Sermon Tone Analysis

That you may Believe and Have Life #32

John 11:38-57

 

In two weeks we will celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We will Celebrate his Death, Resurrection, the Empty Tomb.

But Jesus does not have the ONLY empty Tomb IN Palestine.

Lazarus of Bethany, brother to Mary and Martha, has an empty Tomb in Bethany …

<Slide one and two> –

They buried him there, we read that story a few weeks ago

It was a public, full of mourners and witnesses so, we know Lazarus was buried there … yet that Tomb is empty today …

But there is another Tomb … in Cyprus … the Tomb was discovered in 890 A.D. with the inscription, /“Lazarus, the Friend of Christ”/ … a Greek Orthodox Church today stands over that grave site … <slide three>

Well, Lazarus died this first time and was buried in Bethany … and the Tomb probably looked like this one …

<slide four>

Let’s return to our text in John 11 and I want you to pay special attention to the Words of Jesus, which in many of our Bibles are Red …

READ John 11:38-57

 

Now, I believe that there are some parallels that we can use to learn about living Resurrection Life ourselves

I will say up front that we have to be careful that we don’t go too far in making the parallels.

I have even read some theologians that use the story of Lazarus to prove their belief system about Spiritual Regeneration … and the two are not necessarily ordered by the same laws … So … with that understanding … I believe we can use this story today as a Parable for understanding what I am calling the Resurrection Life.

Lazarus was DEAD … more than dying, more than sick unto death, more than in need of resuscitation … he was DEAD! … Buried for 4 Days … and at the end of the Story today he was ALIVE … and his life was never the same again … of this you can be sure.

Now there came another day when he died … we know that … but the rest of his life he never lived the same

 

How do we Live the Resurrection Life?

 

1.

Take Away the Stone

 

Notice that Jesus came to the Tomb and then commanded the people there to “remove the Stone” … which brings thought to mind of the stones that separate us from the Resurrection Life …

  A.

We Can’t Move the Stone Ourselves

Apart from Christ we are dead.

Dead in our Trespasses and Sins

Yet God involves man in the process of calling people to Christ

Just as Jesus said /“Lazarus Come Forth”/ … so God draws the heart of those who are dead in their sins … but Just as Jesus said /“Take Away the Stone”/ … I also believe God calls us to be involved in the process for others …

I was reading Dr. Criswell yesterday as he simply preached on this one point … and he identified 3 stones that WE must remove when we join Christ in the process …

    1.

the Stone of Unbelief – Martha replied to his instruction /“but Lord, there is a bad odor, he has been there four days”/ – KJV says /“he stinketh”/

      a.

How many times has the Lord challenged YOU to remove some obstacles in someone’s life, to bring them a testimony of truth, and you said /“but Lord, you can’t do anything in their life, THEY STINK”/ --- /“They are REALLY Dead”/

      b.

Banish unbelief and don’t believe that God CAN’T move in the Life of that person who is dead to Christ.

    2.

The Stone of Laziness –

      a.

some times we lose our commitment to the process … we speak of our love … for God and For people … but we aren’t really motivated to do anything about it … I stole this story from Dr. Criswell about of the boy in love who wrote his sweetheart … perhaps today it could have been an email

     b.

/I love you, for you.

I would cross the deepest river.

And I would swim the widest ocean.

And I’d climb the highest mountain.

For you,  I love you!  Signed “John” P.S. – “I’ll see you Saturday night, if it’s not raining.”

/

 

Third stone he describes is similar to the 2nd but more serious

   3.

The stone of Acquiescence –     

      a.

That’s apathy which is laziness that has given in to the circumstance – it is like saying /“yep they’re dead and that’s just the way it is/” … “oh well” …

      b.

Aren’t you glad that someone didn’t think that about you … but told you about Jesus Christ?

      c.

William Wilberforce wasn’t satisfied with things the way they are in Slave Trade in England but fought tirelessly for decades until it was abolished.

d.

He also wasn’t satisfied with the state of morals and lostness in his country and abroad and fought against the decaying morals and for the establishment of the Missionary movement

      e.

Mr. Kimball a Sunday School Teacher didn’t give up on D.L. Moody but led him to Christ and Moody preached under the power of the Spirit and shook the United States and God brought Revival.

f.

