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♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪
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And today for our
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New Testament reading, we'll complete this epistle of Paul to Timothy, 1
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Timothy. And again, Paul's instructing Timothy on how he might serve as pastor at the church at Ephesus.
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And he concludes this epistle by exhorting Timothy to teach sound doctrine because of false teachers.
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He speaks about true contentment. And then he urges
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Timothy to fight the good fight of faith, that this work of pastoring this church was going to be a matter of spiritual warfare.
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And that's where much spiritual warfare takes place in the church, dealing with sin and error and ignorance.
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And so, Jason, if you will please, and then pray. 1
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Timothy 6 Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.
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Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.
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Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our
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Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.
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He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
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But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
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But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
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For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
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But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
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Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
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I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our
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Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the
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King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal dominion.
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Amen. As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
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They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasures for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
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O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, for by professing it, some have swerved from the faith.
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Grace be with you. Let's pray. Lord God, this passage is very significant because it reminds us of the world we live in.
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A world that is completely consumed with materialism and money and wealth and all those things that promise happiness, that promise satisfaction,
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Lord, but we know that none of those things provide satisfaction. None of them provide happiness.
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Only a life that is filled with the Spirit of God can give us satisfaction, can give us joy.
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So, Lord, we pray that we would flee from these things, that we would flee from the love of money, that we would not pursue money above all ends, but that we would pursue
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You. We pray, Lord, that rather we would pursue righteousness, that we would pursue godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
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We pray, Lord, that we would fight the good fight of the faith, that we would see
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You and follow You with our whole hearts, with a pure heart, with a single devotedness to You.
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And Lord, we remember in this text as to who You truly are, that You are the
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Blessed and Only Sovereign, that You are the King of kings, You are the Lord of lords, You alone have immortality.
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You dwell in unapproachable light. And Lord, to You be honor and eternal dominion forever.
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Amen. Lord, we pray that we would remember this prayer, that we would lift
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You up and extol You for who You are and for what You've done. And Lord, as we now open up the
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Gospel of John, we pray that we would further lift You up, that we would focus on what the text has to say.
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We pray, Lord, that You would teach us about who You are and what You've done. And we pray, Lord, that in the power of Your Spirit, we would apply these truths to our lives and thus live for Your glory.
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Thank You, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, let's turn in our
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Bibles to John chapter 11 today. We begin a new chapter in our study. By the way, this coming
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Wednesday evening is the last evening that we'll be having our prayer meeting at Ruth Barrow's house at 6 o 'clock this
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Wednesday. And then we will come back, of course, the following Wednesday here at the church. But the second
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Wednesday of September, we're going to begin a class after prayer meeting.
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We'll have prayer meeting from 6 to 7 p .m. on Wednesday evening. And then from about 7 to 8, 30 or so, we'll be offering a 12 -week class with the second part of that Behold Your God series.
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It's a DVD series and also workbook that will be provided.
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And so we encourage those that would be interested to remember that.
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Again, that will be the second Wednesday evening beginning in September. Well, in our study of this fourth gospel, we now arrive at this account of Jesus and Lazarus as well as his two sisters.
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Jesus, of course, raises Lazarus from the dead and restores him to his two sisters, his brother to his sisters.
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And in some ways, this chapter, John chapter 11, may be regarded as the high point, the climax of the ministry of our
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Lord as recorded by John. It's the last miracle recorded in this gospel, apart from the resurrection of Christ himself, of course.
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And therefore, it is commonly regarded as the seventh and final sign.
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There are seven signs or miracles in John that primarily reveal the glory of Jesus Christ, that he is indeed
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God incarnate. And just for your review, the list of these seven signs that we have considered in our study of John's gospel, the turning of water into wine, the healing of the royal official's son, the healing of the paralytic at the
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Bethesda pool, the feeding of the 5 ,000. Now, look at point number five, the walking on water.
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There are some that say that this miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is only the sixth sign, and the actual seventh sign is the resurrection of Jesus Christ himself.
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And I read some of the arguments, and they're quite good and compelling, actually. And so there are those that would not regard
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Jesus walking on water as one of the major signs of the gospel. Others do, however.
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And then we have six, the healing of the man born blind, which we've been considering recently, and then the raising of Lazarus here in John chapter 11.
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And so up to this point in the unfolding story of Jesus in John's gospel, we've considered him as he claimed and explained himself to be.
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These were also set forth, of course, in the I Am statements of Jesus, in which he not only declared himself to be eternal
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God, the I Am who revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush, but in these
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I Am statements he also revealed himself as the mediator of the grace of God to his people.
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And so far we've considered four out of a total of seven I Am statements in the gospel of John.
