PRAYER: GOD’S DELAYS ARE NOT GOD’S DENIALS
SERMON
BY
BRO. SETH A. ARYEE
LOCAL PREACHER
BETHANY METHODIST CHURCH, DZORWULU, ACCRA-GHANA
THEME: JESUS, THE SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE
JOHN 11: 1-45
TEXT: ". . . FOR HE HAS BEEN DEAD FOUR DAYS" (JOHN 11:39)
Many were the attempts on the life of Christ, particularly when He declared Himself to be the Son of God. But His death was formally decided upon when He showed His power over death by the resurrection of Lazarus. Previously, the Bible tells us that He had raised at least two others from the dead:
ã The daughter of Jairus [Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:42,43; Luke 8:40-56]
ã The son of the widow of Nain [Luke 7:11-15]
The first had just died; the second was already in his coffin; but the most astounding of all was Lazarus who had been dead and buried for four days. Ultimately, He overcame death by rising from the dead after three days, as He had predicted
Lazarus of Bethany was among the most steadfast of Christ’s disciples. At the home of Lazarus [whose sisters were Mary and Martha], Jesus had often found rest. The Saviour had no home of His own; He was dependent of the hospitality of His friends and disciples
Have you made room for Christ to come to you when weary, thirsting for human fellowship, providing Him a sincere welcome, pure and holy friendship
However, sorrow entered the peaceful home where Jesus had rested. Lazarus was stricken with sudden illness, and his sisters sent to the Saviour, saying: "Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick" (John 11:3)
Very likely the sisters felt that as soon as Our Lord received their message, He would hurry to the bedside of Lazarus. They saw the violence of the disease that had seized their brother, but they knew that Christ had shown Himself able to heal all manner of diseases- they had heard of and seen His miracles. As long as the spark of life was yet alive in their brother, they prayed and watched for Jesus to come. The messenger came without Jesus; yet he brought His message "This sickness is not unto death…" (John 11:4) - but to the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby
This means that the glory of God manifested in the resurrection of dead Lazarus would be shown to be the glory - personally and immediately, of THE SON because God can bring good out of any bad situation [Genesis 50:2; Romans 8:28]. When trouble comes, do you grumble, complain, and blame God or do you see your problems as opportunities to honour Him?
Jesus stayed two days at Perea, the place where He was after receiving the news - at least twenty-five miles off. The ways of the divine are not as the ways of human love. God’s delays are mysterious; sorrow is sometimes prolonged for the same reason for which it is sent "When He seeth that their power is gone" [Deuteronomy 32:36]
He loved them and therefore He deferred coming to them that He might try them that their trial might at last be found to praise and honour. He loved them, that is, He designed to do something great and extraordinary for them. Therefore, He delayed coming to them, that Lazarus might be dead and buried before He came
Often they are the reverse. When people are sick, in body or spirit; when their case is waxing more and more desperate every day; when all hope of recovery is about to expire - just then and therefore it is that "He abides two days still in the same place where He is"
God has gracious intentions even in seeming delays. God may abstain for the moment from healing, not because Love does not love, but because Love never stops loving; and a greater good is come from the woe. God’s delays in answering prayers offered to Him by persons to confer some great kindness; and they are also proofs that His wisdom finds it necessary to permit an increase of the affliction, that His goodness may be more conspicuous in its removal
God’s timing especially His delays, may make us think He is not answering or is not answering the way we want. But He will meet our needs according to His perfect schedule and purpose [Philippians 4:19]]
Heaven’s clock is different from ours. The same delay took place when He was on the way to the house of Jairus, whose daughter He restored to life. He took out some precious moments to heal a woman who was suffering from an issue of blood, as she touched His garments in the crowd
Christ suffered the enemy to exercise his power, that He might drive him back, a conquered foe. To all who are reaching out to feel the guiding hand of God, the moment of greatest discouragement is the time when divine help is nearest
When Our Blessed Lord arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had already been buried for four days. When the news came of the arrival of Jesus, Martha went out to meet her Lord. Her confidence in Him was unbroken, but it was still a very limited one, for she told Him: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died…" (John 11:21)
