John, pt. 67 | John 11:1-16

All right, you would at this time take your copy of the scriptures and turn with me to John chapter 11.

John chapter 11, we will consider verses 1 through 16.

John chapter 11, verses 1 through 16. And this is the 67th message in this glorious gospel.

Allow me to open up in prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Lord, we call upon you in the name of Jesus Christ to be with us, to speak to us through your word.

And Lord, I ask that you will allow me to articulate this message to your people.

And Lord, that you will hide me behind this word. And that,

Lord, your word will not return void, but that it will accomplish its purpose. And we pray today,

Lord, if there be any here today that do not know Christ, that do not follow

Christ, that purpose that it will accomplish is to call that sheep by name.

And for those who have already followed you, who have come out of the pigsty,

Lord, that you will use this word to grow us in holiness. Lord, we look to you in all things.

Speak to us through your word, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, let's look to the text.

John chapter 11, verses 1 through 16.

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister

Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother,

Lazarus, was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill.

But when Jesus heard it, he said, This illness does not lead to death.

It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then, after this, he said to his disciples, Let us go to the house of Judah again.

The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and you are going there again?

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.

But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.

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

The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep.

Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died, and for your sake

I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.

But let us go to him. So Thomas called the twin, said to his fellow disciples,

Let us also go, that we may die with him.

My dear friends, today's theme for this Lord's Day is that our dying will not end in death.

That our dying will not end in death. And my proposition is this.

Every one of us is going to die. The soul that sins will die.

The wages of sin is death. That which you deserve is death.

Every one of us are going to die. However, not every one of us, not everyone's life will end in death.

And our text we're going to see to end in death is to not be raised from the dead.

Or it is to be thrown both body and soul into hell.

Every one of us, if the Lord does not come quickly in our lifetime, we are going to die.

We're going to die because we are sinners. But however, if you are a Christian, meaning you are in Christ, meaning you are a follower of Jesus Christ, even though you die, yet shall you live.

That is one of the many hopes promised to us in the gospel. Even though you die.

And we're going to see that text in the next couple of weeks. Even though you die, yet shall you live.

And my dear friends, that promise is only to Christians. When the unbeliever dies, yet they are somewhere, right?

They're in a place of torment. They're dead. They're experiencing eternal death.

While you and I who are in Christ will experience eternal life, even though we die, yet shall we live.

That is the promise. Our illness before coming to Christ was that we were spiritually dead.

We were born in Adam spiritually dead. Or here, let me explain it this way.

We were slaves to the devil. Turn with me to 2

Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2.

I'm going to read to you verses 24 through 26. Paul is writing this to Timothy, challenging a worker approved by God.

He begins with the conduct of the worker. Verse 24.

Listen to this. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.

Verse 26. And that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will.

Let me read that again. And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will.

When we're born into this world, we're born under the first federal head, Adam, born spiritually dead, captured by the enemy, captured by Satan, enslaved to him to do his will.

We need to be freed. This text is telling us that before we were in Christ, we were slaves of the devil and we were carrying out his will.

We thought we were doing what we want. I'm just doing what my imagination wants me to do.

And the whole time we're doing what the devil wants us to do. You know, the devil doesn't care if you're here today as a false convert.

He doesn't bother him a bit if you're not sold out to him, if you're not sold out to Jesus Christ.

He can care less that you're here. He can care less if you're around a church that doesn't challenge you to live holy, that doesn't challenge you to live according to the scripture.

He doesn't care. He doesn't care. Coming to church can be a desire of your mind.

You can be coming to church to meet people. If you're a single lady, you can come to church to meet a husband.

If that's your coming to church, my dear friend, the devil is not worried about you. Vice versa, if you're a man and you're coming to church to meet a woman, my dear friend, the devil is not worried about you.

He's worried about the servants of God who are called to live a life for him, not being quarrelsome and challenging people whom he's around, that God may perhaps grant them repentance and escape from him.

He's worried about the ones who know this book, who have surrendered to Jesus Christ and who are following Jesus Christ.

And in our outline today, I want to give you four reasons as to why this illness does not lead to death.

One is that this illness is for the glory of God, that it's for their good, that it's for their journey, and that it's for their faith.

So reason number one, it is for the glory of God. This sickness, this Lazarus who's going to die, it is for the glory of God.

