John chapter 11, John the 11th
chapter. This chapter of course is best
known because here our Lord Jesus demonstrates in a remarkable
and undeniable way his great deity, his omniscience, his omnipotence,
his power over death and the grave His ability by His mere
word to raise one from the dead who had been dead for four days. But there is not only that set
before us in the 11th chapter of John, but much, much more. In fact, as I prepared this message,
the more I studied this chapter, the bigger it got. I have no
hope of expounding it in this message or in many more. But
I want tonight for us to go back to this 11th chapter of John
and to the place called Bethany. In Bethany lived three people
with whom our Lord Jesus seemed to be most comfortable. Bethany
was the place he frequently visited. Bethany was a place where he
seemed to feel at home, in the home of Mary and her sister Martha
and their brother Lazarus. In John chapter 11, We're given
plain, instructive lessons about a number of things. I want to
direct our attention tonight to just seven of those things.
Seven very practical, everyday things that we have to deal with.
The first is about sickness. Begin at verse one. Now a certain man was sick, named
Lazarus of Bethany, The town of Mary and her sister Martha.
And then he identifies the Mary he's talking about. It was that
Mary which anointed the Lord with her ointment and wiped his
feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. That woman
of disrepute whom the Lord had saved by his grace whom he had
taught by his spirits, whose sins he had freely forgiven and
completely removed, that woman who seemed above all who walked
on the earth at the time to understand and believe what our Lord taught
concerning his death and his resurrection, Mary. 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 here's the first lesson God's
people true believers often suffer sickness and disease in this
world. As they suffer sickness and disease
in this world, God's people in this world suffer all the other
calamities and troubles and trials that come to men and women as
a result of sin. All those things that are part
of the curse of the fall. God's people suffer like all
other people suffer. Sickness and trouble is not a
sign of God's displeasure. Sickness and trouble are not
indications that somehow the person who is in trouble or the
person who is sick lacks faith or lacks faithfulness. The fact
is these things are sent to us by our Heavenly Father for our
benefit. Yes, we get sick as a result
of sin. If it wasn't for sin, none of
us would get sick. Yes, we have heartaches and troubles because
of sin. If it wasn't for sin, no heartache
would exist in the world. Yes, families go through times
of great trial because of sin. If it weren't for sin, there
would be no difficulties in the domestic front. Those things
are just facts. But for God's people, these things
are sent not just as a result of man's fall and the curse of
God upon humanity dying in this world, but they are sent to his
people by his hand for our benefit. That which is aggravating to
our bodies and to our minds is good for our souls. They tend
to draw out our affections away from the world to Christ. They send us to our knees, send
us to our Bibles, and send us to our Savior. Now listen to
me, my brother. Listen to me, my sister. Anything that sends you to your
knees, is good for you. Anything that drives you into
the arms of your Savior is good for you, no matter how painful,
no matter how difficult. Whatever it is that causes you
to fall on your face before Him, open this book and seek to know
His mind and His will to understand His ways is good for you. These
things remind us that life in this world at best is but a vapor,
a vapor that is soon gone. These things force us to look into the grave and pass
the grave to judgment and pass the judgment to eternity. Whenever they come, let us be patient. and wait on
the Lord. I told you this morning I have
a very dear friend, Sandy Kelly. I'm sorry, I always refer to
Sandy what I mean Becky, Becky what I mean Sandy. His wife Becky
died with cancer in the church in Houston, Texas where Brother
David Pledger is pastor. And I can't help but to have
my mind somewhat on their family pain. But I'm reminded of Richard
Baxter. When he was very sick and dying,
some of his friends came to visit him one day. And we can do some
dumb things when we go visit somebody who's dying. We can
ask some dumb questions. I've been guilty. One of the
fellows asked him, said, well, Brother Baxter, how are you today? And Baxter got enough strength
to lean up on his elbow and raspy whisper, he said, almost well. Almost well. Almost well. Soon we shall be
completely well, but only when we've left this world. Our Lord
Jesus says with regard to his own, this sickness is not unto
death. And our sicknesses, whatever
they are, are never unto death. Oh, but we're going to die. You may. I'm not going to. I'm
not going to. Well, Lazarus died. No, no he
didn't. Our Lord said plainly, he sleepeth. He that believeth on me shall
never die. For the believer, when this body
dies, life commences in perfection. And then our Lord gives us a
lesson here about faith. These two sisters, Martha and
Mary, when their brother Lazarus fell sick, sent a word to the
Lord Jesus, their master, their most tender most caring, most
affectionate friend. And this is what they said, Lord,
behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. And thus they demonstrate
that true faith submits to God's will. People talk a lot about faith.
