One of life’s toughest challenges is staying optimistic about the future. Adverse circumstances can cloud your vision of tomorrow and make it tough to maintain a positive attitude. You can be tempted to lose hope.
The good news is - and we’ve been reaffirming this throughout this current series – Christ has encouraging truth for you so that you need never lose hope!
The Bible says in John 11:1 (NLT) A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This is the Mary who poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, "Lord, the one you love is very sick."
4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, "Lazarus’ sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will receive glory from this."
This is the final encouraging conversation with Jesus in John’s Good News account, each of which preceded His seven "sign" miracles. Three conversations actually precede this miracle: one between Christ and His disciples and one each with the two grieving sisters of Lazarus. We’ll consider parts of all of them.
Lazarus’s illness eventually led to "temporary" death – but the good news is, as Jesus said, "Lazarus’ sickness will not end in death." In this great story Lazarus is resurrected! Death is not the end for those who follow Christ! Death for every believer is only "temporary!"
What seemed like a hopeless situation became an indisputable testament to the fact that Jesus is the resurrection and the life! Grief and despair turned to joyful celebration! Heartbreak turned to amazement! Sorrow turned to new love and admiration for the Son of God! A bleak diagnosis made way for effective prescriptions for keeping hope alive, which prescriptions I want to share with you today.
If you want to keep hope alive the first prescription you need to have filled is this:
1. Establish and maintain a friendship with Jesus.
Nothing will give you greater hope in life and hope for the future than knowing Jesus. Absolutely nothing. The story of Lazarus is a story of hope and the catalyst for that hope is Christ.
Who was this man Lazarus? The communication from his two sisters reminded Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is very sick." (Verse 3) Lazarus, like you, is someone Christ loved.
This trio of siblings: Martha, Mary and Lazarus were Christ’s friends. Christ loved them. Later, when Jesus arrived at the tomb of Lazarus the Bible says,
John 11:35 (NLT) Then Jesus wept. 36 The people who were standing nearby said, "See how much he loved him."
We know from Luke chapter ten that Jesus had been the recipient of this family’s hospitality. That too, gives us insight into the relationship between Christ and this family. During Christ’s itinerant ministry he relied upon the kindness of His friends and followers for food and shelter. This family was so close to Jesus that they provided one of His lodging places. They were more than just acquaintances. They were dear friends. They sat at Christ’s feet and heard His words intimately.
If you will develop that kind of a relationship with Jesus – a bond that is constant and close – you will remain hopeful when you come to the challenging crossroads of life!
Let’s quickly establish how you become God’s friend and how to maintain that friendship. The Bible is crystal clear on this point in both the Old and New Testaments.
Psalm 25:14a (TEV) The LORD is the friend of those who obey Him…
Jesus Himself said in John 15:14 (NLT) You are my friends if you obey me.
How do you establish and maintain a friendship with God? It’s very simple: you follow God’s instructions. You live by His precepts. You do what He asks you to do.
Don’t be turned off by this biblical principle. The point is not just, "Oh, I see, God’s love for me is not unconditional after all, there are strings attached. I have to obey God for Him to consider me His friend." That’s the wrong attitude. It’s more like this: "Since God has proven He wants to be my friend, then I want to be God’s friend. Like any other friend, I want to do the things that make Him happy! I want to live in a way that pleases the best friend I could possibly ever have."
God wants out of your friendship with Him what all friends want. He wants you to be considerate of Him. Of course God deserves more than any other friend you have since He is your Creator and Savior – but the point is, you treat God like a friend when you obey Him. And as you maintain that friendship with Him through obedience to Him you remain hopeful about the future. Friends give us hope for the future. We know that they’ll be there for us in the hard times. This is true of no one more than Jesus!
So if you want to remain hopeful about the future, establish and maintain a friendship with Jesus!
And the next prescription for remaining hopeful about the future is to:
2. Concentrate on God’s glory, not worry.
Verse 4 – When Jesus heard about it he said, "Lazarus’ sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will receive glory from this."
One of the reasons you get so uptight about the future is that you worry too much about the potential difficulties the future may hold and not enough about God getting glory, honor and praise. It’s only when you’re primarily fixating on the bad things that might happen that you lose hope about the future. But when you think about God getting glory you don’t have to be stressed out. You don’t have to be fearful about the future.
You don’t have to worry about God’s future since He doesn’t have a future - He lives in the eternal present! Nowhere is this truth emphasized more emphatically than John’s Good News account! He records seven instances where Christ said, "I AM." Not, "I was." Not, "I’m going to be." "I AM!" Not past tense. Not future tense. Present tense.
