Him book only had that one him
in it. It would suffice me. I love that. My God is reconciled. Shake off that guilty fear. I
like how firm a foundation. All right, go back to John 11
with me, John. Gospel of John chapter 11. A
very familiar story to most in here, but how blessed it is. Read again
verses 1 through 3. Now, a certain man was 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. And therefore his sisters sent
unto him, sent word to the Lord Jesus, saying, Lord, behold,
he whom thou lovest is sick. This is a real story of real people like you and me. Two sisters and a brother. Two sisters in here this morning,
but over here, over here, three sisters. Real people with real,
real troubles. There's a real sickness. This
man is sick, mind to death. And this, these sisters are greatly
troubled. And then there's a real death. A loved one is taken away. And then there's real sorrow.
Great sorrow. And they had questions, too.
They had some they didn't understand. They didn't understand. And I
want us to look at this story. We've looked at it several times
together. And we're going to look at it as it is.
We're going to look at it, have basically five points to this
message. How that the Lord loves his people. He whom thou lovest. And they
love him because He first loved them. And all whom the Lord loves,
they get sick, and they die. And all whom he loves go through
great sorrow. But all whom he loves live again. A man named Lazarus, in the town
of Bethany, was sick. is about fifteen furlongs, it
says, two miles from Jerusalem. Our Lord at this time, though,
was in Bethabara, where John had been baptized. He's quite
a ways away, at least a two-day journey. But this man named Lazarus
was sick. He and his two sisters lived
together in the town of Bethany, a small town. The Lord Love these. This family verse five now says
Jesus love Martha and her sister and. Lord was a dear friend to them
and they to him he loved them dearly he came to their home
quite often. Whenever he was there and near
there he would stay with them he would lodge with them after
this was over. One of the first places he went
back and. And I thought about. Revelation three says, behold,
I stand at the door and knock. Any man will open the door, I'll
come in and suffer with him. You know, the Lord will lodge
with whomever invites him. Whoever desires his presence. He will come into that home and
lodge there. He loved this man, Lazarus, and
his two sisters. And when it says the Lord loved
him, look at verse 36, Behold how he loved them. Greater love
hath no man than his love. That's not just a figure of speech.
Oh no, the Lord loves, He really loves His people far greater,
a love far greater than any love known to man. Greater love hath
no man than this. Now though the Lord, I say this
because of all that error today, what men say about the love of
God, though the Lord does not love
every single human being. The scriptures clearly tell us
there's some who he does not love but rather hate. Yet the
Lord does love, greatly love, his own very deeply, very really,
and all whom he loves he saves eternally. Scripture says, for
whom he did foreknow. That word foreknow is love. No, it's to enter into a relationship
with, like Adam knew his wife Eve, for whom he did for know. That's for love. That is, set
his love and affection on them. Before they were born, before
the foundation of the world, God Almighty set his love upon
his people. Yeah, he said, I have before
I formed the in the belly. I knew that means I set my love
upon sovereign. Said it love upon them before
I formed the and. Yeah, he said, I have loved the
with an everlasting love. Those whom he set his love upon
in the beginning before time will love them for all time.
Never quit loving him. That's why all of this talk about
the love of God is so blasphemous. For whoever God set his love
upon, he says, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love,
therefore with loving kindness I have drawn thee. Loving kindness. Tell me, if you had the power
and ability to save your loved ones, would you? Well, he does. He has that power, and he does
just that. Having loved his own, he loved
them to the end, savingly, effectually. All whom the Lord loves, he saves. All whom the Lord loves, he saves. So, the Lord loves his own, and
with a love far greater than any love known to man. And the
Lord, those whom the Lord loves, they love him. They love him
because he first loved them. But God sheds abroad that love
in their hearts. Yes, he does. How is that known? How is that love We know the
love of God, the love that God hath toward us, Scripture says,
because he sent his only begotten son. Greater loveth no man than
if he lay down his life. He literally spared not his own
son, but delivered him up for us all. That's the love that
God hath shown to us. And how is the love of his people
known? Look at verse 2. It says, This
was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet
with her hair. You remember that story, don't
you? Mary took that alabaster box
of precious ointment, very costly ointment. Perhaps her life saving
was in that ointment. Perhaps it was a something she
was going to hand down to her children that grew more valuable
with time. But when the Lord came, Nothing
was of any value at all compared to him. Nothing was too great
to sacrifice to him. And she showed her love to the
Lord Jesus Christ by taking that alabaster box and destroying
it and anointing him, his head, and it says his feet, and took
her glory, her hair, and humbled herself and wiped his precious
feet. She's saying, your precious feet
are more glorious than my head. How do you know she loves him?
