I'm a little presumptuous taking
your pastor's seat. Brother Clare was a little intimidated
to do so while the pastor was here, so he asked me if I would
help him. And he's done a fantastic job
in your absence. Turn with me, if you will, to
John, the eleventh chapter. I began preparing this message
some time ago, had it on my mind and heart. for many weeks, actually
many months, but especially for the last couple of weeks. Shelby and I had the grandchildren
several days last week, from Wednesday through Sunday. So
we got to spend a little extra time with them. Hard to be faithful
out of town. And I think it was Friday night, we put him in bed,
prayed with him, and as you have been, been praying for your pastor
and a number of other friends, dear friends who are sick, some
having a lot of trouble. We got done praying, Lord, and
Grace looked up at me with her tender eyes, and she said, Papa,
you and Nana have got a lot of sick friends, don't you? And I said, yes, honey, we do.
And then this morning I was talking to Doug, and he said, you know,
a similar thing happened just a couple of weeks ago. Paul DeGrace
asked the same question, very much the same question, and Will
responded after he answered the question, said, but God's going
to make them better, isn't he? Now or later. And I thought when he said that,
would do, God, I had that kind of faith. that kind of confidence
in our God. I want us this evening to just
glance at a few things in these 57 verses of John chapter 11,
just some highlights that I've pulled out of it in meditation
on it. I'm not going to make any claim
of expounding the passage. I want to give you some highlights
that I hope will be blessed of God to your heart now and tomorrow,
and especially when the time comes that you need the lessons
here taught to us by God the Holy Spirit. We'll begin in verse
one. Now, a certain man, I love those two words, all God's people, are certain
special people to him. And this 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." This is the first thing I want you to see and see clearly. True believers often suffer from
sickness, disease, sorrow, bereavement, and all other afflictions in
this world, suffering the very same things that reprobate many
women suffer in the wise and good providence of God. Sickness
is not a sign. It's not an indication of God's
displeasure. It's not a sign or indication
of some lack of faith on our part. The fact is, sickness is
sent to God's people, sent by our Heavenly Father for our benefit. That which aggravates our bodies
and our minds is good for our souls. Sickness tends to draw
our affections away from the things of this world to our redeem. Sickness tends to send us to
our knees. I'm almost convinced the only
time we ever really pray is when we desperately need to pray.
The only time we ever really call on God is when we must have
Him. And he brings us to our knees
in his good providence. Sickness brings us to the Word. Sickness in a word brings us
to our Savior. And anything that does that is
good. Anything that does that is good. Sickness reminds us that life
in this world at its best is but a vapor and soon gone. It forces us to look squarely
at the grave and beyond the grave to judgment and beyond judgment
to eternity. Whenever sickness comes, be it
nothing more than a cold or something as serious as cancer or heart
disease, let us be patient before God and ever mindful of these
facts, and they are facts. All sickness is the fruit of
sin. One of the clearest evidences
that cannot be refuted of the universal depravity of all men
from the womb is the fact that even tiny babies get sick and
suffer and die. Sickness is one result of sin
in this Sickness is the forerunner of death, by which we are continually
reminded it is appointed unto all men once to die. And by every sickness we ought
to be wise and number our days and apply our hearts to Christ,
who is our wisdom with God. Sickness and health, life and
death, alike are in the hands of our God. All sickness, all sorrow, all
suffering, as well as all blessedness, all joy, all life is in the hands
of our God. He brings all at varying times
to His own. exactly as he will and as we
need it. And for believers, for believers,
sickness is never death. Never. Our Lord said concerning
Lazarus, this sickness is not unto death. You say, but he died. Oh, no, he didn't. Oh, no, he
didn't. His body slept for a while, but
he didn't die. And we'll see it a little bit
more, a little more in just a moment, but believers don't die. I recall my last visit with Brother
Charlie Payne in Ashland. He was in the hospital in Huntington,
and he knew his serious condition was more serious than I did or
others did. And when I left him just a night, maybe two nights
before he died, I can't remember, he said, I'll get out of here
soon, and I'll be better or I'll be well. For believers, sickness is never
unto death, never. Several years ago, you know,
I, like your pastor, had cancer and sick for a long time, weak,
whipped. Physically, I just had no strength,
no strength. And I had been stoned with an
ox all my life. I just, I couldn't do anything, couldn't do anything.
began to get a little down. And I got a card from a friend.
I hadn't seen him in years. He found out I was real sick.
