In John chapter 11 and verse
35, we read the remarkable statement that Jesus wept. Jesus wept. Weeping is the cry of the heart. The overflowing of the emotions
out of one's heart. When someone is overcome with
sorrow, with emotion, when they cannot hold it back any longer,
the tears flow, the cries of the heart come forth. When emotions
can no longer be kept within behind a stern face. When we're
so sorrowful, so cast down, so grieved, they must come forth. Here we read that Jesus wept. Of course, he's come to where
Martha and where Mary had come, to the grave side of their brother
Lazarus. Mary was overcome. Her brother
had died. She was overcome with grief and
sorrow. She wept for her brother. Death
had struck. The awful sting of death had
come upon them, and overcome with grief, Mary wept. Oh, the awfulness of death! The terribleness of death! The
finality of it! The awful sentence it is against
sin! The grief it brings to those
who are left behind, whose sorrow for their loved ones who were
so suddenly, so mercilessly taken out of sight. What a sudden end
it brings to our lives upon this world. How awful it is. How it reminds us of the brevity
of life, the brevity How briefly we live upon this world. We're
like grass that grows up one moment and then is cut down with
the sickle the next. How fragile life is. How close
to death each of us walk every day of our life. How little it
would take to pass any of us from time into eternity. How
dependent we are upon our health, upon the beating of our heart,
upon clean air to breathe, upon food and water to drink. How
near death is to all of us. Yes, how fragile and how brief
our lives are. and how sudden and how final
and how awful the sentence of death is when it comes. How can we stand against such
a foe? How can we resist such a foe
that comes to hit us all, that comes to take us all away in
its grip? That's what struck Mary, the
awfulness the finality of death. Lazarus had died. Her brother
had died. There was nothing she could do
to bring him back. And overcome with grief, Mary
wept. And in response, when Jesus comes
to the graveside of his friend Lazarus, and comes into the company
of his friends Mary and Martha, and of those with them who wept
for Lazarus. In response, when he comes amongst
them, moved with compassion for them, moved with compassion at
the loss of his friend Lazarus, moved in grief, Jesus groaned
in spirit. He was troubled. And Jesus wept. Jesus wept. Yes, what an outpouring of emotion
is weeping. And here we see Jesus himself,
the Son of God, the Son of Man, moved to such an emotion. He
wept. Jesus wept. What a statement! What a statement that the Son
of God should weep, that He should be so overcome with grief and
compassion and sorrow, that even He should weep. He who is God,
He who is the Son of God, He who created this world and sustains
this world, He who knows the beginning from the ending, He
who holds men's lives in his own hands, that he should weep. Well, we know that God as a divine
person does not move with the emotions of man, but Christ was
God incarnate. Christ was one who was both God
and man. And as the man, as the son of
man here, he knew what it was to be moved with emotions. He
knew what it was to weep. Yes, even Jesus wept. What compassion
he has. What compassion, what love, what
empathy for his own, for his friends, for his loved ones,
for his brothers and sisters, What compassion he has for us
in our condition, in the frailty of humanity. What compassion
he has for us in our lost condition, with our griefs and our sorrows,
and our griefs for our loved ones. What compassion he has
with those of us who know what it is to encounter death. to know what it is to lose those
whom we love, to know what it is to sorrow after those who
are taken away from us. He's not unmoved, he's not detached,
but he empathizes. He's a real man with real emotion
and real love for his own. What empathy he has for us. As Hebrews 4 verse 15 tells us,
for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. Yes, Christ was touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. He knew our weaknesses, he knew
our trials. He knew the sorrows and the hardships
which come upon man. He knew the temptations. He knew
the hardships. He empathised with us. He was
tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He was touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. As Jesus wept, Consider that type of Christ
which we read of in Genesis. Even Joseph. Joseph, a wonderful
picture, a wonderful figure and type of Christ. That one whom
his brothers had cast off as dead. They'd given him up, he
as it were was slain. And yet he rose again. to a great
height in Egypt. They'd cast him off into Egypt
as slain and yet he'd risen to a great height in Egypt. Pharaoh
had favoured him and had set him over all the land. And when
the famine came, Joseph ruled over Egypt and all the lands
around and was in charge of the distribution of food to those
who came under him in the midst of famine. And eventually his
own brothers, hungry and starving, came unto him. Those brothers
who had hated him, those brothers who had thrown him into a pit,
those brothers who despised him and cast him off as dead, came
unto him, begging for food from him. And in Genesis 45, We read this wonderful account
of Joseph's reactions to his brothers. He did not hate them,
despite what they had done to him. He did not reject them. But like Christ, as a figure