Martha complained of Christ’s long absence and delay. She believed Christ’s power, that He could have prevented his death. She believed His pity, that if He had but seen Lazarus in his extreme illness, He would have had compassion. But she corrects and comforts herself: "For I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it to thee"
She humbly recommends the case to the wise and compassionate consideration of the Lord Jesus. When we know not what in particular to ask or expect, let us in general refer ourselves to God
Jesus encouraged her faith, saying: "Thy brother shall rise again". The faith that Martha expressed in the resurrection was that of most of the Jews. As the woman at the well knew that the Messiah would come, and yet did not know that He was already talking to her, so Martha, though believing in the resurrection, did not know that the Resurrection was standing before her. As Our Lord told the woman at the well that He was the Messiah, so now He said to Martha: "I am the resurrection and life" (John 11:25)
By combining the two -- resurrection and life -- Christ affirmed that in Him was a life which, by dying, rises to perfection; therefore death was not an end, but the prelude to a resurrection in the newness and fullness of life
The Bible teaches us that death is not final and that there’s victory for the believer at the last day. There’s life after death - spent in eternity with God or with Satan. Whosoever you live here on earth with you will live with him in eternity
Each one of us will die one day. In the next sixty years, all of us will be dead except those little kids. Death is as sure as the rising of the sun.; whether you like it or not it will happen to you one day. But death is not the end of life. "To be absent in the flesh is to be present with the Lord". But apart from the death we will die some day, we die daily; not in the sense that we leave our physical bodies. Everyday we come through situation of death
Jesus described His death in three ways:
ã Death which swallows
ã Death which destroys
ã Death which buries
In Matthew 12:40, Jesus said: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth". Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Some people have proposed that Jonah actually died in the belly of the fish. We are not told from the Word of God but it is at least possible. God then would have raised him from the dead after three days
For three days he was to rest in the bottom of the sea as though death were being confirmed. But it must be only for three days. Then he must be brought up from the abyss
The same divine sense of timing is also present in the third-day offering of Isaac. In Abraham’s heart, his only beloved son had been as good as dead from the moment the two of them departed for Mt. Moriah. Abraham held in his heart the commitment to offer Isaac as a sacrifice on the mountain specified by the Lord. On the third day it was as though he had received Isaac back from the dead
Jesus Christ finally was offered on the hill of Golgotha. Paul says that Christ was raised from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures [1 Corinthians 15:4]. After being humiliated through His subjection to the powers of death long enough to confirm that He really was dead, He came up from the abyss
So Jonah "prayed to Jehovah his God". There is no indication that Jonah had prayed earlier at the direction of the captain of the ship. While on the deck of the tossing ship, Jonah apparently did not pray. His conscience restrained him. He was not at the point of repentance. Not until he was ready to do the Lord’s will in going to Nineveh was he able to pray
Do you sometimes have trouble praying? It may be that your conscience restrains you. Unconfessed sin is like a fishbone caught in the windpipe. You cannot breathe with any semblance of normality until you remove the obstruction
Finally Jonah prayed to the Lord from the bowels of the fish: "I cried out from my distress to Jehovah and He answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried for help; you heard my voice". When you are in the deepest depth of chastening, you still call on God
Whatever your actual circumstance, cry out to the Lord whenever you think you need help. The Lord will hear and deliver you from imaginary dangers. When real distress in life comes, cry out with a full earnestness. He will hear, answer and deliver
Try to imagine the terrors of being hurled from the deck of a ship into those massive, swirling waves. What would it be like to be pounded to the verge of unconsciousness while being submerged into the salty sea? They you awaken in pitch-blackness, in the slimy pit of the fish’s belly. You are heaved back and forth by the perpetual motion of the great sea creature
