Would you turn to John Chapter
11? And the Lord willing, in the next
month or two, we're going to try to do some remodeling here
and make it to where we can have 30 pews as opposed to 20. And I believe the Lord's in this,
obviously, and as you are enabled this month, if you could give
a special gift toward help in that endeavor. Tonight, I'm going
to be speaking from First Corinthians, Chapter 16. On five things we
are to do. First Corinthians, Chapter 16,
verses 13 and 14, I believe Paul gives us five things to do. John, Chapter 11. I'd like to
read verses 14 and 15 of John chapter 11. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. And I am glad. For your sakes
that I was not there. To the intent. That you may believe. I've entitled this message to
the intent. That you may believe. Now in this passage of Scripture.
People who had weak Lacking defective faith. Their faith was stricken. And people who had no faith at
all were given faith. Why was the Bible written? Look
over in John Chapter 20. Verse 30. And many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written
in this book, but these are written that you might believe. That Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his
name. Now, that's why this book was
written, that you might believe. And that believing, you might
have life through His name. Wouldn't it be a miracle of grace,
a great blessing if all leave this building believing? I want to leave this building
believing. I pray that those who believe
will believe more strongly. And those who do not believe
might believe. Now, in John chapter 11, we have
the story of a very special family loved by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse one, 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 sister 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. Now Jesus loved Martha
and his sister and Lazarus, but Lazarus did Die. Verse 14, then said Jesus unto
them plainly, Lazarus is. Dead now, Martha and her sister
Mary. The sisters of the one who died. Were believers. They love the
Lord Jesus Christ and they did believe the Gospel. But they
also demonstrated some great glaring weaknesses in their faith. You know, Paul wanted to see
the Thessalonians that he might perfect that which was lacking
in their faith. Do you have some things lacking
in your faith? Sure you do. And don't you want to have that
which is lacking in your faith perfected and brought to maturity? How many times did the Lord say
to His disciples, O ye of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? We also read of those who are
weak in faith. Well, what is weak faith? What
is defective faith? What is lacking faith? We all have it. I had perfect
faith. I wouldn't sin anymore. That's
true. If I had perfect faith, I wouldn't
see it anymore. So obviously, there are some holes in the faith
of everybody sitting here. And one of the purposes of the
gospel continually being preached is to perfect that which is lacking
in our faith. So the first question I want
to ask is, what is faith? Before I can understand something
about perfecting that which is lacking in my faith, I have to
know what faith is to begin with, don't I? And we're going to see
the weaknesses of their faith in a moment, but let's ask this
question first. What is faith? Now, I'm not going to give you
a definition that I think is a good definition. We're going
to look at what the Bible actually says faith is. Now, hold your
finger there, John 11, and turn to Hebrews chapter 11. Here is the definition of faith
from the Word of God. Verse one. Now faith is. Here's what it is. Faith is the
substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. Now I've got some things I'm
hoping for. I have a hope that when I stand before God in judgment.
He's not going to condemn me. But he's going to accept me.
I've got a hope that I am without sin before God. I have a hope. Hope is a confident expectation
regarding the future. I have a hope that when I stand
before God in judgment, he's going to say, well done, thou
good and faithful servant. Now, that's quite a hope, isn't
it? That's quite a hope. What is the substance of that
hope? What is the ground of that hope?
The ground of that hope is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. That's
the ground of that hope. I believe that I'm in here well
done, thou good and faithful servant, because He did all things
well, and He is that good and faithful servant, and I'm in
Him. That's my hope. My hope is that I'm in Him. That
is the ground of my hope. Faith is the substance of the
ground of things hoped for. And He says it's the evidence
of things Not seen. You only tell you something you
can't see. You can't see that I'm perfect in Christ Jesus.
You can't see that I'm without sin. If you're around me just
a little while, you'll figure out that it doesn't seem like He's
not without sin to me. You can't see it. Well, what's
the evidence that I am without sin? What's the evidence that
I am perfected in Christ Jesus? What's the evidence that I am
complete in Him? Faith. Listen to me real carefully.
