Are You Dying (12_of_12)
ARE YOU DYING? (12 of 12)
Meet Jesus
John 11:1-44
This morning we are looking at a familiar man in the
Bible—Lazarus.
I have a pastor friend named Fred Wolfe, who for many
years was pastor in Mobile, Alabama, at the Cottage
Hill Baptist Church. We became great friends in those
years when I was in Mobile. He told me a story some
time ago which I would like to share with you this
morning.
He said there was a man in Mobile, Alabama, who was
quite a wealthy man. He went out to the M.D. Anderson
Clinic in Houston, Texas. While he was there, they
diagnosed his case that he did indeed have cancer.
There was nothing they could do about it and it was
terminal in nature. They said to him that he had just
a little while to live; you need to set your affairs
in order.
This man called his banker and his lawyer and asked
them to fly out to Houston. In his room, he met with
his banker and set his financial affairs in order.
Then he talked with his lawyer and he set in order his
legal affairs. Then, he picked up the phone and called
my pastor friend, Fred. I'll tell you in a little
while what he said to him when called.
Here is a man who is dying and he is setting his
affairs in order. It's a good thing to do. In Isaiah
38:1, the prophet Isaiah said to King Hezekiah, "Set
thine affairs in order for thou shalt die and not
live."
When you are dying it is a good thing to set your
affairs in order and when you are dying, by all means,
if you have not, you need to meet the Lord Jesus
Christ.
When you study the life of the Lord Jesus you will
find that the Lord Jesus attached Himself or
identified Himself when families were going through
crisis experiences. In fact, you cannot read about the
Lord Jesus Christ and not know that Jesus Christ is
interested in our families and he is especially
interested when we go through crisis times.
Next Sunday morning we will celebrate Mother's Day.
You may recall that when Jesus was dying on the cross—
even in those moments of His death—He stopped dying
long enough to tend to the needs of His mother Mary.
They have sung this morning about the wedding feast in
Cana of Galilee. What a happy time that is for a
family when a family comes in together for a wedding.
Jesus was there at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.
Jesus was there in the happy times of life—when the
weddings occurred. But we are going to find out in
these verses this morning that Jesus Christ was also
present with families in the sad times of life—in the
times of death.
If ever a family needs to know Jesus and meet Jesus
and have the presence of Jesus, it is when the family
is going through the loss of a member of that family.
There is nothing that will so test a family as the
death of a loved one. The death of a family member is
either a cement that will bind a family closer
together or it is a search light that will reveal
cracks in the structure of the family.
Jesus is very near to this family in Bethany. It is a
familiar in the Bible. It is the family of Mary,
Martha (the sisters) and their brother Lazarus. It's a
special family of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a
family that is going through a time of crisis and it
provides you and me an opportunity to touch life at a
very tender spot in the experience of all of us—the
loss of a member of your family.
The loss of a member of the family is an opportunity
to talk about a family suffering.
I. A Family's SUFFERING.
Here is a family that is going through one of those
times of suffering in life. When we read these opening
verses of the 11th chapter we are reminded again how
very dear and how very near this little family was to
Jesus.
It was located in the little village of Bethany which
was not too far from the city of Jerusalem. It was a
place where Jesus Christ often would go. We are told
about Jesus going to the home of Mary and Martha in
Luke chapter 10. Martha was in the kitchen and she was
all hot and bothered about it. Mary was sitting at the
feet of Jesus having a Bible study. Martha got her
nose out of joint about it. You remember that story?
What a beautiful, sweet scene that is. It seems to
have been a place where Jesus enjoyed going. It was
one of those places where He could relax and get away
from the crowds for a little while and be with some
people he was very near and dear to.
These verses make it very clear to us that this was a
family that was loved by Jesus. In fact, we are told
down in verse 5, "Now Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus."
The word was sent Jesus in verse 3 that Lazarus, whom
Jesus loved, is sick. It is a time of suffering. I
want you to notice that simple dearness to Jesus and
nearness to Jesus does not make you immune to
suffering. Though Jesus loves you dearly and though
you may have a close relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ, that does not make you immune from suffering.