Reason number two, it is for their good, speaking of Mary and Martha. And reason number three, it is for their journey, it is for the journey of the disciples.

And reason number four, it is for their faith. And as we transition, this gospel, the gospel of John, contains seven signs.

And these seven signs are written in this gospel so that you may believe in Jesus Christ.

That's what it says in John 20, verse 30 and 31. These things were written so that you may believe that Jesus is the

Christ, the Son of the living God. And these two verses right here is where we get the theme of the book, that the book of John was written so that you may believe that Jesus is the

Christ. It's a book of evangelism. It's a book that's pointing us to Christ.

It's a book that wants us to believe. This is why most

Christians, when they witness to someone and they recommend them to read a book of the

Bible, it's normally the book of John for that purpose. Because it's meant for you to read and believe that Jesus is the

Christ. In chapter two,

Jesus turned water into wine. In chapter four, Jesus healed a royal official's son who was near death.

In chapter five, Jesus healed a lame man. In chapter six, Jesus walked on water.

Also in chapter six, Jesus feeds upwards to 20 ,000 people with a sack lunch.

In chapter nine, Jesus healed a man who was born blind.

And here in our chapter today, Jesus is going to raise his good friend

Lazarus from the dead. Seven signs given to us in this gospel so that we may believe that Jesus is the

Christ. So reason number one that this illness will not end in death is that it is for the glory of God.

And we see this in verses one through four, but let's just begin with verses one and two. Read with me.

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany.

Bethany, I get that word kind of twisted sometimes. The village of Mary and her sister

Martha. Bethany was southeastern slope of the

Mount of Olives, which is about two and a half miles from Jerusalem. So right here, he's just telling you where this is taking place.

It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her tears, whose brother

Lazarus was ill. Now Mary is the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

And for the most part, this chapter is going to be focused on these three individuals, not counting

Jesus and his disciples. Now, when it comes to this incident that was just mentioned,

Mary anointing the feet of Jesus, we're going to hold off on discussing this.

My reason for holding off is because John chapter 11, verse two is referring to Luke chapter seven, verses 36 through 50.

And in chapter 12 of this gospel, Mary does the same thing again. So when we make it to chapter 12, we will look at it and at that time, go over those two chapters,

John chapter 12 and Luke chapter 11, when it talks about Mary anointing his feet.

A lot of interpreters, and I'll mention this then when we get there, are saying that this right here is just telling us what's going to happen in chapter 12, but the language does not lead to what's going to happen.

This is speaking in past tense. So a lot of people, they don't want to equate Mary with the prostitute that anointed the feet of Jesus.

My dear friends, it's the same woman. And we will discuss that when we get to chapter 12.

Now, what can we take from verses one and two now is that Jesus knows this family very well and that Jesus loves this family very well.

Verses three and four, they send him a message and he responds. So the sisters, which is

Mary and Martha, sent him, Jesus, saying, so this is a letter or this is a message.

It's either a letter or a messenger came to them. It doesn't quite tell us. Lord, he whom you love is ill.

But when Jesus heard it, he said, this illness does not lead to death.

It is for the glory of God, so that the son of man may be glorified through it.

The message that the sister sent to him was, Lord, he, speaking of Lazarus, whom you love is ill.

Now, how did Jesus respond? This illness does not lead to death.

Read verse 14. When Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died.

This illness does not lead to death. Lazarus has died.

Do you see the problem? That's an apparent contradiction, right? Verse 4, this illness does not lead to death.

Verse 14, Lazarus has died. You see, I don't believe that verse 14 is contradicting verse 4.

I believe that verse 4 and that verse 14 are speaking about two different things. Verse 14 is clear.

Lazarus does die from this illness. However, verse 4, I believe, is speaking about an eternal death or the death without the resurrection.

I believe it's speaking about his body and his soul being thrown into hell or his body not coming out of the grave.

And we'll tackle that in a little bit. This illness that Lazarus is experiencing does not lead to him being cast into a lake of fire with emphasis on the body.

Nor will it lead to him not being raised from the dead then and in our future.

Remember, he was raised from the dead, but he will still have to experience death again.

As someone who holds to Baptist covenant theology, which has been coined 1689 federalism,

I speak a lot about type and anti -type, don't I? I speak a lot about type and anti -type and shadow versus the substance.

