{"id":18712,"date":"2018-04-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-29T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/jesus-gives-new-life\/"},"modified":"2022-02-01T17:11:48","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T23:11:48","slug":"jesus-gives-new-life","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/jesus-gives-new-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Gives New Life"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[88],"series_event":[518],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[482],"class_list":["post-18712","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-john","series_event-guest-speaker","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-alex-garcia","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Jesus Gives New Life","sermon_date":"20180429","sermon_month":"04","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":"","sermon_slides":5727,"sermon_mp3":5732,"sermon_id":"42918133614","series_or_event":518,"service_type":[472],"speaker":482,"books_of_the_bible":88,"chapter_and_verse":"11:1-45","sermon_transcript":"Alex Garcia\r\n\r\nJesus Gives New Life\r\n\r\nJohn 11:1-45\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4-29-18\r\n\r\nIn the late 1800\u2019s a man by the name Eric Weisz grew up in New York City.\u00a0 He was the son of a Rabbi, but he didn\u2019t take his father\u2019s occupation because he loved magic.\u00a0 So he took up the occupation of being a magician and he was very, very good at his trade.\u00a0 He took the stage name Harry Houdini, and the magic trick that made him famous, in America and in Europe, was this\u2026 there were a number of them but there was a special one by the name of what he called the water torture cell.\u00a0 This was a trick where they would descend him, drop him slowly upside down into this big rectangle of water, this rectangular box made of glass and the only thing hanging out were his feet, everything else was in the box.\u00a0 And somehow amazingly he would escape from this water torture cell and everybody loved it.\u00a0 The crowds just loved it and they were wowed and entertained over and over and over.\u00a0 And he was probably the best magician, the most accomplished magician of his era.\r\n\r\nWell, I\u2019m sad to say that many view the amazing works of Jesus as Houdini type magic tricks, just things that were tricks and interesting, amazing things that were done to entertain the crowds, to wow the crowds.\u00a0 And this argument that Jesus, well, you know, He was really just an entertainer that did these interesting tricks for entertainment purposes and for purposes of getting the crowds to be amazed.\u00a0 That argument was made two thousand years ago when the church first was established.\u00a0 It was made by a skeptic, an unbeliever by the name of Celsus, and this argument has been repeated over the centuries.\u00a0 Just get on the internet and put in your Google search bar Jesus and magic or Jesus the magician and you\u2019ll see all kinds of garbage there.\u00a0 There\u2019s even an article from that [can't understand word, sounds like Ferrin balanced] media outlet NBC News, and so you see all of this garbage because this argument has repeated itself over and over.\u00a0 And the reason for the argument is this: if someone wants to avoid the message\u00a0 of Jesus the first thing they want to do is discredit the miracles because the miracles and the message are linked.\r\n\r\nAnd one of the Church Fathers, Origen, his name is Origen, captured what this skeptic, this unbeliever who was attacking Jesus\u2019 argument and Jesus\u2019 message, he captured his argument, Celcus, and here\u2019s what Origen said when he was refuting Celcus\u2019s argument, and he repeats it.\u00a0 He says this:\u00a0 \u201c[Celsus] compares them\u201d that is the works of Jesus, \u201cto the tricks of jugglers<\/u>, who profess to do more wonderful things . . . . But, as it helped his [Celcus\u2019] purpose, he compares the (miracles) related of Jesus to the results produced by magic<\/u>.\u201d [\u201cOrigen against Celsus,\u201d in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed.<\/em> A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, and A. C. Coxe, vol. 4 trans. Frederick Crombie (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 427.]\r\n\r\nNow we, as believers, understand that the works of Jesus were not done as phony magic tricks; they were done in the power of God as miracles done in the power of God to communicate a message.\u00a0 Now there\u2019s a legitimate question that we should ask ourselves: why the miracles?\u00a0 Why the specific ones?\u00a0 Why the miracles that Jesus chose?\u00a0 Why heal a blind man? A mute man?\u00a0 A lame man?\u00a0 Why feed 5,000?\u00a0 Why raise someone from the dead?\u00a0 Why not turn a donkey into a turtle?\u00a0 Right, I mean, why not turn a rock into a pineapple?\u00a0 Why the particular miracles that He chose?\r\n\r\nWe should ask ourselves that question and the answer; the answer to that question is because He chose His miracles with extreme precision.\u00a0 The miracles that He chose were there to show that He was ready, willing and able to fulfill the promises that God had given and the prophecies that God had given in the Scriptures, because when Jesus walked on the earth the only Scriptures that existed were the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament.\u00a0 And so Jesus chose His miracles to show that He was ready, willing and able to perform what God had promised, to perform what God had prophesied would happen.\r\n\r\nNow, to be sure Jesus performed miracles and signs and wonders to make an impression on the people who were around Him, to make an impression on the crowd.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t so that they would be entertained like some Houdini type crowd.\u00a0 It was so that they would understand that He was able to fulfill the promises that God had made in the Scripture.\u00a0 Jesus, for example, healed the deaf and the blind and the mute and the lame to fulfill the promise that God made in Isaiah 35.\u00a0 Isaiah 35:5 where Isaiah, he\u2019s talking about the millennium and God communicates through Isaiah and Isaiah records the words of God here:\u00a0 \u201cThen the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. [6] Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.\u201d\u00a0 So what Jesus does is He fulfills a small portion of the larger promise, a small portion of the larger prophecy so that the people could see, oh, He does what the promise says will happen.\r\n\r\nAnd so Jesus didn\u2019t heal all the disabled of Israel.\u00a0 No, He healed only a few who were in His periphery to show them I\u2019m able to do what God has promised.\u00a0 I am able to do what God has promised in the Scripture, the Old Testament and the New Testament are linked.\u00a0 We can\u2019t understand the New Testament if we don\u2019t understand the Old Testament.\u00a0\u00a0 And today we\u2019re going to look at one of those miracles that Jesus performed; it\u2019s the miracle that\u2019s laid out in John 11, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. We\u2019re going to see what He did and why He did it.