Sermon in Cokato 23.09.2012

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, let us quieten this morning in thanksgiving and prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, holy and righteous God, we come before you in your precious word, dear Father, this morning, wishing to thank you for the many blessings that you have bestowed upon us. We wish to thank you, dear Father, for our homes, our families, our dear brothers and sisters in living faith, and all that we have in this daily life. For we know, dear Father, that all things come from your loving hand. Dear Father, above all things, we wish to humbly thank you this morning for this greatest gift that sin-fallen man can own, this gift of living faith in the heart by and through your dear Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whom you saw it good, dear Father, to send into this world to save us. Dear Father, we ask at this time, preserve us in this precious kingdom. Give unto us knowledge and wisdom and strength to cling to this gospel message which you have given unto us by and through your Son. Dear Father, continue to call those on the outside of this grace kingdom into this precious fold where they too can have peace of conscience by and through believing upon the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Dear Father, remember those who are battling difficulties in this life. Give unto them strength to continue clinging to your gospel so that they too would one day attain the glory of heaven. We ask for your presence this morning, dear Father. Give words of utterance unto your servants wherever your word is preached, dear Father, unto your honor and glory for the edification and upbuilding of your precious kingdom. All of these we ask in your Son's name, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Before reading our text, dear brother and sister, I wish to bring you the greetings of love and God's peace from the children of God there in Outlook and Dunblane area where I had the opportunity to go there and serve at Mother's Camp. And then also we gathered there on Sunday evening in Outlook, both congregations there for services as well. Many, many there came to me to ask me to bring those greetings of love and God's peace to you here. Had a good trip. Those trips are such that one goes with much fear and trembling, wondering how things will go, battling that fleshly portion. But yet you go with that prayer of faith that God will bless those weekends. And our prayers were answered there that God was truly with us, and we had a good weekend. But even coming here before you, dear brother and sister, I come with fears of my own and doubts that can I hear this precious gospel before we begin?

For our text this morning, we will read God's holy and precious word from the Gospel according to Saint John chapter eleven. And we will read verses twenty-one through forty-five. A fairly lengthy portion, but it is the gospel, one of the gospel texts set aside for this Sunday. The theme for this Sunday also is Jesus gives life. So we can be also pondering this as we read this text before us. The words are in Jesus' name as follows.

Then said Martha unto Jesus, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." Jesus saith unto her, "Thy brother shall rise again." Martha said unto him, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said unto her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" She said unto him, "Yea, Lord. I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."

And when she had so said, she went her way and called Mary her sister, secretly saying, "The Master is come and calleth for thee." As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto Him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him. The Jews then, which were with her in the house and comforted her, when they saw Mary that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her saying, "She goeth unto the grave to weep there." Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell down at His feet saying unto Him, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died."

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled and said, "Where have ye laid him?" They said unto Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, "Behold how He loved him." And some of them said, "Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?" Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, "Take ye away the stone." Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, "Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days." Jesus saith unto her, "Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?"

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid, and Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me." And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, "Loose him, and let him go." Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen these things which Jesus did, believed on him. Amen.

This is a very familiar portion unto all of us, isn't it, dear brother and sister? This time when Jesus came to that place where they had laid Lazarus after he had died. Jesus, we could say, was very close to Mary and Martha and Lazarus. It wasn't the first time that he had been to their home. He had oft times stopped there to visit with them and speak about the way and the journey. We see before this read text that Jesus already knew before they had come to him to tell him of Lazarus' death. We have been taught and believe in God's kingdom, in how scripture tells us that God knows all and sees all. And there are places in scripture where it is revealed to us of this. And even in this instance, Jesus knew already that Lazarus was sick and had died.

It says here, right in the beginning portion of chapter eleven, that, "Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick," speaking of Lazarus. And it says here, when Jesus heard that, he said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." So what did Jesus mean here, dear brother and sister? Lazarus here had died for also that one purpose, to glorify God in heaven. God knew that Jesus would go there before them and awaken Lazarus out of a sleep to show unto those people the glory of God and the power of God. And we certainly can witness this, don't we?

Dear brother and sister, this also happens today, doesn't it? In a little bit different form, though, where one can awake out of a sleep in the world and receive that grace, that forgiveness of their sins, and it gives them new life. They're born again. And oh, what a precious matter this is. When one that is walking in the darkness of unbelief can again receive that call and believe that their sins are forgiven, that Jesus died for them, and they believe it, and they have peace on their conscience. What a precious matter this is, dear brother and sister.

