I want to welcome all of you. I hope you're enjoying our study on suffering. Suffering and adversity is a very common lot of all of us and it touches all of our lives and so we're going to continue that today with Mary and Martha and what happened with their brother Lazarus and all of that. Okay, you got your Bibles? Open to John chapter 9. John chapter 9. We're going to begin there this morning in John chapter 9. And let's have a word of prayer. Father. Open our hearts, open our eyes, help us to learn some things today and help it to affect our behavior and our lifestyle. We pray again that you'll help the Holy Spirit to have a real way in our lives. Help me as I bring the message and give me clearness of thought and expression and give everyone an open heart. In Christ's name we pray, amen. In John chapter 9, there's a very interesting passage about a man who was dead or blind from birth. And Jesus passed by. He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus answered, neither hath the man sin, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be manifest in him. So the subject we've been studying for several weeks has been the subject of suffering and adversity. Do you know anybody who kind of got mad at God because of adversity? Some of that got mad at God because maybe God took their child and they just felt like God was unfair to them. They prayed and nothing happened. Or maybe took their mate and left them here and they're upset with God because of that. That happens all the time. People like that are kind of sitting on the sidelines. At one time they were faithful in church, busy in church, but nowadays it's a very different story. Now in John chapter 9, it's a very interesting story about a man who'd been born blind. Now the Jewish people were taught that Parents could sin and it would affect their children. So if the children were born deaf or blind or something, it was because the parents had sinned. Or they also believe that a baby in the womb could sin. Now, I'd never heard of that, but that was taught to the people of Jesus' day. So that's why the disciples asked the question, who sinned, this man or his parents? And they asked the big question, why? Why? entertain those thoughts. Why did my mother have cancer and die at 40? Why did a little infant that we had, why was it stillborn? Why did my house burn down? Why did I lose my job? And the questions are endless and we ask questions like that. Now we believe God is loving God is caring and God cares for all of us, but we also know that sometimes he doesn't answer our prayer. And so the disciples had that question and asked the Lord Jesus about it. And then in John chapter 11, we're going to go over there now. There's another event that took place and it took place in the life of a man by the name of Lazarus, John chapter 11. I think John 11 illustrates John chapter nine. And it's the story of Lazarus in John chapter 11. We all heard that story many, many times. We maybe taught it to our, read it to our kids. I'm reminded of a couple whose wife, a man whose wife was dying of cancer. She was probably in her forties and we'd say that's pretty young. And the doctors finally came to the man and said, I'm sorry, we've done all we can do. You've heard those words. We've done all we can. You just take her home. And the church had prayed. They'd had special meetings. They'd had special times. They'd anoint the lady with oil and ask God to raise her up. But nothing happened. The kids would pray for their mom. The dad would just really break him up. And the kids were praying, God, keep our mommy here. And then the mom died. And people had a question in their mind. The question was, was God listening or Are the prayer promises real? Does it really mean when God says ask and ye shall receive? What about things like that? And maybe you've had to explain it to somebody, especially if you have an unsaved mate or an unsaved coworker or unsaved relatives, and they ask about why did all this happen? Now we read through John 11. And I want to put yourself in the story. Now we know the end of the story. And sometimes that's good. Most of the time it is. But sometimes it's kind of bad because we know what's going to happen. But remember, the disciples did not know what was going to happen. So in John chapter 11, let's begin in verse number one. Now a certain man was sick. named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. And it was that Mary which anointed the feet of Jesus with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Jesus would often go to the home of Marian, Martha and Lazarus. That seemed to be his resting place. He would stop by there, be refreshed, probably had a nice Jewish meal there. And so Lazarus gets sick. Jesus is in another town. He's far away. So Lazarus becomes sick and they do the thing that we ought to do. They call on the Lord. So they sent for Jesus. Jesus, the man you love is sick. Now it's interesting. He whom thou lovest. They knew there were times when Jesus healed people that were strangers. They would bring strangers in and Jesus would heal them. People that were sick with palsies, people that were sick with all kinds of diseases and the Lord would heal them. And they knew all they need is getting to Jesus and he'll be okay. So they were thinking if Jesus comes and he'll say a word, touch him, and Lazarus will be well. So they thought he would do that since he did it with strangers. And it's hard to understand that Lazarus died, because in the next verse it says, after this, Lazarus died. Jesus doesn't make any move to come down. Do you find that interesting? Look, if you will, in verse number six of John chapter 11. And when he heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Now, that's kind of interesting. Here was Jesus gets the message. Somebody comes and tell him Lazarus is sick, but Jesus does not drop everything. He didn't say, well, I'll be there just right away. Tell him just to hang on and I'll be right there. He stayed two more days. and was doing other