Our first conference that we held at this church was about the shadows and the substances that we find in the

Old Testament, that we find in the Old Testament shadows. And as you follow these shadows, they lead you to the feet of Christ.

And what I believe is taking place here is that in this seventh sign is given to us by Jesus.

The raising of Lazarus from the dead is a type, is a shadow. The anti -type, the substance is the resurrection of the dead.

Again, which we will go into detail next week. However, for a sneak peek today,

I will give to you since you've asked nicely. In the same way that Lazarus' illness does not lead to death because his body is going to be raised from the grave.

Our illness, ladies and gentlemen, our illness, our being born in Adam does not lead to our death if we're in Christ.

Emphasis on the body because we too, like Lazarus, will be raised from the dead.

Lazarus, speaking of Lazarus, his being raised from the dead is pointing us to our being raised from the dead.

It's pointing us to a great future, a great hope. Now the anti -type is always greater than the type, which is why

Jesus is being raised from the dead is not a type of our resurrection.

We will be raised with a body like His. An anti -type has to be greater than the type.

Our resurrection from the dead is not going to be greater than Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Hallelujah.

It's not going to be greater. It's going to be the same. But our resurrection will be greater than the resurrection we'll read about here in this chapter.

The anti -type is always greater than the type. The substance is greater than the shadow.

As I'm sitting here right now, my body is greater than the shadow that it cast.

So too, our resurrection will be greater than the resurrection of Lazarus. In verse 4,

Jesus tells His disciples the purpose of this illness. Look back at verse 4.

This illness does not lead to death. Right here it is. It is for the glory of God.

This illness is for the glory of God. Here's why.

So that the Son of God may be glorified, pointing us to His deity.

Lazarus, through this illness, is going to die, and it's for the glory of God.

So that, through His being raised from the dead, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, may be glorified through it.

Again, this is pointing us to who Jesus is. You can't be the

Son of God without being truly God. Deity. And as we walk through this, we will definitely cover more on that.

But especially when we get to chapter 17. Reason number 2 that this illness does not end in death.

It is for their good. Speaking of Mary and Martha. Look, we're in verses 5 and 6.

Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

So, or your Bible translation might say, therefore, or because of, when

He heard that Lazarus was ill, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was.

This word, so, or therefore, or because of, is a conjunction.

It's pointing us to what was previously said. Look at that again. Now, Jesus loved

Martha and her sister, Mary, and Lazarus.

So because He loved them, He waits. He loves them so much that He just doesn't get up right then and go save the day.

A little counterintuitive to what we think love is. Jesus loved them so much that when

He got the message, Lord, He whom you love is ill, He waited two more days before He went to them.

Why? Because Jesus was about to, because of what Jesus was about to do in raising

Lazarus from the dead. Jesus needs us to understand that there's a type of our anti -type.

And not only is that for their good, it's for our good here today as we are going to be discussing this chapter for the next few weeks.

I'm not sure exactly how long. I'm thinking a few could be a little more. That this in some way is for their good.

Turn with me to Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight.

You're going to read verse 28 alone. Paul writing says,

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

For you guys who have been under my preaching concerning the last few weeks or definitely since I talk about it all the time, what is the purpose?

What's the purpose? To save a people, covenant of redemption. For those who are called according to His purpose, for those whom

He has saved according to this triune covenant between the Father, Son, and the

Holy Spirit, all things work together for good. As Piper would say,

It doesn't matter if a car crashes into your home and kills your family.

That too is for your good and it's for the glory of God.

You say, explain that to me. I cannot. I cannot. But there's coming a day at the resurrection of the dead we will see things clear and we will not be able to know how the story could have been told any other way.

Mary and Martha are about to experience what it's like to lose a sibling and somehow, someway, it is for their good.

Even if Jesus would have not raised their brother from the dead, listen to me, that still is true.

I stand here today as a man who has lost both my mother and my father and my siblings.

And I have to know that that was for my good because all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.

But not only that, it was for God's glory still today.

I can't find the good. I have to rely on what the word says.

But at the resurrection, there's so much hope in the resurrection.

Reason number three as to why this illness does not end in death, it's for their journey.

