Let's turn to John chapter 11
together. Gospel of John chapter 11. I want to pick up right where
I left off last Sunday morning. The Lord Jesus declares here
to his disciples Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may
awake him out of sleep. That which our Savior said about
Lazarus is true of all those who have gone before us into
glory, whose bodies lie in the earth. Their bodies sleep. They sleep in Christ, in his
arms, in the earth until the resurrection. We have many friends
and loved ones whose bodies we have buried in the earth. We
have bidden them farewell for a brief time. How many times
we have looked to the face, held the hand of one dear to us, our
cheeks burning with tears because we know we have now seen them
for the last time in this present life. And we will have an empty
place, a void, a big hole that can't be filled by anyone else.
And our hearts ache and we're full of pain. But with regard
to those who have died in faith, with regard to those who have
died in the Lord, with regard to those who have died in Christ,
in union with Christ, we can say as our Lord Jesus did of
Lazarus, our friends are asleep. That's my subject this morning.
Our friends are asleep. Let me give you a little refreshment
with regard to the background of this text. In the previous
verses, the Lord Jesus received that touching note from Martha
and Mary. He whom thou lovest is sick. I think it would be remiss if
I did not call your attention to the fact that they obviously
were more confident in faith, Merle, than you and I know anything
about. They were just confident. All they had to do was tell them
Master Lazarus is sick and everything would be all right. And their
confidence was well-founded. Everything was all right, but
not as they had expected. They sent to the Lord Jesus and
said, he whom thou lovest is sick. And the master told his
disciples that he'd gotten the letter, and then he waited and
waited and waited. Two days he waited. Lazarus died,
and he headed to Bethany. Now, the primary thing revealed
in this 11th chapter is the fact that Christ Jesus, our Lord,
is himself the resurrection and the life. He is the life in whom
and by whom we live. He is the life God gives us in
regeneration. And he is the resurrection by
whom we have been raised from spiritual death and by whom these
bodies shall be raised from physical death. Resurrection, however,
can only be displayed when death has come in. Lazarus must die,
else he could not be raised. You must die, else you could
not be raised from the dead. And our Lord Jesus could not
display himself in this world, to this world, as the resurrection,
were there no death for him to raise us from. So it is physically
with regard to these physical bodies, and so it is spiritually
with regard to our souls. Except we died in our father
Adam, we could not be raised to life in the Lord Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer. First Lazarus himself is dead,
and then Thomas speaks. Thomas, with all these disciples
that we have grown accustomed to berating because of their
different failures. We ought to pause and remember
they have traits that are enviable. Thomas, who said, I will not
believe except I put my hand in his side. Thomas, who said,
give me his hand, let me stick my finger in the hole in his
hands, then I'll believe. Thomas said, Let's go with him. The Jews are trying to kill him.
And if he's going to die at Jerusalem, let us go with him, that we may
die with him. And the Lord Jesus and his disciples
went to Bethany. Then Martha comes before us. Though in the presence of Christ,
she could only think of the death of her brother. And I can't blame
her for that. I've been there. Have you? Though
in his presence, all she could think of was her sorrow. The
same was true of Mary. Finally, the Jews who had come
to comfort these two bereaved sisters are seen weeping. And even as the Lord stands before
the tomb of Lazarus, they have no anticipation of anything happening. The Lord stood there and wept
with them. He understood their sympathy.
