My subject today is life for
the dead. Life for the dead. Our Lord Jesus
here, Mary and Martha, had come and sent word that he whom thou
lovest is sick. And of course, four days before
the Lord got there, he had been dead for four days. Four days. But the deeds of our Lord Jesus
Christ were never done capriciously. He always has an intent, a purpose
in whatever He does. And they're always acts of His
sovereignty. There were lots of people in
the same condition, like many lepers were in Israel in the
time of Elisha, Syria in the time of Elisha. But Elisha was
only sent to them. And so, you know, when our Lord
done something for somebody, it was an act of His sovereign
power, and for God to reveal His glory in it. And of all the
miracles which our Master did, there's instruction for us if
God gives us eyes to see. Gives us eyes to see. When our
Lord opened the eyes of the blind, it was to reveal that if you
and I are to see, He must give us the sight. He must give it
to us. And when He gives us that sight,
you know what He gives us a sight for? That we might see Him. That we might see Him. Let me
show you that over here in John chapter 9 and verse 35. Just
go back to your left one page for what He says here in chapter
9, verse 35. When He gives us eyes to see,
ears to hear, it's that we might see Him and that we might hear
His voice. In John 9.35, This is why the
Lord opened the eyes of the blind man, and they cast him out. And
when Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when he had
found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? He answered and said, Lord, who
is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? If I knew who he was,
I'd believe him. And Jesus said unto him, Thou
hast both seen him, see that, seen him, and it is he that talketh
with him. You know, He gives us eyes to
see Him, and my sheep hear my voice, and He's there talking
with them. He said, Lord, I believe, and
He worships Him. Now listen to this. And our Lord
said, for judgment I am coming to this world, that they which
see not, might see, that they are like this blind man, they
don't have the ability to see. They admit it. I don't see. I
was blind. How blind have you and I been
over the years? When we look back to our lives,
our lives, and our religion, In our whole lives, how blind
have we been in our lives? How blind was we to ourselves?
How blind was we to sin? How blind was we to God? How
blind was we to the person of Christ? How blind was we to what
Christ accomplished on the cross? How blind have we been? Blind! And He said, I come that they
that don't see might see. And then the Lord said, and that
they which see might be made blind. might be made blind. How many
people you try to tell something about God? Oh, I understand.
I see. You don't have to tell me. I know. But look what he
said. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind
also? Were we blinded? Our Lord said
unto him, If you were blind, if you're blind, if you said,
Lord, I don't see your glory. I don't see your power. I don't
see your sovereignty. I don't see your blood. I don't
see your righteousness. I don't see your sovereignty.
If you was blind, you'd have no sin. I'd put your sin away.
But now you say, we see. We see. We see our own righteousness. We see our own ability. We see. But I'll tell you, when our Lord
done a miracle, it was for us to see, for us to hear and learn
from these things. And His miracles, and I'll tell
you this, beloved, His miracles, are illustrations of our Lord's
willingness and His ability. He is willing and able to do
for those who cannot do for themselves. And secondly, it also reveals
in His miracles our inability and our unwillingness, and that
if He's not willing and He's not able, we're going to stay
unwilling and we're going to stay unable. Huh? And they show
his power to save and to keep and to meet all the needs of
those to whom he comes and those who come to him. Now, here is
Lazarus. Look what it says there in verse
1. Now, a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town
of Mary and her sister Martha. Here is Lazarus, the brother
of Mary and Martha. These people are prominent in
the Scriptures, especially the two sisters. You know, their
name is mentioned often. You remember when Mary, our Lord,
came to their house to eat one time, and she got up and started
cooking and doing all the things that she was doing. They come
to Mary, and the Lord says, Lord, don't you care that Mary don't
help me? You know, I'm cumbered. I've got things to do. And here's
Mary sitting here doing nothing. Our Lord says, Martha, Martha,
you just worry. You've got so much going on.
