Calling a Dead Man

Q: What does the Bible say about the resurrection of Lazarus?

The Bible recounts that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead as a demonstration of His power and divine authority, showing that He is the resurrection and the life. In John 11, we see Jesus' deep love for Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary. Lazarus was dead for four days when Jesus arrived, and the miracle of his resurrection stands as a testament to Christ's power over death. Jesus declared, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live' (John 11:25). This act not only showcased Jesus’ compassion but was also a deliberate demonstration of His divine authority, asserting His power to give both physical and spiritual life.

Q: How do we know that Jesus has power over death?

Jesus demonstrated His power over death by raising Lazarus from the dead, affirming that He is indeed the life-giver. Throughout the gospel, Jesus showed dominion over life and death. The resurrection of Lazarus serves as a pivotal moment, illustrating His authority to conquer death itself. In this event, Jesus faced a dire situation—Lazarus had been dead for four days. Despite this, Jesus called him forth, and Lazarus responded, illustrating the effectual calling that aligns with God's sovereign grace. The event underscored that Jesus not only has the power to resurrect physically but also to offer eternal life to those who believe in Him. His declaration 'Lazarus, come forth' demonstrates His ability to command life even from the grave, affirming that He is the source of all life.

Q: Why is the resurrection of Lazarus important for Christians?

The resurrection of Lazarus is significant for Christians as it prefigures their own resurrection and underscores Jesus’ identity as the savior who brings life. The resurrection of Lazarus is crucial for Christians as it provides a tangible representation of the hope of eternal life that believers hold. It illustrates the profound truth that Jesus, as the resurrection and the life, grants believers assurance of their future resurrection. By calling Lazarus from the dead, Jesus exemplifies His ability to bring life where there is none, symbolizing the spiritual resurrection that occurs in believers. It encourages believers to trust in Christ’s promises, knowing that He has conquered death and that through faith in Him, they too will experience resurrection into eternal life. This profound act of mercy and power eternally motivates Christians to trust in His sovereignty.

Gonna ask you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of John chapter 11. John chapter 11. Very, very familiar passage of scripture. I was looking how long it's been since I preached out of this passage. Been 10 years. That's hard for me to believe, been 10 years. You see, this is just such a familiar passage. This is when Lazarus was raised from the dead by the Lord.

And I want to read, I'm just going to read the first 46 verses and then make a few comments. I thought about, I said, well, I may just start in the middle, but I thought, no, uh-uh. I'd rather hear what God has to say first than by God's grace. I'll try to make a few comments. John 11, verse 1. Chapter 11, verse 1.

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick. Therefore his sisters went unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus 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 loved Martha and her sister.

And Lazarus, when he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that, saith he to his disciples, let us go into Judea again. His disciples said unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again?

Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of the world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. These things said he, after he said, No, these things said he, and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of his sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well, howbeit Jesus spake of his death. But they thought that he had spoken of taking rest in his sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there to the intent you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him.

Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now, Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about 15 furlongs, but they're in the margin of about two miles. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary, sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

But Jesus, that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus said unto her, thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She said unto him, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

And when she had so said, she went her way, called, and Anne called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto him. Now, Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. The Jews then which were with her in the house and comforted her when they saw Mary, that she arose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, she goeth to the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, she saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

Then Jesus therefore saw her, But when Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled, and said, where have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, behold how he loved him, and some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused even this man should not have died?

Jesus, wherefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time, He stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid.

Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth bound, hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was was bound about with a napkin, Jesus saith unto them, loose him and let him go.

Then many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did believed on him, but some of them went their ways to the Pharisees and told them what things Jesus had done. Now this event that happened, well-known, as I said before to all of us, a friend, a friend that the Lord loved. I was telling Brother Ryan a few moments ago, I looked at this passage of scripture and I think I saw about six messages that I thought I'd preach tonight and I thought, well, Time won't allow me to do that, so I'm just going to try to narrow it down to what I want to say. But it amazed me when I saw these events that happened and the Lord who loved Lazarus. He loved Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.

He loved them. And it went through my mind. I thought there was nothing different. about those three people, nothing different about them. They were sinners born in this world, born in Adam, born dead, trespassers in sin. And almighty God was pleased to set his affection on them. For what reason? Not because of anything he saw in them, I know that for a fact. But he loved them because he chose to. Someone would say, well, I don't see the reason. Well, we don't have to see the reason. The Lord said his affection on Jesus. The Lord God of heaven loved these three people.

And one of them died. Lazarus died and it grieved Martha and Mary because their brother had died. Now I understand that. This is their brother. This is their family. And when he died, they knew we're not going to see him anymore. And I entered into that. I thought I can understand that.

