The Gospel of John, chapter 11. God's Word says it is appointed
unto man who wants to die. It is appointed. Appointed. Another passage says man's days
are determined. The number of his months are
with thee, with God. Thou, God, hast appointed his
bounds that he cannot pass. And that's what God's Word says.
It's not fatalism. That's God's Word. Appointed. Determined. The number of his
months are determined by God. Appointed. His death, the cause
of it. is appointed by God. Everyone dies physically, don't
they? Everyone. Believers as well as
unbelievers. God's children as well as the
world. And here in chapter 11, chapter
11 of John, verse 1, says, A certain man was sick, named of Bethany
and tells. Who his sisters were certain
man once again. This is a story of a certain
person that scripture says that many times throughout. The gospels
especially a certain woman which had an issue of blood a certain
man a certain person and so forth. Why does it say that. Says a
certain because The foundation of God stand it sure having the
seal the Lord know what they are that are here. A certain person God loves certain. God chose certain person God
say certain. And all whom he loves all whom
he chose. It is certain. that they will
be saved. Everyone whom God loves, everyone
whom Christ loved, it is absolutely certain he will raise them from
the dead. Of that you can be certain. That's why it says a certain
man. Oh, if only people would read God's word, really read
it. If only he would open it up.
A certain man. And it says in verses 2 through
5, read on, it says, that Mary that anointed the Lord with ointment
wiped his feet, whose brother Lazarus was sick. And his sisters,
Mary and Martha, sent word to the Lord, saying, Lord, behold,
he whom thou lovest is sick. Read on with me. Lord 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, Jesus
loves Martha and her sister and Lazarus. It plainly says who he loved
here, didn't it? He called them by name. He whom thou lovest is sick.
Nowhere in this book will you find it written where it says,
Jesus loves you. And I see that all over bumper
stickers everywhere. Where'd they get it? It doesn't say that
in this book. Well, men don't care. But I do. Because that cheapens the love
of the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't it? I don't have on my bumper
sticker that my mother loves you. Men cheapen the love of God.
Throw it out there for any old God-hating rebel to just stomp
on and spit on and to care less. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say anywhere in this
Bible that Jesus loves you. So why do men do that? It does say here that he loved
Mary and Martha and Lazarus. It does say that. He whom thou
lovest is sick. And as I said, you need to know
this, that whoever Jesus Christ loves, he saves them. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save, and name means Savior. The angels announced his birth,
said call his name Jesus, for why? Because that's what it means.
He shall say, he shall say, not make an attempt, not make salvation
possible. He shall say, who will he say?
His people. Whose people? Christ said it
over and over again. All that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. And in the end, he said, I and
the children which thou hast given me, I saved them. I came to save them. That's what
I came to do. I did it. I get all the glory
for it. He shall save his people from
this end. Call his name Jesus, that's what
it means, that's what he did. All these people. To the glory
of God who purposed it, to the glory of Christ who purchased
it, to the glory of the Holy Spirit who brings on. This is not doctrine, this is
the glory of God at stake here. Not just arguing doctrine, this
is the glory of God at stake and your salvation's at stake.
If it's up to you, you're lost and will be lost all your life.
But if it's up to God, a thief on a cross can be saved. He whom thou lovest is sick. Know that. Whoever Jesus Christ
loves, he raises them from the dead. And I love the thought that whenever
Christ came near a funeral, the person rose. Every time he attended a funeral,
whoever it was that was dead rose. Christ is life. Whoever he comes to, they live.
He there is life for his mind, right? He says, because I live,
what? You shall live also. If we live
in him, we're in him. All right, it says, He whom thou
lovest. Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick. But the Lord said, Now
this sickness is not unto death. All right, how did he get sick?
How did Lazarus get sick? He said, The devil made him sick. The devil sent that all. God
didn't want it to happen. This is God. Right here, this
is Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, and he's the one
that made him sick. Look at Deuteronomy 32. Look over there with me.
