Lazarus Come Forth!

To our sermon, so let's continue. If you like a title to your messages, today's title is Lazarus Come Forth. Lazarus Come Forth. And if you have your Bibles, I invite you to open them up to the Gospel of John. John chapter 11 is where we'll begin. We're going to begin by reading verses 1 through 16. John 11 verses 1 through 16 as we come to the incredible account of the resurrection back to life of Jesus's dear friend, Lazarus. And we want to come to this moment this morning because in gathering today and in soon gathering together at the Feast of Tabernacles, we are driven together essentially by one doctrine in particular. And that doctrine, of course, is the belief in a future resurrection, not merely a resurrection of those to whom God is calling today, but also we know a future resurrection where all will have the opportunity to come to the one to whom has power over death. That one, everyone at one time, at one opportunity, will come to Jesus Christ who has called himself the resurrection and the life. And we'll actually come to those words in just a moment. And it is the belief that although all will die, all will have the opportunity to live once again. I wonder if you believe that.

My hope today in this study is that in this wonderful story of the raising up of Lazarus, that belief will be confirmed in us. How is it that Lazarus could be dead and rise to life?

Well, it is only by hearing these words come forth that he would rise from the dead, and there's only one that could give such a command. We're going to get to that dramatic command in just a moment, but let's begin this narrative as John gives it to us here. John 11 verse 1. Here it is. John writes, 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 Jesus' feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

Therefore the sisters sent to him, that's sent to Jesus, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. Verse 4. 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 Mary and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was sick, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he, Jesus, stayed two more days in the place where he was. Then after this, after those two days, he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone you, and you're going there again?

But Jesus answered, are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone 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, after that he said to them, our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. Verse 12, then his disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps, he'll get well.

However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought he was speaking about taking a rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him. Then Thomas, I love Thomas, who is called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go that we may die with him.

All right, let's stop. Boy, there's so much there, isn't there? And before we begin to dig in, I think we should remind ourselves of a few fundamental aspects, one being such as to the truth as to why John even wrote his gospel. Do you know why John wrote the gospel full of miracles, full of signs, full of wonders? The reason John wrote this narrative of what we just read and all the other wonders is for the primary fact that those who would read these words or those who would hear of these things, that the result would be that they would believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and that by believing, they would have life in his name.

That's the overarching purpose. In fact, let me show you that. We're just going to take a quick side journey. If you want to keep your marker here, let's turn over to John 20 and verse 30 and 31. We want to establish a few things here at the beginning of this narrative that will help us in this narrative. John 20 verses 30 and 31. We'll come back to John 11 in just a moment, but here's the purpose statement as to why John wrote about all the miracles, such as the one that we're coming to today.

John 20 verse 30 and 31, the purpose statement here, John says, and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not even written in this book. But these, John says, these which are written, they are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

Let's stop there. So in turning back to John 11, we understand the purpose that this miracle is recorded. It's so that we will see a miracle and hear a miracle like this, and the end result would be that we'll believe, and that that belief will then turn into the opportunity to have a life in the one that we believe in, you see.

So John records this here in John 11, this event of the raising up of Lazarus for that very purpose. In fact, if you look at John 11 verse 15, it helps us make sense of statements like this. John 11 verse 15, Jesus says, I'm glad for your sakes that I wasn't there that you may believe. So I'm glad I wasn't even near Lazarus to take care of the situation. I'm glad I wasn't there so that you may believe, he says. Again, the inherent purpose of all these miracles and wonders and signs is to bring about belief in the hearts and minds of the men and women who come to them so they will believe. So in giving ourselves to this miracle, we need to start with that foundation. All right, so let's dig in. Verse 1, let's establish some of the narrative here in the storyline. Verse 1, we see the one to whom this miracle revolves. Of course, it's a man by the name of Lazarus. He's from Bethany. He's from this town where his sisters reside. Mary and Martha, you know who these sisters are, right? John reminds us that, of course, Mary was the one who anointed Jesus with oil and wiped her hair on his feet. Do you remember that? So it's that same sister group here, and they are the sisters of Lazarus. He moves quickly on to the poor health situation of Lazarus. Verse 3 is detailed in the letter that the sisters write to Jesus. Verse 3, they write to him, Lord, behold, he whom you love, speaking of Lazarus, is sick. So they had such a closeness with Jesus here, right? They don't even mention Lazarus's name. That's kind of interesting. Just by simply writing, the sisters writing, the one whom you love, Jesus, is sick, they know that speaks to the closeness of Jesus to this family.