Somebody in your family you've grown up with, and the Lord is pleased to take them out of this world, you miss them, humanly speaking. And they went to the Lord. And then this is how they approached him. Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick. I thought, what a precious lesson for all of us.

Whenever these times come, and they come, they come, they come. If you're not going through it now, as I've said before, I heard Brother Scott say this, if you're not going through it right now, you've gone through it or you're going to go through it, one of the three. I mean, this is just the way it's going to be.

And this was the time that these two sisters were going to have to experience the hurt of losing their brother. And the scripture sets forth that They were troubled. And I looked at verse 33, it said, when Jesus, therefore, saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. The margin says he troubled himself.

And I thought, how precious to realize that our Lord enters in to whatever we're going through. Now, here's the amazing thing. He caused this. All things are ordered by the Lord. And it was the timing of the Lord that moved upon Lazarus to die. And his sisters, they were hurt. They were hurting. And the Lord entered and made in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin.

He felt their pain. He was made like unto his brethren. He was perfect man, but he felt what they felt. And he was troubled. He was troubled. That's what it meant. He knew what it felt like. to lose somebody that you loved, somebody that you grew up with, somebody, part of your family. He entered into that. He was troubled. And the scripture says that he went to this place, where have you laid him? And I thought to myself, the Lord knew where they laid him. He knows everything. He knows where they are. He knew Lazarus was dead. He knew it all. But he's going to allow them the privilege to go through what they're going to go through to teach them something. He's going to teach them the kindness and consideration in the midst of the trouble that they're going through.

Where have you laid him? And they're going to have to take him, Lord, Come here, we'll show you where he's at. Let us, you know, come with us and we'll show you. And he goes with them. And he gets to that place, the scripture says, he tells them in verse 39, Jesus said, take ye away the stone. They know, we're about to read it, they know he's been dead now four days. And the body has begun to decay, they know that. And he's in this cave and he says, take the stone away.

And they are going to try to warn the Lord. I'm just sharing with you thoughts that went through my mind. They were going to try be kind and explain to the Lord, Lord, he's decaying. And I'm thinking they're talking to God who knows everything, but they're talking to him as a friend, a friend that loves them and that they love, they love the Lord.

And so Martha says to him, Lord, He's been dead four days, and to roll that stone away, you're going to smell the stench of death. That just took me back. Here, they doubted. They doubted him. He told them, this is what I want you to do. Roll the stone away. He could have spoken to that. He could have just said to the stone, And the stone, he moved mountains. He said, if he had faith, he'd move mountains, beat to the mountain. Mountain, they'd fall. He could have moved that stone, but he told them, roll the stone away. And so here they are. They're moving that stone. They're getting it out of the way.

And the scripture says to them, when she said, take away the, when he said, take away the stone, and she said, it stinks, Then Jesus, verse 40, saith unto her, said I not unto thee, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God. Now here's the Lord. She's talking to him as if he's unable to understand the gravity of the situation. And that one thought of her doubting just expressed the depth of our unbelief.

If he said, move the stone, then move the stone. Why, Lord? What difference does it make? Roll the stone away. The Lord had purposed that he was going to demonstrate to them something that they gravely needed to learn. The scripture says in verse 41, after he told them, roll the stone away, move the stone. Verse 41 says, then they took away the stone from the grave where the dead was laid.

And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. They took They moved the stone as the Lord had said. Scripture says that when they did, knowing that it was going to be stinking inside, the Lord began to pray. He began to talk to his Father. And he thanked the Lord. They took, verse 41, they took away the stone, and then the Lord lifted up his eyes and thanked his father.

And he said, father, I thank you that you hear me. I thank you that you hear me. The thought then ran through my mind. I think to myself. As we try to pray here, the Lord was praying, knowing that father heard him. But do you know? all that believe that the father hears the cry of his children. And we thank you. Lord, thank you that you hear me. Lord, thank you that you hear me as I confess before you my inadequacy to even talk to you or write.

I don't know what to say. Just thinking in my mind how, you know, the spirit, spirit of God, you know, intercedes for groanings that cannot be uttered. We don't know what to say. How many times have you tried to pray and just it go through your mind? I don't know what to pray or find yourself wandering off somewhere. Then immediately asking the Lord to forgive you because of your frailty, because of not being able to just concentrate for just a minute.

