Okay, John chapter 11. We're
going to be picking up where we left off last week. The title
of the message is Don't Separate Christ and Doctrine. That's the
point I pray I can drive home this morning. You cannot separate
Christ from doctrine. We don't believe doctrine. We
believe Christ. The doctrine that we believe,
we believe because of who He is. Doctrine is not what saves
our soul. Christ saves our soul. Doctrine
doesn't put away your sin. The blood of Christ puts our
sin away. Now, we should be doctrinally sound. We must be doctrinally
sound. But we'll remove all blessing and become just like the Pharisees
of old if we separate the Lord Jesus Christ from our doctrine.
You can have the right doctrine, not have Christ. You can have
the right doctrine and not have salvation, but you can't have
Christ and not have salvation. It's impossible to have Christ
and have the wrong doctrine. Now, you remember last week,
our Lord heard that Lazarus was sick, and he loved Lazarus. He loved Martha and Mary, and
because he loved them, he delayed that the Son of God might be
glorified thereby. Now, verse 7, then after that,
after he heard Lazarus was sick and he abode those two days,
Then he saith to his disciples, Let us go into Judea again. His
disciples saying to him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone
thee, and goest thou thither again? Lord, they just tried
to kill you there. Don't you think it's pretty dangerous
just to go right back? Now remember, we're talking about
believing Christ, not doctrine, but believing Christ. Faith is
in Christ. You can't separate Christ from
doctrine. First of all, Here's the first
example of that. We believe the doctrine of God's
sovereignty. I'd say every person in this
room absolutely believes in the doctrine of God's sovereignty.
Everything that happens happens according to His divine will.
It couldn't happen if it was against His will. He's sovereign
over everything. All of us believe that. But you can't separate Christ
from God's sovereignty. Faith believes Christ. And because
we believe Him, because we know Him, we know He will accomplish
His will because He's sovereign. Nobody can resist His power.
Nobody can thwart His purpose or His will because it's His
will who is sovereign. The Jews did want to stone the
Lord. They did want to kill Him. They took up stones to stone
Him. But they didn't. They couldn't lay a hand on Him.
He just walked right through them. They couldn't lay a hand
on Him. Well, then why are we worried if He goes back there
again? They still can't lay a hand on him until he lets them. The
only reason we worry about that is we forget the sovereign power
of the Savior. Now, let's use examples that
are probably more applicable to you and me. Sometimes we get
worried someone's going to be lost. Are they supposed to be
safe if they're lost? The only reason we worry about
that is we forget about the sovereign power of our Savior. He's going
to save His people from their sins, and not one of them is
going to be lost. Well, do we worry? My sins is
too great. There's no way Christ would save
me. The only reason we forget about
that is we forget about the power of our Savior's blood. Yes, my
sin is great. His blood's greater. Yes, my
sin's great, but I must have forgotten about His sovereign
love. He loves His people even when we were dead in sins. We
must have forgotten about His love. Yes, my sin's great, but
His love's greater. Well, do we worry? What am I
going to eat? What am I going to wear? Only
when we forget about the sovereign power of our Savior. He promised
to provide. Well, the only reason we worry
about that is we forget he's faithful. He promised he'll do
it. See, we lose the blessing if
we separate Christ from the doctrine. We believe God's offering, but
we worry about these things when we lose the blessing, when we
separate Christ from the doctrine. If we worry about these things,
we're just like these disciples. They're worrying because they
separated their Lord from the doctrine. So our Lord answers
their worries in verse 9. 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 this world. But
if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no
light in him. Now the Jews divided the daylight
hours into twelve equal segments. They called hours. They weren't
sixty minute hours. I guess sometimes they could
have been. But they just divided the daylight hours into twelve
segments. And this is what our Lord is
saying. You can always work in the daylight, because you can
see. You see what you're doing. But when it's noon, you know
you're not going to run out of daylight any time soon. So keep
working. Keep doing what you're supposed
to be doing, because you're not going to run out of daylight any time
soon. You don't have to start wrapping up your work day yet.
But once the sun sets, well, you've got to quit working, because
you can't see what you're doing. Now, what's our Lord teaching
here? He's teaching more that you don't get off work at noon.
