Scripture says here about two
miles from Jerusalem. There were three people in this
family. There was a brother called Lazarus, two sisters, Martha and Mary. And the Lord loved these people.
He was often in their home. Lazarus became ill. The Lord wasn't there far away,
but he was away. And the sisters, of course, sent
for him. They sent word to the master.
They said, he whom thou lovest is sick. They didn't say, he who loves
you is sick. They said, he whom you love.
They knew that the Lord loved them and loved Lazarus. They
said, he whom thou lovest is sick. But the Lord didn't respond. He didn't come. He stayed away at least four or more days. And Lazarus died and had lain
in the grave four days when the Lord finally came to Bethany. And someone told them that he
was coming. And Martha, we judge from that
story in Luke 10 about the preparing of the meal, when she complained
to the Lord about Mary not assisting her preparing the meal. We judge
from that that she was the older of the two women. She had the
care of the house upon her, especially now that her brother was gone.
So when the Lord Jesus came, when news arrived that Christ
was coming to Bethany, Martha went out to meet him, being the
older sister, the leader of the family, she went out to meet
him. And the more reserved sister, Mary, the one who was often at
the feet of the Lord, remained in the house, not knowing that
Christ had come. And we pick that up here in verse
20 of Luke, of John 11, verse 20. And Martha, as soon as she
heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary still
sat still in the house, and then said, Martha, unto Jesus, I wonder,
there's a little tone of rebuke here, if not rebuke, disappointment
at least. She said to him, Lord, if you
had been here, my brother would not have died. And that's true.
I don't recall in the scripture ever anyone dying in the presence
of our Lord. They were always made whole and
made alive. And she knew that. She said,
if you'd been here, If you'd have come when I sent for you,
he wouldn't have died." Evidently the sisters had discussed
that because down in verse 32, Mary said the same word. She
said, Lord, first thing out of her mouth when she went to meet
him also was, Lord, if you'd have been here, he wouldn't have
died. But Martha went on to say in
verse 22, but I know that even now, Whatsoever you ask of God, God
will give it to you. She didn't openly ask him to
raise her brother, did she? But I think she had this in mind.
I think she was implying, even now, you could solve this problem
that we have, this burden, lift this burden. And our Lord makes
the first statement, he speaks, and he said to her, thy brother
shall rise again. Thy brother shall rise again.
And Martha understood him to mean that Lazarus would rise
again at the last day. That's what she understood. And I tell you what a glorious
promise that is. The dead in Christ shall rise
again. This is the only thing that makes
a trip to an open grave bearable. Many of you have been to the
cemetery and planted the bodies of your loved ones and that glorious
truth right there which Christ said, thy brother shall rise
again. That's our comfort and that's
the only comfort we have at the open grave. is that this corruptible
shall one day put on incorruption. That's a promise. This mortal
shall put on immortality. This weakness shall put on strength. And this decay and death shall
give way to life. That's good news. If that's all
he meant there, as Martha thought, he arises, she said in verse
24, I know, I know that he'll rise again. at the resurrection
on the last day. She was a disciple of his. She
was a student of the word. She was not a Sadducee who didn't
believe in the resurrection. She believed in the resurrection.
And she says, I know he'll rise again at the last day. But this is not what our Lord
is saying to her. He's saying to her that your
brother will rise again now. now. But he told his disciples
back here, where was it, in verse 4 of that same chapter when he
heard that Lazarus was sick, he knew Lazarus was sick, but
when they brought the message, he said this sickness is not
unto death. This is not the end of Lazarus
here on the earth. This sickness is not unto final
death is what he's saying. is not unto death, but for the
glory of God. This sickness is going to serve
a purpose. This death is going to serve
a purpose. This lives with dying. This is for purpose. This is
for the glory of God. Watch it now, that the Son of
God might be glorified. And that's what caused him to
make that next statement. Martha said, if you had been
here, you wouldn't have died. He said, he'll rise again. And
she said, I believe that doctrine. And she did. Bless her heart. And I do and you do. That's our
comfort, promise that he will rise in the resurrection. But
our Lord is saying this and showing her and everybody else that the
resurrection is not a doctrine. It's a person. Look at the next
line. He says, Martha, I am the resurrection. There's no resurrection without
me. I'm the resurrection. I'm the life. And that's what
he was telling his disciples back yonder before Lazarus died. He said, This sickness is not unto final
death, he'll die, but this is going to serve a purpose, the
glory of God and the glory of the Son of God. And that his
people might see a vital, important truth, which we're trying to
see this morning. He says, I'm the resurrection.