I'm relying only on this when he said it is finished, my salvation
was accomplished. That's what I'm relying on. The
evidence that I'm without sin before God is faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And faith is in a person. Paul said, and this is so important,
it's not just having your doctrine straight, and I'm all for straight
doctrine, don't get me wrong. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. Faith isn't a person. I know
whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that He is able to
keep that which I committed unto Him. against that day. Faith is in a person. Weak faith or lacking faith or
defective faith does not have a high enough view of Him. You want to know what weak faith
is? It's too low a view of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Peter said, growing grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, growth
comes with a greater knowledge of Christ. He said, take my yoke
upon you and learn of me, not simply learn about me or not
even simply learn from me, but learn of me. Now, I want us to see the weakness
of these ladies' faiths in John chapter 11. Look in verse 19. I remember Lazarus is dead. And many of the Jews came to
Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then
Martha, as soon as she had heard that Jesus was coming, went and
met him. But Mary sat still in the house,
then said, Martha, unto Jesus, Lord. If thou hadst been here,
my brother had not died. You see a problem with that? Couldn't the Lord have prevented
Lazarus from dying whether he was there or not? She had too
low a view of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you'd been here, you
could have done something about this. The implication being the
fact that you weren't here, that's why it happened. She had too
low a view of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now she knew him. But
she still had too little view of it. And her sister, as a matter
of fact, was just the same. Look in verse 32. Mary said the
same thing. 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. Let's look at what great faith
believes. Turn with me to Matthew Chapter 8. Hold your finger there.
Now, in this passage of scripture, I see the qualities of weak faith. As a matter of fact, I see three
qualities. If you want to know where the problem and the weakness
of your faith is, you're going to see it, and I'm going to see
it right here. But turn to Matthew Chapter 8. Yeah, Matthew Chapter
8. Verse 10. When Jesus heard He marveled
and said to them that follow barely, I say to you, I've not
found so great faith. No, not in Israel. Now you want
to find what great faith is. Here it is. Look back at the
first thought. And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there
came unto him a centurion beseeching him and saying, Lord, my servant
life at home of the palsy, grievously tormented. And that's the way to come to
the Lord. You don't come telling Him what to do. You just state
your case. And Jesus saith unto him, I will
come and heal him. Verse 8. It said, Torrhen answered
and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou should come under my
roof, but speak the word only, and
my servant shall be healed. Now what a view he had of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You don't have to come and heal
him. I don't deserve for you to come under my roof in the first place.
What humility this man demonstrated. He said, all you got to do is
will it. And it takes place. And you know
what the Lord calls that? Great faith. Somebody says, I
don't see anything all that great about that that you don't see
very well. This is great faith, and this is what the Lord Jesus
Christ himself deemed great faith. And where was the greatness of
his faith? The high view he had of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said, all you've got to do is will it. And my servant shall
be healed. Now, beloved, any weakness in
our faith has this as its root cause, too low a view of the
Lord Jesus Christ. One thing we cannot do is view
Him too highly. Now, here's the second mark of
weak faith. Weak faith. First, it has too
low a view of the Lord Jesus Christ. And secondly, it does
not have a clear enough view of union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. And let me show you why I say
that. Look at verse 23 of John chapter 11. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. Martha said unto him, well, I
know that he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last
day. I'm aware of that. I know something about the doctrine
of the resurrection. You've taught us about how believers will be
raised from the dead on the last day. I know that. I know when
you return. I've got that doctrine down.
I mean, I already know that. Just a, just a hint. It's fine
to underline your Bibles, but in your Bibles, when something
impresses you, but I don't, I don't underline in my Bible. It's not
because I want to have real clean looking pages. It's just, I'll
have a tendency when I read something underlined in the Bible, I'll
say to myself, I already know that. Oh, oh, got that down now. What do we know? Don't say I'm
not going to underline it. I don't care whether you do or
not, but I'm just talking about my own experience. I already know that. I understand that. God's already
taught me that. That's what Martha's saying. I got that down pat.
