But as is said, familiarity can breed contempt. So let us hear it afresh with the Spirit's blessing. John 11 and verse 1. Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord 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. 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. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. When he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judea again. His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he had seen the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. These things said he, and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may wake him, awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Albeit Jesus spake of his death, but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest and sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go, that we may die with him. Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem about fifteen furlongs off. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary sat still in the house. 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 to thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith 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 saith 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 undone. 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? Then said unto 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 had been dead four days. But Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst 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 gravecloths, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. And many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. Amen. God bless the reading of his word. And especially verse 36, then said the Jews behold how he loved him. Amen. On our text, we find men marveling at something and marveling at something before the great miracle of the text occurs. Before Lazarus is raised, they marvel at something else before that. Something that seems quite remarkable to them. in some ways perhaps more remarkable than Lazarus being raised from the dead. Behold how he loved him. They see the love of the Savior for a man who is dead. And they are taken by it. They say, behold thee, look at how he loved him, that he would weep, that he would groan when the man had passed away. Here is the master. Here is the Messiah. And yet the Messiah cries. And we who know who this man is, the son of God, God in the flesh, we're even more taken by that thought. Look at how he loves his people. that when he is incarnated, he even weeps before the grave of one who has passed into the next life. And it is true that the love of Christ for his people is a matter to behold, to take note of, because it is astonishing if we would really think about it. And you see that the power of God in this text is expressed only because God loves his people. Why is the power expressed? Because two things, God will be glorified first and foremost, but second, God truly loves his people. And those things are not contrary to each other, but work sweetly together. And so for the Jews that watched Jesus so closely in this text, Christ's love was a thing of wonder. Behold, That's what we want to behold ourselves. We're seeing how Christ loved Lazarus, teaches us to see how Christ loves us. And if these Jews are more taken by that than we are, something's wrong. Something's wrong. If we can't be in humble astonishment that Christ loves us who believe in this way, the Jews were, taken by it, but it never be said that the true believer is not taken by it themselves. So children, you should behold the love of Christ for his people in this text, how he loves those who are unlovely, how he sovereignly loves them. And though he knows the end from the beginning, he even knows that he will raise Lazarus from the dead. His compassion is such that as Lazarus dies, is there dead stinking? he still cries and he still groans to show you his compassionate heart. This is truly a love that passeth knowledge as the scripture says. And so tonight we'll just get a short glimpse, a small glimpse of it in this text for our meditation, but it ought to warm the heart and cause us to look into the Bible and find every place where the Lord shows his love for us and say, behold how he loves. Because truly the love of Christ is too much for one sermon, but there's so much of it here that it seems good to spend our evening meditating here. So we'll consider Christ's love from this text in three heads. And we'll begin with beholding his compassion. Beholding his compassion. So verse 36, as we've said, has a very small word, even smaller in the Greek language, behold. And that word has not only the connotation of looking at something, but more importantly, in that looking, to know something. That's why the word behold is used. You don't just look at it, right? You don't just take a glance, but there's something there for your meditation. There's something there for you to know in the looking itself. And so tonight from that word, we are to know something. And what is it? His love. Behold how he loved me. Now that comes after what you might know is the shortest verse in the whole Bible. Verse 35, Jesus wept, right? The effect of that in verse 35 on the Jews is in seeing the Savior cry and weep and lament, they knew his love. They saw that he loved this man. That the teacher of Israel, the true teacher of Israel here, not only instructs and imparts