And I wouldn't have even known who sent the card, because it
didn't put a name on it. I hadn't seen the address on the outside.
Opened it up, and he wrote Romans 16.20. And I couldn't think rightly
of what Romans 16.20 said. So I got a Bible, opened up Romans
16.20, and this is what I read. the God of peace shall brew Satan
under your heel shortly." I didn't have enough strength to jump,
but I thought about it. Sickness for God's people is
not unto death. Our sicknesses, whatever they
are, whatever they are, our sorrows, whatever they are, our troubles,
whatever they are. And I realize that for me saying
this, and perhaps for some of you who hear it, it's much easier
for me to say it than for you to hear it. I don't know much
about trouble. I've got some friends whose lives seem to be so full
of trouble. But whatever it is, my brother,
my sister, it is for the glory of our God. I don't mean it might
be. I don't mean maybe one day it
will turn out to be. I mean it is now. And it shall
forever be to the glory of our God. Now look at verse 3. Martha and Mary sent word to
the Lord Jesus. their master, their Redeemer,
their God, their most caring, most tender, most affectionate
friend. Now remember, their brother Lazarus
was sick, real sick, and they knew it. And this is what they
said. They just sent a word and said,
Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. I find it remarkable. They didn't say, Lord, would
you come over to Bethany. They didn't say, Lord, our brother
Lazarus is sick. Would you heal him? I know that's
what they wanted. I know that's what they wanted.
But they rather spoke to him with confident faith and simply
left the matter of their heart's great heaviness and trouble in
the master's hands and in his will. Now, I've told you, Lord,
he whom thou lovest is sick. I'm sure you're going to do best.
I'm sure you're going to do what's best. Now, this is the second
thing. True faith submits to the will
of God. I don't mean particularly, not
while we live here. But like Eli of old, These women
said, it is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. And we would be wise to follow
their example. Our best, our noblest, our wisest,
our most considerate helper is God our Savior. He's our best
friend. Especially in time of need. There's a clarinet back in the
office. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace.
Let us come pouring out our hearts. That's
the word. Come freely. Come without dread
or fear. Come without attempting to conceal. Come freely to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. What a good word. When you need
Him, oh, now He is really friend to your soul. So, you mean that's
what makes you a friend? Of course not. That's what makes
you know your need of Him and know Him your friend. The best
thing for us to do in trouble, like Job, is to fall on our knees
and worship. The best thing for us to do in
trouble like Hezekiah is to spread our hearts open before Him. Boy, you see what I mean. You see what I want. I don't mean we ought not directly
ask God for what our hearts crave. I don't mean that at all. But
I do mean we ought to simply spread our hearts before Him. and wait on Him. In the hurry
and excitement of trouble, in the annoyance and pain of sickness,
always remember none can help like Him of whom Matthew says,
He took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses. Isn't that a good word? Well,
you don't mean to suggest the Lord Jesus was ever sick, do
you? No, but I do mean He bore our sicknesses and our infirmities. I take that to mean at least
this much. There is nothing you can ever
experience and feel of pain and sorrow and hurt in body, in soul,
in mind, in heart, that your Redeemer didn't bear in your
stead. Nothing. And therefore He is
touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Faith, as I said,
submits to the will of God, but never perfectly. You'll never
find perfect faith in any center in this world. Martha and Mary
displayed here much weakness and unbelief. They misjudged
the master's delay in coming to Bethany. They misjudged his
intentions with regard to their brother Lazarus and to them.
And even when he came to Lazarus too, Martha argued with him and
said, He's already stinking, been dead for four days, been
buried for four days, you're too late. Poor Martha. Poor Don. He's a whole lot like Martha.