He understood their care and they knew his sympathy and care. They believed him and yet as
he stands before the tomb, he who is the resurrection and the
life, they had no anticipation of what he was about to do. They
didn't expect him to raise the dead. They didn't expect their
brother to come out of that tomb that day, but he did. We have before us a picture of
physical death, the death of the body, but it's only a figure
and the result of something far, far more solemn, tragic, and
dreadful. Some of you here are dead, dead, spiritually dead, dead
in trespasses and in sins. Dead. I dare say almost all of
you are religious. Most of you have made professions
of faith, but dead. Some of you are dead. Dead. Oh, how helpless are the dead. In Adam, we died spiritually. When Adam sinned,
and transgressed against God, he didn't sin as a private individual. He didn't merely transgress God's
command as a private person, but as a public person, as a
federal head, as a legal representative. Adam sinned against God, and
when Adam sinned, he died spiritually and was sentenced to death physically
and to death everlastingly. as a result of sin. And we all
died in our father Adam, so that we come forth from our mother's
wombs in spiritual death, with the sentence of physical death
upon us, the certain result of spiritual death, and of eternal
death in our consciences, the death of our souls forever. in alienation and separation
from God in our consciences. Born children of wrath, even
as others. The dead, talk to them about
the weather, doesn't affect them. Speak to them about great prospects
of wealth, they're unconcerned. Talk to them about things that
may cause great calamity, has no effect upon them. You wouldn't
expect it to. They're dead. And so it is with
spiritually dead sinners. You who are dead speak to you
about the love of God, redeeming blood, substitution, satisfaction,
free justification, the glory of God. No effect on you. You're dead. You're dead. Fallen
man is dead, and being dead, if he is to live, something's
got to be done to him, for him, and in him, that no man can do,
except this one who said, our friend Lazarus sleepeth. But I go that I may awake him
out of sleep. Oh, son of God, will you come
today and awake the dead? You see? Not only is the dead
sinner himself helpless, but before the presence of death,
your friends are helpless. And the preacher is helpless. I can't cause you to live. I can't convey life to you. No
preacher can do that. You remember when the disciples
saw the rich young ruler walk away from the Lord Jesus, they
said, who then can be saved? If this man's lost, if this man
raised by such good parents, this man raised in such a good
way, this man who has done so many good things, this man who's
so sincere, this man who's devoted to religion, This man who obeys
the law, if he can't be saved, who then can be saved? And our
master responded, with men, this is impossible. With men, your salvation is not
even a possibility to be considered. Nothing your mama can do about
it. Nothing your daddy can do about it. Nothing this preacher
can do about it. And nothing you can do about
it. With men, this is impossible. Oh, but with God, all things are possible. The Lord Jesus comes to raise
the dead by the merit of his blood, by the word of his grace,
by the spirit of his power, or if it were just a matter of your
ignorance, even I can help with that because
I can give you some knowledge. I can convey a little knowledge
to you, but your problem is not ignorance, not just ignorance. If it were just a matter that
your will is stubborn, Well, I could do some things about
that. Mom and dad can do some things about that. We can work
on your will and we can massage your will and we can psychologically
manipulate your will and we can entice you to do things and change
your will about things. But the problem's not just with
your will. The problem is you're dead. And nothing can change that except
the Son of God. Nothing. Now watch what the master did
when he came to Lazarus. Our Lord Jesus stepped in before
Lazarus' tomb when his sisters could do nothing, when his friends
could do nothing. And he who is the resurrection
and the life stepped in and said, Lazarus, come forth. And he that
was dead came forth. What did he do? He simply spoke
a word. Lazarus, come forth. But Lazarus couldn't come forth. If he had been able to come forth,
he would have walked out of the tomb before the Lord Jesus ever
got there. He's dead. Well, what's the point then in
calling him to come forth? He who issues the call is God
Almighty who said, let there be light. And the sun appears in brightness. He set the sun and the moon and
the stars in heaven by his word. Creating all things by his word. And now he comes and by his word
speaks to the dead. That's what it takes to raise
the dead. That's what it will take to cause
you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That same irresistible,
omnipotent, conquering voice of the Son of God. He called
Lazarus personally, particularly, distinctly. He called Lazarus
by an omnipotent, irresistible, effectual power that caused Lazarus
to come out of the grave. And that's how God saves sinners. He must call you. And if he calls
you, you can't resist his voice. If he calls you, you cannot refuse
to obey his call. How many times have you, maybe
you haven't, I don't know. Well, I expect you have. Heard
folks talk about how Instead of just resisting the
Lord. And you can. You can. You can
resist the influence of His word. You can resist the influence
of the preacher's voice. You can resist the Influence
of a heart-moving song. You can resist the influence
of a tender tear-jerking story. You can resist the influence
of well-given illustrations. You can resist the influence
of a mother's prayers and tears running down her cheeks. You
can resist the influence of a father's guidance and his wise counsel.
