It's got to be one of the sweetest, most truthful of all the hymns that we can sing together. The lamb and his fair army. That's us. That's us. We will dwell in Emmanuel's land. Those seven deaths lie between. Oh, we feel the weight of that, don't we? We feel that weight of death. all of its tendrils, all of its difficulties, how it's afflicted our culture in so many ways, seen and unseen, spoken and unspoken, implied and overt, death is all around, and yet I just want to share a few thoughts of encouragement before we begin our study of John 11 this morning and the raising of Lazarus. Talk about death being defeated. We have some good stuff before us this morning and the next few weeks as we would look at this chapter. But it's been quite a week for us with regard to the election results and I am pleasantly surprised and grateful for God's mercy. and granting victory to candidates of a party whose overall policies, I think, are more in keeping with the word of God, a little more closely aligned, maybe quite a bit more aligned. You and I should be under no illusion that we deserve what I'm describing as a refreshing postponement of the godless progressive agenda. We should be under no illusion that somehow we merited this but we should be under the strong conviction that God has mercifully extended his grace to a culture, and let's just be honest, that in large measure, both sides of the aisle have pretty much rejected him. So we've received some mercy. And then for such kindnesses, I think it would be incumbent upon us in the days and weeks and months to come to give our heartfelt thanks, pray for the protection of this new administration, that people would flourish in this culture. These are turbulent days, and we need to be diligent and steady in our Christian witness, and we need to focus upon the main things, the serious things, and those main things are not primarily about controlling our borders and how much money is in our bank account, how expensive it is to live. Those are not the main things. The main things as followers of Christ I would suggest to you should be these. They include the preservation of human life from its conception in the womb until its elderly aged days of advanced years. We should be grateful as we pilgrim together in this life for the design and the intricacy, the beauty of the created order. It is a beautiful planet. It is an amazing world that we live in. We should thank God for these things. And we should marvel at the wide variety of the creatures that fill it. They are a breathtaking display of diversity and beauty. And just interspersed all through that display, we should marvel at the uniqueness of maleness and femaleness in those two situations alone. May we support, may God give us grace to embrace a biblical worldview of the institution of marriage. One man, one woman, covenanting until death do they part, covenant faithfulness, exclusivity, the one to the other. That is marriage. It is God's design. We do not have a right to fool around with it. There is this indisputable truth of how it is to be. So may we give thanks for such blessings. A few more thoughts as the new year approaches. May we and our families take seriously the process of raising the next generation, these young lives that have been entrusted to us. May all of us too as we raise these lives and enjoy this gift, this blessing of children, may we regularly involve ourselves in the body life of the church, Christian community, the forever family. May our souls be edified as we serve and are being served one by the other. We can't get enough of these things, dear ones. They're critically important to our thriving and to the health and blessing and the vitality of our culture. So may God be pleased to help us not to live selfishly, helping us to see the preciousness of every individual human soul and the incredible need each one has to receive forgiveness for their sin. All this involves a delight in the gospel. Promotion and embrace of a gospel that gives us peace, reconciles us to a holy God. May we be found taking advantage of the opportunities that are all around us. They're everywhere, they're endless, they're abundant. And all these things, let's be mindful of the exclusiveness of the claims of our Lord Jesus. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. A polarized culture hates such clear truth, but we are the church. We are called to proclaim it. We're called to be citizens of a fallen culture. We were given over to the thoughts and activities of the gospel and to bring blessing to this culture, I hope in increasing ways as the new year comes. So may he allow us to serve him faithfully. Amen. Amen. So the duty before us, John chapter 11 invites you to turn there. I invite you to stand as well for the reading of God's word. I'll be reading the entire chapter. Now, a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sister sent him saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. When Jesus heard it, he said, This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you and are you going there again? Jesus answered, 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 walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. After saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. The disciple said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died. And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him. So Thomas called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. Now, when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God who is coming into the world. 