Now, I've prepared a message
for you today, which I believe will be of great, great, great
benefit and help to many, many of you. I'm going to speak to
you from John chapter 11. John chapter 11, the first three
verses, just three verses of John 11. On the subject, Behold, he whom thou lovest is
sick. Behold, he whom thou lovest is
sick. Now we begin at verse 1 and it
says, now a certain man was sick. Now this is not a parable. This
is not a story, an example. It's a fact. It's a fact. There was a certain man. His
name was Lazarus. certain man named Lazarus was
sick of the town of Bethany this was a little town about two or
three miles from Jerusalem and it says in the next verse now
certain man named Lazarus was sick he was of the town of Bethany
it was a town of Martha and her sister Mary in Bethany there
was a little family there was Martha the older daughter the
older girl, there was Mary, the younger girl, and there was Lazarus,
the brother. And these three brothers and
sisters were greatly loved of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ
loved this family. It was a family that loved Him.
And our Lord often came to their house. He was there several times
in this little town of Bethany. Our Lord would come and eat with
them. It says, Martha prepared the
meal, and Mary sat at his feet, and Lazarus sat at the table
with him. It should be remembered now,
as I deal with this message in this scripture, these people
were special to the Savior. They were loved by Him. He loved
them, and they loved Him, and they had wonderful fellowship
with Him. They believed on Him. They believed
His Word. Mary sat at His feet, listened
to Him teach. One day she broke an expensive
bottle of precious ointment, perfume, and anointed his feet,
and dried his feet with a hair of her head. Martha served him,
and Lazarus sat at the table with him. It says that this man,
Lazarus, was sick. And the two sisters, the Lord
Jesus, was off somewhere else, and the two sisters sent word
to Christ. And this is what they said to
him. They said, Lord, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
Lazarus is sick. He's very, very sick. Very ill. Now then, if a neighbor had been
sick, these girls would not have been so astonished and so amazed. They wouldn't have said, well,
behold, the neighbor's sick. A lot of neighbors got sick,
and people in the little town of Bethany got sick and died.
These girls were alarmed and astonished. They were surprised
and they expressed it in this message they sent to Christ.
They said, Lord, behold, behold, he whom you love, he whom thou
loves, is sick. I tell you how they reasoned.
I know because I've done this. I've reasoned this way myself.
I suppose you have. I know what they were thinking.
They were thinking, As they watched Lazarus lying there on the bed,
dying. He was sick unto death. And he
did die just the next day or so. And as they watched him there
in his sickness and illness, this was going through their
mind. We love him. We love him. If we had our way, he wouldn't
be sick. If we had the power, we'd raise
him up right now. And that's what they were thinking
about the Lord. They said, Lord, you love him. Why is he so ill? You love him. He loves you. Why
is he so sick? Why indeed? Behold, he whom thou
lovest is sick. Why is he sick? Well, that's
what we're going to deal with in this message. And if I can
answer this question, why, why indeed, do God's people suffer? David, if you want to read something
on this subject, read Psalm 73. He had a real problem with this,
a real problem. And if I can answer this question,
I can be of great help to many of you, many of you listening
to this program today. Because that's why you're at
home now, it's because you're not able to be out. Many of you
are at home right now listening to this program because you're
not able, you're sick. And you're not able to be out.
You've been sick some of you a long time. You love God. And God loves you. And you can
say with Peter, I can say with the Apostle Peter, Lord, you
know I love you. You know all things. You know I love you.
And I tell you, we love him. It's because he first loved us.
That's right. And you can say this morning,
the Lord loves me because I love him. And I love him because he
first loved me. And I'm sick. Behold, you're
sick. Not only that, some of you are
troubled and burdened. and you're lonely, and you're
in sorrow, and you're in need, and it can be said of you, Lord,
behold, he, she, whom thou lovest, is sick. Now, let's see if I
can deal with this. First of all, these sisters were
amazed because they used the word, behold. Lord, behold, he
knew he was sick. The Lord knew he was sick. Behold,
he whom thou lovest is sick." Well, we shouldn't be surprised
if Lazarus gets sick or if we get sick. After all, Lazarus
is a human being. He is a son of Adam. He lives
in the flesh. And this flesh is subject to
all manner of sicknesses and diseases and old age and death. God's children are God's children,
but they're still the children of men. And within our veins
flows the blood of fallen Adam. The Scripture says in Adam we
die. By one man sin came into this world, and death by sin.
