The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 17: Take Off Your Grave Clothes

Episode Date: August 1, 2021

You don’t have to do the things that you used to do because you are not the person that you used to be. The old you is dead. The new you is alive in Christ. Visit coe22.com/john to download the journal, find series resources and more.

Church of 1122 at all of our locations. We do join me in welcoming Dr. Oshers right here on the second row and his son Matthew, right here next to him. Matthew is one of our students at camp this week. I'm going to tell you, Dr. Oshar is not wasting his time. He spends most of his time right now raising Matthew. Matthew's probably going to be a worship leader,

hopefully for us. Just put that little seed in there. Also, he spends his time curing cancer. Dr. Oshar is working on a cure for cancer, so be praying for that. He also is rooted in the gospel and spends a whole bunch of time trying to lead all his smarty pants friends

over at Mayo to Jesus. And if you're one of those smarty pants is at any of our hospitals in town, we love you so much and are so appreciative of you. And he's also rooted in the gospel and trying to share the good news of the love of Jesus

with all his Muslim friends and family members. And so, brother, we love you like crazy. Amen. Thanks for your testimony. Amen. So the question is, So what do you do when God calls you back from the dead? And if you are in Christ, you have been called out of the grave.

And may none of us waste even one second that God has given us. If you got your Bibles, John Chapter 11 is where are we going to be. And before I dive into this, I just want to say publicly thank you so much to Pastor Stone and Pastor Adam for doing a great job preaching the Word of the last two weeks. Amen, can we show those brothers some love? Pastor Stone preached John 9. Pastor Adam preached John 10. And I was actually here two weeks ago while Pastor Stone was preaching.

I was visiting some of the campuses, but I wasn't here on Thursday that week. And the reason is because me and a few dads took our teenage boys to Nebraska to shoot stuff and catch stuff and eat stuff and do fun boys stuff, right? And there's a bunch of dads just trying to like make memories with our teenage sons. And then last weekend I wasn't here because I was at a father-daughter retreat with my little little. girl, Reagan Capri, she's 11 years old. And so the only reason I tell you that is just to say thank you, because this church has a bunch of pastors, and this church will have dozens of lead pastors over the decades. But my kids have one dad.

And I just want to thank you so much for being the kind of church that allows me to go and be with my kids and that kind of thing. And one of the things that I missed when I didn't get to preach John Chapter 10, by the way, Pastor Adam did an amazing job over 50 people surrendered their life to Christ last week. and John chapter 10 is all about Jesus is the good shepherd. And he says that he loves his sheep, says that he will lay down his life for his sheep. And the word pastor and shepherd are the same word in Greek in the New Testament.

And the reason that my title is not senior pastor is because that role is already taken. Senior pastor and chief shepherd mean the same thing. And so we have a senior pastor, we have a chief shepherd. His name is Jesus. But I am an under shepherd and I get to work for him. and I hope I get to do this here as long as you'll put up with me, as long as the Lord will allow me. I'm hoping for, you know, three more decades or so.

I want to be a crotchety old. You think I'm bold now. I can't wait until I get real old. You get to say some of that filter-of-stuff that your grandparents say to you. But anyway. But last week, Pastor Adam talked a whole bunch about sheep and shepherd. I just wanted to take a second to say thank you, thank you, thank you for being such an amazing congregation. I mean, there's no other place I'd rather be on the planet than right here teaching God's Word

to you because you are the best. Sometimes you send me really encouraging emails about my sermons and stuff. Just know this. It is a two-way street. I fully understand what's happening. It is moderately delivered. It is exceptionally received. And a part of the reason that you think the sermon is okay is because the attitude and the posture that you lean in to receive God's word. So thank you, thank you, you, thank you. I know you don't know how to respond because you're like, what do we do. Clap for us. I don't know what to do. Okay. But just hear my heart. I love you and I thank you for that. so now let's dive in. John chapter 11 says 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. This is next week, by the way. What John's doing, John is writing this from post-resurrection so he can see back through the empty tomb, past the cross, into the events that have happened. And even though Mary and Martha and Lazarus don't know how this is going to end, John knows how this is going to end. And next week, don't miss next week, we're going to talk about what worship is, that worship is an extravagant overflow of gratitude for God's grace towards us.

And so this is who this family is. And a part of the reason that John points this out is because Jesus has good buddies with this family. In Luke chapter 10, we find out that Jesus had refrigerator rights at this family's house in Bethany. I hope you've got some friends that have refrigerator rights. Do you have people in your life that like don't knock on the door, they just walk in all Kramer style? You know, they're like, oh, here we are. and they know where the K-cups are, and they know where the coffee mugs are,

and they just are in your fridge. Lars Peterson is one of those people for me, you understand? You better not just lounge around in my living room without appropriate clothing on, because Pedy might just show up like the Holy Ghost in your house, okay? But you need some people in your life that have refrigerating rights. These are the kinds of deep friendships that Jesus has with this family. So it says, Mary, who anointed the Lord with ointment,

and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. And so the sisters sent to Jesus saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. Notice this. They couldn't send a text, so they've got to send a messenger. I think Martha is probably the one that puts the note together. All right, hey, listen, go find Jesus because we need him.

And here's what I want you to say. Tell him, Lazarus is, no, no, no, no, never mind. Don't put Lazarus. Say this. The one whom you love is ill. Maybe he get his attention. Not the one who loves you, but the one. one whom you love.

Now, I don't know if John was a little offended by this. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That's my title. He does not bring it up. But here's what I want you to see. Two truths. Jesus loves Lazarus. True.

