In this 11th chapter of John,
we have the seventh and the last miracle before the Lord's crucifixion
recorded in the Gospel of John. And I would remind us that after
the first miracle, when he turned the water into wine at the marriage
feast, that we read, this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana
of Galilee and manifested his glory, manifested forth his glory,
and his disciples believed on him. And then, tonight, if you
notice in verse 4, he tells his disciples that this sickness,
this sickness and eventually this miracle, is for the glory
of God. the Son of God might be glorified
thereby. And again, down in verse 15,
he said, to the intent you may believe. I think we have the
purpose here of the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ in these
two things. First of all, the miracles which
Christ our Lord performed manifest forth His glory. It declares
that He is the Son of God. And second, that His disciples
might believe on Him. Now, this evening we're only
going to look at the first 16 verses. And let's read these
verses first. 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 sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said,
this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha
and her sister and Lazarus. When he had heard, therefore,
that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place
where he was. Then after that, saith he to
his disciples, let us go into Judea again. His disciples say
unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and
goest thou thither again. Jesus answered, Are there not
twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he
stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But
if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there's no
light in him. These things said he, and after
that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but
I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples,
Lord, if he sleep, He shall do well. Albeit Jesus spake of his
death, but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest
and sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. And I'm glad for your sakes that
I was not there, to the intent you may believe. Nevertheless,
let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called
Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die
with him. There's much in these 16 verses,
but I want to bring out four things that we may observe from
the various sayings, the various sayings in these verses. First, what we may observe from
the sayings about love and sickness. Love and sickness. You probably
didn't notice, as I did, because I read through the passage several
times, but in the first six verses, John uses the word sick or sickness
five times. In fact, He uses the word sick
or sickness in every one of the first six verses except verse
five. And in verse five, John was inspired
by God the Holy Spirit to write, now Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus. And I have two observations to
make here. Number one, The fact that Jesus
loved Lazarus and he was sick shows that sickness is not inconsistent
with the Savior's love. Sickness is not inconsistent
with the Savior's love. It was not because He did not
love Lazarus. It was not because he did not
love his sisters. It was not because Lazarus did
not believe. It was not because Lazarus or
his sisters did not have faith that Lazarus was sick. The Lord Jesus states that the
sickness of Lazarus was not because of lack of faith. And I say this
because sometimes people will tell you, well if you only believed.
If you only had faith. It's always God's will for His
children to be well, to be whole. That's not true. That's just
not so, my friends. That's a lie. No, the Lord Jesus
states that this sickness, the sickness of Lazarus, was not
because he was not loved by the Lord, it was not because he did
not have faith, but it was rather for the glory of God. The glory of God. One of the
devices of Satan, I mentioned in the message this morning,
some of you were not here, The Apostle Paul tells us we are
not ignorant of his devices. One of the devices that he has
to rob God's children of their joy and of their assurance is
to insinuate, to insinuate lies into a person's mind, those fiery
darts that he casts. If, if you truly believed, you
wouldn't be sick. If you truly were a child of
God, you wouldn't suffer in this way. Maybe it's sickness, maybe
it's some other trial or problem that you're going through, but
just always remember this. Whatever it is, it's not inconsistent
with the Savior's love. Whatever it is. Lazarus was sick,
but John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us clearly. Now
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. The second observation
is the fact that John named these three as loved by Jesus shows
us that the love of the Lord Jesus Christ includes many. Remember that John wrote this
gospel after the Lord was crucified. After he was raised, after he
had ascended into heaven and poured out his spirit. Now five
times in this gospel, the gospel of John, John tells us that the
Lord loved him. Five times He tells us that He
was Him whom the Lord loved. That is John. I want you to look
at these five times, and I have a point here. In chapter 13,
let's just turn quickly through these verses. In John chapter
13 and verse 23, we read Now there was leaning on Jesus's
bosom one of his disciples. Who was he? He was the one whom
Jesus loved. Who was that? John. All right,
look in chapter 19 at the cross. Chapter 19 of John. And verse 26. When Jesus therefore saw his
mother and the disciples standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto
his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Who was this disciple whom
he loved? John. John. All right, look in
chapter 20, the next chapter, verse 2. Then she runneth and
cometh to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, whom Jesus
loved, and saith unto them, they have taken away the Lord out
of the sepulchre. And then, if you will, in chapter
21, two times in chapter 21, verse 7, therefore that disciple whom
Jesus loved, now they're in the ship. These disciples who went
fishing that day, they were in the ship. And John writes, therefore
that disciple whom Jesus loves saith unto Peter, it's the Lord,
it's the Lord. He had spoken to them from the
shore and told them to cast their net on the other side of the
ship. And then down in verse 20, the
last time in verse 20 of this chapter, Then Peter, turning
about, after the Lord had asked Peter three times, Simon, son
of Jonas, lovest thou me? And Peter responded each time,