We hear about faith on television. And we hear about politicians,
and they say, well, they're people of faith. And this fellow says
he is a man of faith, and that one's a man of faith. And they
never get around to talking about what faith is. Faith in Jesus
Christ is true faith. That faith which trusts Christ
alone as Savior is true faith. That faith that looks to Him
alone as God, the God-man, our mediator, our sheriff. That faith
that trusts His blood and His righteousness alone is true faith. Anything else is but a delusion. It is not true faith. And true
faith submits to God's will. You remember when Eli received
a report concerning his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, I'm sorry,
he received a report concerning his sons that they were killed
on the field. He said, it is the Lord, let
him do what seemeth him good. And so true faith bows to God's
will. Mary and Martha sent this report
to the Lord Jesus. and they didn't ask him to come
to Bethany. They didn't ask him to heal their brother, though
that's obviously what they wanted. They simply left the matter in
his hands, confident that he would do what is best. In the
hurry and excitement of trouble, in the annoyance and pain of
sickness, always remember None can help and none will help like
Him who took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses. None is so kind. None is so gracious. None so fully understands what
we experience as our Redeemer. Cast your care on Him. Bow to Him. Yes, faith submits
to the will of God, but not perfectly. I won't take you through this
chapter at this time and show you the faults of these women.
Though they were true believers, though they were choice companions
of our Savior, there was much weakness and much unbelief in
them both. Both Martha and Mary seemed to
have misjudged the master's delay in coming to Bethany. Both seemed
to have misunderstood his intentions toward them and toward Lazarus. Even when he was about to raise
Lazarus from the dead, when he commanded them to take away the
stone from his tomb, Martha argued with the Lord. Look at verse
39. Jesus said, take ye away the stone. And Martha, the sister
of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time is taken,
for he hath been dead four days. She seems to be a little testy. She seems
to be a little angry. And she says, it's no point telling
you what's told now. The man's been dead for four days. Leave
him alone. It's very easy to talk about
faith when we're healthy and strong and we've got money in
the bank and the kids are all home for Thanksgiving and everybody's
getting along well. But it's hard to practice faith when God turns our little world
upside down, when all is darkness and there's no light. When all
is trouble and there's no peace, it's not easy to be confident.
The strongest believer's faith is very fragile and very apt
to break at any time. You and me. You and me. Don't ever imagine that you're
too strong to fall into this category. Don't ever imagine
that you just believe God too much to fall into such a time
that you get angry with God and you seem not to be able to trust
Him, not to be able to trust His wisdom and His providence. Our Lord tells us plainly that
these women While they are believers, yet they struggled to believe. How oft we have to say with the
disciples, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Forgive
my unbelief. Forgive my failure to believe
you, to trust you. And yet our Lord tells us something
else here about faith. Look at verse 40. Martha reproves
him, as it were, in verse 39. And then he tells her and tells
us plainly that if we would believe, we would see the glory of God.
Jesus saith unto her, said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest
believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God. I preach the gospel to you and
you sit side by side with one who seems to see something in
the gospel you can't see. One who seems to see the glory
of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ and you think to
yourself, I don't see any glory in that. If you would believe,
you would. If you would believe, if you
would trust the Son of God, if you would believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, you would see the glory of God in the gospel of
His grace. You would see the glory of God
in the satisfaction of justice by a crucified substitute. And
children of God, if you would believe, you would see the glory
of God in His providence. Oh, the wonder of God's providence. Believe Him and watch Him display
His glory. If you would believe, you would
see the glory of God in the trials that drive you into the Savior's
arms. You would see the glory of God
in the salvation of your soul and you'd see the glory of God
in the daily experience of His salvation as He providentially
upholds and maintains you. Here's the third lesson set before
us in this chapter. Look at verse 5. Now Jesus loved Martha and her
sister Mary and Lazarus. Now learn this and learn it well.