This portion of God's Word, it speaks of Martha, first of all, going to Jesus. And when we look at these, first of all, Martha, and then we witness Mary also going to Jesus. Two sisters that had gone to Jesus before Jesus had gotten to Lazarus. What did they have in common, dear brother and sister? Their faith was the same. They both knew and believed that Jesus had that power. That if Jesus had been there when Lazarus was sick, he could have saved Lazarus from dying. Is not this how we believe too? The faith is the same.

Jesus had this conversation then with Martha and brought her to that place of resurrection, the last day. And Martha understood, but was comforted by Jesus. We have witnessed this here throughout time, even in this congregation where those dear precious ones have been called home to heaven. And yes, we sorrow over this, don't we? Our flesh suffers because we want that person back because they are so close to us. But yet on the other hand, it's not a sorrow that doesn't have so much comfort because we understand and believe that the victory has been gained. And the spirit within us doesn't want that person back, does it? Because they no longer have to suffer the trials of life, the persecution of life, and the temptations that are before us. They have gained the victory.

And Martha even was reminded here and understood this, that Lazarus would rise again on that last day. 'Cause Jesus told her that, "Thy brother shall rise again." And what was Martha's answer? She said, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection, the last day." Dear brother and sister, this is also a reminder unto us. There's so much in this portion of scripture. But it brings us to that time where... And it causes in us to consider that last day. And it reminds us also to be watchful in faith. Because don't we want to be ready to depart from this life at a moment's notice? The enemy of souls wants us to think and ponder that we have many years of life ahead of us. But I ask, do we? Who knows? Our Heavenly Father knows how many days we will be here on this earth. But we don't know. And this is why it is important that we are watchful in faith. That these matters of faith are the most important matters in our lives. Because really, dear brother and sister, when we think about this, what else matters? This life is so temporal. Even if we were to live a hundred years, it is such a short time when we consider eternity.

But we have witnessed how God calls when He calls. Our days are numbered before we are even born, the Bible teaches us. God knew our names before we were even born, dear brother and sister. So when we consider these matters, that what really is important in this life, it is this that we are found believing on that day when God calls us home. Believing our sins forgiven. It is Jesus that gives us life. This life that we witness and the Holy Spirit reveals unto us of this hope of eternal life in heaven. And how is that found? By and through the blood that Jesus shed on our behalf.

But when we think about this also, dear brother and sister, it's important that we hear what God has to say unto us, and it's important that we not only hear, but we believe. And then by believing this, we want to follow Jesus, don't we? Jesus spoke of this even in that latter portion of chapter ten in the Gospel of John, in the tenth chapter. He speaks here, he says, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Very comforting word, isn't it? When our desire is to believe that gospel message, dear brother and sister, no one can pluck us out of Jesus' hand.

The enemy of souls is powerful, but he has no power when you compare it with God's power. He was crushed by our Lord and Savior Jesus. And why? So that those who feel themselves to be so weak, so powerless, so much in need of help to get to heaven. This is why Jesus crushed the head of the serpent. So that we could come unto Him and believe that gospel message and be heaven-acceptable. There are those that are in the outside of God's kingdom that endeavor to climb that ladder to heaven by doing those self-righteous good works, that they're trying to gain their righteousness on their own, trying to gain heaven on their own. We remember what the Psalm writer wrote about our own works, that there is none that doeth good. No, not one. Our good that we do is only by and through the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. No other way, dear brother and sister. I think it's in Isaiah, it says that our own righteousness is as filthy rags before God. We are totally dependent upon our Lord and Savior Jesus to inherit eternal life in heaven. That is the only way we can get there.

And in this portion of God's Word that we read today, Jesus reveals that unto them. And He told Mary that, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." And then He asks, "Believest thou this?" Isn't this how it is, dear brother and sister, that just as Jesus said here, that whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. That spirit within us assures us of this, that it assures us that I am heaven-acceptable when we believe our sins forgiven. And oh, how good it feels. Dear brother and sister, it pays to believe. Believing upon that merit work that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did on our behalf and for the sins of the whole world.

We see this in the world. It's so prevalent that they say that they love Jesus. They know Jesus. They love Him. But what did Jesus say? That we must take up the cross and follow Him. Yes, they love Jesus, but they go and live their lives however they wanna live. It's not according to Scripture. That is the difference between us and them, that we are pardoned sinners, and that desire in us to do that which is right before God. And how is that? By and through the blood of Christ. That love of Christ that Jesus had for us constrains us and has this inward desire in us to do that which is right. This is how it is. It'd be a pretty easy journey, wouldn't it, dear brother and sister, to just go out and do whatever we want and say, "Yeah, I love Jesus." The Bible teaches us totally the opposite, that there will be persecution. It is a battle. How much of a battle is it for those in the world? It isn't a battle for them because they don't have the knowledge that you and I have, that Holy Spirit that teaches and leads and guides and comforts, and that only comes and enters by and through believing that our sins are forgiven.

