John 11. Now, I'm not going to
preach a sermon tonight. I'm going to, as one old preacher
used to say, visit with you a little while. I'm going to talk to you
a little bit out of my heart and try to present some things
that I believe God has taught me, some of them very recently. John 11, verse 3, we'll select
as our text, Therefore his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord,
behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Now, as I said before, I don't
have all the answers that I would like to have on this subject,
the illness of believers. and divine healing. But I have
a few that I'd like to present. Now, first of all, I have seen
God heal some people. I've seen God miraculously restore
to health those who were given up by doctors and pronounced
incurably ill. I have seen God miraculously
restore them to health. I've seen it in the Word of God.
I've seen it in actual experience. But I have also watched others
die for whom I have prayed and for whom the Church has sincerely
prayed. I've watched the same people
pray for one man or one woman and that person be healed, miraculously
so that there was no doubt that God undertook on that person's
behalf. I've seen the same pastor and
the same people pray for another, and that person just gradually
wastes away and dies. Now, we are not to be discouraged. We are commanded in the Word
of God, and I want you to turn to James chapter 5, a very familiar
scripture, but I read it frequently. and I intend to continue to read
it frequently, our Lord commanded us to pray for the sick. I believe
in divine healing, and this command to pray for the sick comes with
a promise. It's a command with a promise.
He says in James 5, verse 13, Is any among you afflicted? Let
him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing songs. Is any sick among you? Let him
call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing
him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of the faith
shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And
if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." Now,
we know from experience that sometimes God heals His people,
and we know from experience that sometimes God does not heal His
people. Now Charles Haddon Spurgeon,
I don't believe God has ever permitted to live and preach
a man that could preach better than Charles Spurgeon. I don't
believe that God has ever given this world a sounder, more balanced
preacher of the gospel, a more dedicated, devoted man. He printed
almost 3,000 sermons that went out all over the world in many
languages. He had a pastor's college that
sent ministers all over the world preaching the gospel. He had
an orphan's home that housed literally thousands and thousands
of homeless children. He had a church that was always
so crowded that people had to get tickets to get in on Sunday
morning and Sunday night. It was a powerful church. When
he passed away at 58 years of age, they had funeral services
for him in churches all over the world, even in America. Did
you know that Mr. Spurgeon was a very sick man
almost all his life? When Mr. Spurgeon was only 30
years of age, He was sick and spent months,
months, recuperating from some strange illness. And for 18 years,
until he died at 58 years of age, he was out of his pulpit,
sometimes as long as six months. He was in France, in Mentone,
France, trying to find healing and help for this disease. From
the time he was thirty until he was fifty-eight, he was so
ill that on many occasions he called his deacons together and
asked them to get another pastor. And they said to him, we'd rather
have you preach to us one month out of twelve and be gone eleven
than to have somebody else twelve full months. That's how much
they thought of him. But he was so sick all these years. He was so ill, so desperately,
desperately ill. And many, many times they thought
he was going to die, and finally when he was only 58, he passed
away. Now then, why didn't God heal
this man? Why did God take him in the prime
of his life? His church prayed for him. They
had hours and hours of prayer meetings for 18 years that God
would just restore their pastor's health so he could come preach
to them. But he was gone all those months and months and months
away from that church, totally unable to preach. Now then, I
found a sermon that he preached while he was so desperately ill. He was down in Mentone, France.
He'd been out of the pulpit for several weeks, and he was so
sick. But he did speak to a group of
invalid people from all over Europe that had come to that
seaside resort to try to find some help, to try to find some
sunshine and some relief from their suffering. And he gathered
a group of them together one Sunday, and in his sickness he
got up in front of them and preached a sermon that I found and read
and it helped me a great deal. And I'm going to pass on some
of the things tonight to you that he brought out in this message.
