Would you turn with me to John
chapter 11? I'm almost embarrassed by the
title of this message, but I'm going to give it to you anyway.
My biography. I wonder if anybody would read
my biography. I think maybe Aubrey would. I'm not too sure that
anybody else would. I think Aubrey would, though, at any rate. But
my biography. A biography is the history of
the life of a particular person. We've probably, most of us, read
biographies of individuals' lives before. If I wrote an autobiography,
I know this. you would not get the truth. Not all of it, at any rate. There
are things I would not want you to know. And I would over-exaggerate
or under-exaggerate the things that I did want you to know,
and maybe even make up a few things that would make it more
interesting and more spectacular. so much for human biographies. I think the only time you will
get a true biography of anybody is if you open up the Bible.
The Bible tells things as they really are. My biography, and I mean an accurate
one, right down to the most minute detail of my life, is told in
the story of Lazarus. If you want to know about me,
and I'm speaking really as the spokesman of every believer,
I have no doubt that if you're a believer, I'm going to be giving
your biography, your true biography, right down to the most minute
detail in the story of Lazarus. Now Lazarus is the Greek translation
of the Hebrew name Eleazar, which means God is my help. Wouldn't you know that that would
be a good name to describe your life, isn't it? The Lord's helped
me. The Lord's helped me. God is
my help and Lazarus gives such a wonderful description of God
being somebody's help. Now, only John gives us the account
of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, and during all
of the narrative concerning him, he never says a word. Isn't that
interesting? Even after his resurrection,
we don't have where he said anything. I was talking to somebody just
last week who said they had been raised from the dead four different
occasions. No. No. Well, if they were, I don't believe
they'd be able to talk about it. But I don't believe that
for a second, obviously. But Lazarus was raised from the
dead. Now here is the biography, the
history of my life. And if you're a believer, I have
no doubt that this will be the history of your life. I'm speaking as the spokesman
of every believer. And you see if this doesn't fit
you perfectly, if you're a believer. Now to begin talking about Lazarus,
Lazarus was loved by Christ before his death. before his resurrection. You begin the life of Lazarus
with Christ's love to him. Look in verse 5 of John chapter
11. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Now my life, my biography begins
not on 9959, the day I was born, Nor does it begin, whenever I
was conceived in the womb, I was before any of this. I don't understand this, but
I've always had personality before God. You know, he said to Jeremiah,
before I formed thee in the belly, I knew. thee. And the life of every believer
begins not on the date of their conception or the date of their
birth, but I have always, this blows my mind, Lord's always
known me. There was never a time when He
began to know me. He said, Behold, I have loved
you with an everlasting love, a love that never had a beginning.
He knew me altogether. And I don't mean he, I don't
understand this, but somehow as I'm united to Christ, I've
always been known by the Father. I've always been, I've always
been. How old are you? Well, however
old God is. That's how old every believer
is. Now, I don't understand that. It's scary even talking that
way, but it's the truth. He said, I've loved you with
what? An everlasting love. You see, my salvation, my history,
my whole history actually was completed before I was even born.
This is the Lord's sovereign love of His people. Let me quote
you some scriptures. A lot of them I could quote.
Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, according as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world. Romans chapter 9 verse 11 talking
about Jacob and Esau for the children being not yet born neither
having done any good or evil that the purpose of God according
to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it's written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. God loved Jacob without respect
to his works, and he loved him before the foundation of the
world, and that's true with regard to all of his people. A lot of folks have a hard time
with election, the fact that God chose who to be saved, but
I tell you who doesn't have a hard time with it? The elect. They love God's election. 2 Thessalonians
2.13, Paul said, But we're bound to thank God always for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you. He chose me. He knew me. He loved me. God hath from the
beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Listen to this scripture, 2 Timothy
1.9, He saved us. He called us with an holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and grace which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Now I want you to turn with me
to this scripture. Romans chapter 8. Here is our
entire spiritual history if we're believers. Romans chapter 8,
verse 28. And we know, I love the way Paul
says this, we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,
for whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. He foreknew a people. That means
he foreloved them. Notice whom he foreknew. Foreknowledge
is not God knowing what's going to happen in the future. It has
to do with persons. Whom? whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate. Listen,
believer, God has predestinated that you're going to be perfectly
conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Is that good? That's wonderful, isn't it? Let's
go on reading. Verse 30. Moreover, whom he did
predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also
justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified." Now, it sounds like every one of those things
are in the past tense. You know why it sounds that way? Because
they are. Now, what are we going to say
about these things? If God be for us. Who can be against us? Isn't that wonderful? I love
this. My whole spiritual autobiography
is given right there. That covers everything before
I was even born. I love that. Well, there's Lazarus. That's my biography. Blows my
mind, but there was never a time when God didn't know me and how
this is, I can't conceive, but there's my biography. But let's
talk about what happened to Lazarus. Turn back to John chapter 11.
