I invite you to turn with me
in your Bibles to the Gospel of John chapter 11. Chapter 11
of the Gospel of John. Let us begin reading with verse
1 and read down through verse 5. Now a certain man was sick
named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed
the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose
brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto
him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said,
This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
the Son of God might be glorified thereby. I wanted to speak this morning
primarily on the last part of verse 3 where His sisters sent
unto him that is unto Jesus Saying Lord behold he whom thou lovest
is sick Those who are dearly loved of
God frequently suffer sickness and disease Now, did you get
that statement? Those who are dearly loved of
God, those who are loved of God from old time, those who are
loved of God and been called by the everlasting mercies of
God into salvation, those who have had the righteousness of
Christ imputed to them through faith, they often, very frequently,
suffer sickness and disease. Now realizing this fact, I believe
this morning that it's very important for us to understand something
about God's purpose in allowing sickness to come into the lives
of His children, so that we can prepare ourselves to glorify
God when sickness does come upon us, as it surely will seem that
we're all living in a body of flesh and seeing that we have
a fallen nature, seeing that we are of the first man, Adam,
we may also be of the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ,
but the first Adam and his effect upon our lives is that we're
in a body now that can suffer affliction and disease, sickness
and death. And I do hope this message this
morning might be used of God to help his suffering children
to glorify Him. If you're sick today or if you
succumb to sickness very shortly, you will know how to glorify
your God. You're familiar, I'm sure, with
Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus. This story is an old
story. It's a very touching story indeed
and it's one that is very dramatic and one that is tremendous in
as far as the many many truths of God that are set forth in
these first 45 verses here that have been read to us this morning.
These three people love the Lord and they live by faith. as the
righteous do. You know the Bible says three
times or four times over that the just shall live by faith.
The just shall live by faith. And these people lived by faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. They were earnest seekers after
the will, the honor, and the glory of Jesus Christ. They were all three saved people.
Their eyes had been opened to see the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 27. She said, that
is, Mary said unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. which should come into the
world. By the way, this was Martha saying
this. She said, Yea, Lord, I believe
that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, which
should come into the world. And so certainly they all three
believed that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. And they had
seen the glory of God in His face. And they were believers,
strong believers in Him. They were among the few in that
day who worshiped Christ as God, their Savior and King. And the
Lord loved them. Now that's a wonderful and marvelous
thing for the Lord to love you. If the Lord loves you, then my
friend, you are a very, very blessed person if the Lord loves
you. Isn't it wonderful to be able
to believe that God loved me or that He loves us this morning. If we're His sheep, if we're
His people, if we're believers, God does indeed love us with
an everlasting love. And He's loved us from old times.
He's loved us from the foundation of the world. He set His affection
upon us from the foundation of the world. And it's wonderful
to be in His love, to be protected and kept by His love, to be blessed
by His love, and to be provided for by His love and His gracious
hand. But Lazarus, my friend, was very,
very sick. He was sick we would say unto
death. Now Martha and Mary knew of the
Lord's love for them and knew that the Lord loved their brother
also. The Bible says in verse 5, now
Jesus loved Martha her sister and Lazarus. So they knew of
the Lord's love for them and they knew that the Lord could
heal Lazarus if he would. They knew that. They believed
that. And you remember the testimony a little later in verse 22 where
Martha said unto Jesus, if you had been here in verse 21, my
brother had not died, but I know that even now whatsoever, whatsoever
thou will ask of God, God will give it thee. I know that whatever
you ask of God, that God will give it to you. So she knew that
the Lord could heal Lazarus if he would, if he willed it. Now this is very important for
us at the outset to understand, because if we fail to get this,
we fail to, I believe, to, we miss the tenor of all of these,
or the story before us. I would invite you to hold your
place right here in John 11, and turn back to the book of
Deuteronomy chapter 32, and look at verse 39. Look at verse 39. This is a statement that I want
you to get in your mind as we go along here this morning. I'm
telling you that they knew, that is Martha and Mary knew, that
the Lord could heal their brother Lazarus if He would. If He willed
to do it, they knew that He could do it. Now in verse 39 of Deuteronomy
32, see now that I, even I, am He, and there is no God with
me. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. Now this is a statement concerning
the sovereignty and power of our God and the fact that His
will determines all things and He says, I, even I, am He. I kill and I make alive, I wound
and I heal. There is no God that can interfere,
no little God that can interfere No other God in the universe
that can interfere with me and with my purpose and my program
and my will and my counsel. It will be done. I kill and I
make alive. I wound and I heal and there
isn't anyone that can deliver out of my hand. Now then, when
we say that Mary and Martha knew that the Lord could heal their
brother if he would, well, that's exactly what they believed. They believed if he willed to
do it, he could do so. So they sent a message to the
Lord saying, he whom thou lovest is sick. That was the message
they sent. Now, I wanted to read a little
statement that I dug out by Horatius Bonar and I want you to get this. I believe it's the time to insert
this into our message this morning. Listen to this. The truth is
just this. That God's will is the law of
the universe. That his glory is the object
and end both in creation and redemption. His everlasting purpose,
the mighty and all-perfect mold into which all things are cast,
and from which they take their shape and fashion from first
to last. Whenever we lose sight of God's
great end in all things, which is His own glory, We fall into
the wrong track. We go wrong in judging of doctrine. We go wrong in the forming of
our plans. We go wrong in the bent of our
efforts. We miscalculate the relative
importance of different truths. When we fail to see that God's
will determines all things, and that all things are for his glory,
unto whom be glory, forever and ever, Amen. So they sent a message,
believing these things, they sent a message to the Lord saying,
He whom thou lovest is sick. Now this is an example of simple,
confident faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as God. They believed
Him to be God. And this is an example of how
that a believer who just simply confides in the Lord and has
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His ability and His attributes
as God, the Bible says in Hebrews 11 and 6, without faith it is
impossible to please Him, for he that cometh unto Him must
believe that He is. that God is and that He is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Well, the Lord loved
Lazarus, yet Lazarus was sick. Now learn this, it is evident
that sickness is not a sign of God's anger or God's displeasure
toward an individual. Let me give you that again, it
is evident then that sickness is not a sign of God's anger
or His displeasure. How many poor souls fall into
the devil's trap and get down on themselves thinking that God
must be put out with them, God must be angry with them, or they
would not be sick? How many people are there in
this land this morning that believes that God is punishing them with
their sickness, that God must be angry with them? Now note
that in their time of need, Mary and Martha turned to the Lord
in simple, competent, and submissive faith. They simply informed the
Lord of their trouble. They did not ask for anything,
much less demand anything from Him. He whom thou lovest is sick. That was the message that they
sent unto the Lord Jesus. Do with it whatever you will,
Lord Jesus. He whom thou lovest is sick.
Would you intervene, Lord Jesus? We leave that to you. Unspoken
word. Leave it to the Lord. Would He
intervene? Would He touch? Would He come
on time to deliver Lazarus from death? Would He? Well, all they
did was inform him of the fact that their brother Lazarus was
sick. They didn't ask for anything
else and they didn't demand anything from him. We have a lot of what
we call, what are called faith healers in the country that make
demands on God. They make demands on God. They
feel they're in a position to make demands on God. Well, my
friend, the Bible says, humble yourself under the mighty hand
of God, and He'll exalt you in due time. Submit yourself unto
the Lord. Humble yourself. And for a man
to make demands of God is wrong. You don't make demands of God. They simply told Him of their
heart's burden. He whom thou lovest is sick.
I believe they were resigned to the Lord's will and they were
submissive to His purpose as we always must be. We must always
be resigned to the Lord's will and submissive to His purpose.
God's will will be done and it must be done and it is the only
will which is free in the universe and it's the only will that ought
to be done and I think all the Lord's people could say amen
to that. No panic, no despair, but just
trust in our God and in His wisdom as to that which He would allow
to come to pass, that which He would desire to do. They knew
Christ's love and power. They knew that He would do that
which was absolutely the best for them. They knew that He would
do the best thing for them. Do you know that? Do you know
that? Are you confident of that? Are
you such a believer that you believe that God's going to do
the best by you? I had a brother just on September
the 16th on Monday morning that stepped out in front of a dump
truck and was run over and he was crushed. He was killed. And
I thought a great deal about it. Will the Lord do what is
right? Yes, the Lord will do what is right. Shall not the
judge of all the earth do right? He will do right. There isn't
any question. And whatever he allows is best. Explain it however you want to.