thou knowest that I love thee. And that last time, Lord, thou
knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. And then our
Lord told Peter how he would glorify his Lord in his death. That's something. That's a different
subject. But excuse me. Let me just take
a shortcut here. Or a by-path. That should be
the desire of every one of us. Every child of God. That in our
death, we glorify God. In our life, yes. But also in
our death. And the Lord told Peter how He
would glorify Him in His death. And then notice. In verse 20,
then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved. Now who is this? Well, let's
read on. Peter, turning about, seeth the
disciples whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned on his breast
at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter,
seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus
saith unto him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is
that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this
saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not
die, yet Jesus said not unto him he shall not die, but if
I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This, who
is it? This is the disciple which testifieth
of these things, and wrote these things, and we know that his
testimony is true. Now my point in showing us these
verses all through the Gospel of John, where he refers to himself,
not by name. Not by name. And that tells us
something about the humility of the Apostle John, doesn't
it? But my point is that John knew that the Lord's love was
special. He knew that the Lord Jesus loving
him was special, but he also knew this. He knew that the Lord's
love embraced many. Many. Not just a few, but many. John was not like those who seem
to believe that only those who agree with them in every point
are included in the Lord's love. John had learned his lesson about
the Lord's love. Keep your place here, but look
over in Luke's gospel just a moment. Luke chapter 9. I say John knew that the Lord's
love is special, no doubt about it, special. He never got over
the fact that the Lord loved him. I haven't either, have you? To
think that he would love me. That's the most humbling thing
you can think about, any child of God. If there's ever been
a person who did not deserve who could not merit His love. I know one. I know one. And yet, He loved
me and gave Himself for me. John learned this. He knew that
the Lord's love was special. But he also knew that it includes
many, many people. John, in Luke chapter 9, when
our Lord was on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified, in verse 51
we read, And it came to pass when the time was come that he
should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers before
his face, and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans
to make ready for him. And they did not receive him.
The Samaritans in this village did not receive the Lord Jesus
Christ. because his face was as though
he would go to Jerusalem. Now they did not believe that
Jerusalem was the place where to worship God. They believed
it was in these mountains, as that woman at the well told the
Lord. And so, when they saw that he
was going to Jerusalem, they did not receive him. But notice,
And when his disciples, James and John, yes, this very John
who wrote this gospel, when James and John saw this, they said,
Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven?
We'll teach these people. We'll show these people. You
just give the word. We'll do like Elijah did when
that king sent those men to arrest him. Lord, wilt thou that we
command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even
as Elias did? But he turned and rebuked them
and said, you know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man is not come
to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Aren't you thankful? This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. He did not come here to destroy
men's lives. Now I ask you this, if we are
made to see an apostle, John, if we are made to see how he
grew in grace, then Shouldn't we allow for the growth of others? Just because everyone does not
dot every I and cross every T like I do, does that mean I'm not
talking about in matters that are fundamental. I'm not talking
about men who deny the Trinity, who deny the deity of Christ,
and other truths that we hold dear. God's sovereign grace and
his election and his effectual atonement. But in some matters,
we don't all see everything the same way. But John knew that
the Lord's love embraces many. And I say, if we can see, if
we're made to see the growth of an apostle, surely we should
be able to allow the growth in others. And it may turn out we're
the ones who need to grow. You say, well, how many? How
many are embraced in His love? Well, I don't know the exact
number, but I know there is an exact number But John saw it
like this, a great multitude, which no man could number, of
all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues. So that's
the first point. What we may observe from the
saying in these verses about sickness and love. Now my second
point, what we may observe from the saying, this sickness is
not unto death. You notice that in verse four,
Jesus heard that. He said, this sickness is not
unto death. We know that Lazarus did die.
We know that when the Lord did come, he had already laid in
the grave. His body had been in the grave
four days. What then does it mean when the
Lord says, this sickness is not unto death? Well, we've got to
take the whole sentence, don't we? We can't just take that one
phrase. This sickness is not unto death, comma, but for the glory of God,
that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. I like what
Matthew Henry commented. He said that this was not the
errand upon which this sickness was sent. It came not as in a
common case to be a summons to the grave. But there was further
intention in it. That is, this sickness was not
unto death. That was not the errand upon
which this sickness had come to Lazarus. There was further
intention in it. And the further intention in
it was, as our Lord said, the glory of God, that the Son of
God might be glorified thereby. Matthew Henry also pointed this
out. Death. What is death? Well, one of the things he said
about death, it is an everlasting farewell to this world. It is
an everlasting farewell to this world. When a person dies, no
one ever comes back. The only one who ever did is
the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, Lazarus, he did come back.
This sickness is not ended. Death is an everlasting farewell
to this world. It wasn't in the case of Lazarus.