And Lazarus is sick. True. Both of those things can be true at the same time. And there's a lot of us that believe. A lot of us begin to think and feel, God, if you really loved me, then maybe you wouldn't let me go through this pain. But the reality is that God's love for you does not prevent you from going through pain.

But when we are in pain, notice what Mary and Martha do. They bring their need to Jesus. That's what we all need to do. Let me ask you this. Is prayer for you a first response or a last resort? Is prayer for you, the thing that you do when you can't think of anything else to do

and you think, well, I guess I'll throw up a Hail Mary. That's not what that means, okay? or is it your first response? You see, because I hope and I pray that we are the kind of church, you are the kind of believer, that you wake up every single day, and the first thing that you grab for is not that stupid thing that's going to lie to you on a screen that you swipe through. I hope the first thing you do every single morning is wake up

before your feet hit the ground and you cry out, Jesus, I'm going to need you today. I don't know what's happening, but I know I am going to need you. Whether you're on the mountaintop or you're in the valley, whether you're in a sweet season in your life, then you better cry out to them and say, thank you, because it's coming. Something's coming down the pike and so for them,

prayer was the first response. Verse four, it gets a little confusing, but when Jesus heard it, he said, this illness does not lead to death, except it is going to lead to death. Some of the other translations will translate these words. This illness does not end in death. I think what Jesus means is

this illness does not lead to death, it leads through death. How many of you know that sometimes the mountaintop experience and the miracle that you're looking for is on the other side of the valley of the shadow of death that you've got to walk through? He goes on to tell us why this is happening and what he's all about. He says, it is for the glory of God so that the son of God may be glorified through it. That's it. Now, I want to answer this question because even though I talk about it, I feel like I talk about it all the time.

Oftentimes, we don't have ears to hear this until you're walking in it. Why do these things happen? If God loves me, why in the world would he allow me to walk through this pain? It's a legit question. And it's one thing to understand it, theologically, it's another thing

to experience it existentially. You understand? Because, listen, man, I don't know why. I don't know why people get cancer. I don't know why Christians, if it's up to me, Christians wouldn't get cancer. That's how it would work. If you're a terrorist, boom, cancer.

Christian, no cancer. That's just what I would do, all right? The moment you began to plot evil against somebody, you'd be like, I feel weird, and you die. That's what would happen, but God didn't check with me, all right? I'd also make chocolate, make you rip. Eat chocolate, be like, what you've been doing? Eating chocolate?

Yep, broccoli, you'd be so fat, you couldn't even stand up. All right, that's what I would do. But nobody asked me. So there's at least five reasons why we walk through pain. There's at least five reasons that they're suffering in pain, cancer, illness, sickness, trouble. number one, sometimes it's a test from God. Let's deal with the hardest one first.

Abraham is promised a promised son. He waits for 20 years. God fulfills the promise. He's got this son, and then the Bible says, and God tested Abraham. And he had to walk through the emotional pain of not understanding why God would call him to take his son to the top of a mountain

to sacrifice him. And the Bible very clearly says this was a test from God. sometimes, like maybe you've heard this before, well, God will never give you more than you can handle. If somebody says you that, punch them in the face and say, how can you handle that? Okay? That's not a Bible verse. It's not a Bible. Don't punch people on the face. Sometimes I say jokes, okay? So the essence of the gospel is God has given you more than you can handle. That's right, man. In fact, you can't handle you. That's why you need somebody to do for you what you can't do for you. That's why Jesus sat on the cross for you. The verse they're getting is that you will never be tempted beyond what God's

won't give you an out, but those are different things. Right? Sometimes it's a test from God. Number two, sometimes it's your sin. I hate to be the one to tell you the truth, but sometimes the reason that you're suffering is you. Remember the woman called in adultery? I mean, the dudes are doing shady stuff too, no doubt,

but Jesus looks at her and says, leave your life of sin. Sometimes it's you. I can't tell you the number of times I've had people come up to me at the end of a service that pastor, I need your prayer. What's going on? Well, the devil is coming against me.

What's happening? Well, the devil's attacking my finances. Okay, talk to me. What's going on? Well, I don't have money, but I keep buying things. I go, well, I got good news and bad news. Good news, the devil is against you. Bad news? You the devil. That's what's going on, okay? Excuse me, stop. So sometimes it's your own sin. Sometimes. Sometimes it's other people sin. Wasn't your fault. And somebody sinned against you. And the pain that you're going through is because he cheated. She left. They lied about you. Whatever it is, it's other. people's sin. Remember Joseph, Old Testament code of many colors, Joseph, how did he get in the situation that he got in? His brothers beat him up and sold him into slavery. Not because of something he did, but because of their own sin. The fourth thing is this. Sometime it is

demonic attack, that there is direct, intentional demonic attack against you. Now, I will have people say to me, pastor, you mean to tell me in the 21st century you believe in the demonic? Huh. Well, what do you call it? What do you think with this mess we're going through right now in our culture is? You think it's just poor decision-making? That's what you think it is? If we could all just get a little better educated than everything would tighten them? Uh-uh.

Anybody ever struggle with an addiction or know somebody that struggles with an addiction? And there is this thing, it's almost like this thing possesses you that's not you and tempts you to go down a road that you promised you would never walk down. What do you want to call that? Because if you don't believe that there's an enemy that wants to steal, kill and destroy everything good and godly that God has given to you in your life, then one, you're too dumb to talk to, and secondly, you're right where the enemy wants you to be, all isolated.