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And so the ones we've considered, I Am the Bread of Life, I Am the Light of the World, I Am the
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Door of the Sheep, I Am the Good Shepherd. And here in John 11 we'll read his fifth claim,
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I Am the Resurrection and Life. That's a couple of weeks off when we arrive at verse 25.
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Now, this event of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead precipitates the last and successful effort of the
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Jewish leaders to arrest Jesus and, of course, bring about his crucifixion.
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Here's a good summary of this event. The miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead is a climax to all the preceding signs that have revealed
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God's glory through Jesus. Here, death itself, the final enemy of humanity, is successfully confronted by the one who is himself, the resurrection and the life.
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And yet even this glorious sign divides those who witness it. Those who reject the glory revealed commit themselves to pursuing
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Jesus' death. And so the account moves onward toward that event.
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Now, the entire chapter of John 11 can be regarded as a single narrative unit.
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And, of course, it's too lengthy for us to deal with in one Sunday. There's 57 verses in John 11.
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And we'll only be considering the first 16 verses today. That itself is quite a large chunk of this chapter.
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But one should understand the single narrative unit of the entire chapter.
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And we've pointed out the common way that narrative units are identified in the
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Gospels. And here we have, first, the introduction and setting of the episode in verses 1 through 16, in which commonly the location, setting, people are identified, and usually the time reference also.
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But that seems to be absent here to a great degree. And then secondly, after the setting, the introduction, you have the conflict.
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There's a conflict that is described. And here the conflict is the death of Lazarus, and really the crisis of faith on the part of his sisters, as well as some of the
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Jews who are present. And then the third division of this narrative unit, you have the resolution of the conflict, in Jesus raising
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Lazarus from the dead, and Jesus exhorting his sisters to full faith in him.
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Really, it's the sisters who seem to be at the forefront of this entire episode.
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And then lastly, you have the conclusion and the interpretation of the event, in which the result is great glory given to Jesus by some, and the intractable opposition, of course, of others who desire
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Jesus' death. Again, there's division throughout this whole Gospel, and everything
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Jesus did resulted in this division. Although the account encompasses, again, the entire 11th chapter, we'll only read the first 16 verses and consider them.
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Now, a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary, and her sister
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Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother
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Lazarus was sick. And therefore the sisters sent to him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.
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And when Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the
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Son of God may be glorified through it. Now, Jesus loved
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Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.
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And then after this, he said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him,
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Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone you, and are you going there again? Jesus answered,
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Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
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But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.
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These things he said, and after that he said to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him.
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And then his disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps, he'll get well. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
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And Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.
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Nevertheless, let us go to him. And then Thomas, who is called the twin, said to his fellow disciples,
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Let us also go, that we may die with him. So let's work through these verses, attempting to understand what's being expressed, and also attempt to understand the implication and application to ourselves.
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First, we read that Jesus learns of the sickness of Lazarus from Mary, his sister.
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Verses 1 -3, again. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary, and her sister
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Martha. I think it's interesting how that's depicted. It was that Mary, who anointed the
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Lord with fragrant oil, wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. And therefore the sisters sent to him, saying,
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Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. And when Jesus heard that, he said,
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This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.
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And so the account opens with the reference to Lazarus being sick.
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It must have been quite a serious illness for his sisters to have sent to Jesus.
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He was sick unto death, and his sisters, of course, were sick with concern for him.
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Matthew Henry wrote, The sickness of those we love is our affliction. Which is certainly true, isn't it?
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Lazarus was a rather common name in the ancient world, by the way. And it must have been.
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And by the way, there are efforts to link this Lazarus, because of his name, with the
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Lazarus in the account of Luke 16, Lazarus and the rich man, remember, who died.
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And then we're in Sheol or Hades. But there is no common ground here.
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Apparently Lazarus was a rather common name in the ancient world. Lazarus was a
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Bethany, a town that the evangelist had not mentioned to this point in the story. Now there was a reference to Bethany back in John 1 .28,
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but that was a different Bethany. In John 1 .28, these things took place in Bethany across the
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Jordan where John was baptizing. That was a reference to John baptizing
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Jesus in the Jordan River. That Bethany was at least 20 miles east of Jerusalem, down in the
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Jordan River Valley, quite a distance to travel. However, the
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Bethany mentioned here in John 11 .1 was located just two miles east of Jerusalem. There was the
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Mount of Olives and then about a mile further was this little village of Bethany. This Bethany was the hometown of Mary and her sister
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Martha. Now notice it doesn't say the town of the sisters Mary and Martha, but it was known as the town of Mary and her sister
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Martha. They're sisters, but Mary seems to be put forward here as rather preeminent.
