Distance Makes No Difference (John 11:17-21)

Distance Makes No Difference In Prayer (vs.3)

John 11:3 “Therefore his sisters sent (to request to come) unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.”

Jesus of course knew before Mary and Martha sent for Him that Lazarus was sick. Jesus didn’t lose one ounce of His deity while putting on human flesh!

I’m glad I don’t have to make have to send an Uber to go get Jesus so I can talk to Him.

I’m glad I don’t have to hook up my dial up internet to get on MSN Messenger, see if Jesus is online and ask Him to come to my house.

I’m glad I don’t have to send a horse and buggy to a town 20 miles over to ask for Jesus to come to my aid!

Psalm 18:4–6 “The sorrows of death compassed me, And the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: The snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came before him, even into his ears.”

“Far up within the bejewelled walls, and through the gates of pearl, the cry of the suffering suppliant was heard. Music of angels and harmony of seraphs availed not to drown or even to impair the voice of that humble call. The king heard it in his palace of light unsufferable, and lent a willing ear to the cry of his own beloved child. O honoured prayer, to be able thus through Jesus' blood to penetrate the very ears and heart of Deity. The voice and the cry are themselves heard directly by the Lord, and not made to pass through the medium of saints and intercessors; "My cry came before Him;" the operation of prayer with God is immediate and personal. Above the noise of the raging billows of death, or the barking dogs of hell, the feeblest cry of a true believer will be heard in heaven.” - C.H. Spurgeon

Distance Makes No Difference in Power (vs.21)

Matthew 8:5–8 “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.” Matthew 8:13 “And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.”

John 4:46–54 “So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.”

Jesus Christ shows His power by His word!

Hebrews 1:1–3 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

Christ created the universe. This same universe consists by Him. His creation doesn’t run on it’s own. The sun, moon, stars, obey Him.

Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

Psalm 33:6–9 “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: He layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.”

Jesus can say the word and can give you what you need! Whatever He says goes!

Distance Makes No Difference In Parting (vs.21-26)

Obviously Lazarus went down into paradise, for the sins of the whole world was not yet paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross. But since the price has been paid, when a born-again child of God dies, they will be absent from the body and present with the Lord!

Psalm 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

He will never leave thee or forsake thee!

RAPTURE!

In a twinkling of an eye!

Twinkling - The time it takes for light to enter the eye and be reflected.

A blink takes 0.1 to 0.4 seconds. The twinkle of an eye is one billionth of a second. (0.000000001) seconds. A TWINKLE IS AN INSTANTANEOUS REFLECTION OF LIGHT.

We won’t even know that 1 Thessalonians 4, or 1 Corinthians 15 happened! Before the Light hits our eyes, we’ll be changed!