He would know who they were speaking of.

And also, maybe what's interesting, they don't even ask him to come and heal him. So they don't even beseech him, saying, well, Jesus, would you come quickly and heal him? That may also speak to their understanding of how much Jesus loved, not only themselves, but loved Lazarus here. Simply just saying a word, Lord, behold, the one you love is sick here. And they didn't even have to beseech Jesus to come. Inherent in that love would be an understanding that Jesus would come immediately and would respond.

And by the way, where does our confidence lie when we beseech God the Father through Jesus Christ, when we petition him through our letters, if you will, our verbal letters, prayers? Where does our confidence lie that he will respond to us? Well, we know how much he loves us, right? So it's the same. We send our, quote, letters to God, our petitions. With the same confidence, he'll respond. So certainly a lesson for us in that. Notice how Jesus responds here. This is going to be a crucial understanding for us to get here. And to begin to get here. Verse 4, when Jesus heard, he said, the sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, this sickness is for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified through it. All right? Think about that. So allow your mind to grasp that. This sickness, he associates the sickness, is for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified through it. You know, so he says the sickness is not unto death. We know the sickness was unto death, right? You can read the narrative and we know Lazarus died. So what does this mean?

I think we can confidently say that what Jesus is saying is, what I want you to know, loved ones, his disciples to whom he was speaking, the ultimate conclusion about what you're about to witness, what you're about to see, the ultimate conclusion is not that Lazarus was sick and that he died.

Rather, what you're about to see in this is that the ultimate conclusion is that God is glorified and the Son of God is glorified.

That should begin to expand your brain a little bit here and make some personal applications with regards to your sickness. I don't want to take too many side journeys. I promise this is the last one we take before we really dig into this narrative here, but we're kind of establishing the foundation here, which is going to be important for us to understand this miracle. Let's take one more with regards to this deep understanding of associating sickness and trial with the glorification of God. Keep your marker here in Luke 11. Let's turn back to John 9 verses 1 through 3. We just want to rest a little bit here for a moment with regards to this God's glory and his works being revealed through the trials, through the sicknesses that we have. I wonder if you ever connected those two things with regards to your life today. Look at John 9 verses 1 through 3.

John 9 verses 1 through 3. Now, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. We sang that in the hymn just a minute ago. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind? And Jesus answered, Neither this man nor the parents sinned, here it is, but his blindness, and speaking of that, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. Let's stop there. So you understand what Jesus is saying here. The ultimate significance of the blind man's blindness is not even in the fact that the blind man will see again.

The ultimate significance in Lazarus's death is not necessarily in that he lives again. The ultimate significance, the ultimate conclusion of it all, is to be to the glorification of God and that his works would be seen through the sickness and the trials.

And at the risk of stating the obvious, it is the significance of your life. Everything that you go through in your life, this is the significance of all the sickness, all the trials that you go through, all of it. Blind, sick, whatever it is, the significance is not what happens in our life or even in our death. Just as true in Lazarus's life and death, it is all to be to the glorification of God. And the significance of all of it is that his God's work would be seen in us through it and that God is glorified in the end.