How often I misjudge his actions. reading things only after earthly
wisdom and knowledge and the lust of my flesh. How often I
misjudge his intentions. How often in my fretting unbelief,
refusing to wait on him, I find myself thinking he's come too
late. This thing is beyond hope. It's
very easy, very easy to talk about faith when you're healthy
and strong and you've got plenty of money in the bank. That's
not too hard. But I can tell you, I can tell
you, it's not easy to practice the faith we profess. And I'm
not talking about the doctrine of that faith. I'm talking about
that we profess to believe God. We profess that we believe God,
and we do. But I find it hard often to confidently
trust my God. When things are obviously out
of my control. When I find things are obviously
going different than the way I want. When I find that my plans,
my desires are turned upside down. And I cry, God teach me
so to believe you as David did. When he lay on his deathbed,
and looked over his house and didn't see anything but trouble. I mean, from what I can gather,
there wasn't anybody in his whole large family who knew God except
Bathsheba and Solomon and David. The rest of the house was a house
full of rebels. Gave him nothing but heartache
and pain all his life long. And this is how he spoke as he
walked out of this world into glory. Although my house be not
so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure, this is all my salvation and
all my desire, though he make it not to grow." That's called
faith. And there's still another thing
here revealed about our faith. Look in verse 40. Our Lord tells us plainly that
if we would believe, we would see the glory of God. And let me tell you, my brothers
and sisters, the secret to seeing the glory of God anywhere, in
anything, is believing Do you see that? Jesus said to her,
said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldest
see the glory of God. We sing that great, great hymn,
How Great Thou Art, speak of the wondrous display of God's
glory in creation. Do you know most folks can't
see it? They can't see it. They think we're fools for talking
about it. How come you see it? I believe God. That's all. That's all. And believe in Him? You know, I don't have any problem
believing He created this world. Somebody say, well, but it's
obviously millions of years old. They've gone beyond that now,
billions of years old. I'd like to see the fellow who
figured that one out. But I want to tell you something.
I wouldn't have any problem believing God created this world looking
real old. He made Adam that way. He's God. He's God. If you would believe,
you'd see the glory of God revealed in the gospel of His grace. You'd
see His glory sitting here amongst you. God's people ransomed by
the precious blood of His darling Son, saved by His matchless grace. If you would believe, you would
see the glory of God in His good providence. He's doing good. He's doing good. And just to
the measure we believe, we understand that. You have an unction from
the Holy One. You who are born of God. And
you know everything. Is that what he said? You know
all things. Well, that doesn't mean that
the believer knows everything. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. I don't know details about much,
but I know who made this world. I know who rules this world.
I know what he's doing in this world. I know how he saves sinners,
and I know his free grace in my own experience. Tell me I
don't know everything. What else is there to know? And the man
who doesn't believe doesn't know anything. Not really. Doesn't
matter how smart he is. doesn't matter how well trained
he is, doesn't matter how highly educated he is, he understands
nothing, not even in the elementary things of this world, are right. If you would believe, you would
see the glory of God. In particular here, our Lord
said, Martha, if you would believe, And I can't think of any place
that said this, except right back in this chapter, verse 25
and 26, that I am not unto thee, that I am the resurrection and
the life. Believest thou this? He said, if you would believe,
you'd see your brother walk out of this grave right now. You'd
see the glory of God working right here and now. Now look
at verse 5. Now Jesus loved Martha, Mary,
and her sister and Lazarus. Not only does he love us, he loves his children, all of
them alike. Here are three chosen sinners,
all of them saved by God's free grace, all the objects of His
electing love, redeeming blood, and saving grace. But they weren't
at all alike. Martha appears to have been a
little too pushy and domineering, and that's never attractive in
a woman. I know that's politically incorrect, but I had to say it. appears to have been very spiritual,
but somewhat negligent of ordinary responsibilities. Of Lazarus,
we're told nothing, except the Lord loved him, and raised him
from the dead, nothing else. And yet, he loved these three,
Mary and Martha and Lazarus, for the same reason. To the same
degree, perfectly. You see, our Savior's love for
us is absolutely free. It has nothing to do, it is in
no way dependent upon, and it has nothing to do with anything
about us. His love is free. Unconditional. These days, folks like to talk
about unconditional love. There ain't no such thing when
it comes to a human being. There's just no such thing. But
when we speak of our God, He loved us with an everlasting
love. He loved us even unto death. And His love will not change
according to what we do, or fail to do in any way. Having said
that, we ought never undervalue others in the kingdom of God
because they're different from us. And when I say different,
I mean undervalue others who may be weaker or stronger, who
may know less or know more, who may appear to be more useful
or less useful. In a flower garden, I don't know
much about that, but I observe them. My wife is the one who
does it. But I observe them. And you know, she not always
puts a variety of flowers in there. And I can't begin to name
them all. But when I look at them, and
I see the red, and the white, and the yellow ones, and all
of them scattered around in different places. Actually, they're not
scattered. They're placed exactly where she wants them. Exactly
where she wants them. There are lots of varieties.