Let's see what God says. Deuteronomy 32. This is what
the word of the living God says. Don't let these old fools tell
you these wives' fables, you know. God didn't want that to
happen. Where does it say that? Where did it ever say that God
didn't want this to happen or want that to happen? Brother Tim James, always his
answer to everyone that says something off the wall, you know,
you know, cleanliness is next to God, and it says in the Bible,
Tim always says, chapter and verse, please. Chapter and verse,
tell me where it says that, and I'll believe it. You know what the Bible says,
it says, where does it say it? And I'll believe it. God didn't
want that to happen. He got sick, but God didn't want
it to happen. Chapter and verse. Right here we are. Chapter and verse. Deuteronomy
thirty two thirty nine. Verse thirty nine. God is speaking
and says see now. Boy my dad used to say that to
me. And buddy it got my attention. Now you see here. Did your dad
ever say that to you? Steve did Joe ever say that to
you? Now you see here. Did you sit up and listen? If
you didn't, you wouldn't be sitting down for long after that. See now, this is what God said,
you see now, you see now that I, even I, am he. There is no God with me, no little
ruler, small, there's not even a small G, let alone a capital
G. I mean, there's not even a little
ruler, somebody doing something outside of my control. You see
that? There is no God, small g, no ruler, nobody who's in
control of an atom with me. None! And we saw that in Isaiah,
didn't we, over and over again. He says, I am God, there's none
else. I am God, there's none else. I am God, there's none
else. There's nobody with me, nobody around. I do it all. Isaiah 45, verse I kill! If somebody dies, why did they
die? What killed them? Well, you may
say this killed them, a car killed them, a disease killed them.
What does this say? What does God say? I kill. He said, all souls are mine.
No soul goes into the presence of God Almighty that he doesn't
know about. What do you know here? Well,
I didn't know you were coming. I sure wasn't expecting you.
What happened? Isn't that foolish? Now, this is for the comfort
of God's people. Pot sherds, people that hate
God, will argue against this. But, but, but, but, but, but.
God's people don't say but, but, but, but, but. They say it's
the Lord. This is what Job said after God killed all his children. This was his only comfort, Sammy. All his children died. What did
he say? It's the Lord. The Lord gave
them to me. The Lord has taken them away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord. Didn't deserve them in the first
place. But he freely gave them to me. They are his. Isn't that
what the book says? This is for our comfort. God
gave you a dad's hand. God took him away. Blessed be
the name of the Lord. God gave you a mother's gave. God took her away. Cancer didn't
do it. God did it. Why? seem good to
him. We don't know, but I wouldn't
have done it that way. And this is what Mary and Martha
both say, I don't understand. Lord, if you'd have been here,
I don't understand. We aren't called to understand. We can't
possibly understand. My dog can't understand what
I do. He doesn't have a clue where
I'm going here or going there. I just say, get in the truck.
He says, where are we going now? I said, lie down, sit, sit, stops
to heal. This one, he said, well, you
make up your mind. I've already made up my mind.
I know where I'm going, why I'm going there. All I tell him to
do is follow me. Right? We're talking about God
here. God in the Bible. The God who is God. I kill. I make a lot. There's a baby about to be born
in our midst. A Hudson baby. Where'd they come
from? Well, Wesley and Melanie decided
to get together and have a chat. We knew a lady up in Ashland. And her and her husband. Had
careers and. They both said they both decided
that they wouldn't have children for a while. And then. About five years later somebody
decided. They will have children. They didn't have children. But they decided. you we don't decide the doctors
told my wife and I you can't have children. Well look there. I make a lot. This was an accident. They see
him and his mother. Their mother didn't want to have
another child. He just had one about eleven months earlier.
And as you pray she didn't want another child. And she was distraught over having
another child. And I'm here to tell you, out of the three, this
is the only one that gave either one of the parents any joy. Aren't you glad it's not after
her? There is no such thing. This book never says anything
about accidents or luck or chance. It talks about God. I tell you,
I make a lot. The next line, I wound and I heal. I wound and I heal. If you know the passages look
at Job chapter one not now but later on Job chapter one and
start reading and see how that. Satan had to appear before God
Almighty he wanted to do something with Job but couldn't touch it. God has him a right now and finally
God said all right be here. And he said you've moved me to
to put my hand on Joe who made Joe sick with boils and all that
who did it. Satan did it. He was the means,
but God did it. Now this, as I said, this is
the comfort of God's people. And if we get sick, now let me
ask you a question. How could it be any comfort at
all if somebody you loved died and you said God didn't want
What comfort could anybody possibly… Somebody believes in God, he
didn't want it to happen, why didn't he do something? He didn't
want it, he did not want it to happen. He did, something happened,
he didn't want it to do. He's standing by as a bystander.