Are the totality of our life, the life of a first fruit, is to glorify God in this lifetime, every bit of it. And so that's why you can pray, God be merciful, but I'm here, here I am. Use me as a living sacrifice. I want to give you myself as a living sacrifice. I want my life to glorify you, whatever it is. Be merciful to me, but I am here to glorify you. By the way, until the day when God will share his glory with us after his son's return. So you understand, we glorify him fully in this lifetime, but just wait. There is a day coming and we saw Jesus pray that in the garden where he says, Father, the glory that we share, let's share it with them. You can't even imagine that time. We can't out give God, right? And it's not why we do it. It's not why we glorify him, but that's wonderful to think about, isn't it? So it resets our purpose. I've said this before, that's why when you go through a health struggle or trial, our first prayer should not automatically be, take this from me.

If you understand what we're laying down here, your first part of your prayer should be, okay, Father, this is really bad. Ultimately, I want you to be glorified through it. So help me respond to it in a way they will see your works through me. And then, if it's your will, take this from me, right? Be merciful to me. So you don't have to, it's not to the, you still have that part of that prayer to heal me, bless me, remove this from me, but this really re-establishes our whole focus on what we go through. And I got to tell you, here's the reason that I took so long to do that, because you have to understand all of that when you come to understand verse 4. So John 11 verse 4, if you don't understand everything we just said, you will not understand verse 4. John 11 verse 4, we see that when Jesus heard the one he loves is sick, Jesus said, when he heard this, this sickness is not unto death, but the glorification, but that God, excuse me, for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. And then verse 5 comes to us in 6 and 7, and he says, verse 6, so when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days where the place he was. And then he says, okay, let's go. How could you make any sense of that without understanding what we just laid out in the last five minutes? The one he says that he loves is sick, and Jesus waits two more days.

How do we understand that? We should read in this narrative, he immediately rushes off to Lazarus to heal him, right? That's not what he says. How do we understand this? It's in knowing the ultimate conclusion that's to be achieved. What's the great lesson? The great lesson is when we have prayed and put forth our desires to God through Jesus Christ, when we've been on our prayer, our knees, bowed our head, and asked for, when we have asked for rescue or healing, once we laid it upon him, once we've written that letter, we must not judge God's response in light of how we should respond.

Sometimes the ways of God are mysterious, and his delays are mysterious, right? This would have been a mysterious thing for them. Here, the disciples, they see Jesus read this letter, and he waits two more days. God moves in mysterious ways. As you do not know what the way of the wind is, or you do not know how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who makes everything. That's Ecclesiastes 11. Ecclesiastes 11. I won't have you repeat it, but it would be a good thing to repeat in your mind's voice. I do not know the works of God who makes everything. His ways are mysterious, right? Do not judge God on our own understandings, whatever might be his delay. What do we know? God loves us. He loves us, and so all of our letters we speak to him are based on the foundation of his love. He's in control, and his delays may be to reveal his works and his glory. His delays may be to reveal his works and his glory, the glory that we will one day share with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Mary and Martha are about to be witness to all these things. So let's go back to Judea.

This is what Christ's words are there here in this narrative. John back to John 11.

The disciples do not understand what's happening. So in verse 8, fear, the darkness of fear enters their hearts. John 11 verse 8. Rabbi, isn't that where the Jews sought to stone you? And you're going to go there again? So there's fear welling up in their hearts.

Self-perseverance here, I'm sure, because they know if Jesus goes back, well, that means they're going back too, right? You see them push back a little bit here. You know, Jesus, I don't think this is unto death. He's just sick. He'll get better again, they will later say. And then, of course, I love, again, like I mentioned, Thomas, well, let's go. I guess we'll go and we'll all die. Let's all go together and die. And again, this is the darkness of fear. It's the darkness of doubt. That's what Jesus speaks about here in verse 9 and 10. You know, he might be speaking about the wisdom of physically traveling in the day versus physically traveling at night. Of course, you stumble more at night, right? That's what he speaks about there in verse 9 and 10. But I think this is really what Jesus is concerned about is the darkness of doubt here.

They didn't know that the light of the world was with them, right? So they were stumbling in their hearts and minds. Nevertheless, despite all the hesitations, Jesus plainly says there in verse 14, Lazarus is dead. Seeing all this doubt, he says, I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let's go to him. So they did. They found the tomb, verse 17. When they arrived, Lazarus had already been dead four days. Verse 18, now Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles away. Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. These mourners may have been sincere, but they were actually professional mourners back then for these certain kind of circumstances.