He says, but Mary, It shows in that good part that she said,
I'm not going to take it away from her. I'm not going to take
it away from her. And I'll tell you something else. This is a
true story. This is not a parable. This happened. This happened. This is a true story. That is
a true man. This really happened. This is not a parable. This is
a picture, an example of what must be done for sinners who
will be saved by the grace of God. This is a picture of a sinner's
condition and of God saving him. And first of all, let's look
at his pitiful condition. It says here that, they said
in verse 3, said, This sister said unto him, saying, Lord,
behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. But our Lord come down there,
and then he says to his disciples there in verse 14, Then said
Jesus unto his disciples, plainly, plainly, Lazarus is dead. Lazarus is dead. And our beloved,
the condition, this is the condition of all men spiritually. They're
dead. They are dead. You go into among
a bunch of people, and everybody who's not regenerated is as dead
as Latter-day Saints. Now, they're not dead in the
sense that they can't hear and they can't see, but they're dead
toward God. They're dead toward righteousness,
they're dead toward wholeness, they're dead toward the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's why he says, ye who were dead in trespasses
and sins. And here's a man who is dead.
And let me tell you something, he told them plainly that he's
dead. They said, well, he's sleeping. Well, that's wonderful that he's
sleeping. But he says plainly, he is dead. He is dead. And there's no degrees
in death. This is what people don't understand.
There's no degrees in death. There's degrees in decomposition. There's degrees in how bad off
a person is. But there's no degrees in death.
The moment a person's soul leaves their body, whether it's one
second, or one minute, or one hour, they're as dead as they're
ever going to be. Ain't that right? Jairus's. She's twelve
years old. Jairus's daughter. Jairus went
to get the master to bring her home, because she was sick. Before they got back, she was
dead. And when they got there to the door, they stopped him
at the door and said, don't trouble the master, your daughter's already
gone. I mean, just in a matter of just a few minutes. And the
Lord Jesus went in there and raised her from the dead. And
then there's the widow's son. His being dead and already been
put in his casket was on the way to the graveyard, and the
Lord stopped it and took him life out of his casket. And here's
a man, dead four days. One wasn't dead for just a few
minutes, one was dead for a day, and one's dead for four days.
They're all dead just the moment life leaves them. And when that
life leaves, I mean, whether it's just in a moment in time,
they're gone. No degrees in death. I tell you,
that's what people think. They think there's degrees in
death. There ain't no degrees in death. If you're dead, you're
dead. And if you're dead and trust
that sin, you're dead. Somebody's got to give you life.
And let me ask you this. What can a dead man do? What
in the world can a dead man do? He can't get himself up. He can't
bring life back to himself. I'll tell you what we'll do.
We'll get him a book and stand and read a book to him on how
to be born again. That's what we'll do. We'll cry over him. We'll weep
over him. But oh beloved, he's behind the help of others. Nobody
can help him. Nobody can do anything for him.
Only a miracle. Only a miracle of omnipotent
power can help and only God can give life. Only God can. And it's needful, absolutely
necessary, that we see man's condition plainly. Ain't that
what, look what our Lord said here in verse 11. These things said he after that
he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that
I may awake him out of sleep. And that could go on and on about
what he means by sleeping here. But then said his disciples unto
him, Lord, if he sleep, oh, that's good. That is good. But listen
to what he said here. How then Jesus spake of his death? But they thought that he spake
of taking a rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly. We need to see clearly what condition
man is. Man is. You know, disciples misunderstood
Lazarus' condition. Even the disciples misunderstood
his condition. In modern preaching, well, preaching
for ever since there's been a preacher, if he's not called a god, has
man with power and ability and rights that he doesn't possess.
They has man with the power to do something to get God to give
him life. They have power. They have him
with power, with an ability to choose. They have him with the
ability to do something to get God to do something with rights
that God must give him. His rights must give him his
chance. And let me tell you something,
beloved, it's cruel. It's cruel not to tell men the
truth. If our Lord said, well, he's sleeping. They got over
there and found out he'd been dead four days. They say, why didn't
the Lord tell us that? Then it got bad, they'd have
been shot. He said, Lord, why didn't you
tell us? You told us here's the street. We can go around. He's
been dead four days. And it's cruel not to tell men
the truth. If a doctor has a patient, and
he goes in and he knows that this man or woman's not going
to live, and then he turns around and tells them this, he says,
but you've got the will. You've got the power. You've
got the right. You've got the ability to make
yourself well. Just think positive. Just use
the gifts you've got. Just use the power you've got.