The Lord Jesus loves all His elect God loves all His people alike. He loves us even as He loves
His Son. That's what our Savior said,
Thou hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me. Now hard as it
is for us to fathom this, we need to get hold of this. God
loves us just as He loves His Son, because we are one with
His Son, really and truly one with His Son. We're in Him and He's in us,
bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, one with Him. Here
are three chosen sinners. All saved by God's grace. All
alike the objects of electing love, redeeming blood, and saving
grace. But they're not at all alike
in many ways. Martha, Martha has been, she's been given
a bad name by a lot of fellas. I thank God for some Marthas.
If we didn't have some Marthas in the church, we wouldn't get
anything done. Martha worked hard. Martha won you cacao. And
Martha would fix the meals, and Martha would clean up afterwards.
And Martha constantly was cumbered with much serving, but she did
serve. But having said that, Martha,
like many who have her traits, seemed to be a bit too pushy,
a little too domineering. A little too insistent that folks
do what she says do. Mary, on the other hand, seems
to be very spiritual, and she was. She sat at Jesus' feet and
heard his word. She anointed him with oil and
kissed his feet and washed them with the hairs of her head. Mary
was genuinely a spiritual woman, a spiritual-minded woman, one
who was devoted to the Savior, but somewhat negligent of earthly
responsibilities. And at that, she's at fault.
Of Lazarus, I looked through this book again, and you know
what I discovered about Lazarus? His name was Lazarus. He died,
and the Lord raised him from the dead. I don't read anything
that Lazarus ever did. I don't read that he was ever
used for anything. I'm sure he was, but none of
that is stated in the book. All we know about Lazarus is
that he was the object of God's saving mercy. He was one whom
the Lord raised from the dead. He was one by whom God glorified
himself. That's all we know about Lazarus.
And yet, the Lord Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,
their brother. Love them all the same way, to
the same degree, for the same reason. You see, God's love for
us is free, sovereign, everlasting, and unchanging. Darwin, it doesn't depend in
any way on who we are, what we do, how we feel, or how we respond
to it. Now you can't say that about
anybody else's love. There's never been a man who
loved a woman like that. Never a woman who loved a man
like that. Never been a father or mother who loved a child like
that. God's love for us is sovereign, free, and unchanging. It does not in any way depend
on us. Having said that, let us never
undervalue a brother or a sister because that brother or sister
is different from us. Because he or she appears to
be weaker because he or she appears to be more negligent, because
he or she appears in some way contrary to what we would expect
them to be. Esteem one another as you are
in Christ. God, teach me to see you that
way. God, teach me continually to
look on you as you are in Christ, holy, perfect, righteous, with
his spotless garments on, as holy as God's own Son. That's how we ought to look at
each other, esteeming other better than themselves. In the kingdom
of God, among his true children, there are differing degrees of
grace, and faith and maturity and at least what looks like
usefulness. But the least, the weakest, the
most feeble of God's children are no less the objects of his
love than the greatest and the most apparently useful. Now look
at verses 30 through 36. Now Jesus was not yet come into
the town, but was in that place where Martha met him The Jews
then, which were with her in the house and comforted her,
when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out,
followed her, saying, She goeth to the grave to weep there. Then
when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down
at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother
had not died. therefore saw her weeping, and
the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in
the spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where have you laid
him? And they said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold, how
he loved him. But I see something there the
Jews apparently didn't see. The Lord Jesus didn't weep because
of Lazarus being in that tomb. He knew exactly what he was fixing
to do for Lazarus. He knew Lazarus was fixing to
come out of that grave. He knew Lazarus was about to
be raised from the grave. Why did he weep? because he saw Mary and Martha
weeping. But they wept in ignorance, yes,
but they wept because they were hurting. But they wept with unbelief,
yes, but they wept because they were hurting. But they wept in
confusion, yes, but they wept. And he who is our Savior, is
touched with the feeling of our infirmities. That means, lad,
doesn't matter what breaks your heart, it breaks his. We tend, I tend, I tend to Look
at folks who are going through times when they show weakness. Weakness in understanding. Weakness
in believing. Weakness in confidence. To think they need correcting.
And I guess we do. But I tell you what, God's people
need a heapsight more than they need correcting. They need caressing. They need somebody to direct
them to the arms of the Savior and behold how He loves us. Our Lord Jesus Christ is moved
with what moves us, touched by what touches us. He feels what we feel. I can't begin to explain that.