\u00a0 This is a miracle about how Jesus gives a sign, He gives a wonder, a miracle, a work that He gives new life, that He gives life when life is gone, life is dead, He restores it.\u00a0 That\u2019s what this miracle shows.\r\n\r\nAnd we\u2019ll see today that this miracle shows that Jesus does what God does.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 He gives life. What did God do in Genesis 2?\u00a0 He breathed life into the man and the man became a living being.\u00a0 But God doesn\u2019t just give life, He restores life when life has been lost, where life is dead.\u00a0 And so we learned about that from Pastor Woods just a few weeks ago in Daniel 12:2, another promise from the Old Testament, a promise of resurrection.\u00a0 There we read, \u201cMany of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe raising of Lazarus in John 11 is going to show us that Jesus does what God does; He restores life by resurrecting the dead.\r\n\r\nNow let me just take a moment to talk about the Book of John before we dive into our passage in John 11.\u00a0 The book of John, the Gospel of John, is the only book that has as its express purpose written in the text the evangelization of the unbeliever.\u00a0 Many books of the Bible have the gospel message, of course, but the Gospel of John is the only book that has written in the language of the book, in the text of the book, that its purpose is to evangelize the unbeliever, that\u2019s so that the unbeliever might go from death into life.\u00a0 And here\u2019s what I mean by that:\u00a0 John says in chapter 20, verse 30-31, \u201c Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; [31] but these have been written so that you may believe<\/u>\u201d such an important word in we\u2019re in today, \u201cthe account of Lazarus<\/u>, we\u2019re going to see this word \u201cbelieve\u201d over and over and over this morning. <\/em>\u00a0\u201cThese are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.\u201d\r\n\r\nYou see, people have two options with Jesus.\u00a0 There\u2019s only two things they can get from Jesus, one of two, life or wrath.\u00a0\u00a0 Believe and we receive Jesus\u2019 life, which is eternal life.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t believe then the person is subject to Jesus\u2019 wrath that Jesus will impose at the Great White Throne Judgment when the unbeliever is subject to this horrific wrath and judgment which is being cast into the lake of fire.\u00a0 And so Jesus says I don\u2019t want that, I want you to believe, and so I\u2019m going to show these miracles to show that I AM the Meshia, the Hebrew word for Messiah; I am the Messiah.\u00a0 And so Jesus wants all of humanity to believe and John wants them to believe so he records these miracles in his gospel.\r\n\r\nYou know, we say Jesus Christ, well, Christ is not His last name, of course, right?\u00a0 I mean, if He had a football Jersey it wouldn\u2019t say Christ on the back.\u00a0 Christ is a description, it\u2019s who He is.\u00a0 Meshia, Hebrew for Messiah, which means chosen one or anointed one, Meshia translated into Geek is Christos; Christos translated into English is Christ.\u00a0 So He is Jesus the Christ; for short we say Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The point is Jesus wants them to know that He is the Christ, the One through whom salvation and life are obtained.\r\n\r\nNow if you\u2019re a believer (and I pray that you are) you may be scratching your head and saying well okay, I\u2019m a believer, is the Book of John, since it\u2019s written so that the unbeliever might be saved, is the Book of John of value to me if I\u2019m a believer.\u00a0 YES it is, absolutely!\u00a0 What we\u2019re going to see today, really there are three groups but it\u2019s two types of folks, we\u2019re going to see believers and we\u2019re going to see unbelievers.\u00a0 The account of Lazarus really has two types of folks, unbelievers and Jesus wants them to believe so that they will be saved and receive His eternal life.\u00a0 Believers, who actually most of this account of Lazarus Jesus is dealing with believers, not unbelievers, the believer group here in this account of Lazarus Jesus wants them to develop their faith, to strengthen their faith because faith is like a muscle, you either exercise it and it\u2019s there when you need it or you don\u2019t.\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t exercise it then it gets squishy and it atrophies and it\u2019s not of value for you when you need it.\r\n\r\nNow when it comes to salvation someone goes from being an unbeliever to a believer just by a little more faith than no faith at all and so God takes just a tiny fraction of faith, which is a little more faith than no faith at all in Him, and the person becomes saved.\u00a0 But after they\u2019re saved, well now what?\u00a0 Now that faith needs to be developed and strengthened because this world is full of challenges and difficulties and suffering and God wants us to serve in this world of suffering and so much of the account of the raising of Lazarus today we\u2019ll see is about strengthening the faith of you and me.\u00a0 It\u2019s about strengthening the faith of believers.\r\n\r\nWell, the outline of the raising of Lazarus is basically four points.\u00a0 The first grouping of verses if Lazarus gets sick and dies, that\u2019s verses 1-16.\u00a0 Then Jesus claims to bring new life, verses 17-27.\u00a0 Then there is mourning over the death of Lazarus, [verses 28-37].\u00a0 And then finally Jesus proves His claim that He brings new life by raising Lazarus from the dead.\u00a0 [verses 38-45]\r\n\r\nAnd we\u2019re going to see five Lazarus principles today.\u00a0 Principle number 1, God\u2019s ultimate purpose is to glorify Himself.\u00a0 Number 2, at times God allows\u00a0 us to suffer for His glory.\u00a0 This is a painful principle but it\u2019s a principle in the Scripture so we\u2019re going to lay it out.\u00a0 Number 3, trust God when you\u2019re suffering for His glory.\u00a0 Number 4, Jesus, the God-man, weeps with us in our suffering.\u00a0 He\u2019s not out there detached, disinterested, no, no, no, no, no!\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s interested in you and He\u2019s engaged in\u00a0 your life and He loves\u00a0 you and He longs for you.\u00a0 And so when you suffer Jesus weeps; we\u2019re going to see in this account Jesus weeping for those who are suffering and with those who are suffering.\u00a0 Finally, God blesses those who seek His glory.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s get into our passage with that background in mind.\u00a0 John 11:1, \u201cNow a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. [2] It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.\u201d\u00a0 So here John is telling us this is the Mary that we\u2019re talking about here, the Mary who anointed the oil and wiped His feet, and John describes her actually in the next chapter, chapter 12.\u00a0 Verse 2, \u201c So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, \u2018Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Verse 4, \u201cBut when Jesus heard this, He said, This sickness is not to end in death,\u201d in other words, Jesus is going to raise this man from the dead.