So death passed upon all men. Disease and death and infirmities
and afflictions came to us through Adam. It's in our veins. It's
in our blood. The love of God does not separate
us from the necessities of life, or from the infirmities of life,
or from the afflictions of life. The Lord loved Lazarus, but he
was sick. He was sick. The blood of Christ
delivers us from the diseases of the soul. Our sicknesses and
diseases of the soul, sin is a disease of the soul, and the
blood of Christ cleanseth us and purifies us and redeems us
and makes us holy. As far as sin is concerned, we
have no sin. Before God, before His law, before
His justice, our sins are paid for. But the blood of Christ
doesn't deliver us from heart ailments, doesn't deliver us
from cancer, Doesn't deliver us from asthma.
Doesn't deliver us from pneumonia. Doesn't deliver us from weaknesses
of the flesh and the bones. Doesn't deliver us from physical
death. We're going to die. Two years ago, I had a serious
case of pneumonia. Eight weeks. Sick, sick, so very,
very sick. Just a while ago, my daughter
went through this cancer thing. operation, surgery, radiation. Behold, I love her. The Lord loves her. She loves
him. She's sick. You see, God said
to Adam, Adam, in Genesis 3, 17. Now, this hadn't changed. He said, Adam, you listened to
Eve and you ate the fruit. Now, cursing is the ground because
of you. and your sin. In sorrow, you're
going to eat of the ground. All the days of your life, all
the days of your life, thorns and thistles shall the earth
bring forth to you because of your sin. In the sweat of your
face, you're going to eat bread. You're going to work hard. You're
going to labor. You're going to bend your back,
bruise your hands. You're going to labor in the
sweat of your brow until you return to the ground. Till you
get sick and die. For dust you are and dust you
shall return. To the dust you shall return.
And you may be a man of God, but you're still a man. Subject
to all of the necessities and afflictions and infirmities of
this flesh. Lazarus is sick, but we shouldn't
be surprised. That shouldn't amaze us. Lazarus
is a man. If I get sick tomorrow, I don't
know, maybe 70 years old, this body's weak and frail and got
to die. I've got to die. You have too. If we never got sick, we'd never
die. Secondly, we should not be surprised when we have trials
in the flesh. God promised us trials. That's
right. He promised us trials. God only
had one son without sin. He has no sons without suffering.
If any man will live godly in Christ Jesus, he'll suffer, suffer,
suffer. Persecution, afflictions, infirmities. John chapter 16, our Lord said,
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have
peace. In this world you're going to
have tribulation. In this world you're going to
have trials and troubles. But be of good courage, I've
overcome the world. Paul in Romans 8 talks about
the sufferings of this present world, the sufferings of this
present life, this present time. The sufferings are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which we shall enjoy. Sufferings. Hebrews 12 declares that afflictions
and trial and chastisement is the mark of sonship. Whom the
Lord loves, he chastens. Behold, Lord, he whom thou lovest
is sick. That's a sign I love him. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. If you be without chastisement,
you're not sons. You're not children. James talks
about the sufferings of Job. Suffering is the lot of God's
people. I'm a pastor. I've been a pastor
44 years. And I've gone to the hospital
and the home and the bedside and the funeral parlor and the
graveside with people whom I love, whom God loves, who love God.
And they have afflictions and trials.
You'd be without chastisement if you're not a child. He's promised
us these things. And thirdly, we shouldn't be
surprised when the Lord brings afflictions and trials in our
lives. They're good for us. Now, come on, preacher. Yes,
sir, they are. They're good for us. They're
good. You know what David said in Psalm
119, 71 or 72? He said, it's good for me, good
for me, that I've been afflicted, that I might learn His statutes. That's right. How do we learn?
By pain, by suffering, by trial, by experience. That's how we
learn. And you know what learning does?
Learning brings experience, and experience brings patience, and
patience brings hope. That's right. We learn. Tribulation
worketh patience. Patience, experience, and experience,
hope. You see, let me tell you something.