Who needs a God like that? I need a God who everything is
in His hands, including, especially me. My family, my job, my everything
is in His hands. That gives me comfort. That way,
if it's gone, well, the Lord knows what He's doing. That's the only comfort anybody
can have in God. David, David came back one day
from whatever he was doing, came back, and his wives and his children
were all gone, taken captive. His houses were burnt down. You know the story of Ziklag?
What does it say that David said? It says David comforted himself
in the Lord God. He couldn't find any comfort. Whoa, whoa, look at this world.
Everything's in chaos. The world and people in it are
chaotic, yes, but no, God reigns and rules. And nothing happens
like Barney's rise or wiggles, except God. David comforted himself
in the God of Israel. How did he comfort himself? I
don't know why this has happened. But it was horrible, traumatic. And being flesh, you can't help
but be just overcome. With sorrow, these sisters were,
emotions, sorrows. Oh, Job went all the way through. Oh, Job was sorry. Sorrowful,
wasn't he? He wouldn't love if he weren't
sorry about losing somebody. He wouldn't be flesh if he didn't,
you know, something just caused him to be traumatic. He wouldn't be
human. The Lord knows that. He knows
our But how do you get comfort? Oh,
I don't understand. I don't understand. I just don't.
I didn't want it this way. I didn't want it this way. But
God is. And God knows. And God is. And thank God that he's revealed
that to me. Or I wouldn't have any hope at
all. I wouldn't be religious at all if I didn't believe this.
No way. No way. I wouldn't follow religion
today. Why? God made Lazarus sick. Why? Why? Christ said why. This sickness is not unto death. Read it with me. John 11. He
said, This sickness is not unto death, verse 4, but for the glory
of God. All things are, tell me, Joe.
I didn't want that to happen. It did, didn't it? What's going
to happen? Somehow or another, God's going to get the glory.
Count on it. It wouldn't happen. That God may be glorified. Read
on. But for the glory of God, and
in the same breath, the Lord says that the Son of God might
be glorified. Well, who's going to get the
glory? And yes, God, the one and the
same, the honor of the father, the honor of the son, the honor
of the son, the honor of the father. Talking about God, you're talking
about both. We're going to see that in a
minute. Remember that, he said that. Remember that, that God
may be glorified. Verse six, all right, when he
had heard, therefore, that Lazarus was sick, he may have just heard Now, this is he who knows the
thoughts of men afar off. Remember, every time when somebody's
whispering over the side, he'd say what they said. This is the
omniscient one. This is the omnipotent one. This
is the omnipresent one. He's everywhere at all times. He knows all things. Why does
he know all things? Because he does all things. This
is a narrative. Get this through our heads. We're
human beings. This is a narrative. This is
talking about God, who's incomprehensible, and we're not capable of understanding
God. But this is written in words
we can understand, as human beings. This is a language of the Heavenly
Father to dogs. When I talk to my dog, I say,
sit. Lie down. Get up. His vocabulary is about
twenty words. More than most dogs. What if
I said, would you like to repose today? Perhaps you'd like to
take repose upon the clock upon which your mother and I bought
for you. Get in the bed. You understand
that? Get in the bed. And this is a
narrative to human beings by the Holy Spirit. written to God
who don't question and they know God I know what he's saying when
he heard that is somebody came up to him and say. Somebody came up to him and said
he's sick he knows he's sick write it down acts fifteen eighteen
write it down memorize it Acts fifteen eighteen known unto God
are all his works from the beginning of the world known unto God are
all his work from the beginning of the world known unto God.
