I love in that hymn where the
hymn writer says, what language shall I borrow? I can't even come up with the
right language. What language shall I borrow to thank the dearest
friend? We're going to observe the Lord's
table tonight. And let me remind you, the Lord
has given two ordinances. baptism, and the Lord's table. They're both so important. And when the Lord says, this
do, it means this do, not refrain from, this do in remembrance
of me. Turn back to John 11, if you
would, I'm going to preach this morning on Lazarus raised from
the dead. Now this is the last of the seven
miracles that the Lord Jesus performed that John tells us
of. As a matter of fact, this book
is built around these seven miracles. And in some respects, this is
the most remarkable of the seven miracles. Now he had raised three
people from the dead, but the first two were just after they
died. But Lazarus had been dead four days and the process of
decay had begun very powerfully when he called him from the dead. Lazarus raised from the dead.
As a matter of fact, this is the miracle that was the final
straw, as it were, that made them determined to kill the Lord
Jesus. Look in verse 53. Then from that day forth, after
this miracle that the Lord performed when he raised Lazarus from the
dead, then from that day forth, they took counsel together for
to put him to death. That is what they wanted to do
because of this miracle. Back to chapter 11, verse 1. Now a certain man was sick named
Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha,
the Lord always saves certain people. There is nothing generic
about the gospel. There's nothing generic about
the death of Christ. He saves certain men. I want to be one of those people,
don't you? I want to be one of those certain people that he
saves. Lazarus was sick. Sickness. You know, the word is the word
that's usually translated weak. Oh, how weak. this certain man
was. Without strength, he would end
up dying. Isn't this the case of all of
us? Weak, unable. Lazarus was sick. You know, if you're healthy today,
one of these days you're going to be sick. And it's going to
be very paramount to you when you experience this sickness. And it's going to be all you
think about. Your sickness. You may be healthy now, your
sickness is coming. Doesn't the Lord heal the sick? Yeah, he does, but you're going
to die of something. Write it down. Lazarus was sick. This certain man of Bethany right
outside of Jerusalem, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
The Lord is going to be crucified in about a week from this story. He's aware of that. This dear family, Lazarus, Mary,
and Martha, we read about them in Luke chapter 11. Remember,
Martha was cumbered with much serving. Mary sat at his feet
and heard his word. This was a family, a dear family.
Verse two, it was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment
and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
This is the Mary that knew what she was doing when she did this.
She was anointing the Lord's body for burial. That's what
the scripture says. She knew what she was doing.
What a special, special lady, this one who sat at the feet
of the Lord. She wiped his feet with her hair,
with the alabaster box of ointment that she broke. Verse 3, Therefore
his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. Now note the language. You know
what we'd say? That one that loves you is sick.
Almost trying to make the Lord do what we want to do. You need
to save him. You need to heal him. He loves
you. Much more wisdom. He whom thou
lovest is sick. And they don't tell him what
to do. They just express their case. He whom thou lovest is sick. You know, John understood what
they meant when they said that because he's the one who called
himself that disciple that Jesus loved. When with the ransomed in glory
his face I at last shall see, t'will be my joy through the
ages. to sing of his love to me. He whom thou lovest is sick,
weak, in trouble. Verse four, when Jesus heard,
he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
of God, that the Son of God might be glorified. This is the reason for everything
that takes place. The glory of God. And God is only glorified when
His Son is glorified. This is the reason for everything,
the glory of God. Now verse five, Jesus loved Martha
and her sister and Lazarus. Now this statement would be meaningless
if the Lord loved all men without exception. Be meaningless. But we know from the scriptures,
and this is important for us to understand this, the Lord
does not love all men without exception. I know he didn't love
Esau. He said Esau have I hated. And let me remind you, if you
have a hard time with that, you're having a hard time with him hating
you. And if you have a hard time with him hating you, that means
you have some kind of sense of entitlement with him, that you
deserve his love. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. That's a pretty big demographic.