Martha, I'm the resurrection and the life. I'm the source,
I'm the cause, I'm the fountain of spiritual life and physical
life. I am the resurrection. Because
He is God, we live now and eternally. Because He is our representative,
our righteousness, our surety, our redemption, we live. Because
He died for us and was buried and rose again, we live. Because
He ascended and intercedes at the right hand of God, we live.
Because he prepared a place and will come again and receive us
unto himself, we live. Do we understand that? He's the
resurrection. Martha believed the doctrine.
She believed in the person. But all of them, her and us included,
have trouble putting the two together. I am the resurrection. I am the life. The resurrection
is not for the future only, it's now. Eternal life is not a future
gift, it's now in Christ. He's eternal life. You see, he said in the next
line, listen, he who believes on me, though his body is in
the grave, yet he lives, Lazarus is in the grave. You're
talking about he will live someday. He's living now. He lives in
me. Look at the next line. And whosoever
lives, who's not dead yet, who's not in the grave, whosoever walks
around and believes on me, he never will die, because he's
in me. The state of the body has nothing
to do with the state of the soul. That's what he's saying. I'm
not a body, I'm a soul. I'm living in this body. I believe
Christ. Christ is my life. Christ is
my salvation. Christ is my resurrection. And
I'm standing here talking to you now. If this body is put
in the grave, I'll be standing talking to him, or listening
to him. But I'll be living. I won't be
dead. There is no death. In Christ there's no death. There's
a departure. There's a putting off this flesh
for a while and one day to put it back on. Martha was right in one thing
in the last day. The body will rise, but the soul
never dies. And that's what our Lord is.
And this is what all this is about. When he was down here,
wherever he was, and he came to him and said, Lazarus, sit.
Come quickly. He whom thou lovest is sick.
He never moved. He said to his disciples, this
is not to final leave in the world departure, but this is
for the glory of God. This is for the glory of the
Son of God, that the Son of God might be rightfully acclaimed
and recognized and exalted. And when he came down here, and
Martha started this thing, if you'd been here you wouldn't
have died. He's not dead, Christ said. He's not dead, I wish I
could get that across to you. He's not dead. He's in me and
I'm the resurrection. I'm the life. He's not dead.
He's not dead. He lives. So he says, it doesn't
matter if a person bleeds on me, if his body's in the grave,
he lives. If he believes on me and he's
walking around in the flesh, he lives because I am the resurrection
and the life. Well, Martha gave the state of
the body, the condition of the body. Thank God for this. The
depression or happiness or joy or sorrow, death or life or whatever
the body has nothing to do. with the state of my soul. It's
in Christ. Secure eternally. Never die. Death's over. When Christ died
on the cross, death was over for his people. Because I live,
they live. Martha gave a beautiful confession
here. You know, Martha wavered and
questioned the Lord's providence, but she never doubted his person.
And that ought to help all of us a little bit, shouldn't it? She rebuked the Lord for letting
her brother die when he could have been there. She wavered. She wavered. She wavered and
questioned his providence. But she never questioned his
person. Listen to what she said. She said to him, Yea, Lord. That's
right. I believe that you're the Christ.
The Son of God, which has come into this world. That I believe.
That's what Peter said back yonder, you know, in Matthew 16, when
the Lord said, whom do you say that I am? He said, art thou
Christ, the Son of the living God. He said, blessed are you,
Simon. That's where you start, my friend.
That's where you start. Don't try to get all the wavering
and doubts and fears and ups and downs straightened out. Get
this one thing straightened out. Who is he? In your mind. Get that saddle once and for
all. That's what Peter said. He said, you're the Son of God.
You're the Christ. And he said, you're blessed above
everybody. My Father revealed that to you.