And this is the scripture that he used for his text. John chapter
11, verse 3. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. And at the very time that Spurgeon
stood, barely able to stand, and read this text, he only spoke
for about 20 minutes, to these invalid people, and himself just
in pain, constant pain. These are the words he said,
I'm going to pass on to you tonight, many of them, as he spoke to
those people. Now, this message was born not
only out of the Word of God, but born out of experience. And
I know, coming from the heart of a man who wondered, Lord,
all I'm trying to do is preach. Why don't you heal me? All in
the world I'm trying to do is glorify your name. Why don't
you heal me? All in the world I'm trying to
do is give a bunch of homeless boys a place to live, and trying
to teach young men the gospel so they can go out and preach,
and here I am laid up for months at a time. Why don't you heal
me? You said in your word, is any sick called for the elders
of the church? I've called for them. He was
46 years old when he preached this message. I've called Father. He was sick twenty-eight years.
I said eighteen. He was sick twenty-eight years,
times he was thirty until he died at fifty-eight. Twenty-eight
years he was sick. All right, here he brought out
three points. Number one, he said, I see a
fact presented here. The sister said, Lord, behold,
he whom thou lovest is sick. Now, the sisters were Mary and
Martha. The Scripture says, I read it
to you a moment ago, Christ loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He
loved them. Now, the Word of God says that.
We don't have to say, well, maybe Lazarus wasn't saved, or maybe
the reason God doesn't heal so-and-so is because he's not saved, or
because he's not a believer, or maybe because his faith's
not strong enough, or we argue about whose faith it's supposed
to be, the one that's sick or the one that anoints with oil.
Well, that's a waste of time to argue about those things,
especially in this regard, because the Lord says here, He loved
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. I don't know how much faith Lazarus
had, but I know the Lord loved him. The Lord loved him. And these sisters were astonished
that Lazarus should even be sick, being loved of the Lord, for
they said, Lord, behold! Behold, he whom thou lovest is
sick." Now they were saying this, Lord,
we love him and we'd make him well. Don't we think that way
sometimes? We love him and we'd make him
well. And Lord, you love him, and you could make him well with
just a word. And yet he's sick. Lord, behold,
he whom thou lovest is sick. I'm just about fed up with people
who are always saying, well, the reason he's sick is because
his wife is not going to church like she ought to, or the reason
that child's sick is because his daddy's not tithing, or the
reason that so-and-so is sick is because somebody's doing this.
I just don't like that kind of talk at all. Because here, Lazarus
was sick, and he was loved of the Lord. And not only was Lazarus
loved, but the Lord loved his sisters, Mary and Martha. He
loved this blessed little family. He loved this trio of believers. He loved them, and yet these
sisters were saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
That's a fact. That's a fact. Now then, let's
do a little confessing. I'm going to confess, if you
will. Have you not often wondered how a person's painful, lingering
disease can be consistent with his being loved of the Lord?
Now, I've thought about it. Lord, how can you claim to love
Lazarus and let him suffer like that? Lord, how can my illness,
how can Mr. Spurgeon's 28 years of sickness,
how can that be consistent with his being chosen, called, and
loved of God? And yet Spurgeon said himself,
the sickness of a believer loved of Christ should not seem strange
to us, we ought to expect it. We ought to expect it. And here
are the reasons. Number one, we should never be
surprised that the man whom the Lord loves is sick, because even
though the Lord loves him, he's still just a man. That's all
you can make of him. He's still just a man. The one
whom the Lord loves is sick, but the one whom the Lord loves
is only a man. And even men of God are still
men. And as the Lord does not separate
us from the necessities of human life, so he does not separate
us from the infirmities of human life. Now, we may be children
of God, but we still get cold and we need clothing. We may
be children of God, but we still get hungry and we need food.
We may be children of God, but we still get dirty and we need
a bath. And as the Lord has not, the love of Christ, the grace
of Christ, the mercy of Christ has not separated us from the
necessities of life, even so the love of Christ has not separated
us from the infirmities of life. And the covenant of grace is
not a charter of exemption from asthma. And the covenant of grace
is not a charter of exemption from heart ailment. And the covenant
of grace is not a charter of exemption from cancer. Body ill
shall follow us to the grave because we are still human beings. And that came with the fall.