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 went to him. Now, Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 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, she fell at his feet. saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. 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 kept this man from dying? Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there'll be an odor, for he's been dead four days. Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and 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. When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go. I think we'll stop there. This is the reading of God's word. You may be seated. This morning we'll be looking at the first 16 verses. We're gonna be looking at this text for probably, I would say, two or three different messages. You recall the last time when we were concluding Chapter 10, we examined some content in that chapter that I entitled, Profound Considerations. And that content included discussion of, first, the wickedness of the human heart, secondly, the authority of the scripture, and thirdly, the miracles of our Lord. And we discussed the importance of thinking about such things, to not take them for granted, to allow such consideration to propel us forth in our sanctification and the steadiness of the faith, our worldview. We discussed as well the potential for encouragement as we engage in reflections of such things. Mindful and new, and again, the incredible blessedness of the gospel that God has given to us. And now this morning, we come to a story that is recorded for us only in John's gospel. This account is significant, deeply so. It shows us the amazing power of our Lord, who is in his very person, self-described as the resurrection and the life. And it's an historical account. really happened, this account of a man receiving new life from the hand of Jesus, a man whose body had laid lifeless and cold in a tomb for four days. It's quite a story. One would think that this latest miracle would quickly serve as the proof positive of the messiahship of Jesus, and that throngs of people would quickly gather around him, transforming the whole of that culture from hostility and skepticism to faith and belief. But as you know, such was not the case, and we'll see this clearly again in the weeks to come. It was not the case. So let's bite off a small chunk of this text together this morning. Next week, Jeff will be preaching. I will be away from you, officiating a wedding in Southern California with some family of some former prisoners. Delighted for that opportunity. The week following will be Thanksgiving, and I do plan to do a Thanksgiving message. And we'll be back, Lord willing, to this text first Sunday in December. That's a preview of coming things. But this morning, 16 verses, 16 verses, which I think contain two themes. And note, writers, here it is. The first theme, I think, is, and we'd all readily agree, death is the great enemy of humanity. Death, the great enemy of humanity. Secondly, God always works good from our trials. Gospel basics. So let's begin with death being the great enemy of humanity. If we are objective in our thinking, the story that we have just read is simply one of literally billions of potential stories that could be written about situations that address the reality of the universality of death. You know and I know this to be true. Men are born. Women are born, children are born, boys and girls, just like Lazarus of Bethany, an ordinary guy. Then they take ill or come to some sort of an injury or have an accident, and their lives are ended. And this is how it works. Isaiah illustrates that reality well for us, familiar, encouraging, life-centering, I think, text in chapter 40. A voice says, cry, and I said, what shall I cry? And here's the universality of death. All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, and the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. What is the word of our God had to say to us about our coming deaths? He says, if you trust in my Savior, you will live. Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. If you know me, you know life and life eternal. Death is only temporary. In our account this morning, we see a good and godly man, a man loved by the Lord, his name Lazarus. He takes to his sickbed and he succumbs to his sickness. He dies. Now that death won't be discussed in great detail this morning in our chunk, but when we succumb, we'll talk more of it. I'm wondering by way of application, by way of personal recall and remembrance, how many times have you and I witnessed such a scenario as a loved one, a dear one, a friend, an acquaintance, taking ill, going to their sickbed, and dying. We would all raise our hands. We would raise both hands. We know. We know these things. Five, ten times probably most of us. Do we ask the question of ourselves, how much longer until it happens to me? Are we reflective in that way? That is a good way to reflect, not in a maudlin, terrified fashion, especially if you're a blood-bought follower of Christ, but from the perspective of usefulness in the time remaining. We're talking in broad, general terms right now about death, that it's coming. There'll be no escaping. You will die. Only God knows the timing. But that day of our departure marches steadily forward. We're going to take a journey from this life and enter into the next. And no amount of sticking one's head in the sand or ignoring the reality of such truth will change this. It's coming and we need to think about it. Just seems to be to Not think about that