Verse 25, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection. It's not
an event. It's not a doctrine. 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. Now, do you believe this? I know
that you believe in the resurrection, but do you believe this? Do you understand that I am the
resurrection? The resurrection is not an event
that will take place. I am the resurrection. Here's
what he's saying. My people were raised when I
was raised. When he was raised from the dead,
I was too. All of God's people are one with
Him, so much so that my life is His life. Would you like to
read the autobiography, or the biography, whatever you will,
of Todd Nybert? Would you? I know you would,
and I don't want to read yours either. I've heard preachers talk about
it. I'm going to write a biography about my life. We'll talk about
the worst seller. But do you want to read the biography of
my personal life? Read the four Gospels. That's
my life. The life of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my biography. Now let me give you a scripture
that was a great blessing to me that demonstrates exactly
what I'm saying. Would you turn with me to Matthew
chapter 4? He said, I am the resurrection
and the life. Matthew chapter four. Beginning
in verse 13, I'm sorry, chapter three. Chapter three. Verse 13, Then come with Jesus
from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John
forbade him saying, I have need to be baptized in me and cometh
out of me. Now, can't you understand why he said that? How would you
like for the Lord Jesus Christ to come up to you and say, I
want you to baptize me? You can imagine where he was taken back
from this though. I mean, I see this. And Jesus answering said
unto him, suffer it to be so, for thus it becometh me to fulfill
all righteousness. Did I read that right? Thus it becometh, look at this
little two-letter word, us. It becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. You see, when he was fulfilling
all righteousness, who else was? Me. The us is every believer. Thus it becometh us, every believer,
to fulfill all righteousness. That's why I say, if you want
to read my biography, read the four Gospels, read about the
law-keeping of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I did. Read
about Him fulfilling all righteousness. That's what I did. Read about
Him dying on the cross. There I am. That's my biography. United to the Lord Jesus Christ.
She said, Now I understand the doctrine of the resurrection.
I know that the day will be raised up on the last day. Wait a minute,
Martha. I myself am the resurrection
so that all my people were raised when I was raised. Turn to Ephesians
chapter 2. Beginning in verse 4, But God,
who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us, hath
made us to live together with Christ by grace he saved and
hath raised us up together. When Christ was raised, every
one of his people were raised. He hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus as He's
seated at the right hand of the Father. I'm sitting right there
with Him. This is union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And this
is where boldness comes. This is where confidence comes.
This is where joy comes. Really believing you're united
with Him. Thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Now, what is the evidence of
this union? How can I know that I'm united
to Christ, that I'm one of these us's? Faith. He that believeth on me, he says,
look back at our text in John 11. Jesus saith unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. His life's my life. Look what
it says next. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live. You see, I'm relying on Him being
the resurrection and the life. I'm relying on His life being
my life. That's the only hope I have,
as God is my witness. The only hope I have of being
accepted by God is the righteousness and merits of Jesus Christ alone. Nothing else. That's my hope. He that believeth on me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And catch verse 26. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me. You know, it takes life before
you believe. The reason you believe is because you live. He that
liveth. What do folks who live do? They
believe on me. He that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believeth thou this. I know you've
got the resurrection down pat, but do you believe this? You
see, here is true faith, believing that Christ is your life before
God. relying on Christ as your life
before God. You know, it is so sweet to trust
in Jesus, just to take him at his worst, just to rest upon
the promise. Oh, how sweet it is to trust
him. Now, this is what faith is. Do
you believe this? Now, so weak faith. First, it has too low a view
of Christ. Second, it has too foggy a view of of union with
Christ, and thirdly, weak faith looks at circumstances rather
than Christ. Look in verse 39 of our text. John 11, Jesus said, take ye
away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that
was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinks. I mean,
the process of decay has already began. His body is decomposing. He stinks. You don't want to
take away that. That's a pretty difficult circumstance, isn't
it? Why roll away the stone? By this time, he stinks. Weak faith looks at circumstances
rather than the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, humanly speaking, it's
impossible for him to live. He's dead. Have you ever seen
somebody, something dead come back to life? You ever seen a
dog run over the road and all of a sudden gets up? It's alive.
Or kill the fly. You've never seen anything like
this. Not in animal life, not in any kind of life. It's just
not something you see. Once somebody's dead, they're
dead. Humanly speaking, this is impossible. Didn't Christ tell her her brother
would rise from the dead? Verse 23, Jesus saith unto her,
thy brother shall rise again. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? He's God. Remember who He is. This is Jesus
Christ, the Lord of glory. Verse 39, Jesus said, Take ye
away the stone, Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said unto
him, Lord, by this time he stings, for he's been dead four days.
Jesus said unto her, Said I not to thee that if thou wouldst
believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God. Now notice the
order. He didn't say once you see, you'll
believe. He said if you believe, you'll
see the glory of God. And if you don't see, it's because
you don't believe. You see, we walk by faith, not
by sight. You believe, you'll see. And
you'll see the glory of God in me raising this one up from the
dead. You see, faith has something
to do with believing in God who raises the dead. That's how I
opened this passage, this service. We have the sentence of death
in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God
which raises the dead. In this thing of resurrection,
being raised from the dead, how dependent are you upon God to
do it all? There's no cooperation involved
here, is there? You're totally dependent on the Lord to do it
all, and that's what faith is. It's trusting him who raises
the dead. Only God can raise the dead.
