The Death of Lazarus - Lazarus is Raised part 1

Thanks, Brother Keith. I like that last song, "Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery." That's one that I do not have. I think this week I'm going to get those words. Meditate over them. Let them assist me in my own prayer life and my own worship. I do that many times, especially on Wednesday night when Brother Keith is up here practicing getting ready. Sometimes I'll get some of those words and I use them. Refer to them in my study time. I encourage you to do that. The words that we sing are truth, very powerful. They can help you in your prayer life and sometimes just help you to be gripped by the truths of the gospel.

The wonderful truths of the gospel. Thank you, Keith, for that one. I enjoyed that. Very worshipable. Well, take your Bible this morning. Turn to John chapter 11. John chapter 11. This has been a very wonderful journey so far in chapter 11. It's been a very revealing journey. Now, choose that word revealing on purpose. I say it on purpose because there have been wonderful truths that have been revealed to many of you these past two weeks. We've had two messages so far in the gospel of John chapter 11. If you fail to hear those messages, we can help you acquire them.

If you need my notes, I'll be glad to help you with that because I want you to get all that the Lord has been bringing to us. In these past two weeks, God has been revealing some wonderful truths. I was reminded of that this week. I was speaking to the young Christian, a younger man in the Lord, a younger man in life. I talked to him and encouraged him and mentored him at different times. I was able to relate what we've been learning in these verses and it spoke right to where he is. As a matter of fact, he responded in a very positive way. What I mean is the truths of the Word of God are revealed to us.

We've been enjoying the revelation of the Word of God, the truths in these verses in chapter 11. We've had two messages, verses 1 through 33. The title of those messages all center around the death of Lazarus. We've had the death of Lazarus, God's glory through tragedy, verses 1 through 16. The death of Lazarus, Jesus meets the sisters, verses 17 through 33, verses 1 through 16. We saw Jesus really drag these disciples into this situation. Then verses 17 through 33 last week, we saw Jesus engage the sisters, Martha and Mary, in this situation, this death of Lazarus.

Now, in combining these two messages, because really these two messages are really one message. We have to divide them because of time. But in combining these two messages, I want to take a few steps back. This is just me speaking to you, my observations, giving you some of the high marks, some of the major truths that we've been looking at. I want to make a few observations that really have stuck out in my mind and my heart. We know that there was a sickness at hand. Lazarus was sick. This ultimately ended up in his death. That was really preeminent in those verses. It's preeminent all through the chapter.

But within this tragedy, we see Jesus and his relationship to his disciples and this family. Within the family, it's Lazarus. He's the dead man. There's Martha and Mary. Those are the siblings. So this relationship with them really runs all through these verses. And I've wanted us to see that. And then just leaping out of this crisis, we see how Jesus gently leads these individuals through this life-altering tragedy. Death is life-altering. And what does he do? He takes the disciples through. He meets Mary and Martha. And he's leading these different individuals, all different, through this tragedy.

And I've said numerous times that Jesus was taking his people. These were his disciples, his Christians, if I can use that term. And he's leading them by the hand. I use that language on purpose. He's leading them through this crisis, and in that he is revealing himself. And I want you to get this. He's revealing himself two ways. To them and in them. Some of you might need to soak in a little. He is demonstrating his glory. He is revealing himself to them. And he is doing the work in them. They were never the same after this wonderful encounter.

Now, as we transition into our verses this morning, we will see Jesus come to the tomb of Lazarus. Our modern-day language, it would be the grave. And he has been involving his disciples. I use that language purposely. And interacting with the sisters. The sisters were already there. When he came to the tomb, when he came to town, he automatically interacted with the sisters. But he involved the disciples. And now he is at the tomb, and he is about to perform the most powerful, the most glorious of the miracles that John gives us. John does not give us all of the miracles.

As a matter of fact, none of the gospels give us all of the wonderful things that Christ did. But he is coming to the tomb. You'll see the title of the message on the screen, "The Death of Lazarus." The death of Lazarus. Lazarus is raised. Now, if you are knowledgeable of the verses that are before us, you'll see that we're not going to get through this miracle this morning. Because of time, the length of the passages, we just need to divide this into a part one, a part two. So, we have the death of Lazarus. Lazarus is raised, part one. We'll look at verses 34 through 39. Jesus moves toward the tomb.

