The Book of John: Message Sixty
One
By Dr. Michael
Guido, D.D.
D.L. Moody, at
the beginning of his ministry, was asked to conduct a
funeral. As he thought about it, he said, "What
a good opportunity. I'll preach a Christian
sermon." So he turned to the Bible to find one
that the Lord Jesus preached at a funeral, but he
found none. Instead of bringing a lecture to the
living, the Lord Jesus brought life to the dead. This
is seen in the 11th chapter of John. In it there's
proof that Jesus isn't only man, but also God.
Let's look at
the Lord. Lazarus died. When the Lord Jesus arrived,
He found that he had been in the grave four days.
When Martha heard that Jesus was on His way to her
home, she ran out to meet Him. "Lord," she
cried, "if Thou hadst been here, my brother had
not died." But she still had hope in Him, for
she added, "But I know, that even now,
whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it
Thee." Jesus said to her, "Thy brother
shall rise again." But that brought no immediate
comfort. She replied, "I know that he shall rise
again in the resurrection at the last day." But
He answered, "I am the resurrection and the
life." Martha needed more than a prophetic hope,
she needed a personal hope, a hope centered in the
person of the Lord Jesus. She needed Him. If you have
the Almighty, you have all.
Let's look at
the life. The Lord Jesus said in effect, "I am
life. Just as I can't be kept a prisoner by the
grave, neither can any one who believes in Me."
Your spirit never dies. You go on living after you
die physically, either in happiness or in horror.
That depends on whether or not you believe on the
Lord Jesus. At death, the body of the believer is put
into the grave. But his spirit is taken immediately
to be with the Lord in heaven. One of these days,
"the Lord Himself shall descend from
heaven...and the dead in Christ shall rise." And
when the Lord descends He'll bring with Him the
spirits of the saved. They'll enter the transformed
bodies, and they'll be caught up. "But,"
you ask, "what of the believers who are
alive?" They'll not die. For the Bible says,
"We which are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord
in the air, and so shall we ever be with the
Lord." A minister was asked, "What would
you do if this was the last day of your life?"
"I'd go to my study and finish a sermon that I'm
preparing," he answered. "Then I'd visit a
sick member in the hospital. And I'd call on a lost
man about becoming a Christian. After that I'd go
home and work in my garden. For, you see, I'm not
looking for death. I'm looking for Jesus."
Let's look at
the love. Martha ran to Mary and said, "The
Master is here, and is asking for you." Hurrying
to Jesus, she fell at His feet, saying, "Lord,
if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not
died." When Jesus saw her tears, He was sad at
heart and deeply distressed. For He took into His own
heart all the sorrow and suffering caused by sin, and
made Himself responsible for it. Then He asked,
"Where have you laid him?" "Come and
see," they answered. Then Jesus wept. How He
loves His own. Jesus is afflicted with you in all
your afflictions. Thank God, the day is coming when
"He shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying, neither shall there be any more pain."
Let's look at
the labor. "Take away the stone!" said the
Lord Jesus. He won't do for you what you can do for
yourself. You can remove the stone, but you can't
raise the dead. Is there some stone you must remove
before He can raise one who is dead in sins? Is there
a boulder of Biblelessness, a rock of rebellion? If
you'll remove the stone, He'll raise the soul.
Let's look at
Lazarus. After praying, the Lord Jesus cried with a
loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" And he
who had been dead came forth. Robert Ingersoll, in
speaking on this, said that the whole affair was
rigged. He told his audience that the sisters were to
bury Lazarus, and send for Jesus, and that Lazarus
was to feign death till the Lord should call him. To
drive home his belief, he asked, "Can any man
tell me why Jesus said, 'Lazarus, come forth'?"
"Yes, sir," answered a listener. "If
my Lord had not said, 'Lazarus' He would have had the
whole graveyard come out to Him." The Lord Jesus
is the same today. He calls you by your name just
now. Hear His voice, respond to His call and you'll
live!
copyright 2000 Guido Evangelistic
Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version.
Click here to go to the next message in this Sower
Scripture Study on the book of John.
This series of messages on the
books of the Bible were originally written for
broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program, "The
Sower." They are collected and reprinted here
for your enjoyment and spiritual edification.