And you're just, this old sinner just standing there trembling
and just about to fall over while we sung the last hymn. Just resisting
God. Now that's something you can't
resist. Resist God! What nonsense! Resist God! Hold back God! Stop God! What foolishness! What blasphemy! Oh no! If the Son of God calls, you
will come to Him. You will believe on him. You
will live by him. And you will know he's called
you by his grace. For you will find yourself believing
on him. Lord Jesus, will you then call
sinners now by the voice that awakes the dead, the voice of
your mighty, sovereign, and free grace? The scriptures often speak not
only of this spiritual death, but it's represented in physical
death. And the physical death of Lazarus
and his resurrection is that which I want us to now focus
our attention on for a few minutes. The scriptures speak of Lazarus
here while he's in the tomb as being asleep. Asleep. You've heard of various heretical
groups who say that when a man dies, then he just sleeps in
the earth until the resurrection. They talk about soul sleep. That's
the end until the resurrection, and most of them wind up denying
the resurrection altogether. Well, that's not what the scripture
is talking about. It's talking about the sleep of the body. It's all
about the sleep of these bodies. In the New Testament, the term
is used only with reference to God's people. Only with reference
to believers who have gone to glory in the Lord Jesus Christ
and their bodies sleep in the earth. Listen to this. Christ
is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that
slept. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep. That is, when the Lord comes
again, there's still going to be some believers walking on
the earth. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4, if we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, Christ
will bring with him. In chapter 5, the apostle says
that Christ died for us. Whether we wake or sleep, Whether
we're among those who are standing here right now, Bob, you and
I are awake. You and I are awake. We've got
friends who sleep. Sleep. Whether we wake or sleep,
we should live together with Him so that those who are sleeping
in the earth are living with Christ in glory right now. And
let me make seven statements with regard to this sleep of
the body. And they're simple enough, I
hope. I'm going to make them blessed
to you. Sleep is harmless. Sleep is harmless, completely
harmless. There's nothing fearful about
sleep, but much for which to be thankful. David's saying,
yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy
staff, they comfort me." Children of God, for you, there is nothing
to fear about death. As soon as we depart these bodies,
these bodies sleep in the earth, and we're forever with the Lord.
You see, the sting has been taken out of death. The Apostle Paul
Writing in 1 Corinthians 15 said, the sting of death is sin. The
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be unto God which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The sting
of death is sin. And the Lord Jesus was made sin
for us. He took the sting in his own
holy soul and bore all the fury of God's holy wrath in the room
instead of his people. And he, being stung to death
by sin, now has taken sin from us forever. The most fearful
thing about thinking about death is guilt. Most fearful thing there is.
Most difficult thing to deal with in the prospect of death
is sin. Children of God, we don't have
to deal with it. Christ did. Christ did. And now the law cannot condeal. Because the sting of death is
sin. And sin being put away, the law
has nothing. The law has nothing. Did you
hear me? The law has nothing with which
to condemn your soul. No guilt, the law declares. Here's the second thing. The death of these bodies is
called sleep, and sleep comes as a welcome, welcome relief
after the sorrow, pain, difficulty, and toil of the day, which wearies
us, makes us tired. The wise men declared, the sleep
of the laboring man is sweet. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
3, 22, death is ours. All things are yours. Christ
is yours. Life is yours. Death is yours. Death belongs
to you. Death is something God's given
you in Christ Jesus. Not something that's horrible
and terrible, but a gift of God to you, his people, in Christ
Jesus. It's called sleep. It's merciful. A great provision, appreciated
most by those who can't get it. As equally merciful is this thing
death, appreciated by those who know the Savior washed in His
blood, trusting Christ Jesus. How thankful I am. that soon I shall sleep with
Jesus." Now, I'm either telling you the
truth for the cause or I'm lying to you. No in-between grab. I'm
thankful. I'm thankful that I have no prospect
of living as old as Methuselah. Thankful. Now, when you read
the early chapters of Genesis and you read about those men
who lived seven, eight, nine hundred years. Don't get the
idea that they were feeble old men. Oh, no. No, no, don't get
that idea. When they were that age, they
were still strong men. Strong men. But they lived on
and finally got feeble and died Methuselah nearly a thousand
years old. Oh, boy, wouldn't you like to
live to be a thousand if you could live like you were twenty-five? and have the wisdom of a man
900 years old, still strong and vibrant? Oh, no. No, that's not
the issue. That's not the issue. I have
no interest in living in this body of sin, in this corruption, any longer than is needful to
accomplish God's purpose for his glory in my days on this
earth and the good of the souls of his people in those days.
And then I will both lay me down in peace and sleep. Is that what the psalmist said?
Psalm 4 verse 8. For thou, Lord, makest me to
dwell in safety. Death is separation from the
body. It must come. But oh, it will
be a welcome separation. Richard Baxter put it this way.