But even in this portion of Scripture, we witness the power of God. And why was it such that Jesus went to Lazarus's grave and there called him back to life? To show the people of that time that He was the Son of God. He was the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that came to save the sinner. And there were those there at that time, when they witnessed this, that they believed upon Jesus. It is just what Jesus said here before He got to that grave, "That the Son of God might be glorified thereby." This is why God allowed this to happen. Because there were those there that were stumbling in the darkness of unbelief, that were God's chosen. Dear brother and sister, those miracles are still happening today, where one has repented from their sin and they receive that life that Jesus can only give. It says here that, "Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen these things which Jesus did, believed on him. But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them of what things Jesus had done." This portion was before they came and arrested Jesus, right before. And those that witnessed this, then they went to those Pharisees and told them of what Jesus had just done.

But both Martha and Mary asked the same question to Jesus. Because they knew and believed in their hearts that Jesus had the power to raise Lazarus from the dead. Because Martha said unto Jesus that, "I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." And when she had so said, she went her way and called Mary, her sister, secretly saying, "The Master is come and calleth for thee." Mary was the one that anointed Jesus' feet. But she was there in the house sorrowing over her brother's death. And it also tells us that the Jews were there comforting Mary in that house. Is not this how it is in God's kingdom, where we receive so much comfort when we battle these difficulties of life? We are surrounded by precious escorts in God's kingdom who come to help when there is help needed. The Bible speaks about even this, that we want to do good unto people, but especially unto those that are of the household of faith, especially unto our dear brothers and sisters in living faith. 'Cause this is how God works by and through each one of you, dear brother and sister, because you own the Spirit of God.

But it's interesting here as we go further into this text how Jesus loved Lazarus very much, just as He loves you and I, dear brother and sister. But there speaks of two times in the Bible that Jesus wept. And this also reminds us that Jesus was flesh and blood just as you and I, wasn't He? But yet without sin. That's the difference. Jesus was close to Lazarus. But the Bible also teaches us and reminds us of how we want to conduct ourselves in this life and how we want to support one another in God's kingdom. In Romans here in the twelfth chapter, verse fifteen, it says, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep." We want to share with one another the good times and also the sorrowful times because it is with our dear brothers and sisters in living faith that we can find comfort and share those joys as well. We want to help one another. And why is this? We want to help one another get to heaven.

Dear brother and sister, we are on a good road, a road that it is Jesus that gives us strength by and through His Gospel. Put sins away as they beset. There is power in the Gospel, just as the Bible tells us. Jesus here told Lazarus to come forth, and Lazarus did. But we also know that Lazarus gained the victory there in heaven. He believed upon the Lord and Savior Jesus. He had taken up that cross and followed Jesus. This is what we also want to do, dear brother and sister. We want to take up that cross, and that is battling against the threefold enemy. The world, Satan, and our own sin-corrupt flesh. This is what we battle against. But when we endeavor to put sins away, then we are given strength and power from God to battle against this threefold enemy. It gives us new strength, and we make those new promises to God that, "God, give me strength to battle against the threefold enemy." It is so easy to fall into sin when we don't put sin away, isn't it? This is how it has been for me. That Satan wants to preach to me that, "You don't need to speak about that matter. It's just a small matter."

Dear brother and sister, when you hear that sermon from the enemy, do the opposite. Go and speak of that matter. Because oh, how good it feels to hear the gospel. And then it gives us new strength. Very important that we don't give up on this battle of faith, but rather battle because that battle is so worthwhile. Because when we are believing correctly, that vision of heaven is so clear, and it gives us that desire that that is one place I wanna get to. And dear brother and sister, when that is your desire, God will give you strength and power to get there by and through the blood of Christ. It is Jesus that gives life. Uplift your hearts, dear brother and sister, you dear youth, you dear children, and believe this precious gospel message. Uplift your hearts and believe all of your sins and all of your doubts, your latest fears forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atonement blood. There is power in the gospel. This gospel will get us to heaven. It is the only way that can get us to heaven. So believe sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood. And there, believing this way, we will be able to lay down that travel staff of faith and be there one day united with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and those former saints that have gone before us. Oh, what a victory and what a day that will be for us. But it's important that we remain watchful in faith so that we are ready when that call comes. Because dear brother and sister, we don't know when that call will come for us. But what matters on that day is that we are found believing, believing our own sins forgiven by and through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It pays to believe, dear brother and sister. In Jesus' name and always blessed name. Amen.

Let us quieten our hearts in closing benediction. The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.