God does not put Christians in plastic, trouble-proof
bags. The family does not have walls so thick that
trouble cannot get in. It does not have gates so
strong that heartache cannot enter in. Even though you
may be near and dear to Jesus Christ, you may
experience a time of suffering.
Another thing I want you to notice here is that Jesus
does not love us any less when we are suffering and
sick than He does when things are going well. In fact,
if anything, Jesus loves us more when we are going
through those kinds of experiences. Sometimes when
people go through suffering they raise the question—
does God love me? Does Jesus really care? Yet, this
passage of Scripture makes it very clear to us that
when we are going through a time of suffering, his
love for us in no way is diminished.
Here is Lazarus and he is sick. The Bible says in
verse 3 that the sisters send the message to Jesus
that their brother is sick. That's a good thing to do.
When you have suffering, when you have difficulty,
when you have trouble and trials and heartaches, it is
a good thing to do to send word to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Wouldn't you agree with that this morning?
I love the song we have in our hymnbook. "I must tell
Jesus all of my sorrows. He is a kind, compassionate
friend." The Bible says that we are to case all of our
cares upon Him for he cares for us. The Bible says -
cast thy burden upon the Lord for He cares for you.
Here is a family in a time of suffering and crisis and
they send word to Jesus. We would expect that the
moment the Lord hears this word, begins to get
everything together and says to the disciples, "Pack
up boys, we have a crisis at the home of Mary and
Maratha. Their brother Lazarus is sick and we have to
get there just as quick as we can possibly get."
Yet, when you read these verses you will notice in
verse 6 it says that when Jesus heard the news about
Lazarus being sick, He stayed where He was for two
days. You can almost imagine what the sisters were
going through. There they sit. They have sent the word
to Jesus and one day passes and two days pass. One of
the sisters asks, "Is He coming? Is He here yet?" No.
"Where is He?" He hasn't showed up yet. So they must
have been puzzled and wondered by the delay. Of course
you and I have the benefit of having read the story.
We already know what's going on. But they didn't. You
have to put yourself in their situation when they have
sent for the Lord and days are passing now and
suffering has come and Jesus hasn't come. They must
have been puzzled by that delay.
It is the delays that sometimes perplex us. You pray
and nothing seems to happen. You've called on the Lord
and the Lord doesn't seem to be responsive. It's those
delays that kind of get to us. We wonder about the
mysteries of God. The poet said, "God moves in
mysterious ways His wonder to perform. He plants His
footstep in the sea and walks upon the storm." We
have ourselves confronted sometimes with the
mysterious ways of God and He delays.
You may have been praying a long time for something
and it hasn't come to pass. You may be wondering about
the delay of the Lord. I want to point out to you that
in Isaiah 38:10 the Bible says, "Therefore will the
Lord wait that He may be gracious." When the Lord
waits and when the Lord delays in your life—just keep
in mind that there are purposes you may not
understand. God may be working in ways behind the
scenes that are beyond your ability to understand.
But there is always a reason. Jesus said in verse 4,
"This sickness is not unto death." That doesn't mean
he wasn't going to die. He was probably dead already.
"But it is for the glory of God that the Son of God
might be glorified thereby." He is saying there is a
connection between suffering and glory. If God is
getting ready to do something special and something
glorious in your life, it is altogether possible that
He may put you for a time in the school of suffering.
It is suffering that leads to glory. It is the
difficulties in life, it is the dilemmas in life, it
is the crisis experiences of life where God works. Out
of the suffering He brings something glorious and
wonderful into our lives.
When people are dying and it's time to set their
affairs in order, it's a time to talk about a family's
suffering. Here's a man in Houston, Texas. He has his
banker. He has his lawyer. He is setting his house in
order. A family suffering.
The time of the death of a loved one is also a time to
talk about a family's sorrow.