knowledge, but actually cares about those that he instructs. And he cares about those that he will, in a time to come, lay down his life for. And they're seeing that here in this text. It's the tears on our Savior's cheeks that cause the Jews to marvel. How much the Savior of the world loved this man. And these tears are an expression of Christ's love, his compassion, really, for the, in this case, dead sinner. Hebrews 4.15 says, For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. So here is Jesus Christ touched with a feeling of the infirmities of Lazarus, that greatest infirmity of all, death. It affects the Savior and his human nature. And that which God cannot do in the divine nature is being done in the human nature as Jesus cries. He took our nature yet without sin. He knows the infirmities of our natures. He knows its weakness. He knows that death itself will come to us all. Why is that, children? It is due to sin. Due to sin. A meditation on the nature of sin, when a loved one dies, ought to cause us to grieve even more than just the loss of this one, but what sin has done in this world. And surely the Savior's heart is moved in that way, isn't it? That this, those I love must die. They must suffer because sin has come into the world. This is all part and parcel of it. And so the high priest who must lay down his life for sin and also intercedes for sinners is himself touched with the feeling of our infirmities. That's remarkable when you think of his intercessory work, isn't it? But he has a feeling of our weakness. And he himself had to experience it on the cross. What Lazarus did in death or experienced in death, so would Christ three days in the tomb. So Christ not only tells you in Hebrews 4 that he has touched with the feeling of your infirmities. Here he demonstrates it, doesn't he? Such that you ought never doubt him. You ought never doubt him. He shows you with his own tears that the weakness of your faith might cling to them. And to see his tear-streaked face by faith. And so, believer, what he wants you to do is take those theological truths in Hebrews 4, then take a text like this in verse 36, to behold his compassion in his tears, and then take up Hebrews 13, verse 8, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. and to see that truly he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities and say, Oh my soul, Christ is just as compassionate today as he was at the tomb of Lazarus. Well, let's summarize the narrative. how we get here in order to better understand our verse. Remember at the very beginning as we read it, Christ had received a message from Lazarus's sisters. He was sick. The third verse so poignant, right? His sisters sent for him saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Now here's another, here's another behold, right? Lord, look upon this. They ask the Savior to behold. Now, in our prayers, you can also ask the Lord to behold the situation that troubles you. Yes, he sees. We know that. But such is the movement of faith in the heart to say, Lord, see as I see, see what troubles me. Lord, would you look upon it and be merciful? In any case, though, you can observe something very, very important here. The sisters knew something. What is it that they knew, children? That Jesus loved Lazarus. That Jesus loved Lazarus. It's a wonderful truth of the faith, brethren, that you can be assured that Christ loves you. If you have saving faith, you are assured of what? That you are loved of God. Because as we heard recently, 1 John 4, right, says that we love Him because He first loved us. We can know that He loves us. There are many evidences to search out in your soul to make your calling and election sure as in 2 Peter 1 10. Now today we cannot spend much time on that, but you can read chapter 18 of your confession of faith on assurance. The Bible says you can have an infallible assurance of God's love. for you, believer. And it is your duty to have that assurance, to know that you are loved of God, though it is not of the essence of faith, as that chapter points out helpfully. And if you think the sisters are presumptuous, maybe you say, well, pastor, they were just presumptuous. Well, that's not true. The Holy ghost confirms that love in verse five. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So he loved these three dear saints. He loved them. They were dear to him. And what you notice here, though, is that though the Lord loved them, he allowed Lazarus to die. He allows him to die. He doesn't answer their prayer that he would come swiftly and heal him, though they had great faith that he could. though this would be painful for Lazarus, for Mary, and Martha, by having them experience this pain, you see in this text he had a greater purpose. In fact, the greater blessing could only come from the pain of Lazarus's death. He makes that plain here. And so the Lord Having you experience sorrow, grief, loss, death, is never at cross purpose with his love. He says here he loves them and he allows Lazarus to die. The prayer goes unanswered at that moment. And what was his purpose in letting Lazarus die? 