D.o.a. Or D.b.j.

D. O. A. or D. B. J.

John 11:11-14 (NLT) Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”12 The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!”13 They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.14 So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

If we stop and look at this scripture for a minute, you will see that before Jesus there is death. Lazarus was dead. He was dead when Jesus arrived at the home where his sisters were mourning. He was dead when Jesus approached the tomb where he was buried. He was dead, dead, dead.

You could say that he was D.O.A. before Jesus arrived.

When the dead hears His voice, when Lazarus heard Jesus’ voice he arose, he returned from the dead.

John 11:39-40 (NIV) "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." 40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

Take away the earthly things that are between the living and the dead. Remove the obstacles that separate you from God.

Death smells and the longer we are dead, the stronger the smell. Sin causes death, so sin smells of death. It may look good, it may sound good and it may even feel good, but in the end, it is death, so it will stink up your life.

Lazarus began a new life, a new testimony of what the Savior had done for him. He stinks NO MORE, for he is alive in Christ.

“Dead On Arrival”. Our arrival on this earth puts us in a place where we must make choices. Some of our choices are good and some are not so good. God gave us “Free Will” so we could make our own decisions.

So we must choose between serving God or our sinful self (Satan), life or death.

John 5:25 (NLT) “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.

When you hear His voice and accept His call, you will turn away from the smell of sin and death.

Revelation 20:11-12 (NLT) And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide.12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.

We choose to be clean or not; we choose to be good or bad. We choose to bath or not, brush our teeth or not, we use deodorant, cologne and perfume so we don’t smell bad. We adjust the smell of our presence.

Our physical appearance is important to us and the ones we are around.

Our spiritual appearance should be more important. Death smells of sin and sin will not enter the kingdom of God. The odor/stench of sin and death will not be accepted into God’s presences.

Only the pure of heart, only the spiritually clean will enter God’s home.

As Jesus was talking to His disciples about Lazarus’ death, He is saying this is an object lesson so you know just how powerful, how loving, and how feeling My Father really is.

John 11: 15 (NLT) 15 And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”

John 11:43-44 (NLT) Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

Un-wrap him and set him free from these death clothes. He is free and alive to serve and worship his Savior.

For a man that was DOA, or D.B.J., dead before Jesus got there, he has a great new life and I’m sure he washed the smell of death from his body.

Can you just hear him? Before my death and burial . . . but now I’m alive in Christ. Jesus was not only his savior; he is his closes friend, His Lord after his death.

Romans 6:11-13 (NLT) So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.