The disciples are on a journey. We'll read this in verses 7 through 10, but let's look at verses 7 through 9 to begin with.

And after this, Jesus said to His disciples, sorry,

I'm still a little choked up. Let us go to Judea again.

Then His disciples said to Him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you.

And are you going again? In verse 30, we find out what they were seeking to stone

Him for. Jesus says, I and the Father are one.

So they picked up stones to stone Him. He's claiming to be

God. And I told you, there's only a few things in Scripture that they were allowed, a

Jew would be allowed to pick up stones and stone you for. Adultery is one of those.

Jesus was not committing adultery in that passage. He was blaspheming according to them.

He was making Himself equal with God. And He has been all throughout this chapter.

They said, why would you even think about going back? They were just trying to kill you.

And Jesus answered, are there not 12 hours in the day?

If anyone walks in the day, he will not stumble because He sees the light of this world.

Ladies and gentlemen, who is the light of this world? Jesus. He is the light of this world.

As long as they keep their eyes on Jesus Christ, He's saying, you're not going to stumble.

Why are you worried about being put to death? Keep your eyes on Me.

We have seen this language before from Jesus. Turn with me to John chapter 9. John chapter 9, we'll read verses 4 and 5.

This is the incident where He heals the man who was born blind.

He healed him on a Sabbath day. He spit on the ground. He swirled

His saliva into the dirt and He made mud and He put it on the man's eyes and He tells him to go and wash his eyes in the pool of Salaam.

And He done this on the Sabbath, which is another reason that the

Old Testament gives that you can stone someone. On the Sabbath, you were not allowed to do your normal work, nor were you allowed to carry any kind of a load.

And Jesus, being a godly troublemaker, knows it's the

Sabbath. He's in His public ministry. He's trying to pick a fight.

No one knows how to pick a fight better than Jesus. He spits on the ground, makes mud from the saliva and the dirt and He puts it on the man's eyes.

Verse 4, tells His disciples, we must work the works of Him, speaking of the

Father, who sent me. Here's the language, while it is day.

Night is coming when no one can work.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

The day here in chapter 9 is speaking about the three and a half years of Jesus's earthly ministry.

While the night here is in chapter 9 is speaking about the three days and three nights that Jesus is going to be in the tomb.

They were to do the works of God, speaking about these miraculous healings that He was doing, while it was still, while Jesus was still with them.

Because His death is coming. What happened at His death? His disciples scattered.

They stumbled. They weren't looking to the promises that He was telling them.

All throughout the text, He was telling them that I am about to be delivered over into the hands of the religious leaders and I'm going to be crucified.

But three days later, I'm going to come forth. And they did not understand Him. And at His death and His burial, they scattered.

Night had came. They took their eyes off of Christ and they stumbled.

They were to do the works of God while Jesus was with them because His death was coming.

In John chapter 9, Jesus is using something earthly day and night to explain to them something heavenly.

That being His ministry. Speaking of His life, His work, and His death.

So too. In chapter 11, verse 9,

Jesus is using something earthly. A 12 hour day. Do you know anything about Jewish history?

The days are broken up into evening first, then morning, the first day.

Evening first, then morning, the second day. Just go back to the book of Genesis, right? The day structured is evening first, then morning.

When He's talking about a 12 hour day, He's just speaking about from sun up to sun down because sun down begins a new day.

This is something if you were around that time, that's how they spoke about the day. He's using something earthly, a 12 hour day to explain to them something spiritually.

That's what the whole book of John has been doing for us. That being God's sovereignty over His life and God's sovereignty over their life, our life, and how we will not stumble if we look to Jesus.

Jesus says in John 8, verse 12, I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Again, pointing us back to the wilderness wandering. As long as those Jews were following that cloud by day and that fire by night, they were never in darkness.

And Jesus is saying the same thing, equating Himself to be God. I am the light.

In order for you to not walk in darkness, you must follow me. Look at verse 9 again.

He says, Are there not 12 hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day, that's following Him.

Him being the light. If anyone walks in the day, he will not stumble because he sees the light of this world.

If anyone walks in God's sovereignty, he does not stumble because he is following Jesus Christ.

If your eyes are on Jesus, guess what you're not going to do? Come on, Baptist.

Guess what you're not going to do? Stumble! If your eyes are on Christ, you're not going to stumble.