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. He was going to manifest his power. And for what purpose? In verse 11. So that when Lazarus dies, he says, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awaken him out of sleep. And of course, in verse 13, this is interpreted as death. The Holy Ghost, Jesus says, Jesus spake of his death. Now, before we go any further, it is helpful in the New Testament to recognize that the believer's death is called a sleeping. sleeping. Because it is as though our bodies, and our catechism, children, uses this language, is as though our bodies are resting in a bed, still united to Christ, as though our body is sleeping peacefully, though our soul is with Christ above. So it's not that the soul is sleeping, but rather that the body is at peace, united to Christ in the grave, waiting there for the general resurrection as a person is asleep waiting to be arisen. And that's why the New Testament uses the word sleep to denote the rest of the saints in the grave. But that said, Without Lazarus's death, there would be no raising him from the dead. And Christ is seeking to manifest his power so that God be glorified. Another sign that he is the Messiah, that he has the power to raise even your own dead body from the grave, believer. That you would have a sign of that, that you would believe on him because he does have this power. But a man must die. in order for Him to show you that. And that's why in this text it says that He did this so that they may believe. Right? So that salvation might come to many. One man must die and not be healed of his sickness. Now, there's something else here. about the solidarity Christ has with his people that is so beautiful. In verse 11, he says, after he had saith unto them, our friend Lazarus sleepeth. In this text, he calls him our friend to his disciples. He doesn't say your friend. He says our friend. There's one little word that makes quite a difference there, right? Jesus doesn't just say, oh, disciples, Mary, Martha, this is your friend, Lazarus. He says, our friend. He says, I'm a friend of Lazarus as well with you all. We are together. You know, you see this here is Jesus, friend of sinners, but he's also a friend of the whole of his people. And it's staggering that Christ has this kind of solidarity with us, isn't it? that he would say such things, that he counts us together as friends together. That of course has applications. We have solidarity with one another. But again, sometimes in your Bible reading, slow down and just savor these little words that make so much of a difference in your reading to ponder this truth. What does it mean that Jesus says that we are his friends and we are together friends? It's remarkable. Well, after Lazarus died, Jesus resolved to go and raise him from the dead. Now, his disciples were alarmed at this, because that would be an undertaking in their journey fraught with danger. Verse 8, his disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again. Now, why did the Jews want to stone him? Well, back in John chapter 10, they wanted to stone him for blasphemy because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. So we note with a little bit of irony that the Jews help us understand how Christ raised Lazarus from the dead. He is going to show that he truly is God in the flesh. It's not blasphemy if I'm God. If I'm actually God, it's not blasphemy. If I were not God, then it would be blasphemy. And so here he comes to show that he is God, because who else can raise a man from the dead? No one else could do it. He is God in the flesh. Before us here then, and this is an important truth as you think on the compassion of the Lord, is the one Colossians 2.9 says, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Here is the one weeping before the grave in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. So he is God. What does 1 John say of God? God is love. And here we have the love of God expressed through humanity and shown in terms of compassion. So in the person and work of Jesus Christ, we can not only say God is love, but we can also say, behold how he loves. He shows it through the son of God in ways that we as men and women can understand and grasp. Right through the medium of his human nature, he is showing us how much God loves his people. So when you see the God-man at work showing love, you see the pity of God, and you see the love of God manifest in a way that we as mere men can truly know and apprehend. Through expressions of grief that the divine nature can never, ever express, because he is ever-blessed God. Through sufferings divinity can never experience. Through death, because it is impossible for the divine to die. So the unity of Christ's person, his two natures united in one person in the singular person of Christ shows us God's heart in a way impossible for the divine nature to express. But it shows you God's heart. That's what it's showing because it is the person of Christ. The person of Christ is the person of the son of God who is a divine person. And so he is showing you, through his humanity, God's love and care for you in a way that is tangible. When one hears God say, I am love and I have loved you, as he says to those in Malachi's day, you may not really get it until you see him crucified on a cross. Now, we should get it. That's our infirmity. But for our weakness of faith, you see it through the expression of Christ's humanity. More on that a bit later. Well, you can also consider the town that Jesus entered. It's called Bethany. Now, its name means house of the afflicted, house of the poor. What a setting it is chosen by God to show us the work of Jesus Christ, right? Christ entered Bethany, the house of the afflicted for