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026This sickness is not to end in death but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.\u2019\u201d May be glorified by the sickness.\u00a0 [5]\u201d Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.\u201d\u00a0 The Greek word for love there is agape, this intimate love. These are believers, Martha, Mary, her sister, and Lazarus.\u00a0 Verse 6, \u201cSo when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.\u201d\r\n\r\nSo Jesus is going to let His friend, Lazarus, die so that God will be glorified through Jesus.\u00a0 And that\u2019s principle number one. God\u2019s purpose is to glorify Himself.\u00a0 His purpose in human history is to glorify Himself.\u00a0 There are a number of Scriptures there on the slide, we don\u2019t have time to go into them.\u00a0 [on slide: (Isaiah 48:9-11, Habakkuk 2:14, John 14:13, Romans 11:36, 1 Corinthians 10:31)] \u00a0But that\u2019s His purpose in human history.\r\n\r\nNow the skeptic, the unbel who wants to avoid Jesus\u2018 message and avoid the Word of God says well hey, I got ya\u2018 believer, look, I\u2019m not going to worship a God who is into Himself.\u00a0 This is the argument of the unbel, I\u2019m not going to worship a God who\u2019s arrogant, He\u2019s an egomaniac if He\u2019s into glorifying Himself (again, this is the argument of the unbeliever).\u00a0 Here\u2019s what\u2019s bogus about that argument: it totally misses who God is.\u00a0 It puts God on the same level as the rest of us.\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of like this, if I came and I said look, I am majestic, I am amazingly awesome, I\u2019m just incredible, you need to worship me, you need to praise me, you need to glorify me. Well you rightly say boy, you are a fool, you\u2019re cocky, you\u2019re arrogant and you\u2019re an idiot, and you would run me out of town... as\u00a0 you should!\r\n\r\nBut on the other hand, if God Himself were to appear before us then we would fall on our faces and grovel before Him because his very nature, His very person demands glory because He alond is worthy.\u00a0 He alone is omnipotent.\u00a0 He alone is all powerful, omnipresent majesty, glory, holy, righteousness, truth, love all of those divine characteristics, He alone is those, no one else is!\u00a0 And so He alone is worthy and His very nature demands glory.\u00a0 And so out of an interest of honesty and truth God seeks His own glory because His nature commands it.\u00a0 And so this concept of glory to God is throughout all the Scriptures but it\u2019s especially here in the raising of Lazarus from the dead.\r\n\r\nAnd what we also see in the gospel of John is that God\u2019s self-revelation through Jesus is closely linked to his self-glorification.\u00a0 What I mean by that is when God reveals who He is it brings glory to Him because He alone is God!\u00a0 He alone is worthy!\u00a0 He alone is all of those divine character\u00adistics.\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of like this; when someone takes their Bible and opens it and sees and recognizes that the revelation that is in this Book is of God, then God is glorified because when someone sees that the revelation that is in the Book is from God and they trust in God\u2019s Word as revealed in His Scriptures now God is glorified.\u00a0 Bcause He revealed Himself that brings glory to Himself.\u00a0 Same thing when Jesus walked on the earth.\u00a0 When people saw Jesus and beheld Jesus they recognized this man is of God, this man is from heaven, this man IS God.\u00a0 And so as Jesus revealed Himself He revealed the Father and that revelation prompted glory because faith..., when we have faith in Jesus there\u2019s no glory in\u00a0 us.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 When I beleive in Jesus and I trust in Jesus I\u2019m\u00a0 pushing all the glory to Him because I can\u2019t very well say check me out, I believed in Jesus, I\u2019m all that?\u00a0 What?\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u00a0 If I believed towards Him, He\u2019s the object, so that\u2019s why God demands faith of us, it is kind of tough to glorify God without faith?\u00a0 No, it\u2019s impossibe!\r\n\r\nWhat is the passage in Hebrews, \u201cIt is impossible to please God without faith.\u201c [Hebrews 11:6]\u00a0 And one day faith won\u2019t be required anymore, because one day Jesus will more fully reveal His majesty and His power.\u00a0 And that day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.\u00a0 [Philippians 2:9, \u201cso that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,\u201d\u00a0 Romans 14:11, \u201cFor it is written, \u2018AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.\u201d]\r\n\r\nToday faith is required because God reveals a portion of Himself and so faith is required, but one day Jesus will reveal His glory much more fully and then it will be undeniable that He is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we may have life through His name.\u00a0 [John 20:31, \u201cbut these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.\u201d]\r\n\r\nOur second principle today, and this is a painful principle but it\u2019s in the Scripture so we teach it, at times God allows us to suffer for His glory, to suffer so that He may be glorified.\u00a0 It\u2019s painful to acknowledge because let\u2019s be honest, we don\u2019t like pain and suffering, I don\u2019t, none of us do because it hurts but God\u2019s plan is bigger than ours.\u00a0 That\u2019s because He is God and we are not.\u00a0\u00a0 Job said it well, \u201cThe Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.\u201d\u00a0 [Job 1:21]\r\n\r\nHere\u2019s what we know.\u00a0 God told us to trust Him.\u00a0 God has promised to make \u201call things to work together for good to those who love Him.\u201d\u00a0 That last phrase is real important, \u201cto those who love Him.\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019s not saying that all things are good.\u00a0 No, there\u2019s the good, the bad and the ugly in this world but that promise is telling us that He\u2019s going to cause all of those things to \u201cwork together for good\u201d and there are really two types of suffering.\u00a0 There\u2019s suffering that we bring on ourselves, it\u2019s self-induced suffering from our own sinful decisions.\u00a0 And the solution to that is to confess our sin and to get back into fellowship with Him, get back on His path, 1 John 1:9.\u00a0 [1 John 1:9, \u201cIf we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d]\r\n\r\nAnd the other type of suffering is undeserved suffering, suffering that God allows in our life for His glory; it\u2019s undeserved.\u00a0 And that\u2019s really the suffering we\u2019re going to talk about today.\u00a0 When we go through that we should trust Him; we shouldn\u2019t get mad at God, we shouldn\u2019t get disappointed with God because God has sacrificed much more for us than we will ever sacrifice for Him. God the Father sent His Son with whom He had perfect eternal fellowship, trillions of years ago in eternity past.\u00a0 He sent His Son so that He would be slaughtered for you and me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have that love in me, I can\u2019t send my child to die for the sins of the world, I just don\u2019t have that love in me. Well, praise God I\u2019m not God, right!