Whatever God allows is best. And we need to come to the place
where that we submit ourselves unto God and to His doings. It is the Lord. Let Him do what
seemeth good unto Him. He's God. He knows everything. And He knows the end from the
beginning. He could have intervened. He could have done something
else. But what He allowed was the best
that could be done. Now these two sisters anchored
their hearts confidence on the Lord himself. They anchored their
confidence on the Lord. They did not say he whom we love,
though they did love him, is sick. We love him, Jesus, do
something for him. No, no, they didn't say that.
They did not say he who loves and serves you is sick. No, they didn't say that. They didn't say he who has great
faith in you is sick. No, no, no. You see, we like
to try, if we can, to impress the Lord when we pray that there
is some particular or some circumstances here that is unusual, Lord, and
therefore you ought to or you must intervene because of these
peculiar circumstances. This is some special individual. No, no. We need to be careful
about that. God is no respecter of persons,
and we need to be very careful. They simply said, He whom thou
lovest is sick, and that is the appeal that they make unto the
Lord. Well, you know how the story
turned out. The love, grace, and power and the glory of Christ
was greatly displayed. It was put on display right here
in this story. The love, the grace, and the
power of God and the glory of God. This sickness in verse 4
is not unto death, but for the glory of God. and divine healers
can't accept that. It's for the glory of God that
the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now the faith of Mary
and Martha was strengthened and many were converted. We read
in the 45th verse where it says that many of the Jews which came
to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did believed on him.
After he had raised Lazarus from the dead after he'd been dead
four days. He was raised in the dead well
many were converted by what had took place in it all God was
greatly glorified and that is the end that God has in mind
for every situation that he's involved in in his universe his
glory and Keeping now these things in mind, we want to consider
four very basic and practical questions about this matter of
sickness among God's people. Follow with me if you will. Number
one, why does sickness come? How would you answer if your
son or your daughter came to you and asked you this question,
Daddy, Mother, why do people get sick and die? Why do they
get sick? Why did grandpa and grandma get
sick and die? Why did the neighbor? Why did
they get sick and why did they die? Well, we must look to the
Word of God alone because the answer must be in the Scriptures
and I believe it is in the Word of God. For the answer to this
question, we first of all take note of Romans 5 and verse 12. Wherefore, the Scripture says,
as by one man Adam sin entered into the world and death by sin
and so death passed upon all men For that all have sinned
in Adam in that that Adam transgressed in the garden and and that he
fell, that's what we call original sin, and we were all in Adam
when he fell in the Garden of Eden, and the Bible says that
death by sin passed upon all men. Death passed upon all men. Now one of the great proofs of
original sin is the fact that even babies and little children
get sick and die. And that's an evidence of the
fact of original sin. The fact that Adam rebelled against
God in the Garden of Eden and he fell in the Garden and he
began to die physically at the very time he committed that sin
in the Garden. If there were no sin, there would
be no sickness and no death. The Bible says the wages of sin
is death. is death. That is the wages that
is paid to a sinner is eternal death. Death in the flesh and
then eternal death of the soul. Still a question arises why do
those whose sins are forgiven blotted out and their state restored
even what we might say they're more righteous now than what
they were in Adam How is it that those who are loved of God and
are justified and forgiven, why do they get sick? Well, in this
much we're sure that God could have prevented, He could prevent
it if He would desire to do it. But brother, sister, pay no attention
to those who tell you that it's not God's will for His people
to suffer to become sick. Well, what we want to say here
is that we still have a body of flesh. Even though our souls
are justified, and even though we've been accepted in the Beloved,
and even though God has pardoned all of our transgressions, and
blotted out all of our past, even though we're now restored
in the Lord Jesus Christ, we still have a body of flesh, and
this flesh cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, and so therefore
it must be put off. It must die. It must weaken and
die. Well, God could prevent it if
he so pleased, but he would not have us to live forever in a
body of sin. In a body that is corrupted by
sin and defiled by sin. It must be put off. Flesh and
blood can't enter the kingdom of God. You can't take that old
body of yours into heaven. You can't take it in there. It's
got to be put off. Well, I say that we ought not
pay any attention to those who tell us that it's not God's will
for His people to suffer to become sick. It is the Lord that allows
it. He could prevent it, but it would
not be just like He drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, because
He would not allow them to eat of the tree of life and live
forever. He would not allow that. He would
not allow that sinful man and woman have everlasting life on
