Before there can be a Resurrection there must be a death, burial.
John 11:1-4
Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." [NKJV]
John 11:5-7
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." [NKJV]
John 11:14-15
Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him." [NKJV]
John 11:17
So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. [NKJV]
John 11:20-26
Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." 23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" [NKJV]
John 11:33-44
Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35Jesus wept. 36Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" 37And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?"
38Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" 41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." 43Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" 44And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go." [NKJV]
• When Jesus received Word that His good friend, Lazarus was sick, he deliberately delayed His coming and allowed Lazarus to die.
• Lazarus died and was buried. It is even more impossible. Jesus wanted to let His disciples know that it is an impossible situation.
• Lazarus was resurrected
In our walk with God we too have to face with similar situation.
Death of a vision
Burial of a vision
Resurrection of a vision
Now, the real truth about God’s promises. Many of us think that when God gives assurances He is going to do something for us that within a short amount of time the event will take place. We are then shocked to find that we are receiving the “reverse of the promise.”
Usually God will give us exactly the opposite of what we asked for before He ultimately delivers the anticipated prize.
Abraham – He was seventy-five years old when God promised him a son. At that age, I can assure you he knew the son would have to come quickly. Any one of us would have justified in thinking that he and his wife Sarah would be given a son within the next few months. Instead, Abraham received the reverse of the promise, and had twenty-five years of barrenness.
Joseph’s another beautiful example of this truth. As you know he was given a dream from the Lord predicting his brothers would bow down to him. Through a second corroborating dream, he saw the sun, the moon, and even the stars doing obeisance (which he interpreted to mean his parents also). Being the second to the youngest in the family, these were pretty heady expectations.
Did these events transpire immediately No! God gave him the exact reverse of this promise and Joseph became a slave in the household of Potiphar and he as the one bowing to everybody else. To make matters worse, he was thrown into prison. Finally, after years of apparent setbacks, Joseph did indeed receive God’s promise and was made the second most powerful man in all Egypt.
Moses, marching into Egypt with a plan to lead God’s people to freedom. He promised them a land flowing with milk and honey but is that where he took them! No! He led them to exactly the opposite, a desert that didn’t even have water. No wonder the people of Israel complained. They kept looking around for the “milk and honey” but all they could find was manna. Moses tried to explain this truth when he told people of Israel, “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wildness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” God had Israel purposely go without food so they would understand that’s God’s spoken revealed Word is the source of all susten
ance, be it natural or spiritual. Notice that Jesus also quoted this verse when Satan tempted Him to turn stone into bread.
The little shepherd boy, David, was also promised greatness. He was told by Samuel that he would lead Israel as their King. As soon as it looked like the promise was going to be fulfilled, by him becoming King Saul’s son in law, he was chased by every soldier in Israel. I am sure the thought crossed his mind, “Did Samual anoint the right guy?” Maybe you are asking God the same question concerning your dream and vision.
The apsotle Paul, while sleeping one night, got a vison of a man from Macedonia. The feloow was streching out his hands to Paul pleading, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” For Paul this seemed like a simple task: Go to the town, find the man who was asking for help, and reap the benefits of the revival that would break out.
Paul and Silas immediately set sail for the largest town in Macedonia-Philippi. Guess what they found when they got there? Not a man, but a woman, Lydia, a seller of purple. Then they ran into another lady. This one was demon-possessed, and when they cast the evil spirit out of her, they got thrown into prison. You would think that Silas, in the middle of that prison cell, with his back beaten and his clothes ripped off, would have turned to Paul and asked, “Are you sure you got that vision right? You saw a man, not a lady?” Or, “Wait a minute? Are you sure he said Macedonia and some other place?” No, that was not how Silas responded. They had an understanding about God’s divine purposes and ways.
At midnight, Silas and Paul were singing songs, serenading their fellow prisoners. Suddenly, an earthquake shook the prsion, broke open the doors and released their chains. There, standing in the doorway, was Paul’s man, the keeper of the prison. He was ready to commit sucide but Paul saved his life and led him to the Lord. S, the promise was fulfilled. The vision was accurate. And so, most likely, is the vision God gave to you.
So why does God do it?
As you mature in the Lord, you, also, will find that your greatest task is not just completing a project, but understanding God and how He wants you to act as you do His will. Getting things done is only one aspect of your life. Performing them in the manner that pleases God is the real goal.
To purify us - In our zeal to fulfill God’s purpose in our life we unknowingly allowed wrong motivation to creep into our hearts. Thinking that our self worth is basing on the numbers and we start using our flesh (will, mind, emotions). We recognize the need of revival. We will it to happen on our terms rather than God’s terms. We come up with great ideas, programs etc. And because of that we become result oriented rather than God centered. We get frustrated with our fellow saints or even get discourages.
Deut. 8:2-3
And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. [NKJV]
1 Peter 1:6-7
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, [NKJV]
1 Peter 1:6-7
So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
7These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. [NLT]
Col. 2:20-23
Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations-- 21"Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," 22which all concern things which perish with the using--according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. [NKJV]
Col. 2:20-23
You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the evil powers of this world. So why do you keep on following rules of the world, such as, 21"Don’t handle, don’t eat, don’t touch." 22Such rules are mere human teaching about things that are gone as soon as we use them. 23These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline. But they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts and desires.
[NLT]
Who is our master?
Is it Jesus or you?
Having no confidence in our flesh.
Philip. 3:3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, [NKJV]
Matthew 10:39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. [NKJV]
The word “life” means soul. God wants us to put no confidence in our flesh or our soulish realm.
Romans 8:8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. [NKJV]
Jesus was broken for us - 1 Cor. 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." [NKJV]
Romans 12:4-5 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. [NKJV]
Likewise now the body of Christ must be broken for it to move to another new dimension.
Paul die daily - Cor. 15:31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. [NKJV]
God provision for us to check motivation:
1.) Trials
2.) The word
2 Tim. 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [NKJV]
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-
edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [NKJV]
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. [NLT]
