“A certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So, the sisters sent to him, saying, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’
“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are 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. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.’ After saying these things, he said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.’ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ So, Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’
“Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So, when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.’
“When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept. So, the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?’
“Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?’ So, they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” [1]
There are so many events from Jesus’ earthly ministry that I wish I could have witnessed. I wish I could have been present that time Jesus turned water into wine. Don’t you wish you could have witnessed that? His mother asked Him to do something when the wedding ran out of wine. There were six large jars there. At Jesus’ command, the servants filled the jars with water. Jesus watched to ensure that they filled the jars to the brim. Then, He told the servants, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast” [JOHN 2:8]. Talk about a surprise! Everyone was astonished—the master of the feast, the servants who saw what happened and even the guests who drank that new wine. I should imagine that the wine was exceptional. And to think, Jesus didn’t even say a word—He just did what He does.
Then, there was that one time when Jesus gave a blind man sight. Though Jesus healed many congenital defects in people whom He met, on this occasion He performed a miracle from a distance. Perhaps you will remember how the disciples had demonstrated their spiritual acumen by discussing whether this man born blind had sinned or whether he was blind because of some sin attributed to his parents. Isn’t that just like us? We see someone who has been injured, someone who suffers some physical or emotional anomaly, and it is as though they don’t exist. We talk about them as though they were some sort of cosmic experiment, as though they weren’t present. We imagine that we can discuss their situation and it won’t make any difference in how they feel about us or even about themselves!
Jesus, however, put a stop to their pretended compassion by telling them to see with God’s eyes. Then, Jesus did a curious thing. “He spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent)” [JOHN 9:6-7]. When the man obeyed Jesus, washing his muddy face, he could see! Don’t you wish you could have witnessed the joy when that man realised he was able to see? Don’t you wish you could have seen the power Jesus exercised over such physical deficits?
That man, now seeing for the first time, hurried along streets that were familiar, though he had never seen those streets. In his joy at seeing colours and faces and streets and houses, people noticed his excitement. Neighbours and people who had often seen him begging, were drawn to his exclamations. Eventually, the hubbub drew the attention of the Pharisees. The man was challenged, practically commanded, to censure Jesus. This man, though by no means a theologian, knew enough to refuse to condemn the One who had given him sight.
However, of all the miracles Jesus performed, I wish I had seen Him demonstrate His power over death as He did when His friend Lazarus had died. Jesus did raise others from the dead, but there was something quite personal in this instance. For one thing, Lazarus and his sisters were close friends of Jesus. That, in itself, is pretty special, I would think. Don’t you wish you could be known as Jesus’ friend? When Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, it wasn’t something that happened the same day he died, it was after four days of being entombed—four days after his body was delivered to the tomb. There was no hope that Lazarus was alive, or that he would ever again be seen alive. I wish I could have been present that day.
Though it is impossible for us to travel through time to witness the events that occurred on that day, we do have the record of what happened that is provided in the Word of God. Moreover, that record informs us of what was in Jesus’ heart, how the disciples reacted to His decisions and the depth of sorrow and elation experienced by Mary and Martha, Lazarus’ sisters. This insight permits us to experience in a measure all that went down on that one singular day. Join me in exploring this account to learn something of the surprise in the graveyard.
THE DEATH OF LAZARUS — No doubt you remember the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was ill, and his sisters sent word to Jesus. When Jesus heard the message, He appeared almost dismissive. The implication was that there was no hurry since the illness was for God’s glory. It was an odd thing to say, and none of the Apostles appear to have picked up on what Jesus was saying.
How can an illness be for the glory of God? How can suffering be for the glory of God? How can sorrow and grief be for the glory of God? John Paton is not a name that we hear very often when we think of great missionaries. Paton served for ten years as pastor of a growing Scottish congregation, but God burdened his heart for the New Hebrides, a group of Pacific Islands inhabited by unevangelised people. Moreover, the inhabitants were cannibals.
Paton set his heart on one particular island. Twenty years earlier, a missionary couple had gone to that island. They were killed and cannibalised, so it was no surprise that many people attempted to dissuade Paton from going to that particular island. Paton wrote, “Amongst many who sought to deter me, was one dear old Christian gentleman, whose crowning argument always was, ‘The Cannibals! You will be eaten by the Cannibals.’”
John Paton replied to this man, “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.”