Sometimes it is direct demonic attack. Don't believe me, ask the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul had what he calls a thorn in the flesh. He does not describe exactly what that is, thank God. And he says, three times he cries out that the Lord would remove this thorn from his flesh, but in 2 Corinthians, we find out that it was actually demonic attack against him, and yet God was even using that thorn in his flesh to make sure his ego was in check.

Sometimes it's direct demonic attack and then sometimes it's just a result of the fallen world. Remember the blind man? John chapter 9? Sometimes stuff is just broken because we live in a broken world. It's not your individual sin.

You're not being punished. But everything from the macro level like weather systems won't do what they're supposed to. And you get things like hurricanes and tsunamis and tornadoes. Down to the micro level we live in a broken world. and sometimes cells just don't do what they're supposed to do. And yet, no matter of the reason, this is what's crazy, no matter the reason, Romans 828 is true

for every single one of them, that God is at work for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. And in Greek, in Romans 828, God is the subject of the sentence, not the things. It's not all things work. It's not just like everything works, works for a reason. No, that's not it. That God is at work in all things. for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. And that God can use demonic attack. God can use a broken world. God can even use our own sin for his glory and our own good

because the circumstances of our life are not the Lord of our life. The sovereign kingdom of the universe is Lord of our life. And Jesus is about to put this on display. He says it is for the glory of God so that the son of God may be glorified through it. In other words, the deeper the pain, the greater the platform for God to show up. Don't believe me? Don't believe me? Maybe one day, if you're a believer, when you bump into these three guys in heaven,

ask them about it, Shatterak, Meshach, and Abedigo. He did not keep them from the fiery furnace. He just met them in the fiery furnace. Oftentimes, again, God does not keep you from the valley of the shadow of death, but he walks with you through that. and through the other side. That's what's about to happen here. Because I get it, man, I get it.

When you're in the moment, when the pain hits, we can have a tendency to get focused on our circumstances and say, God, what are you doing? And I want you to remember that his love for us is not ultimately demonstrated in our current circumstances. His love for us is ultimately demonstrated at the cross. I'm telling you, if you were there live and you were looking at Jesus on the cross

and you would think, God, what are you doing? Have you completely lost control? they're killing your son, and God would say, well, whoa, whoa, whoa, just give it three days. I've got a plan. I know it doesn't make sense right now, but just trust me, three days from now, it will make sense.

So Jesus says, this is for the glory of God, so that the son of God may be glorified through it. Another confusing verse, verse five. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. By the way, Lazarus's name in Greek means God is my help. So surely Jesus is going to help. all right so he gets the he gets the email he loves martha he loves mary he loves lazarus so when he heard that lazarus was ill now don't look at me don't mean don't look at the screen look at me what do you

think it would say now i know you're all like bible scholars because you're 1122 but when you think if god loves him and he knows what's happening then the next verse would say and so jesus throughout some healing power all the way from wherever he is and it went to bethany and boom lazarus hopped up revival broke out in Bethany. That's what I would want it to say. But here's what it says. Now, Jesus loved so he stayed two days longer

in the place where he was. Wait, what? No, Jesus, that's not how it's supposed to work, okay? Except according to the scriptures, God's love and apparent cooperation are not related. I talk to a whole bunch of people that will say, well, I can't believe

in God because I wanted him to do this and he did not cooperate. Belief and God's cooperation have nothing to do with each other. If that were the case, every teenager in here would not believe in their parents. Because you ask them to cooperate with you all the time and they say, I love you, no. And so, Jesus loves them so he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. So let me just ask you, you ever feel like you cried out to God and he ain't coming? I mean, seriously, like, you've been praying for your marriage and praying for your marriage and pray him for your marriage.

And you just don't understand why God won't change him. In fact, you're here by yourself right now. He's playing golf because he loves golf more than anything else. And let's just be honest, he ain't even good. He's not even good. And there he is, just wasting his time and you're in here sitting under the gospel, okay? And you're just like, come on, Lord. I've tried to do my best, try to love him, I try to serve him.

I see these videos of you putting these men and women together and put Jesus in the middle, and why can't I just have a marriage like that? And you're crying out to God and you believe that he loves. loves you, but apparently he's not coming to answer that prayer right yet. You ever been there? Or maybe you're sick. And you're praying for healing, man. You're praying for healing. And you pray and you pray, and you know he can. You know he can heal, but for whatever reason he's not healing you. And you've heard of him healing other people, but for whatever reason he's not healing you. Or maybe, maybe it's your prodigal son, your prodigal daughter. And you don't know what to

do. Your heart breaks. This is your child, man. When you brought them home from the hospital, you had all these hopes and all these dreams. And you even did it right, man. You did it right. You raised them in the church. And you want to be like, Lord, your Bible says that if I raise him in the path that he should go when he is older, he will not depart from it. Well, he's departed. And he's rejected me, and he's rejected you, and he's squandering it away on reckless living. and all I want to do is just, won't you have him come home? God, I hear some people say that you answer their prayer request to get a good parking spot.

Forget the parking spot and bring my kid home. Could you do it? You ever been there? Look, I know this is church. No place for you to be vulnerable and honest. But anybody with me on this one? Yeah, man. You pray and you pray and you pray and you pray and you're just like,

Lord, where are you? And he doesn't show up until it's his own timing. Again, we don't measure God's love for us by our circumstances, but by the cross. God demonstrated his love for us and this while we were yet still sinners. Christ died for us. Jesus has already told the disciples, this is going to work out for my glory and their good. You just got to hang in there. Verse 7.

And then after this, Jesus said to the disciples, let's go to Judea again. And the disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. and are you going to go there again? Are you sure, boss? And he answers, listen to this answer. Are there not 12 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 in the night, if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. Does that help anybody? I know when Jesus said this, one of the disciples were like, oh, that's so good. That's good, rabbi, it's good.