Is this God? Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. Let me lower my voice. when he had heard that if somebody
came up and said to me, Lazarus is sick. He knew Lazarus was
sick. He made him sick. He'd already said, this sickness
is not unto death. He already knew that. When he
heard that, he stayed where he was for two days. The Lord of Glory, this is God
manifesting in flesh, he knew everywhere he was going. Why? whom he would see at what moment
in time he would make them. Down to the second. All of the
circumstances leading up to them being there and here. No. Circumstance he he he made this
up the woman at the way or what they just so happened to me that
that God had her waiting there he he was there and had her come
at that very moment. I love about you love it too
and Ruth came back to Bethlehem you know and Naomi said go out
and try to find us some corn go out in the field somewhere
you know how many fields how many fields are there in Franklin
County what if somebody came into Franklin County said I need
some hay I'll go find you some well it says Ruth went Ruth went
out to glean, and her hap was. She just so happened, of all
the fields in Metalhead, she just so happened to light on
the very field of the only person that could save her. Now, ain't
she lucky? No, she has a God who worketh
all things for her good. You can have luck, people can
have luck, they want to wear twelve rabbit's foot. I don't
care, you can have that stuff. I'm not relying on luck. He said, this sickness is not
unto death, but for the glory of God. Now when he heard this,
he stayed there two days, two days, on purpose he stayed there.
Then verse seven says, right after two days he said, let's
go. And his disciples now, from the moment
the Lord came into Jerusalem, everybody wanted to kill him.
People didn't love Jesus then. They didn't love the Jesus Christ
of Scriptures then. They don't love him now. They love their conception of
some Jesus who's at their disposal. Yeah, they love him. They love
a baby in their arm, but they don't love the Lord Jesus. Who
said that people everywhere he went. No man can come on the mix of
the father which is. I'm the way to make those sovereign
claim. He said you hypocrite he called
him. I want to kill him. You know. The disciples were worried. The
disciples were worried, and they said, Lord, you can't go back
to Jerusalem. They're going to kill you. They'll kill you. And you remember when he said
another time, he said, no man take my life from me. And, you know, the same is true
of us. We've already established that. We don't have to worry
about Hurricane Emily or what have you. I was in that. I was in the hurricane, not that
one, but another hurricane down. This mountain boy had never been
in a hurricane before, and I was down in Florida last year, and
I got out on the porch. Wow. You know, a hurricane. Call and say, hey, I'm in a hurricane.
People around there, you know, weren't real impressed. I was. Get in the house, get in the
house. Thunder and lightning. I love to hear thunder. I love
to see lightning crack. You know what I think of? Every
time. Oh, my. He said, Disciples said,
Lord, don't go into Jerusalem. They'll kill you. I just didn't know they really
didn't know who he was nobody you can't kill life. You can't
kill God. They tried many times didn't
they I mean there was a whole lynch mob trying to take him
he just passed right through. Looks like his disciples would
have learned something didn't they. I'm glad that they were
ignorant because I am too. Well, verse nine says, or verse,
let's go on down. Verse eleven, he says, uh, our
friend, Lazarus, sleepeth. Our friend, Lazarus, sleepeth. We've got some friends, don't
we? We've lost some friends. But he's just, they're sleeping. I go to wake him out of his sleep. Amen. Our friend, Lazarus, he'd
give us scriptures. Our Lord made it plain here.
When he said, our friend, sleep it, he didn't say, oh, he died
a horrible death. He died of cancer. He died of
consumption. He died of, oh, he didn't even
say he died. He said God give us his beloved. Do you worry when your child
goes to sleep? Your wife, husband, mother, father
say sleep, do you worry about? No, it is sleeping. Did you ever
go in and look at them lying there asleep? Sure you did. Still
do it. Sleep. The precious thing is
sleep, as in rest. Well, the Lord calls death for
his people. He doesn't call it death. Death
is the end, isn't it? Something died, that means it
ended. Life ended. Life does not end for God's people. Life does not end. Death ends. Life doesn't end, Nancy. Death
ends. We're so ignorant. Passage that said, dead in trance,
we leave death to walk in newness of life. And our Lord doesn't call the
cessation of this life or any believer that he was asleep. And what happens after sleep
if you really get a good night's sleep. And it's wonderful and
wonderful this way some way that you know you get old. If you
don't get much sleep at night I wouldn't know anything about
that and Margaret would She's 50, you know. I'm not anywhere
near that old, are we, Debbie? But I'm sure by now she's had
trouble sleeping. And old age, you know, causes
you to lose sleep. But if you get it, and what you
long for, don't you? What you long for is to get a
full night's sleep, uninterrupted sleep. I'm lying, I do have trouble
sleeping. Especially since my wife's got the thermostat at
28 degrees Fahrenheit. Any men in here know anything
about that? Man. At any rate. To get a night's sleep is just
you look forward to it. And what does that mean? What's
it mean for you when you wake up? What's it mean? You're refreshed. And that's exactly what happens
to the belief when they go to sleep. They wake with the dew
of youth on their brow. Change, completely change. No
bags, no wrinkles, no tears, no sorrow, no pain. Sleep. Now, who doesn't want to go to
sleep? Who doesn't want to go to sleep?