Now, let's consider this story in light of these things. Look
in verse six. of John chapter 11. When he had heard, therefore,
that he was sick, he abode two days, still in the same place
where he was. Then after that, he said to his
disciples, Let us go unto Judea again. He purposely waited. Verse 11. These things said he,
and after that he saith to them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth,
but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Them said his disciples,
Lord, if he sleep, he'll do well, albeit Jesus spake of his death. But they thought that he'd spoken
of taking a rest to sleep. Them said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. Now, the Lord and his disciples
go in that direction, look in verse 30. Now, Jesus was not
yet coming to 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
goes under the grave to weep there. But then when Mary was
come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down in his feet,
saying, Lord, unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother
had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her
weeping, the Jews also weeping, which came with her, He groaned
in spirit and was troubled. Now these verses show us the
real human soul of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a real man. And he had passions just like
us. Sin accepted. He didn't sin,
but he had the same passions that you and I have. He groaned
and he was troubled. Verse 34, And he said, Where
have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come
and see. Verse 35, Jesus wept. That's the shortest verse in
the Bible. Jesus wept. But perhaps it is the longest. Jesus, the Son of God, the Lord
of glory. He wept. Who's to say what his
thoughts were as they walked along? Lazarus? The grief of
his sisters? The unbelief of the multitude?
The weakness of the faith of his friends? Jesus wept. He looked down over Jerusalem.
And the Scripture says there were tears in His eyes as He
said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets,
and stonest them that are sent to thee. How often would I have
gathered thy children together as a hen's brood, and you would
not. Jesus wept. There isn't any way that we can
plumb the depths of that, is there? Jesus wept. Verse 36. Then said the Jews, behold. How
he loved him and some of them said, and this was spoken by
way of criticism, could not this man which opened the eyes of
the blind have caused that even this dead man should not have
died? I mean, he could have prevented it from happening and he didn't.
This was criticism of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 38, Jesus,
therefore, again groaning in himself, groaning at the malice
of the unbelieving Jews. Jesus, therefore, 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, couldn't the Lord just have
snapped his fingers and made that stone roll away? That would
be more impressive, wouldn't it? Or he could have just blown
it to smithereens, just as an act of his will. He could have
done those things. Yet he tells them, you take away the stone.
Now, this is a reminder to us of the use of means. They were
to take away that stone. The Lord always works through
means. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. There's some means to save them
that believe. He said to them, you take away
the stone. Martha, the sister of him that
was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinks. He's
been dead four days. This can't happen. Verse 40. Jesus said unto her, said I am
not to thee that if thou wouldst 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.
You know, the Lord always hears his
son, doesn't he? He always hears. He hears every
breath of the Lord Jesus Christ. He hears everything he's got
to say. And if I'm united to him, Same thing can be said of
me. He always hears me. I'm one with
Him. I thank Thee that Thou hast heard
me, and I knew that Thou hearest me always. Verse 42, But because
of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe
that Thou hast sent me. This was His purpose in saying
this, that you might believe that God sent Him. Do you believe
that God the Father sent Christ? He sent Him for a purpose. He
sent Him as a representative man. He did what He did because
He was sent of the Father. He was sent to keep the law for
somebody. Now remember, He's the lawgiver.
He didn't have to place Himself under the law, but He did because
the Father sent Him to do that. He sent Him to keep the law,
to die for the sins of His people. That's what faith is, believing
He's the sent one. He said, I'm doing this that
they might believe that Thou hast sent Me. Do you believe
that God the Father sent Him? on a mission, on a purpose to
save his people from their sins. That's what believers believe. Go back reading verse 43. And when he had thus spoken,
he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. Lazarus was dead. He was graveyard
dead. That was his condition and that's
our condition. Spiritually dead. That speaks of total depravity
and total inability. That's what spiritual death is
talking about. Total depravity. You know what
total depravity means? It means that every part of me
in the totality of my being is under the dominion of sin. My
understanding is no good. I can't figure out the gospel.
I'm totally dependent upon revelation. My affections are no good. I
love the things that I ought to hate. I hate the things I
ought to love. My will's no good. It's chained
to sin. You know, when the Lord said,
Lazarus, come forth, Lazarus said, I think I'm going to use
my willpower and I'm just going to say no. That's ridiculous,
isn't it? You can't believe the gospel
and believe in free will. There's no such thing as free
will. That's ridiculous. He was dead. He couldn't say,
no, I don't believe I am. He that was dead came forth.