He hasn't allotted time on earth to finish the work that the Father
gave him to do. His hour of death was appointed
long before time began, long before creation was put into
existence. Well, that hour, that appointed
time, cannot come early. Those Jews, they may want to
lay a hand on him, but they can't do it until his appointed time
comes. And once all that appointed time
is clicked off the clock, Then it's going to be night, and he'll
be crucified in darkness. And the salvation of his people
is going to be accomplished at God's appointed time, when the
work's finished. At God's appointed time, God's
appointed people are going to be saved by the appointed sacrifice,
by the appointed Savior, offered at the appointed time. That's
what he's saying. Now again, we're talking about
faith in Christ. We're not talking about the doctrine.
Everybody believes that doctrine. Christ is the light of the world.
It's impossible for anyone who believes in Christ to stumble
in darkness because we have Christ. He is the light of the world.
He is our light. Someone who doesn't have Christ,
our Lord says it's not just that they're in darkness, they've
got darkness in themselves. Their heart and understanding
is darkened. And just like no one could take
our life, our Lord's life, before His appointed time, Nobody can
take your life for your point in time, either. As believers,
we have a duty to fulfill. Now, I don't know what it all
is for each individual person, but everybody's got a duty to
fulfill. Well, when the Lord gives you
light, when He gives you direction, don't worry about the consequences.
Don't worry, well, does this seem right? Or, you know, what's
going to happen if I do this? What's going to happen? Don't
worry about that. When the Lord's given you light, the Lord's laid
on your heart, just do it. and the Lord will fulfill all
the rest of it. He'll take care of the outcome. Be active in
the service of the Lord as long as he gives you light. Now, verse
11, 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 sleep. Then said his disciples, The
Lord, if he sleepeth, he should do well. Howbeit, Jesus spake
of his death, but they thought that he had spoken of taking
rest and sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. Now our Lord calls death sleeping.
Lazarus is sleeping. Now we looked at this last week.
We talked about the death of a believer and the resurrection
of our bodies. But there's no blessing in that doctrine of
the death and resurrection of our bodies if we separate Christ
from that. There's no blessing if we separate
the death of our bodies and the resurrection of our bodies from
Christ. For the believer, death is sleep. Now, sleep is perfectly
harmless. It's good for you. Because Christ
removed the sting of death. That angel we read there in Matthew
28 said, come look at the place where the Lord lay. You don't
have to fear it. Don't be afraid of it. He rose. The sting of death is gone. So
it's just sleep for a believer. What a blessing. What a comfort
to think that Christ died for us. And he removed the sting
of death for his people. So for the believer, all that's
left is sleep because the Lord took all the rest of it away.
Asleep is welcome rest from the sorrows and work of the day.
You know, when you finally can go to sleep, the toil of the
day is over, the sorrow of the day. You forget about it for
a time while you're sleeping. Well, a believer sleeps, sleeps
in Christ because Christ died and rose again for us. He bore
all the sorrow away. All the sorrow of our sin, he
bore it away. So the believer sleeps and rests
from that sorrow. Christ did all the work. He did
all the work to establish righteousness. So his people rest and sleep. Sleep and rest from the toils
and work of the day. The death of a believer is sleep. All it is, is sleep. You're going
to get up again. You'll get up. I told you last
week. Janet takes a nap every Sunday afternoon. I don't weep
in sorrow. She's going to get up. That's
all death is. It's just temporary. The Greeks,
they had cemeteries like we do. You know what they called them?
Dormitories. It's just temporary. We took
our girls to school, college in the UK and dropped them off
at a dormitory. Man, I'm glad they didn't have
to stay in that place for very long. It's temporary. That's all sleep
is and death is for a believer. It's just temporary. And that's
not a blessing if we separate Christ from the doctrine. They're
sleeping in Christ. They're not dead. They're with
Christ. And the resurrection of their
body will be a resurrection to eternal life and eternal joy
if they sleep in Christ. If Christ died and rose again
for them. So we'll be with him eternally.
The resurrection of the body is torment. if we're not resurrected
to be with Christ. And we will be raised when the
Lord quickens our bodies the same way he quickened you spiritually
and gave you spiritual life in the new birth. Sleep gets our
bodies ready for the next day. By 11 o'clock last night, I went
to bed. I really wasn't in a whole real good shape to preach, but
I got some sleep. Sleep got my body ready for the
next day. For the believer, the sleep of death gets our body
ready for the next day. When my dad was dying, I knew
his body would die shortly. I expected it at any moment.