As you know, a great fish swallowed Jonah. Jesus made us understand that sometimes death can be a condition that swallows people. Not only the final death, but everyday there are big fishes that determine to swallow us, overwhelm us and attack us
Something has swallowed you - the thing is so big that you are overwhelmed by it - financial, marital or work problems can swallow you
In John 12:24, Jesus said: " . . .Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain". A grain of wheat does not only fall into the ground but it is buried under the earth
In John 2:19, Jesus described His death: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up". He described death as something that destroys. The temple described here is His body. Death may have come to destroy you. Before you die, you are going to experience death in these three forms - the swallowing effect, destroying effect, and burying effect
Sometimes you feel swallowed by problems all around you; you are totally enveloped by problems upon problems. You feel like singing "I’LL FLY AWAY, O GLORY!’ It seems that life has come to an end
May be your marriage problem has swallowed you. The problem is more complicated than you can imagine. You pray and your prayer hits the belly of the whale. The problem has broken you down because it shows in your body. You daily feed on problems - a 24-hour problem diet. Sometimes, the destroyer tears down your body; it attacks your body with sickness, disease, pain, and infirmity. Death comes that way
Sometimes, death will bury you. You fall down and it seems situations are walking over you. You used to be up, but you are falling. Your business used to be up, but it is falling. Your marriage used to be up, but it is failing
The Good News, the final word from Jesus is that there is a solution to all your situations - whether you are swallowed, destroyed, or buried
Jonah did not stay in the belly of the whale forever. Something is going to compel the whale to vomit your problem one day. There’s a building up for the people of God. If you have been buried, you’re going to germinate
This morning, if you feel swallowed destroyed, or buried, there’s resurrection coming to you. We are daily faced with swallowing, destroying powers, with situations that seek to put us under - buried. Out of the destroying comes the lifting up, the testimony and the encouragement to other people. If you feel buried, you are going to be germinated
In Matthew 28:2, it is described that there is an earthquake which is from God which seekest to shake the power of Satan. You need such an earthquake from God so that you’ll come out of your trap free. The angel rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. Sitting on something shows power over it. God is going to sit on your problems today. Say : AMEN
There was a seal of the governor on the stone; but God ignored Satan’s instructions. The seal was broken when the shaking came. Any seal on your life which has kept you from reaching your God-given talents and explore them to fullness is going to be broken today because God is going to bring the earthquake to shake it
Any stone of financial distress, sickness, unemployment, marital problems which have become an hindrance to a break-through in your life is going to be rolled away and give you total freedom from today
Any guards on your grave who are watching to see that really you have fallen and not to rise up again, I have God’s word for them: "you will rise again". Micah 7:8 tells us "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me". This is articulated in Proverbs 24:16 "When the righteous falls seven times, seven times he will rise again"
Those who consider you useless and do not regard even your advice are going to be shocked - because God is going to make all things new in your life. The days of mourning are over from today. Can I hear someone say: IT IS DONE BY THE POWER OF THE ALMIGHTY GOD. Remember that: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning"[Psalm 30:5]
Say to the one next to you: GOD WILL ROLL AWAY YOUR PROBLEM AND SIT ON IT
Whenever the enemy comes against you, you have to go to the Lord for your resurrection. The whale did not vomit Jonah because it desired to vomit him. It is not possible to keep the child of God forever in the belly of the whale
It is not possible to destroy the temple for it not to be rebuilt. It is not possible to keep the seed under forever. The witches who have kept your womb to prevent you from bearing your God-given children are going to be compelled to give it back to you because that is the inheritance God has given to you.[Psalm 127:3-5] No one can keep it away from you forever. Really, THE LAST SHALL BE THE FIRST. Your days of weeping are over
As Jesus, the Resurrected Lord, lives in you, you can
overcome. I have no idea what has swallowed you,
destroyed you, or buried you.