Now this speaks of total depravity, dead in sins. Every one of your
faculties are controlled by sin. Nothing that escaped the fall. And total inability. That means
you can't believe. You can't come to Christ. You
lack the ability to do anything spiritual. I'm totally dependent
upon Him to do something for me. I'm just as dependent upon
Him for faith as I am for Him to raise me from the dead. Now
how dependent am I on Him to raise me from the dead and give
me faith and life? Completely dependent. That's
how dependent I am on Him for even to come to Christ. I think
of that passage of Scripture in John chapter 6 verse 44. No
man can come to me. He lacks the ability to come
to me. No man can come to me except the Father which has sent
me to draw him. What that means is, if He doesn't do something
for me, I'll go to hell. That's what that means. If He
doesn't cause me to If He doesn't cause me to come to Him, I will
no doubt go to hell forever. And you know what that makes
me do? Lord, draw me. Draw me. Cause me to come to Your Son.
Don't leave me to myself. No, I'm not going to argue and
say, well, that's unjust. That's not fair. No, it's fair. It's fair.
He sends me to hell. I'm getting exactly what I deserve,
but I don't want to go to hell. I want Him to do something for
me. Lord, draw me." This is the call of irresistible
grace. And I like this word, irresistible,
invincible. Call it what you want. Lazarus,
come forth. Did he have a choice? Absolutely
not. This is invincible grace. This
is irresistible grace. He that was dead came forth. The irresistible call of life-giving
grace. Now, listen to me. There ain't no way you can believe
the Gospel and not believe sovereign grace. It is impossible. There's never been anybody who
believed and didn't believe sovereign, irresistible, invincible, saving
grace. Well, he's a believer, but he
doesn't believe that? Oh, come on. That's ridiculous. You know
what believers do? They believe. What do you got
to believe to be saved? Everything God says. There isn't
anything that He says that you cannot believe. What believers
do is they believe. They bow down to all that God
says. I believe. If He says that, I
believe it. I surely do. I believe everything
God says. I believe His Word. Believers
believe. And he that was dead came forth. Don't you love thinking about
that? He that was dead came forth. You reckon that freaked people
out? Here he comes walking out of the grave. He that was dead
came forth. And look what it says next. Bound. Hand and foot. with grave clothes. I bet his walk was not a real,
it wasn't a walk you'd want to emulate. I mean, you know, I
mean, I can see him trying to shuffle now, bound up like a
mummy. I mean, that's what he was. He's a mummy. He was bound
in these grave clothes and his walk was not, boy, what can't
he really walk? But he was moving. He was moving. He that was dead came forth bound
in grave clothes. And I have no doubt that every
one of us, beginning right here, You still got grave clothes,
don't you? Grave clothes that bind your walk. Every one of
us got that. And you know, the rest of our
life, we're spent hearing the gospel, removing those grave
clothes. We got so many things that hinder us. But look what
the next command is. Verse 44, he that was dead came
forth bound foot, bound hand and foot with grave clothes.
and his face was bound with a napkin, Jesus saith unto him, Loose him,
set him free, and let him go. And that's what happens in the
preaching of the gospel. It's a continual, loose him,
set him free, and let him go. And what happened as a result?
Verse 45, Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen
the things which Jesus did, they perceived, they had some understanding
of the things that Jesus did. He gave life to one that was
dead. By an act of his will, he said, come forth and he that
was dead came forth. When they saw what he did. Now
here, you got to see what he did before you believe. I mean,
what do you believe if you don't see what he did? I see what he
did. I see that he stood as a surety for God's elect. And I see that
He came to this earth as a representative man, sent by the Father to perform
a certain work to save His people. I see that He kept the law. I
see that He died as the sin-bearing substitute and literally put
away the sins of all His people. I see that He was raised from
the dead, and when He walked out of that tomb, all of God's
elect were justified in God's sight. I see that even right
now, He sits at the right hand of the Father as the inner intercessor
for his people, interceding for them. I see that. And you know
what? I believe. I'm a believer. I believe that
Jesus Christ is all I need. I believe that. Then many of the Jews which came
to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on
Him. And if you see the things that
He did, you'll believe. Verse 14 and 15 once again. Then
said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad
for your sakes that I was not there to the intent for this
purpose. that you might believe. Well, that intense realized. I believe by the grace of God,
I believe. Let's pray.