And when I'd leave, go to bed for the night, I'd whisper in
his ear, I'll see you in the morning. See you tomorrow. Sleep
for the death of the Believer's body gets our body ready for
tomorrow, for the next day. That body is sown in corruption,
it's going to be raised in incorruption. It's sown in mortality, it's
going to be raised in mortality. It's sown in sin and shame, it's
going to be raised in glory in a body just like the body of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that doctrine is not a blessing
if you separate Christ from the doctrine. And we need to remember
this when we preach and when we hear the gospel preached.
It's cruel not to tell men the truth. You know, I hear men who
really take the edge off the gospel. They try to hold something
back because they're afraid it'll offend somebody and they'll leave.
That's not loving. That's the most cruel thing you
can do to a person. Our Lord knew his disciples did
not understand what he was saying. When he said Lazarus is sleeping,
he knew they didn't understand him. They thought he was taking
rest and sleep. And it would have been cruel for our Lord
not to tell them the truth. You know, you think if they walked
all that way expecting to find their friend and prove him because
he's sleeping and find he's dead and already in the tomb. That
would have been hurtful to them. So the Lord told them plainly
in language they could understand, Lazarus is dead. In your language
and your understanding, Lazarus is dead. And you know, it might
hurt men's feelings to tell them the truth. It may shock the life
out of them. But we have to tell them the
truth. We must. And this is the truth. By nature,
you and me are dead. Dead in trespasses and sins.
And the only way we'll ever have life is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Through faith in Him. If He comes and gives us life.
And He'll do it for His people. He's going to come and give them
life. Notice what our Lord says. Our friend Lazarus, our friend,
sleeps. The work of the salvation of
our souls and the resurrection of our bodies, that's not doctrine
to the Savior. He's talking about people. Our
friend sleeps. This is a work he does for his
friends. He gives life to his friends. He's going to raise the body
of his friends. What a friend we have in Jesus.
All our griefs and sins to bear. This is my friend. He's not talking
about doctrine, he's talking about people. And he's our friend. The love of the brethren is not
just doctrine. The love of the brethren does
not go out the window the first time you disagree with them,
the first time they hurt your feelings. It is if it's just
doctrine, but we love each other because Christ loves us. And
we love him. You and me are in love with the
same person. And we're going to love each other. If we're
in love with the same person, we're going to be in love with
each other. That's not doctrine. That's a person. It's Christ.
Our love for each other is a person. See that? Now, verse 15. Our Lord says, I'm glad for your
sakes I was not here. To the intent you may believe.
Nevertheless, let us go unto him. Our Lord delayed, we looked
at this last week, he delayed going to Lazarus because if he
went to Lazarus where he was still alive, as sick as he may
be if he was still alive, Lazarus could not have died in the presence
of our Lord because he liked himself. So our Lord delayed
so that Lazarus' body would die. And then when he does come, people
are going to have an even greater witness of who he It had been
one thing to see the Lord come and heal Lazarus, raise him up
off the sick bed. But we have an even greater witness
of who the Lord is, of his power and his love and his grace, if
we see him raise Lazarus from the dead. So he delayed going
to Lazarus, so that we would believe to the intent you may
believe. Believe what? Well, he's not
talking about believing doctrine. He's not talking about just believing
the doctrine that Christ has all power. He's got the power
to heal, he's got the power over death, and he can raise somebody
from the dead. This is not the doctrine, believing
the doctrine that Christ someday will raise everyone from the
dead. It's going to happen at the sound
of His voice. This is not even believing the doctrine that Christ
gives spiritual life. Look over a few pages in John
20. I'll tell you what it is. It's believing Christ. Believe
Him. In John 20, verse 30, and many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written
in this book, but these are written, the signs and miracles and things
that he did, these are written that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might
have life through his name. He did these things so we would
believe Him. Not things, but believe Him.
Now, that belief and that faith grows gradually, doesn't it?
In the moment God gives you life, you have life. But that faith
and belief in Him grows gradually. We don't get a full view of Christ
all at once. We're continually learning more
and more about Him. It grows. is saved, eternally saved from
all of their sins. They cannot lose their salvation.
But we still need a constant view of Christ to be fed and
to grow. Look at verse 16 in our text
in John 11. Then said Thomas, which is called
Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die
with him. Now every believer, they're a
new creature in Christ. They've been given a new heart,
a new nature, They've been made partakers of the divine nature.