But here the Lord, Jesus, lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. He knew that the Father heard him. The scripture sets forth in verse 41. And they took away the stone. Jesus lifted up his eyes, thanked the Father, verse 42. And he said, and I knew that thou hearest me always, because the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

Now, here's the Lord. He's praying to his Father, but he's teaching all those standing around him something that they vitally need to know. They need to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is praying to His Father on their behalf. I'm praying that they, I'm praying to the Father, but I'm praying that they might hear me praying to the Father and know the communion. What a blessing to hear the confidence of the Lord Jesus Christ as He speaks as our mediator. He's speaking to the Father. This is the one that prays for us, mediates for us. And I'm thinking as he's praying for us, the Father's hearing him for his sake.

I'm thinking, Lord, pray for me. Lord, intercede for me. I don't know how to pray. I don't know what to pray. But you who came into this world with me upon your heart and lived for me and died for me and now ever liveth to make intercession for me. Lord, pray for me because the Father hears you. And as I try to pray, Lord, hear my prayer. For Christ's sake, Holy Spirit, take these words that are feebly spoken, and Lord, say unto the Father what I can't say. I don't know how to say it, but would you say it? You who know my heart and knows my desire, Lord, to speak, intercede for me. Here's the Lord, and he's stripping away layer by layer. Breaking down all the thoughts of doubt, fear. Here their brothers died and they're hurt. They came and they called for the Lord.

He waited for two days before he came. And I thought to myself when I read where he had waited a couple of days. It's so good that the Lord makes us wait. We sometimes think that as soon as we call that the Lord's going to act and what a blessing it is when he doesn't do immediately what we've asked him. And we ask according to his will. And if he waits two days, according to his will, it was for our good. It was for his glory.

I tell you what it makes me do. It makes me cry more. Lord, I know, I know, I know that you know all things. And Lord, I know you can do all things. And Lord, if it please you, and if it doesn't happen, the next thing I know, I'm pleading again, again and again. And so the Lord, after waiting two days, he comes and now he stands before this man that he loves.

He prayed in verse 42, I know that you hear me always. But I'm saying this for those that are standing close to me. The Lord said, I'm praying, Lord, out loud that they might hear me praying to you. Verse 43. And this is where I originally wanted to start. But I started, no, I can't start here. I've got to start where I started. Bring us up to this.

The scripture says, and when he had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. And Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Now you talk about few verses that just opens up the glorious truth of sovereign particular grace. Here is a, here's a man and the man is dead.

You just look at Lazarus here as a picture of every one of God's elect. Everyone that the Lord has chosen to show mercy. The scripture declares that Lazarus was a man that God, the Lord Jesus Christ God, loved. Loved his sisters. He loved that family. And he came to this dead man. Now here we are. This is how the Lord comes to all of the objects of his mercy. He comes to him. And they're dead. They're dead spiritually. Now what is Lazarus going to do? Now just think for a second. What could Lazarus do? Exercise his free will?

He's in a grave. He's now, according to the words of his sister, he's been dead four days. He's dead. Dead, dead. Well, this guy's graveyard dead. He's dead. He cannot exercise anything. He's dead. Now, you just, in your mind, think, that should seem, Fred, it should seem to be sufficient to make anybody that reads these scriptures realize what can a dead man do?

I said, all you got to do is exercise, you know. If you want to be saved, just say these words, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And the Lord will save you. And I thought, as I've heard different ones say, if they could do that, then they weren't truly dead. If they could do anything in order to be saved, then they're not really dead. But if they're dead, dead spiritually. Now, alive, yes, I understand that part of it.

But here is a dead man. And this man, dead in the grave four days, and the Lord who came to this man, he came to a particular man. He came to Lazarus. Why didn't he just raise all of them there? There had to be some kind of a graveyard or some place where they buried the dead. He had to be somewhere where there were dead people, or if it was just one place, it had to be some place where they're going to bury the dead. He's in a grave. He's in a grave, in a cave, in a grave, and he's dead. And when you're dead, humanly speaking, You can't hear. You can't speak. You can't see. You can't think. You can't talk. You can't do anything. You're dead. You're dead.

And the Lord comes to this dead man in verse 43. And he said, Lazarus. I thought you talk about effectual calling, particular calling. Lazarus. He's talking to one man. How many were in those graves? I don't know. I know he spoke to one man, though. He spoke to one man.

There was an object of his mercy, because I know that he's calling one man out of darkness. You look at this as a picture of how the Lord saves any of us. He comes to any of the objects of his mercy, and he comes to them, and he says, Chuck, Barbara, Greg, Marvin, Gary. He calls by name. He calls, I know my sheep, and I call them. I call them. I know them. I know them. I call them by their name. I call them.

He said, Lazarus. Then he gave him a command. Come forth. He told him to do something that, humanly speaking, he could not do. Why? He's dead. He's dead. Come forth. Lazarus, get up and come out of that grave. He spoke with a loud voice, looking the word up powerful, mighty that men, by the grace of God, hear. They hear. Lazarus heard the word of the Lord. He heard the Lord call.

