John 11 verse 1 says, 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 sisters sent unto
the Lord, saying, Lord, behold, behold, he whom thou lovest is
sick. When Jesus heard, he said, This
sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the
Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha,
and her sister and Lazarus. And when he had heard, therefore,
that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place
where he was." Now, you know, of course, our Lord knew he was
sick, but he's speaking in the language of a man when he heard
it. He already knew it, but when
he heard the report that they brought, he stayed in the same
place for two more days, Let me give you a little background
information. The town of Bethany was about
two or three miles from Jerusalem. And in Bethany, here in Bethany,
there was a little family whom the Lord Jesus Christ loved very
dearly, and a little family that loved Him. They were quite special
to Him. That's what verse 5 says, now
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and lasses. They were a special
family. Martha was the oldest. It is called her house. Look
at Luke chapter 10 a moment. I'll show you something here,
a little background to the message. It's called her house. And it
came to pass, verse 38 of Luke 10, Luke 10, verse 38, "...Now it
came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village,
and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet
and heard His word." We'll just stop there. Now, Mary, this is
not the harlot that came and bade His feet. This is Mary He
talks about her in John 12. She anointed His feet with a
precious ointment and wiped them, not with a napkin, but with her
hair. In John 12, here's the incident. John 12, verse 1, Then
Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus
was, which had been dead, whom He raised from the dead. And
there they made him a supper, and Martha served. Lazarus was
one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound
of ointment, a spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet
of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house
was filled with the odor of the ointment. Someone said one time, When someone
really loves Christ and demonstrates a love for Christ, it smells
good, it will permeate the whole house and it will affect everybody
around. A loving act for the glory of
the Savior. So the odor fills the whole house,
her love for Christ. Now, it must be remembered, I
want you to remember this all the way through the message,
because that's the title of this message. Behold, behold, he whom
thou lovest is sick. Now, it should be remembered
that this family is our Lord's family. They're His own sheep,
and they're special to Him. This scripture says, He loved
them. He loved them. And that's why
these sisters, were somewhat astonished that Lazarus became
so ill. They were shaken up. They were
astonished. You see, now, they loved him
very much, and they wouldn't have him to be sick. And they
were astonished when he was sick, and they knew the Lord loved
him very much. And that's the reason they said,
Behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Now, if it had been a neighbor
that had been sick, it wouldn't have caused them so much bewilderment,
would it? I don't think so. If it had been
one of the Pharisees or an enemy of Christ or the man down the
road or the troublemaker, it wouldn't have disturbed them
or wouldn't have bewildered them or wouldn't have shocked them
nearly so much. But here is one whom they love
and one whom Christ's love, and one who sits at the table with
Christ, and one whom they know, Christ's love, and that's the
reason they sent word to Him, and they said, Behold, behold,
He whom thou lovest is sick. He's sick. Why indeed? Why indeed? They've written a
lot of books on this subject. preached a lot of sermons on
this subject, and we'll preach a lot more sermons on this subject
because it's a vital subject. It's important. And all of the
people of the Lord here will agree that I have an important
subject. Lord, behold, behold, he whom
thou lovest is sick. He whom thou lovest is in trouble.