The different reactions, and then Jesus at the tomb. We'll stop at verse 39. We'll pick back up in verse 40. Go all the way down to verse 44 next Sunday morning. I encourage you to take notes. I want you to take notes. I want you to develop that habit. I want you to develop that discipline so that you can study them. You might find yourself three or four years from now needing to go back to these truths. And you'll have a library in your own home, in your own life that you can go back to. That'll make you a better Christian, a stronger Christian, a more knowledgeable and prepared Christian. And that's why we elevate that standard before you.

So, the death of Lazarus. Lazarus is raised. Let's look at these verses. Verse 34. And Jesus said, "Where have you laid him?" Remember he's come there to Bethany, interacted with the sisters. He's in the tomb. He's dead four days. Where have you laid him? They said to him, "Lord, come and see." So they journeyed to the grave. Verse 35. Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, "Behold, how he loved him." Some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have kept this man from dying?" That obviously tells us that many of the Jews knew of the miracles that Jesus had performed before. Verse 38.

Jesus therefore again began, "Being deeply moved within came to the tomb." Now it was a cave and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha the sister of the deceased said to him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." We'll pause there. We'll pick back up in verse 40 next week, like I've already said. So let's look at our truths. Let's dive into our verses. Let's notice truth number one. Jesus moves towards the tomb. Jesus moves towards the tomb. Verse 34. What does he say? "Where have you laid him?" In other words, where is the grave?

They said, "Lord, come and see." In other words, they escort the Lord and Jesus wept. Now Jesus is coming to the tomb, but notice if you remember, it has taken him quite a while. We have learned that it took Jesus four days to get to this point. Remember that he received word that Lazarus was sick back in verse 3. The scripture says that he delayed two days. Verse 6. It took the messenger one day to get to where Jesus was, and it would have taken Jesus one day to travel as well to Bethany. So this was a four-day wait, a four-day pause, a four-day journey to get to verse 34. And no doubt this would have been an eternity for these people.

This would have been an eternity for Martha, for Mary, and for their friends because they were in the midst of their grief, in their mourning, and in their pain. But finally, Jesus arrives. Now two observations that come out of these verses. First, Jesus asks. We saw that in verse 34. "Where have you laid him?" This is a very simple and outright question, but it speaks to Jesus' humanity. He is simply speaking like a man. Also here, we see their personal involvement. They do not point Jesus to the tomb, but they say, "Come and see." Now all the translations that we read and study together say the same thing.

Now this "they" here in this verse is unknown. We don't know if this is the disciples, the Jews, the sisters. We don't know specifically, but no doubt the disciples were there. He drug them along. They didn't really want to go, but they went. No doubt the disciples were there. No doubt the sisters were there. And at least some of the Jews were there from Jerusalem because verse 31 says that they followed Mary when she got up to go encounter Jesus. So I want you to see that. He asks, and then this group takes Jesus to the tomb. But then verse 35, very short verse, it says that Jesus wept. This is a very short verse and it can be overlooked.

But within this verse, we see the humanity of Jesus in a different way than when he asked, "Where is the tomb?" We see his emotional attachment to the situation. We see his great involvement with all of the people and with this crisis. Now, here I want to emphasize Jesus' emotional involvement. I want to grab a few more verses and bring them all together. Notice verse 33. Go back. We looked at verse 33 last week. He was deeply moved in the spirit. Then notice verse 35. It says that Jesus wept. And then notice verse 38. We'll get there in just a moment. But it says again, being deeply moved within.

Now in my Bible, I highlighted those three verses. And when I look at my Bible, all I see is he was moved in the spirit. He wept and he was deeply moved again. The King James uses the word "grown." What do we have here? He wept. Again, he was deeply moved within. He is deeply groaning. We learned last week that this is an articulated noise. This is almost a grunt. That word is used for a grunt in the Scriptures. This is a deeply felt and a deeply expressed emotion. Verse 35 says that he was quietly weeping. It was a genuine weeping. Verse 38 and verse 33, they used the same verb. And that verb is a deep groan.