You are walking in the day. Take your eyes off Christ and you're in the night and you're going to stumble.

Oh, how guilty every one of us should feel right now. Look at verse 10.

He plants the dagger in daper and twists it. Look at it. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him.

We choose darkness over light. We walk in darkness and not looking to Jesus.

My dear friends, if you are walking in the light. No, excuse me. If you are not walking in the light, it's because the light is not in you.

Look with me for John chapter 3 verses 19 through 20. John chapter 3, 19 through 20.

Jesus said, and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world.

Who's the light? Jesus. This is the judgment that light has come into the world.

Why aren't churches speaking like that? Right? You don't hear any of that.

Jesus coming is the judgment. Light has come.

That's the judgment. It has come into the world and people love darkness, speaking of their sins rather than the light.

People love their sins, not Jesus. This is what this is saying. Because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light, hates

Jesus. Lest their works should be exposed.

Jesus is the light. Jesus is the judgment. And if we're not walking in the light, we are walking in his judgment.

The Bible says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The purpose of light is to remove darkness.

You've heard me say this before. My office right now is dark.

I can open that door. The darkness does not protrude into this office.

Right? I open that door. This room does not go dim. But that office will have light in it.

Darkness cannot overcome light. Light overcomes darkness.

The purpose of darkness, I mean the purpose of light is to remove darkness. You want to be cleansed from your sins?

Look to Jesus Christ. That's the only way that your sins are going to be removed from you.

It's the only way that you're going to find forgiveness. And it's the only way that you're going to be able to walk in holiness and be transformed from who you are to who

Christ wants you to be. And it's by looking to Jesus. In the same way that you cannot be in both light and darkness, you cannot at the same time chase after your sins and follow

Jesus at the same time. I give this analogy quite often. You cannot drive down the road looking out your back glass.

You'll wreck the vehicle. You cannot live the

Christian life while focusing on your sins. You cannot live the Christian life while looking at your past.

You cannot live the Christian life outside of looking to Jesus Christ.

Many people wonder why they stumble all the time. My dear friends, you stopped looking to Christ.

That's why you're in sin. You stopped looking to Christ. When I have fallen in sin, and trust me, there's probably no one in here that's fallen in sin more than me.

It's because I stopped looking to Christ. I saw my sin as greater. For them to follow after Jesus on His way back to Judea meant that they too could die.

However, Jesus, in the way that Jesus does, is telling them to trust in the sovereignty of God.

You say, well, how do you get that from this? Because the reality is is they cannot kill

Jesus until the Passover. That's three to four months away.

I don't care how many times they picked up stones to throw at Him. They cannot kill

Him because John tells us He is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world, pointing to the

Paschal Lamb. That Jesus is the antitype of the Paschal Lamb.

That all these years in Jerusalem, year after year, as they would slaughter the lamb, consume the meat, and put the blood on the doorpost in the middle, that that was a type, and it was pointing to something greater.

Jesus came, John sees Him, and says, that's the guy. He's the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

My dear friends, you've heard me say this before too. If God has not predetermined me to die by...

If God has predetermined me to die by fire, I will not drown.

God did not predetermine Jesus to die by stoning, but by being a curse, being hung on a tree, taking the sins of His people.

That's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

He has been preaching this the whole time throughout the book of John, and they're worried that they're going to die because they picked up stones.

He's saying, trust in God. Reason number four, that this illness does not end in death.

It is for their faith, for the faith of His disciples. Read with me.

This is from verse 11 to verse 16. We'll read verses 11 through 13 to begin with.

After saying these things, that was some hard sayings that he said right then.

He said to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.

Then his disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover, right?

Anyone here, you know, illness comes to you. It might just be me, right? Like when

I get sick, I just can't do anything. That's it, right?

It's bedtime. It's bed and soup time, right? Give me some Gatorade. I'm just in the bed.

I'm no good for nothing. My wife will not give me a bell. That's me.

I'm not getting anything. I wish that I just had everything by my bed, right? I just don't want to do anything.

All I want to do is rest. And that rest right there will bring you recovery. This is what's on the disciples' mind.

The disciples, because he says he has fallen asleep. They don't understand that this is speaking about death, but he has fallen asleep.

And they took that as he has fallen, that he's fallen asleep and he will recover because he will find rest.