We need to be taught. We need to be brought down. We
need to be stripped. We need to be humbled. We need
God to cut the edges off of us. Melt us and mold us and make
us like Christ. Give us compassion and grace
and love and faith and tenderness. And try us. Take us to the furnace
and try us. We need it. It's good for us.
You see, strong men and women, strong men and women, and a lot
of you say, I'm strong. All right. Those that are strong
are apt to be harsh, too harsh, unsympathetic, unconcerned. So God takes them to the furnace
and melts them and gives them compassion. Strong, independent
people are prone to be proud and self-righteous and self-sufficient. So God has to make them know
their frailty. He has to strip them. He has
to show them their weakness and show them their infirmities and
bring them down, down, down to tears and pain and agony and
seeking God, helpless. That's the reason Paul had that
thorn in the flesh. You remember he said, God gave
me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. And I
asked God to take it away. And he says, I'm going to leave
it. Why? Lest Paul be exalted above measure. Think he's somebody. I'll tell
you another thing. People who have great wealth
and great possessions and gifts and talents are often critical
of poor people. Why don't you do this? They don't
have the means you have. Why are you so bashful? They
don't have the gifts you have. Why don't you stand up for yourself?
They're weak. And when you're so gifted and
talented and so rich, you're prone to be critical of the poor
and the weak and the needy. And so what does God have to
do? He has to shut our mouths and break our bones and crush
us, take the pride out, bring us down to where we say with
David, Lord, hear me, I'm poor and needy. Paul said, who's weak
that I'm not weak? Who wept that I do not weep? That's right. Blessed be God,
even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of mercy and
comfort, who comforts us in our troubles, that we may be able
to comfort them who are in trouble by the comfort wherewith God
comforted us. That's right. You see, you got
a hold of that? Troubles. Troubles. Troubles in the flesh
and as long as I'm in the flesh and we'll have trouble Troubles
are promised of God God said in this world. You're gonna have
trouble But troubles are good for me Troubles bring me the
comfort of God and then I'm able to comfort another fellow who
goes through the same Valley and the same trial the same heartache
we have troubles and trials and then I'll tell you this these
troubles are for our good and that for his glory and and there
to accomplish his purpose. You know, when these sisters
sent word to our Lord and said, Behold, he whom thou lovest is
sick. And our Lord said, What did he
say? Our Lord said, This sickness, the Lord replied to his disciples,
this sickness is not unto death. Well, Lazarus died. Christ is
saying it's not unto final death. I'm going to raise him from the
grave. But this sickness is not unto final death, but it's for
the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified. Lazarus, whom the Lord loved,
is lying there sick because it's going to bring God some glory.
It's going to accomplish the will and purpose of God. It's
going to be used by God to bless some people. Think of all the
people who believed on Christ because of the raising of Lazarus.
Think of all the people down through the years who've read
this story, who've been blessed by it as we're being blessed
right now. Instructed because Lazarus suffered. This particular sickness, our
Lord said, is not the end of Lazarus on the earth. My pneumonia
was not the end of me. By God's grace, if He's pleased,
my daughter's cancer will not be the end now. She will get
sick and die someday. I will too. I often wonder how
that I'll leave here. Don't you? What will it be that
God will send to take me away from here? Whatever it is, it'll
be good. It'll take me to be with my Lord. But all sickness, I didn't say
all sickness everywhere is for good. Because I'm saying all
things work together for good to them who love God, who are
called according to His purpose. You get me now. All sickness
in the lives of God's people, who love Him and He loves them,
is for His glory to accomplish His purpose, and it will be for
their good. John Bunyan spent 12 years in
prison. Did you know that? He had a wife
and several children. One of his children was a little
blind girl. And he was a preacher of the
gospel, and they put him in prison because of the gospel he preached.
And they said they'd let him out if he'd quit preaching the
gospel, but he wouldn't quit. And while he was in the prison,
he wrote that book, Pilgrim's Procrastination, which has been
a blessing to, I guess, millions of people. His trial, 12 years
in jail, was for his good, God's glory, and to accomplish God's
purpose. Charles Spurgeon lived 58 years,
one of the greatest preachers who ever lived. He spent a great
part of his life in the sickbed, in pain and agony and sickness. He said, to make me an able vessel
for the Master's use. To make me an able vessel. David
Brainerd was sick with tuberculosis. They called it consumption back
then. back in the 18th century, 1700 and something. He died when
he was 29 years old. This man, David Brainerd, was
one of the greatest preachers, missionaries, who ever lived.