\u00a0 God the Father send His Son and sacrificed and slaughtered His Son for us because He loves you.\u00a0 So then it\u2019s not just God the Father, it\u2019s God the Son, right?\r\n\r\nGod the Son endured the cross and our sins for us and so God has sacrificed much more than we will ever sacrifice.\u00a0 And so when we say, when we\u2019re mad at God, and let\u2019s just be direct here, when we\u2019re mad at God and we\u2019re disappointed in God we\u2019re sinning, it\u2019s an attitude of sin because what it\u2019s doing is it\u2019s saying I\u2019m the creature, You\u2019re the Creator but You did me wrong, You allowed this thing in my life, You\u2019re wrong, You did me wrong Creator, by allowing this in my life.\u00a0 And so that\u2019s sin, when the creature judges the Creator as being in the wrong.\r\n\r\nSo what are we to do when we\u2019re in suffering, when we\u2019re in undeserved suffering?\u00a0 We\u2019re to trust Him\u2026 we\u2019re to trust Him!\u00a0 We\u2019re to submit to Him and let Him know you don\u2019t understand, and let him know you don\u2019t get it, let Him know that you hurt and you ask for His help.\u00a0 Have you ever prayed Father, this hurts, help me?\u00a0 I have, many times.\u00a0 I think God answers that prayer.\u00a0 This hurts! \u00a0Help me!!!\u00a0 Just pray the prayer \u201chelp me\u201d and He answers that prayer because that\u2019s a prayer of submission, that\u2019s a prayer of trust in Him.\u00a0 That\u2019s a prayer that recognizes you\u2019ve got nowhere else to go but to God.\u00a0 Yes, we should comfort one another, we should be comforted by our family and friends when we\u2019re in suffering.\u00a0 We should weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.\u00a0 But in the end only our Maker gives us life and restores life.\u00a0 And Jesus is like us in all respects except for sinning and so He relates to our suffering.\u00a0 The Bible calls Him \u201ca man of sorrows, whose acquainted with grief.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 53:3, \u201cHe was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.\u201d]\u00a0 And so He weeps with us in our suffering. We\u2019re going to see that as this account of Lazarus unfolds this morning.\r\n\r\nBack to our passage, verse 7, \u201cThen after this He said to the disciples, \u2018Let us go to Judea again.\u201d [8] The disciples said to Him, \u2018Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?\u2019\u201d [9] Jesus answered, \u2018Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.\u00a0 [10] But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0[John 11:7-10]\u00a0 Jesus said to him, I\u2019m doing the Father\u2019s will, nothing is going to happen to Me until it\u2019s time, until it\u2019s My time because I\u2019m doing the Father\u2019s will.\u00a0 Until it\u2019s My time nothing is going to happen to Me.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the same thing for us; the safest place for us to be is in the will of God. When we\u2019re outside the will of God now we\u2019re in the danger zone, but that\u2019s Jesus\u2019 point there.\r\n\r\nVerse 11, \u201cThis He said, and after that He said to them, \u2018Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 When Jesus uses the word sleep here He\u2019s alluding back to Daniel 12:2, the promise of resurrection.\u00a0 What does Daniel 12:2 day, \u201cMany of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus is unpacking for them that He\u2019s the One who fulfills the Scripture.\u00a0 He\u2019s the One who fulfills the Scripture of resurrection.\r\n\r\nVerse 12, \u201cThe disciples then said to Him, \u2018Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.\u2019 [13] \u201cNow Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought He was speaking of literal sleep.\u201d\u00a0 [14] So Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead [15]\u00a0 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe;\u201d there\u2019s that word again, \u00a0\u201cbut let us go to him.\u2019\u201d Notice in verse 15 Jesus is saying I didn\u2019t grant Martha and Mary\u2019s request that I get there quicker so that I could heal him so that he wouldn\u2019t die.\u00a0 And I\u2019m glad that my friend died, Jesus says, so that you disciples \u201cwill believe.\u201d\r\n\r\nWait a second, time out, believe?\u00a0 These guys are already believers except for Judas\u2026 believe what?\u00a0 They\u2019ve already believed and trusted that He\u2019s the Christ.\u00a0 Jesus wants them to trust Him, to understand who He is.\u00a0 They trusted that He\u2019s the Christ but they don\u2019t fully understand who He is.\u00a0 They\u2019ve trusted that He is the Christ and so God has taken that little speck of faith that they had and made it effective for salvation; they\u2019re believers but now He wants to grow their faith, like a muscle.\u00a0 He\u2019s going to reveal to them, (the disciples) who He is more fully so that they may believe and so through believing they\u2019ll glorify Jesus and that means they\u2019ll glorify the Father.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s what Jesus wants to do in your life and in my life too; He wants us to exercise our faith muscle so that develops and we trust in Him for all things.\u00a0 We trust in Him when life is all roses and we trust in Him when life is the pits, because we\u2019re in suffering, because we live in this fallen broken world and suffering comes our way.\u00a0 Jesus is glorified by revealing who He is and who God is so that people will believe or trust in Him.\r\n\r\nThere are three groups here in this account of Lazarus.\u00a0 There are the disciples, they\u2019re believers, He wants to grow their faith.\u00a0 There\u2019s Martha and Mary, they\u2019re believers, He wants to grow their faith.\u00a0 So we\u00a0 have this set of folks that are believers and then as I mentioned earlier we have a third group which are unbelievers, the folks standing around the tomb, Jesus wants them to take the first step, which is faith in Him, so that they will have life.\u00a0 Each of these three groups doesn\u2019t get it.\u00a0 There\u2019s something they misunderstand about Jesus, each one of them.\u00a0 And so Jesus has to reveal a little more and in revealing a little more He is glorified and through that the Father is glorified.\r\n\r\nThis first group, what they don\u2019t get, what they misunderstand about Jesus is they think Jesus is saying Lazarus is taking a siesta, He\u2019s just sleeping, He took some antihistamines because He\u2019s sick and He\u2019s just taking a nap.\u00a0 They don\u2019t understand that Jesus is saying no, no, no, He\u2019s DEAD!\u00a0\u00a0 And I allowed him to die so that your faith will grow disciples.\u00a0 I allowed him to die so that you will see who I am because I want to reveal that to you and through that I\u2019m going to be glorified and through that the Father is going to be glorified.\u00a0 You know, I a little bit we\u2019re going to see what the other two groups also misunderstand about Jesus.\r\n\r\nVerse 16, \u201cTherefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his<\/em> fellow disciples, \u2018\u201cLet us also go, so that we may die with Him.