Let's open our Bibles, please, to the 11th of John, John chapter 11. A major part of this chapter has to do with Lazarus and Jesus raising him from the dead. If you'll remember and look at our chart, some of you that have not been here do not remember because it's the first time you've seen it, the purpose of John's gospel is revealed in chapter 20, verse 30 and 31. And it says, And many other signs truly did Jesus. This is John chapter 20, verse 30 and 31. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But then verse 31 says, But these are written that you might believe The purpose. That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed, the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name. So John reveals that as his purpose for writing the miracles that he wrote. And if you remember as you look at the chart there, and some of these things will be familiar to some of you, and the ones that just have received one, you can glance at it readily. If you'll remember that there are 20 miracles in Matthew's gospel, and there are 18 miracles in Mark's gospel, and 20 miracles in Luke's gospel, but John only records 8. And 7 are before the cross, and 1 after the resurrection of Christ. And of these 7 it is where John reveals the purpose of these signs, because this is when he stated it in verse 30 and 31, the purpose. Remember that purpose. It's a very important two verses. And so concerning these seven miracles before the cross, he says they reveal the plan of salvation. They teach us to believe on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and that believing by faith, you might have life through His name. The Bible says that salvation is by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. The first three of the miracles showed us, and you can again look at these simple statements on the chart. The first three of these miracles tell us how to be saved. Turning water into wine shows us salvation is through the Word. Healing of the nobleman's son shows us salvation is through faith. And curing of the Bethesda paralytic shows us salvation is by grace. In the center of these seven miracles, the fourth, the feeding of the 5,000, shows us the human instrumentality in salvation. That God, though He saves, and He's the only one that saves, and He's saved by grace, yet He uses you and I to give the message out. If there were no earthly messengers or servants, then no one could hear. The Bible says, Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And it says that the preacher is sent. And how can they preach except they be sent? Romans chapter 10. So he sends people to preach the word and he sends you to witness. And every Christian should be a witness. We should be a witness in some form or fashion. Everyone is not a preacher, and everyone is not called to preach. Everyone is not a teacher or a deacon or a Sunday school teacher. But you all have a purpose. Everyone has a purpose to fulfill that servanthood that you should be fulfilling. Now, the last three of these miracles, The walking over the Sea of Galilee, that was in John chapter 6, it shows us that the first result of salvation is peace. Then the giving of sight to the blind was the last one we taught. Another result of salvation is light. We have our spiritual eyes open, and we have spiritual light and spiritual enlightenment. And we said in our last lesson that the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, that they are foolishness unto him. And then the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which is our seventh miracle of the study of John's Gospel, and that's the one we're concerned with tonight, and it will show us life. So the results of salvation are peace and light and life. And here in this 11th chapter of John, we will study this miracle of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. I want us to notice first, and we're going to read and study kind of verse by verse through this passage of Scripture, but the first verses that we're going to point out show us the demeanor and actions of Jesus. Let's read John chapter 11. We come down to verse 4. We begin to point out verse by verse some things. John 11, 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. So Lazarus had two sisters, Mary and Martha. Verse 3, Therefore his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." In verse 4, when Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto dead, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified. Remember, we pointed that out of other miracles that Jesus performed, the healing of the blind man. He says this blindness was for the glory of God, that the works of God might be made manifest. And here, Lazarus, he says, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified. Sometimes it's hard to understand what things are for the glory of God, isn't it? We know that Lazarus really did die. And he was dead four days when Jesus came and raised him. And we'll get that in the furtherance of the story. And even though he was sick, we don't understand that. And he died, we don't understand that. But how could it be for the glory of God? Jesus said it is for the glory of God. Sometimes the dire circumstances that we're faced with, whether we understand it or not, are for the glory of God. Sometimes our trials and tribulations and heartaches and problems that we face in our families and in our lives are for the glory of God. Because God is able to turn it for His glory. He's able to work it out. He's the one that raises the dead. And if all of these situations are like dead to us, or the sentence of death, as we pointed out in our Sunday school this morning, when Paul said we had the sentence of death in ourselves, he said that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God that raises the dead. He can change the situation. And he did in Paul's life. Now, I want you to notice verse five. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. He whom thou lovest is sick, in verse 3. He loved. When we think of Christ's love for Martha and Mary and Lazarus, think of His unmeasurable love for us. He says, I love my sheep and I lay down my life for the sheep. He says, I have power to lay it down. And He says, I have power to raise it up again. This commandment have I received from my Father. That's in the 10th chapter previous. We're just going to kind of expound these verses as we go along. I want you to notice verse 6. It says, When he had heard, therefore, that Lazarus was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. We said we pointed out the demeanor of Jesus in this whole situation. What did he do? He abode two days. You know, nowadays, if someone gets sick, they say, preacher, come immediately. I want you over here now. Look at the calmness and coolness and the demeanor of Jesus. He had the situation well under control. He knew exactly what He was going to do. And He wasn't in any hurry to do it because it was for the glory of God and He wanted to teach the disciples a lesson that He didn't have to be there all the time. We're going to see in a moment how that comes out too. the demeanor. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you and I could face things with full calmness of spirit and soul and heart? Sometimes we get so anxious and so disturbed, and we're all human, but Jesus knew better. He says, this is for the glory of God. Can you imagine the excitement? Can you imagine if Martha and Mary could have conversed with him then? He had to go where they were. But can you imagine them saying, Jesus, get over here? Because later on, both of them said, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, our brother would not have died. So why didn't you get here? You heard He was sick. If you would have been here, He would not have died. So later on when we study this, we'll look at verse 21, Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. And later on, Mary in verse 32, 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. So in a sense, they were chiding Him for not coming immediately. You and I need to develop a calmness of spirit in every situation. And we need to learn to do that. I have to learn to do that day by day. Because things come up and you have to deal with them. And the Bible tells us that we need to learn to handle a matter wisely. And when we learn that, the Bible also says that a man that can rule his own spirit is mightier than the one that can take a city. He's mightier because he can control his own spirit. So here, notice, "...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." Let's go down there now. "...his disciples saying to him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither? He knew that he was in danger, and yet this was the time now for him to go. His disciples warned him and said, Well now, you know you've been in trouble there. Are you going to go right now? First, I think they were kind of aggravated that he didn't go immediately and take care of Lazarus, and now they're aggravated that he's going because what? He got in trouble there before. He was in danger before. So, in verse 9, Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in a day? The Jewish day was divided into twelve hours of daylight, equally hours. By the way, here's a wonderful thing. So some days, if they had long days, the hours would be longer. If they had short days, the hours would be shorter. The daylight hours. It was not like 60 minutes, is what I'm trying to say. But on the day that Jesus was crucified, it was divided into exactly 12 hours of 60 minutes, the same as ours. A complete perfect day, even according to our time. So anyway, are there not twelve hours in a day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. Jesus was walking not only in daylight, but He was walking in light. In the 8th chapter of John, if you care to turn to it, I believe it's verse 12, it says this, 8th chapter, verse 12, It says, I am the light of the world, Jesus said. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. He will not walk in the night, but shall have the light of life. To follow Jesus is to walk in the light. So he is telling the disciples here back in John 11, follow it on down. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth because there is no light in him. So the light in him has to do with whether he is walking in day or night. Verse 11, These things said he, and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. What is he saying here? Our friend Lazarus sleepeth. He even compares his sleeping to death, because later he says he is dead. Remember, the Bible says those that are asleep in Jesus are who? The dead in Christ. The term is used to be asleep. Sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. So here He uses the same terms, really. And later on, He says in verse 25 and 26, 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. Then He said to a believer, Now look at this, in verse 14, well, verse 13. Then, howbeit Jesus spake of his death, but they thought, well, let's read verse 12 again. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. That's pretty good if he's sleeping, he's resting. Well, he's sick, so maybe he's resting now, doing well. Howbeit Jesus spake, look, of his death, verse 13, but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead." Lazarus is dead. And I'm glad. I'm glad for your sakes. You know, wouldn't it be something a preacher says, this fellow is dead and I'm glad. I'm glad for your sakes I wasn't there. But Jesus could say that. He was not an ordinary man. He was not like you and I. If we said a thing like that, we'd get in a lot of trouble, wouldn't we? With family and friends and the church and everybody else. But Jesus says, Lazarus is dead and I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there. Remember, a lot of times people say, well, why weren't you not here? You were warned, you were told he was sick. Why didn't you come and sit by his bedside? Why were you not here to pray with him? Why were you not here to do all the things you need to do? But he says, I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there to the intent. What's the purpose of John's gospel? To the intent that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto him. What is it? The purpose. Think of this for a moment. The purpose of Jesus is the same purpose of John. Did you notice that? What is it? To the intent that you might believe. Jesus says, the reason I was not there, and the reason is for the glory of God, and the reason that all of this is like it is, is that you might believe. Did not John say that that was the purpose? That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? And believing you might have what? Life through His name? Eternal life? Now, He is going to show this purpose carried out, not only in the resurrection of Lazarus, but the meaning of such a resurrection. So in verse 15, And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there to the intent ye may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto Him, even though He is dead. Nevertheless, there is no situation too bad for the Lord. Nevertheless, let us go unto Him." You know, when we run up against a situation that we know there's nothing we can do about it, we say, well, there's no need, no further need to bother. Remember when Jairus' daughter was dead, and the family came out or the friends came out and said, don't trouble the master anymore. Why bother him now? Because she's dead. And he came on. Jesus says, well, she's not dead, but she's asleep. So he went to wake her out of the sleep. We get into that later on in the message. But I want you to notice, it says, In verse 15, Nevertheless, let us go unto Him. Regardless of how difficult the situation is, Jesus says, we're going to go anyway. We'll go do something about it anyway. You and I, we say, well, I'm going to give up. You say, well, we're not the Lord. No, we're not. But He's given us power to overcome situations and circumstances. And He says that that power worketh in us. It works in us. to overcome situations that we feel are just about as drastic, in our case, as even death. But he's the one that's the resurrection and the life. So what happened in verse 16? Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. Thomas. Thomas. Doubting. He wasn't thinking about Jesus doing anything about it, was he? He said, well, if he's dead, let's go die too. He needs someone along with him. Then, verse 17, Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. He had lain in the grave four days already. Now, Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem about fifteen furlongs off. That's about two miles. And many of the Jews called to Martha, And Mary came to Martha, and Mary took comfort in 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." She is much the same. Why didn't you come? They had sent word. Look back in verse 2 or verse 3. Therefore his sister sent unto him. He had gotten the word way back there in verse 3. And so now she is saying in verse 20, If thou hast been here, verse 21, my brother had not died. But I know, she still had confidence, but I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. She knew he would rise again, but she had her hopes only on way in the future, the time of the resurrection of the dead. Evidently, she had been taught the theology and the teachings of the Word, that she believed in the future resurrection. She says, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. But Jesus was not talking about that. He said to her in verse 25, 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? These two little verses, 25 and 26, I have in my billfold right here, you might see a little red piece of paper there. When I was in the Navy in World War II, One of the young men that worked with the chaplain on the ship, on the USS Hollandia CVE-97, gave me that little card. It was one of those little cards. I still have it. John 11, verses 25 and 26. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? So I've carried it, let's see, 40, 50, Over 50 years, 53, 4 years. Early 40s. A long time? Let's put it that way. 55 years. And not that it's something that would not fade away with time, or you could burn up or get wet and it'll come all apart. But you know, to me, it's like the Word of God not only liveth and abideth forever, and here it really lives and abides forever. If they were to destroy every Bible in the world, the Word of God would still live. And the Bible says, Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. We need to start hiding God's Word in our heart. Verse 27, she saith unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God. Look at the measure of her faith, which had come into the world. I believe Lazarus is going to be raised when the resurrection comes. And I believe it's our Christ, the Son of God, that should come into the world. But Jesus was saying to her, something's going to happen right now because I am. There's going to be a resurrection. He's not saying to her, there's going to be a resurrection in life. He says, I am. And He was there, wasn't He? And He says, I am the resurrection and the life. So where Jesus is, there is resurrection. And He was going to bring about a resurrection here and now. She wasn't looking for that, because all she was saying, Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died. He just wouldn't have died. But now, as far as she was concerned, it's too late. But He could comfort her concerning a future resurrection. And she did have faith in Him as the Son of God, the Christ, that He would come into the world the Son of God. And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him." Now, Jesus was not yet coming to 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 into the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come, where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, and what did she say? Much the same thing that Martha had said previous in verse 20 or verse 21. What did she say? 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 you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Then the shortest verse in the Bible, in the English version, is Jesus wept. By the way, notice that. That's the shortest verse in the Bible. Except, in the original, it says, in 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 16, it says something different than weeping. It says, Rejoice evermore. And in the Greek, 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 16 is the shortest verse in the Bible. So, these two are very important. Here you have Jesus wept. But in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16, it says, Rejoice evermore. We might say, well, why did Jesus weep? When we're thinking about Jesus weeping, a lot of people say, well, they said here, then said the Jews, behold how He loved Him. I'm sure that He was not weeping only because He loved Him. That's what they thought that happened. That's why Jesus was weeping. And I'm sure it was out of love, too. But you know, it's not real good to read between the lines. And yet on the other hand, sometimes you have to see the sense and the spirit of the situation to discern really why Jesus was weeping. You know, one reason I believe Jesus wept, it was not only that He loved Lazarus and Martha and Mary, but Lazarus was dead. He knew he was dead. And you know, the Bible says the wages of sin is death. And I believe Jesus may have been weeping because of the fact that sin had brought such condition to humanity. That death, that unless He would intervene, death would reign. But He did intervene, didn't He? The Bible says death reigned from Adam to Moses over those that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. And the Bible says, Wherefore by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death hath passed upon all men, in that all have sinned. So that sorrowful situation that mankind is in. No wonder Jesus groaned in spirit and was troubled. No wonder Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, verse 36, Behold how He loved him. Verse 37, 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? Their question was. It said, He opened the eyes of the blind. We read in John chapter 9, we taught the lesson where He healed a man and gave sight to a man that was born blind. That was the miracle just before this one in John's Gospel. He gave sight to a man that was born blind. And here, they say, Well, He opened the blind eyes. Could not he have kept this man from dying? Verse 38, Jesus therefore again, groaning himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. In that hot country, this would be the situation. You know, Jesus raised three from the dead. during his earthly ministry. There was Jeriah's daughter, there was the widow of Nain's son, and Lazarus. And if you read the story of these three in Mark 5, verses 35-43, we'll find that the situation, we'll get right down to the point of Christ raising the damsel from the dead. Verse 40 says, They laughed him to scorn. Well, verse 39, When he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. They had already figured out and knew she was dead, pronounced her dead. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying." This is Peter, James, and John. And He took the damsel by the hand and saith unto her, Talitha Kuma, which is being interpreted. Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. Another translation and another interpretation of that Talitha Kuma. Little lamb, wake up. Little girl, wake up. And straightway the damsel arose. Now when a child is saved, they are resurrected from death into life, let it be a picture of salvation, and they begin to walk. She arose and walked, for she was of the age of twelve years, and they were astonished with great astonishment. And he charged them straightly that no man should know it, and commanded that something should be given her to eat." That's very significant for me. We preached this morning, as newborn babes, what do we do? Desire the sincere milk of the Word. The very first thing a newborn babe or child of God needs is the Word of God. The commission tells us what? Go into all the world and preach the gospel, make disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And then what does it say? Teaching them. Feeding them the Word of God. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world or the age. That's why we need our Sunday school teachers And we are so thankful to have them to teach the children, boys and girls. And then in the adult class, men and women. We need to get back to not a complicated program in the church, Boy, some people take the threefold message of the Gospel and make it a hundred points, you know, that you've got to follow. We've got to do this, we've got to do that, we've got to do something else. And they've got about a hundred things to follow. When Jesus simplified it, He said, go make disciples, preach the Gospel to them. And He says, baptize the ones that are believers, make disciples, followers. And He says, then you teach them. A three-fold platform for the church. It's not complicated, is it? We're the ones that have complicated the situation. Keep it simple. And that's what we need to do. You know, I found out sometimes the most simple things are the best. If you get down to earth and down to what God teaches us, His Word, It will be a blessing. So, Jairus' daughter, when she was raised, this young lady at 12 years, commanded something should be given her to eat. I want you to notice another one. If you'll look in Luke's Gospel, chapter 7. Look in Luke, chapter 7. The widow of Nain's son. Luke 7. Let's begin reading with verse 11. Verse 11 through 15. It's a short passage. It says, "...and came to pass the day after that he went into a city called Nain. And many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out." Now remember, the damsel had just died. And here is a dead man on his way to burial, carried out. The only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bar, the coffin." They were carrying the coffin. He touched the coffin. And they that bear him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. Now he was on his way to be buried. He was older than me. The little damsel, the age of 12. And, young man, I say unto thee, arise. And he that was dead sat up, he sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. This is very significant. The damsel arose and walked, and Jesus commanded to give her something to eat. The widow of Nain's sons sat up, and he began to speak. shows you a different degree of the situation, and he delivered him to his mother. By the way, if this was the widow's only son, she had no means of support, and so now he is not only to speak and be a witness, but he is to be delivered to his mother to take care of her as he previously did, to work and to serve. He was raised up to serve. One was raised up to grow. The little maid was raised up to grow, to eat and to grow in grace and knowledge. This son was raised up to testify and to serve and to be a responsible person for the sake of his mother. Now, when we get over here to Lazarus, as we're studying in the 11th chapter, and we came down to verse 39, Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. We are going to see the lesson that comes through in the raising of Lazarus, what it amounts to. Jesus said unto her, Said I not unto thee, If thou wouldst believe, if thou wouldst what? Believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God. Lazarus was dead, that the glory of God, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God. Then they took away the stone. You know, Jesus had to convince them to take away the stone. Well, now, Jesus didn't have to have the stone taken away. He could have raised Lazarus and rolled the stone away with an earthquake or with a flick of his hand or whatever he wanted to do, or with just the command of it. He commands the winds and the waves and the rocks and the hills and the storms of life. So He could have commanded the stone to be moved. But He says, take ye away the stone. He's testing their faith, see if they want to believe anything or do anything in response to His command. 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. Look at that word. That Thou hast heard me already. He's just giving thanks that God has already heard him concerning what's about to happen. Sometime before we call, God has the answer. That Thou hast heard me. But He said, look at this. I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me. And I knew that Thou hearest me always. He always did hear. Jesus was always heard and always will be heard. It says in the book of Hebrews that He was heard and that He feared in His hour of agony when He prayed. I knew that thou hearest Me always, but because... Now look, why did He make it known? But because of the people which stand by, I said it. What's the purpose? That they may believe that Thou hast sent Me. What's the purpose of John's Gospel? That they may believe. These things are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have what? Life through His name. And that they may believe, and here's going to be the lesson of life in real resurrection power." And notice what it says, that they may believe that Thou hast sent me. And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. Some have said, and possibly it's true, That if Jesus had just said, come forth, all the graves would open and there would have been a great resurrection before time. But He said, I just want one of you to come forth. Those dead bones that are there, just let one arise at this time. The rest of them will come later on. So He said, Lazarus, I want you to come forth. Lazarus, come forth. You read back in the book of Ezekiel. Turn to Ezekiel. Let me read it for you. Chapter 37, it says, The hand of the Lord, verse 1, was upon me and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of a valley which was full of bones. That's Ezekiel 37, verse 1, "...and caused me to pass by them round about. And, behold, there was a very many in the open valley, and, lo, they were very dry." Dry bones are called a valley of dry bones. I mean nothing but skeletons. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest." He says, God, you know if they can live or not. Again, he said, prophesy unto these bones and say unto them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Can you imagine a prophet being told out here to preach to a bunch of skeletons? Say now, you bones here, you hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. I'm going to cause breath, but before I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded. I prophesied. There was a noise, and behold, a shaking, and the bones came together, his bones. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above. But there was no breath in them. Then said He unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, O son of man, say unto the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as He had commanded me. And breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army." And there's a whole lesson there. I won't have time to go through the rest of it. See, God is able to make life out of death. He made us of the dust of the earth, and He breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. And I believe that with all my heart. And I believe man was made as a man. He was not made like a monkey, or a tadpole, or a frog. And God created everything in His image, and everything after His kind. He made an apple tree, an apple tree, and a fig tree, a fig tree, and an orange tree, an orange tree. Everything after His kind. And I believe that I'd rather take God's Word forth than some of these theories that men speculate about, hadn't you? I believe what God says about it. But anyway, we'll go on with it. John chapter 11. So what do we find in Lazarus' resurrection? In verse 43, And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! And he that was dead came forth." Can you imagine the miracle? This is the greatest miracle that Jesus performed, I would suppose, in a sense, of a man that had been dead four days already, and He calls him back to life. He says, "...Lazarus came forth, he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin." This was according to the way that they buried. Jesus saith unto them, now look, loose him and let him go. He was alive and he was to be set free. What does death to life do and the resurrection unto life spiritually do for you and I? It sets us free. We're free from the law of sin and death through Christ's resurrection and through His power. The Bible tells us He's redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. And that sentence of death, we've been delivered from. John 5, verse 24, and there's multiplied things that I could give you on this particular miracle. In fact, I have four pages here, and I haven't even looked at them most of the time. But let me say this. This particular miracle, John 5, verse 24, says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation or judgment, but is passed from death unto life." So when we believe on Christ and trust Him as Lord and Savior, we are passed from spiritual death to spiritual life. And we have everlasting life. The kind of life we have is everlasting. And the kind of judgment we're exempt from is that final, last great judgment in the 20th of Revelation, the great white throne judgment. It says, "...shall not come into judgment." Believers shall not come into that judgment. Only the wicked dead shall stand before the great white throne judgment. Christians truly shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. But that great white throne judgment we've been exempt from. You know, I was thinking about the judgment seat of Christ yesterday. And we can be more serious about it than sometimes we are. It says, we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. As Christians, we'll be judged according to our works, 1 Corinthians chapter 3. We'll be judged according to our fellowship, Romans chapter 14, beginning with about a verse 10 through 14. And then we'll be judged according to our whole life as a Christian. our works, our fellowship with one another. So it's very important that we love one another and be forgiving toward one another, because God's going to bring this into account someday. And we'll be judged according to our whole life. Some people make a big joke out of life, and laughter is good at times. It's good like a medicine. It helps heal wounds sometimes. But on the other hand, we need to take this life more serious too. because it needs to be lived before God. And I don't know, there's a lot of other things I could say, but the purpose of Christ was performed in this miracle. His disciples believed on Him where most surely they did. And Martha and Mary believed, and the people that stand by believed it. And many of the Jews, if you look at verse 45, It says, Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on Him. So the purpose of Jesus in this, giving life to Lazarus, came out in various aspects, as far as the Jews, as far as Martha and Mary, as far as the disciples themselves. He said, These things I said that they may believe to the intent that they may believe and see the glory of God.