You know your situation. A debt has swallowed you,
and you can’t pay. I have come to give you the Word
of God: you are no longer to borrow from people; others will rather come to borrow from you. You are going to be the head and not the tail; above and not beneath [Deuteronomy 28 1-14]
Before you say, "Who can do it", there’s WHO CAN DO IT - His Name is JESUS; the Name which is above every name. He is the ROCK OF AGES. He is THE LILY OF THE VALLEY
In the desert, He will cause rivers to break for you. In the wilderness, He will cause manna to fall for you. He will raise you up from whatever situation you are [Isaiah 43:2]
Today, as you sit in Church, you know what has overwhelmed you. You don’t know how life is going to be like next week because debt has engulfed you. Today, if you are down you’ll be lifted up. Don’t stay where you are. COME OUT, COME OUT, COME OUT. Christ could have raised Lazarus by a silent exertion of His power and will, but He did it by a call, a loud call: "Lazarus come forth". Power went along with the word of Christ to reunite the soul and body of Lazarus
No matter the situation of life, there is a fulfillment to be achieved. There is a purpose in life independent of what you have - whether husband, properties or children
Move forward, not in circles. The value of abundant life is in your ability to fulfill your end and aspirations, as an individual; and the ONE to lead you all the way is called JESUS
God has come to identify the problems of those His hands are upon. When His hands are upon you, He will lead you to the valley - to see the hopelessness of people, situations and things [Isaiah 43:2]
Joseph did not have it easy. From the PIT, PORTIPHAR’S house and PRISON, he went to the PALACE as PRIME MINISTER of the whole of Egypt
President Mandela was in prison for 27 years; after the patience and pain, there was the glory for him. When you are buried you will come up alive because God is with you. I have been wondering whether Obasanjo of Nigeria ever thought that when Abacha incarcerated him, he would one day come out of prison and lead the nation.
God has a plan for each of His children. It only requires how we handle pain in our distress for the "bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower" (METHODIST HYMN BOOK NO. 503)
You don’t have a dead case that the Good Lord cannot handle. Just look back and see how the Lord has watched over you, delivered you from dangers and threats on your life, and healed you of your diseases. Is anything too hard for the Lord?
You can say with David when the giants of problems are threatening you "thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel…" (1 Samuel 17:45)
Nehemiah was taken to where the walls were broken. Jesus has come down from heaven to redeem mankind. The only way to save mankind is to touch man, for the Word of God says: "yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me". Yes, God is with you in every situation
The dry bones of your business have come alive. I refuse that any of you die before you make your mark. The finger of God marks your life. Don’t accept mediocrity or second-rate
God wants to heal your broken homes, broken business, broken dreams. Reconstruct your perspective for your broken dreams to come alive. Your situation is not useless; there is hope for the future for God’s elect
"And Jesus wept". There are three occasions where Our Lord is recorded to have wept in the Gospels:
ã Once when He beheld the city [Luke 14:41]
ã Once when in the garden of Gethsemane [Matthew 26:39]; Hebrews 6:7]
ã Once when He raised Lazarus [John 11:35]
We never read of His laughing, and only once of His rejoicing [Luke 10:21]. But on this occasion, Jesus wept out of sympathy with the affliction of His friends at Bethany, in order to give an eternal proof to His Church that He can feel with us and for us.