his people who are afflicted and poor. And it reminds you that the eternal son of God who is rich, perfectly blessed forever. He came into the world for our sake, into the house of the afflicted. And can we not say that this world is Bethany, the house of the afflicted world under sins effects, For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9. And what do you say to that? But behold how he loves. He who is rich becomes poor for our sake. He comes into Bethany, right? He is born into a place likened to Bethany, the house of the poor. He doesn't come into Caesar Augustus's palace. He doesn't come into Herod's place. He comes into the house of the afflicted. He comes for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness that he would fill them to have compassion on those afflicted by their sin and misery. Now, if you look at his going to Jerusalem, right, you're glad that Jesus did not make a detour around Bethany, but he goes right into it because he has his people there. Because he has said in Psalm 34, the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves the such as have a contrite spirit. In that too, you can behold how he loves. Who is he near to? Who is he near to, children? As I read that verse, those who have a broken heart, and save such as have a contrite spirit, especially over their sin. Isn't that a wonderful thing to think of when your heart is broken over sin, and you're contrite, and the Lord, you call out to the Lord, and he is near to you in that, and he's far from the self-righteous, isn't he? But he's very near to those who would have their hearts broken over their sin, and that you can behold how he loves too. Well, Jesus saw Mary and the Jews weeping over Lazarus. And when he beheld this, verse 33 says, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled as he was deeply moved in his spirit. This is again, God's love and sinless humanity expressing the deepest compassion and pity, right? We can say God in the flesh here is groaning. How terribly moved he is by his people's affliction. He is moved by his people's sorrows. Now, we have probably heard in recent weeks that God's nature, the nature of God is that he is impassable. He is ever blessed. Nothing from outside can affect his, if you want to call it this, I would never really want to call it this, but his emotional state, his emotional being, right? That word can have bad connotations, but in other words, nothing can change him from being happy. He's always happy because he is God. He's always blessed. The creature cannot change his internal state. He's always happy. Yet we find here, and that's because he's impassable. He could never groan, but not so the human nature. And so this text proves to you that Jesus is not only very God, but he's also man, right? He's fully man, as well as fully divine. And it's his humanity that groans when it observes this tremendous grief in his people. His soul is afflicted. Now you can think on this then, he is sinless, that this teaches you as well, that it is not sinful to mourn. Well, at least not all kinds of mourning, but it is part of being a human being. God in the flesh can groan and weep. And as we think of the unity of the person, you can say here that the son of God groaned and wept. And he's not ashamed of that. That is the unity of the person of Christ. I'll return to a thought that I brought before you earlier. The thing that staggers you is how moved Christ was, though he knew what he would do, that he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He doesn't just say, oh, don't worry about it. I'm going to get him. I'm going to raise him from the dead. He's going to come out of that too. There isn't this dispassionate nature in Christ, is there? Even though he knows that you will be raised from the dead, Lazarus will be raised from the dead, he truly does feel for his people. Even though he knows the end of the story for each of you, isn't that wonderful to think of as well? He doesn't smirk and say to Mary, there, there, it'll be okay, pat her on the head and be condescending towards her, to Mary and Martha. Though he knows full well what would happen. And he knew that his friends would soon rejoice. But when his friends wept and mourned and you see that here, right in verse, uh, uh, 30, uh, 33, when Jesus therefore saw her weeping and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. He sees their groaning and he groans with them. My friends, So friends of Christ, let that be a comfort to you today. Right? Does he not know that he will take you to glory as surely as he raised Lazarus? Yes. Does he not know that he is working all things together for your good? Yes. And though he knows the end from the beginning in the midst of it, he is still touch with sympathy for you. Though he knows he will wipe away your tears in due time, he is touched that in this time, in this moment, in this time when sorrow endures for a night, he is touched. And he has a solidarity with you. And so this is, of course, in the book of Hebrews, what is the design of it? It's meant to draw you to him. It's meant to draw you to him. You say, my friend, and you mean that very reverently. My friend, Jesus is touched with the feeling of my infirmity. And that means I can go to him who holds the scepter of God's power. And he beckons me to come. And he says, bring your tears to my throne. And though we don't believe he's shedding any tears in