Jonathan Edwards, he was in love with Jonathan Edwards' daughter.
Jonathan Edwards, that great preacher up in Massachusetts,
said, any system of theology that produces a David Brainerd
is worthy of your study. David Brainerd had tuberculosis. He rode a horse ministering to
the Indians up in the northeast part of this country for years
and years and years and years. And God used him mightily, used
his sickness, used his distress, used his trouble, used his heartache
for God's glory and the accomplishment of his purpose. Listen to this
poem. God moves in mysterious ways. his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps on the
sea and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and will break with blessing on your head. His
purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have
a bitter taste, But while it opens up, sweet will be the flower. In closing, I want us to look
for a while at these sisters' call to the Lord, their message,
their word to Christ. I want you to look with me at
this. Now, Lazarus was sick. And these sisters, it says, sent
to the Lord. They didn't send for a neighbor.
They didn't send for a preacher. They didn't send for human help.
They looked to Christ. Now, I know where to use means.
You use whatever means God puts at your disposal. I know God's
going to feed me, but I'm going to eat. I know God's going to
clothe me, but I'm going to put my clothes on. I know God's going
to give me health according to His will, but I'm going to take
care of what I have. I'm going to use the means. But
I look to Him chiefly and firstly. He's the physician. So when Lazarus
got sick, I know they put a poultice on him, and they gave him water,
and they bathed him with cool towels, and they did all these
things, but they sent for the Lord. Got me? All right, second. You see, this is one of the good
things about trials, and troubles, and sorrows, and sickness. They
cause us to seek the Lord. That's right, they cause us to
pray. Isn't it true? When do you pray the most? when
you're in the most need. When do you search the scriptures
with more enthusiasm and more hunger and more thirst? When
you're hurting. When you're in need. I'm telling
you the truth. When we're in trouble, that's
when we call on God. That's when we cry. That's when
we pray. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O God, hear my voice. When do you cry like that? When
you're in the depths. And without the depths, you wouldn't
cry. No, no, we wouldn't. No, we wouldn't. No, we wouldn't. That's us. We've got to have
these valleys that we might seek His face. That's right. And thirdly,
the prayer of these sisters was based on the right foundation.
They didn't say, now, Lord, you know how Lazarus loves you. No.
They said, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. We're not
pleading his love for you. We're pleading your love for
him. And they didn't plead their works. They didn't say, Lord,
you know how many times you've eaten at our table? You know how many
times you've been in our home? We've opened our home to you.
We love you. We've opened our home to you. We've done all these
things. That's terrible praying in it. Lord, you know how I've
given, how I've worked, and how I've labored, and here I am sick.
No, they said, Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick. And they
didn't tell the Lord to make Lazarus well. They did not tell
the Lord what to do. They simply said, Behold, he
whom thou lovest is sick. We cast him on you. What you
do is according to your will. We leave it with you. The Lord
may be pleased to heal us. He may not. He may not. But one thing is true. If the
Lord doesn't heal me, I'll be well forever. If He takes me
on to glory, I'm well forever. You know, when old King Nebuchadnezzar
was going to throw the three Hebrew children in the fire furnace,
he ridiculed them first. He made fun of them. He said,
Where's your God? Is He able to deliver you? You
know what they said? They said, King, He's able to
deliver us. But if He doesn't, if He's not
pleased to deliver us, He's still God. And we'll still praise Him,
and we won't worship your false God. If the Lord pleased to heal
me, that'd be fine. If He's not, that'd be fine,
too. That'd be fine, too. Oh, I tell you, behold, He whom
thou lovest is sick. I leave Him with you. Do what
you will. I know the judge of the earth
will do right. He's too wise to make a mistake. He's too good
to do wrong. But I'll tell you, we're not
informing the Lord of our sickness, we're entreating His mercies.
When we pray to be healed, here's another thought, when we pray
to be healed, there may be a prayer in conflict with ours. Our Lord
prayed, Father, I will that those whom Thou hast given me be with
me where I am. So remember, when you're praying
for a loved one, His prayer may be in conflict with yours, may
be His will to take them on. So Lord, I will be done.