Lazarus died. Verse 14. Then said Jesus unto
them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Lazarus died. That one in whom God was his
help, he died. He died physically, yes, but
it means much more than that. Paul said in Romans 5.12, for
by one man sin entered the world and death by sin. So death passed
upon all men in that all have sinned. The reason Lazarus died
is because he's a sinner. Why do babies die? Now I want
you to answer that question honestly. Why do babies die? who have not
committed as far as we can tell any overt acts of sin. Why did
they die? There's only one reason. There's
only one reason for death, sin. Lazarus died because Lazarus
was a sinner and he died. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 says,
And you hath he quickened, talking to every believer, you hath he
given life to, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now what's
this all about? What's this about being dead
in trespasses and sins? Now for us to understand that,
we're going to have to go back to the Garden of Eden. Turn to Genesis chapter
2. Genesis chapter 2. Lazarus died. And here is my summary of my
life. I died. Verse 16, And the Lord
God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day,
he doesn't say if you eat, he said in the day that you do,
thou shalt surely die. Now, he ate. We know that. He ate of the fruit. Did he die
physically on that day? No. Did he die eternally in that
day? Now, death is understood in three
ways. Physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death. That's
what hell is. If somebody's sent to hell, they're
there eternally. That's the eternal death. The
wages of sin is death. Now, Adam did not die physically. He wasn't sent to hell, but on
that very day. that very day he died spiritually. And that is seen in the way he
acted. You go on reading in Genesis chapter 3, all of a sudden he
hides from God's presence. And since when can you hide from
God? He no longer wanted to be around God. He wanted to be away
from God. He makes a fig leaf apron of
his own righteousness trying to provide himself a covering
before God. He proved that he'd become spiritually dead. Now
what is death? Well, physical death. Somebody
dies. Can they see? Can they smell? No. Can they
taste? No. Can they hear? No. Can they
feel? No. They're dead. They can't
perform the functions of physical life. They're dead. A spiritually
dead person cannot perform the functions of spiritual life.
He can't see Christ no matter how clearly Christ is presented
to him. He can't hear the gospel. He's unable to. He can't taste
that the Lord is gracious. He can't smell the sweet savor
of the cross. He sees no beauty in it. He's
spiritually dead. He's unable to believe. He's unable to repent. He's unable
to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you or I are outside of
Christ, if God hadn't done that work of grace in our heart, we
can't come to Christ. We lack the ability to. Well, is God going to hold me
responsible to do something I can't do? Yes. Yes, he surely will. This inability is a moral inability. That's why it's so bad. That's
why it's so wicked. Adam died spiritually. He lost the ability
to believe. He lost the ability to repent.
He became dead. And you and I haven't inherited
his nature. Why are you a sinner? Why are you a sinner? Because
you were born that way. Born spiritually dead. Unable to do anything to save
yourself. Lazarus died. What could Lazarus
do to give himself life? Nothing. He's dead. He's dead. And that would illustrate me
dead. Now all Lazarus did during the
time of his death was stink. Look in John chapter 11 verse
38. Jesus therefore again, groaning
in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay
upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister
of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh,
for he's been dead four days. Now, here's my biography. Remember,
this is a biography about me. Same thing, what did Lazarus
do during the time of his death? What did he do? All he did was stink. That's it. That's a complete
summary. And I've got to say this about
everything about me. in and of myself, before God
did something for me, all you could say about it. I don't care
if you're talking about the good things, I don't care if you're
talking about the bad things, I don't care if you're talking
about the sins, I don't care if you're talking about the quote
good things, the righteous things, the acts of obedience, whatever
you want to talk about, this is all that can be said about
everything, everything without exception, everything about me.
It stinks. That's it. That's the summary
of everything. Had the smell of death to it.