II. A Family's SORROW.
Verse 7 says, "Let's go unto Judea again." When you
read in these verses about that the disciples begin to
talk to the Lord and they say Lord, it's time to go.
In verse 9 he says, "Are there not twelve hours in the
day?" Jesus is saying—I've got m y own schedule.
Heaven's timetable is not like our timetable. While
Jesus has delayed His coming, the inevitable occurs.
The thing they feared the most happened. Lazarus has
died.
Down in verse 11 Jesus said, "Lazarus sleeps." In the
Bible, sleep is used as a euphemism for death. The
Bible talks about death for the believer as sleep.
Why? In I Thessalonians 4 the Bible says, "Them which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." When
believers die we just say they have gone to sleep in
the Lord. What does that mean? When you go to sleep,
it means you are going to wake up again. When
believers die in the Lord, they go to sleep in the
Lord. Not literally; but it is a figure of speech. It
means that though believers may die, there is going to
be a day when God is going to wake them up again.
We are dealing with this family's sorrow. Jesus is on
the way. As he approaches, we have two sisters to deal
with. Martha and Mary. I don't know that this is true,
but I've always liked to think that Lazarus was the
baby brother. You ladies who have baby brothers
understand, don't you? I have watched this through
the years. If you have a baby boy in the family, he
has as many mothers as there are girls in the family.
They all kind of pet him. He's the "petted one."
I kind of like to think that Lazarus was the "petted
one." You can't ready about him and not find out that
Martha and Mary were very, very different. We are all
different. Isn't that an amazing thing—in the same
family—same mother and daddy, same house, same
environment, how different the members of the family
are.
Mary and Martha are different. They handle this sorrow
differently. They have different temperaments. That's
what happens in a family when sorrow comes. Family
members handle this sorrow in a different way.
Look at Martha. In verse 20 it says, 'Then Martha, as
soon as she heard Jesus was coming, she went and met
Him. But Mary sat still in the house." Here comes
Martha in verse 21. She said unto Jesus, "Lord, if you
had been here my brother had not died." Can you catch
that little biting tone in it? I think if we could get
her tone of voice we would catch some impatience.
"Lord, where have you been? Why didn't you come? If
you had been here, he wouldn't have died." I detect
maybe a little anger in her voice.
Sometimes when there is the death of a loved one in
the family there is some anger that comes. She's just
honest about it. A lot of people when they lose a
loved one there is some anger. Sometimes there is
anger toward God. Not many people as honest as Martha
is about it. Most people don't want to admit they have
any anger with God. Some are angry with God. God has
done some things you don't understand. You've had some
heartaches and difficulties in your life and you are
really angry. But you have never admitted that. So you
have put your anger in other directions. You have
taken your anger out on others. You are transferring
your anger to someone else. The truth of the matter
is—you are angry at the ways of God.
Here is Martha and she says—Lord, where have you been?
If you had been here he wouldn't have died. Why did
you let it happen?
Jesus began to work with this impetuous Martha. He
said to her in verse 23, "Your brother will rise
again." She said in verse 24, "I know he'll rise again
at the resurrection at the last day." Then Jesus
gives her what she needs to hear in verse 25. "I am
the resurrection and the life." Aren't you glad Jesus
Christ is the resurrection and the life? This is one
of those "I AM'S of Jesus." There are about seven of
them in the gospel of John. Study the I am statements
of Jesus and you will find out that whatever the need
is in your life, Jesus is the I AM. He is saying, I
am the resurrection and the life. That simply means
that wherever Jesus is—everything comes to life.
Nothing can stay dead when Jesus is around. Three
times, in the New Testament, we are told that Jesus
came in contact with the dead and each time Jesus
Christ rose them again from the dead. That's why on
the cross, Jesus died first. If the thieves had died
on the cross, He would have raised them from the dead.
Wherever Jesus is—He is the resurrection and the life.
Jesus will give life to a church. Jesus will give life
to a home. Jesus will give life to a life. He is the
resurrection and the life.