coming day of departure as the epitome of foolishness. Even Lazarus, the brother of famous biblical characters like Mary and Martha, described in our account as one who knew Christ and was beloved of Christ. The text says, he whom you love. The love of Jesus on this man. He took ill and passed away, the text tells us. This is significant. There are heretics in our culture. There have been heretics in every culture that say certain things that are ridiculous. I was not appointed for the Christians at the church to suffer and go through hardship And gosh, if you do, there's something lacking in your faith. You haven't been faithful enough. So God's getting you now. That is just the most bankrupt of theologies. We said it last week, we'll say it this morning. The only thing you contribute to your salvation is your sin. Jesus paid its penalty, all of it. All of it. We are embraced by grace through faith. It's Christ's work. It's what he does. It's not ours. But even though he saved his own, death is a certain reality. It approaches, it's the enemy of non-believers in a deeper way, for sure. And in some sense, it's the enemy of believers too. And you might check me on this and say, you know, Mike, what do you mean? You're always saying, theologically speaking, that the best thing could happen to us if the lightning bolt came down and promoted us to glory. And I still believe that. I haven't changed my mind about that, but it's still quite a sobering thing to consider, even for the believer. It can be frightening to us. For some of us, death is a long, difficult process. It has pain and adversity associated with it. It communicates a profound permanency, separates us, we who love Christ, from those that we love. to say so long for a while. We believe the promises for sure, but it's still really hard. I'm still grieving the loss of my little brother. I am missing him. There is a hole in my life. I can't call him on my big walks and talk about the fun things that we shared in common, the common grace blessings that God gave us that still had our hearts knit together even though he was decidedly not in the faith. I still love him. And I miss him, and I trust God with his timing, what he has done, but it's still hard. Death is the enemy of the Christian too. How many times I have prayed, oh Lord, give him enough time that maybe one of our gospel conversations, he would give me the encouragement and the certainty that his life was in your capable hands. And I never got that. So many conversations, so many, I will not. It was consistent to the end. That's hard. That's hard. And death can be frightening to us. It's coming. And because it's coming, I think it should force us to cultivate a a greater, richer, deeper trust in the wisdom of God and his timing with regard to the human life and how long it's here, believer and non. We humans are weak. Christians are weak. And we have a sense of fear of the unknown. We have these little foretastes of the life to come, and they can be very encouraging and very exciting. But other times, the still watches of the night were like, okay, Lord, Not right away. Not ready tonight. Right now. Our hearts wrestle. while they agree with the truths that Paul gives with regard to the certainty of gospel promises. I'm thinking of texts like 1 Timothy 2.12. I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. I could probably whip you guys up with some hearty amens with regard to those truths, but we still have to cross the Jordan personally once. Lazarus had to do it twice. more in this to come. God knows we're weak. God knows that we have need of encouragement. He made us. He knows all these things, all these thoughts you're entertaining about timeline with dear ones and atrophy in their living situations and conditions and what to do and when to do it or how to respond when they're promoted from us with no outward sign of saving grace like me. He knows these things, and he lays before us this morning a text that is meant to bring us the deepest of encouragement with regard to our enemy death. We too, as did Lazarus, shall escape its clutches. It won't be like him. resurrected from the tomb, only to have to face the process again. But for us, it'll be one and done and glory. And you can take it to the bank. So in the meantime, though, we need to keep a mindset. God is working good from these situations with which we have to face with regard to death's influences. That's our second point. God always works good from our trials. So once more, the text this morning is clear. Our Lord Jesus truly loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus. He did, but his love did not spare them from the temporal realities of illness and death, and that'll be true for all of us. We've read this story in the past. We've read it this morning. We're familiar with the conclusion. Lazarus is about to die, the one whom Jesus loved at this point in our narrative. And perhaps, as they sent the message, the sisters, to our Lord, perhaps they had hoped that he would come to the help of his friend and heal him of the illness and therefore save his life. Because his miraculous powers were widely known, and it's not an unreasonable assumption for us to assume that they want a healing touch. from their friend Jesus, preserve the life of their brother. There is no specific request of that in the text, but they do know that Jesus loved him. But the quick response they likely hoped for was not to be, as you look at verse six and seven. So when he, Jesus, heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. No immediate departure. No