of him who would come, him who would be cast off by his brethren,
him who would be slain, he who would rise again victorious over
death, conquering death, He to whom his brethren would come
seeking mercy, begging and pleading for mercy, when they would come
unto him, Christ, like Joseph, would weep. For when Joseph's
brethren came unto him, as we read in Genesis 45, we read that
as they came unto him, he wept aloud. And the Egyptians in the
house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I am Joseph. Does my father yet live? And
his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at
his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said,
I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore
be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither,
for God did send me before you to preserve life. Oh, the compassion Joseph felt,
even for those who at one time hated him. but those for whom
God had preserved even him, that he should save them from death
and bring them to life. What a figure of Christ! Christ's
compassion for his people, a people who hated him, a people who had
turned from him, a people who had rejected him, a sinful wayward
wicked people, Nevertheless, his compassion for such a people,
and for their state, and for their griefs, and for their losses,
is such that, like Joseph, he weeps aloud in their presence. Yes, Jesus wept. Jesus wept. But consider the weeping of Jesus
at Lazarus' grave. Consider this compassion. Consider
this outpouring of emotion. The weeping of Jesus here at
the grave of Lazarus is more than just the weeping of a friend. It's more than just the weeping
of a friend for the loss of a friend. Yes, Jesus was moved greatly. He was troubled. He groaned in
his spirit. His compassion and emotion for
the grief of Mary and Martha. His compassion and emotion in
his own loss and compassion for his friend Lazarus moved him
to tears. But his weeping here was more
than simply that. His weeping here was at the very
face of death. He wept in the face of death. He wept because of death, not
just because of the death of his friend, not just because
of the sorrow that that death brought to him and to others,
but he wept over death itself. Oh, the awfulness of death. And Christ came to the place
of death. Christ came to the place where
one had died. Christ came to the graveside
and he stood where sin had brought about its consequence. He stood
in the place of death. And in the face of death, he
wept. Oh, the compassion Christ had
for his people. the compassion he had for his
people, over whom death had such a power. Yes, he cried in the
face of death. What sorrow death brought. What
captivity death brought. What captivity death brings. Oh, the dreadful curse of death,
which sin has brought upon man. Oh, the curse which it had brought
upon Lazarus! Oh, the consequence it had brought
upon Mary and Martha! But oh, the curse it's brought
upon man! What awfulness death has brought! Yes, Christ weeps over death
here. He weeps over the awful consequence
it's brought upon man, upon his creation. Oh, what sin has brought
in death. And yet Christ's tears here go
even further than just that. For he doesn't just look at what
death has brought in. But when he sees death, and when
he sees his people in the sorrow, and the effects that death has
brought upon them, he sees something else. He looks into that grave. and he looks into death and he
looks at what brought death sin and he looks ahead to that time
when he should enter death in their place in their room and
in their state as Jesus wept as he considered death Jesus
wept as he looked upon that death that he should die in Jerusalem
upon a cross in the place of sinners. At that death that he
should die that they should live. At that death that he should
die that they should rise again in him who says of himself, 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? Believest
thou this? This was the one who wept at
the face of death here. This was the one who looked into
the grave here. The one who says of himself,
I am the resurrection and the life. The one who comes to die
that sinners may live. The one who would be cut off,
who would be cursed. The one who would bear the wrath
of God. Oh, Jesus whacked. For he looked
and he looked into the grave. He knew the length he must go
to in order to deliver that people from the awful consequences of
their sin. To deliver his people from death. Yes, he looks to that death in
Jerusalem, which he should accomplish. That awful death. That death
like none other. That death like none other. That
death in which he should suffer eternity. and the wrath of God
for eternity, for a countless number of people. That death
in which he should be made sin, to deliver that people from sin. That death in which he should
be made a curse, to deliver from the curse. That death in which
he should be condemned by the law, to deliver a people from
the law. That death, in order to conquer
that death, he looked into the grave. He looked in horror. He looked into the darkness,
into the emptiness, into the awfulness of that cave of death. He looked and he wept. He wept. Well, consider that
death. Consider Christ in his death. Consider that which brought him
such sorrow. When Christ went to Jerusalem,
when he knew that his hour was come, when he knew that the final
hour was upon him, when he should be taken and given up to the
authorities and falsely charged, and taken and judged and nailed
to a cross in the place of his people. When he spent those hours