He whom thou lovest is under great distress. He whom thou
lovest is in sorrow and loneliness. He whom thou lovest is in need. I want us, first of all, to look
at the fact. Behold, Lord, he whom thou lovest
is sick. He is sick at the fact. Sick unto death. Write this down. We should not be surprised. We
should not be bewildered that Lazarus is sick. For after all,
he's a man. That's right. He is loved by
the Lord. That's true. He is a child of
God. That's true. But he's still a
man. He's still a human being. He's
still in the flesh. And the love of Christ does not
separate us either from the necessities of life or the infirmities of
life. Lazarus is a child of God, but
he still has to eat, and he still has to sleep, and he still has
to work, and he still has to labor. Being a child of God does
not deliver him from hard work and laboring. and the necessities
of life. Nor does the love of Christ deliver
us from the infirmities of life. The covenant of grace, now listen
to this, the covenant of grace delivers us from the curse of
the law. That's true. We're no longer
under the curse of the law. Ronnie read that. Who can condemn
us? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? We've been delivered from the
curse of the law. We've been delivered from the
diseases of the soul. We have a righteousness. We don't
have a pasted-on righteousness in God's sight. We in God's sight
are righteous. Our souls are pure. And the covenant of grace delivers
us from eternal death. It delivers us from the curse
of the law, from disease of the soul, and from eternal death. But it's not a charter of exemption
from heart trouble, or asthma, or allergies, or headaches, or
cancer, or pneumonia, or death. Turn to Genesis 3. in Genesis
chapter 3. Now this is still true. It was
true when God spoke it over here to Adam, and it's true of all
of us here tonight because of sin. In Genesis 3, 17, and unto
Adam God said, Genesis 3, 17, Because you've hearkened to the
voice of your wife, and you've eaten of the tree, of which I
commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is
the ground for your sake. In sorrow shall you eat of it
all the days of your life. That hasn't changed. That's not
changed. Thorns also and thistles shall
it bring forth to thee. You still have to weed your garden? Is it perfect? No. And you'll
eat the herb of the field in the sweat of your face. Shall
you eat bread? until you return to the ground,
for out of it were you taken, and dust you are, and to dust
you shall return." There's no change in that. And believe me, you may be a
man of God, but you're still a man. You may be a child of
God, but you're still a child of the flesh. And the covenant
of grace and the love of Christ delivers us, and this is the
most important thing, from the curse of the Lamb. from the penalty
of sin, from the power of sin, from the diseases of the soul.
He died for our sicknesses and diseases born in His body and
from eternal death. But He hasn't delivered us from
the infirmities of this flesh. And my dear friend, Bill Clark,
is an example of that. He's not a finer preacher. I've
known him way back yonder. Not a more dedicated, laborious,
zealous preacher of the gospel. A man who gives his time and
life and love and everything he has to traveling preaching
the gospel. Now he's stricken. He's dashed. Just like any other person, just
like you, Becky, and just like others here who've taken these
treatments. Now I talked to him while I was on the phone. And
he said, I had two trips to London today to get my treatment. And there he is, he's a man. Behold, he whom thou lovest over
there saith. Well, don't be surprised, he's
a man. That's one reason he said he's
a man. It will come to all of us. Secondly, don't be surprised,
write this down. Don't be surprised when we have
trials. You know, the apostles said that.
Can't it not strange when fiery trials come upon you? Because
God promises we're going to have them. He promises trial and trouble
and chastisement in this life. Turn to John 16. Let's read.
He literally actually promised His disciples trouble. He said
in John 16, verse 1, listen to it. These things have I spoken
unto you that you should not be offended. They're going to
put you out of synagogue. Yea, the time will come that
whosoever killed you will think he'd do it God a favor. And these
things will they do unto you because they've not known the
Father nor me. But these things have I told
you that when the time shall come you may remember I told
you of them And these things I said not unto you at the beginning,
because I was with you, but now I go my way to him that sent
me, and none of you ask where you're going. Look at verse 33.
These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have
peace. In this world you shall have tribulation, trouble, and
be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. Affliction,
according to Hebrews 12, is a mark of sonship. Whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son. The man's without
chastisement, he's not a child of God. It's a deflection, it's
a mark of a child of God. This young man that wrote me
today from up Sandy, talking about the difficulty he had being
sure that he was a one of God's elect, and being sure that he
loves Christ, and being sure that he'll continue in the faith.
