to John 11. This chapter begins with a statement
or a declaration that a certain man was sick and his name was
Lazarus. He was particularly well-known to the
master. After all, he is a chosen vessel
unto salvation. And the things that befell Lazarus
were all according to the eternal purpose of God. You see, no sickness,
no affliction, can ever come the way of a child of God apart
from that divine purpose. We read in the scriptures that
all things are of God. And our God, he is magnified
in managing and governing and directing all things for all
of his creatures, but most especially in the lives of his adopted children. Even now, throughout this world,
there are untold millions, I suppose, of God's children who suffer,
who have great difficulties. These are people who were chosen
in grace unto salvation. These are people who've been
redeemed by the bloody death of our Lord Jesus Christ. These
are people who've been quickened by the spirit of grace. made
to live unto God, and yet they still have great difficulties. And it is very honoring unto
our God that he knows each and every one of them, for that which
every child of God have to go to, has to go through in this
life is appointed by the Lord. And he measures out whatever
degree of difficulty that a child of God is having. He measures
that out according to the purpose that he established before the
world was ever created. And he gives to each one a measured,
a measured amount of difficulty. And with the difficulty, he gives
great grace to bear up under whatever sickness or affliction
that God has ordained to come their way. And we know he governs
all things. And when I say God governs all
things, I mean the God-man. Because he who laid down his
life for the sheep and then took that life up again has been rewarded. with universal authority. And of all the people in this
vast world in which we live that belong to the Lord, he oversees
each and every one with minute care and knowledge. as though there was not another
child of God in the world. You see, such is the magnificence
of our Savior, such is His glory, such is the wonder of His deity
and the compassion of His own heart, that He knows all of His
sheep by name, And He comforts us and deals
with us as though He didn't have any other sheep in the world. That's how magnificent He is.
Let me show you a couple of references
here. Look at Romans 11. Romans chapter 11. Speaking of our Lord, Romans 11 toward the end, 33.
Romans 11, 33. Oh, the depth. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments, his decrees, his counsels, his decisions is a
good word there, and his ways, his thoughts, his designs, the
way he carries out his purpose. Well, that's past finding out.
He says in 34, for who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who
hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him
and it shall be recompensed unto him again? And then he says,
for of him, that is because of him and through him and to him
are all things. There are no exceptions. Of Him
and through Him and to Him are all things. Doesn't matter what
it is. All things are of Him. Therefore
Paul says, to whom be glory forever. Amen. And I'll tell you the one
who is the Lord. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Romans 14. Get Romans
14. Verse nine, for to this end Christ
both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of
the dead and the living. And really that takes in everybody. If he's talking about the physically
dead and the physically living, that takes in all people. Or
maybe he's talking about those who are spiritually dead and
those who are spiritually living. It still takes in all people.
He's everybody's Lord. And he has been awarded with
universal Lordship. Because He obeyed that which
was decreed for Him to do in the covenant of everlasting grace. Which He Himself volunteered
to do. That is to give His life to save
His sheep. And He has saved all of His sheep
by His bloody death upon the cross of Calvary. and He has
glorified all the designs of the Trinity. Everything that
God the Father, Son, and Spirit ordained and purposed before
the world was established, our Lord Jesus has fulfilled and
is fulfilling that purpose. He has saved His people from
our sins. What can wash away my sin? Really, the question is, what
did wash away my sin? Not what can. He washed our sins away 2,000
years ago. There is no new redemption going
on. He obtained eternal redemption
once and for all. It's news to us when the Spirit
of God awakens us and teaches us that we have been redeemed,
our sins have been washed away. It's new to us then, but this
is a past accomplishment. The gospel is a declaration. It is the good news of something
that has already happened. And our Lord Jesus is the one
who happened it. He's the one who put our sins
away, it's done. And now he has been elevated
to be the Lord universally. Now he, as God, he's always been
the Lord. But as the God-man, as that one
who humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross, God has therefore exalted him. And seated there
at the right hand of the majesty on high is the God-man, our brother,
our friend, our mediator, our advocate, our savior, and our
sovereign, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he presides over every single
thing that happens to all of his children. And as far as that
goes, he presides over all things that happens to those who are
the devil's children. In this passage of scripture
over here in John 11, where the council got together, And they
said, what are we gonna do? Something's gotta be done about
Jesus of Nazareth. Seems like everybody's believing
him. Seems like everybody's following him. And if we don't step in
and stop this, then Rome's gonna say, well, is this Messiah? Is he the one who's gonna lead
Israel to overthrow Roman dominance? Well, they'll just take our nation
away from us. That's what they said. But far beyond our ability to comprehend,
our Lord Jesus in that meeting of the council where Caiaphas
spoke, it wasn't Caiaphas who presided over the meeting. It
was the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, in his own sufferings
and death, It wasn't Herod, it wasn't Pilate, it wasn't the
Romans, it wasn't the Jewish Sanhedrin. Our Lord Jesus presided
over everything that happened, every blow of the nails in his
hands and his feet. Our Lord Jesus Christ appointed
every one of them. And every crack of the whip that
pierced his back and made ruts and awful, inflicted awful torture
upon our Savior. He gave them the strength to
do that and He purposed that they do it to Him. He was then overseeing all of
that and He oversees everything happening, child of God, To you. To you. And with every affliction, with
every sickness, he will give grace to bear it.
