Well, good evening to you all on this Tuesday night. Good to see you in this holiday period, of course. Well, we'll begin our worship with a word of prayer. Our Lord God of Scripture, we bow before you now. in and through the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ, looking to him and to him alone. Lord, we thank you that you hear the cry of all your people, Lord, wherever they be. You hear the sinners' penitent cry as well, as they come in repentance before you. And we praise you now that you hear our cry too. We pray, Lord, that though we be few, you would be with us. Lord, we know that you are in the midst. We pray, therefore, that you would work that in us which is pleasing in your sight, and help us in all we do, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Could you turn in your hymn book, please, to hymn number 60? Hymn number 60. God of the covenant, triune Jehovah, marvels of mercy adoring we see. Hymn number 60. Would you take up your scriptures, please, to the Gospel of John? John chapter 11, reading through, I think, to verse 44. So that's John chapter 11, beginning at verse 1 and reading through to verse 44. Beloved, hear the Word of God. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love 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 may be glorified through it. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to his disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone you, and are you going there again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. These things he said. And after that he said to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.' Then his disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get well. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him.' Then Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him.' So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb four days, that is Lazarus, Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away, and many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him. But Mary was still in the house. And Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give it to you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, even though he dies, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ. the Son of God, who is to come into the world.' And when she had said these things, she went away and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, the Teacher has come and is calling for you.' As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her saying, she's going to the tomb to weep there. Then when Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled and said, where have you laid him? And they said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, see how he loved him. And some of them said, could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying? Then Jesus, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? Then he took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And I know that you always hear me, but because of the people who are standing by, I said this, that they may believe that you sent me. When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, loose him and let him go. So reads the word of God. We'll come together in prayer just now and then we'll consider this passage. Our gracious Father, we come before you again through our Lord Jesus Christ. Grateful, Lord, for this opportunity of being with your people, Lord. Grateful even more that you are with us, Lord. Lord, we thank you that where two or three are gathered together in your name, you are in the midst. And you see each one of us, Lord. You see our needs, Lord. You see our concerns. You see our hopes. We pray, Lord, as you know us each one intimately, that you would be so kind and gracious and be merciful and minister to us. We thank you for your church in this place. We thank you for our beloved brothers and sisters, those in whom the Spirit of God dwells. Lord, we bless you for them. We bless you for the encouragement they are to us. We tell you that what you know, we love them, Lord. And we would have you be loving and gracious to them. Some of those are on holiday, our God, we pray that you would be with them. Lord, that they may have a good time of rest, Lord, and that you would bring them back safe and sound. We pray that you would minister to them wherever they are. We pray also for those of the church here, our dear fellowship, who cannot get out now through age or infirmity. or responsibilities with young children, Lord. We pray, Lord, that you would bless them too. Grant them your grace, our Father. Grant them your portion this night. Draw them closer, closer to you, Lord. And we pray, Lord, as a church indeed, We may desire you more, desire the fellowship of your people more as we meet for worship, and that we would grow in grace. We pray for those who cannot be here as well because of illness or incapacity. We ask that you would be with them and that, Lord, you would be glorified in their lives. We ask these things for Jesus' sake. Amen. Would you take to your hymn books again, please, to hymn 219, 219. I think we know this, certainly I should know the tune, but sometimes they're different words, but it's a lovely hymn. Glory be to Jesus, who in bitter pains, poured for me the lifeblood from his sacred veins. Hymn number 219. you you Will you take your Bibles again, please, to John chapter 11. I'm not going to speak on the whole chapter, just down to, I think, well, verse 24. Verse 24. 