We learn that there is nothing unworthy of a Christian in tears. There is nothing unmanly, dishonourable, unwise, or feeble in being full of sympathy with the afflicted, and ready to weep with them that weep
We learn the reality of Our Lord’s humanity very strongly from this act. He was One who could hunger, thirst, sleep, eat, drink, speak,walk, groan, be wearied, wonder, feel indignant, rejoice, like any of us, and yet without sin; and above all He could weep
Lazarus came from the tomb with the grave clothes wrapped about him; the loving hands of his sisters removed the towel that covered his face; and he who had been captive by death was restored to life
You have lain long in your graves. Christ is calling you today to come out of your graves. Even those who have come out of their graves still need to rid themselves of the "clothes" wrapped about them
Even though you now attend Church, your quarrelsome attitude has not changed; your jealousy has not vanished from your life; your visa for "womanising" has not expired. You need to remove the grave clothes away so that life can once more be meaningful
Let us look to Him who will at last open our graves, and bring us forth to judgement, that He may now deliver us from sin and put His Spirit within us, and keep us by His power, through faith, unto salvation
The Social Security & National Insurance Trust [SSNIT] sent the following letter -
"Your pension will be stopped effectively immediately, because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances"
How utterly absurd to expect a reply from a corpse or to suggest that a deceased person can change his circumstances! In the natural realm, once you are dead, that is the end of your earthly story. That is what makes the message of the Gospel so mind-boggling. It announces to the entire world the death-conquering miracle of Christ’s resurrection, together with the wonder of His sin-forgiving sacrifice on Calvary. It heralds the great exception to the universal law that death is the guaranteed end of everybody’s story
There is no possibility of reappearance and a postscript added to one’s life. But Jesus, breaking the power of the grave, did reappear, convincing His doubting disciples that He was alive again. He had met death and defeated that dreaded foe, bringing life and immortality to light [2 Timothy 1:10]. And because He lives, we who believe the Gospel will also live again [John 14:19]
If Jesus is still dead and buried somewhere, then all of our hopes are as dead as the stone that sealed His tomb, and every funeral you and I attend is the end
MAY THE LORD GIVE YOU OF THE DEW OF HEAVEN AND THE FATNESS OF THE EARTH AND PLENTY OF CORN AND WINE
MAY THE LORD LET PEOPLE SERVE YOU AND NATIONS BOW DOWN TO YOU; BE LORD OVER YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS
MAY THE LORD ALLOW YOUR COLLEAGUES BOW DOWN TO YOU AND BE LORD OVER THEM
MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU AND MAKE YOU GREAT AND MAY YOU BE A BLESSING TO ALL WHO BLESS YOU
MAY THE LORD REMOVE ANY CURSE ON YOUR LIFE
MAY THE LORD CAUSE YOUR ENEMIES THAT RISE UP AGAINST YOU TO BE SMITTEN BEFORE YOUR FACE. THEY SHALL COME OUT AGAINST YOU ONE WAY, AND FLEE BEFORE YOU SEVEN WAYS
MAY THE LORD LIFT YOU UP WHEN YOU FALL
SAY AFTER ME:
I THANK YOU LORD FOR TODAY
MAKE ME AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE
CHANGE MY NAME TODAY
CHANGE MY CIRCUMSTANCES TODAY
LET ME SEE YOUR GLORY IN MY BUSINESS, FINANCIAL, & MARITAL RELATIONSHIPS
PROTECT MY LIFE FROM MY ENEMIES
IN THE NAME OF JESUS, LET ME BE LOOSED FROM BONDAGE AND SET ME FREE
CHANGE ME, CHANGE ME, CHANGE ME SO THAT I WILL BE MORE USEFUL TO MY CHURCH, NATION AND TO GOD
I COMMIT MYSELF TOTALLY TO YOU
FROM TODAY, NO WEAPON FASHIONED AGAINST ME SHALL PREVAIL
I REFUSE TO BE SWALLOWED
I REFUSE TO BE DESTROYED
I REFUSE TO BE BURIED
IN THE NAME OF JESUS
GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME
ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD
BENEDICTION
THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU
THE LORD MAKE HIS FACE SHINE UPON YOU, AND BE GRACIOUS UNTO YOU
THE LORD LIFT UP HIS COUNTENANCE UPON YOU AND GIVE YOU PEACE
NOW UNTO HIM THAT IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US
UNTO HIM BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH BY CHRIST JESUS THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, NOW AND FOREVERMORE
AND ALL THE PEOPLE SHALL SAY: AMEN & AMEN
