Jacob. I'm a liar. I'm a cheater. I'm a thief. He said, not anymore. Here's
the blessing. Your name is Israel. You're a
prince with God. Lord, don't cast me away. Lord,
don't let me... Don't let me go. Lord, cast me not away from Thy
presence. Take not Thy Holy Spirit. Many
freely, gladly walked away. Some believed. But some of them
went to the Pharisees and told them what the Lord Jesus had
done to stir up trouble. But I tell you, those that believed
Him, they were like the group, the
apostles, the disciples that were with Him. And they heard
the Lord preaching in John 6. He told them some things, and
they said this, that's a hard saying, no man can come to Me
except it were given unto him of My Father. And they said, that's a hard
saying. Who can hear that? And they walked no more with
Him, and they walked away. And the Lord turned to His disciples. John 6, 67, 69, then said, Jesus,
unto the twelve, will you also go away? And Simon Peter answered
Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that
Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Let me ask
you this. Can you go away? If you can,
you will. But if you can't, if you can't
leave, The reason you can't leave is because you're kept by the
power of God through faith. An almighty God that will not
let you go. Now, I can't let him go. I used to play with the kids and
swing them and hold on. Swing them around, stuff like
that. And look, they were hanging on,
you know, for dear life, you know. Had their legs out there,
you know. The thing about it was, is that
I had them, you know, had little fingers right here gripping one
of my fingers, you know, and holding on. And I had my hand
wrapped around their wrist and just locked them in, you know.
Here they were just, thinking, boy, I'm holding on to Dad, because
if I let go of Him, I'm gone. I was holding on to them. Lord,
thanks be unto God that we can read in the Scriptures some belief. I realize that some don't. But
if You've given me a heart to believe, I believe you by your
grace and your mercy. And all honor and glory and praise
is unto you, for Christ's sake. Amen.