quick response to the summons. He stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. Now the disciples weren't nearly as concerned for the health and well-being of Lazarus as they were for the safety and integrity of our Lord. They make it clear they're concerned about his plan about a return to Judea. Reading verse eight, the disciple said to him, Rabbi, which just simply means teacher, Rabbi, the Jews are just seeking now to stone you. And are you going there again? He hasn't gone very long. The end of chapter 10, they're getting ready to kill him, remember? Once more, picking up stones. Disciples remember this like, hey, we love you, Lord. Don't put yourself in harm's way. Bad plan, let's stick around. Two additional days have passed. We know from the whole reading of the account, Lazarus has already died. Disciples are not aware of that. They probably assume that Lazarus is well on the path of recovery, because remember what Jesus had told them in verse four, look at it with me, where he says, this illness does not lead to death. They figure from a remote location, he said the word like the healing of the official's child, and everything's well. Can't blame them for thinking like that. That would be a reasonable conclusion. They knew his power, but their immediate concern is the safety of their Lord. And they know the authorities in Judea would be happy to be given another opportunity to stone him, perhaps this time finding success. And that was a hard thing for that close camaraderie that they had enjoyed. They didn't want to lose him. Let's stick around here. There's a lot they're unaware of as the story unfolds. You and I have read it, and we know what's gonna happen. They're not thinking clearly. They're not thinking accurately, the sense of the weightiness of why Jesus has come to this world in the first place. Why did he come to this world in the first place? Our Lord came to die. He came to die for your sin and mine, for the sin of all of his people. He was that once and for all perfect sacrifice that alone could secure our salvation, that alone would turn the wrath of a holy, offended, indignant God against our sin, turn that wrath away. A God of justice demands penalty for sin, and that justice was exacted upon Jesus' broken, bleeding body at Calvary. And he was satisfied with that, but as yet, this event has not happened. And they wanna preserve this man, they wanna keep him safe. And we can't blame them. This reminds me of the dynamics in play in another gospel, Matthew 16, reading to you a couple of verses, 21 and 22. From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. So eventually he just started, you know, open it up a little bit to them and say, Hey, you know, you remember why I'm here. Can't protect me forever. And then our dear friend, Peter, Mr. Knucklehead. So much, I feel like I'm like him at times. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Whoops, saying, far be it from you, Lord. So never happened to you. But he, Jesus, turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You're a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on things of man. You want the fellowship to be unbroken. I've come to die. Get out of the way. It's hard enough to consider the cross. Remember the bloody sweat in Gethsemane? Don't make it more difficult for me. See, Jesus had a real humanity, and it was really hard for him to consider what lay before him. Peter was not encouraging him quite the opposite. And the disciples, in our immediate context, and even over there in Matthew 16, it's clear they're also unaware of the divine timeline, something which in our text, the Lord communicates to them. This is rich, I really like this. Verses nine and 10, let me read it, and then I'm gonna give you a quote by William Hendrickson, which explains it excellently. Jesus answered, 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 walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. And we go, huh? What's going on? Here's what's going on. Henderson writes, the time allotted to me, he's paraphrasing the works of Jesus, is that Jesus is saying, the time allotted to me to accomplish my earthly ministry is definitively fixed. just like daylight is generally speaking 12 hours. Henderson continues, it cannot be lengthened by any precautionary measure which you, my disciples, would like to take, nor can it be shortened by any plot which my enemies would like to execute. What's Hendrick is saying, disciples don't need to protect our Lord. The divine plan marches forward. Henderson continues of this plan. It has been definitely fixed in the eternal decree. If we walk in the light of this plan, which was known to Jesus, willingly submitting to it, we shall have nothing to worry about. We cannot suffer real injury. And what he means by that is lasting eternal injury. There may be drama in here now, certainly not there. This is the divine plan. Continuing, if we do not, we shall fail. For Jesus himself, rebellion against the plan of his heavenly father, which was also his own plan, was of course unthinkable. The disciples, it was different. They needed his instruction. Do you get it? There's a window of ministry. It is the plan of God, this window. All these events are providentially supervised. I'm working the plan. Jesus says, I've subordinated my will to the will of my father. I've come to die. I know it'll happen at just a precise moment. We're going back to Jerusalem. Come what may. Deal with it. And then our Lord, cuts to the chase with his disciples with regard to the status, the immediate status of Lazarus. He tells him in verse 11. This is great. After saying these things, relationship to the divine decree and the limited time and the exactitude of that timing, after saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. And they don't get it yet. You'll see the disciples said to him, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he'll recover. And then we're told parenthetically by John that Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep. We would probably think that. It's not unreasonable. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died. And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him." So we go, hmm. Divine timeline, marches forward. Lazarus died just when God wanted him to die. An event that was perceived by some of these disciples as premature, potentially preventable. It's already happened. And we should say, we should ask in our own minds, why so? Why did the Lord allow Lazarus to die? Now we're gonna just scratch the surface this morning and there's more to come. But it's right here. It's so that many witnesses could come to faith. The text tells us to believe. Believe what? So that you may believe what? Why did you come to believe the gospel? What was the dynamic? What were the circumstances? What was the situation Lord employed at that time where you were enabled by divine grace and mercy to believe the claims of the gospel? Who was it? What was so attractive about the gospel? So weighty to you that you would consider all else loss and follow Jesus. It's pretty obvious, isn't it? We didn't want to go to hell. We wanted to be forgiven of our sins. Eternal life sounds really, really good, doesn't it? I mean, I was afraid to die, I remember. I'll just personally, I was really afraid to die. I didn't want to go to hell. I didn't want to die and go there. Nobody had to twist my arm. It was a real place. God gave me grace to believe that truth. It just, there was a heaven and a hell and I wanted to go to heaven. And I mean, that's just the human part of it. God was calling me effectually. He was allowing me to do something. I didn't have the intrinsic power to do all by my lonesome, But he was using means and part of the means is there's two places to go. One's wonderful and one isn't. I was afraid. Yeah, fear was a motivator. Absolutely. And it was for most of you. Absolutely. What's happened in our text? What weightiness are we considering here? Jesus allowed a young man who he was close to, a man named Lazarus, to get sick and to die so that the surrounding culture might see the evidence of his soon to come resurrection. Again, we're not gonna get there today, but believe. And then all the following cultures, all the other remnants in different tribes and tongues, that's us, dear ones, could have this huge, evidential, apologetic, for the truthfulness of Jesus' claim. Lazarus was taken out of that grave and lived again. You know, I'm going to personalize this again from my own experience. Probably the largest experience of my life and going through an event that I thought was too soon premature. It was a death of my first wife, Marsha. I mean, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. She was passionate, energetic. She was a disciplined follower of Christ Jesus. And she looked for any and every opportunity to make him known. She was a faithful partner to me. She was committed. She was a loving mother of my children. She was the best. She was an engaged, active church member in many ways. She was a gifting, caring ClinNurse III who loved her work. She was in the very prime of her usefulness, and she was cut down by a rapidly advancing breast cancer. I mean, just so fast, boom! Taken home quickly, despite the prayers of many dear Christian saints. Gone. But, she died in faith. And like Lazarus, Jesus had come to her, 20 years before in her life and death were a witness to the grace of Christ. Unlike Lazarus, she remained in glory, which is far better. And you to whom Jesus has also come will one day meet her. You will. And I will see her again. But all of you have such stories. Handfuls of stories like that. And some of you might be tempted to say perhaps, you know, is this truth true for me too? For those I've lost? And so all I can do is point you to the word and what it teaches and what is it telling us? Yes, consistently. It's something you can sink your teeth into, find hope and encouragement with, a plumb line for your life. There's a safe landing, despite how difficult your circumstances may be now. We will be raised by the power of Christ, raised to life eternal, life forever. So, Happy ending is coming. We'll read about it in weeks ahead. Lazarus will be raised. Indeed, he will come out of that tomb, talk of it. We don't know how many more years his life was extended. This we do know. Once more, he'd have to face that unpleasant process of crossing the Jordan. I've just kind of thought in my own mind, was Lazarus blessed by that extension of his earthly life, or was he perhaps given an even greater burden than the great majority of humanity? Truth is this, he had to die twice. Something to think about. So in closing, I ask you, how does this story affect you? And to meddle, How should it affect you? What's it doing, but what should it be doing? I would suspect the following way, so closing some applications and takeaways. The reality of sickness and death is woven into the very fabric of this fallen world. All who possess the breath of life will suffer these things, and God's love for his people will not somehow give them an immunity from such experiences. We shall