Lots of different plants. Aren't you glad? I hate to look
at the same ones all the time. It is their variety mixed together
that makes the garden pretty. And in the kingdom of God, our
Lord has planted in His kingdom a great variety of flowers, each
one exactly where He purposed it, each one exactly for His
purpose, And each one ought to be valued by us as we value him. In the kingdom of God, the least,
the weakest, the feeblest disciple is no less the object of God's
eternal love than that one we look at and say he's the strongest
and most important. Look at verse 30. Now Jesus was
not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha
met it. 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 and followed her, saying,
She goeth unto the grave to weep there. 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
perished, had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her
weeping, now that's important, when he saw her weeping, and
the Jews also weeping with her, or which came with her, he groaned
in the Spirit and was troubled and said, Where have you laid
him? And they said unto him, Lord, come and see." And Jesus
wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how
he loved him. I'll get back in just a second.
Learn this. It is often the case that those
who show kindness to others find great blessedness for themselves
in doing so. In this little house in Bethany,
these women came who, as far as I know, knew nothing about
Mary and Martha and Lazarus' God, their Redeemer, their faith. But they came because Lazarus
was dead and their friends were hurting, and they just came to
do what they could to comfort them. I read this this morning
and I couldn't help but think of an article your pastor put
in the bulletin several weeks ago, I'd say months ago now.
I clicked it out, stuck it on my desk. A little boy went over
to visit a neighbor and the neighbor was going through some great
difficulty, some real heartache, old man. And the mother started
to scold him and came back and asked him what he was doing over
there. The little boy said, I was just helping him cry. I was just
helping him cry. Sometimes that's as good a help
as you can give, just to care, just to care. And oh, what a
blessing it is to you. These women who came to meet
with Mary and Martha were privileged to see the greatest, most profound
display of our Redeemer's deity. of His power over all natural
elements, His power even over the spirit world, His power over
life and death. They saw Lazarus raised from
the dead. And at least some of them were
told in verse forty-five, as a result of these things, believe
to Him. Seize every opportunity, children
of God, to visit the fatherless and the widows and the afflicted. Some of the men were bragging
on Brother Todd back there in the office before we got here,
spending his time studying. And I made the comment, I said,
a pastor's work is done at his desk in his study. That's where
it's done. Churches everywhere expect pastors
to spend their time chasing hospitals and chasing ambulances to hospitals
and visiting and sipping tea with old women and all that nonsense. But it is an honor, oh, the greatest
of honors, to visit and care for the needy, especially in
the kingdom of God. Pastor can't do it, not feed
your soul, but you can. You can. And oh, what a privilege
to do so. One of the great secrets of happiness is if God will allow you to make
somebody else happy. He told Abraham, Blessing, I
will bless thee, and I will make you a blessing. Oh my God, I
want to be a blessing to you. Bless the folks influenced by
me. The most miserable people I know, and I know a few. I know
a few. are folks who live just for themselves
to make themselves happy. And amazingly, they never are. They never are. They want nothing
except for me. And living totally for me, they
live in total misery all the time. But notice here, we're
told that the Lord Jesus weeped. Why did He weep? It wasn't because
Lazarus was dead. That was his doing good for Lazarus. Why did he weep? He saw Mary cry. He saw Martha
cry. And when he saw her weep, he
groaned in his heart. And he wept. Will you hear me? He is no less
a real human being now than he was here. He is no less a real
man now than he was here. No less a great high priest,
touched with the feeling of our infirmities now than he was here. Whatever it is that touches you,
touches him. That means you can come boldly
to the throne of grace. Now look at verse six, then eleven. When he had heard, therefore,
that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place
where he was. Verse eleven. 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. Then said his disciples,
Lord, if he sleep, he do well. He shall do well. Albeit Jesus
spoke of his death, but they thought he had spoken of taking
rest and sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. I'm so thankful he did that. His intention was, Lazarus is
sleeping. But he accommodates their weakness
and says, Lazarus is dead. I want you to understand, his
body is dead. He's dead. Read on. And then
he said, I'm glad. What? I'm pleased. I'm pleased for your sakes that
Lazarus is dead. I'm pleased for your sakes that
I wasn't there, to the intent that you may believe Nevertheless,
let us go unto him.' Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus,
unto his fellow disciples, Let us go, that we may die with him."