The old man left the room exclaiming, “After that I have nothing more to say.” [2]
At age thirty-three, John Paton, accompanied by his wife, travelled to the New Hebrides Islands. His wife and a newborn child died within months of their arrival, and he was left alone. He dug their graves with his bare hands and slept on the graves to keep the cannibals from digging up their bodies to eat them. Paton persisted in the face of multiple threats, and in time witnessed countless cannibals across the New Hebrides come to know the peace of Christ. The cannibals heard the same message the former missionary couple had brought. Some of those violent people began to think, “This is the same message. If it means this much to these people to bring that message, perhaps we should consider what they are telling us.” Consequently, a great movement of God brought many of those people into the Kingdom of God. Paton’s service and God’s blessing challenged churches across Australia, Scotland and the western world to rise up and make the Gospel known among the peoples who are toughest to reach.
Was the death of the earlier missionary couple tragic? Of course. Did God work in the midst of sorrow to raise up another to evangelise those violent inhabitants of the islands? Absolutely! We need to hear the voice of the Living Saviour as He instructs His people, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” [MATTHEW 10:28].
Let’s put Jesus’ warning into contemporary language. “Don’t be afraid of people. The worst they can do is kill you. They can only send you home!”
We say, “If I go to that place, I could be killed!”
Jesus replies, “Is that all?”
God is at work in the midst of our pain to bring glory to His Name. We are focused on the immediate; we imagine that our solace, our immediate comfort, is the most important aspect of our service for the Master. However, Jesus has an eternal view—He sees the end from the beginning. Our Master is at work to bring many souls to glory. Many times, that work He assigns transcends generations and requires the sacrifice of multiple people.
Think of an example drawn from the pages of the New Testament. Among the first deacons was a godly man named Stephen. You remember the story of how Stephen was not content to take care of the facilities of the New Beginnings Baptist Church in Jerusalem or ensure that the widows had food to eat—he had to declare the glories of the Risen Saviour. Of course, that brought him into conflict with the religious leaders. Stephen presented a powerful apologia, which only enraged the devoutly religious Jewish leaders.
Stephen concluded his defence by saying, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it” [ACTS 7:51-53].
Wow! Talk about an impact! “When they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep” [ACTS 7:54-60].
If we stopped there, we would all say, “That is such a tragic story! What was accomplished?” The problem is, we fail to read the statement that followed: “And Saul approved of his execution” [ACTS 8:1]. The story continues, telling us of violent persecution unleashed against the Christians. That sure doesn’t look as if matters were under control. Had we been experiencing that sort of persecution—imprisonment, beatings and even death, I suspect that we would be questioning what God was doing.
Do you remember that I cited Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew’s Gospel just a few moments ago? Look at what the Master said as He continued His instruction to the disciples at that time. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” [MATTHEW 10:29-31].
Jesus informed disciples that safety is not found in the comforts of this world; safety is found only in obedience to the will of the Lord of Glory! Again, it is a matter of perspective. If our focus in on our own safety and what is taking place in this world, we will fail to see God at work through us for His glory and for our good. If, however, we train ourselves to see with the eyes of the Master, we will look far beyond the moment to see Him at work through us, perhaps laying the groundwork for a great revival and the harvest of many souls.
Lazarus was ill, and that illness would result in his death. Martha and Mary would feel the sharp pain that accompanies separation from one who was loved. Jesus Himself would be moved with deep grief when witnessing the sorrow of His friends. However, the Master knew what was coming as result of Lazarus’ death.
In the chapter that follows our text today, we read a fascinating account of what God was doing. “When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So, the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus” [JOHN 12:9-11]. I preached from this text a short while ago, pointing out that the impact of God at work in your life will be used to the praise of His glory. Your responsibility is to ensure that the will of the Master is foremost in your life. Do what He appoints you to do and let Him guide events. Lazarus became a powerful instrument of God’s grace as people were forced to confess Jesus’ power over death. If Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead, assuredly He could give life eternal to those who believed Him. And the religious leaders could say nothing against that truth.
WHO CAN RAISE LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD? Years ago, I heard Dr. W. A. Criswell preach a sermon entitled, “Who Can Raise Lazarus From the Dead?” [3] The pastor was brilliant in his exploration of the question, he was scathing in holding numerous theoretical religions to account. Let’s do a quick review ourselves, asking, “Who can raise Lazarus from the dead?”