heaven, because that is not a place for that, he still feels after you. He still, his heart moves for you. And his heart is for you when you come. So go to him in trials, knowing there is a sympathetic heart in heaven. Go to him when your heart is contrite over your sin. He feels for you. And if his groaning is not enough to convince you of his sympathy, he weeps, touched by his friend's agonies and sorrows. He's touched by the thought of death, weeping over sin, afflicting those who are beloved of him. He weeps over sin, knowing its only remedy is this, that he would have to be crucified. Now, surely all of this compassion, right? All of this weeping over death is part of his resolution or aids his resolution to go to that cross. to set his face like a flint, so that this night of sorrow will be over for his people one day. But it must come through a cross, through his own death. And it's this tear-streaked face that caused the Jews to say those extraordinary words. As he groans with his friends, as he cries with his friends, behold how he loved him. Even those who are not his friends saw the Lord's compassion. And they were astonished at it, a thing of marvel and wonder. And so we have to ask if we ourselves have lost our sense of that wonder of his compassion for us sinners, for you particularly, believer. If you've lost that marvel, here is God in the flesh, so compassionate over my afflictions. When you are troubled and vexed, maybe this is a text to come to, that it might speak a word to your soul in your trials. Behold how he loves me. Well, before Jesus raised Lazarus, he groaned again. Before he acts, he groans once again. I suppose there could be many reasons for this second groaning. You see that the stone is taken. But before that, in verse 38, Jesus, therefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. This is after verse 37, "...could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man should not have died?" Right? In some sense, though it is for the glory of God, you still see that Jesus, having cured these things, groans. Yes, I could have healed him. Yes, I could have stayed death for a time in this man. And yet this is necessary for the glory of God and for the good of my disciples. And yet, as the scripture says, I do not afflict willingly. And you see, as it were, the emotional life of our Lord, as he puts these things together in his humanity. And he's moved. But this is what is necessary because man fell into sin. But also, there has to be something else in this groaning, right? You think about him now having to come and bring Lazarus out of the sleep, his body out of the sleep. What is the implication for the soul of Lazarus? He's going to have to come back. He's going to have to come back, right? In a way, he's going to have to leave that great beatific vision. that we have talked about. For he's been in the presence of the Lord that Paul got a small glimpse of, right? That soul of Lazarus beholding the face of God in light and glory. In order to show kindness and in order to show he is the Christ, he must bring Lazarus back from beholding the face of God. And how he must have sympathized with that, he knows what that is like. Full well. And he knows that he must bring him back into Bethany, the house of the afflicted, and certainly there has to be sympathy there as well for his friend. I'll just say plainly, on the day the Lord takes me, I have no desire to come back. To depart and be with Christ is far, far better. Isn't it, friends? As much as I love my family and my brethren here in the congregation and elsewhere, to be with Christ above is far, far better. But Jesus groans, certainly a portion of it is that Lazarus must return from the house of God, Bethel, to come to Bethany, the house of the afflicted, one more time. And so you see here the man of sorrows again, beloved. You see how our afflictions have caused so much turmoil in his own soul. It's not just at the cross. His whole life was that of a man of sorrows acquainted with grief and why it's our grief and our sorrows that he has taken upon himself. And this is a text that shows it so plainly. that our affliction and our sin had brought the Lord of glory before to his cross even found him here groaning and in tears. And there is a heaviness that is hard to convey in this text unless the Spirit impresses it upon us. Again, we read through these things so quickly, but there's so much of Christ to behold. Isaiah 63 9 says, in all their affliction, he was afflicted. And the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity, he redeemed them. And he bared them and carried them all the days of old. In all their affliction, he was afflicted. Now you think about that, and you go to Isaiah 63, and you have to wonder how many of God's people in ancient days, and even today, might say, how in the world is that possible? This must be hyperbole. This might be, as the theologians call, and it is in a sense, an anthropopathism. This is a figure of speech by which we understand something of the compassion of the Lord, even though he himself cannot be afflicted, because he is forever blessed. He speaks as though a man to show and convey his fatherly love, his care so great. He says, as though it is I am afflicted when you are afflicted. That doesn't go far enough, friends. Too many say just an anthropopathism, but that text is rather revelatory. It makes you actually ask a profound