earth. He would not permit it. So it
is God's will for His people to suffer or become sick. If
such were not God's will, it wouldn't happen. Ephesians 1.11
says that He works all things after the counsel of His own
will. The God with whom we have to
do worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. When
sickness comes, it comes by the hand of God according to His
own will and according to His purpose. I don't know whether
you can accept that or not. But my friend, that's exactly
what the Word of God teaches. And if it comes from the hand
of God according to His will and according to His purpose
into the lives of those who love God and are called according
to His purpose, there is some good purpose behind it. There's got to be, Romans 8 and
28. You know what it says, and we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. There's got to be some good purpose
behind it, and it is to the end that God would disrobe you, take
off this body of flesh, take down the tent that you might
move into that house which he has prepared for you, not built
with hands, that is eternal in the heavens. He's going to take
that body off of you, off your soul, so you can enter in to
eternal bliss and eternal blessing. Now that's the good that is behind
it all. God means to have you at home
with himself. Preacher Trench said, those whom
Christ loves are no more exempt from earthly trouble and anguish
than other men. Rather, they are bound over to
it more surely, because God means to take them home. Precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death of these saints. Job, David,
Hezekiah, Paul, and Epaphroditus were all faithful and beloved
servants of God, and they all suffered painful protracted sicknesses,
and none of them could deliver themselves out of their afflictions.
It is the Lord only who can deliver a man out of affliction. Psalm
34, 19 says that many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all. The Lord delivers
indeed the righteous out of affliction, but it's only the Lord who can
do that. Yes, God has a good purpose in
bringing you down upon a bed of sickness. A loving father's
hand will never cause his child a needless tear or an anxious
moment. By this means, He will try and
prove the sincerity of your love and your faith. When you get
sick, your love for Christ, well, it'll be evident whether you
truly love the Lord or not, and whether you believe Him or not,
whether you have faith in God, whether you trust Him. Through
pain and sickness, Christ will often become more precious to
His people, and I think you can understand that. Because the
closer we get, when we see more of what we really are, and how
frail and feeble, and that our frame is made of dust, then we'll
become more, more fond of the Lord Jesus Christ who is our
Savior and our Lord. Sickness also has a way of humbling
and mellowing our hearts, teaching us patience and increasing our
faith. And sometimes, God makes one
of his children sick for the good of another. Mary and Martha
needed to learn something that they could only be taught by
the sickness and by the death of their beloved brother. Whatever
his purpose may be, our hearts rest in this assurance. The sickness
of God's children is for the glory of God. Verse 4. of our text this morning. Now,
number two, what comfort do God's children have in their times
of sickness? What comfort do they have? It
is always a great comfort to have loving friends who manifest
their love and care in so many ways. Isn't it blessed when you're
ill to have somebody that cares to give you a call, to write
you a letter, to in some way or another contact you and express
their concern for you and for your need. True and loving friends
are a great blessing from the Lord. But we have a greater source
of comfort than the best of friends in this world and the best they
can provide. We're comforted by the fact that
our Lord Himself has been there. He has been there Himself. And the Bible says in Matthew
chapter 8 verse 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by Isaiah the prophet saying himself, that is Christ, took
our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. He took our infirmities
and he bore our sickness. This means that all of our sickness
and infirmities are sanctified to our good. That's what it means. He bore them all. He bore them
all. And therefore they're sanctified
now. And when we have illness and
sickness as God's dear children, they are sanctified to our good
so that we don't even have to say we're sick. But my friend,
the world must admit they are sick when they're sick. The world,
lost men and women, their illnesses are not sanctified by the Lord
Jesus Christ. He did not take their infirmities
and their sickness. He did not bear their sickness,
but he bore the sickness of his people, of his sheep. And so
the world must admit they're sick. You say, well, I heard
the good news. I won't ever hear any bad news.
That's right. But the lost, the world, hadn't
heard the good news. They hadn't heard the good news
of the gospel, and so whatever is told them, you're ill, you're
sick unto death, that's the true state of affairs. They're soon
going to die physically, and die eternally. Well, believer
your Lord will never call upon you to walk any path that He's
not already walked. He's already Himself took our
infirmities and He bare our sicknesses. He's taken that, He has bore
these upon His own body and He's walked in those steps. He's felt
pain. Be assured that he'll now sympathize
with his children. He'll sympathize with his people.