24 and 25. So it's sort of an introduction to the first part of this wonderful text. And we begin with a family in trouble. A little family in Bethany. Bethany about two miles from Jerusalem, as we read. A family of one brother and two sisters, Lazarus, Martha and Mary. We find out a little later in the passage that the family is well known. not just in Bethany, but also amongst some folk in Jerusalem, and obviously a respected family. Remarkable in a number of ways, the most important one was that the three of them were disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's quite clear in our passage. They knew him. They loved him. and they trusted him. With a sick brother, the two women acknowledged that the Lord Jesus could heal Lazarus. That's verse 3, because they send a message even to the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord behold, he whom you love is sick. But we also find that not only did they love the Lord Jesus, but the Lord Jesus loved them. It was obviously a close personal relationship a close personal relationship of our three, and a close personal relationship with the family, with our Lord Jesus Christ. And there's a real warmth as you read the passage, which is evident in the family and in our Lord Jesus' regard for them. Indeed, it's an example to us, an illustration to us, of the love that the Lord Jesus Christ has for believers, for you, dear Christian, and the love that you have for him. And this is true for all Christians. And the other important thing about this, it's not love in the abstract. It's a personal love. You can see that from the passage, quite clearly, he who thou lovest is sick. But of course it's a personal love of the Lord Jesus that took him to Calvary. a love on his part which is all-encompassing. And just as he knew this little family, he knows all his people. He knows all of us who have put their trust in him through and through. So the relationship that Jesus has with our family at Bethany is the same relationship he has with believers today. It's a spiritual relationship, of course, because the Lord is in glory at the moment, but the relationship is the same. Well, our Lord reacts to the news that Lazarus is sick in quite a remarkable way. He's some distance from Bethany at this time. He's not even in Judea. He is elsewhere. But he makes a statement, and it's in verse 4. He says, it's when Jesus heard this, he said, this sickness of Lazarus is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now, the disciples misunderstood that both ways. Part of what they misunderstood was of course this sickness is not unto death. They took it at face value and that seemed to imply that Lazarus would not die. The second part of that statement, but for the glory of God and that the Son of God may be glorified through it, it's my contention that they wouldn't have been able to grasp that at all. at this time. But that is what our Lord said to them. Yes, yes. The second part of that, which is, but for the glory of God and the Son of God may be glorified, Effectively, our Lord is saying there, the illness is for the greater glory of God and for the greater glory of the Son of God. That is, of course, the Lord Jesus. That's what he's saying to them. but they wouldn't, I think, have grasped that at all. Now, we know the outcome of all this because, of course, Lazarus was raised from the dead, but they didn't. They knew very little at this time. And to ensure The purpose of his course, that is that the glory of God would be revealed in the way that he dealt with the situation. When Jesus heard this news, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. he didn't go immediately to Judea. And then, after that time, then he said to his disciples, let us go to Judea again. So he was some distance away. And then moving on from there, we'll move to verse 10. I think, yes, yes. No, verse 11. These things, Jesus said, and after that he said to them, our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. Again, those are words which I think sounded rather cryptic to the disciples. So our passage, I suggest to you, is a profound one. A profound one. And as we move our way through it, There are some extremely significant truths here and of eternal consequence for us, for the church. But you will, I think, agree with me that it's put, it's expressed in simple language. language, which we may not see quite the full implication of when we first read it, but it's expressed in simple language. Now that's not always the case in Scripture. There are some things which seem extremely difficult initially to get a grasp on. Peter comments about the writings of Paul, some of Paul's writings and writings elsewhere, though he doesn't comment on those, in some of those there are things hard to understand. That is less so here. The words are short, the situation is directly and effectively explained, and we do certainly get an overall grasp of it pretty quickly. However, whatever we do when we read the Bible, We need to ask the Lord to grant us understanding because sometimes in what seem the simplest passages, what is being taught is very deep indeed, very, very profound. And it's a great blessing that great profundities can be expressed, through our God's grace, in what seem to be simple terms. But we do need our Lord's help. And it's sometimes interesting, you read a commentator and they will say about a passage, Yes, we think it means this, but there is a depth here. So the commentator will say that, you know, I don't think we can fully fathom. And that's a wonderful thing. Wonderful thing. So we need the Lord's help when we read these things. Well, carrying on to where we left off, our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. Now, our Lord is using, may I say here, picture language. Lazarus, of course, is dead at this time and our Lord means that he is dead. To say that our Lord sleeps, sleep was a common way sometimes of describing or implying death. For instance, when Stephen, the martyr of Stephen, when he died, I'll just read it to you. This is how he's stoned to death. Then Stephen kneels down and cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with this sin. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. There's the use of sleep as a word to imply death. And the idea of sleep to imply death is also used in the famous resurrection passage in 1 Corinthians where it talks about those who fall asleep in Jesus. So our Lord Jesus is actually using a common expression to tell his disciples that Lazarus sleeps, that Lazarus has died. But then he continues using that sort of expression to tell them, though they won't realise this at the time, he says, I go that I may wake him up. And that means, as we know from the passage, our Lord knows that Lazarus has died, but that he goes to meet him to ensure that he will rise from the dead. That's Lazarus. Our Lord goes with the expressed purpose of performing the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. But he said to them, he's used this picture language, that Lazarus is asleep, then Jesus goes that he may wake him up. Well, the disciples think, well, he doesn't mean not using sleep in a metaphorical sense. He's using it in an actual sense, what people usually mean when they say, oh, he's gone to sleep, she's gone to sleep. And they say, well, Lord, if he's sleeping, That is good. If he's sleeping, he will get well. And here John writes a sentence to explain the misunderstanding of the disciples. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. So that explains it quite clearly. And then Jesus goes on to say, and he tells them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go with him. Effectively, the purpose of all this, my disciples, is to strengthen your faith. I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. This faith, of course, would be confirmed and strengthened by the miracle of seeing Lazarus raised from the dead by their Lord. And it's an example of our Lord seeking to increase his disciples' faith. Faith absolutely necessary, of course, because without faith it is impossible to please God. So he's training his disciples in the Christian way, isn't he? and he's seeking that they may trust him and know him more and more. Well, we move on now to the conversation with Martha. Lazarus has been in the grave for four days. And that's a long time. So it's at least five days, maybe longer than that, since Jesus had been informed about Lazarus' sickness. As I say, it's a fairly long time. And we find from our passage that many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. These Jews, because it tells us that Bethany was near Jerusalem, and the implication pretty much there is that some of these Jews came from Jerusalem. So they're a well-known family and I think a well-loved family in the area. And when Jesus is approaching, Martha comes out immediately to meet him. Now, that must have been some distance away. They would have been in the house, they would have been mourning, and someone would have said, I tell you, the Lord's coming. We've heard that, or we've seen him some distance away. And Martha immediately leaves the house and walks to meet her Lord. And as she comes to him, she says, very interestingly, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And I think that's fascinating for two things. Firstly is it shows us that she's a woman of faith. She knows that if the Lord had been there, he would have healed Lazarus. That's her assumption. And I think it's correct. And that shows her faith. But I think also there's an implied criticism. You know, he wouldn't have died if you'd been here. And perhaps the suggestion may be, why didn't you come sooner? Lord, why didn't you come immediately? Why have you been longer than we hoped for?' So she displays both, I would argue, her spirituality, her faith, but then also, on the other hand, of course, I think there is a criticism And she goes on to say, and here's her faith coming through, but even now I know that whatever you ask of God, he will give it to you. So she does believe. She has genuine faith and she's placing her trust in the Lord. But our Lord replies, very interestingly, your brother will rise again. Now you have to look at that in the context of what is said. I looked at that initially and thought that was our Lord just saying a truth which was accepted by the Jews, that's the resurrection of the body. But in the light of what he said before that, it seems, I would suggest, that he is effectively saying to her, you know, sort of, I will perform this miracle. I will raise him from the dead. But she doesn't take it like that. She misunderstands it and believes he's saying a truth which was taught in the Old Testament even before the New Testament, that there will be the resurrection of the dead when the Lord returns. Something which is clearly taught in Job, I know that my Redeemer liveth. And that the worms destroy this body, the last day he will stand upon the earth and in my flesh I will see God. Now that was a truth taught in the Old Testament, there for people to see. It's in a number of other places too. A resurrection of the just in the Old Testament but also a general resurrection. And of course it's taught by our Lord in the New Testament. So if she'd believed it before she came to the Lord Jesus and the general resurrection of the dead, it's quite likely that she would have heard his teaching on the resurrection of the dead and taken that to herself. So to our Lord's response, your brother will rise again, she gives an answer, well I know, I know that he will rise again at the resurrection of the last day. Jesus is implying I will raise him from the dead. She thinks it's a general statement and answers almost as if she's answering a catechism. I know that happens. But then something quite remarkable happens. Our Lord declares to her, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the resurrection and the life. Effectively he tells her that he's not merely a human teacher of the resurrection, but effectively, well, as he was, God in the flesh, the enabler, the divine author of all resurrection, whether spiritual or physical, and the fountain of all life. So in her grief, She's concerned with her brother. Our Lord not only tells her, though she doesn't understand, that she will raise Lazarus, but he tells her that he effectively is the Lord God, the God-man, who is the Lord of all resurrection. of all spiritual life. And this is soon to be clearly displayed, of course, in the resurrection of Lazarus. And that's very, very important. This is one of our Lord's great disclosures of himself, and he makes a number of these disclosures. Many of the disciples don't grasp it to begin with. There are a number of the great I Am disclosures, I Am the Door, I Am the Good Shepherd. There's about seven of them. I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life. And they are, of course, absolutely, well, they're God-given and they tell us an awful lot about the various aspects of our Lord's work and character. But sometimes there are particularly individual disclosures to people. Some of these disclosures are really very surprising indeed. And they are disclosures which I would call sort of grace upon grace. to the Lord's, well, special people. Sometimes, I'll give you an example of four. Sometimes you can be quite surprised when the Lord makes a particular disclosure. you'll recollect the woman of Samaria sitting by the well on her own. The implication may be that it was simply because the locals rather looked down on her as immoral and