She sacrificed everything. He was of more value to her than
anything and anyone else. So she loved him, and we loved
him because he first loved us. And John said this, how do you
know that we love God when we love the brethren? We love the brethren. He that
loveth him that begat, loveth him that is begotten of him. By this we know we've passed
from death unto life, for we love the brethren. And we really
do, don't you? I was sitting there looking at
you all. This is not natural. We love like family. We really
do, don't we? I started thinking about various
ones that won't, perhaps won't be with us very long. Who are
we willing to do without? Huh? I thought about Brother
Charles Ross back there. He's second oldest in here next
to my, well, shouldn't have brought that up. Second oldest man in here anyway. And he can't be with us too much
longer, can he? Oh, we're going to miss him,
aren't we? Who are we willing to do without?
What about the smallest? Jeanette, do you love Lila Morgan
already? Wouldn't want to do without her? This is real, this is real. We don't have to go around telling
each other all the time, although it's a good thing. But it's not
something forced or fake, it's real. God really does shed abroad
his love in the hearts of his people, and how that is known
is love to Christ. You keep coming back here, service
after service, to do one thing. hear about. You must love it. You must love
it. We don't have to do anything
to bring you back, but preach Christ. That's how you know.
That's how you know. And you love the breath. You
really do. Mary and Martha and Lazarus loved
the Lord, and they loved each other because he first loved
them. They really did. God's people
said in his prayer, Lord, we love you. That's not presumption,
that's not pride, that's just facts. The Lord asked Peter,
Peter, Simon, lovest thou me? What did he say? He didn't hesitate. Yea, Lord, thou knowest, you
know I love thee. And he knew why he loved him,
didn't he? Peter and Simon knew why he loved the Lord, because
the Lord put that love there. He didn't love him before, but
he does now. And he wasn't hesitant. Well,
all whom the Lord loves, they love Him. And all whom the Lord
loves, they get sick. This is how you know He loves
them. It's not like the world is saying.
It's all a lie. Verse 3 says, Lord, behold, he
whom thou lovest is sick. Satan is called the father of
lies. Our Lord said that. He's the
father of lies. And he perpetrated the lie that
is repeated over and over again. Right now, as I speak, men are
standing up, and women, standing up, lying on God, saying things
like this. And at every funeral, they say
things like this. God didn't want this to happen. They say God didn't want, God
wants you to be healthy and wealthy. That's what they say. That's
a lie. Satan started it, he perpetrated it, and men perpetuate it, can
keep it going. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Listen to me, believers. Don't listen to me. Listen to
the Scripture. He whom thou lovest is sick. That's how you know. It's the
opposite, Nancy, of what they say. Everyone whom the Lord loves
gets sick. Who made them sick? The Lord did. The Lord made them sick.
Go with me to Deuteronomy 32. You knew I was going there, didn't
you? Deuteronomy 32. Go over there with me. So many
scriptures we could turn to, Isaiah forty-five, Deuteronomy
thirty-two. Numerous scriptures testify the fact that God's people
get sick and die. They get sick and die. Job is
acknowledged as the oldest recorded book in the scripture. Job lived
around the time of Abraham. And the scriptures, God calls
Job, my servants, none like him. God loved Job, didn't he? He held him up in high, yes,
high esteem. He said, there's none like him,
a man that escheweth evil. Well, the Lord smoked Job with
boils all over his body after. He took away everything. And see, this was what Job and
his friends were sitting around debating about. At least his
friends didn't understand that if God loves this man, how could
all this happen to him? That's why it all happened to
him. But they sat around trying to figure out, if God is love,
then why? No, this man must be a great
sinner for all this to come on him. No! No. That's not the cause. The cause
is found in God's purpose and God's love. Job was smitten all
over with foils. He says, he sat there scraping
his body. That's unimaginable, isn't it?