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And by the way, she was probably the younger sister too. Martha was probably the older sister in that she hosted a dinner party that's recorded on another occasion.
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John identified her as that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair.
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Now as you read the Gospels, it's with some difficulties to sort out the Marys that are mentioned.
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And in fact, there are at least five of them in the Gospels. It was a very common name.
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And so you had, first of all, you had Mary, of course, the mother of Jesus. Secondly, you had
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Mary Magdalene. Her name probably indicates that she was from the town of Magdala on the southwest shore of the
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Sea of Galilee. And Jesus had cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene, and then she became a disciple.
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Mary Magdalene is popularly and commonly thought to have been an immoral woman.
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And then Jesus cast these seven demons out, and she was converted. But actually, there is no suggestion, no direct suggestion that this
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Mary Magdalene was an immoral woman. She followed those who took the body of Jesus for burial.
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She became a very devout disciple of Jesus. She was also the first one to learn of the resurrection of Christ on the day that he came forth from the dead.
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Mary Magdalene. And then you have another Mary mentioned who was the mother of John Mark, Mark being the writer of the
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Gospel. And this Mary is mentioned in the book of Acts where the prayer meeting was taking place, where they wanted
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Peter to be released. And they were so surprised when he was released, even though that was an answer to their prayer.
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That was Mary's house. And then fourthly, you have a Mary, the mother of James and Joseph.
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She may have been, probably was, Mary who was the wife of Clopas, who is mentioned in a couple of places.
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And she was also among the women who went to the tomb on the morning of his resurrection. But when she and the few women who were with her saw an angel spoke to them, they became afraid and they ran away.
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And then you have fifthly, this Mary of Bethany, whose sister was Martha and brother was
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Lazarus. She and her sister Martha are mentioned in the
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Gospel of Luke when Jesus was there for a meal. This is an interesting little account.
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Now it happened as they went that Jesus entered a certain village, that would be Bethany, a certain woman named
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Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word.
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But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached him, Jesus, and said,
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Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.
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And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you're worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her.
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Mary seemed to have a very close devotional regard for Jesus, very close relationship with him.
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She desired to hear from him and sit at his feet. Maybe this is why
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John in his Gospel made mention of Jesus being in the town of Mary and her sister
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Martha. But perhaps it's more likely that Mary is mentioned first because of what is said to her next in John 12, but also recorded in Mark chapter 14.
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And so in verse 2 we read, a further identification of this Mary, it was that Mary that anointed the
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Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair. Now, this event of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus actually took place after these events of John 11.
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In verse 2 he says, this is the Mary that anointed his feet, but he doesn't tell that story until the next chapter in John chapter 12.
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It's also recorded in Mark 14. And be it in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster, a very costly oil of spikenard.
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She broke the flask, poured it on his head, but there were some who were indignant among themselves and said, why was this fragrant oil wasted?
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For it might have been sold for more than 300 denarii given to the poor, and they criticized her sharply. But Jesus said, let her alone, why do you trouble her?
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She's done a good work for me, for you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good, but me you do not have always.
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She's done what she could. She's come beforehand to anoint my body for burial. Surely, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.
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Now, even as I read that, I was getting a little confused in my mind because there was another incident of another woman that had a spikenard of oil that broke it and she wiped the feet of Jesus with her hair, but it was not
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Mary. And Mary is often confused with this woman, which is understandable.
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It sounds so much alike. But in John's account in the next chapter, John chapter 12, we read of this
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Mary. And six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
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There they made him a supper, Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him.
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Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
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But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who had betrayed him, said, Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?
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This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the money box and he used to take what was put in it.
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But Jesus said, Let her alone, she's kept this for the day of my burial. For the poor you have with you always, but me you do not have always.
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Now, this event of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus in John 12 is not to be confused with the occasion that Jesus was invited to dinner in the house of a
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Pharisee, which is recorded in Luke 7. On that occasion, a woman who was a sinner broke an alabaster box and anointed
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Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. That probably occurred in Galilee.
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This event occurred in Bethany, near Jerusalem. There were two different occasions when two different women each had an alabaster box, each having broken them open, but one of these women was an immoral woman.
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The other was this woman of devotion, Mary. One of these occasions occurred in the house of a
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Pharisee. The other took place in the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Bethany. But because of the similarity of details, the spike guard, the oil, wiping of the feet with her hair, these two events are often conflated as though they're the single event.
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And so the character of the immoral woman is projected upon Mary, who is actually a woman of devotion.
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I had to work through this myself, you know, because of the similarity of details to sort this matter out.