That's what is said of the Lord. And don't anybody think, well,
that's not fair. God's fair, God's right, God's
just, whatever he does is right. And this is pointed out, and
it's pointed out in the scriptures that he doesn't love everybody,
but he did love Lazarus, and Martha, and Mary. And I wanna be one of those people,
don't you? I wanna be one of those people he loves. Because his love is saving love. Let me remind you, there will
not be anybody in hell that he loved. His love is saving love. Oh, I want in on this. Now Jesus
loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. How he loves his elect. Verse six, when he had heard,
therefore, that he was sick, this one he was loved, He abode two days still in the
same place where he was. I suppose they thought he would
come immediately and do something for this one he loved. But he
remains there for two days, and I'm sure they wondered about
this delayed response. Verse seven, then after that,
saith he to his disciples, Let us go to Judea again. That's where Lazarus was. Verse 8, his disciples say unto
him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee. And goeth
out thither again. Now we know from John chapter
eight and John chapter 10 on two different occasions, they
picked up stones to put him to death. And he was gonna have
to go back to that place to visit with Lazarus and Martha and Mary. Well, he knew he was going back
there to be crucified. He knew exactly what was going
to take place. Yes, he's going back there. Verse 9, Jesus answered, are
there not 12 hours in the day? This is the daytime when I'm
to work. If any man walk in the day, he
stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. I have
a work to do. I'm going to do it. But if a
man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in
him. This will not keep me from doing
my work. Verse 11, these things said he,
and after that he saith unto them, our friend Lazarus sleepeth. Now Lazarus had already died.
When they came to him, he was already dead. They just didn't
know it. And yet when he speaks of Lazarus, he says, our friend. Oh, I want to be his friend,
don't you? Our friend, Lazarus, sleepeth. He was dead, but the
Lord referred to him as sleeping. The death of the believer is
a sleep, and he's gonna wake up in the very presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Our friend, Lazarus, sleepeth. Precious. in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints." He knew he was dead. But he says,
our friend, Lazarus, sleepeth. But I go that I may awake him
out of sleep. They had no idea he was talking
about the resurrection of Lazarus. Verse 12, then said his disciples,
Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. He'll wake up and feel
better. How did Jesus speak of his death? But they thought that he'd spoken
of taking a rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. How do you think they responded
to that? Well, why were we waiting? You
waited two days. Lazarus is dead. And this was all according to
his sovereign control over everything. Lazarus is dead and I'm glad
for your sakes that I was not there to the intent that you
may believe. Oh, I hope this makes everybody
in this room excited. What was his intent in doing
this? That you may believe. Oh, I want to be one of these
people, don't you? That you may believe. I'm exercising sovereign
control over everything taking place. He always does. Lazarus
is dead. That represents our deadness
in sins. Dead in trespasses and sins. Dead, unable to save ourselves. Dead, graveyard dead. Dead in
trespasses and sins. That's what the scripture says.
And you hath he quickened who are dead in trespasses and sins. All hazards is a picture of me
and you. Dead in sins, but I'm glad for your sakes that I was
not there, that I delayed to the intent that you may believe."
Oh, that's what I want to do. I want to believe. Lord, give
me this faith. Nevertheless, let us go unto
him. Verse 16, then said Thomas, which
is called Didymus. That means twin. Twin. Remember, Thomas was the one
who wasn't there, didn't believe. You will read about that in John
chapter 20, our twin, Thomas the twin. But I admire Thomas. Then said Thomas, which is called
Didymus unto his fellow disciples, let us go also that we may die
with him. He thought, well, the Lord goes
back to Jerusalem, they'll kill him, let's go with him and we'll
die with him. Don't you admire his love for
the Savior? I'm gonna die with him. Verse 17, then when Jesus came,
he found that he'd lain in the grave four days already. Now that is why we know that
Lazarus was dead when these people came to Christ with this message.