But we retain our personalities, don't we? And unfortunately,
we retain that old nature. All through Peter's life, don't
you see his personality? You see his personality in his
writings and the things that are written about him? The same
thing is true of old Thomas. Thomas was a little bit of an
Eeyore. Thomas has the ability to see the dark side of any situation. I don't care what situation you
show him, Thomas can see the dark side of it. Here, Thomas
thinks, well, Lazarus is dead. If the Lord goes back to Judea,
they're going to kill him too. Everybody we know is dead. Everybody
we care about is dead. We may as well die too, you know.
Pretty pessimistic, isn't it? Yet the Lord used Thomas. Thomas
who wouldn't believe the Lord risen unless he put his hand
in his side. The Lord used Thomas and men
just like Thomas to turn the world upside down, to spread
the gospel everywhere. God chooses sinners in Christ. God saves sinners in Christ.
God uses sinners for his glory in Christ. That's not doctrine. That's a person in Christ. Eternal life is a It's not the
strength of our faith or that we've got all of our ducks in
a row doctrinally. It's eternal life. It's a person. So verse 17, Then when Jesus
came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
Now Bethany was dined in Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off, about
two miles. And many of the Jews came to
Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Now
many people came to comfort these sisters and mourn with them.
bring them food and things, just like we do today. And here's
another reason why the Lord delayed. He waited so that Lassus would
die. Many people would come to comfort
those sisters. This family he loved, he waited
until many people would come, be with them, to comfort them,
so many people would see the miracle that he performed. Not
just Martha and Mary, but many people, so they would see this
miracle and believe on him. Now again, we miss the blessing
if we separate Christ from the doctrine. God is sovereign. Don't we know that? He works
all things after the counsel of his own will for good. To them that love him, to them
are they called according to his purpose. But now what a blessing. We know that when we see our
Lord calmly working all this out for his glory and for the
good of his people. It wasn't good for Martha and
Mary and Lazarus, that Lazarus suffered so much with this sickness
that he died. It wasn't good in this sense.
That brought real suffering to them. I mean, this is real pain,
real suffering. But what good is this for those
mourners who came to comfort Martha and Mary? Our Lord's working
all this out so they'd be there and see him. They got up that
morning, they weren't thinking the first thing about the Lord.
They were just going to go bring some food and comfort their friends.
And to their surprise, they met the Lord. Because the Lord worked
these events so they'd be there to meet Him. This is our Lord
working these things to reveal Himself to His people. That's
grace and power and assurance that we have if we don't separate
Christ from the doctrine. If we separate the doctrine of
God's sovereign power from Christ, you know what we've done? We've
separated sovereign power from the wise, loving person who has
all the power. That's how we miss the blessing.
We separate those things from the wise, loving person of our
Savior. Now, verse 20. Then Martha, as
soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him.
But Mary sat still in the house. Now, here we see different personalities
of believers again. Martha, when you think of her
name, what do you think of? All of us think of one thing.
She's known for being very industrious. She probably was a woman who
couldn't sit still. She was very active. And that
was a disadvantage to her once, wasn't it? When she was cumbered
about with much care and she didn't, with much serving, you
know, didn't sit at the feet of the Savior. That was a disadvantage.
Here in John 11, it's an advantage to her. Martha was not the kind
of woman who could wait around. She wasn't waiting. She heard
the Lord's coming and she went straight to Him. And it was to
her advantage. She ended up having time alone
with the Lord. This time, she didn't let the
fact that many people were in her house bother her. You know,
these people, they got to eat, they got to be served, stuff's
got to be cleaned up and picked up and, you know. Martha's real
concerned about following the custom of the day, you know,
having everything just right. Next week, we'll see. She's going
to say, Lord, don't go away that stone. It's going to be ugly
for everybody. We don't do that. You know, once
the tomb is sealed, we don't do that now. That's just not
the custom of the day. None of that was in her head
this day. She went to the Lord because why does she do that?
Because Christ is her comfort. She went to the person. Now Mary,
on the other hand, she's known for sitting still. Every time
you hear of Mary, this is what you think of. She sat still at
the feet of the Savior. I bet you Mary was a very patient,
calm woman. She probably always thought before
she spoke. And that was a real advantage
to her one time, wasn't it? She chose that good part, sat
at the feet of the Savior. But here is a disadvantage. She
sat still in the house, mourning. Maybe she's overcome with grief.