Jesus said:
1) I AM the bread of life – John 6:35
2) I AM the light of the world – John 8:12, 9:5
3) I AM the door – John 10:7,9
4) I AM the good shepherd – John 10:11,14
5) I AM the resurrection and the life – John 11:25
6) I AM the true vine – John 15:1
7) I AM the way, the truth, and the life – John 14:6
When you establish in your mind, heart and soul that Jesus is "I AM," and when you look to giving Him the glory, you don’t get uptight about tomorrow! When it comes to remaining hopeful about the future there’s all the difference in the world between a life that is focused on God’s glory and a life that is focused on worrying about the bad things that might happen.
Why should you worry about your future? God is already there – let Him worry about it! You just concentrate on living a life that will bring Him glory and He’ll take care of the rest!
Death is the greatest future enemy that you have and Christ has already blown it out of the water! Why should you worry about anything else?
When Jesus announced to His disciples that they were going back to Judea they were worried about the future. They were thinking about the bad things that could happen if they went back to Judea.
John 11:8 (NLT) But his disciples objected. "Teacher," they said, "only a few days ago the Jewish leaders in Judea were trying to kill you. Are you going there again?" 9 Jesus replied, "There are twelve hours of daylight every day. As long as it is light, people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of the world. 10 Only at night is there danger of stumbling because there is no light." 11 Then he said, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up."
Jesus knew He had some daylight left to do the work of the Father. So He intentionally waited before going to the aid of his family of friends because he had already knew the future.
The disciples and the family were anxious about the future but He was deliberate in His response. And the reason He was so calculated is very important. It wasn’t that He didn’t care. He cared deeply. He cares deeply about your concerns over the future. You must remember that when you’re tempted to be apprehensive about your future. His reasoning for delay was a "glory" thing.
John 11:37 (NLT) But some said, "This man healed a blind man. Why couldn’t he keep Lazarus from dying?" 38 And again Jesus was deeply troubled. Then they came to the grave. It was a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 "Roll the stone aside," Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, said, "Lord, by now the smell will be terrible because he’s been dead for four days." 40 Jesus responded, "Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?"
Jesus was waiting to make His appearance in Bethany until after Lazarus had been dead four days so that the miracle would be undeniable. Jesus had resurrected people before this, but never anyone dead after bodily decomposition began to set in. That’s why Martha balked at having the tomb opened. But Christ’s timing was so that His enemies could not possibly contradict the validity of this occurrence! God would receive a tremendous amount of glory from the magnitude of this miracle!
Could Jesus have received glory simply by healing Lazarus and preventing his death? Sure He could have received some praise. There would have been some honor for Him in that. But remember one of the key themes of John’s Good News account: Jesus was all about timing. On seven different occasions John says, speaking of Jesus, "His time had not yet come."
Jesus intentionally allowed his friend Lazarus to die – He intentionally allowed his good friends Martha and Mary to grieve because it is just about to become "His time" – His time to suffer and die for the sins of humanity.
Sometimes He intentionally allows you to face discomfort and distress, but you can rest assured that, as His child, it will all work out for good. You can believe in His timing. His timing is impeccable.
The resurrection of Lazarus became a prime catalyst to stir up the opposition of the enemy. And the enemy needed to be stirred up to push for Christ’s execution according to God’s precise timing.
Let me show you what I mean.
Six days before His crucifixion Jesus returned to the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in Bethany. Here’s how John describes the return.
John 12:9-10 (NLT) When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. 10 Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus too, (How ironic – plotting to kill a man Jesus had already resurrected!) 11 for it was because of him that many people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.
Do you see the wisdom of the plan of God? Do you understand why Jesus waited to respond to the request of his friends?
If man had his way, Lazarus would never have died in the first place. The human desire was not for the resurrection of Lazarus – the human cry was for help to keep his death from ever occurring. But if Lazarus had not died – 1) he could not have been wonderfully resurrected. 2) Many people would not have been convinced to leave the lifeless religion spawned by the leading priests. 3) The religious leaders would not have been angry enough to finally carry out their plot to have Christ killed, and 4) the world would not have a Savior!
God knows the best time, place and way to get glory for Himself!
If we had our way in life a lot of bad things would never happen to us. We would escape facing challenges. But then we also wouldn’t get to see the glory of God so much! We want God to secure our future right at this moment but God’s love for us doesn’t pamper us – it perfects us! The fact that He loves us is not a guarantee that we won’t have problems. We need problems. We need to have our future challenged.
Verse 5 (NLT) Although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 He stayed where he was for the next two days and did not go to them. 7 Finally after two days, he said to his disciples, "Let’s go to Judea again."
Although God loves you, sometimes He stays where He is and does not come to you.
That’s when you get impatient with God. Martha and Mary were a bit concerned that Jesus didn’t come earlier.
John 11:20 (NLT) When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask."