Would you do that to someone you love? Well, God did. Hezekiah was one of the good
kings in the Scripture, wasn't he? Hezekiah was a fine man. The Lord said he did that which
was right. Well, the Lord smote him with
sickness, nine to death. That's when Isaiah, remember,
took the lump of figs later. The Lord gave him fifteen more
years. Arguably, the greatest prophet
in all the Old Testament was Elisha, not Elijah. Elisha was
given double the portion of Elijah. You know how he died? Sickness. He got sick and he died. What was it? Cancer? Something? For all of his days of preaching
had a thorn in the flesh. Many men say he was almost blind,
couldn't see. Thorn in the flesh. Timothy does
not the Scripture say, take a little wine for thy stomach's sake and
thine often infirmities. Timothy was always sick. Epaphroditus, the first pastor
at, where was it, didn't write it down, at Philippi or Thessalonica. Anyway, he was sick nine to death. He almost died, he got so sick.
David Brainerd, one of the greatest missionaries the world has ever
known, one of the first missionaries to the American Indian. He died
at 29 years old of terrible sickness. Robert Murray McShane, 29 years
old. Charles Spurgeon was sick for
30 years. And he died, he was only four
years older than me. Probably the greatest preacher of our day, anyway. And how many
of our dear brethren and sisters choice saints have become deathly
ill, terrible, terrible sick. How many? How many? Why? Well, look at Deuteronomy
thirty-two, verse thirty-nine. Deuteronomy thirty-two, thirty-nine. See now, see now that I, even
I, And there is no God, you see
that word God, small g, and that means there's nothing and no
one who rules over anything, not even a small g-o-d. I am
he, that is capital G-o-d, absolute ruler over all things, even the
very particle of dust in the sunlight shining through the
window. God Almighty reigns and rules
over that atom, molecule. That's right. I, even I am He,
there is no God with me. I kill, meaning if somebody dies,
Dan, God killed them, doesn't He? Whatever the means, God killed
them. He used that meaning. And I make
alive, read on. I wound, and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. When I purpose something, it's
going to happen, and you can't stop it. Is that fatalism? Oh, no. It's just Bible. And that's our
comfort, isn't it? Isn't our comfort that our God
reigns and rules and orders all things? I, the Lord, create peace. Evil, Isaiah 45. I, the Lord,
do all these things, he said. All things. And it said all things
work together. For what? Good. There's really nothing
bad that happens to God's people. You know that? It may seem bad
at the time, but it's always good. He said so. Go back to
our text in John 11. All of God's people whom he loves
get sick. Behold, he whom thou lovest is
sick. And they get sick. The Lord sends
sick. for several reasons and many
more than I'm going to give. But here are a few reasons why
the Lord sends sickness. He sends sickness in order to
show them that this is just dying corrupt flesh. It's all flesh
is grass and the grass withering. It's the flower of the field
and the flower faded. And it's that quick. We have
it. What is your life but a paper
to show us How short our time, brethren, the time is short.
We have had somebody's birthday the other night, turned 40 years
old, not long before that, somebody turned 60. Somebody right over
here turned 60 and then 70 and then 80. It's just bam, bam,
bam, bam, like that is. I think they and your neck are
sixty thirty sixty. Go ahead. We're in the past sixty. That's not young is it? Not young. You wish you were forty. No you
probably don't. It's so quick isn't it? What
is your life but a vapor? The Lord shows us that. And sickness. Where is these bodies now? We
have here no continuing city if we didn't get sick. Here's
the other thing. You wean us from this world to
show us that this is not our inheritance. This is not where
we're staying. This is a tabernacle. This is
a tent and we've got to fold it up. It's not a tent. And to wean us, and if we had
no trials or tribulations, we'd want to stay here, wouldn't we? See what's wrong with modern
religion? As far as they're concerned, this is heaven. No, it's not. No, it's not. And to cause us,
when we're brought low, there's only one place to look, and that's
that. The only way we will, when we're
rich and increased with goods and everything's going fine,
we're not looking up. We're not calling on Him. Our
Lord said, when you're weak, then I'm strong. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills from whence cometh my help. And the Lord sends sickness
to prove his word. To. We read his word, but I tell
you when you really read his word. That's when you're down. When
you're sick or sorry, that's when you really read it, and
that's when he really speaks to you. That's when the Lord
proves. the sincere milk of the world. You suck like a baby getting
all the nourishment from it. That's when the Lord, David said
this. He said, before I was afflicted, I went astray. He says, good
that I've been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes. God's
word is never learned so well as in the time of affliction. But chiefly, here's the reason.
Here's the number one reason. All right. Look at verse For
with first for when Jesus heard that he was not that he just
found out about. How are we already say he's the one
that said. Any purpose the way to that.