John Lee, boy, if you've got it in your heart to do it, you
can heal yourself. Don't think negative. Think positive. Boy, is that going to make him
heal his body? Is that going to cause him to
live any longer? Oh, what kind of doctor? Would
you go to a doctor who told you that if he says, now you've got,
you're going to die. I see this disease in you and
you're going to want to ask for help. But I tell you what you
do. Ain't no sense taking any medicine. You just go home and
I mean you sit down and you start thinking your good thoughts.
Start thinking about climbing a mountain and you're going to
get to the top. That's what you're doing there James. Oh, my. Brad was telling me he was off
the other day to see a client. He'd come up on this side of
the church and said, Has God raised you from the dead? And
the next line said, He wants to. Has God raised you from the dead?
If not, He wants to? How's a dead man going to cooperate? How's a dead man going to hear?
How's a dead man going to do anything for himself? And that's
what the condition is. If a man's asleep, they say,
oh, that's wonderful. Let the man sleep. And if a man's
asleep, maybe we can help him. But we need to see plainly where
our Lord Jesus Christ says Lazarus is dead. I was a time that Don
Bell was dead, and I remember what it was to come from death
to life. I remember what it was to come
from darkness to light. I remember what it was to hear
the voice of the Son of God call me forth. Let me ask you this. Have you ever heard of anyone
who had to be taught to sin? And when we're talking about
dead men, we're talking about that's a dead man's spirit. All
he can do is sin. He can't do anything else. Have
you ever met or heard anyone that has to be taught to sin?
Do you teach your children to sin? Did you teach yourself to
sin? No, that's just natural to us.
It's breathing. And the sinner is helpless. All human effort can't bring
about his resurrection. Can't stop him from his sin.
Love couldn't do it. Our Lord Jesus, they said, he
whom they should do, said, he whom thou lovest is sin. And
when our Lord stood outside his tomb, tears streaming down his
holy face, they said, oh, how he loved him. Love, and Mary
and Martha loved him. They loved their brother. Christ
loved Lazarus. And tears, if tears could have
helped him, Our Lord Jesus Christ stood and as He was standing
there at last His two tours came down His face. It didn't say,
it said He wept. And when somebody's weeping you
can hear them weep. You can hear the moan. It said
He was groaning in His spirit. And He began to weep and Mary
Martha standing there crying. And all of her neighbors were
there with Him and they were crying. Did it do Lazarus any
good? Did it change his condition?
Did it make him any more alive? So we can shed all the tears
and break, and I mean lots of that. But I'm telling you, if
Christ does not give us life, there's nothing. And when we really, truly see
man's condition, you know what we'll do? We'll call on the Lord
Jesus Christ, the only one who can help. Look what is said here
in verse 20. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus
was coming, she went out to meet him. Mary
stayed at the house. Now watch what happens. Then
says Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother
had not died. But I know that even now, And
boy, this is true. This is true. And I'll show you
that later. That whatsoever thou wilt ask
of God, God will give it you. Our Lord said unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. Martha said unto her, I know
he'll rise again. I know that. I believe that. I believe in the resurrection.
I believe that God's going to raise the dead. And our Lord
said unto her, I'm the resurrection. I'm the one that gives life.
I'm the one that raises the dead. I'm the one that brings people
out of the grave. I'm the one that brings people from death
to life. And what's an end to life? Not only am I the raiser,
but I'm the life. And he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. And I said that before. Beloved, when a believer leaves
this world, we say, well, they die. But, beloved, they just
start to live. They enter into life. They enter
into life. And watch this. And she said
unto him, do you believe me? She said, I said, Lord, I believe.