He's sleeping. He's just sleeping. Well, the disciples, poor disciples,
if he's asleep, Lord, if he's sleeping, that means he's getting
better. Yeah, that's right. In verse thirteen, howbeit the
Lord spoke of death, and they thought he'd talk about sleep,
and so the Lord plainly said, Lazarus is dead. As far as you
know, he's dead. And I'm glad I look at this I
look at it I'm glad for your sake I was not there to the intent
that you may believe. Now. Everything the Lord does
for his people is to this intent. That you may believe. Everything the Lord does is to
this intent for this intent and purpose. that his people might
believe, trust him. You understand? Everything that
happened. Well, this is bad. It's for this purpose. To the
intent, to the purpose that you might believe, that you might
trust me. Well, it doesn't look good. That's what I'm saying. You don't walk by sight. Don't
do that. Anybody can do that. Walk by
faith. Believe me. I've told you. To
the intent that he might later on, Gabe, say, I told you. Did you hear that? Now, human
beings say to one another, I told you so. And you hate it, don't
you? You hate when they're right.
They tell you, warn you about it, and it happened, and I told
you so. But the Lord tells you these things, and they happen,
and it says to your joy, I told you. Didn't I tell you? It's always good. In the end,
it's always good. Lord, you told me I didn't believe.
The disciples kicked themselves for 30 years after the Lord left
saying, why didn't we believe Him? Why didn't we believe Him?
And that's how they could go and face cruel death. He told
us so. We didn't believe Him. To the
intent that you might believe. See, faith doesn't go on sight.
You know, show me and I'll believe. No, believe and I'll show you.
That's what the Lord said. Believe. That's no glory to Him
if He shows you first. It's glory to Him. You're taking
Him at His Word. You're saying He can't lie, and
you believe Him and trust Him. That glorifies Him. Then what
happened? You told yourself. You did, didn't
you, Lord? You sure did. You're true and
right and just in everything you do and say. The intent that
we might wait on the Lord and we might rest that we might believe
that we might trust him when when the end the end the end. Look to the end. Don't stop reading the book in
the middle of the middle of the. End. Oh, this is sad. Read the end
for God's people is always happily ever after. Every time. But Martha and Mary, the Lord
waited, says two more days versus 16 and 17 and verse 17, when
Christ came, he found that he laid in the grave four days already. The Lord knew when he died four
days earlier. Because he killed him. He had
him die of sickness. And he waited two days. And then
two more days. Four days. Why did he wait so
long? Let everyone but know, without
a shadow of a doubt, that Lazarus is dead. Because they put him
when he died four days earlier, and they put him in a tomb. They
didn't have embalming back then. They couldn't take their blood
out and put embalming fluid in it. No, they had to get the body
in the ground within about 24 hours or less, or it would start
what? Stinking. So they got him in the ground.
That's the reason they put spices all over him. All these spices,
they just covered them and wrapped them up, for one thing, and put
spices all over them to keep them from stinking. That's flesh. That's what flesh
is, corrupt, stinking to God. Dead, those dead in trespass
and sin. Well, they had to put them in
the ground quickly, and they put Lazarus in the ground four
days earlier. And the Lord waited four whole
days. Why? So that everyone, without a shadow
of a doubt, would know he's dead. He's dead, even his sister. Now, when the Lord said, take
the stone away, even his sister said, Lord, he's dead, he's stinking
dead. Barnard used to say graveyard
dead. When a body's in the ground,
it's dead. Now, this is a picture, like
everything in Scripture, of salvation. I quoted it to you in Ephesians
2.1. It says, And you who were dead in trespasses and sin. What does dead mean? What does
this mean? He's dead. What does it mean?