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Then you consider the different records of that in the Gospels, it's easy to get these things confused. Now, after John identified this
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Mary as the one who anointed Jesus in view of his death, John identified her brother. Again, verse 2 reads,
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It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil, who wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother
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Lazarus was sick. John seems to hold up Mary as he's recording this.
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He does not speak of his sisters here, whose brother Lazarus was sick, but of Mary, whose brother
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Lazarus was sick. You see that? He seems to be singling Mary out.
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She was quite a noted person. Again, by the way, Martha was probably the elder sister, for she served as the host of Jesus when he was in their house.
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She was busy arranging, preparing the meal. It would seem that Mary was the younger sister, but who is set forth as a woman of great devotion to the
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Lord. And there seems to be different ways in which she's held forth as a wonderful example and illustration of how a disciple of Christ ought to be.
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We read in verse 3 that the sisters sent word to Jesus that their brother was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to him, saying,
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Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. Now, Jesus was probably due east of Jerusalem at the
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Jordan River at this time, but he may have been up in Galilee. It's hard to determine.
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The sisters knew their brother was very ill, otherwise they wouldn't have sent for Jesus, of course.
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They seemed to have little doubt that Jesus would come to help their brother. As they were assured of Jesus' concern for them and their brother, we should not doubt his concern for us and for those whom he loves as his own.
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Jesus cared for Lazarus. If you're in Christ, he cares for you too, and you shouldn't doubt that.
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Notice their appeal that it was based on Jesus' love for Lazarus.
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This is interesting. They did not appeal to Jesus based upon the love that Lazarus had for Jesus.
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Come heal Lazarus because he loves you. No, come heal Lazarus because you love him.
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Interesting. Matthew Henry gave a little word about this. It passed me.
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This is certainly the more powerful and wisest appeal. Our love to him is no word speaking of, but his to us can never enough be spoken of.
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Very good. Here we see also what a blessing it is to have those who will pray for us in our need.
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Lazarus may have been too ill to pray, but he had two sisters who would pray for him, to their friend, the
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Lord Jesus, to come and help him. And of course, only eternity will reveal the indebtedness.
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We owe our friends and family who know the Lord, who've been faithful praying for us, especially in those times when we perhaps not even prayed for ourselves.
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And consider also the confidence that these sisters had in appealing to Jesus because they knew that their brother was loved by him.
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They sent word, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. We may have much more faith that God will answer us when we're praying for someone we know who's beloved of the
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Lord. And then we read verses 4 -7.
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Now, Jesus determined to go to Judea again. When Jesus heard that, he said,
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This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.
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And now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. So, when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was, and after this he said to the disciples,
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Let us go to Judea again. First, Jesus declared in verse 4, that God would glorify himself through glorifying his
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Son through this. The Lord gave an encouraging word.
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Perhaps this message that Jesus stated was sent back to the sisters to give them encouragement while they waited for the
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Lord's arrival. His word of promise would be a word of comfort to their souls. And we may similarly encourage souls who are waiting on God.
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Another word from Matthew, Henry, God bless him. Let this comfort those whom
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Christ loves under all their grievances that the design of them all is that the Son of God may be glorified thereby.
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His wisdom, power, goodness glorified in supporting and relieving them. And that ought to encourage every
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Christian in their difficulty as they're mindful of that truth. His disciples must have thought that Jesus would immediately go to heal this man of his sickness.
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It was common that that happened, but instead Jesus stayed two more days where they were.
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Notice, by the way, that God the Father is glorified when Jesus Christ his Son is glorified.
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We are to attribute glory to the Son of God to the same degree we attribute glory to God the
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Father. Jesus said on one occasion, the Father judges no one who has committed all judgment to the
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Son so that, that's a purpose clause, so that all should honor the Son just as they honor the
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Father. Same degree. He who does not honor the
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Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Those who do not honor the Son of God do not honor
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God at all. We then read quite an amazing detail in verse 5.
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Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Ann Lazarus. Jesus had a special relationship with these people in this family.
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Jesus loved them. It is difficult and perhaps a little unsettling for us to think in terms of Jesus loving some of his followers in special ways.
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Maybe to a greater degree than others because we want to think that somehow
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Jesus loves each of his people in exactly the same way and same degree.
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But clearly this family was singled out as being special objects of our
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Lord Jesus' affection. And in his human nature this was true in his experience.
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As one wrote, the sister's reference to their brother is the one Jesus loves is touching.
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It hints at friendships and relationships that are barely explored in the Gospels and it suggests that some at least felt peculiarly loved of him.
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We read elsewhere of course that Jesus loved John the Apostle, the writer of this Gospel, in a special way.