And that's what Martha said. She'd stand here questioning
his providence and questioning his love and questioning everything
else. And it came down to it, she said,
well, I'll tell you this, I believe you're the son of God. She'd
come into this world. I don't understand what you do
or why you do it, but I do know who you are. And that's the issue. Get it settled. And when that
was said, when she stated that, I clear the air. I know who you
are. It's alright. I'll never doubt
that. It's the Lord. Let him do what he will. With
whomever he will. That's settled because he's the
Lord. He was given that right by the Father. He bought that
right on the cross and it's his by decree. Because this world
is his and I'm his. Do with me what he will. That's
settled. Okay? Isn't it? With you? That's settled. Martha said,
that's settled with me. And then she left. She went down
and got her sister and said, secretly, the master's come and
he calls for you. And as soon as she heard that,
she arose quickly and came to him. Now, Jesus was not yet coming
to town. It was in that place where Martha
met him. And the Jews then, which were with her in the house and
comforted her, there were always a whole bunch of them came in
time of death. And they wept and lamented and
cried. When they saw Mary, that she
rose up hastily and went out, they followed her. And they said,
she's going to the grave to weep there. And when Mary was come
where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet. That's
where you usually found her, didn't you? At his feet. And she said the same thing.
She said, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have
died. And when Jesus therefore saw
her weeping, and I want you to note here now this next statement,
but I want you to notice as I read this, not just what Christ said
here. He said it as a man. He said down here in verse 34,
He said, Where have you laid him? Where have you laid him?
But He knew where he was. Our Lord knew all things. But
He asked this as a man. He asks us also for the benefit
of those folks around about there that they might not think there's
some conspiracy here. Some put-up thing. He says, where
is he? Where have you laid him? But I want you to notice more
significantly his feeling and his spirit when he said these
words, where have you laid him? He says in verse 33, When Jesus saw her weeping and
the Jews weeping which came with her, he groaned in spirit and
was troubled. He literally groaned, my soul. Watch Mary weeping, these people
weeping. And he groaned. And that's when
he said, where have you laid him? They said, well come and
see. And then it says he wept. The Lord Jesus stood there and
wept. And then the Jews around there
said, oh, how he loved him. How he loved him. They didn't say he loves him.
He said that he loved him, like it's all over now. He loves him. But they don't understand that.
And then they made an awful statement. Some of them began to question
his love. Well, they said, he could have
saved him if he loved him. Could not this man which opened
the eyes of the blind have prevented his friend from dying? That's
the discussion going on among these people. If he loved him,
why didn't he heal him? And our Lord, how did He respond
to that? He groaned again. Groaned. Now, who's to say what
our Lord's thoughts were as He walked along to this grave and
Mary just overcome with grief? And these Jews with their hypocritical
tears, and these people debating about whether or not he loved
Lazarus, and he's groaning and weeping. And I'm going to tell
you why I believe our Lord wept. I'm going to try to tell you
why I believe was in his holy mind, his holy thoughts. One, he thought about Lazarus. Already out of this world. Already
out of this den of iniquity. Already away from this darkness
and corruption and sin. And they all want Him. And the
Lord Jesus is going to bring Him back. David said, I'll be satisfied
when I awake with His likeness. Paul said, I desire to depart
and be with Christ, and Lazarus is gone, and the Lord Jesus is
going to bring him back to this place. If we really understood, we'd
weep too. Secondly, he looked at Mary,
his beloved, beloved child. And she's weeping as if her heart
would break. And I'm sure this went through
his mind. If she knew, if she could only understand where Lazarus
is, she wouldn't weep, she'd rejoice. But she just couldn't. And he wept over her. Because of her unbelief, really.
We should weep over our own delay. And we're all plagued with it.
I'll tell you another thing, I'm sure she's thinking, who's
going to support me now? My brother's gone. He's the only
male in the household. It's just Martha and I. What
are we going to do? And here standing beside her
is her provider, the Lord Jesus Christ. She's his child. And she's doubting his good providence. Who's going to help me now that
Lazarus is gone? And he wept. And then he heard
these Jews questioning his love for Lazarus, questioning his
wisdom in the death of Lazarus. And we do that. And he weeps
over us too. Because we question his wisdom,
his judgment, his good providence. It's providence and in our case
it's always good providence. He's the God of all providence.