That's what the Lord said to the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians
12, he said, my grace is sufficient for thee. But Lord, I'm so weak. You ever
say that? Lord, I'm so weak. He says, my
strength is made perfect in your weakness. It's when you realize you don't
have any strength, he said, I've got it all. I have full strength. That's why Paul says, most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power
of Christ may rest upon me. Oh, that we would avail ourselves
of that great grace. In times of our weakness, it's
there. And in every affliction that our Lord puts upon us, let's lean on him. Trust his wisdom. Trust his providence. You see, whatever God has designed
for you and for me is going to come to pass exactly as he determined. You ever read Bishop J.C. Ryle? I read him every once in
a while. lived, I don't know, a couple
hundred years ago. He said this, I was reading him
on John 11. He said this, it's a quote, nothing
so helps us to bear patiently all the trials of life as an
abiding conviction of the perfect wisdom by which everything around
us is managed," end quote. And that's worthy enough to be
repeated. He said, nothing so helps us
to bear patiently the trials of life as an abiding conviction
of the perfect wisdom by which everything around us is managed. You see, you have a manager over all the things that happen
to you. Nothing is going to ever happen
to you apart from the sovereign will and determination of your
manager. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. So that everything that happens
to us is well done. It's done in the best manner. by the right instrument at the
right time. We are all naturally impatient,
especially when trials come. We want things done, and we want
them done right now. We cry out like Moses did. You remember back in, it's in
the book of Numbers 12, when Aaron and Miriam were critical
of Moses, and the Lord smote Miriam with
leprosy. In Numbers 12 and 13, Says, Moses cried out to the
Lord. Heal her now, Lord. That's what he said. Heal her
now. We want things done. We want
things done now. We've got to learn to wait on
the Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ is too
wise to make an error concerning you. He's too good to do you wrong. And he's too powerful to fail. Our times are in his hand. And it is our greatest wisdom
and faith to patiently wait for Him to do His will whenever He
wills to do it. When we're sick, He knows if
it's best for us to be healed or for us to just languish upon
our sickbed. He knows the best time to heal
us if we're going to be healed, and He knows the best way. When we're in trouble, He knows
the best time to deliver us from that trouble, the best way to
deliver us from that trouble, or if it's best for us to just
remain in the trouble, and he'll give grace to bear it, and thereby
he's glorified. When we need help, he knows the
best time to help. He knows the best way to help. He knows if it's better if we
remain in a state of feeling our own helplessness. He knows. Your manager knows. Your Lord
knows. Your Savior knows. I may not
know. Preacher, you don't know what
I'm going through with. No, I don't. Whole lot I don't know. But I
am confident that he knows. I was thinking about Marty falling
and exiting the building several many weeks ago. I can't tell you why that happened,
but you know and I know that was of the Lord. And I know you still bear the
discomfort of that. You still bear the marks of it. You see, the ways of God and
the purpose of God is so mysterious. Somebody told me not long ago,
I don't know what the Lord is doing. And I said, I don't either,
but he knows what he's doing. And that's gotta be good enough.
That's gotta be good enough. You see, in all of this, in the
sickness and then the death of Lazarus, there are several consequences
or results of this. And one was this, the Son of
God was glorified. You know, in many of the confessions
of faith, and catechisms. The first question
will be, what is the chief end of man? It is to glorify God
and enjoy Him forever. And God's glory is always foremost
in importance. He's gonna get glory by every
member of the human race. He'll either get glory in His
graciousness, in His loving kindness, and in His salvation by lifting
up a sinner from the miry clay and establishing their going
and setting their feet on the rock, Christ Jesus. Or He'll get glory by damning
somebody. I know that's right. He's going to get glory by you.