And I want to just help you hone in on that. Jesus just does not shed a tear. It wasn't just a few crocodile tears. Remember I mentioned the common cultural practice was to have lots of people weeping, groaning, expressing very loudly grief. That was not what was taking place here. Even in this culture, they would even hire people to mourn at a wedding. That's very pretentious, is it not? Jesus is deeply moved. He expresses it in a very genuine way. So here we have Jesus moving to the tomb and his feelings, his emotions about this situation are coming out. Now I want to ask a couple of questions that are kind of thought provoking.

First of all, what part of Jesus is broken? We do remember, we've learned, we do know that Jesus was God and man. He was the God man. I don't understand it. I declare it. He was 100% God and 100% man, the God man. But what part of Jesus is broken? Verse 33 says that he is broken or moved in spirit. So that leads me to ask a question. Is this the Holy Spirit that is perfectly dwelling within him? No, this is not the case. This is referring to the spirit of the man, Jesus. This is referring to his humanity. This is the spirit of the man, Jesus that is broken. Now with that in mind, go back and listen to what we see in verse 33.

He was deeply moved in spirit. The man Jesus was broken. The second question, what was he broken about? Some of you might say, well, pastor, it's obvious he's broken over the death of Lazarus. Most of you would say that and agree with that. But contrast that reaction with verses 14 through 15. Let me go back and look. Jesus therefore said to them, remember the disciples were not getting it. What does he say? Lazarus is dead. And I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him. What those verses say is this. Jesus knew full well exactly what was taking place.

He knew that his sickness had gone to death. He knew that he died. That is God in the flesh knowing perfectly what's taking place. So he knew that he was dead. He knew that he was going to raise him. This was not an accident. So what am I showing you here? Jesus knew what would take place. So why would he be broken and why would he be emotional solely about Lazarus' death? John MacArthur says that Jesus was broken. And I quote, both by his love for Lazarus and by his grief over the deadly and incessant effects of sin in the fallen world. I like that. Yes, I believe that he was broken over the death of Lazarus. He identified with Martha.

He identified with Mary. He identified with the suffering of Lazarus. They were his friends. But he knew what was going to take place. He knew what he was going to do. So that brokenness could not be totally about this death. I believe he was broken over the results of sin. Remember, Christ knew exactly what mankind was like before the fall. And everywhere he looked, he saw the results of the fall. And this death was a result of the fall. But I think there's a third reason that Jesus is broken. And that is the difficulty of those who are within this group of followers to understand what he is doing. He has been wonderfully patient.

He has been taking them by the hand. But they are lacking in their faith. Even when he tells them outright, they still just don't get it. So I believe that this brokenness is threefold. And we need to see this side of Jesus. He is broken over the death and the grief, their pain. But we also need to see that he was broken over sin. He was broken over this situation, which is the result of the fall of man that has affected everything in the world. Sin caused the whole thing. But he is broken over the lack and they're lacking their inability to see. They just couldn't see it even when he clearly stated it.

These verses are full because they communicate how he moved to the tomb. Now, I think you know me by now that I work real hard to try to bring out the truths of the Word of God. And without violating the context and the true meaning of the scripture to make application to you and to me, to us. And I think it is important for us to see the humanity of Jesus. His brokenness, his emotion, his weeping. Yes, even his groaning, which did not come out of words. It was a deepness within him that he expresses. And I think it's important for us to see this side of Christ.

He's not just God, Lord of all, but he readily identifies with humanity and their pain and the sin that is so prevalent around us. So when really honing in to make application, first I believe that Jesus is broken in like manner for the sickness and the death in your life. Now, I have made application through these verses that I have helped you understand. This situation was a physical sickness, but many of you are dealing with spiritual sicknesses. Many of you are dealing with lost loved ones. Many of you are dealing with difficulties in your home lives. Many of you are dealing with very, very difficult trials.

There are people here who have been victims in their earlier portions of their lives. Many of you, you are in the midst of trials. And listen, these trials have come into your life. This sickness, this death has come into your life, not by a coincidence, not by accident. It's by a sovereign plan of God. He has ordained it. Listen, and Christ is broken for that, your situation, just like he was here. And I don't believe it was a violation of the text to say that. We are related to Christ exactly like they were. They were his brothers, his sisters, his friends.