He came back. And then something else I thought
of is Solomon. In the book of Ecclesiastes,
he said that for the dead, their grave, our grave, is our long
home. Now, Lazarus's grave wasn't for
a long time. It wasn't for a long home. It
was for four days. So this sickness is not unto
death. what we may observe from the
same, our friend Lazarus sleepeth. Well, two points. Number one,
the Lord Jesus calls those he loves his friends. He calls those whom he loves
his friend. He said, greater love hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
When Christ lay down his life for his friends, that is, those
whom he loves, we were actually his enemies. We were literally
his enemies. But he had chosen each and every
one of them to be his friend, and by laying down his life for
them, dying in their stead, in our stead, he reconciled us unto
God, and he made us to be his friends. Now, it adds nothing
to Christ for us to be his friends. It doesn't add anything, does
it? But I tell you, it adds a whole lot to us to be his friend, for
him to say, my friend. Abraham was his friend. And I
think about in the Song of Solomon when the bride in that song had
lost her beloved, and she was looking for him, and the other
virgins, they asked her, well, what's special about your beloved? What's so special about him?
And you remember she began, I believe, with his hair and his eyes and
his body. Everything about him was beautiful.
And then she concluded with this. This is my beloved. This is my friend. This is my
friend. And I would just interject this,
when two people marry, you better marry someone who's your friend.
You better look for someone who's your friend. A friend like the
Lord Jesus Christ. One who sticketh closer than
a brother. One to whom you can Open up your
heart and know that your heart and your sayings are safe with
that person. The beloved, the bride, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ, she said, this is my beloved. This
is my friend. And isn't it wonderful to have
a friend like Jesus? I mean, someone to whom you can
Unbosom every care, every problem, every difficulty, no matter,
every temptation, no matter what it is, and know that He cares. The second thing under this heading,
the Lord Jesus spoke of the believer's death as sleeping. Death for a child of God is like
sleeping. We know that he was not saying
that the soul of a believer sleeps, because the Apostle Paul, for
instance, there's many other verses, but for instance, the
Apostle Paul said, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to
be absent from the body, that is, at death the soul leaves
the body, but where does it go? The soul doesn't go in the grave,
the soul doesn't sleep, No, the Apostle said to be absent from
the body and to be present with the Lord. None of us have ever
experienced that. So we can only imagine what it's
like to immediately close our eyes here in death and immediately
open them in the presence of our Lord. That quick, in the
twinkling of an eye. There's no long journey that
our soul has to make on its way to be in the presence of God. No, to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord. Death for a child of God is like
sleeping. And I say that because of this. When we go to sleep, as we will
do this evening, the Lord willing, we'll go home, we'll lay down
in our beds, and we will go to sleep. What are we going to do?
We're going to rest. We're going to rest from our
labors. And in Revelation 14 and verse
13, The Lord told John to write, blessed are the dead which dine
the Lord from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they may
rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. So when
our Lord speaks of death, the death of a believer like sleeping,
well, it is like sleeping in the sense that we're resting
from our work. And the second thing, when we
go to sleep, every one of us tonight, when we turn out the
light and lay down, some people just fall to sleep immediately.
Some of us are not like that anymore. You might start praying. That's a good way to go to sleep,
isn't it? Praying. Someone told me recently,
She prays when she can't sleep. She just goes through the congregation.
She knows where everyone sits and begins praying. But we expect to get up in the
morning, don't we? We do. We expect to get up in
the morning. I have a friend, some of you
know who I'm talking about, but he says every morning, Or every
night when he goes to bed, he prays, Lord, don't let me wake
up here in the morning. Don't let me wake up here in
the morning. Or I hope I wake up in heaven in the morning. But when we go to sleep, we expect
to get up in the morning. And when our bodies are laid
in the grave, we lay them there. They're laid there in expectation
of that great morning. when Christ shall come again
and all of his people, their bodies shall be raised. Now here's
the last thing. What we may observe from the
same, this sickness is for the glory of God. Sickness for the
child of God is like many other things that God sends, that God
sends to make us aware that this is not our permanent resting
place. He sends these things for his
glory and for our good to remind us that we are pilgrims passing
through this world. All of us are prone to fix our
hearts on things in this world, and we want to settle down as
if we're going to be here forever. But that's just not so. That's
just not so. This sickness is for the glory
of God. God sends sickness to his children
to remind us, if for no other reason, that we're just passing
through this world. This is not our permanent home. Remember God's word, and I'll
close with this. Remember God's word to Israel
of old. In the book of Deuteronomy, he
told them how he had led them from Egypt to Canaan. And he
said that he had done it like an eagle, stirreth up her nest,
fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them,
beareth them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead thee. The eagle does what she does
to cause the eaglets to learn to use their wings. It's good for them. They may
not care for it at first. They may be afraid when the eagle
takes its young ones on its wings and soars up. But she does this. to cause them to learn to use
their wings. It's good for them, in other
words. When the Lord stirs up our earthly
nest, as unpleasant as it may be to our flesh, we must remember
that this too is for God's glory and for our good. Look at our Lord's intent in
all this proceeding. He tells us in verse 15, to the
intent you may believe. What the Lord brings into your
life, into my life, is for His glory, is for our good, and it
is to the intent that we may believe. That we walk by faith
and not by sight. Well, I pray that the Lord would
bless these thoughts to those of us here this evening. David.