He said, it's like taking off a shoe that hurts my foot. It'll be a welcome relief. He
said, to put this body aside will be like laying aside a worn
out tool when all its work is done. I heard Miller Murrow, he didn't
mean for me to hear him, I heard him a few weeks ago, said to
Ron Wood, said, Ron, anytime you need him, I've got all kinds
of tools down there, so I won't need them anymore. Just help
yourself. And wasn't he crying, was he? Why? He's done with that work. Done
with it. It's over. Over. No more need
for the tools. The work's finished. The labor
day is over. The pastor said death will be
like dismissing a servant when a service is no longer needed. These eyes soon will see no more. These hands soon will work no
more. These feet soon will move no
more. This tongue soon will speak no
more. And that's as it should be and
must be. ashes to ashes, dust to dust,
water to water, air to air. This body is just the shell in
which I live, and it is to be treated as such. I know by long
experience that living in this body of flesh, I've lived in
a painful lodging for my soul. And somehow we must learn to
treat this body as a perishing thing. I don't mean that we should
be careless or irresponsible. I don't mean that we should give no heed to the prospects
of health and such things as that. We can't do such. We can't
do such. I will give you an illustration
I think I can give you now without too much pain to Shelby or anyone
else. Some of you will remember when
I was laying over here in the house and got these bleeding
ulcers. Bob came over and I nearly bled to death. I'd been up most
of the night bleeding. And I was having some struggles. Been sick long enough, in my
opinion. Been weak long enough, in my opinion. Had enough pain,
in my opinion. And I thought to myself when
I crawled back in bed at 6 o'clock in the morning that morning,
if I go to sleep one more time, I just don't think I'll wake
up. And I laid in the bed like that for just a couple of minutes. And I thought, you can't do that,
that's suicide. And that's wrong. I say that
because I want you to understand, that's wrong. That's wrong. We
dare not behave carelessly. But these bodies must go to the
earth. So if you want to quit eating
straw and start eating hamburger, it'll be all right. You understand
that? We must learn to treat these
bodies as God intended. We are going to die. We're going
to die. And what shall it profit a man
if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? about everybody I know, lives
for time. Get all you can and can't all
you get. Tough times are coming. But I've
got news for you, tough times are coming. Tough times are coming. Nothing that can be spoken of,
of toughness on this earth. You're going to meet God in judgment
and tough times are coming. Here's the third thing. Sleep. These bodies sleep in the earth
and sleep is just for a short time. It doesn't last very long. Most
of us are getting to the age it lasts less and less time every
day. We get a little bit less sleep
all the time. The sound of the chirping bird
wakes us up. We sleep for a few hours and
then we're wide awake. Well, the fact is, at best, we
steal just a short piece of the day and rest for just a brief
little time, and then we awake. Turn back to Daniel chapter 12.
Let me read it to you from there. When he found Daniel 12, turn
to 1 Thessalonians 4 again. Way back here, Daniel speaks
of this resurrection of the body. Daniel chapter 12 verse 2. Many of them that sleep in the
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some
to everlasting contempt. When Christ comes again, There's going to be a resurrection,
both of the righteous and of the wicked. All at once, the
dead in Christ shall rise first. They shall arise and join their
souls, unite with their bodies and come with Christ to the earth
as we arise with them and meet the Lord in the air. And he comes
here, destroying this earth with the brightness of his coming,
establishing his great white throne judgment. You believe,
Brother Don, that suddenly all the graves of God's elect at
one time are just going to open up and the dust and the ashes and the air and
the water are all going to be brought together and rise up
from the dead? Well, of course I do. Of course. Why, you silly old man. Either that or I'm a believer,
one of the two. One of the two. On the night that our Lord was
crucified, we read that many of the saints, the graves were
opened, and many of the saints arose and walked the streets
of Jerusalem. Now whether that refers to walking
the literal streets of Jerusalem over yonder and the other side
of the world, or refers to walking the streets of Jerusalem in glory,
the New Jerusalem, I don't know. But I do know that many arose,
and just as they arose by the merit of His sacrifice presented
at the altar of God in heaven, we shall arise by the merit of
His sacrifice and by the power of His resurrection as we arise
in the last day. Look here in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4. I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not,
even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent, shall not precede or
go before them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with
the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall
we ever be with the Lord." Did you get those words? So shall
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words. Here's the fourth thing. When these bodies sleep in the
earth, sleep is a time of rest. The work of the day is exchanged
for the sweet sleep of the night. This is what death means to God's
saints. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labors. That statement in Revelation
14 applies only to this intermediate state while
these bodies rest in the earth. I know that because we're told
in Revelation 22 that His servant shall serve Him day and night. That is, we shall have service
to perform for our Savior in our resurrection bodies in the
new heavens and the new earth such as we cannot imagine now.