question, children. If God were a man, what kind of man would he be? You would see if man, if God could suffer affliction, he would be afflicted if he were a man. And that's an interesting philosophical question. If God had a perfect human nature, what kind of man would that be? If God took on a human nature when that nature was conceived, such that this nature knew nothing but a hypostatic union with the divine nature, with the Son of God, and was perfectly sinless and without corruption, with the divine nature in complete control of it, what kind of man would that be? and the philosophers have their answer here. Behold the man. Behold the man. In part, a man that would be afflicted and moved by our own affliction. So when you see Isaiah 63 9, in all their affliction, he was afflicted. You think of our Lord Jesus Christ. And because he is properly God, His person is a divine person. We can say when we look at his groanings, when we look at his cries, when we look at his tears, when we look at the furrows in his back, when we look at the crown of thorns, and when we look upon that cross, in all our afflictions, he was afflicted. When he could be afflicted, he was. To show us the truth of Isaiah 63. So you behold how he loves in that too. Now the next two headings are a bit briefer. Next we'll consider behold, beholding his work, beholding his work. Now it is out of this great love and pity for us that God executes his works of providence. Even when he does not act in the way that we would like him to, He is still acting out of love. You see that here with the sisters. He doesn't act the way that they had asked him to. And yet that is in no way a sign that he did not love them. But he has something that he must do for the glory of God. And there's something he must do for the good of his people that requires them themselves to shed tears. Yes, Christ did raise Lazarus from the dead, but he did not keep him from it. And again, recall his reasoning. He said to his disciples, verses 14 to 15, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there. Why? That you may believe. That you may believe. I have that reference wrong, but he says this to them, that you may believe. He says he was glad for your sakes. He was glad for your sakes that Lazarus was allowed to die, because there would be a great blessing for the disciples that would come out of it. You know, in our trials and our affliction and our grief, we often say, right, we may not say it to anybody else, but we often say in the soul, Lord, do you not care for me? The disciples said it on the boat. Do you not care that we perish? You and I do it as well. You heard it from Martha. If you were here, Lord Lazarus would not be dead. There's a little bit of an accusation there, right? If you had come, this man would not have died. But Jesus came at the appointed time to do the appointed work after grief had entered their soul. He doesn't keep them from the grief. He does it so that His disciples would believe in the resurrection that would come. And that is a better thing. If their heart must break and tears must flow, it is better that that happen so that they believe. That they would believe that He is the Son of God. But even in that, you see the sympathy of the Lord, that this is the way that is right. This is the way that is best. You see it still in his groaning and his tears. He is still touched with the feeling of our infirmities. So that even in the hard providences he delivers to you, brethren, he's not untouched by that either. We have to know that, that he is sympathetic. The trial comes, the hardship comes, the difficulty and the groaning in your own soul comes as you wrestle over sin. He's still touched by that. His heart is moved for you because he has something better for you, but still, I should say it this way, he has something better for you, but his heart is still moved for you. You know, he's like the parent. And parents, you might be aware of this. You don't like that at times your child must experience some pain in order to grow. But they have to. Sometimes you have to let them skin the knee or touch the flame in order to get it. We tell them, no, don't touch the open flame. They giggle and they do it anyway when our back is turned, right? And they hurt and you feel really badly for them. But at the same time, you say, I am glad you learned the lesson because you will never touch the fire again. And so the Lord, right? He's not Uncompassionate. He's not without compassion when you have to learn from chastening. When you have to experience trouble and trials in this life, he's still touched with the feeling of your infirmities. And hard providences then are never at cross purposes with Christ's love. Instead, they are often an expression of it to believers. And we have to believe these things by faith, that all things are working together for the good of them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. And I see it here, we see it here, working not only for Mary and Martha's and Lazarus's good, but also for his disciples. And so if you're in a miry pit, Before the difficulty is resolved into soul trouble, remember that Christ is doing this, even as He afflicts you. He does it for your good. And he's not uncaring, but is working it for your good. And undoubtedly in providence, right? One day you'll see that tapestry of providence that we've considered in the book of Ruth. You look upon it in completion. Now