Paul said, we that are in this body do groan. Isn't that what he said? We do
groan. We can expect it. Turn to 2 Corinthians
11 and you'll read some of his sufferings, this great man of
God called Saul or Paul. Listen to what he says in verse
24 of 2 Corinthians 11, of the Jews, five times I received forty
stripes, save one. Five times he was scourged with
thirty-nine stripes. Three times I was beaten with
rods. Once I was stoned. Three times
I suffered shipwreck. I spent a whole night and a day
in the sea, floating about, in journeyings often in perils of
water, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen,
in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false
brethren, in weariness and painfulness. in watchings often in hunger
and thirst, in fastings often in cold and nakedness. That was the life of God's own
chosen one. Now why in the world was he subjected
to all these things? Well, the first reason is he
was a man. And as men, even men and women
of God, we can expect the same infirmities that fall upon other
people to fall upon this body. because it is a human body. All
right, secondly, turn to Hebrews 12, the second thing. Spurgeon
said to these invalids to whom he was preaching, he said, we
should not be surprised when the one whom the Lord loves is
sick, because God promises to chasten, not punish, chasten
and scourge those whom he loves. for their good. Look at Hebrews
12, verse 5. Listen to this. And you have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth. Now if you endure chastening,
God deals with you as with a son. For what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, all believers are partakers of chastisement,
all of them. If you be without it, you are
a bastard and not a son. Now Spurgeon said affliction
of some sort It doesn't have to be illness, but sometimes
it is. Frequently it is illness, but
affliction of some sort is a mark of sonship. Trial and affliction
is a mark of sonship. And instead of being surprised
that I am afflicted, the thing I ought to mourn over is when
I'm not afflicted. That's when I ought to begin
worrying. Now should I be surprised, should I be surprised when I
have to take my turn in the sickbed if Job had to take his, and David
had to take his, and Hezekiah had to take his, and even the
apostle Paul was in ill health with poor eyesight? Turn to Philippians
chapter 2. Now listen to Paul talking about,
and we know We know that Paul was gifted with the power to
heal. We know that Paul went forth
with these credentials that he could lay hands on the sick and
they were healed. But yet he tells us right here
in Philippians 2 verse 25 about his friend and brother and companion Epaphroditus in 25, verse 25
Philippians 2 it is, Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus,
my brother and companion in labor, and fellow-soldier, your messenger,
and he that ministered to my wants. For he longed after you
all, and was full of heaviness, because that you had heard that
he had been sick. And indeed he was sick, nigh
unto death. Here's one of Paul's closest
companions who was sick, nigh unto death. God healed him, but
he didn't keep him from getting sick. Behold, Lord, he whom thou lovest
is sick. Well, that's no new thing. He's a man. And secondly, this
is an affliction and a trial through which God is passing
his servant for his good. And then, we should not be surprised,
thirdly, when the Lord's loved ones are sick, for it's good
for us to be afflicted. It's good for us. God chastens
us. God doesn't chasten us idly and
for nothing. He does it for our good. Turn
to Psalms 119. Here's a verse that ought to
be underlined in our Bibles. referred to frequently. I'm surprised
I haven't read it more than I have to this congregation, but I did
have it underlined, so I have dealt with it before. He says
in Psalms 119, verse 71. Listen to David. Psalms 119,
verse 71. It's good for me that I have
been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. It's good
for me. Strong men are apt to be unsympathetic. Did
you know that? Strong men are apt to be harsh
and unsympathetic, so God has to put them in the furnace and
soften them. I think he did that to me to
a great deal. He's going to do it some more,
I'm sure. But I believe sometimes we are blessed with health and
happiness and success and different things and we get to be harsh
and unsympathetic. And so God puts us in the furnace
and softens us up a little bit. He lets us feel the heat. And
it's good for us. And then strong women, there
are independent strong women who who all their lives have
just had everything their way, and they don't learn tenderness
until they begin to weep, and until they feel pain, and until
they know something about tears. And then they learn how to be
tender, and how to be sympathetic, and how not to be so critical.