things, probably teaching, probably healing people there, and the disciples were very interested. Why? Why didn't Jesus go? Now remember, we don't know the outcome of this story. We don't know what's going to happen later on, and Jesus is going to go to the tomb of Lazarus, call him out, and a man that had been dead for four days, and rigor mortis had no doubt set in, this man gets his life back. And we know that, but the disciples did not know that. We hear of somebody gets cancer. Here's what happens in our class. We announce, Pastor Tom, so good to keep you updated on people. And we have some of you here today that were sick and folks called, maybe sent a card. But you hear somebody's sick, you hear somebody has cancer. And so you go to your supply of get well cards. You ladies have a supply of get well cards or drawer that you keep all your get well cards in. And so you look in your Bible, you have a list of verses about praying to the Lord, how God can touch people. And so you write them a little note and you say, we're praying for you, just want you to know I'm thinking about you. And so you send them a card, put a verse of scripture and yet, They get well. They get worse. They don't get better, they get worse. And the disease continues to ravage their body. And so that puzzles us. Why didn't God heal that person? Why didn't the Lord bring about healing to that person? Now, back to Bethany. Jesus hears about it, and the Lord Jesus doesn't immediately go. That's a very strange thing. And so Mary and Martha are there in Bethany. Jesus is in another town. And they're wondering, where's Jesus? Why hasn't he come? And I can just hear those two sisters saying, our brother is getting weaker. He's fading. Why doesn't Jesus come and do something about it? And so they take turns. One sits with him. in the night, one is up during the day, and they switch, and then one of them will say up during the night, and maybe one of them sits during the day. And they have all thought, Jesus ought to be getting here. And maybe at nighttime, somebody's staying with Lazarus, and his breathing becomes weaker and weaker and weaker. And then all of a sudden, they realize he's not breathing anymore. He's gone. and the girls look at each other, why didn't Jesus come? Do you know their feeling? Many of you have been in a situation just like that with a mate or with a child or with a good friend. So Mary and Martha, both of them ask Jesus when they see Jesus, why didn't you come? Both of them ask the very same question, why didn't you come? Now, Then comes an interesting thing. Look in chapter 11, if you will, at verses 14 and 15. Here's what Jesus said. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Verse 15, I am glad. Lazarus is dead and I am glad. How could he possibly say that? You ever go to a funeral home, see a family, say, well, your hubby died, but I'm sure glad he's dead. They'd be kind of strange. They'd be really upset. Or, you know, your child died, but I want you to know I'm glad. Well, Jesus said, I'm glad, but also the next part of that verse, I'm glad for your sake, because he was going to teach the disciples very profound truth here. And if we miss that, we miss the whole story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Jesus had a greater goal than raising a man from the dead. Jesus had a greater goal than healing a sick person. He wasn't immediately going to go. So Jesus loved Mary and Martha, that was what they said. The man whom thou lovest is sick. If he's so concerned, and if he loves us so much, why doesn't he come? In verse 35, there's that wonderful verse all of us have heard many times, Jesus wept. Do you remember in high school or maybe a Bible club or something when you were in that age way, way back, they'd ask for you, what's your favorite Bible verse? And you wanted to be the first one because you used John 11 35. John 11 35, Jesus wept. And we know that's the shortest version of the Bible. And we, we just kind of casually mentioned that, but there's a great truth in there. But the one thing is Jesus is sensitive. to the needs of people. And Mary and Martha were there at the tomb. Now, they didn't know Lazarus was going to be raised yet. They don't know what's going to happen. And they're weeping. And the Bible says Jesus wept. So he's concerned. When you have a problem, God is concerned. When you have a need, when you have a difficulty, when you face adversity, You need to remember God is concerned. And we often feel like God is way up there in heaven somewhere. But he knows he really does care about you. And he's going to be in the process of doing something. And they do not understand it. When it's all over, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are going to say, boy, it was worth it. We didn't understand what was going on, but it was worth it to us. There's a lady that I knew whose husband died. He was about his early 40s, and she was left with some small children. They were all small, three or four boys and a girl. And when she was left with all of those, people wondered, why did God take her husband? Here he was in the prime of his life, good time to be making money, good time to be a dad to the boys. Why did God take them? Now, this lady could have had one of two choices she could become better or she could become bitter and that's what happens when something like that comes so the lady could become better or bitter but this lady turned to God and she said you know I'm going to go to the Lord. I'm going to take this and be a good, godly mom. She was up early every morning, got up early so she could have her time with the Lord, spend time with God. And then she taught her children about really trusting in God. She said, kids, here's an opportunity for us to really demonstrate what God can do. And God must have known we could handle it or he wouldn't have let this happen. in our lives. So she learned how to pray. She learned how to really pray and God would meet her needs. And oftentimes the church would come along, other people