I believe that thou art the Son of God that came which should
come into this world. They went to the person who could
help them. The only person who could help them. And God pronounced
the sinner dead. Do we believe it? I want to show
you a verse. I've quoted this so many times.
Look in Jeremiah 13 with me just a moment. I've quoted this, but
I want you all to see it yourself for your own eyes. Jeremiah 13. You've heard this quoted, but
I want you to look at it yourself. I want you to see it. I want
you to see what it says. Not just quote it, but see what
it says. That's what our Lord said, you know. He says, they
that are in the flesh cannot please God. The carnal mind is
enmity against God. He said in verse twenty-three,
Jeremiah thirteen, twenty-three. He's talking about what Christ
must do. And here we are. Can he eat the
open change of skin, or the leopard his spots? Now, we know that the answer
is in the question. Then may you also do good. Are
you able to do good? Then all you've been accustomed
to is to do evil. Can you start doing good? That's
what we're going to do. We're just going to make a change.
A neighbor of mine, he's fixing to leave this world. And that's
what he did. He got up and went and got baptized
and said, you know, I made a change. It's about time I made a change. How do you make a change? You
know, you say this morning, I'm going to start paying attention.
I'm going to really start paying attention. I'm going to hear
what this preacher said, and I'm going to believe what I agree
with, and I'm going to disagree with what I don't agree with.
But, beloved, I'm showing you here from the Scriptures. You
ever seen a black man turn himself into a different color? Have
you ever seen a leper change his spot? Have you ever seen
anybody that was born a sinner, changed himself from being a
sinner? Have you ever seen anybody born, anybody dead, raise himself
from the dead? That's what our Lord is saying
here. And oh, listen to this. I love this right here. Oh, my,
bless His holy name. This event, this death of Lazarus,
was purposed by God for God's glory and the glory of His Son.
Look what he says there in verse 4. Oh my, this sickness is not unto
death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be
glorified thereby. God purposed this. He purposed
this. Look down here in verse 34 with
me just a moment. Let me show you something here.
And they says, well, where have you laid him? They said, come
unto the Lord. He said, come and see. Then our Lord wept,
then said the Jews, Behold, how I loved you. Now listen here,
look what a question they asked. And Martha said, Then Lord, if
you would have been here, Lazarus wouldn't even have died. And
some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes
of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have
died? That's a good question. Well, our Lord answered it before
they ever asked it. Before they ever asked that question. You know what he said? He said,
He's going to die. And you know why He's going to
die? And why I ain't going to go up there? And why I'm not
going to go up there just because they asked me to come? Said,
He's going to die, and He's going to be dead four days before I
go up there. And this is going to happen for
God's glory, and for the glory of His Son, that the Son of God
might be glorified thereby. Huh? And, oh, listen. You know,
we wonder about the fall of Adam. But God in His sovereign purpose
and in His sovereign glory, He purposed, and you can take it
any way you want to, He purposed. Now man was made upright and
he sought out many adventures, but that thought did not take
God by surprise. God Himself purposed before the
world ever began to have a race like His Son. because Christ
stood as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and
he gave him a people before Adam was ever put in the garden, and
he purposed that fall. He never made Adam to sin, but
he purposed that Adam would have a will, and Adam would fall from
that will, and fall from his righteousness, and fall from
his steadfastness, that Christ his Son might get all the glory
in saving sinners And saving them from their self-will,
free will, self-confidence, and everything else that's wrong
with them. All right? Oh, listen. I'm telling you,
He's going to bring not only that, but He's going to bring
glory to His Son throughout eternity. Let me give you an illustration,
just something to think about. If Adam hadn't of fallen, and
sin hadn't of entered into this world, What would we know about
God? Would we know anything about
the love of God? Would we know anything about the grace of God?
Would we know anything about the justice of God? Would we
know anything about the sovereignty of God and the power of God,
the mercy of God, the righteousness of God? Would we know anything
about... We'd have never known anything
about forgiveness. We've never known anything about
and experienced the love of God. We just went through this world
and all we know was there's our Creator. But now we know God in His fullness. And in fullness of God dwells
in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The power of His glory, the power
of His sovereignty, the power of His mercy, the power of His
grace, the power of His love all dwells in this message, son.
