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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS
John 11:23-44
23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
39 Jesus 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.
40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
41 Then 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.
42 And 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.
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And 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.
The only hope for mankind is found in the Lord Jesus Christ through His death, burial and resurrection. This account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead has so many lessons for each of us. It is a message of hope in hopeless circumstances. It is a message of victory in the time of defeat. It is a message of eternal life instead of eternal death. It is a message that will lift the heart, stir the soul and spark new life into the heart of a downtrodden man that is dead in sin with no hope for deliverance from his sad state.
If we are to look at this story and gain part of its deeper meaning it will be necessary to think of it in terms of which of the characters represent us and what their condition was during this great miracle. All of humanity is represented in the hopelessness of the death of Lazarus and the pain and sorrow of his family until Jesus came upon the scene and turned hopelessness into victory and power.
Jesus was away doing His duty and ministering to the people of Israel in their need when he received news of Lazarus’ death. Because of his love for this family He left the place where He was and traveled to Bethany from Jerusalem. But, it was more than His love for Mary, Martha and Lazarus that brought Jesus back to Bethany. The time had come for the glory and power of God to be revealed in Bethany.
John 11:1-4, "Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 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."
When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick He continued to do the work in Jerusalem that He had come to do. For 2 days He continued in Jerusalem until He knew, before anyone brought the news that Lazarus had died.
God knew that we would need a Savior long before the world was founded. As we have been talking about, God placed the story of the gospel in the stars of the sky before He ever created the earth. His plans were already set in motion to provide salvation and redemption to man that was dead in sin. Just as knew that Lazarus would live again, he also knows that each of us, who love His appearing and who have a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior will also live again.
The first to meet Jesus as He came close to Jerusalem was Martha. She was overcome with grief at the loss of her beloved brother, Lazarus and Jesus could see this so in our scripture portion Jesus is the first to speak.
Martha, your brother is going to rise again!
Listen church, when it seems that all is lost; when you feel that the knot is unraveling in your hand; when you feel that the end has come and there is no more hope – that’s when Jesus comes on the scene with the greatest message of hope that we could ever hear.
My child, it doesn’t matter what the circumstances say, what the world says, what other people think, what impossibilities lay ahead; it doesn’t matter that your hope is dead, You Shall Rise Again.
When your body breathes its last breath – you will rise again!
When your family is on the brink of destruction – you will rise again!
When you feel depressed, despondent and hopeless – you will rise again!
What a great message that was to my sin-sick soul when I fell at the Master’s feet at an old fashioned altar, poured out my hopelessness and grief to Christ and then heard Him speak those words to my heart and soul – You shall rise again!
There is the greatest hope and promise that God could ever give to us. We will never die for we will rise again to eternal life in Christ!
But all too often we take the attitude of Martha. She believed in the resurrection but she had not yet come to know THE RESURRECTION (Jesus as God). It’s easy to believe in a promise in some distant future but what about right here and now?
Nearly every Christian will confess that they believe in healing but ask them to have faith for their healing right now and it’s a different matter. We can believe that God is the Great Physician and that He has the power to heal but we often have a problem believing that God will heal us right now.
Most of us are like the father of the demon possessed boy in Mark 9:24, "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." Lord, I know you can. Lord, I know you will. Lord, I just can’t come to grips with “when” you will!
If we have that kind of doubt about healing, it is no wonder that we have even greater doubts about raising the dead to life! I wish I could say that I have seen the dead raised in the natural sense but I can’t. I’ve seen many dead in sin who are now eternally alive because of the power of God.
Jesus revealed himself in a deeper fashion to Martha. Martha, I AM the Resurrection and Life. Martha did not realize the power, the glory, the sovereign majesty of the man who stood before her that day. Don’t start pointing fingers at Martha though, because I dare say that none of us, who know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, can yet realize all that God is who lives within us and stands before us.
Jesus Christ is I AM. He is God, the Creator of all things. He is God, the sustainer of all things. He is I AM of the Old Testament and KING OF KINGS of the New Testament. He is RESURRECTION POWER! HE is GLORY & MAJESTY! HE is GOD ALMIGHTY, HOLY, WHICH WAS, WHICH IS AND WHICH IS TO COME! That’s who stood before Martha that day and He is the same one that lives in my heart right now.
If we will but believe in the fact that Jesus is God, that He is the Resurrection and the Life, we shall never die but will have everlasting life. That’s the faith it takes to obtain salvation and that’s the faith it takes to make Heaven your home.
Martha, do you see what I am saying? Martha can you believe that I AM the Resurrection and the Life? Christian can you believe what Jesus says?
Again Martha confesses her belief but there is no indication that she really understood or believed what Jesus was saying to her. I believe in the resurrection! I believe in eternal life! I believe it is coming some day! I believe that Jesus is the Messiah that was promised to Israel!