23 Jesus told her, "Your brother will rise again."
24 "Yes," Martha said, "when everyone else rises, on resurrection day."
25 Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. 26 They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish. Do you believe this Martha?"
I think Mary stayed at home because she was peeved at Jesus. Perhaps I’m wrong. We foolishly get that way sometimes when God lets us go through tough times without coming to our assistance right away. If Jesus loved Lazarus so much why did he let him get sick in the first place? Why did he let him die? He healed the nobleman’s son from a distance. He could have healed Lazarus from a distance. When Mary finally does come out of the house her words to Christ are:
John 11:32b (NLT) "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." That’s the very same thing Martha had said to Jesus previously in verse 21. It’s almost like saying, "Where have you been? We’ve been in trouble here and you’re supposed to be our friend and you weren’t here with us!" Ever said that to God? We all have. Maybe not out loud but we’ve said it.
One thing we’ve confirmed in this series on The Encouraging Conversations With Jesus is that God always has a plan! When you’re confronted with difficulties in life you need to turn to and trust in the Word of God! Follow what God says even when you don’t understand how things can possibly work out. The plan may not fit with your timing – but it will be a plan that eventually leads to God getting glory and that’s the main thing. We have to keep God getting glory as the main thing! Whenever your life becomes imbalanced to the point you are concerned more with your success and your welfare you will become anxious about the future. But when you are focused on God getting glory you will lay your head on your pillow at night and sleep the sleep of peace!
Which leads to the next prescription for remaining hopeful about the future.
Once you’ve 1) established and are maintaining a friendship with Christ and 2) you’ve begun to practice concentrating on God getting the glory and not worrying about your future, the third prescription you need to fill to remain hopeful about the future is to…
3. Live a resurrected lifestyle.
I don’t think Lazarus is as much a picture of future resurrection of the children of God as he is an example of what it means to live a resurrected lifestyle right here, right now on earth.
The experience of Lazarus is a good illustration of what happens to a person who makes a faith commitment to Jesus. Before coming to Christ you’re a spiritually dead person. Like Lazarus, your only hope is in the power of God.
When the power of God enters your life you are made spiritually alive. The grace of God changes you. Others can definitely see that you’ve been changed. You become an example of God’s love and power.
There are no recorded words of Lazarus in the Bible. But as we’ve already seen he was a very effective witness because of the change Christ made in him.
Can you imagine being dead four days and then reemerging into the light of day? Your whole life would take on new meaning – new perspective – new purpose. The things you once considered important you now look at as insignificant. THAT’S PRECISELY WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU WHEN YOU BECOME A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST!
That’s what happened to Saul when God saved him and transformed him into Paul, a man that was so radically changed that he said this:
Philippians 3:10-11 (GNT) All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, 11 in the hope that I myself will be raised from death to life.
I imagine that was the same tune playing in the heart of Lazarus.
When Paul said in verse 11, "In the hope that I myself will be raised from death to life," he’s not talking about physical resurrection. He knew that was a certainty. He’s not talking about going to heaven after death. He’s talking about staying here on earth after he made Jesus Lord of his life and becoming like Jesus. He’s talking about a resurrected lifestyle. He’s saying, "I hope I can be raised from the dead lifestyle I used to live to the new lifestyle of being like Jesus."
"I hope I can love my enemies like Jesus did. I hope I can forgive like Jesus did, love like Jesus did, be pure and humble like Jesus was, walk and talk like Jesus did."
That’s a resurrected lifestyle! That’s what Christ wants you to aspire to. And the more you achieve Christlikeness – the more hopeful you will remain about your future!
When they rolled the stone away from the entrance to the tomb of Lazarus,
John 11:43 (NLT) Then Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" (If Jesus had not named Lazarus when he shouted He would have emptied the whole cemetery.) 44 And Lazarus came out, bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him go!"
Someone here this morning needs to be "let go." You need to be set free. You may have already made a faith commitment to Christ but you keep on worrying about your future, you keep on worrying and fretting about what might happen.
Let Christ set you free today! Let Him help you remain hopeful about the future.
1)Establish and maintain a friendship with Jesus. Have you been spending time every day with Christ? Have you been worshiping Him with your life? When you are Jesus’ friend you have all that you need in life and death! You don’t have to worry about the future.
2)Concentrate on God’s glory, not worry. Accept God’s timetable. You don’t always have to understand God’s schedule – just know that He is doing what He is doing to let you be a part of the process of bringing Him more glory.
3)Live a resurrected lifestyle. Embrace Christ’s sufferings and be like him in his death. Die out to what you want to do with your life and do what God wants you to do. This is revolutionary when it comes to remaining hopeful about the future. You must trust God that he can do a better job with your future than you can!