Jesus is not so far off in the distance that he does not understand what you're going through. No, he is broken. He is broken over what you are dealing with. The second thing in application is, is I believe Jesus is broken for the sin and the death that is all around us. I am not facing what some of you are facing, but I believe Jesus is broken for the death and the sickness and the lostness that is all around us. So Jesus moved towards the tomb. And listen, I trust and we pray and we hope and we work hard that our living Lord Jesus will move towards the tomb that is in your life. And listen, my hope is not in some hope that is in thin air.

My hope and my faith is in Christ and the truths that I learn in this word. We're praying for you and trusting that he will move toward your grave. Second, let's move on. Let's notice truth number two, the different reactions. These different reactions, 36 verse 36 verse 37 and so the Jews were saying, behold now he loved him. Some of them said, could not this man who opened the eyes of him who was blind have kept this man also from dying? So here as before we are seeing the different reactions within this situation. We had the disciples, we had Martha and Mary. We see their different reactions.

Now we're seeing the Jews that are here and their different reactions. Now, remember that there were a great many Jews who had come to mourn with Martha and Mary. These were friends. This tells us that they were a well-known family. Some Bible commentators that I read said that maybe they were a wealthy family. They were not very far from Jerusalem. So they were able to get there quickly so that they could mourn. And we're going to see their different reactions. Now within these reactions are two groups of Jews. First, some Jews seem supportive. Verse 36, behold how he loved him.

In other words, they are recognizing that personal attachment between Jesus and Lazarus. These Jews are looking on the situation and they're looking on it at it on the surface. They see his tears. They hear his groans. Obviously, they are noticing this deep sincere mourning. This is genuine and I believe it is a genuine observation. They see him move towards the tomb and in these great emotions, they assume that this is just out of his love for Lazarus, out of a love for the loss of a friend. So the Jews were saying behold how he loved him.

In other words, in our language, they might would have said, "Boy, Jesus sure loved his friend Lazarus." But the second observation is some Jews seem skeptical. Look at verse 37, "But some of them," See, notice that contrast, but that's their own purpose. "But some of them said, 'Could not this man who opened the eyes of him who was blind have kept this man from dying?'" Now there are different ideas on what is meant here from this crowd right here in verse 37. Some commentators say they were totally sincere. Some commentators that I've looked into think otherwise. Some think they were even mocking Jesus in this situation.

Some think that they were just confused about the situation. Now there is no doubt that the crowds would have known of Jesus' previous miracles. They are telling us that. In other words, we saw what he did yesterday, last week, last month. Why can't he do that or why couldn't he have done that in this situation? So some would have been there to have seen what Jesus had done in the past. Now with a negative sentiment growing more and more in Jerusalem, it would be safe to say that there were at least some within this group that were sarcastic, maybe skeptical, even confused about this situation.

There is no way to know exactly what was in the mind of those here in verse 37. But no doubt there were a lot of things that were going on, a lot of feelings. I happened to come down on the side that I believe they were skeptical. He did a wonderful thing yesterday. Why can't he do that today? So I think it's safe to say that we see different reactions in this situation. He's there at the tomb and he's weeping. There were those who were supportive. There were those who were skeptical, sarcastic. Some within this group might have been confused. Some might have been very critical. There were all types of reactions within this crowd.

And that's been characteristic of all of these crowds that have followed Jesus. Lots of different reactions. Now again an application for us. For you, you are going through a difficult set of circumstances. You've got a sickness in hand. It's gotten worse for some of you. It's turned into death. You've got a very difficult situation that God has ordained. You've come to that place. You say, "Pastor, I'm there. God's ordained it. It's part of His plan. I see that I need to receive it." Yes. But if you really pay attention to the people around you, you will notice different reactions. Some people react very spiritual and some people do not.

And usually there are very few that react spiritually and more that react in the flesh. Some of you, you might be dealing with a lost spouse. And listen, as you deal with people within your family and around you, they will say all kinds of things. But they might not address the situation in light of the Scriptures and what God wants to do in your life. I've known people who dealt with a difficult past. They might have come to Christ later in life. And they were victimized in some way, shape, form, or fashion. And somehow I don't understand it. God has allowed those circumstances to be in their life.

And look, they get all types of advice as to how to deal with it. I know in my life when I've had difficult trial, when I've had difficulty in my own family, difficulty in ministry, there were so many voices around me. And I had to tune out the skeptical voices. I had to tune out the sarcastic voices. I had to tune out the confusing voices around me because they would not assist me to see what Christ was doing. And this can be difficult for you to see. This can be difficult for you to understand what God is doing when those voices can crowd in. Sometimes you just have to tune them out, ignore them, and even run away from them.