I don't know, but she sat still mourning. rather than going to
the Lord. She didn't want to comfort her
heart. She sat still mourning. Now, maybe she didn't hear the
Lord was coming. Maybe nobody told her the Lord
was coming. But maybe she didn't hear the Lord was coming because
she's off to herself mourning. Maybe nobody told her the Lord
was coming because they couldn't find her. She's off to herself mourning.
I don't know. But this time it served as a
disadvantage to her. In verse 21, this said Martha
unto Jesus. Lord, if thou hadst been here,
my brother had not died. But I know that even now, whatsoever
thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." Now, Martha had
faith. At the same time, Martha had
strong faith and weak faith. Martha believed the doctrine,
but she doubted the person. And that's what happens to our
faith. Our faith becomes weak when we have wrong thoughts of
the Lord. And we separate the doctrine from the person. Saving
faith is not in doctrines. It's not having all your doctrinal
ducks in a row. Saving faith is in a person.
A good hope through grace is not in a set of doctrines or
future events. A good hope through grace is
in a person. And our faith is weak when we
have high opinions of doctrine and low opinions of Christ. That's
when our faith becomes weak. Martha believed in the power
of the Lord, and she's right. Her brother wouldn't have died
if the Lord had been there. Martha believed the doctrine, but she
had low opinions of the Lord. Christ didn't have to be there
to heal Lazarus. Look back at Matthew chapter 8. Strong faith
would have known that. The Lord did not have to be present
to heal Lazarus. And if her faith hadn't been
so weak, she'd have known that. and found comfort in it. Matthew
8, verse 5. And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him, and
saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home, sick of the palsy, grievously
tormented. Jesus saith unto him, I'll come
heal him. And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy
that thou shouldst come under my roof, but speak the word only,
and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority,
having soldiers under me. I say to this man, Go, and he
goeth. And to another, Come, and he cometh. And to my servant,
Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled,
and said to them that followed, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Great faith,
new. The Lord doesn't have to be there
to heal. But Martha, and Mary too later, she says the same
thing. Somehow it separated the Lord from his power, didn't thought
he had to be there to heal Lazarus. Martha believed in the doctrine
of God's love for his people. But she's doubting the person.
It's almost like she's rebuking the Lord for not being there.
Lord, you didn't love us enough. If you'd been here, if you loved
us enough, my brother wouldn't have died. Her faith is weak,
isn't it? It never occurred to her. The
Lord's love is in this thing. The Lord's love is in him delaying
so he could do something for her that's even better than raising
Lazarus. But it never occurred to her
because she's doubting the person. She's doubting his love. And
Martha believes. She's right. God do anything,
Lord Jesus asks. But she's doubting the person
of Christ. She's doubting the deity of Christ, that Christ
is God himself. Her problem is what's causing
her to lose comfort, she's separating the father and the son. And they're
one. It's like she's seeing the Lord
as a great prophet. God would do anything a great
prophet asks. And she's not seeing him as God.
She's not seeing him as a man in whom all the fullness of the
Godhead dwells bodily. Martha believed that Christ could
heal sickness, but she forgot that he's life himself. She forgot
not only does Christ have life in himself, He is life himself. She separated the doctrine of
life from the person who is life. She had faith. Everyone who has
faith understands Martha right here. We're not being hard on
Martha because everyone is just like her. Our faith flushed away
suddenly. This statement, Lord, if you'd
been here, my brother wouldn't have died, came from the same
woman who prayed this great prayer in verse three. Lord, behold,
he whom I love is to sit. Her faith was so strong when
she sent that message and prayer to the Lord. She didn't tell
him what to do or how to do it. Lord, I leave it in your hands.
He whom thou lovest is sick. The same woman said, Lord, if
you'd been here, my brother hadn't died. Our faith fluctuates, doesn't
it? And her faith is weaker because
she's got a weaker view of the Savior. So verse 23, Jesus saith
unto her, my brother shall rise again. The Lord told Martha what
He's going to do. And isn't that a blessing and
a comfort? But she missed it because she's
separating Christ from the doctrine. She didn't understand the Lord
to say, I'm going to raise your brothers after them. That's what
He meant, but she didn't understand it. And that's miraculous now. The Lord's going to raise this
man from the dead. His body is already decaying
and stinking. He'd been dead four days. And
the Lord's going to raise him from the dead. That's miraculous. But now that's not the real blessing
in this story. You know, Lazarus is going to
have to die again. You'd think doing that once is enough. He's
going to have to die again. The blessing is that one day
Lazarus and every believer is going to be raised again in a
perfect body, never to die again, to be forever with the Lord because
Christ died and rose again for his people. This is a picture
of Christ giving spiritual life to the dead. He comes to dead
sinners, those that he loves. He loved them from all eternity.