would come along and meet the needs of this dear lady. And there were some men in the church who said, we're going to take the boys and we're going to be a dad to those boys. And they did. They took them fishing, took them to ball games. They really were a good dad to those boys. That woman's children all became wonderful, godly young people. And it was because she knew that God could do it. And instead of becoming a bitter person, she became a better person. And that was the story of her life. So Jesus had a goal. It was to let Lazarus die because he had a greater purpose in mind. He's going to bring glory to God. In fact, I want you to notice verse 40. when he mentions to Mary and Martha what's going on. And Jesus said unto her, said I not unto thee if thou should believe, thou should see the glory of God. The glory of God. What do we mean by glorifying something? To glorify something is to bring honor to something. It means to magnify something, to make it stand out. Maybe you have a painting in your house that is really, really special, and so you'll put it on the wall, and then you'll put a floodlight on it, and you'll highlight that. People walk in, first thing they see is a beautiful painting, but they see the floodlight. that is on the painting, or when a performer comes out on the stage and they darken all the house lights and they put the floodlight on that person, they're honoring that person, they're glorifying that individual. Well, God's going to glorify himself. God's going to make it so that he stands out. And these people, can you imagine how these folks felt After seeing all of this take place, can you imagine what they went home and told their friends? You wouldn't believe this. Jesus went to the tomb and he called for Lazarus to come. He'd been dead four days. And here comes this mummy, all wrapped up, walking out of the tomb. And the people standing around just can't believe it. Four days, the Jewish people said after four days, rigor mortis has set in. So the body becomes stiff and all the things have drained out. And they're just amazed that here's a man dead for four days, comes walking out again. Years ago, I heard Donald Gray Barnhouse. Now, I don't know if you ever had an opportunity. When I was in high school, Donald Gray Barnhouse was on the radio. Kind of like today, David Jeremiah is on and Charles Stanley and some of these other Bible teachers where Donald Gray Barnhouse was on the radio. And I remember every Sunday, going to my little radio and tuning in Donald Gray Barnhouse, and he was a great, great Bible teacher. He had a week of meetings in a church, and in this church, in the week of meetings, the pastor and his wife were expecting their first child, and they were all so very excited. Well, the last night of the meeting, the pastor didn't show up, and Dr. Barnhouse assumed probably that The wife was giving birth, and he was right. So about halfway through the service, the pastor slipped in, sat down on the back row, and finished the meeting. Then after the meeting was over, the pastor came to see Donald Gray Barnhouse and said, I need to see you in my study right away. So they went back to the pastor's study, and the man was really upset. He said, our little baby was born, but the little baby has Down's syndrome. Downs syndrome. And past Donald Gray Barnhouse, he made this statement. He said, you know, this is of the Lord. It wasn't I'm sorry or too bad. He said, this is of the Lord. And he turned the pastor to Exodus 4.11. and lead the people of Israel. Moses said, I can't do it. I'm tongue-tied. I can't speak well. And so here's what God said. Who hath made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf? Is it not I, the Lord? Who makes a man deaf? God does it. Who makes a man dumb? He cannot speak. God says, I do it. And Dr. Barnhouse said, You know the promise of God in Romans 8.28? Oh, yes. And we know that all things work together for good. And he asked the pastor, is a child who's Downs, is that Romans 8.28? Is that included in that? A little baby that's born with the Down syndrome, is that included in all things work together for good? So the pastor and Donald Gray Barnhouse went to the hospital. The wife had been told that the baby had Down's. And so when Donald Gray Barnhouse and the pastor walked in, the lady was in tears. She was just really, really torn up. And so the pastor said, honey, I want to show you a verse. And he turned her to Exodus 4.11. Who made man's mouth? Who makes man dumb? And then he read Romans 8.28. All things work together for good. And so here's what they did. They got on their knees, the wife was still in the bed, Barnhouse and the pastor got on their knees, and they thanked God that the child had Down's. And they thanked the Lord for this wonderful, wonderful, special gift from God. And they always called it a special gift from God, that God had given them a little child. and the little child had downs. The pastor called his mother because she was waiting to find out about the birth of the baby, and he said to the mother, God has blessed our family, God has blessed our child, with Down's syndrome. It's a blessing of God, and let me tell you why. And he read to his mother Exodus 411 and Romans 828. He said, we don't know what God's going to do right now. We don't know the nature of the blessing. We do know that it's a blessing from God and not punishment. We know the child having downs is a blessing from the Lord. Well, the switchboard operator was listening in. It's one of those days when we had a switchboard operator plug things in, was the switchboard operator was listening in the call and heard what the pastor said. Well, words spread throughout the hospital. Do you know this pastor and his wife? had a child with Down's, and it wasn't punishment. They said it was a special blessing from God. The next Sunday, when the pastor got up to speak in his church, he used Exodus 411, and he used Romans 8 28. And there were several nurses in the service that night, because they had heard that the