I'm tweeting this right now. Thomas is like, what's that mean? I have no idea. No idea. Rabbi's so deep. Oh, he's so deep. It just goes right over the head. Mine too. Here's what he's saying. When the sun goes down, the workday is over, I'm the light of the world. As long as I'm here, we've got work to do. That's what he's saying. But they don't understand what he's saying. And we know this because he has to explain it to him in the next few verses. And after saying these things, he said to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to

awaken him. Now the disciples said to him, Lord, if he's full. Falling asleep, he will recover. You ever try to explain to God how the world works? God, I don't know if you're aware of this. We've got a thing called the stock market, and I'm pretty invested. Need you help, all right? Need it to go this way, not this way. In Jesus' name, amen.

You ever do that? You've got all the information, dear Lord. I got one more. Her name's Tammy. She sits right across for him, and he's like, I know Tammy, okay? I've formed her in her mother's room. I know all about Tammy. Well, let me tell you about what she's going through.

And God's like, I know. I would just encourage us in our prayer time, spend a little less time informing God and a lot more time listening because he knows how life works. But they've got it all figured out about how sleep works. Verse 13. By the way, I will tell you this. Any of you have a little troublesome time understanding the Bible or we're in church and I'm preaching something? You feel like it goes over to your head or you read some Bible verses. You're like, I don't know what that means.

If that's you, I got really good news. You can make a great disciple. These guys understood almost nothing. and Jesus used them to turn the world upside down. Please God. Okay, so verse 13. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep. And when Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

And for your sake, I'm glad that I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go. Over the head once again, and here's how we know. Because Thomas, by the way, this is doubting Thomas. So Thomas, called the twins, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. All right, so, which is kind of a bummer that he gets the name Doubting Thomas. I'm sure when he finally realizes that's his name.

What's up, Dowding Thomas? He's like, no, no, no, no, I'm ready to die, Thomas. I'm like, whatever, Dowding Thomas. All right. But Thomas is an example of what actual discipleship is. Actual discipleship starts with that first step to come and see and check Jesus out for yourself, over time and maturity, it gets to the place where you come and die to yourself as you follow

after Jesus. This is what Thomas is talking about. But they still don't understand all that's going to happen. Verse 17. Now, when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus has already been in the tomb for four days. I think the reason that he waits until he's in the tomb for four days is that there was a Jewish first century legend that when you died, your spirit kind of hovered around for a while, sort of Casper the Gossish, and it could like come back into you. But after three or four days, it was out for sure. So Jesus wants everybody to know that Lazarus isn't sort of dead. He ain't kind of dead. He's not mostly dead. He's not Princess Bride dead. He's dead all the way dead dead, okay? That's what's going on. And Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles off.

Now you know why this is in the Bible? Because Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles away. This is an actual historical event. This is not a fairy tale. This is not a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. This is not, I don't even like to use the word story. This is an event that actually happened. You can go to Bethany today. That's where it is. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. In the first century, there'd be large parties that would come together and they would help you mourn and well. In fact, if you weren't real popular, you could contract people to come be funeral criers for you so that people would think you were a bigger deal than you are. So, jot that down. Verse 20. So when Martha heard that

that Jesus was coming, she went and she met him, but Mary would remain seated in the house. What I want you to see is how Jesus is going to handle the grief of two sisters and how many of you know that you can have the same mama and daddy

and not be alike at all in your personality. Mary and Martha are completely different. We find out in Luke 10 when Jesus goes to have a party over at their house or have dinner at their house that Martha is a type A-driven, she's probably an eight or a three-year-old an enneagram, if you're one of those, any driven people in the house, okay, anybody?

Well, you must not be. You didn't raise your hand. Okay, me. Well, follow me, all right. I'll lead you to Jesus. So I am. I'm like this kind of person. She likes to get stuff done.

She loves to check things off of her list. She's also a worker bee. She works your fingers to the bone. She's the kind of person we find out in Luke 10 when Jesus is there that she's aggravated because she's putting together everything. And she goes to Jesus. She's like, Jesus, can you help me out a little bit? My good for nothing sister is all Chris calls apple sauce at your feet while I'm getting

everything together, okay? Prayer ain't going to fix the peanut butter and jellies. You understand what I'm saying. That's her. Anybody know anybody like that? She's the kind of woman that can't go to sleep when there's a dish in the sink. Anybody know one of those? I'm room with one, all right? It's crazy. The kind of person that, like, you try to clean up, wives, you don't know what I'm talking about. Know when your husband tries to clean up and you thank him for straightening and then you actually clean it. This is her. Okay, this is her. She's getting stuff done. Now, Martha, I mean, Mary on the other hand, she's like a four on the an e-agram, she's an introvert, she feels all the feelings. Got any of those people? All right, all of a sudden you better raise it high. Okay, praise

God, all right? That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. So they're very, very different. Martha hears that Jesus is in town. She ain't waiting. Boom, she's out there with him. She goes running to him. That's what it says. And then here's what she says. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. She still believes. She does point out, you are late, just want to point it out, you're late. I gave you the info in plenty of time, and if you would have just been here, it would have just been here. However, it ain't over because you're here. And so I got a plan, Jesus. So if you, if you'll just stick with my plan, everything will work out perfectly.