And I may be preaching to somebody who is just a rebel, and you're
standing staunchly against the gospel, well, I'm just not going
to believe this. I can't make you believe it.
Wouldn't make you believe it if I could. Because if I didn't
make you believe it, somebody else would come along and say,
hey, what he's preaching is wrong. You need to believe what I'm
believing. All I can do, I'm just the messenger. But I know who can break your
heart. The manager. The Lord can. He created all
things. Let me tell you something, and
I may be speaking to a rebel. I may be speaking to somebody
who's standing against the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace. Well, I'll never believe that.
Well, we'll see. If he wills for you to believe
the truth, you will believe the truth. I believe he created all things
without your permission, didn't he? Job did a lot of unnecessary
mouthing off. And the Lord said, I got something
to say to you. Where were you? Where were you when I created
all of this? Answer, if you can. And Job in the end, it's like
the Lord said, you got anything else to say? He said, I shut my mouth. He said, I'm such a sinner. I repent in sackcloth and ashes. He not only created all things
without you, he governs all things without you. He rules throughout his vast
universe. He is the eternal Lord, Christ
is. You know, John the Baptist was
his forerunner, but he preceded John. And our Lord Jesus, in his human
nature, was born in Bethlehem's manger, and yet he said, before
Abraham was, I am. He said, Abraham rejoiced to
see my day. He saw it and was glad, but he
lived before I did. In our Lord's human nature, that
is. Our Lord Jesus, He existed. He was there before the first
man was made. In fact, He made Him. He created Adam in the image
that our Lord Jesus would be born in some 4,000 years after He made
Adam. Before the angels ever sang His
praise, He is there. Before the heavens and the earth
were created, He was there. Before anything was ever made,
He was there. That's your manager right there. The eternal God. He governs all
things. And I tell you, salvation is
owing to and attributed to Him. Moses spoke to him and said,
I beseech thee, show me thy glory. The Son of God answered him.
He said, how do you know it's the Son of God? Because God's
not gonna speak to nor be spoken to by any son or daughter of
Adam apart from a mediator. I'm gonna say that enough that
you ain't never gonna forget that, I hope. So he said, show me thy glory. And the Son of God said, I'll
cause my goodness to pass before you, and I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will
show mercy. He's the sovereign Savior. I have no argument with His election
unto salvation, do you? You're going to stand up on your
hind legs and accuse the Son of God with injustice? You're a fool to do that. Who
art thou to reply against God, to reply against your maker?
You're just a thing that's made. He's the one that made you. You're
just a piece of pottery. He's the great potter. And he makes out of everybody
exactly what he wants to make out of. I'm glad he made me a vessel
of mercy. Aren't you, Ron? You glad you are? You too, Joe? All the rest of you in here?
Could have made me to be whatever he wanted. And that which he
wanted to make me was what he purposed to make me back in eternity
past. One of his children. He chose us, He redeemed us.
Who bought us? He did. With what did He buy
us? His own bloody death. From what did He buy us? Divine
justice that demanded death. Why did He redeem us? Why did
He buy us? Because He loved us. Why did
He love us? Because He would. And then in time, he reveals
the gospel to us. You see, he reveals the truth
to some and he hides it from others. You got a problem with
that? I don't. I don't. Even so, Lord, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. Tell you, one of the One of the
results and one of the consequences of this is that the Son of God
was glorified. And another consequence or result,
Lazarus was raised. Well, who raised him? Well, he didn't raise himself. His sisters didn't raise him. They didn't call in the famous
physician in Bethany, say, Dr. So-and-so, you've had these medicines that
you mix up. Can't you give him something?
I can't give him anything. He's dead. He had to be raised by him who
is the resurrection and the life. And I'll tell you this, all of
us who believe the gospel, we are living, breathing examples
of the power, the resurrecting power of the Son of God. Because
you read in Ephesians chapter one, we live by the same kind
of power that raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. That's spiritual
resurrection, regeneration. Lazarus had gone to paradise. And the Lord called him back. Only for him to die again. What's the consequences of this?