And oh, beloved, God's great purpose in raising Lazarus and
dead sinners is not to manifest love to Lazarus, not to manifest
love to Mary and Martha, though He did love them, but He raised
Him from the dead. that the Son might be glorified
in this redemption. Huh? Look over here in John chapter
9 verse 1 with me just a moment. That's what he said. God chose
us in Christ and made us accepted in the Beloved. What? To the
praise of the glory of His grace. And I'm telling you this, here's
the thing about it. You know how many people died in Israel
that day and have been dead four days? I've got three brothers, two sisters, a mother and a dad, and out of my whole family, I'm
the only one, God I'm the only Lazarus in my family.
How many Lazarus in your family? Huh? You think about that. And so you sit here, you know,
you think, well, listen, God owes me. God gave me my chance. God gave me the ability to choose.
He gave me a common sense. He taught me out, showed me that
I must live this way, that way, another way. I'm telling you,
that God may leave you dead. But I do know this, that if you
are dead, He's the only one to give you life. Now, look what it said here in
John 9, verse 1. And as Jesus passed by, He saw
a man which was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked
Him, saying, Master, now watch this, who did sin, this man or
his parents, that he was burned by? Our Lord answered, Neither
hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but the works of God
should be made manifest in him." He's born blind. So thirty-nine
years later, the Lord Jesus Christ can walk by and give him sight. Who in the world ever heard of
a man, a person being born blind, and somebody opens his eyes?
That's what they said. Could not a man who opened the
eyes of the blind have not caused this man to die? So, oh, precious
Holy Mary, I love the sovereignty of God in these. I love the fact
that God, I was born dead in trespasses and sins, but here
God come along in you with us from our mother's womb. And God
brought us to the place that He's going to bring glory to
Himself in passing by and giving us sight and life at the same
time. Let me show you another thing
here right quick. Look what it says in verse 43
of John 11. Not only is he a pitiful condition, we need to see plainly
that Lazarus is dead. Look at this powerful cause.
Look at this powerful cause. Back there in verse 41. Just
look here. Then they took away the stone from the place where
Jesus was dead. Now remember when Martha said,
I know that God heals you and gives you what you ask. Jesus
lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou
hast heard me. And I know that you hear me always. But because
of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe
that thou hast seen me. And when he had thus spoken,"
watch this now, what a call, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus! Everybody, crowd gathered
around there. Lazarus! Come forth! Look what the next
word says. And he that was dead came forth. That's some of the most glorious
words I've ever written. That was death. Dead men don't
come forth. They do when Christ calls them. Say, well, he's been dead four
days. When Christ calls them, it don't make no difference if
it's been 40 years. Men of experience Christ's redemption
by an effectual call from spiritual death to life. Paul said, Give
me thanks unto the Father, who hath made us, me, able to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints of life, who hath
called us from darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son. Oh, beloved. Paul says, Would
it please God who separated me from my mother's womb? Then what
did he do? Call me by His grace. Look over here in John 5.21,
what our Lord said. God who saved us, talking about
this calling, called us, called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace given
us in Christ before the world began. Look what He said here
in John 5.21, For as the Father raises up the dead and quickens
them, even so the Son quickeneth. Let me show you something in John
10, 26 with me, if you will, just a moment. We've reviewed this so many times,
but oh, this goes so well with it. Verse 24, Then came the Jews
round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make
us to doubt? Hold us in suspense. If you're
the Christ, just tell us plainly. He just plainly said over our
lasses this day. They want plain talk. People
say all the time, I love plain talk. Plain talk is easy to be
understood. Well, they want Christ to talk
where they can be understood. Well, He's going to tell them.
Our Lord answered them, I told you, and you didn't believe. You didn't believe. You believe
not. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness to
me, but He said, I'm going to tell you why you don't believe.