So he'd already been in the tomb four days. Perhaps it took a day for word to get to Jesus. Jesus waits two days despite it only being a couple of miles away. Perhaps Jesus made his way back in a day. Here's the four days here.

So I don't even know, you know, even if Jesus hadn't delayed, I don't think he would have arrived in time, you know, if Lazarus had already been dead. You know, four days at this point. And as an interesting side note, perhaps there was even more reason to wait an additional two days. There was an odd, erroneous, and not correct belief that the Jews had at that time. They actually believed when someone died, that individual's soul hovered over the body for three days. Again, kind of a weird, superstitious, erroneous belief, of course. So from the Jewish perspective, always on the fourth day, their grief reached the highest level. Because at that time, they believed under their erroneous beliefs, all hope is gone. Well, the soul is already gone now, you know, it was gone at day three, you know. So perhaps Jesus, even knowing some of those odd beliefs, it would now punctuate all that was about to occur in the belief that he wanted to instill in their hearts. So there was no possibility in all of their minds that Lazarus was coming back. So many of the Jews, verse 19, had joined the women around Mary and Martha to comfort them concerning their brother. And now the narrative switches on to Martha. So John begins to write specifically about Martha. It's almost like a camera lens. Now, it focuses on this sister, Martha, verse 20. Now, Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went out to meet him. But Mary was sitting in the home. So this was true to Mary's nature, always bustling around, always on the go. Now, Martha said to Jesus, verse 21, 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 you. Jesus said to her, Martha, your brother will rise again. And Martha said to him, verse 24, I know that he will rise again at the resurrection at the last day. And Jesus said to her, Martha, I am the resurrection in the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Do you believe this, Martha? So she said to him, yes, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ and the Son of God who has come into the world. Let's stop there for a moment. Again, this lines up with Mary's, with Martha's nature here. We remember in the other account that when Jesus had entered into their house, it was Martha who was scurrying around to take care of all the hospitality concerns there. So word reaches Martha. She's out immediately. Approaches Jesus. Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Yeah, I don't even know at this time if she even greeted Jesus at this time. Perhaps she just comes out with that. It sounds like a rebuke, doesn't it? I've always thought it was a rebuke. Over the years, I've thought maybe not, maybe not. Could we actually read this as a declaration of faith? Perhaps she runs up to Jesus, embraces him, and into his shoulder utters these words, Lord, if you had been here, if you'd only been here, I know he would have been alive.

In fact, I still know you could give a word to God and it will be done. Perhaps a declaration of faith. I do know it is indicative of incredible sorrow. There's just incredible grief with Martha here. But even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. I wonder if she believed that.

She might have believed it in that moment, but I'll tell you a little bit later in the narrative, unbelief is on full display in Martha. If you just go down to verse 39, just to go forward in the narrative real quick, Jesus says, take away the stone. In Martha, verse 39, says, Lord, by this time, there is a stench because he's been dead for four days. Why would you take away that stone, in other words? So I know you can do anything. Don't even bother taking away that stone. Why would you do that? It just causes more grief to see my brother that way.

She did have some belief here. If you look at verse 24, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day. Think about the emotional rollercoaster that all this shows that Martha was on. Belief, unbelief, sorrow, hope, all that's there.

Just a sense of hopelessness is overshadowing it all, though, here.

This convicted my heart recently. In my position, I have the duty and the task and the privilege to be a representative to anoint people. Call upon the elders when you're sick.