But when they brought word. It says, verse four, when he
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. That's what it's all about. That's
why his people get sick. You see, it's real easy to say,
I believe God, when everything's going fine. the world, all, you
know, the health, wealth, gospel, all that's real. Oh, the Lord's
blessed me. Don't they? Had four Mercedes and two vacation
homes. Yes, the Lord greatly blessed
me. That's so easy to say. That's, that's not necessarily
proof of the Lord's blessings either. Now, here's, here's a
person that you know who know something about the Lord's blessing.
Job, after all was taken from him, even his health, he said,
the Lord gave. Now the Lord hath taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now that's a man who really believes
God. know something about eternal
blessing, true blessing, spiritual blessing. Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all what? Spirit, truth, and God. Those are the blessings.
These material blessings, they are blessings. Every good and
perfect gift comes from above. But if riches increase, and they
do, set not your heart upon them, because riches are a snare, and
the deceitfulness of riches. And they bring more people down.
Riches bring more people down than anything. The true spiritual riches are
to know that These are not the riches. Our riches are unsearchable. The things that are really rich,
perish not, are unseen. Him, the unseen Christ, the unsearchable
riches of Him. He's the one who makes riches. If I have Him, I have all things.
But this is for the glory of God. Glory of God, the testimony
of the sick and the afflicted glorify the Lord more in that
time than in hell. They glorify Him more in time
of sickness than in hell. They testify of the reality,
the proof, the substance of things hopeful, evidence of things not
safe. And this sickness, he said, is
not unto death, but it did die to him. Our Lord said, it's not unto
death. None whom the Lord loves, though they get sick, they never
die. Didn't he say that in verse 25? He that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. They don't die, but Lazarus died. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. He slept. He only said, Lazarus is dead,
so that they would know in their finite minds what he meant by
that. Well, who killed him? Look at
verse 6. When he had heard, therefore,
that Lazarus was sick, he abode two days still in the same place
where he was. He waited for Lazarus to die. This was in his purpose. See, it's appointed unto man
once died. Appointed. Who makes the appointment? The Lord does. Listen to it.
His days are determined. Day. The number of his months
are with thee. Thou hast appointed his bounds. He cannot pass. He cannot pass. And though the Lord uses means,
you know, a heart attack, cancer, car wreck, that may be the instrument,
the means, but it was the Lord's hand. That instrument was in
his hand. The Lord killed him. And those
days are appointed and we cannot pass. Again, that's not fatalism. That's our comfort. We're immortal. Margaret, this will let us at
least a little bit quit worrying too much. I mean, we won't quit
worrying completely, but it ought to tell us that we're immortal
until the day that God says, He waited for Lazarus to die.
Down in verse thirty-seven, they said, Could not this man which
opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man
should not have died? And the Lord groaned. Yes, he could have, but he didn't. you wait. For the Lord. And you know. We don't. Never. Well look at the next
point here is all the growth Lord love. They get sick, they die, and
they, all whom the Lord loves, they greatly sorrow. Mary and
Martha loved Lazarus greatly. And when they sent word to him,
it was urgent. When they sent word to the Lord,
it was urgent. You've done the same. Someone
you love gets sick. How do you call upon the Lord?
Call the Lord. Please. Please. And you keep crying until he
does something to you. You really love someone. Mary
and Martha were greatly troubled, greatly worried over Lazarus. He's sick, Lord. He's got to
come quick. They feared for their brother's
life. That's not unbelief. It's love. Love doesn't want to lose. Like
we said, love doesn't want to lose the one it loves. Love really means you don't want
to live without that person. When are we ever ready to give
up? You're not. You can't prepare
yourself. You know that? You can't prepare
yourself. So the Lord has to. Doesn't He? You can't prepare yourself. Mary Martha sent urgent word
to the Lord, Lord Lazarus is sick, hurry, and the Lord didn't
come. He didn't even send word back. For two days. And Lazarus died. And how they sorrowed. It says
they were wailing. The word weep, when it says the
Lord saw her weeping, down in verse thirty-three, the word
weeping means sobbing. Sobbing. Breast-heaving. The Lord wept, and it's a different
word, in sobbed out loud. In control, he wept silently.