And he tells them to come forth. And they come forth. That's the
blessing. And we don't just accept this blessed truth. And I want
you to listen to this, because this is something we're prone
to do. This blessed truth. God's going to raise his people
from the dead. They're going to be resurrected. That's not just
something that's going to comfort us in the future and doesn't
do us any good today. Did you hear that? This blessed
truth of the resurrection, it's not just something, well, yeah,
that's going to do me some good in the future, but doesn't do
me any good today. No, this is what comforts our heart today.
And if we're not comforted and blessed by this, it's because
we've separated Christ from the doctrine, which is exactly what
Martha's doing. In verse 24, Martha said unto
him, I know he'll rise again in the resurrection of the last
day. Martha had the right doctrine. She's not like the Sadducees
who didn't believe in the resurrection. She's got the right doctrine,
but at the moment she's missing the person. The question in salvation
is never what do you believe? Never. The question is always
who do you believe? She believed the doctrine. And
bless her heart, she believed the person too. She really did.
But the trick's putting the two together. That's where our problem
comes in. Don't look to future events to
find comfort. You find comfort when you look
to Christ right now. Don't expect, well, I'll just
be comforted out there in the future. No. Look to Christ to
find comfort now. Don't be occupied with future
events. Be comforted by being occupied
with Christ right now. Right now. The resurrection is
not an event. The resurrection is a person.
And that's what our Lord tells her in verse 25. Jesus saith
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? Martha, you've got the right
doctrine. You're right. Everyone who's
dead one day will be raised. One day every believer will be
raised in Christ when Christ returns. They'll be raised to
eternal joy and happiness with Him. They'll worship Him eternally.
And it'll be a resurrection to eternal death if someone doesn't
believe Christ. But you've robbed yourself of
the blessing when you separate the doctrine of the Savior from
the person of the Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ is God.
And He gives life to whom He will. He doesn't have to ask
the Father. He gives it to whom He will. Now, I can say that
to almost every person here. You believe the right doctrine.
Everybody here, at least, you know, mentally, would give mental
agreement to the five points of Calvinism, every one of us.
But that's not the question. The question is, do you believe
the person? Do you believe Christ? The resurrection will only be
resurrection to eternal life If Christ has already raised
you from spiritual death to spiritual life, Christ is the spiritual
resurrection. He is the spiritual life. Now,
our Lord loves Martha. He said that he loves Martha
and Mary and her brother. Well, how does he comfort her?
Here she's broken hearted. Her brother, he watched him suffer
and die. How does he comfort her? He doesn't
comfort her by pointing her to future events. She's already
got that down, doesn't she? He comforts her by pointing her
to himself. Martha, I'm the resurrection.
I'm the life. Can I tell us one more time?
Look to Christ. Would you look to him? He's salvation. He's life. He's comfort. We'll
find comfort for our souls. We'll find salvation if we look
to him. The resurrection is not an event.
Christ is the fountain of life. He's the source of eternal life. And He's the resurrection. A
dead sinner has life in Christ. When Christ was raised from the
dead, every believer was raised in Him too. That's why I say
the resurrection is not an event, it's a person. He's the resurrection
and Christ is our life. Christ has abolished death. He's
brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. Because
he lives, we live. He is our life, our spiritual
life. Look over Colossians chapter
3. He is our life. And a believer can no more lose
that life than Christ can die, than our head can die. Colossians 3, verse 3, For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, not when Christ who shall bring our life, when
Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with him in glory. Christ is our life. Look in 1
Corinthians 15. Spiritual life and spiritual
death are both a person. Spiritual death is a person and
eternal life is a person because of federal headship. 1 Corinthians
15 verse 22. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. We are dead in Adam. Spiritual death is a person,
it's Adam. And we're alive in Christ. Spiritual
life is Christ. Death and life are not doctrines,
they're persons. Christ is a spiritual resurrection. He gives us life from the dead
and he is our life. He is our life and our resurrection. The new birth is passing from
death unto life. It's passing from death and Adam
in one person to life in another person, life in Christ. And in
him we live and move and have our being. The state of our body
has absolutely nothing to do with the state of the soul. Absolutely
nothing. Eternal life is not a future
thing. It's a present thing. It's a
present blessing in Christ. Eternal life is not a doctrine.