Jesus found it necessary to speak quite pointedly to His obtuse disciples, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe” [JOHN 11:14]. Lazarus has died. He has been tightly wrapped in grave clothes and laid in a cold, dark tomb. People who were familiar with death, with the absence of every feature that defines life as we know it, assured themselves that Lazarus was dead. The professional mourners had arrived. Friends brought sandwiches, potato salad and sweet tea. Who can raise Lazarus from the dead?
Here comes an elder from the local Kingdom Hall. He asserts that he will raise Lazarus from the dead. He looks at the corpse and says, “You must change the course of your life.” But, he is speaking to a corpse, and a corpse cannot change anything—the corpse is dead. “If you will only be baptised, it will start you on the way to becoming a servant of Jehovah” he intones. But he is speaking to a corpse. If he should baptise the corpse, the corpse is dead when he places it in the water and it is still dead when the elder raises him out of the water.
We hear one of the young elders representing the local ward of the Latter Day Saints calling out the elder from the Kingdom Hall, “Come out, and I’ll show you how this is done.” Speaking to the corpse, the young elder says, “You were a spirit child of Adam, our heavenly father. You gained a body, and now you can make a choice to live or to die. This will allow you to progress beyond what was possible in the spirit world when you lived with God. You need to repent, be baptised, confirmed and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and you can be made alive.” But he is speaking to a corpse, and the corpse cannot respond.
Then one of the supercilious spectres we recognise as a modern existentialist arrives. “Lazarus is not dead,” he asserts in solemn tones. “There is no truth that is not truth for you. There is no reality that is not reality for you. It is just your opinion that Lazarus is dead. My opinion is that Lazarus is alive.” Then, in a commanding voice, he shouts, “Rise from the dead!” But the dead is still dead.
A brilliant evolutionist comes into the tomb and chases out the existentialist that was there before him. He examines Lazarus, and he is decaying before our eyes. “We are evolving upward,” he insists. “We are getting better and better. We will see Lazarus raised from the dead; it will take about a hundred million years, but he is evolving toward becoming something wonderful, something unimaginable. Just wait for a few hundred million years and you will see him raised up.” But we don’t have a hundred million years! We don’t have a million years! Lazarus is dead!
A sophist comes with the intention of trying to raise Lazarus from the dead. He is convinced that all sickness and death itself are just figments of the mind. If we will only change our thoughts, we will change sickness and hurt and sorrow and death. That is his philosophy. This philosophy has infiltrated many of our churches as religionists teach that death only comes to those who fail to believe. They say if we only have enough faith, we won’t be sick, we won’t be hurt. But I notice that those who hold to such thoughts still manage to die with amazing regularity.
In a former church was a dear woman who held to this view. One Sunday I came to church struggling to speak because of a severe case of laryngitis. “Just rebuke that in the Name of the Lord,” that lady insisted. “God has given you authority over the germs that are causing your laryngitis.” I was of the opinion that rest and a salt water gargle would do far more good than all the rebuking she wanted me to do. It wasn’t three weeks until she phoned one Saturday to tell me she wouldn’t be in church because she had a bad cold. “Just rebuke that cold,” I told her. “See you in church tomorrow, because I know you will rebuke those nasty viruses.”
Dr. Criswell told of an incident in his first pastorate in a county seat town. In that town was a college, and in the college was a gifted teacher who was a spiritual sophist. She didn’t believe in medicine, she didn’t believe in modern medical science. Her mother slipped and fell down the steps into the basement. She was terribly hurt, but that woman insisted that her mother was not hurt, she only thought she was hurting. [4] Imagine denying reality!
A little girl came running into her house shouting to her mother, “Mama, mama, you know that woman who is so sick down the street?” And the mother said, “Now listen, child, she only thinks she is sick.” And the little girl said, “Well, mama, now she thinks she is dead.”
At last, a humble believer comes to Mary and Martha as they grieve and as they weep before the grim spectre of death. That one humbly says, “I will go get the Master. He is the resurrection and the life. Let us bring Him, for He alone has authority to raise the dead.” So, that humble follower of the Christ crosses over the Jordan and finds the Saviour. “Come,” he urges. “Come, for death has entered the home of your friend, Lazarus. Death has devastated this home, and the family is grieving. Come, quickly, for there is no other hope.”
The One who hung the stars in place by His Word, He who flung the worlds into space and assigned them to their paths about the multiplied stars, that One who set the boundary for the sea, saying “Thus far shall you come, and no farther,” comes. He comes and stands in front of the grave. There, He raises His voice and shouts, “Lazarus, come out!”