Actually, to me, those are signs of a heart that is regenerated. That's not the sign of an unregenerate
man. He thinks he is. The Pharisees
were sure they were saved. You couldn't be... Christ the
Lord Himself didn't disturb them. They said, we'd be Abraham's
children. We don't need you. But it's the tender-hearted believer
who has the struggle with doubts and fears. It's the man who wants
to know God, who wonders if he does. Afflictions are a mark of sonship,
and affliction may come in various forms and in different times. It's not always illness. It's
not always illness. Sometimes it is. But when it
is illness, we, like in the case of Our dear brother, we must
ask this, but if some of the Lord's choicest servants are
afflicted, should I be surprised if I'm called upon to take my
turn on the rack? Should I really, if Job sits
on a hill of ashes and scrapes boils, from the sole of his feet
to the top of his head. Should I be surprised if I have
a problem? If Epaphroditus, Paul said, my
beloved comrade in the gospel is sick unto death and my heart
is literally broken over his condition, should I be surprised
if I have to take my turn? If Paul the Apostle is given
a thorn in the flesh to remind him of his humanity and bring
him to rest in his God, should I be surprised if God sent one
my way? I shouldn't be, should I? I shouldn't
be. So that's... And thirdly, take
this down. We should not be surprised when
our loved ones are sick or the Lord's loved ones are sick. For
David declared, Didn't he? It's good for us? Let's turn
and see what he says over here in Psalm 119. I want to show
you something here in Psalm 119. Now, I know right doctrine is
important, but right spirit is equally important, and right attitude And compassion
and tenderness and kindness and these things are equally important
as right doctrine. And I can teach you doctrine
in this pulpit, but God has to teach us right attitude and spirit
and love and tenderness in His dealings. That's where we learn
those things, in the furnace. You can learn doctrine in the
classroom, but you only learn grace, heart grace, experience
grace. You only learn that in God's
classroom, the Spirit of God ringing you out. That's where
you, that's right. And so, now watch this. Psalm 119. I'm going
to show you some verses. First, verse 15 and 16. I will meditate in thy precepts,
and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy
statutes. I will not forget thy word. Now
he uses this all the way through here. Now look at verse 47. I
will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands
also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved,
and I will meditate in thy statutes. All right, verse 64. The earth,
O Lord, is full of thy mercy. Teach me thy statutes. I'm going
to meditate on them and study on them." And now he said, well,
teach them to me. All right, I'll teach them to
you. Verse 71. It is good for me that I've been
afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. That's where I learned it. A fellow came to Brother Mews
one time and said, Brother Mews, pray that the Lord will give
me patience. He said, all right. I said, let's
get down here and pray. So they got on their knees there
in the study, and Brother Mews said, Lord, I pray you'd give
this young preacher a hard time, a hard road to walk, high mountains
to climb and deserts to walk through and storms in his life
and trouble. He said, Brother Mews, you misunderstood
me. I didn't ask for trouble, I asked
for patience. He said, son, trouble works patience. There's no shortcut to learning
patience. You don't learn that, you learn,
you need patience in the classroom. You see, strong men and women,
now listen to me, listen, listen good. Strong men and women are
apt to be harsh. and unsympathetic, the stronger
we are, the more independent we are, the more competent and
confident we are, the more we're prone to be harsh and unsympathetic
to those who are not like us, who are weak. So what does the
Lord have to do to us? He has to take us to the furnace
and melt us. That's right. Got to bring it
down, got to take the starch out of us, because we got a lot
there, you know. And the world, in this world,
I know you need a lot of that. You need a lot of, you need a
lot of that backbone. But sometimes we're,
and folks that are out there dealing with the world all the
time, they get like them if they're not careful. So God has to whittle
us down. Strong, independent men and women
can only learn tenderness and compassion by their own pain
and tears. That's right. And those who have
much in ability, in possessions, in gifts, in strength... You see, he says that. Don't
let the wise man glory in his wisdom. He will. Don't let the
strong man glory in his strength, he will. Don't let the wealthy
man glory in his riches, because he will. But let him glory, who
glories in the fact he knows Me. And how's that going to take
place? Well, God's got to, God's got to bring those who are high
down. Got to. I read a story about
a A business man who was on a train one time. He was a believer. And he was riding a train and
there was a little girl across the aisle in her daddy's lap.
A man sitting there, a big rough country fella holding a little
two or three year old girl. There riding in the coach of
the train. The little girl kept crying and fretting and crying
and fretting. And the man wanted his nap. He turned finally and said to
the man holding the little girl, said, Why don't you give that
child to her mother?" And the man replied, I wish I
could, sir. But her mother's up there in
the baggage car in a casket, and we're taking her home to
bury her. I'd like to give her to her mother. Oh, you said,
I bet he felt bad. Well, he should have. See, that's,
God's got to do that to us. We got to make fools out of ourselves
before we realize we are fools. That's right. And then when we
ever realize that we're nothing but a bunch of fools, it might
be helpful. Right. Fools for Christ's sake,
but fools. Harsh. So that's where you, it's
good for me that I've been afflicted. That's where I learned this statute. See, the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink. It's righteousness and peace
and joy and love in the Holy Ghost. That's the kingdom of
God. And you learn the meat and drink in the classroom, and you
learn the love and grace and righteousness and peace in the
furnace. So, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. Well, don't be surprised, because
that's where he learns God's statutes. All right, here's the
fourth thing. Take this down. We should not
be surprised when the Lord's loved ones are tried because
often it's not so much for them as it is for someone else. And for the glory of God. Look
back at my text. Our Lord gave us a clue here. His sister said in verse 3 of
John 11, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. And our
Lord Jesus said this sickness is not unto death. Lazarus is not going to remain
dead. This is not the end of his life. But this sickness is
for the glory of God. This sickness is for the glory
of God. that the Son of God might be
glorified thereby." What is he saying? This. God has sent this
illness that God might be glorified in Christ raising Lazarus from
the dead. Just a few days later, our Lord
raised him from the dead. And God is glorified when Christ
is glorified. Look at John 17, verse 1. Then these words spake Jesus,
John 17, 1, and lifted His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the
hour has come. Glorify Thy Son. Thy Son, they
glorified Him. And when our Lord went out to
that grave, they told Him to roll away the stone. And then
He said, Lazarus, for Martha said He'd been in there four
days. He stinks. Lord, don't roll away the stone.