But here, these bodies rest from their labors, rest from their
work. rest from their toil, rest from
their pain, while their souls are with Christ in glory. Here's
the fifth thing. Sleep shuts out the sorrows of
life. When we sleep, we're mercifully
preserved from the care and the heartache and the trouble and
the sorrow that troubles us all through the day. When the care
and the heartache and the trouble invades, in the middle of the
night, the sleep's disturbed. But the sleep of the night gives
a welcome relief, and so it is with death. Those who are with
Christ in paradise, Know nothing of the pain and sorrow and toil
and tears and heartache of the earth. Now, let me be clear. Read Hebrews chapter 12, first
two verses. They're spoken of as a great
cloud of witnesses. The Olympic Games started this
week, the Winter Olympics. Well, in the summer Olympics,
you have these physical foot races, and you have a great cloud
of witnesses, that is, folks standing around cheering their
various runners on from the various countries. And that's the picture
that Paul gives us. The saints of God in glory are
as a great cloud of witnesses, waiting at the finish line, urging
us to run our race with patience. They're aware, very keenly aware. I have no question about things
going on on this earth. And they rejoice in the presence
of God, we're told in Luke 15, over every sinner who repents.
But they have no pain, and no sorrow, and no regrets, and no
tears. They're aware of the hurdles
in the way. They're aware of the falls by
the way. They're aware of the heartaches
we must yet endure. And they have no sorrow and no
regret. For they by experience now as
well as they with us by faith on this earth understood No evil
shall happen to the just. That means, Mark, whatever there
is out yonder tomorrow, whatever it is, it's going to be good
for you. That's what it means. Those who sleep in the earth
understand that and rest. Here's the sixth thing. When
a person's asleep, he's easily awakened from sleep. To raise the dead, impossible
as it appears to the skeptic, will be simpler to the Son of
God than for you to rouse a man from his sleep. See if I can illustrate it. Most of y'all don't know this,
but I depend on Shelby for just about everything. Just about
everything. When I'm traveling by myself, if I go to bed at
2 o'clock in the morning and I've got to be up at 4 to catch
a plane out at 6, I'll wake up 3.30 just like that. Don't have
to be worried about setting the clock. I just wake up if she's
not with me. If she's with me, I can lay down
and sleep, and you can set off cannon fire, and you can set
off alarm clocks. I can, you can set off music
to go off, discs to go off, folks can get up and dance in the room,
and I just sleep right on. You can turn on lights, and I
just sleep right on. Never think about waking up,
because I know everything's all right, she's in the room. But
if she comes by and says, Don, just like that, I'm awake. Just
that quick. Seldom ever does she have to
say Don twice. Usually it's not Don, it's sweetheart. And seldom
ever does he have to say it twice. Why? Because the voice of that
one dearest to me is easily heard even in sleep. And the dead shall
rise when Christ comes with the voice of the archangel and the
trump of God. I claim it. More easily than
you can awaken one from sleep. One last thing, turn to 1 Corinthians
15. Sleep is a time of preparation. Last night's sleep prepared me for today's labor. And the sleep of these bodies
prepares us for another day. The resurrected believer, the
resurrected body will be endured with a new power so that the
limitations of this mortal body no longer exist. Now, I'm in
territory indescribably beyond my comprehension. But here in
1 Corinthians chapter 15, let's start at verse 42 for the sake
of time. So also is the resurrection of the dead. Now Paul says this
body is sown in corruption, going to be raised in corruption. Sown
in dishonor, going to be raised in glory. Sown in weakness, going
to be raised in power. Sown in a natural body, going
to be raised in a spiritual body. Now I've read everything I know
to read on that, but I don't have any idea what it's talking
about. I just, who can comprehend something like this, a spiritual
body? I'll give you a couple of hints.
Martin Luther suggested that the resurrection body, the spiritual
body, will be as agile as thought. Makes good sense to me. Moses
and Elijah stood with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration
as agile as thought. Augustine said in the resurrection
body we will move from place to place as soon as we will. As our Lord appeared in the presence
of the disciples in the room with them, Jerome Zacchaeus wrote,
as birds being hatched do fly lightly up into the skies, which
when eggs were heavy and slimy, so man being hatched by the resurrection
is made pure and nimble and able to mount up to the heavens. And this rest is what awaits
all who believe on the Son of God. This rest until the resurrection
day, but for you who believe not. another resurrection shall be
yours, a resurrection to damnation justly deserved in a place called
hell where the worm of guilt gnaws constantly at your conscience
and the fire of a burning guilty conscience is not quenched forever,
and in the pit of the damned is blackness and darkness forever,
and separation from God. A separation, the torment of
which will only be magnified by the keen awareness that your
everlasting damnation you have fully earned and fully deserve. Oh, son of God, will you cause
the dead now to hear your voice and live? Amen.