die, and we'll go somewhere, heaven or hell. There's no brand X. No special pass for the anointed enlightened to escape these things. All in this life will receive their measure of blessings and trials. It is not your best life now, nor can it ever be. We'll all receive the time allotted for them. We'll get every second. No one will leave too early, no one will leave too late, despite what we who are left behind feel or think about it. Do you believe that? Is he sovereign or is he sovereign? He is sovereign. I am the Lord. I wound and I heal. I kill and I make alive. This is a divine prerogative. And then embracing that prerogative, there is peace. He is the one who has numbered our days. He is the one who does all things well. He is the one who does all things right. And he will answer our pleas for help in each and every circumstances, from the immediate process of maybe losing someone dear to its aftermath. He will meet you and help you and bless you. We have to trust Him with these things. And really, trusting, submitting, obeying, that is the best recipe for the life of faith. It is the only recipe that will promote human thriving, regardless of what happens. Some of you are sick. Some of you are grieving. Some of you will be sicker and grieve more or grieve less. I don't know. I'm not a prophet. It's gonna happen to all of us. We trust, we submit, and we obey, and we continue living the life of faith, because that's what it is. Our Lord tells us in Isaiah 55, just, to encourage us and humble us and present himself as very large and ourselves as very small, he gives words like this. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, way higher heavens than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. That's Isaiah 55, eight and nine. write it down and muse on it, ponder it. The delay of Jesus in coming to the side of his friend despite many prayers and entreaties was intended to show a watching culture and those would follow his incredible power over life and death and give us a hope and a belief. Amen? One postscript before we close. One last thought. Verse 16 gives us something to think upon. So Thomas called the twin, Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. I think that's the tone. He's still devoted. He'll obey. Are we like him? Still devoted. but rather dismayed and despondent, because in the final analysis, we don't completely trust the situation, but we ought to. Thomas is gonna have a rude awakening in chapters to come, a glorious, blessed awakening. He'll put his hands on his side and feel the nail prints in his palm, and he will truly believe. We don't have that opportunity, but we have the historical record. Don't be dismayed. Don't be doubting. Continue to be devoted. Trust, submit, and obey. Live a life of faith. Let's pray. Father, even though Thomas sounds a bit like Eeyore to us, We know that you were patient with him, and you gave him a clearer picture of who you are and what you have done a bit later. Father, would you encourage us, knowing the wholeness of the stories, to be completely devoted to you and not at all depressed when hard things happen? You've told us the end of the story. You've granted us grace to believe it. Help us to have a posture of rejoicing, to exclaim the truth of the hymn writer, whatever my God ordains is right. For indeed, Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and the life that we live here, good as it is, is fallen and corrupt. but the life which is to come is none of that and everlasting and beautiful. Oh, give us a vision of what's yet to come and encourage our hearts, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Close our time this morning. If you'd take up your blue trinity hymnal one more time and turn to number 335. 335, we will sing Abide With Me. 335. Turn there if you're able, please stand. The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide. ♪ The helpless who abide with me ♪ ♪ Swift to its close ♪ ♪ And doubt my subtle pain ♪ ♪ Earth's joys rode him ♪ ♪ Its glories pass away ♪ Change and decay in all around I see. O Thou who changest not, abide with me. I need Thy presence every passing day. Grace can foil the tempter's power. Who like Thyself my guide and stake can be? Through cloud and sunshine, who abide with me? I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless. Hills have no way down, there's no better nest. Where is death's sting? I triumph still, thou abide with me. I cross before my closing eyes. Shine through the gloom and void between the skies. As morning breaks, then earth's vain shadows sleep. In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. Our benediction today comes out of Hebrews chapter 13. Now may the God of peace, who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you what is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen. Before you are dismissed, just a quick one of our announcements, the only announcement today. This has to do with the Operation Christmas Child, the shoe boxes. And I'm going to turn the floor over to Wendy because she can say it much more eloquently than I can. So we have some boxes that we put together. Handmade. Handmade items that are for donation. You can take and donate as you will, so that we can gather some funds to send the shoeboxes. It does cost about $9 to $10 to ship them. Each, yes. So in the back, if you go through where we went, there's a room off to the side that has some things, and they are due for those who are putting together boxes. 17. Thank you, Andy. You are dismissed. so so Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.