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And the other disciples knew this was the case, that Jesus loved John. For they would have
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John approach Jesus with their concern to identify who would betray Jesus knowing that Jesus had this special close relationship with John.
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They asked John, you ask him, who is it that's going to betray you? Jesus had special love for some that apparently he didn't have for others.
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We then read of Jesus' response to the news that his good friend was sick, verse 6, so when he heard that he was sick he stayed two more days in the place where he was.
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There seems, as you read this, a rather cold indifference on his part to the need of his friend and the concern of his friend's sisters.
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By the way, I think probably the statement in verse 5 that Jesus loved them, loved
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Lazarus, was probably intended that this verse not appear to be too hard, too harsh.
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He stayed two days not because he was indifferent toward them, but because he loved them.
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Calvin wrote of this, these two things appear to be inconsistent with each other, that Christ remains two days beyond Jordan as if he did not care about the life of Lazarus.
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And yet the evangelist, John, says that Christ loved him and his sisters, for since love produces anxiety, he ought to have hastened immediately.
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And that's probably what we think when we read that. No doubt that's what the sisters thought. That's what the disciples thought.
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But our Lord had a greater purpose than just relieving the suffering of his friends.
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He would glorify God as Father through this miracle, and so Jesus would wait.
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And I suspect that Mary and Martha were quite distressed that Jesus did not immediately come to them in their time of need.
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But of course later, after their brother was restored to them, after he was raised from the dead, the glory of that event would far outweigh the worried grief they had while they waited.
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And no doubt they would later thank God that Jesus did not immediately come.
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If that would have resulted in lesser blessing, then he did bestow upon them what he did come. And of course the scriptures declare what was true of them is true of all the
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Lord's disciples. The sufferings that we encounter and endure are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us, as Paul wrote in Romans 8.
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The Lord's purposes toward us are all good, and even his delays in timing are best for us, and for his intention to glorify his
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Father through us. But we may be like the sisters and may be like the disciples, we just don't see it while it's unfolding.
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Of course when Jesus later raised Lazarus from the dead, he had been dead for four days. The journey was only two days at most, maybe just one day, from where Jesus and his disciples were.
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And so although Lazarus was probably still alive when those messengers first came, he must have died right then.
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And of course Jesus knew it. Well then after two days
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Jesus told his disciples they would now travel to Bethany. But we read in verse 7, Then after this he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again.
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He didn't specify Bethany. Although our Lord knew the danger of doing so,
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Jesus would go help his friends. He said Judea, not Bethany, which suggested he knew the great danger to which he would be subject going to that region.
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And by the way, in the English sentence, the two Greek words translated then and again, that sound somewhat repetitious, gives emphasis to the delay that's being conveyed by John.
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It was the intent and purpose that Jesus waited the two days where he was. Well now the disciples question
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Jesus about this. Jesus responds to the disciples who question now his desire, his decision to travel to Judea.
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The disciples said to him, Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone you. Are you going there again?
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Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
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But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. These things he said. And after that he said to them,
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Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. Now there's no time reference here at the opening of John chapter 11.
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It indicates how long before they had been in Judea. Of course that's what we have in John chapter 10.
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They were there during the Feast of Dedication, which would have been an early winter occasion, probably like our early
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December. And here now they are going to Judea.
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And shortly after this event of raising Lazarus, our Lord was arrested and crucified.
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And we know that took place at the Passover. And so probably between the end of John chapter 10 and the opening of John 11, we have three or four months taking place.
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I think that's probably a reasonable conclusion. And so they say to him,
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Rabbi, teacher, lately the Jews have sought to stone you. Are you going there again?
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But then in response to the disciples' surprise and what appears to be their objection, Jesus gave this word in verses 9 and 10.
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Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
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But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. What would
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Jesus say to them? Well, he was actually quoting a proverb, probably a commonly known proverb.
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What was the Lord indicating by these words? Well, I appreciate what J .C. Ryle, how he paraphrased it and explained it.
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And so these are Ryle's comments. Are not the working hours of the day twelve?
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You know they are, speaking generally. If a man on a journey walks during these twelve daylight hours, he sees his road, does not stumble or fall, because the sun, which is the light of the world, shines on his path.
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If, on the contrary, a man on a journey chooses to walk in the unreasonable hour of the night, he is likely to stumble or fall, for want of light to guide his feet.
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It is even so with me. My twelve hours of ministry, my day of work, is not yet over.
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There is no fear of my life being cut off before the time. I shall not be slain till my work is done.
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Till mine hours come, I am safe, and not a hair of my head can be touched.