Because you're not of my sheep. That's why you don't believe. You're not of my sheep as I said
unto you. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. Lazarus! Zacchaeus! Barnabas! Paul! Saul and Tarsus! Oh, watch this. And I give, I give, I give Give it. Oh, beloved, you go
through the scriptures and you find all the way through the
scriptures. Adam is a picture of an effectual call when God
called him. That infant in Ezekiel, when
he's cast out, God passed by and saw him in his pollution
and said, I say unto thee, live. Yea, I say unto thee, live. Took
his heat from that guy with dry bones. Can these bones live?
Lord, you know. Lord, you know. And not only did a powerful call,
but it was predetermined call. God meant to call this man from
the dead. before he ever died. He told
them there, he said, you know, this death is but for the glory
of God. Christ knew that he stayed over
there for the very reason that that man would die and be dead
for an age. He knew it before anyone. They
said, Lord, come on over here. If you love us, get here. Come
on. And that's what I say. I know
God loves you. I'm the one that loves Helen.
I'm the one that loves these kids. They manifest the love of God.
God loves them. He who does not love us is sick. But, oh, beloved, our conversion
was according to God's purpose. It may have surprised you, but
it didn't surprise God. And I tell you what, I'm still
full of wonder. I'm still full of amazement.
I'm still surprised that God would do for me, and keep on
doing for me. Don't you? Huh? For whom He did
foreknow, Him He also did what? Predestinate. What did He predestinate
Him to? To be called To be justified,
to be glorified. Oh, that's in the past tense.
That means it's done for me before I ever knew it. And the gospel
comes along and tells me what God's done for me. And then I
believe it. It gives me faith to believe
it. He has an appointed time when they will receive life.
He had an appointed time for Lazarus to receive this life.
And I'm telling you something, beloved, Lazarus lay till the
time appointed. And then the Lord Jesus Christ
came at the time when you're supposed to, and called him from
the grave. Now listen to me. I want you
to understand this. I don't want to sound... His
loved ones, and this is where we're at, His loved ones had
to suffer and bear the burden of His death. Christ was gone. He didn't come when they asked
Him. And they went through His death, suffered with Him in His
sickness and burdened by the burden of His sickness, and then
when He died, they went through the grief and the heartache and
the sorrow of burying Him and having His funeral and putting
Him in His tomb and preparing His body. I mean, they went through
some sorrow and some grief and some heartache. And all the time
they're thinking, Lord, we sinned for You. Who are You? Lord, we
asked you to come, but you didn't come. And let me tell you, you
and I, by God's grace, we must carry the weight of our lost
loved ones. I mean, our lost loved ones. They don't know. They're dead. They don't know
God. A lot of them stink. They're
corrupt. And we've got to carry the weight
of them. And we must, by God's grace, believe God, as Martha
said there in verse 22. But I know that even now, whatsoever
thou wilt ask of God, God will give it to you. And Jesus says,
thy brother shall rise again. That's what we got to do. Say,
Lord, you said. And Doug was talking to me before
the service, he says, you know, God will give you desire. You
know that whatsoever Christ asks of God, God gives it to him.
And if we pray anything according to the will of God, He hears
us. And so, beloved, if God gave me life, gave Lazarus life, gave
Zacchaeus life, gave you life, why wouldn't He do that for my
daughter and my son and my grandkids? Why wouldn't He do it for you
and your husband or your wife? And we have to carry the burden.
Let us just never lay that burden down. Never, ever let that burden
go down. of our loved ones that's dead
and trespassing. Never let it go. Never let it
go. As long as there's life, there's hope. Isn't that right?
And all beloved, this call was a call of love. Look what it
says over here in verse 5. This call, not only predetermined
and powerful, but it was a call of love. Look what it says there
in verse 5. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lassus. And back up there in verse 36,
look what it said, Then said the Jews, Behold, how he loved
them. And it was a time of love when
he passed by that infant. Oh, they called on the Lord.