not worthy to mix with. But our Lord in his grace, he reveals to her that he is the Messiah. And that's incredibly special. It's grace upon grace. Likewise, we've been looking at it on a Sunday evening. The Lord asks the disciples who he is and Peter says, you are the Christ, the Son of God. And our Lord commends that. and confirms it. And that, as I say, is very special indeed. It's an aspect of God's, the Lord Jesus' work and his character. which is very special to the people to whom it was made. And as I say, sometimes, even after a particular self-disclosure by the Lord, those to whom it is made misunderstand. We've seen that. with the case of our Lord talking about what he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem and Peter, as our pastor said, rebuking him. So there's Peter with a measure of understanding, but then seeming to lose it all and suggesting something, effectively, which was of Satan. Nevertheless, the disclosure, the self-revelation of Jesus is an act of tremendous mercy and grace. It occurs again, doesn't it, on the Mount of Transfiguration. The Lord goes up the Mount and takes Peter, James and John with him and he's transfigured before them. They see something of his glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son of God. And that's an amazing, amazing privilege. Do you remember in the Old Testament Moses demanded, asked that he might see God's glory and God hid him in a rock and the glory of the Lord passed by. Well here are the disciples being shown the, as I say, having the same experience And of course Peter misunderstands it completely. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't amazingly privileged to see what he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration. And later on he understands it, of course, and realises it as such. Well, here we have this dear mourning woman, mourning with a U, mourning for her brother, coming to the Lord and saying, you know, if you'd been here, Lord, my brother would have been alive. This disciple who has faith and partly understands the Lord Jesus, But nevertheless, the Lord shows this grace in this amazing statement, I am the resurrection and the life. Effectively, he tells her that he's not merely a human teacher of the resurrection, but he's the divine author of all resurrection, whether spiritual and physical, He is the root and fountain of all life. Now that's absolutely profound. That is truth which will draw us to our knees now and will draw us to our knees in glory. And later on when we go further into the passage, this is clearly displayed in the miracle of Lazarus' resurrection, which we don't have time to look at tonight. He's effectively saying to Martha, indeed, I am God with you. I am the fountain of life. I am the cause of the resurrection of the dead. I am the cause of all life for my people. And he applies this, he says this at the end, he who believes in me even though he dies, he shall live. Effectively, he's saying there, all those who turn from their sin, trust solely in his work on the cross as the only sufficient Saviour will rise themselves. not temporarily like Lazarus did. Of course, Lazarus would rise from the dead and then he would die later on when he got old. Of course, he'd go to glory because he was one of the lords. But all those who trust in him will rise not temporarily as Lazarus did from the time that he first died to the time that he second died, But those who trust in him would rise to die no more, to be with Christ forever. And of course, through his own resurrection, his people follow on. So, really, the passage is quite remarkable, quite, quite wonderful. And it's only half a passage, of course, I admit that. But the other half, well, Maud Willing might follow at a later date. But you see just wonderful things in it. The Lord's love for his people, and it's a personal love. He loves you personally. He died for you personally. The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me and he knows you through and through. We know from this that although he didn't come immediately to the home of Mary and Martha, he had a deeper purpose in mind. He was misunderstood, both by his disciples and by Mary and Martha, but the outcome was more glorious than any of them could have hoped for and wished. And we know from the end of this that Jesus revealed wonderful truths about himself, about who he was, and about his character. And spiritually speaking, it's those things, when we open our Bible and we see more of the Lord Jesus, who he is, what he's done, the care he has for his people, it's those things I think that really affect us most and draw our hearts out to him in love and worship. There's a text in Corinthians that believers have seen the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ. And beloved, I think that's the main thing. Anyway we'll turn to our hymn books now if you would please, to the hymn 558, Top Lady's Great Hymn, Rock of Ages Cleft for Me, Let Me Hide Myself in Thee, 558. you Would you be seated, please? Now, we have time for prayer. Are there specific things we need to pray for? I would point out, of course, the services next Sunday. Also, the evangelism in Dudley Street, which is tomorrow at 12 o'clock. And there are a number of our people, I think, who are not well, who haven't seen... And there are others that we haven't seen for some time, but I think we'd dearly like to see again. Please, have you... Any items for prayer you'd... wish to mention? How is Tom Milward getting on? Do we know? Is that so? And nothing specific? Right, well yes. Well we'll come to prayer. I'll commence then and then if you could come in with your prayers. It's lovely to hear you pray, but I'm deaf you know and getting more so. rampant tinnitus, I think that's the word for it, it seems. And some of you will pray beautifully, but if you could just raise your voices up a bit, because oldies like me have a bit of trouble in hearing what you're praying for, and that would be immensely helpful. Right, we'll come before the Lord then, thank you. O Lord God, O you who are the resurrection and the life, be with us now. Help us as we bring our petitions to you, Lord. Help us to bring things to our minds. and help us, Lord, to pray for those who are associated with this place, but also those who are at work further afield. We pray these things for Jesus' sake. Amen.