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 This is the same Thomas who we call doubting Thomas, the disciple who wouldn\u2019t believe in the resurrection until he saw the holes in His hands and His side and touched them.\u00a0 But here Thomas is right on; here we should acknowledge Thomas for his courage and devotion and commitment to the Lord.\u00a0 We each fail and we each have moments of\u00a0 success and obedience to the Lord.\u00a0 This is a great moment of obedience and trust of Thomas.\u00a0 Later he\u2019s going to have a moment of failure.\r\n\r\nWell, that ends the first part of our study here this morning in terms of the account of Lazarus.\u00a0 Lazarus has gotten sick and he\u2019s died.\u00a0 The second part that we\u2019re now getting into is Jesus claims to bring new life, and that\u2019s verses 17-27.\u00a0 There we read: [17] So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.\u201d\u00a0 So Lazarus is really dead, it\u2019s not as if he\u2019s been dead three minutes, you know, five minutes and we\u2019re not sure if he really passed on.\u00a0 NO, he is dead, he\u2019s been in the grave four days.\r\n\r\nVerse 18 , \u201cNow Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; \u00a0[19 ] and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their<\/em> brother. [20] Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. [21] Martha then said to Jesus, \u201cLord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. [22] \u2018Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So Martha runs out to meet Jesus to accuse Him of doing wrong, to accuse Him of not getting there on time; she trusts that Jesus is the Christ.\u00a0 She knows that Jesus can heal and that\u2019s why she\u2019s upset, because she\u2019s upset that Jesus didn\u2019t get there earlier so her brother wouldn\u2019t die and she wouldn\u2019t be in this grief and everyone else around her in this grief.\u00a0 You could say she\u2019s disappointed with Jesus, which she shouldn\u2019t be.\u00a0 That\u2019s a sinful attitude.\r\n\r\nBut Jesus wants her to trust Him and so He\u2019s going to reveal more about His self to her. Verse 23, \u201cJesus said to her, \u2018Your brother will rise again.\u2019\u00a0 [24] Martha said to Him, \u2018I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.\u2019\u201d She\u2019s making a statement about some future event, a resurrection, the resurrection that\u2019s been promised in the Scripture and like the disciples Martha doesn\u2019t understand what Jesus is saying.\u00a0 Martha misunderstands, she doesn\u2019t understand that Jesus is talking about right now your brother will rise again so Jesus can reveal some more to her.\u00a0 He said to her Martha, you don\u2019t get it.\u00a0 I\u2019m not talking about some future event of resurrection, I\u2019m talking about right now you\u2019re going to see who I am.\u00a0 Right now you\u2019re going to see that I am the one who restores life. Right now\u00a0 you\u2019re going to see that I do what God does because I am God!\r\n\r\nVerse 25, \u201cJesus said to her, \u2018I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, \u00a0[26] and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Do you believe this He says?\u00a0 Jesus says \u201cI am the resurrection\u201d meaning I am the one who does Daniel 12:2, raise believers and raise unbelievers, I am the resurrection, I\u2019m going to do that, I\u2019m going to do what the Scripture promised and prophesied.\u00a0 I have that power.\u00a0 I have power over life and death.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to do that.\u00a0 But He\u2019s not just the resurrection, He says, \u201cI am the resurrection and the life\u201d so those believers that I raised, I\u2019m going to raise them to everlasting life.\u00a0\u00a0 Unbelievers, they don\u2019t have My life because they\u2019re rejected me and My father and My life.\u00a0 So Jesus is the resurrection AND the life.\r\n\r\nHe can say that He\u2019s the life because He\u2019s the One who gives us life and sustains our lives.\u00a0 He gives every human being physical life and He sustains it, believers and unbelievers.\u00a0 But then when it comes to believers, only believers, He gives them spiritual life and that spiritual life is already eternal life.\u00a0 It\u2019s not five year life, it\u2019s not fifty year life, it\u2019s not seventy year life, it\u2019s eternal life.\u00a0 If we can lose our spiritual life, if we can lose our salvation, if we can lose the life that we get from Jesus, then we\u2019re calling it the wrong thing. Let\u2019s stop calling it eternal life if we can lose it.\r\n\r\nWe can\u2019t lose it, this is a great eternal security passage.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason it\u2019s called everlasting life, because it\u2019s forever.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason it\u2019s called eternal life, it\u2019s FOREVER!\u00a0 And that\u2019s the point here when Jesus says \u201cnever\u201d He means \u201cNEVER!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cEveryone who lives in Me will never die\u201d He says.\u00a0 You see, Jesus conquers humanity\u2019s greatest enemy, and who is that?\u00a0 Death!\u00a0 The world has this frantic search to conquer and defeat and really avoid, let\u2019s just ignore death.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get into all this pleasure and excitement and entertainment because we don\u2019t want to talk about this boogie man over here, right over here, because we can\u2019t deal with this boogie man\u2014death!\r\n\r\nBut Jesus comes in and says bring it, I conquered death, I conquered death!\u00a0 And the reason He does is because He conquers sin. Death is a consequence of sin and so when He conquers sin by paying for the sins of the world He conquers death.\u00a0 That\u2019s where Jesus comes in, He conquers sin and death when no one else can.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why the Apostle Paul mocks death, he makes fun of it.\u00a0 He does that in 1 Corinthians 15:55, \u201cO death, where is your victory?\u00a0 O death, where is your sting?\u00a0 [56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;\u00a0 [57] but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus defeats both physical death and spiritual death by paying for the sins of the world.\u00a0 If death comes from sin (and it does) and Jesus conquered sin by paying for the sins of the world, then He\u2019s dealt with both sin and death.\r\n\r\nHow does He conquer\u00a0 your physical death?\u00a0 Because He will raise that body that you sit in to everlasting life.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to get a new body and so are your loved ones who have passed on before you.\u00a0 This flesh is mortal; these bones are mortal, they will fade away but He\u2019s going to take them and transform them into immortal flesh, immortal bones, with a body that\u2019s fit for heaven.\u00a0 Can I say with a body that\u2019s fit for space travel?\u00a0\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 In Acts 1 what did Jesus do?\u00a0 He ascends up into the clouds to the third heaven, the abode of God.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t have a space helmet on or a space jet pack, it\u2019s a new body, it\u2019s a resurrection body that\u2019s fit for heaven.