Anybody ever think about God that way? I do all the time. I'm just telling you, I can't tell you the number of times. I'm like, Lord, I'm just telling you, I've got this figured out. If you would just do what I'm asking you to do. Everything will be awesome. And I know you can do it. I know you can do miracles. I read about it. I read Jesus about one time, you heal her to lady, and you didn't even mean to. You just walk through Copernum and then you're like, all right, who touched me? Somebody touched me and they got healed. Who was it? Was it you? Was it you? So if you can accidentally hail some random woman in Copernum, surely you can heal this person that I'm praying for, and I'll bring them up on stage and everybody will become a Christian. Let's do that plan.

Want her do that? This is how Martha's working, okay? She's driven. She's driven. She's driven. So she's like, all right, this could still work. This could still work. Whatever you ask from God, God will give you. And Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. He means like in a minute. She means, she's thinking theologically. So Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. You see, she believes, and she has good doctrine. And I'm just going to tell you, doctrine matters, man, it matters. And Jesus says to her, no, no, he's going to redefine it. I am the resurrection in the life. And whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. And then he asked this question right at her.

Do you believe this? Do you believe this? You see, she's got the right theology, and he shows up. And she says, I know if you ask God, he'll do whatever you ask. And then he says, your brother's going to rise again. She's like, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. At the end, everybody spends forever somewhere. And based on a relationship with you, we either go to heaven with God or we're separated from him forever. And then he goes, whoa, whoa, and Jesus redefines what eternal life is. And Jesus says this, I am the resurrection and the life. That the thing that makes heaven is not the place, it's not the streets of gold and the mansions and the plenty of food. Now, heaven is a place. Jesus is going to say, I go to prepare a place for you, but what makes

heaven heaven is not the place. What makes heaven heaven is the person of Jesus Christ. He's saying that he is the resurrection in life, that if you want to be resurrected from the dead, then you better come to Jesus. If you want life, you better come to Jesus. That he is the resurrection and the life. And we find out in Colossians chapter 3 that Jesus is the first born from among the dead. That word first born in Greek is prototoko. It's where we get our word prototype from. And so a manufacturer will make a prototype, and if the prototype works, then it will go into mass production. Jesus, since his only begotten son, he puts death to death in the grave, and he is the prototype

who resurrects from the grave, and I've got good news, it worked. And once that worked, then the Lord puts us all into mass production so that one day, whoever is in Christ, we will not stay in the grave, we will be resurrected to life with him. That's what he's saying, I am the resurrection in the life. Then he looks at her and he says, do you believe this? Do you believe this? Now, she could have taken that question to mean two things. Do you believe I'm going to raise your brother?

That's one way she could have heard it. Or do you believe that I am the resurrection in the life? Do you believe I'm going to change your circumstances? Is that where you're putting your faith and hope and belief? or do you believe that I am the Christ? I am who I say I am. And look what she says. She says to him,

yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ. The son of God who is coming into the world. Again, doctrine matters. Please hear me here. Theology matters. You can't rightly love God without right thoughts about Him. And a part of the reason we study books of the Bible

and we just go verse by verse and I explain the Greek words and all of that kind of stuff is because if you put your faith in your feelings or your circumstances or the things going on in your life, they will be all over the place. And what we need to do is anchor our faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the character and nature of God.

So that when you look around and you can't understand why is this happening to me, you can look to him and understand he's still got the whole world in his hands, and he loves you. And what I love about this, this type A-driven, kind of doctrinal woman here, this theological discourse about salvation

brings her great comfort in light of the current events of disappointment that she feels like Jesus wasn't there on time. That's how Jesus deals with her. It works. She finds comfort there. And when she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary saying in private, the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and she went to him. Now remember, Mary's a feeler, an introvert. She's just sitting in the house. And then when she hears this, she goes out to see Jesus. And now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.

And when the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now, when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, notice, she does not first speak. She first falls down on her face. Just emotionally exhausted. She falls down at his feet and she says,

Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother would not have died. Mary and Martha say the same thing. I think they say it with a very different tone. My translation is simply this. God, what are you doing? What are you doing? Have you ever been there? I can't tell you the number of times I've been there.

God, what are you doing? Why want you to reconcile the relationship? Why won't you heal them? Why won't you bring that son or daughter back? God, what are you doing? Which leads me to ask you this question. You think it's okay to question God? You think it's okay to come to God and go, God?

I don't understand what you're doing here. Well, Jesus rebukes neither Mary nor Martha. To neither woman does he go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you better watch it. Do you know who you're talking to? I'm the almighty sovereign king of the universe. That's not what he does. He just meets him right where they are. You see, it's totally fine to ask God why.

Just stay rooted that you know who is in charge. In fact, don't believe me. In Psalm chapter 22, David, who is called a man after God's own heart, he writes these words in his quiet time one day, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Anybody ever felt that before? And think about this. Before Jesus ever quotes that on the cross, David praise that to God and the Spirit of God goes, yeah, Dave, that's good. Let's write that one down in the book.

Because there are going to be some people that need to pray that until I return. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Listen, God just wants the real you, man. You can flush your Sunday school prayers, okay? Your flannelgraph prayers. And why don't you bring the real you, the real question, the real pain, the real hurt with the same intensity? Why don't you just bring that to him? That's what she's doing.

She falls at his feet. Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother would not have died. She said, I don't understand what you're doing. And when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved and his spirit and he was greatly troubled. Deeply moved in his spirit and he's greatly troubled. I mean, I've done a whole bunch of funerals. I've done some funerals of people that I love dearly.