Didn't matter what it was, even if it appeared good, even if
it appeared righteous, even if it appeared moral, all you could
say about it is it stinks. That's what sin is. It makes
everything I do stink. And here's the best supporting
scripture that I can think of for that. The plowing of the
wicked is sin. Plowing seems like the
most wholesome activity that I can think of. I mean, let's
get back to basics. You know, go out and plow up
a field and grow some corn to feed the poor or something. I
mean, that sounds like a very good thing. But the Scripture
says the plowing of the wicked is sin. That means if a wicked
man does it, it's sin no matter what he does, no matter what
he says. The plowing of the wicked is
sin. Everything regarding Lazarus Stinks. That's my biography. But Lazarus was raised from the
dead. Look in verse 43. And when he had spoken, when
he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth. And he that was dead came forth. I've got a question. How dependent
upon God is a dead person to be raised? If any cooperation on the dead
person's part is first necessary before he can be raised, what
will happen? He'll still be dead, won't he?
He'll still be dead. Now this religious world, I realize,
doesn't believe this. regarding salvation. Lazarus
being raised from the dead is a picture of God saving a sinner.
He's dead. He can't do anything to save
himself. God raised him from the dead. Now this entire religious
world denies that. It's seen in the doctrine of
what they call free will. God loves everybody. Christ died
for everybody. God wants to save everybody.
It's his intention to save everybody. He's made salvation available
for you. He's made life available for you. All you've got to do
is accept it. But if you don't accept it, you
won't be saved. Salvation is ultimately dependent
upon your acceptance. And if you reject, you won't
be saved. Now. Okay. If 1% of Lazarus' resurrection
is dependent upon him, will he be raised? Even 1%. I was talking to a Bible study
teacher just about two weeks ago. He came up to me. He'd seen
our TV program. He wanted to ask me some questions about predestination.
And he said, I just have a hard time with that. I said, oh, oh. Let him talk. He said, I believe
salvation's all of grace. I really do. I believe salvation's
all of grace, but it's got to be 1%, man. Just 1%. Okay. Lazarus, if you at least take
the first breath, God will do the rest. Won't do him any good
at all, will it? Lazarus was dead and he was totally
dependent upon God to raise him from the dead. Lazarus was raised
by the almighty, irresistible power of God. You in the Bible,
there are three resurrections. There's the bodily resurrection
of Christ. And I love to think about that, don't you? It does
my soul good to just meditate on it. The Lord was laying there
dead in a grave. He was dead. He was graveyard
dead. And all of a sudden, He opened
His eyes. And when He opened His eyes,
that's because God raised Him from the dead. And you know what
happened to my sin? It's gone. He paid for my sin. When God raised him from the
dead, that means God was satisfied with what he did. And you know
who else was raised when Lazarus was raised? I was. Every one of the elect were raised
with him because what our Lord did, he did as a representative.
When he was raised from the dead, I was raised from the dead. As
he ascended to the Father, I ascended to the Father. As he's sitting
at the right hand of the Father, even right now, every one of
his people are right there with him. Really? Really. Really. That's how real union with the
Lord Jesus Christ is. There's the physical resurrection
of Christ. There's spiritual resurrection.
Our Lord said the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God. You know, it could be tonight
that a dead sinner will hear His voice. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
and they that hear shall live." It's a spiritual resurrection.
You're enabled now to perform the functions of life. He gave
you life. You now see the beauty of Christ. You now hear the gospel
you didn't used to. You now understand the gospel
you didn't used to. Why? Life from the dead. And then there's that final resurrection
that we so much look forward to. I love what Paul said in
Philippians chapter 3. He said, Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, O that I
may know Him, and the power of His resurrection. I want to know
the power of His resurrection, don't you? That doesn't just
mean more power for my life. I mean understanding what that
resurrection means when He was raised I was. I want to know
the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable unto death,
if by any means I might attain under the resurrection of the
dead. Lazarus was raised from the dead
by the power of God. Now don't you know that if you
have life, it's because God gave you life? 100% a work of His
grace. So Lazarus' walk was bound with
grave clothes when he came out. Look what it says. It hindered
his walk. Verse 43, And when he had thus
spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And
he that was dead came forth. But notice it says when he came
forth, he was bound hand and foot with grave clothes. Lazarus walked, but his walk
was affected, wasn't it? I guess somewhat like Jacob,
he always, after he met the Lord, he always had a limp in his walk. was bound. And I tell you what,
even while I'm talking to you right now, I feel bound. I always
feel bound. Bound with the flesh, bound with
my sin, bound with my grave clothes. Everybody's got grave clothes.