\u00a0 That\u2019s how Jesus conquers your physical death and He conquers your spiritual death by giving you eternal life.\u00a0 That\u2019s eternal life for the believer only.\u00a0 When Jesus says never He means NEVER.\u00a0 \u201cIf you believe in Me you will never die.\u201d\u00a0 He means spiritually you will never die. [John 11:26, \u201cand everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.\u201d]\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s get back to Martha here. Jesus didn\u2019t ask her if she believed in some future event of the resurrection.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t ask her if some future resurrection would happen.\u00a0 The Pharisees believed in a future event of resurrection.\u00a0 That\u2019s not Jesus\u2019 question to her.\u00a0 His question to her is do you believe that I am the one who raises the dead and gives eternal life?\u00a0 And she says in verse 27 yes. \u00a0\u201cShe said to Him, \u2018Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.\u201d\u00a0 Martha uses that same phrase that John has in his purpose statement,\u00a0 \u201cThe Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may have life through His name,\u201d she uses the same phrase. [John 20:31, \u201cbut these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.\u201d] \u00a0She is a believer, and notice what she says at the end of the verse, she says, \u201cHe who comes into the world,\u201d what does she mean by that.\u00a0 \u00a0[John 11:27, \u201cShe said to Him, \u2018Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 She means You\u2019re not of this world, You\u2019re not of this sinful, fallen, broken world, You\u2019re of heaven and have come to the world, into the world.\r\n\r\nBut Martha, like the disciples, is misunderstanding something about what Jesus is saying.\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t understand when Jesus says your brother will rise again. She doesn\u2019t understand that Jesus means right then.\u00a0 So Jesus is going to reveal more to her to exercise her faith muscle so that she will trust in Him, so that her faith will grow so she\u2019ll trust in Him in all things, not just when life is great but she\u2019ll trust in Him in her suffering as well.\u00a0 And that\u2019s our third principle, right, trust God when you\u2019re suffering for His glory.\r\n\r\nWell that ends this part of the account of Lazarus, how Jesus claims to bring new life.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get into the next part which is the mourning that the people are going through because of Lazarus\u2019 death.\u00a0\u00a0 Verse 28, \u201cWhen she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, \u2018The Teacher is here and is calling for you.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 [29] And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him. [30] Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. [31] Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. [32] Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, Lord,\u201d she said the same thing Martha said, \u201cif You had been here, my brother would not have died.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 So she, like Martha, is focused on the human perspective, not the divine perspective of glory to God.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t oriented to God\u2019s purposes here. But ultimately in their grief Martha and Mary trust that Jesus will solve their suffering problem because they realize they\u2019ve got nowhere else to go.\u00a0 Their brother is dead and they\u2019ve got nowhere else to go so they trust in Him for their only solution, their suffering solution, the solution to their suffering and once they do that they see the power of God through Jesus.\r\n\r\nVerse 33, \u201cWhen Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also<\/em> weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, [34] and said, Where have you laid him?\u2019 They said to Him, \u2018Lord, come and see.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 And then you get to the shortest verse in the Bible, verse 35, \u201cJesus wept.\u201d\u00a0 That to me is such an amazing verse, \u201cJesus wept.\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019s a man, so as a man He cried, but He\u2019s not just a man, He\u2019s the God-man.\u00a0 He knows that in a minute He\u2019s going to raise Lazarus from the dead.\u00a0 All His grief is going to be gone in a minute because He\u2019s going to raise Him from the dead.\u00a0 So why is Jesus crying if He knows He\u2019s going to raise Him from the dead?\u00a0 He\u2019s crying because of the painful plight of humanity; humanity is broken and fallen and suffers because of the consequences of sin and that troubles Jesus and when He saw their emotion and pain He wept.\r\n\r\nJust consider that for a minute; God who is justice and righteousness and almighty is also a God of compassion and mercy.\u00a0 You see that in the Psalms where we\u2019re told, \u201cThe LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.\u201d Psalm 103:8. [Psalm 86:15, \u201cBut You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.\u201d]\u00a0 \u00a0Or how about Psalm 116:15, \u201cPrecious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.\u201d\u00a0 We\u2019re told that Jesus, the God-man wept, wept with them.\u00a0 Just consider that, Jesus, the Lord of the angelic warriors, the angelic armies, who inflicts horrific wrath on His enemies weeps for us and with us in our suffering.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you ever think that God doesn\u2019t love you?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you ever think that!\u00a0 God loves you with a love that will not let\u00a0 you go!\u00a0 So in you moment of pain and suffering which is real trust Him, remember that He weeps with you and for you.\r\n\r\nVerse 36, \u201cSo the Jews were saying, \u201cSee how He loved him!\u201d [37] But some of them said, \u2018Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?\u201d\u2019\u00a0 This is our third group here.\u00a0 It\u2019s the crowd around the tomb, the unbelievers.\u00a0 These people, like the first two groups, don\u2019t understand what\u2019s going on with Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0 They misunderstand why Jesus is weeping.\u00a0 They wrongly think that Jesus is weeping because although He can do miracles, they know He can do miracles, they know He can heal, but the crowd thinks rats, Jesus must be thinking to himself rats, hmmm, I couldn\u2019t get here on time to heal my friend and so I\u2019m sad about it.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the crowd thinks is going on in Jesus\u2019 mind.\u00a0 They don\u2019t understand and so Jesus is going to reveal His power over life and death.\u00a0 He\u2019s going to reveal the Father through His power, Jesus\u2019 power, so that they may understand and glorify Jesus and by doing that they glorify the Father.\r\n\r\nWell now we\u2019re in the final part of our study which is Jesus is now going to prove his claim that He gives new life by raising Lazarus from the dead.