But they did. Lazarus come forth, and he came
forth, and the Scripture says, many believed on him. They saw
what he did, and they believed on him. They believed on him. Think of the people who were
blessed by John Bunyan twelve years in prison. Think of the
people who've been blessed by the writing of that book. God didn't put John Bunyan in
prison for twelve years just to make him suffer, or his family
be deprived, though they were, or just for his sake, though
it was for his sake. But it was for the glory of God,
the accomplishment of the Lord's purpose. Bunyan's suffering touched
the lives of thousands of people who through That man's preaching
and books came to knowledge of the gospel. So it's worth it all. Yeah, that's
what he's saying. Think of all the people who were
encouraged and comforted by that man's writings. Think of the
lives that were changed. Think of David Brainerd Southerland.
Died and he's 29 years old. get all the lives that He touched. Let's turn to Philippians 1.
Let me show you this in the writing of Paul. Philippians 1. You know, God said to Pharaoh,
He said, for this same purpose I raised you up that I might
show my power in you that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth, even old Pharaoh. God worked in his life for his
glory. And Paul says here in Philippians
1, verse 12, I would, brethren, that you should understand, I
would that you should understand, brethren, that the things which
have happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the fathers of
the gospel. So that my bonds, he was in prison, my bonds for
Christ, are manifest in all the palace and in all other places,
and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my
suffering, my imprisonment and bond, are much more bold to speak
the word without fear." So Paul being in prison was for the Lord's
glory, the accomplishment of his purpose, and for others'
people. And I'm saying that that God sends afflictions and
trials and troubles our way for our good, yes, for His glory,
and for the good of others whose lives we touch if we bear a good
witness. So, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. Well, don't be surprised. He's just a man, though God's
man, but still a man. Secondly, God promises trials
and troubles. Thirdly, afflictions are good
because they enable us to mature in the grace of God. And fourthly,
all the trials are for His glory. Oh, and won't you see, secondly,
something here, second point overall. Here's a call for help.
Here's a call for help. It says here in verse 2, the
last line, "...whose brother Lazarus was sick. whose brother Lazarus was sick,
therefore his sisters sent unto him." Sent unto whom? The Lord. They sent unto the Lord. They
cried unto the Lord. I'll tell you one thing. I'll
tell you one thing. I'll tell you one thing trial
does for every one of us. It causes us to call upon God. more frequently and more fervently
than we did before. Now you know that and I don't
know that. It's so characteristic of us when we
have things going pretty well our way to be negligent in this
matter of calling on God. It may be like Our Lord said
to Martha, you're cumbered about with much care. But I tell you,
when Lazarus was in there dying, she had one care. She cried to
the Lord. Cried to the Lord. So that's
good, isn't it? Trials will cause us to be more
fervent and more frequent in our calling on the Lord. And
I'll tell you another thing about these girls, to their credit. They didn't plead their merit.
When they sent word to the Lord that Lazarus was sick, they didn't
say, now, Lord, we're your friends. They didn't say that. They said,
he whom you love is sick. And they didn't remind the Lord
that they'd fixed a lot of meals for him, or entertained him in
their home, or entertained his disciples. Why should this happen
to me? I've been a servant of the Lord for 40 years. They didn't
say that. Why in the world should this
come my way? I've done all I can do to help people. I've been
helping people all my life." You heard that? They didn't say that. They didn't
plead their merit, they didn't plead their works, and they didn't
tell him what to do either. They just sent one simple message,
Lord, be whom thou lovest. That'd be a pretty good prayer
to pray for Bill, wouldn't it? I know all these things that
God has used Him to do, but that's not the way to pray, is it? The
way to pray is, He whom thou lovest is saved. Now, He's yours.
