loved of God Mary Martha and
their brother Lazarus as I began preparing this message the more
I read the chapter the bigger it got and I found dozens of
things that need to be addressed in these 57 verses But I want
you to hold your Bibles over on your lap and let's just look
at some highlights in this 11th chapter of John's gospel Here's
the first thing we see here A family loved of God experiences
sickness, disease, death, and bereavement just like all other
people. Look at John chapter 11, verse
one. 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 sent 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. These families loved
of God, this family loved of God. You and I who are loved
of God experience sickness, disease, death, bereavement, and all other
troubles in this world just like all other people do. But we experience
these things with this assurance. Whatever it is that God brings
to pass in our lives, is for the glory of God that the Son
of God might be glorified thereby. That ought to sustain us. That
ought to be sufficient for us. That ought to be enough. Sickness
is not a sign of God's displeasure or lack of faith on our part.
The fact is sickness is sent to us by our Heavenly Father
for our benefit. Which is aggravating to the flesh
Aggravating to our bodies is often good for our souls sickness
Tends to draw our attention away from this world away from time
away from the cares of this world to Christ sickness sends us to
our knees Sends us to our Bibles and sends us to the throne of
grace Anything that does that? Good Anything that does that
it's for the glory of God Anything that does that is that the Son
of God may be glorified thereby Anything that does that is good
for your soul? Sickness reminds us that life
in this world at its best is just a vapor a vapor that's soon
gone sickness Forces us to look to the grave and look beyond
the grave to judgment and beyond judgment to eternity. Whenever
sickness comes, be it nothing more than a cold or something
as serious as cancer or a heart attack, let us be patient before
God and ever mindful of the fact that this too is by the hand
of God. Sickness is the fruit of sin. Sickness is the forerunner of
death. Sickness and health life and
death alike are in the hands of God for believers however
Sickness should be no difficulty Mentally spiritually and emotionally
shouldn't be I didn't say isn't I said shouldn't be we live in
this body of flesh with much unbelief but sickness for believers
is never unto death and but unto life. Our sicknesses, whatever
they are, are but bumps in the road on our way home. Just bumps
in the road taking us to glory. All right, here's the second
thing. True faith, true faith, submits to God's will. Not immediately, not perfectly,
but faith submits to God's will. When Lazarus was sick, very sick
apparently, Martha and Mary sent a message to the Lord Jesus.
They just wrote out a short little note. And this is what they said. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. Now I find that remarkable. They
didn't ask the Lord Jesus to come to Bethany. They didn't
ask him to heal Lazarus of his sickness. Though obviously that's
what they wanted him to do. They wanted the master to come.
They wanted the master to come and heal their brother. That's
what they hoped he would do. But they left the matter in his
hands, confident that he will do best. God teach me to do that. To leave everything in his hands,
confident that he will do best. When the Lord God in judgment
took Eli's sons because Eli failed as a father. Because Eli refused
to correct his sons. His sons became wild rebels and
God took them. And when Eli knew that his sons
were dead, this is what he said. It is the Lord, let him do what
seemeth him good. You and I will be wise in all
the affairs of our lives Follow his example our best ablest wisest
most considerate helper is God our Savior Christ Jesus is our
best friend Especially in time of need and the best thing we
can do in every time of trouble is like Hezekiah Simply spread
our case before him and bow Lord here I am You know what I'm experiencing
You know the heartache, you know the pain, you know the trouble.
I spread my case to you. Do what seemeth to you good. In the hurry and excitement of
trouble, in the annoyance of pain and sickness, always remember
that none can help like him who took our infirmities and bear
our sicknesses. None is so kind as he, none so
gracious as he who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
And yet, we must never imagine that perfect faith will be found
in any sinner, not in you, not in me. It wasn't found in Martha
and Mary. In fact, we find both Martha
and Mary misjudging the Lord Jesus. That's what appears to
be the case. Down in the latter part of this
chapter in verse 39, Martha said to the Lord, she said, by this
time he stinketh. He'd been dead for four days.
He said, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother hadn't perished.