in the garden of Gethsemane, in awful contemplation of that
which would come upon him, he cried and he prayed and he wrestled
with his father, with his God, in prayer that his father would
spare him that his father would bring him through this awful
fate that lay before him. As we read in Hebrews 5 and verse
7, of Christ, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered
up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears,
unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard
in that he feared. Yes, Christ offered up prayers
and supplications in that garden with strong crying and tears. He was in sorrow like as such
as which we could never contemplate. He saw a place that he must enter
that we cannot comprehend. We know we will die. We know
that we must pass through death. We know even if we believe upon
Jesus Christ as our Saviour that there comes a day when we will
pass from life into death and into eternal life, and where
we must pass from time into eternity. And even that passing can bring
fear upon us. But here's one who looked upon
a death like none other. Here's one that knew something
of the sorrow which would await him. He knew the pain. He knew the wrath that he must
take upon himself. He knew the awfulness of the
cup that he must drink. He knew that he must drink it
to the dregs. He knew the separation that the
sin of his people would bring upon him from his father. He knew the beating and the bruising
that he must suffer. He knew the ordeal that he must
enter into. He knew the awfulness of the
darkness of death. And it brought him to tears.
With strong crying unto tears, he cried and he prayed and he
cried out, if it be possible, Father, take this cup from me. That cup of the drinking, of
the wrath of God against sin, that cup of bearing the sins
of his own people in his own body upon the tree, that cup
of being made sin that they might be made the righteousness of
God in him, that cup of being made black that they should be
made white, pure, righteous in him, that cup of drinking the
wrath of God that they should know the peace and the love and
the mercy of God. That cup of death that they should
be brought to life. Oh, he prayed that it should
pass from him. But he knew that it wouldn't.
He knew that drink it he must. And he knew, he knew that though
he should suffer sorrow, like none other that though he should
suffer pain like none other that though he should suffer darkness
like none other that though he should suffer fires of wrath
like none other will understand or comprehend but ultimately
when all was finished when all was complete his father would
hear him for he feared his father He honoured his father, he loved
his father and he believed his father and his faith was such
that he knew that that hour would come when all would be complete,
when every sin would be answered, when all would be taken away
and when victorious he would rise again over sin and over
death and over hell. But as he looked As he contemplated,
as he stared into the abyss into which he would go, it moved him
to tears. And here at Lazarus's grave,
as he looked beyond Lazarus's death, to that death which he
should die, he wept. He wept. He looked to his own
death, the hours in which he should suffer. those hours in
which he should be nailed to a tree, separated, suspended
between heaven and earth, between life and death, between time
and eternity, those hours when he should be separated from his
God, when all men have rejected him, when God turned against
him as the one who stood as the sinner, as one who had been made
sin, as one who stood in the place of sinners, as one who
has God laid upon in the sins of all his people, as that one
who was looked upon as the greatest of sinners, not that he ever
sinned himself, not that he ever fought a sinful thought. He was
perfect, he was innocent, he was pure, but he was made sin.
and he bore the sins of his own and he was beaten and he was
bruised as one who was cast off in death and in such a place
as the psalmist says he would cry out my tears have been my
meat day and night while they continually say unto me where
is thy God where is thy God as he hung upon the cross There
were those that passed by and mocked and despised and jeered
him, and said, if thou be God, if thou be the Son of God, then
why don't thou call the angels? Why don't thou cry unto thy God
that he should save thee, that he should spare thee? Where's
thy God? Look at you now, alone, cast
out. Everything's come to nothing.
Everything's ruined. Where's your hope? Where's your
strength now? Look at you, weak, cast out,
alone. Where is thy God? Where is thy
God? And in such a state, he cries,
my tears have been my meat, day and night, while they continually
say unto me, Where is thy God? Oh yes, he was cast out. He was
beaten and he was bruised. Why? Because he loved the people. He loved Mary. He loved Martha. He loved Lazarus. He loved his
own. He loved sinners. And he took upon himself their
sins, that he might bring them from death unto life. Oh his compassion, his love for
his own, have you ever contemplated the love of Christ? Have you
ever seen him in his death? Oh believer, do you look upon
him dying for you? Do you know what he suffered
for you and for your sins? Have you seen his sorrow, his
travail, his love for you? Oh, the lengths he went to to
bring you life from death, to take away your sin, to clothe
you in righteousness. Jesus wept. He loved his own. Believer, he loved even you.