Somebody said, well, I don't see how a dead man can call. Well, God said that this man was called. and he got up out of that grave. You're telling me that a dead man got up out of that grave. You're telling me that? No, I'm telling you that God said that. Verse 44, he that was dead came forth bound head and foot with grave clothes. Boy, I think about how when the Lord is pleased to call one of his own.

Especially, I always relate a lot of things when I came out of false religion. I'm so thankful that many of you here came up, listened to Scott, heard the truth all your life. I didn't. I came up out of false free will, man-centered, man-honoring religion, all the honoring Praise was put on man, you know, for doing what he did, and this, that, and the other.

And this man, he came out. He came out. He was alive. But this man, the scripture says, he came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes. My experience has been, most of us that are called out of darkness, we carry a lot of grave clothes with us for the rest of our lives, a lot of them. And I'm telling you, they're hard to shake. Well, they're impossible to shake without the grace of God to remove them. But I'm telling you, we hang on to that old false grave clothes religion. This man came forth, and he was bound in grave clothes. His face was bound with a napkin. And Jesus saith unto them, loose him and let him go.

And I think about the responsibility, especially of God's preachers. You preach to them. If you love me, you feed my sheep. You tell them the truth. You know the only thing that's going to set a man or woman free is hearing the truth over and over and over again. I had a buddy. He lives right now in Franklin.

And I know he had said, he had been with me, this is after the Lord called me, after I left Louisiana, I was in Tennessee, and he'd been where I was for years. And I was preaching on the passage of scripture that I know good and well. I probably had preached on that at least, I mean, you know, two or three times a month. probably not out of that particular passage, but saying basically the same thing over and over and over again. And one day I said it again for the umpteenth time.

And he came to me and he said, Marvin, I never heard that before. And I thought, are you kidding me? I've said that so many times while I'm here, but it's amazing to me how you can sit under the gospel and hear the gospel of God's free grace. You can hear it here, and then all of a sudden, you heard it. This is what they told me. They said, verse 44.

He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot, grave clothes, face bound about with a napkin. Jesus said, Loose him and let him go. Yes, they took the grave clothes off. But do you know how the Lord has been pleased to loosen his people from grave clothes? Hearing the gospel again and again and again. And the Spirit of God, when he pleases him, he opens their eyes, gives them understanding, teaches them. through the preaching of the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This man came forth. He was dead. He was dead. But I'll tell you what he did. When God spoke to him in power, he heard. Somebody said, well, I don't see how. Well, I can tell you this. If the Lord has said that this man was dead, dead four days, and God spoke to him and said, Lazarus, call him by name. This man's ears perked up, this dead man's ears perked up, and he said, Lazarus, come forth. And I'm telling you what he did. He got up and he came. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life. and they shall never perish. This man came forth, and then the Lord was gracious enough to tell those of them.

Now, you loose him from all those grave clothes. He'd had all that grave clothes stuff still hanging on him like that. That grave could claim no victory, keeping Lazarus. Death at the Lord's word bowed. Death bowed to the Lord Jesus Christ. He led, the Lord led captivity, which had us captive because of sin. The Lord led captivity captive. He captured, let me use that word. He captured captivity and called his people. Now that's power. That's power. All power, the Lord said, is given unto me in heaven and earth. All power belongs to Him.

What can wash away the sin of a sinner? Wash away the dead of it. Only the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord came where Lazarus was. Why? Because Lazarus couldn't come. He was dead. And God called him by grace. And Lazarus heard him. While he was in that grave, Lazarus heard him. Boy, that's a depth. I know this. We can't explain these things. I can't explain this. Here again, I'm going to quote Scott again. He said, I can't explain it. I just proclaim it.

And you know what? The sheep do, when God gives them new ears to hear, they believe it. They believe it. And they call, and they come, and they come again. He that cometh to me. You know what you're doing right now? You that believe. You're coming again. You're thinking, Lord, I've heard that. I've heard that passage before. But it's so good to hear it again.

Just tell me one more time. Tell me one more time. how the Lord has called me by grace. Tell me one more time how he moved upon me to come to him. Tell me one more time how he keeps me by his power. Tell me that again, because I need to hear it again. For my good and his eternal glory. Amen.

Calling a Dead Man

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the resurrection of Lazarus?

How do we know that Jesus has power over death?

Why is the resurrection of Lazarus important for Christians?

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About Marvin Stalnaker

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Calling a Dead Man

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the resurrection of Lazarus?

How do we know that Jesus has power over death?

Why is the resurrection of Lazarus important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Marvin Stalnaker

Comments

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