The only way that we can enter into the trials of others is
when we've been tried. And the only way we can weep
with those that weep is when we have genuinely, sincerely,
sorrowfully wept uncontrollably. And then we know something about
what it is to weep. But you don't learn that without
experiencing it. You can't learn that in school.
There's no way that you can learn tenderness and gentleness and
kindness and understanding but one way, and that's to feel the
fire and to go through the furnace, and that's the reason God puts
us there. Now the fourth thing he said, this is what he was
saying to these afflicted people. Fourthly, we shouldn't be surprised
when the Lord's loved ones are sick, because it's always for
the glory of God. Look at John chapter 11 again,
and he said that here. He said this in John 11. He said,
This sickness, talking about Lazarus, verse 4, John 11, is
not unto death, it's for the glory of God. It's for the glory
of God. Sometimes through our sorrows,
God awakens the careless. Sometimes through our sorrows,
God will convert the ungodly. Sometimes through our sorrows,
God will teach the indifferent. Sometimes through our sorrows,
God will the bereaved. Now the second thing that he
pointed out, these sisters sent word to Christ, Lord behold,
behold, surprise, we're astounded, we're amazed, he whom thou lovest
is sick. Well of course he's sick, he's
a man, he's subjected to these things, he's a man. Secondly,
whom God loves he chastens, and he does it for our good, we need
it, And then he does it for his glory. But nevertheless, they
sent a call to the Lord. They didn't just sit down and
say, well, he's sick, God's sovereign, so nothing we can do about it.
No, sir. These sisters sent unto the Lord,
and they told him about it. Are you weary? The songwriter
says. Are you 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. Because whether
or not he undertakes to heal, or whether or not he permits
the disease to have its way, It's a great comfort to pour
out our hearts to Him. The Scripture says when John
the Baptist died, they took his body up. His disciples loved
him. He wasn't but 33 years old. And
they took his body up tenderly. They cut his head off. And they
took that body and buried it. And then the Scripture said they
went and told the Lord. He was already over, and John
was buried. He was dead and buried, and his
head was cut off. But they went and told the Lord.
And I'm telling you this. Don't keep your sorrows and your
needs bottled up within. Tell it to the Lord. Just go
ahead and talk it over with Him. Everything. It doesn't matter.
I'm telling you, if He numbers the hairs of your head, then
He certainly cares whether or not you've got a headache. If
the Lord of glory made your arms and legs, he cares whether or
not they hurt. Tell him all about it. He may
heal you. He may heal you. You don't hear people say, well,
I believe in divine healing. I'd just do away with a doctor.
I'd do away with medicine. Spurgeon said this. It is never
wise to live by a so-called faith which refuses a doctor and medicine
any more than to live by a so-called faith that refuses a grocery
man and a tailor and hopes to be clothed and fed. Makes the
same sense, doesn't it? Well, if I'm going to be healed,
I'm going to be healed. I don't need a doctor or medicine.
Well, if I'm going to prosper physically, I don't need to eat
tomorrow. I'll just leave it off. And it makes just about
that much sense. But if God made the body, He
can heal it. If God Almighty made the body,
He can heal it, but it may not be His purpose. There's another
verse that ought to be underlined, Daniel chapter 3. I want you
just to listen. I read this today. Somebody brought
a message on this here because I got a little note out here.
Brother Luther Hooks brought a message on this years ago.
And this is the first time I've turned back and read it since
then, in Daniel 3, verse 16. Now listen to it. Daniel 3, verse
16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king,
Daniel 3, 16, Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful to answer thee
in this matter. In other words, he told them
to fall down and worship his gods, and he wouldn't throw them
in the furnace. They said, it's no problem, we can answer you.
Now here's their answer. If it be so, our God, whom we
serve, is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery serpent."