He'd lain in the grave four days already. Already the process
of, is it called rigor mortis? I don't know. I'm trying to come
close, but it already started. I mean, this man, he was, he
was decaying. He smelled the smell of death. The other people that the Lord
raised from the dead, it was very recent. They just died,
but here's one who had been dead four days. Verse 18, now Bethany was nigh
unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off, two miles, two
miles away, a little bit under, two miles from Jerusalem. And many of the Jews, verse 19,
many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning
their brother. Now this lets us know that somehow
this family was a very significant family Many Jews went to comfort
them. As a matter of fact, it seems
like they must have had some kind of wealth the way Lazarus
was buried and the sepulcher he had. But this was an influential
family and many of the Jews came to comfort Martha and Mary concerning
their brother. Verse 20, then Martha, as soon
as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary sat
still in the house. Now this seems to go along with
the character of these women, doesn't it? Mary's the one who
sat at his feet. There she is sitting. Martha's
the doer. She hears that Christ is coming
and she comes to meet him. And what does she say? Verse
21, Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou had been here,
my brother had not died. This is a veiled rebuke. If you would have come when we
asked, this wouldn't have happened. If you would have come, my brother
wouldn't have died. Now wait a minute, Martha. Does the Lord have to come here
to prevent Lazarus from dying? Don't forget who he is. He's
God. And I love what that centurion
understood when The Lord said, I'll come and heal you, sir.
He said, you don't need to come to my house. I'm not worthy for you
to come under my roof. Speak the word only. That's all
that it takes. Martha had too low an opinion
of the Lord Jesus Christ at this point. Me and you have too low
opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you know that's true? Oh,
we don't view him nearly highly as he ought to be viewed. She
didn't. She said, Lord, if you would
have been here, This wouldn't have taken place. The veiled
reference is, why weren't you here? But, verse 22, I know that even
now whatsoever thou would ask of God, God will give it thee.
Don't you know that with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ? Whatever
he asked God for, he gets because of who he is. We know that with
regard to his person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 23, Jesus
saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. You know, the Old
Testament taught the resurrection of the dead. You go into Job,
what many say is the oldest book in the Bible, in Job chapter
19, and Job gives so clearly the teaching of the doctrine
of the resurrection of the dead. He said, after my body worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh I will see God, whom mine
eye shall behold, and not another. I mean, the Old Testament taught
the resurrection of the dead, and I'm sure Christ taught His
disciples of the coming resurrection of the dead. That's unique to
the Gospel. That's unique to the Bible. You know, I got to
think about people believing in incarnation and stuff like
that, and I think that's ridiculous, but I guess people think the
resurrection of the dead is ridiculous too, but it's true. It's true. Paul taught it at great length
in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 of the resurrection of the dead.
It's part of the gospel. Christ was raised from the dead.
All of his people will be raised. So Martha replies. Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last day.
Of course I believe that. I believe what the Bible teaches
about that. I've always believed that. I know. I understand that. And then the Lord gives this
reply to her, a confession of, I got that down. Jesus said unto
her, 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? Now this is one of the great
I am statements. of Christ in the Gospel of John,
there are seven of them. And here the Lord says to Martha,
the resurrection is not an event. I am the resurrection. I am the life. This is what baptism teaches.
When someone is baptized, they're saying, when Christ lived, I
was in Him. That's my life. When Christ died,
I died in Him. When Christ was raised from the
dead, that's when I was raised. When Christ was raised from the
dead. Paul said in Galatians 2.20,
I'm crucified with Christ. That's a powerful statement,
isn't it? In the beloved, I went to the tree. I'm crucified with
Christ. When he was buried, I was buried. When he died, I died. When he was raised from the dead,
so was I. When did the resurrection take
place for every believer? when Christ was raised from the
dead. That's how real union with his person is. When he was raised
from the dead, that's when I was raised from the dead. Let me
show you that from the scripture. Hold your finger there and turn
to Ephesians chapter two. Verse four. God, who is rich in mercy for his
great love, wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us, raised us up to life, resurrected us
from the dead, together with Christ. By grace he are saved and hath
raised us up together. When Christ was raised from the
dead, somebody else was raised with him. Everybody he died for. Everybody he represented. He
said, I'm the resurrection. We're not talking about an event
that's gonna take place on the last day, although that event
will take place. I am the resurrection. Not only am I the resurrection,
I'm the life. You know whose life I'm going
to be judged by on judgment day? His life. His life is my life. That's why I have confidence
on the judgment day. I'm not thinking I'm going to
stand before God based upon my preaching or my person or anything
that has anything to do with me. It's His life. His life is
my life before God. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. That's my life before God. I
am the resurrection. I am the life. He that believeth in me. What's the evidence that I have
this life? I believe Christ. I believe he's the resurrection.
