Setting the Captives Free

John 11:43–46 ESV

When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

Pray

Lazarus a man who was dead… actively dying…

language tells you

Now was dead

Had been dying

Like Lazarus there are many today who are “walking dead” or in “the process of dying” or “actively dying”

Many use this section to express the work of salvation

Yes, from death to life

Section speaks of greater work that is set before the church…

more than salvation it speaks of what it is going to take to set the one who was dead and dying

set free, to living in freedom, empowered with liberty, and living a life in which very area of your life has been delivered.

More than seeking “…life liberty and the pursuit of happiness”… The Christian is to live a life postured in a way that the moment

you were set free from the stench of death you will seek “…freedom in Christ, liberty of the Holy Spirit, and the total deliverance of every area of your life for the Glory of the Kingdom.

Moving from the work of Restoring the Temple, it is necessary to learn and understand the work of living in the freedom Christ has bought for us that we would carry the Spirit of God and there the Lord would set others free….

Demystify the work of deliverance

There are those as is found in v.46 “They will run to tradition, religiosity, and other forms of godliness…Paul to Timothy… Denying the power… found in who God has formed us to be

This we will accomplish if the Holy Spirit permits it.

Set the Captives free that God’s people may worship Him and He may dwell with them

From Death to Christ

Lazarus life as we can see sets the stage for many of us in our walk into Christianity.

He was a beggar, sickly, and in his living was actively dying

John 11:1–3 ESV

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

whether you read about his condition here or in Luke you find he was

sickly as a result to a constant state of weakness or incapacity

how many people today are living in such a state where they consider themselves to be living but are deluded having everything they have nothing and are actively dying?

He knew Jesus and Jesus knew him

your walk into salvation is not reduced to reciting a few words rather it is a life committed to building a relationship with the one who has called you Friend

Your salvation is free but

It cost Jesus everything

People are brought into the tremendous Spiritual Warfare that exists in your crossing from death to life.

Mary who anointed Jesus feet had taken the word back to her home and preached to them the gospel of hope and so began the ferocious battle for Lazarus… SNEAK PEEK: MARY HAD BEEN CLEANSED OF 7 SPIRITS was now entrenched for the life of Lazarus

Martha who takes of her own means as a known disciple of Christ according to Luke is on the front line effort in support of the ministry of Jesus Christ

Powerful work of intercession

sisters pleading for Lazarus

messengers lifting the prayers

It is believed that by the time the messengers arrive to Jesus with the news Lazarus is already dead.

Whether born into the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Darkness there is a process of transition of getting to know Christ as He marks us for eternal life. This process is littered with encounters with God, encounters with His very word, and the people He calls to minister to you.

Love Enough to Awaken from Slumber

John 11:11 ESV

After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”

There is much to unpack in this section

Before you cross into a new life in Christ, He has already called you Friend

Before you cross into new life in Christ, Christ is working on breaking the slumber

this fallen asleep is a reference yes to death

this fallen asleep also refers to breaking the hypnotic curse that has kept you blind

Before you cross into a new life in Christ, He committed to raising you out of the ashes to bring you into new life.

Making the Vessels Ready

Reading the entire story you will see the warfare that persists inside of Salvation

This warfare is more than suffering for sufferings sake… it is a training camp that you have lived in that has been making you ready to respond to bring victory and strengthens your faith so that you do not runaway from the battle but you dig your heals in knowing what your assignment is

John 11:16 ESV

So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus is going back to Judea where His life had just been threatened. Thomas encouraged and having caught the vision says… “I am not afraid… if this is what your desire… Lets go…”

There was a reason for the delay, there is a reason for Jesus not rushing, the threat of warfare persisted and one of those costs is death

The disciples were being taught that in this war there are perils that can result in a physical death but that death leads to Eternal life.

There are enemies of the work that is being entrusted to us which are found not just in the Kingdom of Darkness but inside of the churches we can be found in… these have the church hypnotized to the point of rendering it powerless.

v.24 Martha is so well versed with theology she knows about the resurrection on the last day and fails to see the power that sets in front of her.

Explain more in the weeks to come

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life

John 11:25–26 ESV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Jesus is the resurrection (anastasis)

brings things once stuck and unmoving

things stuck in a constant state of weakness

anastasis = (scientifically on the brink of eternal death) He is bringing into the fullness of Life

Jesus is the Life (Zoe)

not just the Spiritual

a physical life in which one carries the fragrance of Christ… ( more than you wreak of the Kingdom) you carry His very essence

The Work Set Before Us

There is a work that God has set before the church that has existed since beginning of time

It is this mystery hidden since the foundation of the Earth that I want to embark on with you

If the Holy Spirit will allow us then we will advance in to this work

Found in;

John 11:43–44 ESV

When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Lazarus come out (in that instant) salvation has come

Lazarus was saved but was still bound (His hands and feet were bound) (his face wrapped in cloth)

Jesus with the power and authority to do the work brings into the such a divine work that must be accomplished

Looking at the disciples He speaks in the indicative mood telling them

Not only am I saying this to just randomly tell you things that sound good. I am speaking this with the fullness in understanding that you can do the work of unbinding the one’s who have been held in captivity

In lesser words, the hard work of breaking the hypnotic effect of this world on humanity, the hard work of restoring life, the work of breathing God’s Spirit into the one’s being brought into the Kingdom that is all found in God…

But as it turns out He has purposed in Himself to bring these the weakest of all creation into the divine work of setting the captives free because as we are set free there is our vessels are free to carry the Spirit of the Lord and where the Spirt of the Lord is THERE IS FREEDOM