I understand that. But they seem to have misjudged
the Lord Jesus, though they bowed to him. God, forgive us of our
sin in misjudging you, in misjudging your hand, in misjudging your
providence, in misjudging your intentions, in misjudging what
you do. It's very easy, however, to talk
about faith when everything's going well. It's very easy to
talk about faith when you're comfortable. It's very easy to
talk about faith, believing God when your children are healthy
and they cause you no grief or trouble. It's another thing when
heartache comes, when trouble comes. So don't sit in harsh
judgment over one another or over others when you find them
in times of difficulty, finding it hard to believe God. I have
a very dear friend for some time now has been going through some
real difficulty, some real difficulty. I don't know that I've ever known
a more faithful woman. And right now she's having a
hard time believing God. Hard time believing God. The
fact is we will believe him only as he gives us grace to believe
him. We will trust him only as he works faith in us. Yet he
holds out this promise look at verse 40 Jesus said unto her
Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe thou shouldest
see the glory of God Obviously in the immediate context he's
talking about the resurrection of Lazarus Martha if you just
believe you'd see the glory of God But we can stretch that just
as far as your mind's imagination will carry it If we would just
believe, we would see God's glory in everything. In creation, in
providence, in trial, in heartache, in sickness, in bereavement,
we would see the glory of God in all things. Here's the third
thing, look at verse five. The Lord Jesus Christ, our God
and our Savior, loves all his people alike. Now Jesus loved
Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus. Here are three chosen
redeemed sinners, saved by God's grace, the objects of his electing
love, the objects of Christ's sin-atoning death. But they were
not at all alike in many ways. Martha appears to have been a
bit too pushy. Martha takes a hard time for
most of the commentators and expositors. Martha was cumbered
with much serving. We understand that, but thank
God for Martha's. If it wasn't for Martha's, nothing
ever get done. Martha was cumbered with much serving, but at the
same time, she seems to have been a little too pushy. Something
out of character for a lady, something out of character for
a woman who wishes to be known and admired and respected as
a woman. She seemed to be a little too domineering and a little
too demanding. Mary, on the other hand, while she sat at the Savior's
feet in Luke 10 and heard his words, while Mary seems to have
been very spiritual, she was perhaps sometimes negligent of
her earthly responsibilities. And of Lazarus, I find it interesting. We're never told anything about
Lazarus. Not a word. But when we think about Lazarus,
his work, his personality, his character, his reputation, we
know nothing at all about the man. All we know about Lazarus
is that he was loved of God. And he got sick, and he died,
and the Lord raised him again. That's enough. That's enough. But all three, Martha, Mary,
and Lazarus, were loved of God for the same reason, because
they're one with Christ. Loved of God from everlasting.
Loved of God perfectly. Loved of God when the Lord Jesus
was sitting in their living room, drinking coffee or tea and talking
about the day. And loved of God when Lazarus
was sick. And loved of God when Lazarus
died. Nothing changed. Let us never, never, never, Question
the fact that God's people are loved of God always Loved of
God perfectly. I Often say to you when you go
through difficulty to friends around the world. I meet going
through trouble heartache if I could I Would take this trouble
from you and I would I would never have brought it
upon you. I would never have a friend that I love see a son
or a daughter wayward rebellious. But I have many friends loved
of God who have just that circumstance. I would never have a friend that
I love have his mind begin to fade and soon his memory gone
and his thinking gone and he lives without knowledge of anybody.
And you just might have taken care of them all the time. I'd
never do that. I would never do that. I would
never send cancer to any of you. I'd never cause any of you to
have a heart attack. I'd never cause any of you to suffer in
any way whatsoever. I wouldn't do it, I wouldn't
do it. But he who loves you infinitely more than I can imagine is he
who brings these things upon you. for your good and his glory
for the benefit of his church and his kingdom in all that he
does he does all things well because of his love for you who
are his look at another thing in verses
11 through 17 we learn that God's time is the right time
for everything. Back up to verse five. Now Jesus
loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. When therefore, when
he had heard therefore that he was sick, he stayed right where
he was. He abode two days still in the
same place where he was. Verse 11. These things said he
after that he saith unto them, our friend Lazarus sleepeth.
But I go that I may wake him out of his sleep. Then said his
disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Albeit Jesus
spake of his death. But they thought that he had
spoken of taking rest in 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 that ye may believe. He said, I waited here. I waited
here for the benefit of Martha and Mary and Lazarus. And I waited
here for the benefit of those who will see what I'm about to
do. And I waited here for your benefit
so that you might believe. At the right time, the Lord Jesus
works. Always his time is best. Our Lord knows when it's best
to intervene, when it's best to work and how. He came into
this world in what's described as the fullness of time, in due
time. He called it mine hour. Exactly
the right time at precisely the right moment He stepped into
human flesh at exactly the right time He said his face like a
flint and went up to Jerusalem to suffer and die at exactly
the right time He rose from the dead at exactly the right time
He comes to his elect redeem people and calls them by grace. It's called the time of love
every sinner Saved by God's grace is saved at precisely the best
time. I often think, and I wouldn't
deny this in any way, what a blessing, what a great, great blessing
it is to see a youth converted, saved by God's grace, see a young