He loves his own. Yes, Jesus wept. Do you weep? Mary wept tears,
she was grieving for the loss of her brother. She was moved
to tears. Oh, we weep, we have our sorrows,
we have our trials, we have our difficulties. There are those
things that bring us to tears. We weep over many things, losses,
crosses, disappointments, sicknesses, grief. We weep over many temporal
things, many passing things. Often we weep over many things
which are superficial, material things. When our goods are broken,
when things we have are taken from us. When those things we
love are taken and are broken and are ruined. When those people
we love are taken from us. Many things bring us to tears.
And often how shallow we are. how little it takes to bring
us to sorrow, how little we can cry over, how shallow we can
be. But what of the greater issues
of life? What do you weep over? What do
you cry over? What brings you to tears? Well,
you may, like Mary and Martha, be brought to that point in your
life where there's great things to weep over. You may have loved
ones taken away. You may lose those you love.
Death might strike. You may be brought to sorrow
in such a state. But what of that which is even
closer to home? What of your own state? What of the death of your own
heart? Have you ever cried over your
death? Have you ever wept over your
state before God? of your eternal state. You weep
over temporal things. You weep over those losses which
come upon you, which are temporal losses. But what of that which
is eternal? What of your sin? Do you weep
over your state before God? Do you weep over your sin? Your sin? Has conviction ever brought you
to this place? Has the Lord as the Spirit ever
convicted you of your sin to the point of tears? Have you
been so moved at your state? How awful you are! How awful
your heart is! What an evil heart you have!
Have you ever looked within you? Have you ever looked at yourself
in the light in which God looks at you? Have you ever seen the
sewer that is your heart? The evil thoughts, the evil motives,
the evil intentions that flow forth? Have you ever done and
said things that bring such regret, such remorse to you? Have you
ever thought, how could I? How could I be so unthankful,
so ungrateful, so hateful? How could I hate these people
so much? How could I hate God so much?
How could I be so ungrateful to Him who's given me so much? Have you ever wept over your
sin? What do you know of such soul
travail? Of knowing that you are lost,
of knowing that under the law of God, compared to His holiness,
His justice, His uprightness, your heart, your ways, your conduct
are black. are vile, are wrong, are utterly
depraved through and through. What do you know of soul travail? For if you're a child of God,
my friend, or if you ever come to hear the gospel and the truth
of God as it is, as you really are before Him, then you'll be
brought here. If the Spirit should ever bring
the gospel to you in power, you'll be brought to a point where you
weep, and not just over the losses of life, but where you cry strong
tears over the state of your heart. To grieve over your state,
over sin, have you known the arrows of the law strike into
your heart? Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt
not commit adultery, Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou
shalt not covet. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, with all thy strength, with all thy
soul, with all thy mind. Oh, have the arrows of the law
struck into your heart? Have you felt the bitterness
and the gall in your inward parts? to know that you are black, unkindly,
leprous, destined for condemnation, eternal condemnation, with no
way out, no means of escape, no strength or ability to let
yourself out. Have you ever felt captive, bound
up, locked up in tears? Have you ever felt captive? except
another should come in your place to do something about it, to
come to where you are, to come to release you, to come to take
that punishment which is due unto you and to deliver you from
that punishment. Have you ever been brought to
the place where you cry out to the Lord to spare you, that he
should take that punishment away, Have you ever heard of the one
that came to spare, the one who died, the one who went to death
in the place of those who are dead, the one who took death
upon himself, that he should deliver the captives, deliver
the dead, deliver those who sorrow, who weep over their sin? Have you ever had the joy of