It's a person. And that's what our Lord's telling
Martha. Lazarus is living now. You don't
have to wait for him to be raised and come back and have life.
Lazarus is living now. In the original Greek, the way
this is written, our Lord says Lazarus was dead past tense,
yet he continues to live because he has spiritual life. Spiritual
life never ends. And every one of us has lost
a loved one who's a believer. We were talking about Andrew's
mother last Sunday. Andrew, you're not waiting for
her to have life again. She lives. That's what our Lord's telling
Martha. He lives. He's not dead. He's living better
than me living because he lives with Christ. Don't separate Christ
from the doctrine. Don't separate life from the
person who is life. When our body dies, For the first
time, we'll be living. For the first time. Because we're
living with Christ. What Brother Henry tells so many
times, I am a soul and I have a body. When this body dies,
that's got nothing to do with the soul. It's just a tabernacle
for it. You're laying it down. The soul
doesn't die. The soul doesn't sleep. The soul
lives with Christ. You believe that? That's what
our Lord asked Martha. In verse 27, she said unto him,
Yea, Lord, I believe thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which
is come into the world. Now Martha had questioned the
Lord's providence. She questioned the Lord's love,
but she did believe him, didn't she? She believed him. And the
same thing is true of you and me. We're going to mess things
up from time to time. But I believe Christ. I believe
He's the Son of God. I believe He's the Savior. He's
my only hope. All my hope is in Him. All my
life is in Him. And from time to time, my attitude
is going to be wrong. My understanding of things is
going to be wrong. But I believe that Christ is
all my salvation. I ought to have the right doctrine.
And I ought to have the right attitude. But when I don't, When
I've got the wrong attitude and my doctrine's somehow off, Christ
is still all my salvation. Wayne, I didn't lose it because
my attitude's wrong. Christ is all my salvation. And
when by God's grace I do have the right attitude and my doctrine
is right, you know what? Christ is still all my salvation.
I don't have my salvation, didn't retain it because I got the right
attitude and the right doctrine. Christ is all my salvation. And people are so concerned with
all these future events, how they can unfold, when are they
all going to happen? I don't know. And honestly, I don't care. I don't care. The only thing
I know is the Lord Jesus Christ is the long-awaited Savior. He's
the Son of God. And I have life in Him by His
mercy, by His grace, by His appointment. I have life in Him through union
with Him and by faith in Him So I'll never die. Probably in vain, but I often
tell my daughters at my funeral service, don't wait for me. Rejoice. Rejoice. And that's hard to do.
They won't be able to do it. They just won't. I wasn't either.
They won't be able to. But that's our comfort. When
God finally comforts our heart in that time. That's what it'll
be. It'll be Christ. He is our comfort. Our comfort's not we're waiting
for them someday to have life. They have life now. One day He'll
take us and we'll see Him again. We'll have life with Him. But
it'll all be because of Christ going on. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, how we thank Thee. for the unspeakable gift of thy
precious Son. That in your infinite, sovereign
mercy and grace, you would choose a sinful people to put in your
Son to be our surety. And in the fullness of time,
you would send Him to be made sin for us, to put away our through
the sacrifice of Himself and make us righteous in Him. Father,
we're thankful. We're thankful for faith in Him.
It's a gift You gave. We're thankful for the opportunity
to worship Him. It's a gift You gave. And we
do beg forgiveness for the many times we murmur and complain. And we do separate doctrine and
life from the Savior, from the Person. And how we beg of Thee
that You'd cause us to fall in love with the Person, to look
to Him, rest in Him. What an amazing gift of Your
grace. And we pray that You'd comfort our hearts with the Person,
that You'd give us His presence and enable us to look to Him,
to preach Him, to love Him, to have faith in Christ, in Christ
alone. What a Savior. How we thank you. We pray that you cause this message
to be a blessing to your people, to praise and glorify the name
of our dear Savior. It's in His matchless name we
pray and give thanks. Amen.