We have a sympathizing high priest in heaven who is touched with
the feelings of our infirmities. That's our comfort as God's people. Christ himself is touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. He's able both to comfort and
to help. He's able to draw near and to help us. Our Lord has
also assured us of His presence in the midst of our deepest distresses. His word is, fear not. I am with
thee. Be not dismayed. For I am with
thee, for I am God. He said, Be not dismayed, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. And when thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee, Isaiah 43. So the Lord will be with
his people. He's assured us that he will. In the midst of your sickness,
the Lord himself will be a nurse to help you. and to make your
bed comfortable. Turn back with me and hold your
finger here in John 11 to Psalm chapter 41. Psalm chapter 41. I want you to look at this with
me. I want to read the first three verses here of Psalm 41. Blessed is he that considers
the poor, the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord
will preserve him and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed
upon the earth, and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will
of his enemies. Listen to verse 3. The Lord will
strengthen him upon the bed of languishing. The Lord will strengthen
him, and thou wilt make all of his bed in his sickness. The Lord said, I'll make his
bed in his sickness. Now, beloved, what I'd like to
say to you this morning is that the Lord has a way of coming
to an individual in whatever circumstances or situation. He
has a way of coming to them and His presence alone and His promises
and making them real to the heart. Him coming and blessing with
His own presence. Your heart and your life in your
time of suffering and your affliction will just lift your soul to where
you... I mean, He'll make your bed. And that will give you the
peace, the comfort, and the rest, and the uplifting that you need
to be able to bear under any trial. The Lord will do that. And that's what this means here
in Psalm 41, verse 13, 1 through 3, that is. And we too have this
comfort. Our sickness is not unto eternal
death. While it may be to the death
of the body, It is not unto eternal death. Like Lazarus we may die,
but like Lazarus we will most certainly live again. We most
certainly will come out of the grave just like Lazarus did.
This is a picture of the resurrection of the body of all believers
when the Lord Jesus came to the grave and when, yes, Lazarus
had been in there four days, he was truly dead. He was dead,
no question about it. The Lord Jesus said, Lazarus,
you come forth! And he came forth. And that's
what's going to happen on resurrection morning. The Lord Jesus is going
to come and he's going to say to the graves of all of his people,
give them up! give them up, come forth, and
they will come forth, and they will live. We shall not die eternally. He is the resurrection and the
life, and we believe in Him, therefore we shall not die eternally,
and though our bodies die, they will be resurrected from the
grave. Well, number three, what are
the benefits of sickness to God's believing people? What are the
benefits of it? Well, let me share some of these benefits
with you. Number one, sickness causes us to pray. When we get
sick, it's regrettable that we do not do much praying until
we feel the pressure of need. But there are very few people
that really seek the Lord, that stir themselves up. to seek the
Lord until, until I say, until sickness comes or until some
kind of affliction or stress or pressure comes into their
life. Isaiah 38, just hold your finger
here and turn back to Isaiah 38 and let me read here just
five verses to you and I think we can illustrate it from the
story here of Hezekiah. In those days, beginning with
verse 1 of Isaiah 38, was Hezekiah sickened to death. And Isaiah
the prophet, the son of Amos, came unto him, and said unto
him, Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order, for thou
shalt die and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face
toward the wall, and he prayed unto the Lord. And said, Remember
now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee
in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which
is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. Then
came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go and say to
Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father,
I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, and, behold,
I will add unto thy days fifteen years. Now God would be sought
by Hezekiah to add these 15 years to his life. It was not 15 years
that God had not purposed to give to his life from the beginning. But yet God says, I will yet
be inquired of to do this for them. God said, I'm going to
fix it so he's going to pray to me. And so Isaiah said, you're
going to die and not live. Get your house in order. And
it moved him to pray. And God added 15 years to his
life. He meant that he would live 15
years long. Listen to me. Prayer has a place,
and we need to learn that. And we need to be praying people,
seeking the Lord, crying to God, asking God, not just when we
get into a tight or when we get ill or sick, but all times we
need to be seeking the face of the Lord. Well, the next thing I want to mention
is, by sickness I'm made to see the vanity of all earthly things. Would it be alright if the Lord
was to open your eyes to show you the vanity of all earthly
things? None of these things for which
men labor so hard of any real value, houses, lands, and fame
and fortune, financial security, education, these things will
afford very little comfort to the sick and the dying man. The
educated man is going to die just like the uneducated man.