I can't begin to tell you all the implications of that. But
oh, how I rejoice in the knowledge of that. Verse 45, then many
of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things which
Jesus did, believed on him. Beholding his tenderness, his
compassion, his kindness, his power, his grace, they believed
on him. Here's the fourth lesson, verse
6. When he heard therefore that
Lazarus was sick, He abode two days still at 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 sleep. Then said his disciples,
Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of
his death, but they thought that he had spoken of taking rest
in 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 you may believe. Nevertheless, let
us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called
Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die
with him. Then when Jesus came, he found
that they had lain him in the grave, four days, I'm sorry,
he found that he had been, had lain in the grave four days already. Now, learn something about God's
providence. And here's what I want you to
learn. Here's what I want to learn. God's time is always the right
time. God's time is always the right
time. We never know what ought to be
done. We never know what's best. Now that's a humbling fact, but
fact it is. We never know what's best. Our Father always does. He knows when best to intervene,
when best to work, and how. When our Lord heard that Lazarus
was sick, he stayed where he was for two
days. He knew that Lazarus was dying,
yet he stayed right where he was. For the sake of his church,
for the good of his friends, For the salvation of His chosen
and for the glory of God, He stayed right where He was until
He knew it was time for Him to appear and time for Him to act. And He always appears. He always acts. He always intervenes
at the best time. It was in the fullness of time
that He came to redeem His people. It is when the fullness of time
has come that he comes in saving mercy and gives his spirit to
all his redeemed. In all the affairs of our lives,
we need to realize that God's time is the best time for everything. I don't know where I got this,
but years ago I wrote this down as a statement by J.C. Ryle that's
just outstanding. Nothing so helps us to bear patiently
the trials of life as an abiding conviction of the perfect wisdom
by which everything is managed. Merle, our father wisely arranges
all affairs for us, everything, everything. Moses, when his sister
Miriam was sick, stricken with leprosy, he said, heal her now. Lord, we ought to wait. God's time is the best time.
When we're sick, he knows the best time to heal 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. All right,
look at verse 11. Here's our fifth lesson. Because Christ is the resurrection
and the life, and we live in Him, God's elect shall never
die. Verse 11, these things said He,
And after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth,
but I go to awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples,
Lord, if he sleep he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of
his death, but they thought that he had spoken of taking rest
in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly. When? To accommodate their weakness,
to accommodate their misunderstanding, to accommodate their failure
to understand what he was talking about. Then, said Jesus unto
them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Now, look at verse 25. Jesus
saith unto Martha, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection
and the life. She just told him, she said,
Lord, I believe the doctrine of resurrection. I know Lazarus is going to rise
undead. He said, he said, Martha, honey, you're looking at the
resurrection. It's not a doctrine. I am the
resurrection. I am the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. Now watch this. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Now do you believe that? Do you believe that? Do you? Do you believe that? I am the
resurrection and the life. This is not a doctrine. It's
a heapsight more than a doctrine. This is our Savior. We are one
with Him. He is the resurrection and the
life. When our Lord Jesus arose from the dead, Paul tells us
we arose with Him. When He came in the power of
His grace and saved us by His grace, in the regeneration, we
were raised up from the dead. When He comes again, In His second
coming, in His great glory, He will raise these bodies from
death to life and unite these bodies again with our souls and
we shall be raised unto life everlasting. But all the while
we're alive. He that believeth in me shall
never die. Never. For the believer, life just continues after these
bodies are dropped in the grave. God just recently gave men faith
in Christ. Though you were dead, now alive. Now alive. And you'll never revert
to death. He that believeth shall never
die. Believers are immune to death. For the believer, death is an
elevation, a freedom, a liberty, an entrance into life, life that
cannot be in any way really apprehended yet, but a life that he anticipates
with great expectation. Then, when we leave this world,
when we close these eyes in death, when these bodies or at last
dropped, like you would drop a worn out garment, just drop
it in the floor. Then our most earnest prayers
will all be answered. Our highest, noblest ambitions
will all be realized. Our trials and temptations and
sorrows will all be over. Look at verse 39. Here's the
sixth lesson. Salvation is accomplished by
the life-giving resurrection power of the Son of God. Jesus said, take ye away the
stone. Now, whether you're like I am
or not, I read something like that and I just have to ask,