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I am like one walking in the full light of the sun, and cannot fall. The night will soon be here, when
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I shall walk on the earth no longer. But the night has not yet come. There are twelve hours in my day of earthly ministry, and the twelfth with me has not arrived.
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I think that is clearly what he was indicating to the disciples. We are going to Judea. You are afraid that it is going to be dangerous for us.
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Granted, it will be dangerous, but we need not fear. Nothing is going to prevent us from accomplishing what we need to do.
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And so to express the essence of the idea through another old proverb, we may simply say it this way,
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Every man is immortal till his work is done. And of course, this is only believed by one who knows that life has a divine purpose, and that it has been designed by an overseen, purposeful, and powerful
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God, who assures that his people will accomplish his purposes that he has decreed for them.
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And we would believe that as a truism, a true statement, wouldn't we? Nothing is going to happen to you or me until we accomplish the purpose that God has intended for us, thankfully.
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So we need not fear. Granted, we should be cautious and careful, but we need not be filled with anxiety or fear.
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The evangelist then added an explanatory statement in verse 11. It reads, These things he said. After that he said to them,
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Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. Here, Jesus refers to Lazarus as sleeping.
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He was speaking of the state of death, which now characterizes his friend Lazarus. The Bible speaks of the bodies of Christians upon death as being asleep.
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The physical bodies of Christians lie in their graves as ones who are sleeping, who will be awakened on the day of the resurrection.
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We read elsewhere, the Apostle Paul writing, of course, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep.
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He was talking about dead Christians. Lest you sorrow as others who have no hope, for if we believe that Jesus died, rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus.
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He'll bring the souls of them whose bodies are sleeping in the grave. This matter of being asleep upon death, however, only applies to the physical body.
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And this is important. The soul, or one spirit, is that person that occupies the body.
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Upon death, the soul departs from the dwelling place of the body to be with the Lord. Paul wrote of this.
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So we're always confident, knowing that while we're at home in the body, we are absent from the
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Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
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Lord. He's talking about the soul, or spirit. Soul and spirit are one and the same thing, according to the
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Bible. The soul of the one who has salvation is brought into the presence of God upon death.
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Even the presence of the Lord Jesus. The soul has the capacities of self -consciousness, self -awareness, thought, feeling, and will.
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Until the day of the resurrection, the souls of Christians are with the Lord, enjoying holiness, communion, peace, and delight, even as they look forward to their own bodily resurrection.
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On the other hand, the souls of the lost, those who died without Jesus Christ as their
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Lord and Savior, even while their bodies are buried, their souls go to a place of punishment and torment, awaiting the final day of judgment, when their eternal sentence will be pronounced by the
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Lord after a thorough and just judgment of how they live their lives. However, there are those that teach that both the body and the soul of the believer sleeps until the day of the resurrection.
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And this doctrine is called soul sleep. And it is held and promoted by Seventh -day
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Adventists as well as Jehovah Witnesses. It is not biblical. When the
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Christian dies, his soul departs immediately to be with the Lord. Jesus told the thief, hanging next to him on the cross,
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Truly I say to you, today you'll be with me in paradise. Not someday at the resurrection you'll be with me in paradise.
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Today you'll be with me in paradise. And so this errant doctrine of soul sleep, we would argue, doesn't rise to the level of heresy.
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And heresy would be a doctrine that if you believe it, you can't be a Christian. This is a serious error, but we wouldn't say it's a heresy.
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It certainly has ramifications, important implications, and it's to be repudiated.
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It's error. But one can believe this and be a
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Christian, but just simply wrong. And by the way, I'm not saying that Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians. They've got other problems that are heretical.
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Well, fourthly, Jesus informed his disciples that Lazarus had died. His disciples said,
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Lord, if he sleeps, he'll get well. However, Jesus spoke of his death. But they thought he was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
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Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes
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I was not there that you may believe. Nevertheless, let's go to him. And Thomas, who's called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him.
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Jesus told his disciples Lazarus was asleep, that his body was asleep, for he had died.
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But his disciples thought that Jesus was speaking of normal sleeping. And then
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Jesus said plainly, Lazarus is dead. Now, if you look back at verse 4,
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Jesus declared that this sickness of Lazarus was not unto death. But here in verse 14, we read
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Lazarus is dead. How can this be? This sickness is not unto death, but he died.
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And you can see how somebody can throw this at you. You know, how do you respond to this? It seems to be rather incongruent.
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Matthew Henry, once again, he was so good. Death is an everlasting farewell to this world.
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So he's basically saying that in that sense, Lazarus didn't really die. It wasn't an everlasting farewell to this world.
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It is the way whence we shall not return. And in this sense, it was not unto death. The grace was not his long home, his house of eternity.