But in the case of his children, it's always good providence.
Even the disappointing things are far good. And they questioned his love
for Lazarus because he took him to glory. Think about it. Took him home. And then he knew
this. That even when he raised Lazarus
from the dead, most of these people would never believe. And
they didn't. I read to you the last line of
this text. They went and told the Pharisees
what he had done. They didn't believe on him. And
this would make us weep too if we understood If you believe not that I am
He, you'll die in your sins. And that's what's happening.
People, they do not believe who He is. The Son of God in tears. Angels
with wonder see. Be thou astonished, O my soul. He shed those tears for thee.
He wept that we may weep. Our sins demand a tear. But in
heaven alone, no sin is found, so there'll be no weeping there. And then he said the fourth statement,
verse 39. He said 39 and 40. I put these two together because
I think he's speaking to Martha. Both of these statements. In
this same statement, verse 39 and 40, and Jesus said, take
ye away the stone. And Martha objected. She objected
to the removal of the stone. Two or three reasons. Number
one, it's a Jewish custom and law never to open a grave when
it's been sealed. Never. Secondly, she was thinking
about The dignity of her brother. And her dignity. And the offensive
odor. See that body had been in that
hot tomb for four days. And you can imagine, decomposed,
decaying, and horrible odor. And that's what she was thinking
about. And she said, Lord, by this time he stinketh. He's been
dead four days. Remove the stone. And our Lord
said, Martha, didn't I say to you, thy brother shall rise? Didn't I say that? He said that
to her back there. She said, if you'd been here,
you wouldn't have doubted. He said, he'll rise. I intend to raise him. I told
you that. Now listen, Martha, if you'd
believe, If you just believe, you will see the glory of God. But the stone has to be taken
away to see the glory of God. Take away the stone, take away
the covering. Take away the pretense. Take away the flowers. Take away
all the things that keep you from recognizing what shape Lazarus
is really in. He's dead. He's decaying. He's corrupt. He's helpless. Take away the stone. A clear view of what we are gives
a better view of who He is. A clear view of our hopelessness
and helplessness in the presence of His power and grace will really
glorify Him and put us where we belong. Come on, move the
stone. Move the stone. Face it. Face
it. Put that old, dead, rotten, carcass,
corrupt in the presence of life holiness, glory, power, mercy. And Martha will take her eyes
off the corpse because we sure can make graves beautiful. And
take her eyes off the flesh and forget her dignity and her neighbors
and the smell and everything else and believe on Him in whom
His life And he said, Martha, if you can look and see, you'll
see with a clear view the glory of God and the glory of your
son who makes the dead to live. See that? When that stone was
removed, I'm sure that odor came out and they looked to him. They looked to Him. Look away
from this mess and look to Him. It's all in His hands. And I'll
tell you this. The performing of this miracle
didn't depend on Martha's faith. That's for sure. Aren't you glad?
Oh boy. Lazarus would have never risen
to depend on her faith. Never. The Lord intended to raise
Him. The Lord had purposed to raise
Him. And the Lord's glory does not
depend upon our faith. But I'll tell you this, Martha's
view of God's glory depended upon her looking to Him and believing
on Him. The Son quickens whom He will.
And men are not going to see His glory until they believe
on Him. They're not going to believe
on him until they understand something of the condition of
this flesh. It's helpless and hopeless. It
lies with him to make it live. And when he makes it live, he
gets all the glory. He's going to show to Martha
and all these people, he is the life. He is the resurrection.
He is the son quickened as whom he will. And he's able to quicken. And then he said something here
quickly. He said something here that's
interesting. In verse 41, Then they took the
stone away from the place where the dead was laid, and Jesus
lifted up his eyes to heaven. He said, Father? He didn't say,
Our Father. He said, Father. Because God is His Father in
a way that He alone is the Son. Father? The Father loveth the
Son. Father, He said, I thank Thee
that Thou hast heard Me. And you'll always hear Me. The
Father and the Son are one. What the Son wills, the Father
wills. What the Father does, the Son does. So His prayer and
His request was not on His behalf, but watch it. I know that you hear Me always,
but because of the people who stand by. I said it. that they
may believe that thou hast sent me." His prayers and his request
are on our behalf. Not on his behalf. As the mediator
and the high priest in John 17, he prayed for us. That's the
Lord's prayer, alright. The Son talking to the Father.