I've done funerals of people I've never met in the world. But when I see people loved ones get upset because the one they love, has passed away, boy, it moves me. I get all, I don't even know the people, and I get all, you know. In fact, I did my grandma's funeral this last year. I lost both my grandmas over the past year, and it's not tragic, they're both in their 90s,

and they love Jesus like crazy, okay? I mean, they were in Sunday school with Moses. It's fine. They're in heaven, but still, when I get there, my brother, he's a cop, down to St. John's County, he's probably sitting in St. John's right now. So if he is, look at him, and if you're not, let me know. I've got to give it on him. So anyway, and he comes up to me, he thinks he's awesome,

and he's like, hey, bro, how can I help? I'm like, Russ, if you could just sit in the front and just be a rock, then I can just look at you and I'll be fine. He's like, I got you. And so I get up there and I'm like, hey, I'm Jobi and I look over at my brother and he's going, he looks like De Niro.

His face is turning. He's like, oh, you're talking to me? That's what he's doing. And so I can't talk. I'm like, it's terrible. Okay, so. Now, when I first read this in the text, there's a Greek word that is,

that is the word that is most used in the New Testament to describe the emotion of Jesus, and that is compassion. The word to describe the emotion of Jesus more than any other word in the Greek New Testament is compassion, and the Greek word is splogizomi. It means from the gut, okay? But that's not this word. And that's why there's so many English words here to translate it. It says, deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

The Greek word here, I don't know how to say it right, so I'm just kind of making it up. Embry, mea-mi, sounds like a Hawaiian island or something, Embry-May-Mai. And what this is, is this is sadness with emotional indignation. You ever seen somebody get so moved and yet so mad that they cry? That's what's going on here. Simultaneously, when Jesus sees Mary crying, he's got great compassion for her, but he's also angry.

He's ticked off, and what is he ticked off at? He's ticked off at death. and I think he probably remembers back to that moment when he spoke everything into creation. When he gathered together the dust of the earth and he breathed a ruah of life into the very first man, Adam, and he opened his eyes and he was face to face with God the Father and he thought, that's what you were created for.

We were not created for death. We were created for life with God. And then sin comes along and fractures that so that we have to experience pain and sorrow and death and it ticks Jesus off. And so he's that kind of angry cry. That's what's going on here. And so he says, where have you laid him?

And they said, Lord, come and see, I want you to pay attention. Jesus goes to the deepest parts of our pain. And then you get verse 35, shortest verse in the Bible. Jesus wept. You want to memorize the Bible verse? You should. Start with this one. Because you're going to need it one day.

Jesus wept. You see, I don't know who the person that came up. up with the phrase that I got to be strong in times of pain and they equated strength with a lack of emotion. But strength is not withholding emotion. In fact, in Ecclesiastes chapter three, the Bible gives us a whole range of emotions. It says there's a time for every season under heaven. There's a time to be born. There's a time to die. There's a time to mourn and there's a time to laugh. There's a time for crying and there's a time for dancing. And here's what I I found in 25 plus years of ministry. If when it is time to cry, you don't allow yourself to

cry, then when it is time to dance, you won't be able to dance. Hear that Baptist? Dance. It's right in the book, okay? That's right, man. God, listen, emotions are a gift from God to navigate life. They make a terrible decision maker and a terrible Lord, but they are quite the handy tool to navigate this thing called life. So when it is time to cry, we need to cry. and what Jesus does in this moment it sits down with Mary, puts his arm around her, and he just weeps.

He just weeps. You ever been around Christians at a tragedy, been around Christians at a funeral, and they just say the dumbest stuff? They mean well, but they say the dumbest stuff. You know, hey, it's the funeral, but why are you crying? You should be happy.

They're in heaven. I'm about to send you to heaven. Get out by my face. What you're telling about, man? I'm crying because I miss them. I know. I get all the theological realities that we do not mourn

as those without hope. But the Bible does not say that we don't mourn. We just mourn with hope. But that doesn't mean that it's not sad right now. And so what Jesus does is he weeps with this woman

just a couple weeks ago. Last week maybe. I get a text from a family in our church and they used to attend another church and she lost her dad. And it was super sudden and he was relatively young. He played golf the week before

and he gets sick and boom, he's gone. And some other pastors came to visit the family. And when they left, she texted me and she says, they question my trust in God because of how much I was crying. And I was like, what? What? That is spiritual abuse.

Because if a lack of tears equal faith, then Jesus didn't have faith. You see, Jesus cries with her when it's time to cry, cry. By the way, let me tell you how to be the church real quick. The Bible says we're supposed to weep with those who weep. If any part of the body hurts, the whole body hurts. So church, the next time a thing happens in our society, and it significantly impacts a group of people that are a part of the body, and maybe they didn't grow up like you did,

maybe they have a different political persuasion than you do. What Jesus does not do is he doesn't just roll up in here and be like, well, first, let's let the facts come in, okay? How did Lazarus die? Was it his fault? Huh? No, no, no, no. All he does is puts his arm around her and weeps with her.

He doesn't say dumb stuff. He just weeps with her. The body of Christ is supposed to weep with those who weep. You cannot simultaneously empathize and defend. The two do not go together. This is what Jesus does. So the next time you get the opportunity to minister to somebody, don't worry so much about what you say.

Just keep your mouth shut, put your arm around them, and you just shed some tears with them, and that will mean more than you could ever know. You see, crying does not equal weakness. It doesn't. I told you earlier that last weekend I was at the daddy daughter retreat. And one of the last things we did, we had a daddy daughter dance, hoping those YouTube videos don't go public, but we were doing that.

And then the last thing we did is every dad there, we wrote a letter to our daughters, nine to 13 years old. And every dad sat knee to knee, face to face, eye to eye, with our daughters, and we read these letters of blessings over our daughter. And I'm going to tell you, there were some grown men at that thing, studs. There were, man. Tattoos and beards and wranglers, the whole thing. And we sat across from our daughters and the first guy gets up there and he's like,

dear, ha-ba-ha-ha-ha. I'm not crying, you're crying. Who's crying? I don't cry. Some people cry, I work out. I have hobbies. I'm not a crier. I'm just telling you.