There was no comfort to the wealthy farmer in the scriptures when
God said you remember he said I'm going to tear down my barns
and I'm going to build more bigger barns and God come to him and
said thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee
and then he said and then who shall all these things be who
shall all these things be then Well, you see, my friend, in
the hour of death, the things of this world are of no comfort.
They have no comfort. It won't make any difference
whether you got a hundred or... I read the other day about this
man who was 94 years old, very, very wealthy, quite a philanthropist. Okay, okay, you got it. But anyway,
the best I can do with it. But anyway, nevertheless, when
he came to die, there wasn't a thing in the world he could
do except just die. And so it shows us, it doesn't
make any difference what we have, it shows us that all earthly
things are vain, empty. And if you set your heart upon
them, and I'm going to comfort you in the day when you die,
everything must be looked at in the light of how it's going
to look in the hour when you're facing death, when you're getting
ready when you're dying. How's it going to look then?
Is that shiny automobile going to mean a whole lot to you when
you're facing death? No. No, it's not. How nice a
home you live in ain't going to have a thing on earth to do
with it. The only thing going to comfort you in the hour of
death for your child of God is the blessed Lord Jesus Christ
drawing near and leading you across the river, the black river
of death. That's all that's going to comfort
you and we need to remember that. Number three, by sickness I'm
made aware that sooner or later every earthly tie must be broken. This is one of the advantages
of getting sick is that we're made increasingly aware. I mean it presses in upon our
mind that sooner or later every earthly tie must be broken. Death
is the greatest fact in life. There is no sure thing in life
but death. Man begins to die before he is
born. Remember that. You begin to die
before you're born. He that begins to live, somebody
says, begins to die. Well, things which are seen,
the Bible says, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, are temporal. They're temporal. Things which
are seen. Things that you can see with your eye. Write temporal
on the forehead of every one of your loved ones. Write temporal
on everything in this world because it's all temporal. Things which
are not seen are eternal. Things which are seen are temporal. And we need to learn that these
ties very soon are going to be broken. Soon you will have to
let go. So loosen your grip on earthly
things and sickness will make you do that. Sickness will make
you look at things a little different way. It'll make you look at things
and say, well, I realize that now I could suddenly be, I mean
this thing, I mean this thing has lost its attraction for me
and the reason is because I see that I could soon be taken out
of here. Well, number four, by sickness
I may deceive the shortness and the brevity of time. My days
are numbered as well as the hairs of my head
are numbered. They're numbered. The night will
soon come when no more work can be done. Work for the night is
coming. Work for the night is coming
when man's work is done. If I'm to do anything for the
furtherance of the gospel, for the kingdom of Christ, for the
glory of God, it must be done now! Now! Because the night is
coming. The day of the My departure from
this life is coming. Whatever I'm going to do, do
it now! Don't wait and wait and wait
and say, well, I mean to do, I mean to do, I hope to do, down
the line, I thought I would sooner or later, I would get around
to giving my life up to the Lord and serving His purpose and His
will. Do it now! Don't wait. Do it now. Give it to Him now. Bow your knee now to the Lord. Well, number five, by sickness
I'm made more sympathetic toward my suffering brethren. More sympathetic. Brother, sister, there's room
for empathy and sympathy toward the Lord's people. Bear ye one
another's burdens, Galatians 6.2 says, and so fulfill the
law of Christ. Bear the burdens of your brethren.
Some of the brethren around here suffer afflictions And we need
to pray for them. Old Hank called me last night.
He's on his way to the emergency room. A cow kicked him in his
left leg above the knee and kicked him into the corral. He said he got kicked harder
than he'd ever been kicked. And he's laid up for some days
now. He's got to lay with his leg
propped up for two or three days. He had a lot of blood build up
in his leg. And so pray for him. Pray for
him. And try to encourage him all
that you can. This brother has had a lot of
affliction in his life. And he needs for someone to bear
his burden. His burden. Pray for him. And
then Brother Glenn here is going in this week to have one of those
heart catheterizations. And he needs that somebody bear
his burden. Pray for him. Seek the Lord on
his behalf. God only knows, my friend, but
sickness will make us more sympathetic. If you've ever really been sick,
you say, well, brother, I'll pray for you. And I'll pray for
him. I know what that is. I know what
it is. I've been through it myself.