He's dead. He's stinking. He can't do anything. He's dead. He can't move. He can't call. He can't talk. He can't hear.
He can't... He's dead. How dead? Stinking dead. And you. Happy quicken means
raised from the dead who were dead. How long were some of you
dead and trespasses. When last let me ask this part
when Lazarus was raised did he know he was raised. Did he know
he was dead. Most people don't know they're
dead. I'm a pretty bad fellow but I
mean. It's not mere coincidence that
you can even smell your own body or odor that's by God's purpose. You think about that. You can
have horrible body odor and not know. More than everybody else
does. Why is that why can't you smell
yourself. That's a picture. Man is dead
insane. I'm not a bad fellow, an old
drunk. I mean, that's absolute. Give you an illustration. I know
I've gone on too long, but I may not get to preach again. Todd Nyberg, Brother Todd Nyberg
and a friend began preaching down in Lexington, Kentucky in
a little storefront They were going to college, and both of
them were zealous to preach the gospel to that town where they
were going to school. And so they rented a little storefront
building, and they both said, Let's put it down in the slum
area. Let's put it down in the ghetto where the sinners are. I mean, let's put it down there
where the prostitutes and the drunks and the drug addicts are.
Let's put it down there in the ghetto. And, buddy, it was. It
was mad. And anyway, and they began having
services. And, you know, it was bad. Drunks
and prostitutes would all be stumbling in, stumbling out and
so forth. And Todd was preaching one time
about sin. You're a sinner. We're sinners.
All of sin, sinner, dead and trespassing. An old drunk had
wandered in. He's on the back row. And he,
you know, he said, I ain't no sinner. And he's a man lying in the gutter. I ain't no sinner. I'm bad, but I ain't as bad as
that other fellow. God said they that compare themselves with
themselves are not wise. God says there's none good, no
not one. Not one, there's none righteous,
not one. God said that. Compared with Christ. Stinking. And how long did you lay in the
grave? I was in it 20 years or so. Stinking. How about some of you? 30 years? 40 years? 50 years? How old was Virgie? Was Virgie
65? How old was Virgie Nancy? When the Lord... 65? 65, 70? She was. Then dead she was religious. But then. She did tell you she
did tell you she told everybody. That she didn't know God. She was dead. But Christ through
the preaching of the gospel one day the truth. Came to her grave
just like Lazarus said live. And she lived. I didn't live
too many more years after that on this earth. Boy, she's living
that way. I wish I had time to tell that
story. She didn't want to listen to bad preaching. But how long
did you lie in the grave? Well, whoever Jesus Christ loves
that is dead, they're going to write. They're going to write.
We'll call them from the dead by his gospel. We're bound to
give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, 2 Thessalonians
2, 13, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification and the belief of the truth, whereunto
he called you by our gospel. You were dead, and he called
you. He came by where you were in your grave. It might have
been a church pew, but you were dead. And he came by and said,
live. It was a time of love, and he
spread his skirt on you. And that's another story. This
is her story. Well, he came, now he came, and
then Martha, I'm so glad this is written, Martha and Mary both
said, Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother hadn't died.
Both of them said that. Lord, if you had, this had, the Lord shall never leave you
for sake of you. The Lord is everywhere. It's
not like, well, the Lord's in heaven and we're here. No you
don't understand in him we live and move and have. Well God's
up there and I'm right. You don't understand. You don't
understand. We're in him. I can't see God. No we can't. We're in him. In Christ. He's over there. He said I'm
not a God at hand. I'm not a God that's far off
or vice versa. In him, Christ there in John
10 said, no man can pluck them out of my father's hand. We're
in his hands. Lord, if you'd been here, he
hadn't died. I was here. That's why he did
die. He cruelly said to my father,
when my father, when my oldest brother was killed in Vietnam
at 21 years old, all the enemies said. Who hated. Sovereign God said things like
they actually said to him where was God when your son. Can you believe somebody say. You know what his answer was.