With Ezekiel we have to answer the question … Can these dry bones live?

Will you take away the stones of Unbelief, Laziness, and Acquiescence or Apathy?

Well, While God chooses to involve us in the process … the greatest stone to the Resurrection Life, is one that we CAN’T Move for ourselves and Someone CAN’T move it for us … but have no fear …

 

  B.

Jesus Has Removed the Greatest Stone

    1.

the Stone of Sin …

    2.

We cannot pay for our own sins because the wages of Sin is death

 

/Isaiah 59:2 (NIV) \\ 2 //But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear./

/Isaiah 59:16 (NIV) \\ 16 //He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him./

The Greatest Stone has been removed … my cell door has been unlocked … if I will respond to his voice and Live the Resurrection Life …

When we respond to his voice we …

 

2.

See The Glory

V40 again /did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” /

  A.

I Promised

    1.

/lego – to say, affirm, maintain, teach/

    2.

when Jesus speaks … it is always true and it is always a promise … and so when he spoke … he reminded them of a promise … also we see here is affirming something, he is standing by his words, and he is teaching us something

    3.

Remember when the messenger came with Word that Lazarus was sick, Jesus sent word back /“this sickness will not end in death.

No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it”/

 

  B.

If You Believe

    1.

maybe you’ve seen bumper stickers that say /“God said it, I believe it, and that settles it”/ – To which I’ve responded before /“God said it, and that settles it, whether you believe it or not”/ … well obviously that’s not always true when it comes to experiencing things that are conditional …

    2.

/For By Grace you are saved, through faith/ … Grace has been provided, but /without Faith it is impossible to please God …/

    3.

So when it comes to experiencing God’s Grace, the Gift of Life, of walking in the Resurrection Life offered by Christ, /IF YOU BELIEVE/ …

    4.

the word in Greek /ean (eh-an) if, in case/ … 14 times it is translated /whosoever/, and 16 times /whatsoever/

    5.

Belief is a condition by which we can experience the Resurrection life that God has for us.

How many of us have experienced times in our life that although we know we are IN Christ, we aren’t experiencing the victorious life?

It is because we aren’t living in the condition of obedience evidencing our faith

    6.

Believe – /pisteuo – to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, to place confidence in … /

    7.

Some of us don’t experience the Resurrection Life because we don’t deposit our confidence in the words of God, the Power of God, the Promises of God … or we flat just don’t think they are true.

8.

Don’t trust what you have always known, don’t believe what you have always thought, don’t rely on what you’ve always been able to do … /you MUST Believe/

Jesus said in Mark 9:23 – /all things are possible to him who believes/ …

 

The promise Of Jesus is that /if we believe … /

  C.

You Will See The Glory

    1.

Now remember we have talked many times about the word /doxa/ – translated “glory” – it means /opinion, judgment, view /– it is a reputation … and when we studied John 1:14 – we studied glory … and there is no better place to find God’s opinion ~/ reputation, than from God himself … and for that our study took us to Exodus 33 & 34 – Moses had begged to see his Glory … so God said … /“you can’t see me face to face or you will die …”/ Moses begged and God said /“I will put in a cleft in the rock, and cover you with my hand … then you will see …”/

And then the Lord Passed Moses and called out his OPINION ~/ REPUTATION … i.e. his GLORY

V6-7 “/the LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.

Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the 3rd and 4th generation” /

 

    2.

IF you believe … you can experience Resurrection Life, and see the Beauty of his Glory … that is /Compassion, Grace, Forgiveness, Love, Faithfulness/ … When we believe … we place ourselves in position to know his Grace, Love, Forgiveness, Power for LIFE, REAL LIFE … here and now as well as for Eternity …

    3.

But notice, to see God’s Glory and Goodness, Moses had to BELIEVE and OBEY … God said /“stand where I tell you to stand … and I’ll cover you” / and THEN you can see my glory …

But if Moses had NOT obeyed God, God’s same glory would have consumed him …

    4.

there are TWO sides of God’s glory … there is the /compassion, love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, power/, and then there is the other side … that he /does NOT leave guilty unpunished/ …

    5.

If I believe in Christ, his punishment becomes my punishment and so his grace becomes mine, his power, mine, his forgiveness mine …