In verse 13, now Jesus had spoke to them about his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep.

Now you're probably thinking to yourself, Pastor Jeff, you said earlier that this death and him dying are two different things.

I'll have you know that as I wrote that out in my study, I read verse 13. Just so you know.

I get it. And the answer to that is yes and no. The Greek word for death is thanatos.

In Greek mythology, thanatos was the personification of death. And thanatos is where we get the

Hollywood figure, the Grim Reaper. And if you're a Marvel fan, that's where you get thanos.

It's the personification of death. However, the Greek word thanatos, when translated, means death.

It translates to death. And the actual meaning of this is the death of the body.

So did Lazarus experience the death of the body?

Verse 14, when Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died.

Answer, yes. Lazarus experienced the death of the body.

However, since Jesus has planned to raise Lazarus from the dead, verse 4 is true.

This illness will not lead to death. The death of his body.

Let's read verses 14 and 15. Then Jesus told them plainly,

Lazarus has died. And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there.

We're going to go back to that reason, right? Over here. For his glory, for the glory of God, for Jesus to be glorified.

He loved them so much that he waited. He stayed longer so that he would die.

Why? So that they may believe. Why were these signs given to us?

So that we may believe. The consistency that John has with the overarching theme and with everything throughout these paragraphs is phenomenal.

He says, but let us go to him so that who may believe?

His disciples. He's still discipling his disciples. His public ministry is over.

He's now in the last few months of his life is dedicating himself, focusing himself to his disciples.

And I mentioned last week, and it was actually my final point that the public ministry of Jesus was over.

And yet, as you see clearly, Jesus is about to do his final sign in this gospel, and it is viewed by the public.

You might be thinking to yourself, Jeff, did you get it wrong? I would say, well, it just depends on what theologian you ask.

My position on that is this. Although something is viewed publicly doesn't mean it's for the public.

Our churches, this service can be viewed by the public.

People can come in here and visit. We got, we're live on Facebook.

We have a YouTube video, right? It can be viewed by the public, but we do not structure our service for the public.

No one's going to come in here and say, you know what y 'all probably need? Some Bethel music, some smoke machines, a live band.

We don't structure this service to please men. We structure our service on how the

Bible says that we should structure your service. They gather together for the teachings of the apostles to break bread, to fellowship, and pray, and they spoke to one another in psalm, hymn, and spiritual songs.

They sung, and they made melody in their heart. That's what the church service is to look like.

Now there's sometimes I wish that these lights were dimmed and I couldn't see y 'all, because when y 'all just go back there looking at your watch or yawning, it throws me off a little bit, right?

But I'm just playing. We're not going to allow our world to tell us what takes place in here.

The Bible tells us what takes place in here. As all those spectators can view this, the public can view this, this is not for them.

This is for the sheep of God. We structure our service for the saints, those that are in Christ.

You might have more fun at the church down the road, but however, the church's service is not about you.

It's about God. And the resurrection of Lazarus is a type, excuse me, is not a type for the unbeliever.

He said, but the unbelievers are going to be raised too. Yes, you're right. And their body and souls are going to be thrown into hell.

Their death will end in death. Their illness will end in death.

The ultimate destruction of both body and soul. This sign, this raising of Lazarus from the dead, although it may be viewed publicly, it is for the faith of his disciples and it is for the faith of Martha and Mary.

It is for their good and it is for their faith because Jesus loves them that much.

He's going to use this to grove them in holiness. He's going to use this to know that he is the

Christ. And they're going to see this and they're going to be able to trust him. So that's what faith is.

It's trust. Do you trust Christ? Again, verses 14 and 15.

With that information in your mind, now listen to it in your hearing. Then Jesus told them plainly,

Lazarus has died. And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there.

So that you may believe, but let us go to him. And the way that Thomas responds in verse 16 is the way that we should respond daily in our faith journey.

If you're a Christian here today, you're on a faith journey. You're on a journey.

And we should respond the way that Thomas does, simply because of what Jesus did in his life, death, burial, resurrection was for our faith.

It was for our faith. We have the scriptures and the scriptures are for our faith.

Remember, for them, following Jesus at this time, especially back to Judea, would mean that they too could die.