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Thus Christ said of the maid who he proposed to raise to life, she's not dead. Remember he said that of the daughter who was 12 years old?
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She's not dead, she's just sleeping. The sickness of good people, how threatening soever, is not unto death, for it's not unto eternal death.
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The body's death to this world is the soul's birth into another world. I wonder to what degree our
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Lord became somewhat frustrated with his efforts to speak and teach to his disciples. He seemed to always have to explain himself and fill in some detail, especially on those occasions when they seemed to exhibit a measure of denseness in comprehending what he was saying to them.
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Of course, our Lord was characterized by all patience, but in his human nature he did at times express frustration and anger at the error, ignorance and weakness of faith and the resistance of those about him.
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It's really actually a testimony to his great condescension that he would be patient with us and put up with all the nonsense and resistance we exhibit toward him and his will.
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Isn't that true? Why would he put up with us and what we put him through?
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Our stubbornness, ignorance, error. Jesus said to his disciples on this occasion, verse 15,
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I'm glad for your sakes I was not there that you may believe. Nevertheless, let's go to him. Thankfully, Jesus saw ahead of time the spiritual benefit this entire episode would bring to his disciples.
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His work would be done in such a way that they may believe. However, we read the disciples were willing to die with Jesus.
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And it would seem by the words of Thomas that this is what they were anticipating when they returned to Judea with Jesus.
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Thomas, who was called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us go that we may die with him. Thomas was apparently a twin.
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I don't know if he had a twin brother or sister. Nothing is said of them. But Thomas was a doubter, of course.
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Perhaps a rather pessimistic man to be around. I suspect this was not a very inspiring word.
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Let's go with him and die together. He wasn't very optimistic as to what lie before him, but he was willing to do so.
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And he even encouraged other disciples as well.
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Let's give a few words of application and then we'll close. First, let's recognize that God's delays in delivering us from that which troubles or threatens us is no grounds for asserting his concern for us who are in Christ.
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In other words, what's happening to you is not a valid way to assess whether or not
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God loves you. There's a tendency for us to think that way, right?
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God must have it in for me because look at everything that's happened to me. God must not care about me because I prayed about this matter for so long and he hasn't answered me in the way that I have requested.
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We read our Lord delayed two days in coming to Lazarus, his sisters, even though the event seemed so terribly critical and urgent.
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And oftentimes, God's delays or perhaps even denials of our petitions leave people with the belief or feeling he doesn't care.
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And there are repeated parables and statements of Jesus of the care of the
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Father and that you shouldn't perceive the Father as somehow indifferent, uncaring, resistant or reluctant to come to the aid and well -being of his people.
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That is an errant view of God as our Father. Calvin drew this lesson,
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I thought it was a good one, as Christ is the only mirror, the only mirror of the grace of God.
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In other words, you're only going to see it in Christ, not in what things happen to you in your life.
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It's the only mirror of the grace of God. We are taught by this delay on his part that we ought not to judge the love of God from the condition which we see before our eyes.
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Some of you people are dealing with others that are really suffering greatly. And you can probably anticipate these thoughts are going through their minds.
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I must be under the curse of God. I must be unloved by him or these things wouldn't be happening to me.
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And what Calvin is drawing the lesson is Jesus cared for Lazarus and his sisters.
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He loved them even though he delayed two days. You're not to draw conclusions about how
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God feels about you or loves you based upon what transpires in your life. You look to Christ and Christ alone as the evidence of God's grace.
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When we prayed to him, he often delays his assistance, either that he may increase still more our ardor in prayer, or that he may exercise our patience and at the same time accustom us to obedience.
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Let believers then implore the assistance of God, but let them also learn to suspend their desires if he does not stretch out his hand for their assistance as soon as they think that necessity requires.
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For whatever may be his delay, he never sleeps and never forgets his people. Yet let us also be fully assured that he wishes all whom he loves to be saved.
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So you look for the grace of God in Christ, not in what's taking place in your life.
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Second, let's learn from the fear of the disciples not to be like them.
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We read of the initial reluctance of the disciples to travel with Jesus to Judea. When the
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Lord announced to his disciples, Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone you. Are you going there again?
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It would seem that out of fear of danger to their lives, they would be persuaded not to go and they would persuade
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Jesus not to go. Of course, the Lord assured them. But fear should not be the deciding of whether or not to do the will of God.
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But sadly, it often is. I know of individuals right now that are making wrong decisions in their lives because of their fear of what would take place if they followed
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Scripture. And they're refusing to do so, basically out of fear and hurt from what they've experienced.
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And they think that somehow they're going to escape the consequences, as these disciples thought they might escape the consequences if they refused to go to Judea.