No doubt you’ve heard the old question, “Why did Jesus say, ‘Lazarus, come out?’
Why didn’t Jesus simply say, ‘Come out?’” The answer is that had Jesus not specified that He was addressing Lazarus, all the dead would have come out of the tomb. Had Jesus not specified that He was speaking to Lazarus, the entire population of the cemeteries would have risen from the tombs and come forth. However, since He called Lazarus, then only Lazarus answered the Master’s call and came out of the tomb.
This account revealing Jesus’ power over death is a picture, a symbol, this is a lesson in the power of Jesus, the Ruler over all life, the only One who can give life. You will no doubt recall that Jesus taught His disciples, “The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” [JOHN 5:20-29].
We who know the Saviour as the One who gives life look forward in anticipation to a glorious day when the dead in Christ shall be raised. In this world, we are subject to the rigours that accompany time; we age, we grow old, losing the vigour of youth and ultimately facing death. Each of us has felt the bitter sting that accompanies the burial of a friend or the death of a loved one. We cannot help but grieve at the absence of those we have loved. Our sorrow is real, but it is always tempered by the knowledge that when we place them in the grave, if they are born from above and into the Family of God, we will see them again.
The story is told of an old rancher who loved God with his whole heart; he had walked with the Saviour throughout the days of his pilgrimage. The day came, as it inevitably must come to each of us, when the old rancher lay dying. He asked that his children would be brought to his bedside so that he could speak to them one last time. With his three children gathered around his bed, the old saint spoke to first one and then another, saying pointedly to each of his older children, “Good-night.”
At last, the youngest son came close to the bed. The old man took his son’s hand and said, “Mike, I’ve loved you dearly and prayed for you often. Now, I’m going the way of all the earth. I leave this life with a prayer on my lips for your salvation. Good-by, Mike.”
The young man was startled and protested, “Dad, you told Susan and Tim ‘Good-night.’ Why did you tell me ‘Good-by?’ Why did you not tell me ‘Good-night?’”
“Son,” the dying saint said, “Susan and Tim have each put faith in the Son of God. They put their faith in the Son of God; they each received the life that He offers; they have been saved. I know that I shall see them in the morning; so, I could bid each of them, ‘Good-night.’ I will see them again. You, however, have never trusted the Saviour, I shall never see you again. You were determined to live life on your own terms and without thought of what comes after this life. You never trusted the Saviour; therefore, I must tell you, ‘Good-by.’ I will never see you again, son. I love you, but this is good-by.”
The young man was conscience-stricken, he was speechless. What could he say? The young man had never put his faith in the Son of God who loved him and gave Himself for him. He somehow never had time for God, never had time to be concerned for his own welfare. He had never considered the impact his lack of faith could have on his family, much less what the eternal cost would be to himself. Now, faced with the stark reality of eternal separation from his beloved father, he was forced to think of what his failure to believe meant.
In one of his earliest letters to have been included in the canon of Scripture, Paul wrote, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-17].
Building upon this revelation of the next event for believers, the Apostle wrote, “Encourage one another with these words” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:18]. No wonder the anticipated return of the Master is called “our blessed hope” [see TITUS 2:13]. This is wonderful hope, indeed! We are not living for this life only—we are living with our hearts turned toward home and our minds fixed on the One whom we serve. We are living in light of eternity! We are not looking for the undertaker, we are looking for the “upper-taker!”
GOD’S POWER STILL RAISES THE DEAD — Here is the point of the message: just as Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, so He is still in the business of raising the dead. Paul writes what some find to be a shocking statement as he pens the encyclical we know as Ephesians. He writes, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” [EPHESIANS 2:1-3].
Sinners are identified as “dead in the trespasses and sins.” Trespasses and sins mark the life of each lost person; and this was the condition of each of us at one time. However, for the redeemed, something wonderful has happened. Jesus came and spoke to our dead spirit, giving us life. That is the next revelation the Apostle makes when he writes, “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” [EPHESIANS 2:4-7].
To be certain, we who are twice-born anticipate that the redeemed people of God will be resurrected at Christ’s return. We are confident that He is coming for His people; and when He comes, He will gather His saints to Himself, taking us to receive the rewards that reveal the magnitude of His grace. Paul writes of this event when he writes in the Second Letter to Thessalonian Christians, noting that the return of the Master is specifically so that He may be “glorified in his saints, and … marvelled at among all who have believed” [2 THESSALONIANS 1:10].