However, Jesus, in the way that Jesus does, uses earthly things to explain to us heavenly things, tells them to trust in God's sovereignty.

And my dear friends, are we living our lives, trusting in God's sovereignty? Are we responding like Thomas?

Verse 16. So Thomas called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, those who were with him, let us also go that we may die with him.

Let us also go that we may die with him.

My dear friends, that's the gospel message. That's the gospel message.

If you're coming to follow Christ, my dear friends, you need to count the cost.

Are you willing to go and follow Jesus, even if it means your death, your persecution, people not liking you any longer?

My dear friends, when I was a gangbanger, I had people lined up to listen to the lies and the violence that I spoke.

Those same friends, when I became a Christian and we got together, they didn't want to hear anything

I said. When I first started in ministry, I was preaching in the jails, and I mentioned my being an ex -gangbanger.

They said, how did you get out? I said, who said I was out? They stopped hanging out with me.

They didn't want no part of me. They rejected me because who

I now was following the light. And as a follower of the light, the

Bible says that I am a lampstand. The church is the lampstand, right? I come into their world, and the light that's in me, who is

Christ, was protruding their darkness. That's the gospel message.

We come to die. Your baptism is a representation of that, right?

When you're buried with him in baptism, it's talking about your death. When he died,

I died. That's the visual of being dunked under the water. When he died,

I died. And when he rose, there you come out the water, I rose.

And the life that I live, I now live by faith. That's Galatians 2 .21.

Let's read that real quick. Galatians 2 .21.

No, 20, excuse me. Galatians 2 .20. I have been crucified with Christ, buried with him.

This is what that's speaking about. I have died with Christ. When he died,

I died. I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who lives, but it's Christ who lives in me.

And the life that I live, and the flesh I live by faith in the

Son of God, who loves me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God.

For if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

My dear friends, righteousness is not you keeping the law. Righteousness is you believing in the one who kept the law.

And when he died, you died. And the life that you live, it's him in you.

Christ in you, the hope of glory. He lived the life that you could not live, and he took the punishment that you deserve on that cross.

One of the reasons why Jesus died and rose from the dead was so that after we die and he returns again, we too will rise from the dead, fulfilling the great antitype of the type that we see here in Lazarus.

Because Jesus was not a type. He was the first fruits. And we too, as 1

Corinthians chapter 15 tells us, because Christ died and was raised bodily, those of us who are in Christ, when we die at his coming, will be raised bodily.

Our sickness does not end in death. Why? Because Christ Jesus died for my sins.

According to the scriptures, he was buried and he rose again, according to the scriptures.

And my dear friends, if you are in Christ, your dying will not end in death.

But if you're not truly in the Messiah, your dying will end in death, eternal suffering, separated from God, both body and soul thrown into the fire.

Today is the day of salvation. Remember what

I said earlier, the devil doesn't mind you being here. And he'll also tell you that tomorrow is the day of salvation.

Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is not promised.

It's not promised. If you hear his voice, if he's calling to you, today is the day of salvation.

Today is the day to respond. And my dear friends, if you're not in Christ, you need to respond.

You need to turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith and look to him all of your life.

So are you going to live for God? Or are you going to live for the devil? Are you going to live for the light?

Or are you going to stumble your way through life in darkness? Respond today.

Repent and believe the gospel. We are available to anyone who wants to talk.

And my dear friends, if God has done a work in your heart, please don't leave here today without speaking with me.

Let's pray. Oh God, we love your word.

We're so thankful for what you have done for us in Christ. We're so thankful that you have not even left us as orphans, but you have given to us the

Holy Spirit who lives in us and who causes us, Lord, who causes us to keep your law word.

Lord, please, in Jesus' name, grow us in holiness. Help us to live this life by looking to you in faith.

And Lord, right now, as we approach this time of being able to partake in this meal, Lord, I ask if there's anyone here today and they have not repented and they have not believed in Christ, that you will make firm to them that this is not for them.

There's people here today who are Christians that might be living in unrepentant sin, Lord, that this is not for them.

But this is for those who although have sinned this week, have confessed their sins to you, knowing that you are just and holy, knowing that you are good and righteous to forgive, and they're able to partake with a clean conscience because they're looking to you in faith.

So please, Lord, use this to grow us in holiness. We pray this in Jesus' name.