we only know it in part. On that day you will say, Oh, I see how he loved me. Even those dark threads, you'll see the glory of it as they connect in other places to brilliance. And you'll say, oh, I didn't get it then, but I see how he loved me. And that Christ himself will communicate and convey to you in that beatific vision, just how much he cared for you, even in those times. Times where maybe you were bitter and you refused to see it yourself, and yet he will communicate to your soul directly how much he cared. and it'll be a thing of beauty for you. And you will be overwhelmed with His love, as we heard in the beatific vision. But of course, the supreme demonstration of that will not be in our individual providences, but one that you have full sight of even today in Romans 5, 8, that God commendeth His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Is that not the great demonstration that is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, brethren? It is that he put himself on that cross to suffer God's wrath so that we would not. Because that's a grief that we could never bear. He alone must bear it for us. And he took it for us. So if the Jews saw Christ's love in his tears, how much more we should see it in his blood. When he says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Should we not say, behold how he loved? Behold how he loved as he groans, his groanings on the cross far greater than his groanings at Lazarus' tomb, having to suffer the wrath of God Almighty. What should we say to such things? Behold how he loved. In all our afflictions, he was afflicted. In his love and his pity, he has borne us on the tree. These are the things that draw us to our knees and bless His name. Friends, let me say, though, because time is short, nothing can be more delightful in the study of God's Word to a contrite sinner than to study in great detail how He loves us. The Bible has a lot to say. Take it and meditate. And He knows that you only have to endure these things that are necessary for you for a season. The life that we live is a vapor, and He readies you for what He will do ultimately in Revelation 7. They shall hunger and thirst no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. We think of the Song of Solomon chapter 1 in that. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." No one was found to wipe the tears from his face, but he has promised to wipe them off of yours. So our final heading then is, Beholding His Question. Now before he raised Lazarus, he asked a question in verse 25. Jesus said unto her, Jesus said unto her, that is to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live in verse 26 and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believe us thou this. Now, before the miracle of the raising, Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. In me is the resurrection and in me is life everlasting. And those that believe on me, even if they die, even when they die, shall live. He's proclaiming, this is who he is. And Lazarus was dead at the time he said it, but he was going to prove the doctrine. He was going to prove to them that this is true. In all that, then, we have the warrant to believe. When Lazarus was raised from the dead, that these astonishing words are true. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. For in Christ is the power to raise the dead, and in Christ is the power to give life to whom he will, because he is God. What does Martha say in response to the question? Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. Right? She believes what the Jews in chapter 10 said was blasphemy. She believes Christ is the Son of God. See, the Jews understand, children, what it means when he says he is the Son of God. Now, think of it this way, children. The Son has the exact same nature as the Father. You have the same nature as your Father, a human nature. And when Jesus says, I am the Son of God, he is saying, my Father and I are one. We have the same nature. And the Jews understood that full well, which is why they said this is blasphemy. And it would be if he were not the son of God. But Jesus says, I have the same nature as God because I am his son, the eternally begotten son of God. Begotten, not made. And she believed. Now let us commend the faith of this woman. She believed before Lazarus was raised. See, that shows you that you don't, you shouldn't need the miracle. You should believe Christ purely on his word because he is God. That's faith. You don't need evidence. You shouldn't need evidence to believe anything the Lord has told you, right? And here's a woman who does that. She believes that he is the son of God, which had come into the world. And Martha, though, still had a bit of trouble. She said, but Lord Lazarus was dead for four days. He stinketh. That is, he's rotting away. And we can, and we can smell his corruption in other words. But Jesus said, if you believe you will see the glory of God, the power of God, the power that resides in me as God, you will see him raised. And he did raise Lazarus as we heard on the Lord's day. He commands Lazarus come forth. And now we heard how that works. He gives life to Lazarus. Lazarus hears the command and he follows the commandment of God under the power of Christ. So we won't rehash those things, but look at the effect of it when he is raised in verse 45. than many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did