hearing and knowing that one has died and one has answered
the debt of sin and one has taken the wrath of God against sin
and taken it all away completely? Have you had the joy of knowing
that he didn't just come to die for sinners but he came to die
for your sin? and he took away your debts and
your transgressions. Have you had that wonderful joy
of knowing that blood was not just shed upon the cross at Calvary,
but blood was shed for you. Oh, have you wept the tears,
and oh, have you cried the tears of joy on hearing of the one
who came to die for sinners. tears of joy. Have you shed those
tears? Have you known that joy? Have
you known it? Have you ever wept as you've
looked upon Christ crucified in your place? Have you ever
looked to him upon the tree? Have you ever contemplated him
not just dying, but dying for you? Has the Spirit made Him
known unto you as your Saviour? Has He made His love known unto
you, that He died in your place, that the blood which flowed forth
from His side when the spear was thrust in was shed for you,
that that blood washed your sins away? Have you ever looked with
tears upon the suffering Christ, upon the suffering Saviour? Was
He stricken for your transgressions? Have you ever contemplated His
sorrow? For whose sorrow is like unto
His sorrow? You cry in your sorrow, you cry
in your trials, you may cry over your own sin, and your own condition,
but whose sorrow is like under his sorrow? Whose sufferings
were like under his sufferings? Whose death was like under his
death? Have you ever cried tears over
him? Have you ever looked? Well Mary did, the disciples
did. Now when Jesus was risen early
the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she went and told
them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept for
him whom they thought they had lost forever. But Mary stood
without at the sepulcher weeping, and as she wept, she stooped
down and looked into the sepulcher. Yes, Mary looked. Mary had been
at the side of Lazarus's grave. She'd seen Lazarus laid in the
grave. She'd wept over Lazarus. She'd
seen Christ raise her brother from the dead. And now Christ
himself was in the grave. And she looked into the sepulcher
and she wept. Have you been there? Have you
wept? and I stood at his feet behind
him weeping. She stood at his feet behind
him weeping and began to wash his feet with tears and did wipe
them with the hairs of her head and kissed his feet and anointed
them with the ointment. Mary did at that time when she
came to Christ when he was in the Pharisee's house. She wept. She washed his feet with ointment.
She washed his feet with her tears. She knew this would be
her Saviour. Oh, she loved Him. Have you wept
Christ's feet with your tears? Have you bowed at His feet upon
the cross? Do you weep over Christ? Do you
weep over Zion? Over His church? Believer, do
you weep over Zion? You say you love Christ. You
say you love your Saviour. You may weep over your sorrows. You may even weep over your sin. You may even have wept over Christ,
but do you weep over Zion? Do you weep over his church? Do you love him? Do you love
his body? Do you love his church? Do you
look upon the state of his church? Does it move you to sorrow when
you see the state of his church when you see the waywardness,
the apathy, the errors. When Christ came to Jerusalem,
outside the city of Jerusalem, and he looked upon that city,
that people, that nation of Israel which he had so favoured of old,
which had known so much of the truth, to whom he had sent the
prophets, to whom he had given the priesthood, when he looked
upon what Jerusalem and what Israel had become in its rebellion,
in its apostasy, in its falling away. Was he apathetic? Did he look upon it coldly? He
knew the beginning from the ending. He knew that this would pass
away and that he would bring in a new Jerusalem, He knew that
that physical city and nation was but a figure. He knew that
it represented that which was to come. He knew that whatever
apostasy might be seen in Jerusalem of old, he knew that whatever
apostasy might come into the professing Church of Christ,
even in our day, he knew that despite it all, that it would
be brought forth to its fruition upon the last day, that all the
dross would be burned away, only the gold would remain. He knew
the end. Oh, he's sovereign. He works
out his purposes. He knew what would come to pass.