Think about that! Christ the Lord is returning for His people. He is coming again, and the purpose of His coming is so that He may be “glorified in His saints.” And when He comes, we who are saved shall marvel at His majesty and might. The lost will be terrified and cringe in terror, but His people will rejoice. There is a reason why His return is identified as “The Blessed Hope” [see TITUS 2:13].
To share in that resurrection, one must be made alive now. This is what I mean. Only Christ the Lord can give life to one who is dead, and we were all “dead in the trespasses and sins” that marked our lives. We were dead! We didn’t have the power to make ourselves alive. We needed someone with the power over life and death if we could hope to be made alive. That Someone is Jesus. Jesus, and only Jesus, is able to give life to our dead bodies. We just read, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ” [EPHESIANS 2:5].
Since we are spiritually dead by birth and by choice, if there shall ever be hope beyond this life we must be made alive. If we are ever to hope that we shall know God, or more importantly, be known by God, we must be made alive. Our imagination leads us to think, “Surely we can effect that vivification through prayer, can’t we?” Is it really necessary to remind you who now hear me that sinners say prayers, but saints pray? In saying this, I mean that knowing about God, lost people will try to craft a way to approach Him, hoping that they can compel Him to accept them as they are.
However, the twice-born child of God is known by God because God has placed His Spirit in the redeemed individual. The saved individual did come to God just as she was or as he was, but they submitted themselves under the mighty hand of God and He transformed them. God placed His Spirit in the life of that redeemed individual. Now, God has invested Himself in the life of the believer; it is the Spirit of God who lives within the child of God. Therefore, the saved individual, and only the saved person, can come to God, calling Him “Father.” All others who attempt to speak that Name are misappropriating what was never given them.
Like a man falling from a fifteen-story building, we yell out to onlookers as we pass the seventh floor, “I’m okay so far.” It is because our body has not begun to show the full effects of dying. We are tripartite beings—we are living souls with a spirit that animates and with bodies that house the soul and the spirit. Paul reveals this when he pens a prayer for the Thessalonian saints. “May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” [1 THESSALONIANS 5:23].
If I am to be saved, to be delivered from judgement and condemnation, it means that God must redeem my soul. Since my spirit is dead, He must give me a new spirit, which is the Spirit of God living within. Then, He promises that though this body must one day be put aside, He will give me a new body at the return of Christ the Lord. Thus, the salvation God offers is total—body, soul and spirit!
We may be offended by the truth, but our offence won’t change the truth. We are told,
“If one turns away his ear from hearing the law,
even his prayer is an abomination.”
[PROVERBS 28:9]
Even the worship offered by the lost is unacceptable since their efforts are detestable to the Living God. The Wise Man has written,
“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
but he loves him who pursues righteousness.”
[PROVERBS 15:8-9]
The Saviour came to deliver people from the power of death. When we are born from above, we are made alive in the Risen Son of God. Alive in Him, we are alive to the Father. We no longer struggle in abject, craven fear that God is seeking to strike us down, we are thrilled to come into His presence, knowing that He delights to receive us and to give us good things. This is because we have been quickened, made alive, by the power of the Saviour.
This is the joyful declaration found in the Apostle’s Letter to the Colossian Congregation. Paul writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” [COLOSSIANS 2:8-15].
And that is the question for you! Are you alive in Christ the Lord? Have you discovered the life that He alone offers? The Word of God encourages all who will receive it, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” [ROMANS 3:23-26].
That same Word promises, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10]. The Apostle quotes the promise of God delivered through the Prophet Joel, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:13]. And that is our invitation to all who hear this message. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be delivered from judgement, from condemnation and delivered into the freedom of one of God’s own children. The promise is for you, and for all who will receive this Saviour as Master over life. Receive Him and be saved; do it now. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers, 2001. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] John G. Paton, John G. Paton, D.D., Missionary to the New Hebrides: An Autobiography (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1891) 56, cited by David Platt, Radical (Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, CO 2010) 175
[3] W. A. Criswell, “Who Can Raise Lazarus From the Dead?” https://www.wacriswell.com/sermons/1988/who-can-raise-lazarus-from-the-dead1/, accessed 26 May 2018
[4] Criswell, ibid.
[*] A PDF version of the final edit of this message will be available on September 30, 2018 at: https://newbeginningsbaptist.ca/category/sermon-archives/.