Not one dad made it through it. Not one. And I'm telling you they were not showing weakness. I'm saying they were showing strength. And, in fact, if more daughters saw the strength of their dad's tears as they bless them, they'd start listening to the lives of this world and these stupid boys lying to them too. Amen? Be strong and cry.

Now, but Jesus is crying. Now, here's the part that makes me ask the question. All right, it's one thing to cry out of funeral because you don't know what's happening. Jesus knows how this thing's going to turn out. So why is he crying? I mean, how long is he going to wait? 20 minutes, 30 minutes? I don't know what the standard wait time to resurrect your dead friend is,

but Jesus knows that day this thing's going up awesome. And yet, here he is, crying. I've told you before, one of my favorite things to do when it's not yet football season is I watch past Georgia games. I do. I record a bunch of them,

and I watch Georgia games. All right. Now, here's the thing. According to my DVR, Georgia is undefeated for the last five years. I don't know if you know this, okay? So I'm not going to watch when we lose, who would do that, all right?

And so here's what I know is that, Like my kids won't know if it's a real game or whatever, you know, and Reagan gets sitting on the couch, and I'm watching it, and we fumble, and they scoop and score, and she's like, oh, no, daddy. I'm like, oh, you have little faiths. Believe, baby, believe. Good guys win in the end. Why? Because I know how it ends, so it doesn't freak me out in the middle. Jesus knows how it ends, and yet he's weeping with Mary. Why? Seven times in the Gospel of John, Jesus is going to say, I am. He just said it.

I am the resurrection in life. This is the covenant name of God. I am. that I am, which means God is always eternally present. That in the past, he is, and right now he is, and in the future, he's already there, he is. Maybe this is why the elders pray and sing around the throne who was and is to come. Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, which means this, no matter what you're going through and no matter how it's going to end one day in glory, Jesus is perfectly present with you in the right now. That's what he's doing with her. He is perfectly present with you right now.

And so the Jews said, see how he loved him. But some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying? I'll tell you one thing I've learned in pastoring a church through a pandemic in the last two years, there's always a critic. I mean, Jesus is crying with this lady. And some people think, oh, that's sweet. And some people will be like, nope, not right. Hey, if you're a leader of anything, let me just give you this for free. Whatever decision you make, it's always three little bears.

There's one group of people, and be like, nope, not enough. There's another group of people, that was too much. And then there's some people that go, that was just right. It also was true for Jesus. But what he did is he just did what the Father told him to do. And then Jesus, deeply moved again. He came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it.

And Jesus said, take away the stone. And Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead before. days. The King James translates that this way, but Lord, he stinketh. You should look it up yourself. That's what it says. And Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? I mean, don't you remember? Just like a few verses ago, he says, do you believe? And she's like, oh, I believe. But now that they're in the putting that faith into action, she's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't know if we should do this or not.

Well, Martha, do you believe? Well, I believed in Sunday school. I believe during the sermon. But now that I've actually got to do something about it and roll a stone away, Lord, I kind of stink it. So let me ask you, what stone do you need to roll away? I mean, that thing that the spirit of God put down in your heart, and you know every time we talk about forgiveness and reconciliation,

that person's name comes to your mind, and you believe that you need to go home and begin the process of reconciliation. The problem is when you pick up the phone, you're like, I don't know. I've got a lot of reasons this might not work. Or, I love to talk about this one, but I'm the only one. Maybe God has called you to do something radically generous. I mean, like sell a thing. This meant too much to you and just invested in the kingdom of God.

And you get in here, you're like, I believe. But then you call your account and you're like, eh, that kind of stinks now. What is that thing, that ministry that you called you to start? That one more that you gave up on? What stone do you need to roll away? because I'm telling you, Jesus is the only one that can bring Lazarus out of the grave, but he calls his followers to do an act of fate, to partner with him in that miracle. What is he calling you to partner with him on?

So she says, I don't know. It's kind of stinky. Verse 41. And so they took the stone away, and Jesus lifted up his eyes, and he said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me. But I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.

Apparently, God does not mind that we suffer temporarily for an eternal good. And when he had said these things, he cried out in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. Charles Spurgeon says that if he didn't call Lazarus' name, he would have emptied the whole graveyard. I love that. And the man who died came out. By the way, this is a picture of our salvation.

He did not go into Lazarus with an intention. instructions on how Lazarus could be a better Lazarus. He did not go in and change his clothes. He did not go in and put a little aftershave on him so he wouldn't stink it so bad. That's not what he did. He called a dead man to come to life and come out of the grave. That's what salvation is. If you've ever put your faith in Jesus Christ, it's because Jesus called you out of the grave. Maybe for some of you, the stone that you need to roll away is all the doubts that you've been putting your faith in. And today, you need to hear Jesus call you by name and say, come on out of the grave. Maybe that's it. You see, this is what salvation is. And the

who had died came out. His hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with cloth. And Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go. Notice, Jesus said to them, the way the NIV translates it is this, take off the grave clothes and let him go. Why is it that the first command that Jesus gives this man who is called out of the grave is to take off his grave clothes? Here's why. Because living people shouldn't wear grave clothes anymore. They stink, bro. They don't fit you anymore.