man or young woman live to live for God and serve God all their
lives at just the right time. And I've had the privilege of
seeing some converted in their mid-80s and mid-90s confessing
Christ, and that was just the right time. His time is always
best, and His time to intervene in your life and mine, His time
to bring pain and sorrow, His time to bring relief and comfort
is always best. In all the affairs of our lives,
We need to understand this. Everything that happens to us
is well done, done in the best manner, done by the right instrument,
and done at the right time. God teach us to cease from our
impatience. We want God to do things right
now. Are you guilty? Me too. We're
like Moses when he prayed for Miriam. He said, heal her now,
Lord. But now is not always the best
time. Now is not necessarily the right
time. Our times are in his hands. It
is our great wisdom to rejoice in that and draw comfort from
that. When we're sick, he knows the
best time to heal us and the best way. When we're in trouble,
He knows the best time to deliver us and the best way When we need
help, he knows the best time to help and the best way Here's
the fifth thing to learn from this family loved of God Because
Christ is the resurrection and the life We who are loved of
God shall never die Look at verse 14 The Lord Jesus said in verse
11, Lazarus is sleeping. Then in verse 14, he said, Lazarus
is dead. Then in verse 25, Jesus says
to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Without question, you and
I, must die physically, these bodies must go to the earth,
return to the dust, that's a part of the curse, the result of sin. But when these bodies have gone
to the earth, when we have left this world of time, this world
of sickness and sorrow and sin and death, then we enter into
life. He that liveth and believeth
on me shall never die. When the Lord Jesus died, we
died in him. When he suffered the wrath of
God, we suffered the wrath of God in him. When he arose from
the dead, we arose in him. And soon we will be made to rise
in resurrection glory with him. But even then nothing changes
about this life except our experience of it these mortal bodies raised
in immortality shall be forever joined with our immortal souls
in spirits in everlasting glory in life with Christ Then We will have that which
Paul describes as the glorious liberty of the sons of God Now
skip down to verse 39 and learn this. Every sinner loved of God shall
be saved in God's appointed time, at the appointed time of love,
just like Lazarus was raised from the dead. What a beautiful
picture we have here of this man being raised from the dead,
and what a beautiful picture this is of our experience of
God's grace. Regeneration, the new birth,
is a resurrection from the dead. The Lord Jesus stands here at
Lazarus' tomb, and he calls Lazarus from death to life. Even so,
by his spirit through the gospel, The Lord Jesus comes at the appointed
time of love and calls dead sinners from death to life and the dead
hear his voice and come forth from their graves Just like that
passage in Ezekiel 37 Several of you men love to read it and
I love to hear you read it read it with you Ezekiel's dry bones
the Lord Jesus says this is what I want to do for you and I'm
going to raise Israel up from her grave. He comes in saving
grace and by a personal, distinct call, he says to every chosen
redeemed sinner, Don, come forth! And when he calls, Don comes. And until he calls, Don won't
come and Don can't come. The same's true of all God's
elect. He calls by a personal, particular,
effectual, omnipotent, almighty call, so that those who are called
by grace live by grace. Those who are called by Christ
live with Christ. Those who are called by the Spirit
live by the Spirit. I received a letter this week,
someone asking me about the call of God. In fact, many are very
confused about the call. Maybe the Lord wasn't really
calling them. If they didn't come, the Lord wouldn't call
them. When God comes calling, sinners come believing, always. His call is called irresistible. It's irresistible grace, an irresistible
call. And it comes forth at the appointed
time of love. Now, learn this as well. and everything else would be
meaningless that I've said were it not for this. You get to the
end of the chapter, verses 49 through 52, folks are talking
about the resurrection of Lazarus and the Lord Jesus, and they're
wanting to do something because everybody's following after this
man called Jesus of Nazareth. And one of them, verse 49, named
Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them,
ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that
one man should die for the people and that the whole nation perish
not. And this is fake, not of himself. That is, he wasn't smart
enough to figure this out. And he wasn't speaking from a
spiritual mind as a prophet of God. But being the high priest
that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation. Here, John, by divine inspiration,
puts God's meaning to Caiaphas' words. And not for that nation
only, but that also he should gather together in one the children
of God that are scattered abroad. That is John by divine inspiration
says, now this is the meaning of what Caiaphas said, but didn't
know. It's expedient that one man should die for the nation. And if he dies for the nation,
the nation will not perish. This is talking about substitution.
The whole of this business of life, the whole of this business
of salvation, founded upon arises from and is accomplished by the
substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. Caiaphas said
what very few theologians or preachers ever come to understand,
justice must be satisfied. It is expedient for us that one
man should die for the people and that the whole nation perish
not. The Lord Jesus has fully satisfied the justice of God
for his elect by his death upon the cursed tree. And because
he has satisfied the justice of God for his elect, his holy
nation shall not perish. Every sinner for whom the son
of God died at Calvary must and shall be saved by the omnipotent
grace of God the Holy Ghost in regeneration. I ask you to pray
as we gather to worship. Pray for me as I endeavor to
preach. Pray as I preach to you and as I preach wherever God
opens the door that the Lord God may be pleased to speak by
his word and give life to dead sinners as it did to Lazarus
when he raised him from the grave. These things are the things that
a family loved of God may and should expect from Him. Amen.