So let's move on. Let's notice truth number three. Truth number three, Jesus is at the tomb. Jesus is at the tomb. Verse 38 and 39, "Jesus therefore again, being deeply moved within, came to the tomb." Now it was a cave and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone, and Martha his sister, the sister of the deceased, said to him, 'Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead for four days.'" Now notice the setting. This would have not been a grave that we are accustomed to. Culturally we deal with the dead in a different way. But in that day, in that culture, they commonly used caves. Some were natural caves.

Some were manmade caves. They would have had a level floor within that cave. And within those caves they would have had shelves that have been carved into the walls, because they would have used these caves for multiple peoples. Lots of times it would have been family members. They would have been within this tomb. In any type of tomb, they would have placed a stone over the entrance and they would have sealed that entrance to keep the stench within, to keep out animals, and also to keep away grave robbers. Now this word "cave" in verse 38 is used of a natural cave in other places in the New Testament.

So it would seem that this is a natural cave used as a tomb. This was a common cultural practice, although different from what we are accustomed to. So within this setting, we have a sealed tomb. A sealed tomb, Jesus arrives, and I want us to make three observations here. First of all, Jesus is moved. We've really covered this. Verse 38, again we see this language. Jesus is broken. This seems repetitive, but we need to see the depth of His brokenness, this emotional involvement. If it seems repetitive, John is repetitive. Verse 33, 35, verse 38, all record Jesus' brokenness, His emotionalism, and His expression of this brokenness.

He's moved in His humanity, in His Spirit, on multiple levels. Second, notice Jesus gives a command. Look at the beginning of verse 39. Jesus said, "Remove the stone." All the translations that we read, the English Standard, the King James, I'm always preaching from the New American. They read the same. The original language shows us that this was a direct and bold command. There was no mistaking what Jesus was saying here. No one would have spoken up and said, "What?" Because it was a clear command. But the third observation is Martha's reaction. Martha's reaction.

Now, I almost used the word "protest." You can write down the word "reaction," the word "protest," as well. But look at verse 39 again. "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for He's been dead for four days." Now, here we see her reaction to the command. She was amazed at this command, and we see a protest within this reaction. She's protesting the Lord's command. Two truths that need to be seen here are this. First, the reality and the finality of Lazarus' death. He was four days dead. The odor of decomposition was very obvious.

Mary's expression was normal in light of what she knew of death. You see? MacArthur says, and I quote, "She was horrified at the thought of seeing and smelling her beloved brother's body in a state of decomposition." So I wanted you to see within this protest the reality and the finality of Lazarus' death. That's why she jumped up in protest, and she said, "Lord, four days, this is bad." And then second within this reaction, Martha's failure to see anything that Jesus was doing. She was failing to see that anything He was doing. She had no faith to see that Jesus was at work.

In her mind, there was nothing that Jesus could do with a dead and decomposing body. This was a dead end street in her mind. You know what a dead end street is. Some people use the word cul-de-sac. I remember growing up down the street from our home, we had a dead end. I remember many a day going down that dead end street. With that imagery in your mind, this was a dead end street. And if she followed Christ to the very end of this road, it was bad opening the tomb, being horrified by the stench and the sight of her brother. We see the protest within this reaction. So we see Jesus is at the tomb.

In His brokenness, genuine emotional brokenness, we see His humanity. He is involving Martha and no doubt others who are there. Even more, He is commanding some to remove the stone, and Martha is horrified, mortified. She cannot understand why Jesus would want to do such a thing as to look at Lazarus in this rotten state. This is despicable. This is disgusting. This is horrifying. And it could have even been insulting. But what does this mean for you and for me? These words here, these verses, this situation, this speaks of the impossibilities, the impossibilities of the situations at hand. Notice what Jesus does.

He drags the disciples along. He involves these sisters in a very impossible situation. And this speaks of the impossibility of this situation. And for you, Jesus has dragged you. Some of you, He has drug you. He has drug you right in the middle of a situation of death. For some of you, He has dumped you out in it. Some of you, you feel like you've been dropped off into a very difficult set of situations. It is impossible, and your situation reeks. Your situation is despicable. It is disgusting. It is horrifying. And I go back and use that language. He drug the disciples along. He involved the sisters. And some of you feel that way.

