How To Raise The Dead

John 11:38-44 (KJV)

38Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.

39Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

40Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

42And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

43And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

44And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Today I want to teach you

Jesus said…

John 14:12 (KJV)

12Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

This raising of Lazarus was a great thing… but Jesus said the believer would do greater works.

How many believe on Jesus?

If you believe that death is only a passing from this life to another, then raising the dead should be no problem. Like Jesus said concerning the daughter of Jairus… In Matthew Mark and Luke it is recorded that Jesus said

Mark 5:38And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. 39And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

It’s not difficult to wake up somebody… OK, some are more difficult than others…

Those that die in the Lord are not dead… Those that are dead in sins… those are dead!

If I could raise someone from physical death, they would just die again. Lazarus, Widows son, Jarius daughter… all died again. Raise from spiritual death, that’s eternal.

If you are saved, you have been raised from the dead… a spiritual death that would have caused you to be dead eternally. Do you believe that? Let’s see what the Word says:

Ephesians 2:1-8 (KJV)

1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Jesus raised Lazarus from a physical death… But I want to do greater works… I want to raise people from spiritual death… The death that kills the soul. The death that is eternal.

Listen. If we keep doing what we have always done, we will keep getting what we always got.

How do we go about bringing the spiritually dead back to life? From our text, I see several things

1. Obey Jesus

They almost didn’t get their miracle because they did not want to obey

Jesus told them what to do, and their response was to come up with excuses for not doing it

Do we have excuses for not doing the will of God?

OK what did he ask them to do?

2. Remove the stone

Ephesians 2:12 (KJV)

12 … strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Those that are dead Spiritually are “in the world.” They are sealed up as surely as Lazarus was sealed behind the stone. They have no hope, and they are without God

It is your responsibility to remove those things that would keep them from getting out of the tomb once they have had an encounter with Jesus.