Same place he was when his son died. Think anybody could kill his
son, Deborah? No, sir. It pleased the Lord to Bruce. Good Lord, if he'd been here, he was there. Lazarus wasn't alone. None of
his people died alone. Old Johnny Cash used to say,
you've got to walk that valley by yourself. Psalm 23 doesn't
say that. Yet, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of the death, I fear no evil, because thou
art with me." That's Bible. Now, you've got
to walk it by yourself. No, sir. No, sir. No child of God dies
alone. And no child of God dies by anything
other than the Lord's will and purpose. You'd have been here. And she went on to say, I know,
though, that whatever you ask God, God will give it to you. Now, the Lord said under here,
your brother shall rise again. And I think he's talking about
just a few minutes. I know he is, based on what he
said in a minute. He said, your brother is going
to rise again. I'm coming into Bethany, I'm
going to show my power to you. You see, other people are not
going to believe even though one rose from the dead. And they
didn't. At the end of the story, the
Pharisees who hated Christ and hated the gospel didn't believe,
though they saw it with their own eyes. But he did this for
the glory of God, for his glory and for his people, that they
might trust him and believe him. And he said to her, your brother
is going to rise again. I mean, in just a few minutes.
And she said, oh, I know he will in the resurrection. I know he
will in the resurrection. And our Lord said this. Verse 25, look at it with your
own eyes. Jesus saying to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Oh, I hope to go to heaven someday.
People, if you know Christ, you're already there. Ain't that great? Barbara heard that. If you know Christ, you can live
in this hell hole and have some heaven. You're already there. That's the reason. Seek first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Everything else is great. I'm
in the Lord's will. I'm where the Lord's supposed
to be. I'm content in whatever's to come. I'm content. I know
this is the Lord's will. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't.
I'm happy. It's the Lord. I'm just going to wait on the
Lord. Wait on the Lord. Now, if you'd have been here,
Lord, oh, if you'd done me, I know he's going to go to heaven. I
know this. If you know me, you have me. Don't look for a place. God's people aren't looking for
a carnal utopia where they can play golf the rest of their lives
or whatever, people. To know him, whom? David said
it, didn't he, in Psalm 65? Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there's none on earth I desire besides thee. If you really have
Christ, What else do you need? Who else? But he's so good, all
these things will be added to you. And he says, go on, he says,
I am the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. See, faith
does not give life. It's proof of it. Proof of it. Which comes first,
this child going to be born? What comes first, life or the
realization of it? Which comes first, a child going
to say, Mama, it's not alive until it calls? Oh, it's alive when it's born.
When that seed was sown. I've known people who have been
alive That is, God just sowed the seed and worked on them,
and they were quickened and didn't know. They felt so sinful and
so rotten, but they believed the truth, and yet they just
thought it was too good to be true. It's for everybody else
but me. And they're afraid to believe.
They're already lying. Word is the life. It's the seed. It's incorruptible seed. Not
my faith. Faith is a result of the Word. Well, whosoever liveth and believeth
in me, verse 26, shall never die. Believeth thou this? Or it says, it doesn't matter
if dead or alive. Alive or dead. it's like you
never whoever believes in me will never die you believe that i wish i could i really wish
i could believe that i do lord i believe help mom and dad whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die never die never die She said, Lord, I believe. And
here's her answer and here's my answer. And this is the only
answer we can give. I don't understand. I don't fully
understand. I believe. I don't understand
why he had to die the way he did. But he did. Now you're here and you're telling
me this. And I believe you're the And I don't fully understand
that either. But this is one thing I know,
and this is what I believe. Lord, I believe that thou art
indeed Christ. In other words, God has given
all things unto your hands, even me. And I'm going to rest right
there. Martha, no more questions. No
more arguing. You're the Christ. The Son of
the Living God. Oh, my. She's about to sleep. Just rest
right there. Well, Mary, now, look, can I
go on? Can I go on? I've got to get
to the end. It says that many Jews came to
comfort Martha. Verse 19, they came to comfort
Martha. And where did Martha go for comfort? They came to comfort Martha,
and they were trying, I'm sure, but she went straight to the
Lord. And that's where we got to go. Well, the Lord, Mary heard
that the Master has come. Verse 28, I love that. The Master
has come and calleth for thee. So she heard that. Now, the Jews
said she's going to the grave to weep. No, no, that's not what she's
doing. She's going to Christ for comfort. That's where God's people go. That's where God's people go. David, bless God that that story
is in the scripture. David, when his child was sick,
could not be comforted. He should have been, but he couldn't
be because he was flashed. He was about to lose a baby.