He's yours. He's yours. The songwriter said, Are you
weary? Are you heavy laden? Heavy hearted? Tell it to Jesus.
Are you grieving over joy as departed? Tell it to Jesus. Do
you fear the gathering clouds of sorrow? Tell it to Jesus.
Are you anxious what shall be tomorrow? Tell it to Jesus. Are you troubled at the thought
of dying? Tell it to Jesus. For Christ's coming kingdom are
you signed? Tell it to Jesus. He may heal
and He may not. He may grant our requests. And
He may not. But we'll bow to His will and
praise Him, whatever He's pleased to do, when we tell it to you. That's right. I want to show you a scripture
over here in Daniel, just a moment. Daniel 3. Would you look over
there a moment? These three Hebrew children,
when the old king was about to cast them into the furnace of
fire, Daniel chapter 3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And the old king said the last
line in verse 15, Daniel 3 verse 15, this is worthy of a good
strong underlining in your Bible. The old king said in Daniel 3
verse 15, the last line, And who is that God that shall deliver
you out of my hand? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful
to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God, whom we
serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace,
and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not,
if He doesn't, Be it known unto you, O King, we will not serve
your gods, nor worship your golden image which you set up." Let
that be understood by you. That if He does deliver us, that's
fine. If He doesn't, we're still going
to worship Him. He's still our God. All right, the last point
now I want to show you from this over here. These sisters, a fact,
Lazarus was sick. They sent to the Lord. And here's
a surprising result. I think I can tell you what Mary
and Martha thought when they sent that messenger to the Lord.
Lazarus was sick, critically ill. And they called someone,
they said, you go tell the Lord that he whom the Lord loves is
sick. You know what they expected? They waited till the messenger
had time to get there. And they thought, now as soon
as he gets there, Lazarus is going to get up. Just as soon
as the messengers get to the Lord, we'll give him a half a
day to get there. And when he gets there, it's
all going to be alright. Well, a half a day passed, Lazarus
was worse. And through the night, two days,
the Lord never came. The next morning, he was worse.
And I just, I know myself, and I think I know these young ladies,
and I think they were saying, well, wonder why the messenger's
not there. He should certainly be there
by this time. He's been gone for 24 hours. We don't understand
this at all. Finally, Lazarus died. That's what Martha greeted the
Lord with. If you'd been here, you wouldn't have died. And so I'm saying this, and this applies to all of us
under any circumstance. Remember, when we're praying concerning a trial, we're not
informing the Lord. He already knows. He already
knows. We're not informing Him. We're
not instructing Him. He'll do what He will. We're
exhorting and entreating Him. Entreating. Lord, be merciful. And if He does not answer as
we want Him to, remember, there's a prayer that may be in conflict
with ours, going up at the same time. Let's find out what it
is. John 17. John 17. If ever prayer for the sick brought
healing, no one would die. So I've got to face this if I'm
praying concerning myself or a friend, a loved one. I've got to remember that there
may be another prayer in conflict with mine. In John 17, verse
24, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me,
whom I love, be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the
foundation of the world. While we're praying, Lord, heal. The Lord Jesus may be interceding,
bring Him home. I want Him to be where I am,
that He may behold my glory. Yeah. Well, someone said, well,
He did come and raise Lazarus. He did. He let him die, but He
came and raised him. Yeah, and He's going to raise
us too, tomorrow. He raised us to tomorrow. Someone's written this hymn.
Let me give it to you. I think it's very good. Sovereign
ruler of the skies, ever gracious and ever wise, all my times are
in thy hands, all events at thy command. Thy decree that formed
the earth fixed my first and second birth. He that form me
in the womb, He'll take me to the tomb. All my trials shall
ever be ordered by His wise decree. All must come and last and end
as shall please my Savior friend. Plagues and death around me fly. Till He speaks, I cannot die.
Not a single shaft can hit so that God of grace thinks fit. May I always own thy hand, willing
by thy will to stand. Knowing that thou art God alone,
I and mine are all thine own. Behold, he whom thou lovest is
sick.