He's able, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O King,
but if not. Now, that's what we ought to
underscore right there, but if not. Now, He's able, and He can
do it, but if not. Read on. Be it known unto you,
O King, we will not serve your gods, and we will not worship
your golden image which you set up." There you have it. We're going to talk to the Lord
about it. We're going to tell Him all about it. We don't happen
to want to fry in that furnace. We're going to talk to Him about
it. We're going to pray a whole lot about it, and I know they
did. Didn't that furnace send some fellows that were standing
a few yards off when they threw them in? I think so. And they
weren't looking forward to this furnace, and they were going
to pray about it. They were going to talk to the
Lord about it. And they said, if He delivers us, we'll praise
Him, but if He doesn't, we'll still praise Him. We're not going
to worship your false gods. If God heals us the way He said
in His Word, then we'll thank God, but we're not going to submit
to error and heresy. to try to find healing and deliverance. Now then, turn back to John 11,
and this will conclude the message in John 11. You know, Job said
something like these three Hebrew children said. Job said, Though
he slay me, I'll trust him. His wife said, Look at what's
happened to you. You lost all your children. You lost your
health. Your gut boils all over you.
You look terrible. You lost all your friends, you
lost all your money, you don't have anything. Why don't you
just curse God and die?" He said, though he slay me, I'm going
to trust him. And that's what the Hebrew children said. Now,
here, no doubt, these sisters, I'm sure, I'm just sure, as I'm
standing here, that when Lazarus got sick, he was real sick, and
brother, they sent word to the Lord right then, right then. They sent word to the Lord, Lord,
and they sent word pretty positive, Behold, he whom thou lovest is
sick. They expected the Lord to heal
him. And they expected the Lord to heal him just as soon as that
messenger got there. They were waiting. One of the
sisters, I can just hear them now. Mary says to Martha, let's
send and tell the Lord quick. And she said, all right. And
they got a messenger. I don't know how far it was. It wasn't far. But
I'm sure they watched the clock or whatever they had, the sundial
or something, and they figured they'd take that messenger about
four hours to get there. And they went in the room four
hours later and they expected Lazarus to get up. Because you
know the Lord healed the centurion by just, centurion's son was
it, by just saying a word. The centurion said, you don't
have to go to my house, just say the word. And his servant
was healed, whoever was sick was healed. And these daughters,
these sisters were just expecting the Lord to just say the word
and old Lazarus would get right up. But you know what the Lord
did? That wasn't the case. Lazarus died. And not only that, but the Lord
remained down there where he was two more days. He didn't even come up there. In fact, when he got word that
Lazarus was sick, "'Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick.'" Thank
you. He went in and sat down, and
he stayed in there two days. He never even came out and went
up there to see about it. He just stayed in there, stayed
where he was. Now, brother, you think there
wasn't some folks surprised Somebody was talking, one of our elders
was talking to me a few days ago. He said, doesn't it sometimes
bother you that you pray about a matter and pray about it, and
it just seems like it goes to about right there? And that's
just about as far as it goes. And you feel like the Lord is
totally indifferent to all of your cries, and you're pleased,
and you're sincere, and you're in earnest, and you want this,
and it just seems like God's totally indifferent. Well, when
I turned to this scripture here and I saw this, the Lord Jesus
came and said, He whom thou lovest is sick. And for two days he
never even went up there. And the Lord, while informed
of our troubles and informed of our desires, may act as if
he were totally indifferent to them. We must not expect in every
case prayer for recovery to be answered, because if it was,
nobody would die. Isn't that right? Suppose everybody, now I know,
I don't care how many of you get sick in this church, I'm
going to pray for you. But what if, what if God answered all
my prayers, and nobody would die here? And I'll tell you another thing
that's wrong that we've got to remember. We've got to remember. And God takes his people out
at different ages in life. Robert Murray MacSheen, one of
the greatest preachers to ever preach in this country, died
when he was 29. David Brainerd, one of Europe's
greatest preachers and missionaries. Brainerd was here and MacSheen
was over there in Scotland. But David Brainerd was a missionary
to the Indians here in this country. He died when he was 28 or 29.