That ain't bad for a doubting disciple, is it? Then, when Jesus came, he found
that he had lain in the grave for four days. I learned this. God teach me this. God's time for everything is always the
right time. We so often get in a hurry. Our
Lord knows when best to intervene for us. He knows when best to
work, and He knows how. When He heard that Lazarus was
sick, He stayed where he was for two days. He knew Lazarus
was dying, but he stayed right where he was for the sake of
his church, for your sake, for the good of his friends, for
the salvation of those chosen Jews who must see Lazarus raised
from the dead, for the glory of God. He stayed where he was
until he knew that it was time for him to appear, time for him
to act, time for him to show his glory. Our Lord always intervened
at the right time. It was in the fullness of time
that Christ came. Came to redeem us. Came made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under
the curse of the law. You'll recall Peter said one
day with the Lord is a thousand years, and a thousand years is
one day. I'm sure that we're told that Lazarus has been dead
four days because the Holy Spirit has intended for us to see here
a picture of God's grace in saving sinners, and clearly Lazarus
is that. Our Lord came here exactly four days after sin and death
entered into this world to raise us from the dead, just as he
did Lazarus. And he comes to every chosen
center at the appointed time of love exactly according to
his will. And in all the affairs of our
lives, we need to understand that God's time is best for everything. J.C. Ryle made this observation. Nothing so helps us to bear patiently
the trials of life as an abiding conviction of the perfect wisdom
by which everything around us is managed. Everything that happens to us
is well done, done in the best manner, done at the right time,
done by the right instrument, and we're all naturally impatient.
And when we see something where you're like Moses, when he saw
leprosy break out on men, he said, Lord, heal her now. We
ought to wait. Brother Donnie Bell said so many
times, our God is too wise to err, too good to do wrong, and
too strong to fail. My times are in thy hand, my
God, I want them there. You do what you will. When we're
sick, he knows the best time. and the best way to heal. When
we're in trouble, he knows the best time and the best way to
deliver. And when we need help, he knows the best time and the
best way to help. Let me show you one more thing.
Look at chapter 11, verse 11. These things said he, and after
that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth. but I go that I may awake him
out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord,
if he sleep, he shall do well. Albeit Jesus spoke of his death,
but they thought he had spoken of taking rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. Now look at verse twenty-five.
Jesus said to Mark, I am the resurrection and the he that
believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And
whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die." Believest thou this? I'm asking you, believest thou
this? Christ is the resurrection. Christ is the life, and all who
believe in Him have been raised from death unto life, and shall
never die." Never die. You're looking at a man who has
no intention ever of dying. I have no intention of it, because
I'm looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal
life. I'm not going to die. I'm not
going to die. It won't be long. You're going
to come over to Danville and visit me for the last time. I'll
be stretched out in a box in front of the pulpit church there,
and probably I'll have a picture sitting up there, maybe a young
one. But there's not any need to be concerned about me. That's
just the torn down old house. That's all. That's all that's
in that box. Just the torn down old house. I've been raised from the dead. I've been raised from the dead.
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.
That's talking about the new birth. On such, the second death
shall have no power. We were raised with Christ, who
is the resurrection, when He was raised from the dead representatively.
We were raised from the dead spiritually, and we shall be
raised from the dead literally in time to come. And though these
bodies must be laid in the grave, we will not die. Like your pastor, I have a very
low immune system. There's very little to which
I am immune. If it's in the air, I'll get
it. You wouldn't think of it looking
at it, but that's the way it is. But I'll tell you something
to which I'm immune. I'm immune to death. When this house and this tabernacle
is dissolved, When this tent is taken down, this body will
sleep for a while in the grave, just as Lazarus did. And then
the Lord will come and raise me up in the resurrection day,
just as he will all his elect. And some folks have the idea
that somehow that's disappointing for us to die before Christ comes
a second time. The dead in Christ are going to rise first. I wouldn't
call that disappointment. No, no, no. No, no, no, no. For the
believer, whenever the Savior comes to take you to glory, what
men call death is an elevation. In that day, in that hour, in
that moment, when I have breathed my last breath on this earth,
my most earnest prayers will be perfectly answered. I want to be free of sin, perfectly conformed to Christ.
I want to have him in the eyes of my heart all the time. Just like that, I'll see his
face, free of sin, having him in the eyes of my heart all the
time. At that moment, our highest,
noblest ambitions will be fully realized, and our trials, our
temptations, and our tears, Just like that. Right away. A little Martin Terrell Garner
here tonight. I had him last night to sing a hymn I gave a
few months back. How beautiful heaven must be,
Sweet home of the pure and the free, Fair haven of rest for
the weary, Oh, how beautiful heaven must be.