\u00a0 Verse 38, \u201cSo Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. [39] Jesus said, \u2018Remove the stone.\u2019 Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead<\/em> four days.\u00a0 [40] Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?\u2019\u201d\r\n\r\nYou\u2019ve got to love Martha, I mean, I feel like Martha, I feel like we\u2019re like Martha often, right, we get so focused on the problem, here\u2019s my problem, here\u2019s my problem, here\u2019s my problem, we just keep playing the tape over and over and over in our head, here\u2019s my problem, here\u2019s my problem, here\u2019s my problem, instead of focusing on the solution.\u00a0 Right. We get so focused on the problem because we live in a fallen world and this world hurts, it\u2019s full of difficulties and pain and so we forget to trust God, or maybe I should be more blunt about it; we don\u2019t believe that God will solve our problem. We don\u2019t believe that God is the solution.\u00a0 Are we like that?\r\n\r\nAre we trusting ourselves and our own resources when we\u2019re in the time of need?\u00a0 Or are we trusting Him?\u00a0 If we\u2019re trusting ourselves and our own resources then we\u2019re outside of His plan, we\u2019re outside His resources. What are we supposed to do? We\u2019re supposed to trust Him.\u00a0\u00a0 Ask God for help!\u00a0 It\u2019s simple, it\u2019s not complicated.\u00a0 We make it complicated in our pride\u2026 I\u2019ve got this, I\u2019ve got this God.\u00a0 You know pride, we make it complicated but if we would just submit to Him in humility and trust Him then He says \u201cI\u2019ve got this,\u00a0 you just be cool, get in line and get in My power.\u201d\u00a0 Ask Him for guidance, ask Him for empowerment, ask Him for comfort so that He gets the glory, not us.\r\n\r\nMartha believed that Jesus had power over life, she did believe that, over life and death but she didn\u2019t believe that Jesus was going to raise her brother right then; it\u2019s going to happen right now if you will just get out of the way Martha, just MOVE.\u00a0 And so Jesus is going to solve her problem when she gets out of the way.\u00a0 Once she aligns herself with Jesus, Jesus\u2019 purpose, which is the glory of the Father, then she\u2019s going to be blessed.\u00a0 And that\u2019s one of our principles; that\u2019s a faith lesson for us.\u00a0 If we seek God\u2019s glory then we\u2019ll see His blessing.\u00a0 It\u2019s that straightforward.\u00a0 When we align ourselves with God\u2019s purposes, which He will accomplish, what does He say? He says My Word will go forth and will not return to me empty. \u00a0He will accomplish His purposes because He is God and no one else is.\r\n\r\nSo if we align ourselves with His purposes, which is His glory, then we\u2019ll see His blessing because His purpose will be accomplished one way or the other.\r\n\r\nVerse 41, \u201cSo they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, \u2018Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. [42] I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe\u201d there\u2019s that word again, \u201cthat You sent Me.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 Notice in verse 41 Jesus is not asking the Father to raise Lazarus from the dead; he\u2019s thanking the Father that the Father has already granted his request.\u00a0 He\u2019s already asked the Father for this, the Father has already granted it and now here Jesus is thanking the Father.\u00a0 That\u2019s a huge point for us.\u00a0 Is our prayer life\u2026, does it have thanksgiving in it? Or is it just give me, give me, give me, give me?\u00a0 I want this God and I want this, I don\u2019t want this God, and I want this, and I want this and for them I want them to have that and that.\u00a0 Don\u2019t misunderstand me, we should be asking God for our petitions.\u00a0 We absolutely should submit our petitions to God, we\u2019re commanded to do that, petitions for us and for others.\r\n\r\nBut there\u2019s another part of our prayer life that we can\u2019t forget, which is thanksgiving.\u00a0 Thank Him when you come to Him.\u00a0 Thank Him in your prayer because when you thank Him and you recognize that all good things come from God that\u2019s an act of faith. That\u2019s an act of glory to You Father for these good things.\u00a0 I don\u2019t get the glory, You get the glory, in other words you are believing that those good things come from God.\r\n\r\nAnd here\u2019s the other thing on these passages up here on the screen, verse 42, if you read it too fast you\u2019ll miss it.\u00a0 Jesus is saying I\u2019m praying out loud so that the crowd here will understand our relationship, the relationship between the Son and the Father.\u00a0 Jesus is saying I\u2019m praying out loud so that the crowd understands our relationship, Father, You always grant my prayers because I\u2019m in such unity with You that my requests are always aligned with Your will.\u00a0 I always seek Your glory and\u00a0 You always grant my prayers, I know this but now I want the crowd to know it, these people standing around.\u00a0 In a minute I\u2019m going to do a miracle and they\u2019re going to give the glory to me and they\u2019re going to be impressed but I want them to know that You sent me, so I want them to know that the glory is yours, not mine.\r\n\r\nAnd that\u2019s why Jesus says here in verse 42, \u201cbut because of the people standing around I said it,\u201d He said what? He said this prayer here, right there at the end \u201cso that they may believe that You sent Me.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 He\u2019s from the Father, Jesus is I mean, verse 42.\r\n\r\nVerse 43, \u201cWhen He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, \u201cLazarus, come forth.\u201d [44] The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, \u2018Unbind him, and let him go.\u2019\u201d With a word Jesus acted\u2026 with a word!\u00a0 That\u2019s what God does, only God does that.\u00a0 When God created the heavens and the earth what did He say?\u00a0 \u201cLet there be light\u201d and boom, there was light.\u00a0 \u201cLet there be an expanse that separates the waters from above and below\u201d in other words a sky.\u00a0 Boom, there\u2019s a sky.\u00a0 Let there be plant life, boom.\u00a0 Let there be animal life, boom.\u00a0 Only God creates with a word.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Jesus does.\u00a0 That\u2019s because Jesus is God, He\u2019s the God-man.\r\n\r\nAnd notice that these verses talk about the humanity of Jesus and the deity of Jesus.\u00a0 He weeps like a man but He creates life where there is no life, with a word, like God.\u00a0 You see, God\u2019s not just out there detached, disinterested, which is what the Greeks viewed their god as they\u2019re kind of out there, they\u2019re fighting with each other, no no!\u00a0 Your God loves you.\u00a0 God came into this world, became a man and dwelt among us to call His sheep out of darkness.\u00a0 What did Jesus say, just in the prior chapter, chapter 10, about the good shepherd? \u00a0He said the good shepherd \u201ccalls his own sheep by name and He leads them out.\u201d\u00a0 [John 10:3]\u00a0\u00a0 He goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. \u201cLazarus,\u201d He called him by name, \u201cCome forth,\u201d and a dead man walks out of the tomb.