It seems that Martha made her confession but was quick to run away to get Mary! She
Was like most of us, she just didn’t like being put in a place to make a decision. It was easier to run than to answer. Perhaps she didn’t totally understand and wanted Mary to face the questions instead of her – I don’t know. I do get the distinct impression that Martha just didn’t quite get what Jesus was trying to tell her.
Mary jumped up and ran out of the door to go to Jesus. Perhaps she believed a little more for when she got to Jesus she said, “If you had only been here you could have healed Lazarus!”
The others who were with Mary in the house saw her run out and presumed that she was going to the cemetery to cry for Lazarus and they hurried to follow her.
Here is a picture of Christianity today and the world in general. People are quick to jump on the bandwagon of negativity. Mary was going to cry, lets go help her cry. We don’t have any answers, all we can do is cry!
Mary ran to Christ! That’s commendable for all of us. We should all run to Christ for only in Him is there relief from the life of grief and sin. Only in Him is there any hope for the Hopeless.
The shortest verse of the Bible is found in verse 35 and it simply says, Jesus Wept! Only two short words but what power and what a great message they hold for those who have a discerning spirit!
The great I AM, touched by the circumstances of those around him, began to cry. What was it that He was crying about?
Was it for Lazarus? - No, Jesus didn’t cry for Lazarus for He knew that Lazarus would soon be resurrected.
Was it for his own grief and loneliness in the absence of his friend? – I don’t think so because Jesus knew the destination of Lazarus and that Lazarus’ soul and spirit were in God’s hands.
I believe that Jesus cried because of the unbelief, the pain, suffering, agony and grief of the people who stood around. He cried for the loneliness of His friends! Maybe He cried most of all because no one, not even His disciples or closest friends knew who Jesus really was or what power it was that walked among them!
He was so affected by the environment of grief and unbelief that He groaned in himself. Those standing around mistook this groaning for grief over Lazarus’ death. They were hurting, confused, hopeless and sorrowful but they were also blind to the reality of the fact that The RESURRECTION stood with them.
Jesus groaned within himself again. It brings to mind the scripture in Romans 8:26, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Jesus groaned to express His deepest thoughts and concerns in ways that no one around Him could grasp.
Lazarus’ body was laid in a cave and covered by a stone. Man is ever trying to bury his own sin in his own “cave of good works”. We are always trying to cover our sin somehow. But Jesus removed the stone and revealed the death within. The searchlight of the word of God and the Holy Spirit will remove our cover to show us the sin and darkness within our own heart and life! He knows the thoughts and intents of our heart and knows how to reveal His will to us if we will only listen.
But Jesus, Lazarus’ body must smell by now! Yes, the life of sin, the blackness of an evil life will stink greatly. None of us want our smelly old life of sin to be revealed. None of us want to look upon our own black heart. But, if we are to know the Resurrection we must come face to face with our own sticking spirit. We have been dead in sin a long time and that sin has brought the decay of death upon us. We need to be resurrected by the power of God. Thank God! There is hope for the hopeless in Christ!
Jesus said, “If you would believe, you can see the glory of God!”
Jesus interceded on behalf of those who stood around by praying to the Father in Heaven. It was meant as a prayer to build the faith of those who stood in unbelief that they might have their eyes opened and their understanding enlightened to see and hear the Power and glory that they were witnessing.
This resurrection was not going to happen because of the faith of those who stood around. It wasn’t going to happen because of the sorrow and grief all around. It was to happen so that those who stood there would finally begin to really believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God who has all authority in Heaven and in Earth and who is the Resurrection and the Life!
Jesus Cried for Lazarus to come forth! That voice that spoke the worlds in existence and hung the stars in the sky spoke forth and all of heaven, earth and hell itself shook from the power of His command. His word carried creative power! It was impossible for Lazarus not to come forth!
God can speak to every hopeless situation, to every hopeless individual, into every hopeless circumstance and bring life and victory!
We, like Lazarus, step forth from our life of sin and death, bound up in chains of sin, wrapped up in our covering of death, with our hands and feet weighed down by sin, and our face and mind shrouded in darkness.
But Jesus says to us, like He did to Lazarus, “Loose him and let him go”!
When we come to Him, believing that He is the Resurrection and the Life, confessing our sin, believing in His sovereign power and committing our trust to him, Jesus will loose us and let us go free!
That’s the Hope for the Hopeless! That’s the greatest Hope, the only Hope for all men.
Do you know Jesus in the Power of His Resurrection?
Have you met the source of all Life?
Do you have a real relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Master?
You can have it right now. Just look to Jesus and believe in Him as the Resurrection and the Life and let Him set you free!