The reason that you take off those grave clothes is this, that living people don't wear dead people's clothes. And the reason that Jesus is calling you to repent of your sin, and I'm talking to people that are already believers, is because those past sins, it's not that they're just bad, it's not that they're just dumb, it's not that they will have repercussions that you don't want to deal with. They just don't fit you anymore.

you're alive in Christ. You don't have to do the things that you used to do because you're not the person that you used to be. The old you is dead and the new you is alive in Jesus Christ. And honestly, only Jesus gets to tell you who you are. One of the things the enemy is going to try to do in your life if you are a believer in Jesus says he wants to define you by your scars and by your past wounds.

He wants you to think that you are primarily that addiction. He wants you to think that you are your divorce. He wants you to think that you are that affair, that you are that porn addiction. He wants you to think that you are those drugs that you take, that you are the mistakes, the sins, those things in your life. And then Jesus comes along and he says that he's the only one that gets to tell us who we are. And you're like, but I don't think you understand that a divorce, that affair, that abortion, whatever that thing is.

That was the biggest thing ever in my life. And I'm telling you, the good news of the gospel would say, no, it's not. that moment you surrendered your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus washed all of that away, and that death of life is now the biggest thing that has ever happened. That only Jesus gets to tell you who you are. Take off the grave clothes. Put the porn away.

Put the drunkenness away. Put the drugs away. Put the affair away. All of those things. Why? That stuff doesn't fit you anymore, brother or sister. That Jesus has called you to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. of Jesus Christ.

But notice, he doesn't tell Lazarus to do this on his own. He can't. He's all bound up. That Jesus alone saves us, but Jesus never saves us to be alone. He saves us into a faith family. He surrounds him with people that can help him take off those grave clothes. So, let me ask you this. Do you believe?

Do you believe that he can call you out of the grave? and do you believe that he could surround you with the right people? And do you believe that you could cast off those dead man's clothes? Because you ain't a dead man anymore. Do you believe that you could walk through the power of the good news of the gospel? That you could walk in a manner worthy of what God has called you to walk in. And that is to walk in a newness of life. So we close this service down.

And then it's not because we just can't think of how to close it. I think it's the most important thing that we do. after you hear the word of God see what will happen is it'll start to get on you won't it and you think I got to get out of here go get the kid I'll meet you in the parking lot we can go brunch this thing away

all right but the reason that we sing and we bring and we respond and we call you to come and pray is because I want you to sit and soak in it for a minute I want you to marinate in it for a minute I want you to listen to the only real preacher around here the Holy Spirit as to what you ought to do about it and so I want to invite you to come and

Some of you need to come and cry out to the Lord. God, he's sick. She's sick. My finances are sick. This relationship is sick. Physically I'm sick. Mentally, I'm sick. God, I need your help. And so I want to ask you to come and pray. And some of you've been waiting. You've been praying and praying and praying and praying. And I'm saying, come on and keep praying. Don't give up. I prayed for the salvation of my dad for 30 years before God answered it the way I was hoping that he would. So I'm going to invite you to come and to pray. Some of you, are mad at God. You're mad, man. Because of your current circumstances, and I'm saying, bring it. Bring it with the same intensity to him in prayer

that you have those like imaginary conversations in your head. Bring it. And some of you just need to come down here because somebody told you that strong, mature Christianity, equal no tears. Some of you just need to come down here and let the tears flow. And watch what the Lord does through that. and some of you need to come and pray for the spirit to give you the strength to roll away the stone

that you believe but you need to go and really have faith you see faith is acting as if you actually believe Jesus is who he says he is and he always keeps his promises and some of you have been called to come alive for the very first time to come out of the grave and a whole bunch of us need to continuously come before the Lord and say Lord I need help taking off these grave clothes I know it doesn't make sense because I'm alive but I have a tendency to just want to put on these old grave clothes. God, would you please help me take them off? And my one request is this. Don't come alone.

Don't come alone. Don't come and pray alone. Come with somebody. Come with whoever you came with and pray. Come with whoever invited you and pray. And if you're like, well, I came here by myself. Just pick some rando. Be like, hey, you're it.

Come on with me. This 1122, man. There's freaks all in here. You understand? They will. And if you don't have anybody, just come up. We've got people with badges with like care team people that we train on praying for people, and they would be happy to pray for you.

But this is not a Long Ranger event. God has called you into a family to help us take off those grave clothes and walk in that kind of newness of life. Would you please stand to your feet? I'm going to start praying, and I would encourage you to come and pray. Come and cry out. Come and cry. Come and be mad. Come and make your request known to him.

He cares for you. Don't come alone. Just come on. And the band's going to sing. And listen, if there's still people down here after the first. first song, hang on for this, we might sing too, all right? So hang in for that too, but won't you come? Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, you are good and you were gracious. Jesus, I thank you that you did not come to make bad men better. You came that dead men and women could be called

to life in you. So, Lord, I pray for resurrection in this place. God, I pray for healing, and I pray for reconciliation, and I pray for mental health, and I pray for all of those kinds of things. But in the meantime, Lord, we just pray for your presence because your presence changes everything. God, I pray against the lies of the enemy. I pray that we would know that our strength is not defined by a withholding of emotion, but we would pour it all out on the feet of Jesus. Lord, I pray for men and women far from you that they would come running and that they would know that you did not rebuke Mary or Martha. You met them exactly where they are. And God, I thank you, and I praise you, that you are the resurrection, that you are the life,

and we find those things in you. And, Lord, I pray against the enemy as he tries to whisper those lies that we would be defined by our past wounds. And, Lord, may we be defined by your scars at the cross, because it is finished. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, as we respond, I want to invite you to come and pray. We're going to bring, we're going to lift our voices together and sing.

Let's respond.