It's not me. It's just my prayer as God ordained it, the pattern by which He wants us to do as for the healing, do the anointing on the individual. Sometimes in my heart, I don't know if I truly have an expectation with certain sicknesses for immediate healing. Sometimes, in my humanity, I will even have words that say, one day after Christ's return in the Millennial period, the lame will dance and the blind will see. But like Martha, I almost sometimes fall into the realm of, yeah, one day, yeah, I know He'll rise in the last day, but she had no expectation of God performing a miracle in that moment. I sometimes have to check myself, where is my expectations? Where are your expectations that God still heals today? Today! Yes, comprehensive healing is coming on the other side of all this, but there is healing today. I don't ever want to fall into the trap that I limit God through my lack of belief. So we want to humbly, boldly ask for God to heal us today fully and believe it. Then we package our petitions always with, your will be done, because we don't know what God's will is. And it might be healing now, it might not be healing until the ultimate healing comes, but man, I don't see, hearing Martha say these words, it was a real conviction to myself. I want to have belief in whatever God brings about, and I want to have an expectant heart in these matters, because I want these words to come home to my heart. I hope you do too. In verse 25, in a matter of words, he's saying, Martha, do you know who I am? Let me remind you who I am. Jesus says, verse 25, I am the resurrection, and I am the life, the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. And here's the question for us all today. Do you believe this? Do you believe this? Do you believe who I claim I am, he says? And wow, it is not I am the one who furnishes life, or I am the one who enacts resurrection, it is I am the resurrection and the life. I don't even know what those words mean. I don't know the fullness of those words mean. Perhaps you could rest in those words this week, and I can rest in them, or just to somehow, I don't even know if you could put into words what that means. You know, the difference between I bring about resurrection and I bring about life versus I am the resurrection and I am the life. What does that extra level of depth of truth mean to us today?

We could pray that God would give us a depth of understanding on that today. I am the source, I am the cause, I am the fountain of life. And because Jesus is alive, you and I may live as well. I hope you believe this today. What power did Lazarus have in and of himself to come forth? None. None. What power do we have to come forth when Jesus Christ returns? None of him by ourselves. So we have to have the resurrection and the life in his Father living in us to bring that about. Now, we begin to finish. We get to the climax of the moment here, this incredible event in verses 28 through 44. So let's just read it together. Verses 28 through 44, here's the climatic moment of it all. As I read this, see what comes to mind. Perhaps write a word, perhaps underline what sticks out to you in this moment. Verses 28, and when she had said these things, she went her way, this is Martha, and secretly called to Mary her sister, saying, the teacher has come and is calling for you. So perhaps Martha didn't want the whole group of mourners coming. They ended up coming anyway. And by the way, perhaps that line will mean something to you. You could ponder on that. Apply this to your life. Imagine this being spoken to you. The teacher has come and is calling for you. That could be a whole sermon in and of itself. I know each of you here today, those of you who are baptized, has had that phrase spoken to you. You yourself, that calling. Verse 29, as soon as she heard that, Mary quickly arose and came to him. Jesus had not yet come to the town. He was on his way, but was in a place where Martha met him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house and comforting her. Unfortunately, maybe, when they saw that Mary rose up, quickly went out with her, followed her, saying, she's going to the tomb to weep there. I think it's good that they came with her. They're about to be witnesses of something remarkable here. Verse 32, Then when Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him the same phrase as her sister, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. A quick homework lesson. Find out in Scripture how many times Mary falls at the feet of Jesus. We know she's at the feet of Jesus with the oil. I think there's actually two more times from remembering right, maybe one or two more times, which you find her in the posture at the feet of Jesus. Pretty interesting. I think one other time is after the tomb, after the empty tomb moment. She again has that posture. I think this was not a rebuke. I think this phrase was a gesture of faith. Oh, Lord, if you'd only been here, our brother would not have died. Verse 33, Then when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

There's one other time in which Jesus groaned in his spirit and was troubled, and I'll tell you about that in a moment. And he said, I think there is some indignation in this phrase, where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see.

Right after this groaning, John records the fact that Jesus, verse 35, 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? Confusion there. Then Jesus again groaning in himself came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone laid against it. And Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, we reference this, the sister of the one who was dead said to him, Lord, Lord, by this time there's a stench for he's been dead four days.