I have known people who have come to Christ. And within moments of coming to faith in Christ, they realize that they are in the trial of their life. I have had people come up to me and express that. And I do not understand why God works that way. But I know that He's a sovereign God, a loving God, a purposeful God. And if He has allowed you to be born again in the most difficult circumstances, that's why I use that word "dumped." You feel dumped off into it. If He did that, He did it on purpose. But I've known people that came to Christ, and they live years without facing difficulty.

But this speaks of the impossibility of the situation that is before you. Now, as I move towards the conclusion, I want to make three points of application that really speak all around what we've been looking at this morning. This death of Lazarus, Jesus coming to the tomb, dragging, no doubt, the disciples, the Jews, the sisters, bringing this thing to a head right at the door of the tomb. I'm going to make application, I think, that really will drive these truths home. Open up your eyes, help you in the situation that you're in, and help equip you for those of you who will face difficulty in the future.

So first, in application, we must allow Christ to bring us, we must allow Christ to bring us face to face with our situation. We must allow God to lead us to embrace it, even when it's disgusting, even when it's despicable, even when it's horrifying, even when it's insulting. That's exactly what He's doing with Martha. He is saying, "We're going to roll away the tomb and look at a dead body. We're going to smell the smell. We're going to look at the sight.

It's going to be disgusting and despicable, horrifying, insulting." And we must allow Christ to bring us to the place where we will face our situation, yes, even embrace it, and I will shock you, yes, even embrace it with joy. I remind you of what we looked at in James. We went verse by verse through James. It's wonderful after James introduces the book. Right away, verse 2, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials." What is James saying? Embrace it with joy. Face it. Face the stench. Face the horrifying set of circumstances. And what do we do? What do we see? What does James say?

"Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let that endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." That's that work in you. And when you're able to face your set of circumstances with joy, that is the first step of God growing you. You might say, "Brother, Chris, I cannot face my situation with joy. It stinks too bad. That's when you must have the glorious, wonderful work of Christ to do in you what you cannot do. You can't do it in your flesh.

That's when Jesus has to come to you as a friend, as a brother, and He has to come take you by the hand and lead you to the tomb and help you. Remember, He was so patient with these faithless people. Second, you must listen to His voice. See, there's a work at hand. You must listen to His voice. How much of Martha had to be purged out of Martha to get to the place where she could hear what He was saying? There was so much that Martha had to divorce herself from. And listen, it is work to get to the place where you can hear His voice in trial because you're overwhelmed by so much emotion. You're overwhelmed and you're engrossed by questions.

Your emotions envelop you, bring you to the place where you want to quit, where you want to give up. You question the love of God, the sovereignty of God, the purpose of God in your life. And when you're enveloped like that, you will never hear His voice. And you need to pray. You need to fast. And you need to get a hold of God to the place where you won't give up. You lock yourself up with God. Turn away from the television and the Internet and worldly pleasures. Deny your flesh and face the tomb and say, "God, I will not turn around till I hear Your voice." You might say, "Pastor, why are you so passionate? I've had to do it so many times.

Facing trial, facing situations that stunk, that were disgusting and despicable and horrifying, and I had to get to the place where I wouldn't trust even myself and say, 'Lord, I am not leaving till You speak.'" And then third, when you do hear, obey. Obey. What should have been Martha's reaction? I don't know if it was the women who rolled away that stone. I would venture to say it was not. If Martha would have faced this situation and heard His voice, when He said, "Roll away the stone," she would have jumped up and said, "Boys, roll it away! I want to see what Christ is going to do!

Roll it away!" You see, if she could have embraced this situation, she would have embraced it in obedience. Because when you embrace and you face what God has brought into your life, He will lead you to a place of obedience. And whatever He does, whatever He says, obey. And in that, He will do such a great work in you, and it will prepare you for greater godliness and greater usefulness in the future. So, we must allow Christ to help us face, come face to face with our situation. We must hear His voice, and we must obey. Obey, because He knows what's best. So what are we looking at this morning? The death of Lazarus.

Lazarus is raised, and this was a part one, because verse 40 just gets even better. I look forward to how God is going to continue to speak as He is speaking even this morning. Let's pray.