He cried. He didn't shed tears, but it
was silent. Nevertheless, he wept. But they
wept profusely. They wept greatly. Sobbed. Mary, down in verse nineteen,
When the Lord came there, it says in verse nineteen, he came
to Mary and Martha, the Jews did, to comfort them. And Martha
ran out to meet the Lord. But it says Mary sat in the house.
She was so overcome. David, one time, was so overcome
with sorrow, the scripture says he would not be comforted. Nothing
anybody could say. Have you ever been there? If
you haven't, you will. So this is not, you see, this
is not unbelief, it's love. Oh, their sorrow is going to
be turned to joy all right. Joy that will greatly surpass
their sorrow. They had sorrow, great sorrow,
but their joy is going to greatly surpass the sorrow. So much so,
Sherry, After this is over, they're going to forget they ever shared
Jesus. This joy is going to be so great,
as great as that sorrow was, is how great there's joy. And so will I. But she was too grieved to leave
the house. In verse 21, Martha, Lord, She complained, really, she complained,
verse 21, "'Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not
died. If you'd have been here, he wouldn't have died.'" Well, was he there? Or wasn't
he? Yeah, yes, he was. Yeah, he was. He said, "'I'll never leave you.'"
He's the omnipresent Lord. He's everywhere, always, at all
times. He's the God. This is the God.
He's not a far-off, but He's the night. This is the God in
whose hands. Lord, if you'd have been here, God in whose hands I pray, He
is there. He's always there. A God at hand.
God's night, not just far off. Can you hear the grief and the
sorrow in her voice? Lord. Has anyone in here lost
a loved one and almost argued with the Lord? Lord, why? Anybody? Don't be ashamed of anything. Mary said, if you'd have been
here, you hadn't have died. The disciples, remember, on that
boat. Lord, carry us down. Oh, the Lord knows our brain.
He knows our brain. He knows she loved this man so
much, didn't want to lose him. If he'd have been here, he wouldn't
have died. And down in verse 3, oh, I love this, don't you?
It says, verse 28, Martha went back to Mary and said to her
secretly, whispered, Master has come. She's in her house. Bonnie, she's weeping. She's
weeping. She's so sorrowful. And Martha
ran to the Lord, but Mary stayed there. Then the Lord sent word
through Martha, go tell Mary. You know, we do. We all, when
we get in trouble or in sorrows, we tend to want to get off to
ourselves. and wallow in our own sorrows
and so forth. But that's not the thing to do.
The thing to do is to come to His
feet. Come where He's promised to be. And with those people who have
gone through the same thing, as we comfort one another with
these words, you're not going to find any comfort anywhere
but in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, through His words
to you, through the preaching of His Word. You're not going
to find any comfort, any consolation, any...Lord, why? You're not going
to answer that except in this way. We come back to Him. The Master has come and He's
calling for you. So what should you do? But what did she say? And in
verse thirty-two, she fell down on his feet saying the same thing,
Lord, if thou hadst been here. Same perplexed, troubled, sorrowful sinner. Lord, if you'd been here,
he wouldn't have died. He wouldn't have passed. But
all of God's people sorrowed greatly. We sorrow greatly, but
not as those who have no hope. Look at this. Oh, what a blessing.
Shortest verse in all of Scripture. It's one of the greatest. Verse 35. It says, When he saw
her and them weeping, it says, Jesus wept. He cried. Real tears. He did not weep. Our Lord did
not weep because something terrible happened that he had no control
over. The Lord did not weep, and this
is what religion says. This is what they're Jesus. That's
what they say about him. The Lord did not weep because
Lazarus died and he didn't want him to. No, he purposely waited
until he was dead. But he did weep. We believe perhaps the thought
of bringing Lazarus back to this place to have to live several
more years. Perhaps that thought. Don't you weep over your children.
Our Lord said this. He said, you weep over yourself
and for your children. Why? Because of the evil days
to come. You don't want to lose your children,
but don't you weep over thinking about them going through this
evil world? I know. Would you bring back,
as much as you love that brother or sister that's gone off, would
you bring them back to this place? You see, God has been quick.