And so I'll bear his burden and so fulfill the law of Christ. My time's getting away. Write
this reference down, you'll look it up sometime. Matthew 25, 36
through 40. Fact is, you can just read on
down in that chapter. And I think this would help you
to see a little bit more about how that visiting the sick and
so on, and what a part that plays in the lives of the Lord's people. And in eternity, when the Lord
speaks to the righteous, He reminds them that they visited Him when
He was sick. And they said, well, we don't
remember doing that. When do we do that? And he said,
well, in that you did it to the least of one of these little
ones, you did it unto me. And so there's a need for this.
Number six, and ultimately I will come to see in a very clear way
in bodily pain and suffering and the taking down of this tent
that Christ is all. That Christ is all. Truly, He
is all my hope. He is all my acceptance before
God. He is all my strength. He is
all my righteousness. He is all my life. He is all
my desire. There's an old song that has
these words to it, and you listen to these words. And I'm going
to hurry on to a conclusion here. I entered once a home of care,
for age and penury were there, yet peace and joy withal. I asked the lonely mother whence
her helpless widowhood's defense. She told me Christ was all. I stood beside a dying bed where
lay a child with aching head waiting for Jesus' call. I marked his smile to a sweet
as may, and as his spirit passed away he whispered, Christ is
all. I saw the martyr at the stake.
The flames could not his courage shake, nor death his soul appall. I asked him whence his strength
was given. He looked triumphantly to heaven
and answered, Christ is all. I dreamed that hoary time had
fled and earth and sea gave up their dead. A fire dissolved
this ball. I saw the church's ransom throng. I heard the burden of their song,
to us Christ is all in all. Then come to Christ, O come today,
the Father, Son, and Spirit say. The bride repeats the call, for
he will cleanse your guilty stains. His love will soothe your weary
pains, for Christ is all in all. Well, what are we to learn from
these things? I'll sum it all up. Child of God, learn to take
your cares to the Lord. Cast all your care upon Him,
Peter said, 1 Peter 5, 7, for He cares for you, for you. Now if you look back to the first
chapter of 1 Peter, you find to whom he's writing, and that
is to the elect that were scattered abroad, the elect people of God.
Take your care because He cares for his people. Learn to submit,
secondly, to the hand of God's providence, leaving your cares
to the wisdom and goodness of God. Though he slay me, remember
what Job said, yet will I trust him though he slay me. Do not
hold anyone too dear in this life. Lazarus died. Don't hold anyone too dear. If
God calls your dearest loved one home, do not try to hold
them, and do not murmur against the Lord. The Lord desires to
have them, and that, as we've said earlier, and talked about
it at length, is best, if that's what the Lord determines. To
depart and be with Christ is far better. Isn't that what it
says? John 17, 24, listen to this scripture. Father, I will they also whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the
world. We must all learn to live in the immediate prospects of
eternity. And learn this lastly, that like
all other days, whether days of joy or days of sorrow or days
of sickness and pain, will soon be over. Like all other days,
they'll end. And so trust the Lord. And look,
He's coming to take us to a home that knows no sickness, nor pain,
nor death. And God shall wipe away all tears,
Revelation 21 and 4, from their 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. Child of God, seek
to honor Christ in your times of sickness. He is honored by
the faith, patience, and submission, and love of his suffering children.
Walk by faith in his fellowship and communion while you're in
health, and when you're sick, it will not be lacking. Walk in faith and submission
and praise to God when you're well, and when you're sick, it
will not be lacking. It'll be there in your heart.
Father, we ask that you might take this message and use it
to the up-building of souls, to the encouraging of those who
are afflicted, and those that are sick, and those that will
suffer soon as we all shall with illness and sickness and death.
May it please you, our Father, to use this message to build
us up, fortify our hearts, and prepare us with strong faith
for that which is most surely to befall us. We pray it in Jesus
name and for his sake. Amen.