I believe he's the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, dead, in trespasses and sins, dead. Yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Now, notice
the order. He says, whosoever liveth and
believeth. What's it take to believe? Life.
spiritual life. A dead man won't believe. Now,
chronologically, I mean logically, not chronologically, logically,
we know that life must come before faith. It's obvious, isn't it? You can't believe unless you
have a spiritual life. Logically, life must come before
faith. Chronologically, as far as time
goes, they come at the exact same time. You know when you
live? When you believe. Not before
then. When you believe, you live. And the Lord says regarding that
life, he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Now listen to this. I'm going
to die physically. You are too, unless the Lord
comes back. He's talking about that everlasting life you have.
Life can't die. Everlasting life can't die. You
have everlasting life, the life of God in your soul. That life
can't die. That life's going to live forever.
Now listen to me. I'm not going to be any more
holy in heaven than I am right now. that everlasting life in me that
cannot die. Now this flesh, this old man
will die. Good riddance. But oh, that life,
the life of God in your soul that he gives will never die. Now, Martha, do you believe this? Do you believe this? She said unto him, verse 27, yea, Lord. Yea, Lord. Oh, yes. Whatever he says, yes. Yea, Lord. And then she gives the content
of saving faith. Yea, Lord, I believe. that thou art the Christ, the
Son of God, which should come into the world." Now notice all that's said with
regard to the content of saving faith is who Jesus Christ is
and what he would do. Nothing personal here. I believe
that thou art the Christ, God's Christ, God's prophet. Who never said, thus sayeth the
Lord, but said, I say unto you as God's prophet, the very word
of God. God's priest, not some human priest that brings the
blood of an animal sacrifice, but God's priest, which brings
his own blood. God's king, not some paper king,
human king with borrowed authority, but the one who has all power,
whose will must be done because of who he is. The Son of God,
God the Son, the Creator. I believe that thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God, which should come into the world. This
is God's purpose. He came into the world to save
His people from their sins. Do you believe that? Now forget
everything else. Do you believe? that Jesus is
the Christ, the son of the living God. Do you believe that? Do
you believe he should come into the world because God purposed
it to it? He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world and he comes into the world to do his
father's will. Do you believe that? You're saved. You believe. This was his intent
of all this in the first place. I do this to the intent that
you may believe. I quit looking for anything else.
Do you believe what Martha believed? I do. With all my heart, I believe
this. Verse 28. And when she had so said, she
went away and called Mary her sister, secretly saying, the
master has come and calleth for thee. I have no doubt that the
Lord told Martha, go get your sister. She went and got her
sister. And she said to her sister, The
master is come and calleth thee. And as soon as she heard that,
she arose quickly and came unto him. Now Jesus, verse 30, 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 with Mary,
they were there grieving with her and trying to comfort her. when they saw Mary that she rose
up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, she goeth unto the
grave to weep there. No, she wouldn't. She was going
in obedience to Christ's command to see him. But they thought
she was going there to weep. And there was a bunch of them.
So they rose and followed her. Verse 32, then when Mary was
come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet. Boy, she was always at his feet,
wasn't she? That's where I want to be, at his feet. Oh, that's
the only appropriate place for me to be is at his feet. I don't
want to raise up at all. I want to lay down at his feet
like Mary did. She says the same thing Martha
did. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him,
she fell down at his feet saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst
been here, My brother had not died. Now evidently her and Martha
had discussed this together and they came up with the same conclusion.
And so even then she's making the same statement that wasn't completely
right that her sister had. Verse 33, when Jesus therefore
saw her weeping, And the Jews also weeping, which came with
her. He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. My marginal reading says he troubled
himself. Now the Lord knew that he was
gonna raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew he was in control
of everything, but yet he troubled himself at this sad, sad scene,
the result of sin and depravity and unbelief. Verse 34, and he said, where
have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come
and see. Jesus wept. This is known as the shortest
verse in the Bible. I hope it's known for a whole
lot more than that. Jesus wept. He was moved with compassion. He wept over this sad scene of
sin and its effects. The Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man,
wept. Verse 36, then said the Jews,
behold how he loved him. They thought he was weeping over
Lazarus. No, he wasn't. He knew he was gonna raise Lazarus
from the dead. He wasn't weeping over Lazarus, but he was weeping
over this sad scene of sin, unbelief, and death. Now somebody says,
how can the Lord weep over that? I don't know, but he does. That's
the fact. He does. I want to enter into
that, don't you? Jesus wept, then said the Jews,
behold, how I loved him. And some of them said, could
not this man which have opened the eyes of the blind have caused
that even this man should have not died? Now this is a slam.