pastor had said this was a special blessing from God. And when the pastor gave the invitation, several nurses came forward to accept Christ as their savior. And they became Christians. Now, would God allow the child to be born with downs for the sake of the nurses coming to Christ? I believe so. But God used that story over and over and over again. And just as God allowed this man in John 11 to be born blind so that later Jesus would come by and with Lazarus, God would allow Lazarus to die. God allowed that so that he would get greater glory in years to come. Now let me show you one more thing here in John 11. Here's the verse I mentioned, John 11 35. Do you have it marked in your Bible? It's the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11 35. Jesus wept. Why did Jesus weep? I've read some sermons on this one topic. We think Jesus was sympathetic with Mary and Martha. When he saw them weeping, they wept. Maybe you're that way. You go to a funeral, and somebody's weeping, and you just can't help but be moved by that as well. And that stirs our heart. But I'll tell you, Jesus knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. And why did he weep? Well, here's another thing. Jesus wept. And I saw this this week and it was a tremendous blessing to my heart. Jesus wept because he was going to call Lazarus back from heaven. Lazarus had gotten to be in heaven four days and he'd probably taken the tour. And he'd been all around heaven for four days and all of the glories of heaven, walking on golden streets and seeing the gates of Pearl, seeing the Lord Jesus, meeting people who died before him, all of those good things that happened for four days. Well, they don't have days in heaven. There's no night there. But anyway, he'd been up there for four days and then he has to leave. He's got to come from golden streets to dusty streets. He's got to come from all the glories of heaven back to the old earth. And also Lazarus is going to die again. He's going to have to go through the whole process a second time. So Jesus was weeping, not for Mary and Martha. Jesus was weeping for Lazarus because it was calling him back. You know, when we see somebody in a casket, Oftentimes here at the church we'll see somebody who's passed away and one of the comments you hear, they wouldn't want to come back. They would not want to come back here. The mess our world is in, the mess our country's in, they wouldn't want to come back. And yet Lazarus had to come back. After four days, the Lord came and tapped him on the shoulder and said, Lazarus, you've got to go back. Oh, really? I've got to go back? And yep, you've got to go back. And you're going to have to die again. And Lazarus had to go through the whole scenario again. So that's why Jesus wept, because he was calling Lazarus from heaven back to earth. Now you've got on your list some lessons from the story of Lazarus. You see those? I've got 10 things on the lessons from the story of Lazarus, and I'll just go through them very quickly. Number one, being a Christian does not mean will never go through any storms. The Bible is full of stories, and we'll be looking at several of them, where people in God's word went through great adversity. Job did, Moses did, Abraham did, David did. Many of the Bible characters went through times of great distress. So if you're a Christian, storms are coming. Number two, when your situation looks hard to handle, take it to the Lord in prayer. Mary and Martha did the right thing. As soon as Lazarus was sick, they sent for Jesus. That's what you ought to do. When sickness comes, problems come, take it to the Lord in prayer. Number three, whatever God permits to enter our lives, he has a purpose in it. If God sends death, if God sends sickness, if God sends problems, God has a reason for doing that. And our problem, our difficulty, our challenge is to find out God, Why is this happening? Number four, another lesson, his timing is not our timing. Have you learned that? His timing is not ours. We want things done right away, but that may not be God's timing. Number five, never give up on God, no matter how grim the circumstances may be. Never, ever, ever give up on God. He'll always come through in his time. Number six, delay does not mean denial. When God says, wait a while, it doesn't mean no. It means it's not the time for it yet. Number seven, even if your situation seems to be hopeless, God can interject a life into it. What is more hopeless than a dead man who's been dead for four days? Boy, talk about a hopeless situation, but it's not hopeless to God. And whatever problem you're into, whatever situation you're facing, God can work and do miracles. Number eight, nothing is too hard for God, nothing. Just circle that word, nothing. Nothing is too hard for God. It's often too hard for us, but not too hard for God. Number nine, sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. So many people think, well, I'll become a Christian, be a bed of roses. Not necessarily. We'll have our tough times too. Number 10, it's never too late for God. It's not over until he says it's over. We have the idea if it's over, it's over, not with God. God came to the rescue four days after this. God had a great miracle for Lazarus. So those are the lessons for us today from John chapter 11. Hope it's been a blessing and we'll pray and be on our way. Lord, I'm glad today for the promise of your word, and this great story of Lazarus, how difficult it must have been and yet how wonderful to see the end. And God, the end of the story is a great lesson for all of us. So we pray you'd help us to trust in God, keep our eyes upon the Lord, never ever give up on the Lord, wait on His lesson and His purpose and His timing. Thank you again for the day. Bless our service that follows, be with our pastor, Lord, once again, we're glad for the freedom we have in this land to assemble and to hear the word of God. And thank you for our good pastor. And bless the day. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you very much.