Oh, my. God has been so merciful to them, been spared from the evil days,
so merciful. God in mercy has taken them,
spared them from the righteous men are taken from the evil days. The Lord be in mercy to them. As much as we love them,
we wouldn't bring them back, and perhaps the Lord wept But
the thought of bringing Lazarus back, I know he wept for this
reason. He wept over the sin that causes
all of this sorrow and all this trouble, the consequences of
sin, death, sorrow, crying. And he certainly, I know for
a fact, he wept. It says that when he saw her
weeping, when he saw Mary and Martha weeping, sobbing, wailing,
he wept. Because we have not a high priest
who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity. But
in all points, sorrow, this is a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. Whose sorrows? Our sorrows. He carries our sorrows. Tell
me, do you not weep with those that weep? Can you not weep with
one you love that is weeping? David said, all my tears are
in your bottles." Only a callous, hard man would
not weep. He said, let your laughter return
to mourning. He said, we need to weep with
those that weep. He did, didn't he? And as I quoted,
he said, weep for yourselves and for your children. Here's the
prophecy, and here's the promise. Listen to this. Listen to this. Psalm 126. I believe it's verse
six. It says, He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves
with him. Now, you hear that. That's a
prophecy and that's a promise. Weeping endures for a night.
That's the promise. But joy, oh, Nancy, joy unspeakable
and full of glory. As bad, as terrible as the troubles
were, this is how great. Instead, the former troubles
shall not be remembered, won't even come to mind. You think,
in times of sorrow, I'll never get over this, I'll never be
the same again. Yes, you'll get over it, and
you'll never think about it again someday. That's all of it. And our Lord wept. Oh, He wept. Oh, what a blessing.
Our crying is heard by Him. It's heard. Weep for yourself
and for your children. He did. Maybe if we did weep
more. Maybe. Well, doubtless. I said it's a prophecy. Listen
to it. He that goeth forth weeping,
our Lord wept, bearing precious seed, he is the seed, shall doubtless
come again with rejoicing." Doing what? Bringing the sheaves with him. They're all here. Lazarus is going to rise again. But he's going to die again.
No, he didn't die the first time. He won't die the second time.
He'll never die. And this one who wept will doubtless
come again. He said, Behold, I come with
rejoicing. You rejoice. And I'm going to
bring my sheaves with me. I'll come with him. And so shall
we rise to meet the Lord. And that's my last point. All
whom the Lord loves shall live forever." They'll live forever. Oh, my. And I wouldn't dare try
to imitate how the Lord said this. But the Lord came to that grave. And all of this, isn't this a
blessed picture of how we're dead and trespassed in sin? And
how the Lord comes to where we are and quickens us, calls us
by His grace, by His powerful voice, the voice of the Lord,
waketh the dead. That's what it took for you and
me to be dead and trespassed in sin, just like Lazarus. He
calls his sheep by name. But the Lord came to this grave,
this one grave, Not the others. Someone said, had he not called
Lazarus' name, all the graves would have opened. All the graves. But he calleth
his own. He calleth. When he did foreknow,
he calls. And he says, he came to that
grave, told them to roll away the stone, and, verse 3, he cried
with a loud voice. Where the voice of the king is,
there's authority, there's power. The voice that wakes the dead.
Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth. And he'll doubtless come again,
breaking Lazarus with him. When the Lord comes and he may—behold,
Paul said, I'll show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. The Lord
may return soon. Well, it will be soon, one way
or the other. But I mean in our lifetime. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
That's what we all hope for. Just, Lord, just right now. Come
right now this morning. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Just
take us up. If you're a believer, that shows how important this
is. Give diligence to make your calling.
sure, but if the Lord came this morning, wouldn't that be wonderful?
We wouldn't have to go through any more of this sorrow. We wouldn't
have to ever miss one another. Those four days, Lazarus was
dead four days, and it seemed like four years. Those first
four days seemed like an eternity. And we spend our years, as the
tale has been told, just days. My brother has been gone forty That's unbelievable, isn't it,
Dad? Forty years. I remember like it was yesterday,
the day when they came and told us that horrible news. Forty
years. Well, those four days seemed
like forty years, the first four days. But in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, in a few short years, I'll go the way
Job said, that I'll not return. All my days, he said, they're
just a few. I'll wait till my change has come, because he that
wept, shall doubtless come again, bringing them all with him. And
so shall we rise. The dead in Christ shall rise.
Those that went first will not go before them, but they'll rise. What a mystery. Their bodies. and be gathered from the four
corners of the earth, and they're going to enter those bodies,
those ones we knew, but glorify them, and rise, and we'll be
changed. Meet the Lord. Fable? No. This is true. The Lord said,
I am the resurrection, and that he that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Do you believe
this? Oh, if you do, you have life.
You can leave it on the sun.