I'm so glad that's in there. I'm so glad that's in
there. Aren't you? Like this disciple
sleeping and on and on. He knows our brain. But bless
God, it says when that child died, David had his tears and
went in and got a bite to eat. And he was back in his right
mind again. Comfort. Comfort. Not weeping
without comfort. No, we sorrow not as those who
have no hope. Well, the Lord came to where
Lazarus was, and verse 33 says, He groaned in the Spirit and
was troubled. And I love that, too, because
the margin says, in the original Greek, He troubled himself. I like that. The Lord wasn't
troubled, you see. He's controlling these events.
He wasn't troubled in the sense that you and I are troubled.
We're perplexed. We're distraught. We're distraught over things
we have no control over. We're absolutely, we can't be
comforted over things that we, because we don't know the end
and so forth. He was not troubled in that sense.
The margin gives the good. It says he troubled himself.
He put himself through a great deal of trouble. When the Lord
came to this earth, he troubled himself. He put himself through
trouble. He knew what he was doing. He
knew everything that would befall him. And he said, where have you laid
me? The same Lord who in the garden said, Adam, where are
you? He knew where it was. He knew where Adam was, but the
Lord was saying, look at you now. Look where you've come now. And
the Lord said, where have you laid him? And he said, Jesus
went. There's not enough time to deal
with him. But know this, that he's not
weeping over something he has no control over. He's not weeping
because things happened that he didn't want to happen. That's
not it. This is God down here on this
planet in the midst of a cesspool of sin, and the end of sin is
death and sorrow and weeping. And he wept over what sin has
done, how it's ravaged the human race. and over what his people have
to go through. They have to. He's the one that
does it. But he wept. Much like you'd go into an old
folks' home and see what sin does to these bodies. You can
do that without weeping. You have no feeling at all. He
wept. The Jews said, Behold, how he
loved him. Oh, you don't know the half.
You don't know the half. But he died. because he loved
him. Psalm, Isaiah 57. Righteous men
are taken. They're spared. Righteous women
are taken. Spared. They die because the Lord loves
them. Come on out of here. Come on. No more of this for you. There was a stone over the cave,
and the Lord said in verse 39, take away the stone. Martha argued,
Lord, he's been dead four days, he's stinking. Verse 40, said
I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe thou shouldst
see the glory of God? Now, the Lord didn't say those
exact words to her. What did he say? He said, I am
the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live." That's the same thing. He said
the same thing. If you would believe, you'd see
the glory of God. Belief what? Not to believe what,
but who. He is the glory of God. Do you
remember back there? I told you to remember this.
Back in verse 4, he said, This sickness is not undead, but for
the glory of God. That the Son of God might be
glorified. You believe you'll see the glory of God. Have you
seen the glory of God? What is the glory of God? The
Sea Party? The Red Sea Party? The bread
coming down from heaven? What is the glory of God? It's
a who. An evil world looks at the signs. Show me this will believe. Show
me that. That's not the glory of God. You know what the glory
of God is? Christ is a glory. If God showed
you Christ, Dickie, you've seen the glory of God. And you're
going to go to glory. Where's that? To be with Christ.
And you're going to see glory. Behold what glory? His glory! I wish I could get over that.
We've already been glorified whom He justified. John, we've
already been four of us. Just someday we're going to be
able to see it all the time. Without, you know, we'd be consumed
now. We couldn't live on this planet. Well, read on. It says, they took away the stone,
verse 41, from the place where he was dead. And Jesus lifted
up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard
me. When did the Lord pray? He prayed without ceasing. He's
always after me. While he's walking to the grave,
he's talking to the Father. We're going to be glorified.
Glorify thou me with the glory which thou hast givest me in
the beginning. Glorify thy name in the under. Bye-bye.