He says, "Though he were dead. . ." talking about physical
death, "Yet shall he live." He is saying—I'm going to
raise him physically from the dead. He says in verse
26, "Whosoever lives and believes in me shall never
die." Lazarus had just died, what's he talking about?
He's talking about spiritual death. There is a
physical death, but there is also a spiritual death.
There are people who are dead spiritually.
The truth of the matter is—I have already had one
resurrection. I was dead and I was actually raised
from the dead. I was. "Preacher, this 8:00 service is
getting to your head a little." Yes, I was dead one
time. I'll prove it to you. Ephesians 2:1 says, "You
hath he made alive who were dead in trespasses and
sins"
Before I met Jesus, before I got saved, I was a dead
sinner. I was dead in trespasses and sin. When I
received Christ as my Savior, He raised me out of that
spiritual death. I have had a spiritual resurrection.
I'm a brand new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ
because of salvation.
One of the reasons I know I'm going to have a physical
resurrection is because I've already experienced a
spiritual resurrection. That's not all. I'm not only
going to have a spiritual resurrection because Jesus
said I am the resurrection and the life and though you
are dead, yet will you live. That's what He said to
Martha.
Now Mary handles her sorrow a little bit different. In
verse 28 Martha goes back to the house and it says
that she called Mary her sister secretly. She cups her
hands to her ear and whispered, Mary, Jesus is here.
He wants to see you. Mary hears that and verse 29 says
she arises quickly and comes unto him. Verse 32—and
when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw Him, she
fell down at His feet.
Every time you read about Mary in the Bible she is at
the feet of Jesus. Here she is. She has lost a family
member. She has lost here special brother. Jesus has
come and Mary brings her sorrow to the feet of Jesus.
She says the same word, if I read it correctly. In
verse 32 she uses the identical words that Martha
used. But I think there was difference in the tone of
voice. At the feet of Jesus she says, Oh, Lord, if you
had been here my brother wouldn't have died. You see
what she did? Her sorrow brought her to the feet of
Jesus.
That's what you and I ought to let sorrow do to us.
You have a sorrow? You have a problem in your family?
You have a hurt in your heart? Let it call you to go
to the Bible and prayer more than you ever have. Every
sorrow is a call to prayer. Every heartache is a call
to the feet of Jesus.
There my friend was at Anderson Clinic in Houston.
He's got his banker. He's got his lawyer. He's dying.
Are you dying? The death of a family member is a time
to talk about a family's suffering. It's a time to
talk about a family's sorrow. It's a time to talk
about -
III. A Family's SAVIOR.
Look at verse 33. "When Jesus therefore saw her
weeping and the Jews also weeping which came with
her." The word, weeping, is a word that is so typical
of the oriental culture. It's the scene that you have
been witnessing in Israel. It is loud lamentation. It
is shrieking. It is very expressive. It is very
outward. It is very loud weeping. Jesus comes walking
into this scene of turmoil and sorrow. Here's a family
who has lost a family member. They are all to pieces
about it. Jesus walks in and in verse 33 it says he
groaned in his spirit and was troubled. The word means
he was agitated. It means that holy wrath is boiling
up in his soul.
Why did Jesus get mad? I'll tell you why. Jesus walked
into the presence of what human sin can do to a family
and do to a life. His holy anger burst out against the
sin that had caused such suffering and sorrow in a
family. It says in verse 34, "Where have they laid
him?" "Come Lord and see." Then don't you love verse
35? "Jesus wept." That's the shortest, but it may be
the sweetest verse in all the Bible. It's a different
word for weeping here. Not the word of loud hysteria.
It really means that ears just burst from his eyes.
You can see Jesus just standing there silently as the
tears erupt from His eyes and dig rivers down his
cheek.
This says to me that you don't have to try to stifle
your tears when you lose a love done. Being a
Christian does not dehumanize you. The Bible says that
we sorrow not even as those who have no hope. That
means not that we do not sorrow, we do sorrow. But we
sorrow not as those who have no hope. In the midst of
our tears, though we do sorrow and though we do weep
God gives us a hope and Jesus wept. Why did Jesus
weep?
