John 11:1-6 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. [2] (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) [3] Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. [4] When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. [5] Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. [6] When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.
I'm going to say something here that you probably won't like, but I have to say it, in order to clarify the thought that we are developing throughout tis text.
We are talking about the glory of God, and yet the setting of this text is anything but glory.
When we read this text, Mary and Martha are very sad. In fact there is death, loss, grief, disappointment, anger, frustration, and confusion all at the same time. Their brother Lazarus has died, and they are convinced that Jesus could have prevented his death.
So they are not happy with Jesus at all. They can't understand how or why Jesus who could have stopped this tragedy, and could have prevented all this pain from entering their lives, didn't.
Let me ask you a question, have you ever felt like that? Maybe you feel that way right now. You're going through things that don't make any sense, and you can't see any glory in it whatsoever. And you are confused, bewildered, frustrated, and maybe if you're honest about it, you may even be a little miffed at the Lord right now, because he hasn't come through for you.
I think one of the reasons we get so angry, agitated, disappointed, and frustrated, is because we have a lopsided view of what the glory of God is.
Our human tendency is to think of the glory of God as glorious streams of radient light shining from heaven, and a choir of angels singing Hallelujah.
That's beautiful, but the problem with that is... that is not usually the setting for the glory of God, and if that's your perception about the glory of God, you could very easily miss it when the glory of God shows up.
Jesus said to Mary and Martha, if you believe you will see the glory of God.
Why did Jesus require them to believe in order to see the glory of God? Because there was nothing in their present conditions that spoke of glory.
Let me park here for just a minute. Sickness and disease do not glorify God.
Sickness and disease and death, is not the glory of God. If it was, then Jesus was robbing God of his glory by healing the sick, casting out devils, and raising the dead.
When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he said to his disciples... this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the son of God might be glorified thereby.
What Jesus was saying was, this sickness was not going to be the last word even though it would lead to death.
I need to say this to someone today. This sickness is not the last word.
—That bad doctors report you got is not the last word.
—That notice of foreclosure is not the last word.
—That eviction notice is not the last word.
—That little slip saying, you're fired, is not the last word.
Oh yeah, it's a word alright, but it's not the last word.
Jesus said, this sickness or this present dilema is not the last word.
In fact the Bible says... This present tribulation is actually working for you.
2 Co 4:12 "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
Did you get that? It's working for you a heavy weight of glory.
Then the Bible says, "And all things work together for the good to them who love the Lord, and who are the called according to his purpose." Ro 8:28
But there's a condition here. Somehow you have to look past and beyond the present pains. You have to see with the eye of faith a glory not yet revealed.
Paul said, these tribulations and afflictions are bringing us to a weighty glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
Then he says, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
That's exactly what Jesus was saying to Mary and Martha. He was saying... if you want to see the glory of God, you are going to have to look with eyes of faith. You are going to have to see right through that mountain with the xray vision of faith.
You are going to have to see right through that bad report the doctor gave you, or that verdict the court passed down.
Jesus said this sickness, whatever this sickness is... physical, financial, spiritual, or emotional, it is not the last word.
Then he said... but it is for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
Notice that one word "thereby." That one word "thereby" is all encompassing.
To you "thereby" may be a sickness, or it may be a financial problem, or it may be the loss of a loved one, or it might be a very painful divorce.
Whatever hurts you, and makes you cry, and makes you question life, and frustrates you, and infuriates you, that's your "thereby." Thereby is not the end, glory is the end, but thereby is the hall-way that leads to the glory of God.
But you have to believe you're going to see the glory of God, while you're still in the hall-way.
I know by the Spirit that I'm speaking to someone right now, who is standing in the hall-way. You're on your way to glory, but right now, you don't see anything that indicates any kind of glory.
In fact right now, you are in exactly the same place that Mary and Martha were standing. They were heart broken, hurt, confused, frustrated, angry, and very disappointed in Jesus.
One of the hardest things in life, is trying to make sense of all the pain.
—Why did this happen to me?
—Why did God let this happen?