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The very nature of the life of the disciple is that we deny ourselves. And what that simply means is you cannot put your own personal desires first and forefront, but rather the will of God.
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You do what the Word of God commands you to do, even though it may result in a cross.
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And that's what it means to take up your cross daily and follow him. The very nature of a true
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Christian is one who denies himself herself. I don't want to do this, but I'm going to do it, because this is what the
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Word of God says. This is what Jesus, my Lord, says. I must do it, regardless of the possible consequences to it.
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The Apostle Paul is a primary example. As he was making his last journey to Jerusalem, everywhere he was warned what would happen to him.
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The Holy Spirit revealed prophecies to him. You're going to be bound. The disciples warned and urged
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Paul, don't go there. But he says, I'm willing to go and die there, if it means the furtherance of the gospel.
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And he went. He did not seek to save his life as his primary concern, but rather to glorify
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God. We are to obey the Lord, and we are to be willing to suffer even in doing so.
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Spurgeon wrote this, speaking about how to win people to Christ as Savior.
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And he describes a true convert. There must also be a willingness to obey the Lord in all his commandments.
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It is a shameful thing for a man to profess discipleship, in other words, to be a Christian, and yet refuse to learn his
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Lord's will upon certain points, or even dare to decline obedience when his will is known.
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How can a man be a disciple of Christ when he openly lives in disobedience to him?
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And then Spurgeon gave this word of instruction. If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares he knows his
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Lord's will, but he does not mean or intend to attend to it, you're not to pamper his resumption.
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It's your duty to assure him he's not saved. We are called upon to take up our cross daily and follow him.
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That is, we have to deny ourselves. God's will must be done.
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Spurgeon makes allowance, certainly mistakes as to what the Lord's will are are to be tenderly corrected, but anything like willful disobedience is fatal.
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To tolerate it would be treason to him that sent us. Jesus must be received as king as well as priest, and where there is any hesitancy about this, the foundation of godliness is not yet laid.
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In other words, he questions whether the person is a true Christian. If they know the will of God and they just say,
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I don't care, I'm not going to do it, Spurgeon says it's your duty to tell him or her you're not a
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Christian. Now, probably each of us at one time or another has stubbornly gotten in that position.
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The Lord chastens us, right? And brings us to repentance and puts us right back on the right track.
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And lastly, certainly we are not to fear death. For just as Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, so all those that sleep in Jesus will also rise.
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And again, here are the words of Ryle. Let us remember these things, when those whom we love fall asleep in Christ, or when we ourselves receive our notice to quit this world.
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In other words, we know we're going to die. Let us call to mind in such an hour that our great friend takes thought of our bodies as well as our souls, and that he'll not allow one hair of our heads to perish.
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Let us never forget that the grave is the place where the Lord himself lay, and that as he rose again triumphant from that cold bed, so also shall all his people.
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To a mere worldly man, death must needs be a terrible thing, but he who has
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Christian faith may boldly say, as he lays down his life, I will lay me down in peace and take my rest, for it is thou,
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Lord, that makest me dwell in safety. Quoting Psalm chapter 4 verse 8.
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And I could probably give an entire sermon on this last point. And I wanted to bring up this matter. Let us strive to be ones whom the
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Lord has special love. Let us be good friends of the Lord Jesus. Let's desire to be like Martha and Mary and Lazarus, who were loved uniquely and specially by the
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Lord. You know, there are things that you can do and not do that will increase an understanding and a manifestation of the love of God toward you.
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The Lord Jesus himself, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, and he it is who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved of my
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Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. You purpose to live according to the word of God, the will of God, and the
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Lord Jesus is going to love you with a special love, and he's going to make that known to you and manifest that to you.
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May each of us experience that kind of deep devotion and fellowship with the
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Lord Jesus, and experience and sense his great love for us, particularly as we are devoted to him and following him and obeying him according to his word.
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Amen. Let's pray. Thank you, our Father, for your word and for the examples that we have here in our passage.
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Help us, our Lord, take these to heart. We do pray, our Lord, that you would help us to be in close fellowship with you, to be as Mary, Lord, desiring to hear from you and to sit at your feet, to be as she was,
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Lord, so desirous to break open that jar of spikenard and anoint you and to wipe your feet with her hair.
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Help us, our Lord, to be devout and dedicated and obedient to your word, and we pray that you would manifest yourself to us by the presence and power of the
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Holy Spirit. May the presence of Jesus, Lord, guard our hearts and keep us and encourage us as we go forth each day this coming week to walk with you and to speak with you and to hear from you as you communicate to us through your holy word.