And they knew that the Lord alone could meet the need that they
had. The need that they had. And not only was it a powerful
call, a predetermined call, but it was a personal call. He called
him by name. called him by name, called him
Lazarus. And then, like I said, he that
was dead came forth. Oh, my. Let me ask you this.
Could Lazarus have rejected this call? Could Lazarus have rejected this
call? Could he have accepted Jesus?
Could he have allowed Jesus here this day to have been his personal
Savior? Could he say, I just believe,
I believe that I'll, I believe I'll give Jesus a chance. I believe
I'll make my decision to accept Jesus. I believe I'll make my
decision today. No, he's laying there. His sisters
and all of his neighbors wept and cried. But, boy, when Christ
called him by name, Lazarus, you know, Christ could have just
done like that right there and he'd come out of there. Have you heard his voice today
call your name? Huh? Have you heard his voice
call you, calling you? Calling your name? Do you hear
His voice right now calling you? Do you hear His voice say, come
forth? Do you hear His voice say, I
will? Do you hear His voice say, I'm the
resurrection, I'm the life? Do you hear His voice say, I'll
save you from your sin, I'll give you eyes to see? Do you
see Him now? Do you see Him now? Do you see
Him now? Do you hear Him now? And oh, what a precious call.
Look at the results of it. This call brought life. He that
was dead came forth. And not only did it bring life,
but it brought faith with it. He came forth out of that too
at the voice of Christ. Dead men can't walk, but this
dead man did. Dead men don't come out of the
tomb, but this dead man did. Oh, beloved, ain't that what
it says? And he that was dead came forth, bound hands and foot.
Now, this call also not only brought life and brought faith
by coming forth, but it brought freedom. Look what our Lord Jesus
Christ said. He was bound hand and foot with
grave clothes. Listen to this. Now, look what
he said. And his face was bound about with a napkin. His eyes
were even covered. And you know what the Lord said? Take them off right there. Start
taking them off. And you know, beloved, here's the thing about
it. When we first come to Christ,
oh, the great clothes we have. Oh, the great clothes we have.
But the first thing that comes off is that napkin off the face. The scales fall off the eyes.
That's what he told about Saul of Tarsus, the scales fell from
his eyes. And you know, beloved, let me
tell you about grave clothes. Grave clothes are not for the
living, but the dead. And them grave clothes got to
come off. When we hear Christ in grave clothes got to come
off, and they will come off. This effectual call looses us,
frees us from the dominion of sin, calls us into grace. And
not only that, but it brought fellowship. This call was so
precious, it brought fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Look here
in chapter 12 with me. Just a moment. Verse 1. It brought
fellowship and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 1 says, Then six days before
the Passover came, came to Bethany. Then Jesus, six days before the
Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead,
whom he had raised from the dead. Now listen, there they made him
a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that
sat at the table with him. And over Phoebus' head, sat at
the king's table. And Martha was sitting there
running around, setting the table, and everybody's having a wonderful
time, fellowshipping with the Lord Jesus Christ. And oh, beloved,
and then not only that, but it brought forth fruitfulness in
the Master's service. Look down here in verse 9 of
chapter 12. Oh, folks will hear about it now. Much people of
the Jews therefore knew that he was there, and they came not
for Jesus' sake only, but that they also might see Lazarus also,
whom he had raised from the dead. Oh my word get out on you. Look
in verse 11, because that by reason of him many of the Jews
went away and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me
give you one more point. If you believe, and God raised
you from the dead, the world ain't gonna like it. Look what
it says in verse 10 here, chapter 12. But the chief priest consulted
that they might put Lazarus also to death. God just raised you
from the dead, and they want him to die again. That's the
way religion is. You know, it gives them a bad
taste. They don't like it. They don't like what God's done
for them, because they've never experienced anything like it.
And they say, well, let's just kill him, too. We're going to
kill Christ, so let's kill him, too. Now, the world don't like
it with that. Religion don't like it, and you
start talking about God raising them up. So what will I do? I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in His arms,
and in His arms there are ten thousand charms. Amen. Let's turn in our course books
and look at that.