how come he told them to take away that stone? He's fixing
to raise Lazarus from the dead. I suspect he could have removed
the stone without any trouble. He's about to, with his mere
voice, call one from death to life. Darwin, he could have called
him to come forth through the stone. Why does he say to these
who are standing by, take away the stone? Two reasons. That's what they
could do. And he condescends to use men
to do what men can do in the salvation of his people. I can't save anybody, and you
can't either. I can't contribute anything to their salvation,
and you can't either. But I'll tell you what we can do. We can
roll rocks out of the way. And that's what we do. We're
sent to do what God gives us the opportunity, the means, and
the ability to do, and that is to remove obstacles from the
way, simply proclaiming the gospel of His free grace, as it's described
in the prophets, elevating every low place, removing every mountain,
making every rough place smooth, preparing the way of the Lord,
taking away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that
was dead, said unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for
he hath been dead four days. And Jesus saith unto her, said
I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest
see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up
his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew thou hearest me always,
but because of the people which stood by, stand by, I said it,
that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he had
thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth,
bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound
about with a napkin. And Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him, and let him go. Our salvation accomplished by
the power and irresistible, omnipotent grace of the Savior's effectual
call. He called Lazarus. Someone said
if he hadn't called Lazarus by name, there's such power in that
voice, the whole graveyard would have been emptied. The Lord Jesus
called Lazarus by name, and that's how he calls out each of his
own. He called Lazarus effectually, and Lazarus came forth. And when
he came forth, he came to the Savior bound with grave clothes. And I suspect we will continue
wearing some of those rags until we drop this body, grave clothes. Grave clothes that keep us bound. Grave clothes of religious tradition
and religious custom and human invention. And the Lord Jesus
did something that just seems so contrary to religion. He said, loose him. Threw him loose. Turn him loose. Let him go. Religion, from the day you begin to attend
church, it doesn't matter if mama and daddy start you and
enroll you in Sunday school before you're born and you're raised
in the church. From the first day you set foot in the church
house to the day you die, religion tries to bind you. Don't, don't,
don't, do, do, do. Don't, don't, don't, do, do,
do. If you do, this'll happen. If you don't, that'll happen.
Bind them, bind them, bind them. Oh, you don't dare turn people
loose. You don't dare just let people go. If they've experienced the power
of His grace, you just loose them and let them go and watch
God work. Loose them and let them go. And
then there's one more lesson here. All of this would really be meaningless
if I failed to show you this last thing. The only way sinful
men and women can be saved from the wrath of God is by the substitutionary
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ in their place. And it's amazing
how God teaches that lesson here in John chapter 11. People argue, they want to know
who was preaching when you believed, as if that really makes a difference.
Well, don't you think a fellow's got to, he's got to be a faithful
man in order for somebody to be converted by him? You take
that up with somebody else if you want to. But right here in
John chapter 11, our God sovereignly takes a unbelieving Jewish high
priest who had no purpose in his labors, who had no purpose
in his words except to serve himself. And he so graciously
rules the words and the thoughts and the actions of men that he
calls that high priest to preach the gospel as clearly as your
pastor has ever dreamed of preaching it. Look at it, verse 49. One
of them named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year,
said unto them, they would say, what are we going to do about
this man, this man who raised Lazarus from the dead? He said,
ye know nothing at all, verse 50, nor consider that it is expedient
for us that one man should die for the people. whole nation
perish not. And this he spake not of himself,
but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should
die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that
also he should gather together in one the children of God that
were scattered abroad." Caiaphas didn't have a clue what he was
talking about. He didn't have any idea what he was saying,
but he made these two statements. These two things that are clearly
defining to the gospel of God's grace, two statements that very
few preachers, let alone anyone else in the world, ever come
to know. But these two things are two things without which
nobody shall be saved. Number one, he said, justice
must be satisfied. It is expedient for us that one
man should die for the people. And second, the Lord Jesus has
fully satisfied God's justice. And he did this for all his elect
by his death upon the curse tree, reconciling, gathering together
in one, the children of God scattered abroad. All this we learn from
the experiences that took place that one day in Bethany when
the Lord Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Amen.