He wept for the sisters. His heart was touched with
the feeling of their infirmity. When we weep Jesus
weeps. I want you to get that. When you have a
heartache Jesus has a heartache. He identifies with
us. He wept for the sisters. He wept for Lazarus. Why
did he weep for Lazarus? He was in the land of the
dying. Oh, no. Lazarus was not in the land of the
dying. He was in the land of the living. He was fixing
to bring him back to the land of the dying. Lazarus is
going to be worse off when this picture is over.
Jesus is weeping. Then it says in verse 39, "Take ye
away the stone." There was something they could do.
What we CAN do Jesus expects us TO DO. There are some
stones we can roll away. Sometimes you can roll that
old stone of pride away. That stone of worldliness,
you can roll it away. That stone of indifference, you
can roll it away. That old stone of unforgiveness, you
can roll it away. Sometimes Jesus needs to let us roll
some stones away in our life so He can get to the
problem. Do you have any stones that need to be rolled
away?
Martha speaks up as always. "Lord, by this time he
stinks. He's been dead four days." His body has
decomposed. They didn't embalm bodies in that culture.
That's a picture of lost people. Lost people are not
only dead; they are decayed. The longer you live in
sin, the more smell there will be about you. Some
sinners have been sinners so long every time they open
up their mouth it's like a garbage dump. Their
lifestyle smells. Their habits smell. Their influence
smells. Everything about you sticks. You've been in
sin so long.
"He stinks." Does she realize who she is talking to?
Jesus had just said to her, "I'm the resurrection and
the life.' it didn't matter if Lazarus had been dead
four centuries. Jesus said take away the stone. There
Jesus stands, the Lord of life standing in the
presence of death. It says, in a loud voice that Jesus
cried.
Think about that voice of Jesus when he cried. When He
cried with a loud voice the demons came out of people.
When Jesus spoke waves were calmed and storms ceased.
Now, with a loud voice he said, "Lazarus, come forth."
I like the line of the country preacher we've all
heard and used through the years. He said, "If he
hadn't called Lazarus by the first name, every dead
man in that graveyard would have come out!"
About that time, Lazarus is up there in heaven and
he's touring the heavenly city and he's looking at his
brand new mansion and getting acquainted with all the
saints of old. About that time someone taps him on the
shoulder and says, Lazarus, I apologize and I hate to
interrupt you, but Jesus has called you back to the
land of the dying. About that time, there stands Jesus
and all the people. There's Mary and there's Martha.
It says in verse 44, "he that was dead came forth,
bound hand and foot in his grave clothes, with his
face bound about with a napkin. Jesus said unto them,
loose him and let him go." Here he comes. He's all
bound up. His arms and his legs are bound. He's barely
able to get out. He has that napkin that is just
dropping in his face. He hasn't seen the light of the
sun for four days. He comes blinking and stumbling and
barely moving out. Jesus says, "Loose him and let him
go."
Get off those grave clothes. We are going to put him
on some grace clothes. That's what Jesus can do when
you are experiencing a time of death.
Here was my buddy's friend who in Houston with his
banker to take care of his financial affairs. He had
his lawyer to take care of his legal affairs. Then he
picked up the phone and called my friend. He said,
"Fred, I'm in Houston, dying with cancer. I've been
setting my affairs in order. I have my banker here to
take care of my financial affairs. I have my lawyer to
take care of my legal affairs. But preacher, while I
was doing all of that God spoke to me and said, man
you haven't taken care of the affairs of your soul. I
want to come back to Mobile and I want you to tell me
how to be saved." He did and he was.
When you are dying you need to set your house in order
and you haven't set your house in order until you tend
to the affairs of your soul.
Are you dying? The truth is - you are. All of us are.
Dear friend, when you are dying, whatever else you do,
be sure you've met Jesus.
I want us to bow our heads in prayer.
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