But it was for us. It was on our behalf. That we
might receive and believe. That's what it's for, Father.
I know you always hear me, not for my sake, but I pray for these
who are with me, that they may believe, that they may see my
glory, that they may believe in me. That's why I'm doing this,
and that's why I call on you, for their sake. Thank God we
have a mediator, we have a high priest. Peter, I prayed for you. You're going to deny me, but
I prayed for you. So when he had spoken, he cried
with a loud voice. Here's the sick saying. He cried,
Lazarus! Wouldn't you like to have heard
that? I thought as I was studying this. Oh, that voice. That voice that said, let there
be light. And there was light. Let the dry lands appear. And
there was dry land. Lazarus! He called his name to distinguish
to whom he was speaking. Somebody said if he had said
just, come forth, they'd all come forth. He calls his own
sheep by name. It's the voice, with a loud voice,
it's the voice of purpose. He did what he intended to do.
It's the voice of power. Even the dead will hear that
voice. It's the voice of immutability. There's no change. The gifts
and calling of God are without change. If He ever says to you
and to me, by His voice and His Word, you come forward, you'll
come forward. The voice of power, purpose,
immutability. Lazarus! Come forward! And he that was dead came forward. Whom he purposes to save, he'll
save. You doubt that? He speaks, and the dead live. My sheep hear my voice, and I
give them eternal life, and they'll never perish. And the dead come
forth out of the grave, out of captivity, out of bondage, Out
of darkness? Oh, how dark was that grave.
And Lazarus lived. And when that light, he saw that
light coming through that opening, through the galls and bandages
on his face, he came toward that light and that voice. That voice and that light. And
the dead came forward. And they will. We preach this
gospel, and the dead hear his voice and they live. And they
come forth out of darkness, out of bondage, out of captivity,
out of Egypt to the light. And then he said this, listen, Lazarus came forth bound hand
and foot. These religious people had wrapped
him up round and round. Even his head, even his face
was bound with a net. Wrapped him up. He came out. And our Lord said, Loosen. Loosen. Let him go. Lazarus came forth
from the tomb. He lived. He breathed. He walked. He was alive. But he came out
bound hand and foot with grave clothes. Religious tradition. Religious folks, while he was
dead, had really wrapped him up. And our Lord said, turn him
loose, take those things off of him, get rid of all that bondage, wrappings, tradition. What a picture of the Jews that
our Lord called out of darkness, bound with Old Testament laws
and Sabbaths and ceremonialism and circumcision. They tried
to get everybody else wrapped up in those things. But Christians
won't wrap. Dead men wrap. I was raised dead
in religion and they wrapped me up with all kinds of rules
and regulations and false doctrines and traditions and days and all
these things. Put me back under the law. Wrapped
me up. And when God gave me life, He told some teachers, He said,
turn that boy loose. Get rid of all that junk he's
got wrapped up in. And what a picture of all of
us wrapped up in our bondage, traditions, ceremonialism, and
all these things. And God raises up true preachers,
true servants, and they recognize this bondage because they've
been in it. Now, Lazarus lived. God gave him life. The Lord gave
him life. He walks, he talks, he breathes,
he sees, he hears. his people. He said, you get
that stuff off of him. And that's what we try to do
in teaching the word is try to get the bondage and the wrappings
and the traditions and all these things. Loose him! Free him! Turn to Galatians 5 just a moment. This is what I'm talking about.
Galatians 5. He says, Stand fast, Galatians
5.1, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. And
don't be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. I have to
tell you, if you be circumcised, Christ prophets you nothing.
Don't get back in those grave clothes. Loose him. Free him
in Christ. It's Christ and Christ alone.
He's the life. He's our salvation.