And Augustus Toplady, who wrote Rock of Ages, Clef for me, died
when he was in his thirties. And Charles Spurgeon, Europe's
greatest preacher, died when he was fifty-eight. And now God's
going to take his own, and he's going to take them when it's
his good time and his good pleasure. And that's the reason I know
that in our prayers for the lives of our friends, there's always
one prayer that's crossing our prayer. Turn to John 17, verse
24, and listen to it. Anytime you pray, if Paul Williams
gets sick tonight and I pray for God to heal him, I've got
to remember there's one prayer crossing my prayer. If Jack Huddle
gets sick and I ask God, God don't let him die, there's one
prayer crossing my prayer. You know whose it is? Well, you
read it here. John 6, 17, verse 24, Father,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am. that they may behold my glory."
In other words, here I am praying that Jack and Paul and Charlie
and Raymond might remain here with us, and here the Lord Jesus
is praying that they might come home. You see what I'm saying? And I've got to submit, I've
got to say, The Lord Jesus said, Father, I will that those whom
thou givest me be with me where I am. And I've got to say, well,
Lord, I want them to stay, but now your will be done. Because
it's going to be done. Your will be done. And I'll tell
you something else I learned from this message. And you listen
real carefully to this now. I don't care. Sometimes our children
can get to be idols, and our friends can become idols. We
must not set such store upon the life of a loved one that
we find ourselves in rebellion against our Master. Now, let's
be careful. Let's don't make a god of clay. Boy, I'll tell you, you see the
heathen in Africa make him a little god out of clay and bake it in
the oven and set it up on the shelf and worship it. These bodies
are nothing but clay. And I make an idol out of a piece
of clay when I love somebody so much that I'm going to book
God if he takes it away from me. Charles Spurgeon said, Shall
dust be so dear to us that we quarrel with our Lord about it? Shall dust be so dear to us that
we quarrel with our Lord about it? So let us remember, when
we're praying for the life of a believer, that our prayers
just might be crossing the will and prayer of the Lord Jesus,
who wants that believer with Him. Let's remember that. But somebody said, Preacher?
That sounded like case then, didn't it? Preacher? Somebody
said, Preacher? Jesus allowed Lazarus to die,
but He raised him. I know that, and He's going to
raise you, too. Tomorrow or the next day, what's
a few years to an eternal God, huh? You say, but He raised Lazarus
two days later. Well, what's two days? What's
two years? What's two decades? What's two
centuries to a sovereign, eternal God? A thousand years is but
a day. There's no time with the Lord
Jesus Christ. If He lets me die tonight, He's
going to raise me too tomorrow, and it'll be just like tomorrow.
We lay down to sleep at eleven o'clock at night, and buzz, that
thing goes off, and where'd the night go? I just lay down. And
when you put me in the grave, the alarm's going to go off,
for the archangel shall descend and the trumpet of God shall
sound, and I'll rise from that grave and say, why, it's morning.
I just lay down. I just lay down. So it doesn't
matter whether the last was sleep for two days, or sleep for two
decades, or two sleep for two millenniums. God raised him,
and God is going to raise you too. But I'll tell you this. Charles Spurgeon closed with
this, and he said, My dear sick friends, my sick companions,
I'm sick too. If Christ loves you and if you
love him, be thankful in whatsoever state he places you. And while
you are sick, let the world see how you glorify God. Let the
friends and nurses and visitors see how the Lord gives you faith
and comfort even in pain. For if our religion is worth
anything, it will support us in pain as well as in pleasure.
and let us learn in reality to live and pray for the will of
God to be done for His glory and for our ultimate good, whatever
the cost. Our Father in Heaven, we are
grateful for Thy Word. We thank Thee for this message
that You sent our way through this great preacher of the past.
We thank Thee, O Lord, that for his affliction that he was able
to say these things because they were born out of the furnace.
They came from experience. And Thou hast given them through
the years down to us, and preserved them, that we might rejoice also
in these things. And Father, let them not be just
words to us, but let this be a real experience in our hearts. And let us go forth from this
auditorium, praising the Lord, whatever our state, praising
the Lord, whatever our future, praising the Lord who holds the
future. In His blessed name we pray,
amen.