Things that affect us so much, we're bound. We're walking, but
we're bound. Thank God, the call of the continual
call of the gospel. This is what gospel preaching
is all about. loose him and let him go. I was talking to one
brother who said he was listening to that scripture being read,
Lazarus come forth and he said I came forth and I heard him
say loose him, let him go. That's my biography. And here's
the summary of Lazarus' life. Look in chapter 12. Then Jesus, six days before the
Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, which had been dead,
whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper,
and Martha served. But Lazarus, here's all that
was said of Lazarus, was one of them that sat at the table
with him. Now here is a wonderful description
of every believer's life. I sat, resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I sat at the table, and I couldn't
help but think of Mephibosheth sitting at the table. Would you
turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 9? Now let me give you a little
background to this chapter in 2 Samuel chapter 9. Long before
this chapter took place, David and Jonathan had made a covenant. Jonathan said to David, I know
that you're going to be the king and you're going to destroy all
your enemies. And I know you're going to destroy
the house of Saul. Now here's what I want you to
do. I want you to remember me when you're king, and after all
your enemies are vanquished, I want you to remember my children,
and I want you to have mercy on them. Now, Jonathan has died. Many years later, Jonathan has
died. Do you remember that covenant
he made? Now let's pick up reading. 2 Samuel chapter 9, and David
said, Is there any that is left of the house of Saul that I may
show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Can't you hear God saying, is
there any of the house of Adam that I can show kindness for
Christ's sake? And there was of the house of
Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called
him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And
he said, Thy servant is he. And the king said, Is there not
yet any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness
of God unto him? You see, he remembered that covenant.
And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son. But he's lame on his feet. He's
worthless. He can't work for you. He can't
do anything for you. He can't pull his own weight.
He's lame on his feet. And if you read the history of
this young man, he was lame on his feet because his mother dropped
him and crippled him. He was lame because of a fall. Verse four, and the king said
unto him, where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he's in the house of Maker, the son of Amul in Lodabar,
the place of no bread. Then David, King David, sent
and fetched him out of the house of Maker, the son of Amelior
from Lodabar. Now when Mephibosheth, that's
his name, Mephibosheth. You know what that name means?
Shameful thing. Can you imagine having a name
like that? Shameful thing. That's what his name meant. Now,
when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was
coming to David, he fell on his face and did reverence. I suppose
he thought he was going to be put to death. He was of the house
of Saul. And David said, Mephibosheth. And I don't have any doubt that
when David called out his name, He saw somebody else. He remembered Jonathan. He saw
Jonathan in that boy. And he said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold, thy
servant, and David said unto him, Fear not, for I will surely
show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake. and will restore
unto thee all the land of Saul, thy father, and thou shalt eat
bread at my table continually. And that's indeed what he did.
He spent the rest of his life eating bread at David's table.
He bowed himself and said, what is thy servant that thou shouldst
look upon such a dead dog as I am? So look down in verse 13.
So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he did eat continually at
the king's table, And I think it's amazing the way that story
ends. He's lame on his feet. I would like to hear where God
restored his walking, but he was still lame on his feet. Lazarus sits there at the table. Back to our text in John chapter
11, John chapter 12. There they made him a supper,
and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the
table, and I love this phrase, with him. With him. At all times, my only
and all sufficient hope is being with him. My name is called,
I'm with him. That's my only plea, I'm with
him. That's the summary of every believer's
life. I'm with Him. That's my biography. Now, look
down in verse 9. Chapter 12. Much people of the
Jews therefore knew that He was there, and they came out. And they came not for Jesus'
sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he'd raised
from the dead. The folks wanted to see him.
But the chief priest consulted that they might put Lazarus also
to death. They wanted to kill him because
that by reason of him, many of the Jews went away and believed
on Jesus. Now, why did these people want
to kill Lazarus? Religious people, hate the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They hate believers. Now why?
Why did they want to put Lazarus to death? They wanted to kill
him. It's because of what his resurrection said about Christ. That's why they wanted to kill
him. Now I want to ask you a question. What does your salvation say
about Christ? Does it say he's God? Does your
salvation say that He did everything? You were dead and He gave you
life? Does your salvation give Christ all the glory? That's what Lazarus' resurrection
did. You see, when Lazarus was raised from the dead, it said
Jesus Christ is God, that he's an absolute sovereign, that his
word must be done. If he wills it, it's gonna happen.
If he says, Lazarus, come forth, Lazarus comes forth. What about
your salvation? What does it say about the Lord
Jesus Christ? Does it say that He is an Almighty Savior, saving
somebody like you dead in sins? Does it give Him all the glory?
Now, it does if you're a believer. And that's why religion will
never like that because they do not like what your salvation
says regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. I love verse 11. Because that by reason of Him,
Many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. Oh, that there
might be a duplication of that, even tonight, that because of
Him, many believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, did I give
an accurate description of your biography? If you're a believer, I did.
I probably should have title this message, Our Biography,
because this is the biography of every single child of God. Let's pray.