—If God is so good, why didn't he stop this from happening?
The truth is, there are some things in life that will never make sense. There are some questions that there are no answers for this side of heaven.
And the really hard part about it is... God doesn't give us the answers. He just says... trust me.
Rember this, when you can't trace his hand, you can always trust his heart.
Jesus didn't answer their questions, he just said... If you believe, you will see the glory of God.
That's your word right now. If you believe, you will see the glory of God.
You are not asked to feel it, understand it, or like it, just believe.
What are you supposed to believe?
—You are supposed to believe that God loves you.
—You are supposed to believe that He knows exactly what you're feeling.
—You are supposed to believe that there is a bigger picture than what you can see.
—You are supposed to believe that something good will come out of this.
Let me say it again. Jesus didn't answer their questions, he just said... If you believe, you will see the glory of God.
What did Jesus ask them to believe?
He ask them to believe the same thing that he asks us to believe right now...
That he was the resurrection and the life at that very moment.
Both Mary and Martha had a faith in Jesus. But it was a past tense faith... If you would have been here, you could have kept our brother from dying.
And they also had a future faith... We know our brother will live again in the resurrection in the last day.
But Jesus knew, there is no healing in the past or the future. "Faith lives in the now."
Your miracle is now.
The healing of your body is now.
Your deliverance is now.
Your victory is now.
The restoration of your marriage is now.
The break through in your finances is now.
The Joy that's been missing from your life is now.
The peace that you need is now.
That fresh fire in your soul is now.
I don't know what you need, but I know where it is, it's in the now, and it's in Jesus.
Jesus said, all that is standing between you and the glory of God is where your faith is.
Faith is now.
The glory of God is now.
The power of God is now.
The anointing is now.
Jesus said, where have you laid him? That's the same question to you today.
Where did you lay down your dreams?
Where did you give up?
Where did you resign yourself to exist without joy, without peace, and without passion and fire?
Where did you quit living and resign yourself to just go through the motions?
Then Jesus said: Take ye away the stone.
That stone represents all the objections and all the hindrances, and all the enemies of your faith.
All the logical reasons why it can never happen. And all the religious objections.
Listen to Mary and Martha: Lord, he's been dead 4 days, by now he stinketh.
Think about that, they would rather Lazarus stay dead, than have to deal with a stink.
Basically they were saying... Lord, now that we're passed the initial pain and the stress, of the loss, and we've already let it go, we don't really see any reason to stir up a stink.
At that moment, the greatest obstruction and greatest hindrance, to the resurrection of Lazarus, was not the huge stone blocking the cave, it was the reluctance of Mary and Martha, to have to deal with the possibility of the stink, and the mess.
Friend, you have to have enough faith in Jesus, to not only believe that he can raise the dead, but that he can also handle the mess. Jesus is not afraid of the stink.
Can we just stop right here and praise God, that Jesus didn't let the stink stop him? Let's be honest about it, some wouldn't be where we are today if Jesus was afraid of stink.
Think about this... Mary and Martha no longer doubted Jesus ability to resurrect Lazarus, now they were resisting the miracle, because they might have to deal with an offensive odor.
Many times the greatest hinderance to the manifestation of the power and the glory of God, is religion. Religion that wants everything clean, and sanitized, and homoginized, and smelling good.
Then Jesus called "Lazarus Come Forth." And he that was dead, came forth bound with graveclothes, hand and foot, and his face was bound about with a napkin.
Then Jesus said... Loose him and let him go.
Do you really want to see the glory of God?
Are you willing to deal with a stink or a mess?
Are you really willing to participate with Jesus in the salvation, the healing, the restoration, the deliverance, and the miracle of resurrection?
I know it's going to be a challenge, but if you can believe, you too will see the glory of God.
The last hindrance or obstruction to Lazarus miracle was not death, it was the stone, and the removing of the stone had be intentional and it had to be personal.
That is still true today, I can teach you the word, but I can't take away the stone for you, and I can't do your believing for you... but I can tell you this, you can believe, and when you believe, you will see the glory of God, because God is no respect of persons.