\u00a0 [John 11:43, \u201cWhen He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, \"Lazarus, come forth.\u2019\u00a0 [44]\u00a0 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, \u2018Unbind him, and let him go.\u2019\u201d]\r\n\r\nWe are the sheep, Jesus is the shepherd.\u00a0 We know His voice, we recognize it and we follow Him.\r\n\r\nVerse 45, \u201cTherefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m certain that they did it, watching a dead man (his corpse had been rotting for four days) walk out of the grave.\u00a0 One of the many things that you love about Jesus is He doesn\u2019t just say trust Me, He says let me show you why you should trust Me, let me show you!\u00a0 This argument that Christians have blind faith is hogwash.\u00a0 Blind faith?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about blind faith.\u00a0 That\u2019s the argument that the skeptic, that the unbeliever says, ah, you guys, you believers, you just believe blindly.\u00a0 No we don\u2019t, here\u2019s the evidence.\u00a0 Jesus says let me show you why you should believe in Me.\u00a0 Let me show you why the promise that I give new life is real, the promise that I give life where life has been lost. \u00a0So in the same way that Jesus, through God\u2019s power, gave new physical life to Lazarus, Lazarus later died, 20 years, 30 years later, 5 years later, in that same way that Jesus gave new physical life to Lazarus He gives us new spiritual life.\u00a0 He gives everyone who believes in Him new spiritual life so that they don\u2019t have to go through the second death which is the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20.\u00a0 He gives eternal life to those who believe.\r\n\r\nJesus did His miracles, not to entertain the crowd, like some Houdini type magician.\u00a0 He did His miracles so that they would believe and that\u2019s John\u2019s purpose statement.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 \u201cThese things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.\u201d\r\n\r\nSo really what the event of Lazarus is about, it\u2019s a foretaste, it\u2019s an appetizer.\u00a0 Okay, it\u2019s a foretaste of what God would do with Jesus.\u00a0 Lazarus, as I say, was raised and then he died later and in fact, we learn later in the Scripture that this miracle was so effective to make people believe that the Pharisees wanted to kill, they wanted to murder Lazarus because so many people were believing in Jesus because of this miracle.\u00a0 But in any event, Lazarus was raised, and then he later died.\u00a0 You could say he was resuscitated but that\u2019s a foretaste of what happened with Jesus when He died.\u00a0 But when He died He was actually resurrected a new body, a new body never to die again, a new body fit for heaven.\r\n\r\nThe second foretaste, appetizer as I like to call it, that we have here in this account of Lazarus is your resurrection and my resurrection.\u00a0 You see, we get used to that word resurrection, we get casual with it, resurrection, yeah, yeah, yeah, resurrection, I know that!\u00a0 Whoa, hold on now, think about this concept of resurrection.\u00a0 We go into the ground when we\u2019re buried but then we are raised from the ground with a new body forever.\u00a0 That\u2019s the evidence that Jesus is who He said He is, because if Jesus wasn\u2019t resurrected then what are we doing?\u00a0 I mean, we would be worshipping a dead prophet.\u00a0 The resurrection proves that He is the God-man.\u00a0 Proves that the claims that He made, because if He wasn\u2019t resurrected, then as C.S. Lewis said He\u2019s either a lunatic or a liar or He\u2019s the Messiah, He\u2019s one or the other.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t leave us that option of saying well, He was a nice teacher, that\u2019s very nice, that\u2019s very sweet.\u00a0 No, C.S. Lewis said it well, He\u2019s either a lunatic on the level of a man who says He\u2019s a poached egg or He\u2019s a liar, or He is in fact the son of God.\u00a0 And so Jesus proves that He\u2019s the Son of God and the resurrection shows it.\u00a0 Lazarus is a foretaste of our resurrection.\u00a0 The only thing that\u2019s different between Jesus\u2019 resurrection and ours is that He was first, we\u2019ll be second.\u00a0 Our body will be just like His, fit for heaven.\r\n\r\nFinally, the raising Lazarus from the dead shows us that God often used suffering for His glory, our suffering for His glory and this is painful to recognize.\u00a0 I wish life were all prosperity and peace but that\u2019s just not the world we live in.\u00a0 It\u2019s the world that God created in the garden for Adam and Eve but once they sinned sin was ushered in and we confirm our sinful condition, we commit our own sin.\u00a0 So once sin entered the world, the world was full of pain and suffering and death and we serve God in this broken fallen world.\u00a0 But God, through His Christ, He uses our suffering in this world for His glory and His divine good which is ultimately for our good, Romans 8:28, He causes \u201call things to work together for good to those who love Him.\u201d\r\n\r\nPrinciple number four, Jesus, the God-Man, weeps with us in our suffering.\u00a0 He\u2019s not disinterested, He\u2019s not detached, He is a God who longs for you, who cares for you, who weeps with you and comforts\u00a0 you if you\u2019ll just ask Him for help, submit to Him.\u00a0 And finally, God blesses those who seek His glory.\r\n\r\nNow this morning if there\u2019s anybody here without Christ, without hope and without eternal life we want you to know that Jesus died for you and He paid for your sins, and that Jesus makes a promise that if you will just submit to Him and trust Him, and the promise is that he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.\u00a0 You can go from being subject to Jesus\u2019 wrath to enjoying the benefits of His life, instead of subjects of wrath have His eternal life that He gives to you.\u00a0 Go from being the enemy of God to the daughter or the son of God, and it\u2019s a real easy process, it\u2019s very painful, very difficult for Him, but He made it easy for you because God loves you.\u00a0 All you have to do is trust that he has paid for your sins, so what the Apostle Paul said in Acts 16 to that Philippian jailor, \u201cBelieve in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s it!\u00a0 So we\u2019d urge you to do that if you have not done that in\u00a0 your life.\r\n\r\nFather, we thank\u00a0 You for this time together, we ask that You use this account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead to strengthen our faith. We also ask that you use it to challenge anyone who has not believed that they believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that they trust in Him for their eternal life.\u00a0 And for us who live in this broken fallen painful world we ask that you help us recall to mind that when we trust You, You provide for us.\u00a0 Help us recall to mind that You love us and help us rely on\u00a0 You.\u00a0 Remind us about what\u00a0 You have done for us when we suffer, and when we suffer for Your glory.\u00a0 And we pray these things in Jesus\u2019 name, Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t