They're kind of blaming him for what took place. He could have
prevented this and he didn't. They were finding fault with
the Lord when they made this statement. You know, people are
always finding fault with the Lord, aren't they? We're so depraved
and dumb. Everything he does is right,
but yet we have these people finding fault with the Lord. Verse 38, Jesus, therefore again,
groaning in himself. I wish I could say what needs
to be said about this, but I can't. But there we have this. groaning
in himself. Cometh to the grave, it was a
cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, take ye away the
stone. Now, what is to be done when
Jesus says, take ye away the stone? Take away the stone. Don't
question him. And really, this response is
a response, a little bit of unbelief, kind of passive aggressive, as
it were. Martha, the sister of him that
was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh. He's
been dead four days. Instead of taking away the stone,
she gives her objection. He's stinking. This wouldn't
have happened if you had been here, remember. But at this time,
he stinks. I don't think it would be wise
for us to take away the stone. Now, whatever the Lord says,
do. Don't think about other implications. If the Lord says believe, believe.
What about, forget it, believe. That's his command. Verse 40, Jesus saith unto her,
said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, Thou should see the glory of God. Now notice the order. He did not say, if you see, you
believe. He said, if you believe, you'd
see. When Noah entered the ark, He
had not yet seen one raindrop fall, did he? All he had was
God's Word. He didn't see anything. But once
he went into that ark, and the Lord shut him in, the rain came
down. He didn't see it, but he knew
it was gonna happen before it took place, because God said
it would. Not see, then believe. Believe,
then you'll see. You believe God's word. You believe
what he says. Believe, and you'll 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. I love to think of the Lord lifting
up his eyes to heaven. He did that again in John chapter
17. We just read about that. I love to think of his perfect
communion with the Father where he could lift up his eyes in
perfect, joyous communion and peace. And look what he says. And Jesus lifted up his eyes
and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest
me always, but because of the people would stand by, I said
it. that they may believe that thou
hast sent me." Isn't that what faith is? This is the work of
God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. Now all my eggs are in this basket,
that the Father sent him. and he did what his father sent
him to do. Verse 43, and when he thus had
spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. Did Lazarus have a choice? No. This is the call of invincible,
irresistible grace. Lazarus, come forth! And he that was dead came forth. You know what? If the Lord calls
you, you'll come forth, just like Lazarus did. You see, this
is his irresistible, invincible call. I love that scripture in
1 Corinthians 1, verses 22 and 23. The Jews require a sign.
The religious people, they need some kind of sign that God's
in this. Show me something. The Greeks, they seek after wisdom.
I'm looking, not the wisdom of God, but how to make this world
a better place. How to improve this world. How
to have better education, better medical facilities, better, better,
better prices, better economy. They're seeking wisdom. But Paul
says we preach Christ crucified. That's our message. None to the
Jews. That's a stumbling block. They
don't see, I don't, you're going to tell me that I I'm saved by
what he did. I can't look at myself and see
somebody. It's just by what he did. It's exactly what I'm saying.
While I stumble at that, that'll lead to indifference. That'll
lead to sin. Say that if you want, but this
is the gospel. The Jews require a sign. The
Greeks, they hear this, they say, well, that's foolishness.
How's this going to improve education? How's this going to improve the
economy? What's this going to do for us? This is foolishness.
But unto them which are thee called. Just like Lazarus was. To them which are thee called. Lord, call me. Call me. To them which are thee called. Christ, the power of God. And Christ, the wisdom of God. And he that was dead came forth
bound hand and foot with grave clothes. He had life. He still had grave clothes on.
Know anybody else like that? I know a lot of people like that.
Still have the grave clothes of our fallen humanity, of our
false religion, and yet what does the Lord say? Loose him
and let him go. And you know, that's what we
spend the rest of our life doing, by the grace of God. Loose him
and let him go. Go. Let's pray. Lord, I ask in Christ's name. That every one of us might be
that certain man. That was sick. That's dead. and that you would
call our name personally and say, come forth. In Christ's name we pray, amen.