And yet he didn't look upon that coldly and indifferently as though
it didn't matter. He looked upon that which professed
his name and it moved him to tears that it was so cold, that
it was so rebellious, that it was so wayward. He looked upon
Jerusalem and he wept tears. Oh, do you look at Zion? Do you
look at the church? Do you look at those gatherings
of God's people? Do you look upon the way that
the Gospel is so sidelined, so despised, so taken for granted,
that it has ceased to be the meat and the food of God's people,
that those who profess His name have grown so weak, so wayward? Do you look? Do you see the broken
walls? Do you cry? In the Psalms we
read of the people of Israel in captivity, that by the rivers
of Babylon, There they sat down, yea they wept when they remembered
Zion. They remembered the former days,
they remembered what it was, they remembered what it should
be and it moved them to tears. They wept when Paul wrote to
the Corinthians, when he wrote to the church in longing for
what they should be as a united body of Christ's people. He looked
to his people, he laboured for them, he preached to them, and
out of much affliction and anguish of heart he writes, I wrote unto
you with many tears, not that ye should be grieved, but that
ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. He wept, he wept for the people. He wept, he wasn't cold and indifferent,
and Christ wasn't cold and indifferent, though the people were hard-hearted,
though they grow lukewarm, though Israel of old had rejected him,
though Israel's sins would slay him. Oh his compassion for the
sheep amongst that company for which he would save. He came
for the lost sheep of Israel and he cried over them. He cried
over those who would believe, those who wouldn't always reject
but those who would believe, those who would hear, those who
would love him because he first loved them. Oh How did He love them by laying
down His life for them, by being crucified for them, that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
Himself He took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses, that
He should bring us from death unto life. Yes, He died to save
His people, to bring them to life, as He says to Martha, I
am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. He came to Lazarus. He came to
the graveside. He came to bring him to life
in a figure to show what he would do for all his people. Yes, he comes to the graveside. He'd been told that Lazarus was
sick. He'd been told that he was dying. And yet, he remained where he
was, the far side Jordan, at the place of baptism, cast out
of Jerusalem by those who would stone him. He'd gone to Jordan,
and he remained there, though having the news of Lazarus, he
remained two days. Why did he not return immediately?
Because he was showing the figure that he is the life in the resurrection. and he would wait, as it were,
until his work was complete. In a figure he would die in the
place of baptism. In a figure he would come through
the rivers of Jordan. And having waded through death
through the rivers of Jordan, having been brought to life himself,
having died that his people might rise again in him, coming as
the one who is the resurrection, he then comes the one who is
dead. and he applies that life which
he brought in through his death to one who was dead yet four
days in the tomb he comes to the graveside having died for
his own in the figure having risen again as the one who would
really die and would really rise he comes to Lazarus and he comes
to the graveside and he says roll away the stone from the
grave Lazarus lies dead and captive in the grave, slain as it were
by the condemnation of the law. And Christ says, roll away the
stone, roll away the law, take away all that was against him.
For I have taken it away. I have taken away death. I have taken away the condemnation. I have taken away sin. Roll it
aside. And he cries out in power. Lazarus,
Lazarus, come forth! And Lazarus rose, he who was
dead, he who they thought would stink, he who was slain in the
cave of death, in, as it were, the depths of death, the abyss
in hell, in the darkness of the cave, he who was crushed at the
word of the Lord, at the word of Christ, at His command. He comes forth living and the
grave clothes are taken off Him. Christ says, loose Him and let
Him go. And He who is the resurrection
and the life brings Him who was dead in captivity, dead in trespasses
and sins, He brings Him forth from the grave. He brings him
forth from the reach of the law. He brings him forth from sin,
from hell. And he brings him out into everlasting
life. And he takes all that is against
him, all that binds him, and says, loose him and let him go
at his command. Oh, have you cried over this
Christ? Have you seen his tears? Have
you cried tears over your sin? Have you cried tears over his
death? Have you seen him come unto you
in the place of death, as you laid in the grave? And have you
heard the voice of the one who wept for sinners, of the one
who wept over death, of the one who empathises with those who
are in death, of the one who loves his own? Have you heard
the voice of the one who loves with an eternal love? Have you
heard him cry? Have you heard him cry unto you? Come forth, loose him and let
him go. Have you heard the one cry unto
death? O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Death is swallowed up in victory. Have you heard the voice of the
one who came to deliver from death, who came to deliver from
the last enemy, from sin, the cause of death, from hell, the
consequence of death, from the world, to bring a people to life,
to bring them to eternal glory, to bring them to that place where
there are no more tears, where there is no more sin, where there
are no more tears, where there is no more death. Have you heard
of the one who brings us into everlasting life, who swallowed
up death in victory, to bring us into the eternal glory, into
the new heavens and the new earth, to bring us unto living fountains
of waters, where God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Yes, God shall wipe away all
tears from his people's eyes, and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away, for righteousness has been
brought in, for life has been brought in. Yes, Jesus wept,
but there comes a day when Jesus in joy will welcome his people
into that place where there's no more tears, but only everlasting
joy forevermore. Have you heard him? Do you know
him? Do you know the one who is the
resurrection and the life? Believest thou this? Amen.