believed on him. That was the aim of Christ's delay, that they would believe on him. That was the reason for Lazarus's death and the raising up of Lazarus again. Those who had seen the things which Jesus did believed on him. that they would see His glory. And you have seen Christ's glory and His power in the Word of God. You have seen not only that, you have seen His love and His compassion out of which that power flows. So you take it all together and you return to the question and the statement before it, 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 here is the question in three words. Believest thou this? Do you believe this? Jesus is not interested in parlor tricks. To him, raising a dead man is nothing. He's not there to be amused. He is there that you would believe. And that's the question here. Do you believe this? Because that's the only way for you to be raised from the dead in a blessed resurrection. And it's the only way for you to have eternal life. If you believe these, that He is the Son of God, that He is the resurrection and the life, and that if you do believe on Him, you shall never die. The power that raised Lazarus from the dead will be at work in your body, which is in the grave, rotting away. And yet, blessedly, as we say in our catechism, Christ is still united to it. He doesn't abandon my soul. He doesn't abandon my body either. But he asks you, do you believe this? Because if you don't, Our catechism is very vivid. I wonder if you remember this children, what does it say of the wicked? Their bodies are in the grave as in a prison cell, as in chains, waiting for a resurrection of dishonor, where they will come before God as a dishonored judge, as an offended judge, I should say, as an offended judge. And then they will experience eternal death. in the lake of fire. Eternal death. That means a never-ending kind of death. But those who believe on Christ, and this is why he's so interested in bringing the point home, do you believe this? Those who believe on Christ will be resurrected in a glorious resurrection and live forever. Now all of us need to regularly ask the question, do I believe this? Yes, I made the profession of faith, but I need to ask for my own soul. Do I believe this? May it be that you say yes. And you will know that then that your body, though it be laid in corruption, will be raised in incorruption in the resurrection. And you will know why Christ's power, when he says to you, your body in the grave, come forth, you will know why he said it. It's because that power is exercised in love. And he wants you to come forth. And he wants you to dwell with him in eternal habitations. You've seen that here in this text. And you will be body and soul with the Lord forever. And we'll close on this then, Paul's sentiment in 1 Thessalonians 4 concerning the resurrection. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are, what's the word? Asleep. That ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Let me pause there for a moment. Of course, the greatest sign that he is the resurrection and the life is not Lazarus being raised, but that Jesus raised himself from the dead on the third day. Continuing on, 1 Thessalonians 4.15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then 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. It's a wonderful thought, isn't it? You're not just raised, raised from the dead, but raised from the dead to always be with the Lord. But what's the use? Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. May you find comfort in these words, especially when you look upon the compassion of the Lord. Behold how he loves you, believer. Amen. Let us arise and go to the Lord in prayer. O Lord, our God, what precious truths there are in thy word, Help us to linger upon thy word. Help us to savor every word. May we ingest it into our soul more than our necessary food is ingested into our bodies. That we would know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. That we would be filled with the fullness of God. That we would look upon even the tiniest word, even as Jesus says, our friend, and have ourselves contemplate and meditate the truths of such things, that we would think upon the tear-streaked face of our Savior and behold how He loves us, that we would think upon Him who is at the right hand of God, who has not forgotten us, who even now, as our great high priest interceding for us, is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and so beckons us towards his throne of grace. And yet how little we are found there, how little we think upon the compassion and mercy of the Lord. Change that, O God, in us. May meetings like this be especially sweet when we remember who it is that we pray to. That one who cares for us, who loves us, and has shown it, most of all, not at the graveside of Lazarus, but in his own grave. That we might say that the Son of God, who is that divine person, loved us and gave himself for us. And may these thoughts give us great peace and comfort tonight, if we be in Christ. And if we have not, if some here have not closed with Christ, May those words resonate in their soul. Believe us thou this, and may they believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who is the resurrection and the life, and them that believe on him, though they die, shall live. May the Lord our God bless these words to our souls, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.