Well, not only was Christ glorified and Lazarus was raised, but this
strengthened the faith of Martha and Mary. And I'll go quickly and then
say this. As a result of this, many believed
on Christ. Let me show something. Look back
at verse 41. Then they took away the stone
at the word of the Son of God 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. While he prayed many times silently
from his heart, But watch this. But because of
the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that
thou hast sent me. See, our Lord Jesus often communicated
with the Father, not with vocal words like I'm using or like
he used here at the tomb of Lazarus. He just communicated with the
Father in his mind. After all, their minds are one.
I and my Father are one. But he prayed this prayer out
loud for the benefit of those who would believe. Because you
see, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
And I'll tell you what, these folks heard the Word of God.
They heard the words of God. And the evidence of that is in
verse 45. Now remember, he said back there in verse 42, because
of the people. He has a people. He has a people
chosen. He came to redeem them. Thou
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. He has this people that he came
to save. And he says, I pray this prayer
out loud, Father, because of the people, the people you gave
me who are right here in this group, that they may hear and believe. And in verse 45, then many of
the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus
did, you know what they did? They believed on him. They believed
on him. They heard his voice. They heard
his voice. And another consequence of this
miracle is that it was like a goad to
the Sanhedrin to hurry up and do something. And that worked out just perfectly,
you see. Because our Lord Jesus is going
to die right on time. Not a day earlier, not a day
later. And our Lord Jesus delayed coming
from Bethabara where He was preaching back to the Bethany area. He delayed for two days and when
He got back it had been four days. It's inching closer and
closer to the Passover. When God's Passover lamb was
going to die. You see, all of these things
are being managed by the sovereign Christ. And everything's moving right
on time, right on schedule. And when he raised Lazarus and
granted faith to these people, many of the people who were witnesses
of this miracle, when he did that And they had some enemies
in the group who went running to the Sanhedrin, running to
the Pharisees and said, he's really done something now. He's raised a man from the dead
who's been dead four days. And the Sanhedrin said, we got
to have a meeting. We need a business meeting here.
What are we going to do? It's time to put a stop to this
madness. Who's behind this timetable? Not those guys. They're just
bloodthirsty enemies of the gospel. The one they gonna lay hands
on and murder. He's controlling all things. And Brandon read to us there,
beginning at verse 47. They had a meeting. And in the midst of the meeting,
the guy who is high priest that year, Caiaphas, he said, hey, listen, let me
tell you what's gotta happen. Tell you what's gotta happen.
It's better that one die and the many live. Hmm, sound like
substitution to me. And he did, the scripture says
that the things that he spake were not of himself. He didn't
know the gospel. He didn't love the gospel of
substitutionary grace. Satisfaction of divine justice
had meant nothing to him. But you see, even a blind squirrel
can find an acorn every once in a while. What he had to say was by the
power of the Holy Spirit. He prophesied that Jesus would
die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that
he should gather together in one the children of God that
were scattered abroad. And verse 53 says, from that
day forth, they took counsel for to put him to death. And it's just a few days before
our Lord will die, because it was what chapter 12, verse one
says six days to Passover. So our Lord, he didn't walk in
Jewry anymore. He didn't walk in Judea anymore. He worked things so that their
anger was stirred up and then he just left. And they're all
hot under the collar and they're breathing fires of wrath and,
you know, thunderclaps of anger toward Jesus of Nazareth. And
he left. And the interesting thing is,
look at verse 55. I mean, several interesting things, but the Jews
Passover was not at hand. By the way, you know John in
John chapter two and here in John chapter 11, John is led
of the spirit to call it the Jews Passover. You remember what
it was called when it was instituted? The Lord's Passover. The Lord's
Passover. But this had so, fallen into
such a sham of religion is called the Jews' Passover. It was nigh at hand and many,
watch this, verse 55, many went out of the country up to Jerusalem
before the Passover. What did they go for? To purify
themselves. And he who purifies sinners had
been right in their midst. If they'd done some outstanding
sin, there was a purification ceremony, washings and offerings
to be offered. And then in verse 56, they sought
for Jesus. And they spoke among themselves
as they stood in the temple and said, what do you think? Look
at the last part of this 56. What thank you? You think you'll
come to the feast or not? He'll be there. He has a divine appointment to
be there. Scheduled before the world began. Because he's God's Passover lamb. And he's going to die a death of substitution for his
people. And nothing can interfere with
that. Not with the deed of it and not with the timing of it.
He'll die right on schedule. And everything that happens to
you Happens right on schedule. And we bless the name of the
one who manages all things. We thank him for his bloody death.
210. That's the song we're gonna sing here as we wind down a day
of worship. 210.