You know, kind of a public declaration of doubt might have contributed to Jesus's groaning. Might have contributed to Jesus's groaning. Jesus said to her, verse 40, did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God, then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, you know, this is a public declaration here, 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. Now, when he said these things, he cried with a loud voice. I can't imagine this. Lazarus, come forth! And when he who died came out bound, hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth, Jesus said to them, lose him and let him go. Let's stop there.

What a moment here. You know, again, we have the whole mixture of some faith, some doubt, grief, hopelessness, just embodying the sisters, embodying all these mourners there. And so, beginning in verse 33, where we read, Jesus now comes to confront this moment. And essentially, what he's coming forward to confront is death. He is confronting death in this moment. So he's confronted with the one he loves, Mary and Martha. They're crying. The mourners' cries are entering into Jesus's ears. He looks out upon this group, verse 33, and he groans in his spirit and is troubled here. The Greek word for groaning in his spirit and troubled, it actually has this imagery of the snorting of a horse. If any of you have been around horses, you will know what that means. You ever had a horse with that deep snort that they do sometimes? Sometimes they bring up their their hoof at the same time. There's a troubling there of the horse, and there's a deep snort here. Same connotation. Gut-wrenching, groaning. And this is how John is portraying Jesus. And there's one other moment in Scripture in which Jesus has this deep guttural reaction. And it's the moment in which Jesus is telling the people, someone here is going to betray me just before his crucifixion. Someone who has walked with me to whom I've taught, to whom I've loved and was a friend to, is going to betray me. That same troubling of spirit is now that same emotion is coming forth in Jesus Christ here. And he looks out at this moment. Where have you laid him? Lord, come and see. He approaches. And at the climax of all of this, verse 35, it says, John records the shortest verse in all the Bible. Jesus wept. How do you encapsulate the Son of God, the creator of the universe, weeping? How do you put that into words?

That words fail us to try to grab a hold of that expression of our Savior in this moment. Why did he weep? He didn't weep because Lazarus was dead. He was about to bring him back to life. That's not difficult for Jesus, right? Why did he weep?

Well, perhaps Jesus Christ stands the Savior, the creator of the universe. He stands here at this sealed tomb, hearing the hopeless cries. He's now faced with death. Death, by the way, the last enemy to be destroyed. And deep within him, of all that doubt and fear and hopelessness, he snorts, uh, confronted with death, confronted with that which has had its grip on humanity. Death.

And he now stands as one who has come to deal with death, and he's come to deal with the sting of death, once and for all. And he sees all of its darkness, all of its destruction, and in that moment, he weeps. But I'll tell you, he doesn't weep as a helpless bystander. He weeps because he shares and sympathizes with what we go through.

But very quickly, he would wipe that tear because he now stood ultimately as the one who was going, who has come to destroy death. He is the death conqueror, not as a helpless bystander. His glories now we sing, who died and rose on high, who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

I ask that we make that song our last hymn today. We're going to sing those words in a moment. So here we are. This is the ultimate symbolic and reality of death dying. We know the reality would come when Jesus Christ himself would rise. Verse 43, he comes to these things. He cried out aloud with a loud voice. Lazarus comes forth, verse 43. Lazarus comes out bound hand and foot. Grave clothes, face still wrapped in a cloth. Jesus says, lose him and let him go. Come forth here. What a command here. And take those grave cloths clothes off of him.

I hope you know this is exactly what's going to occur at Christ's return. He's going to give us these same words, and his voice is going to reach out into those graves. And he's going to tell us to come forth.

Same words, and we'll conclude with those words now.

As we conclude with our message today, I want to read these words to you, because I want you to take everything we've heard of this miracle, this wonder, and I want you to look forward and know this is the reality that's going to occur to you by God's grace through faith. We will hear these words once again. John 5—John records these same words—John 5, verse 25 through 29. These words we'll conclude today. John 5, verse 25 through 29. I hope this wonder, this miracle, was produced in you, belief, greater belief, so that one day you will have life. Here it is, John 5, verse 25 through 29. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live, just like Lazarus. Verse 26, John 5, verse 26. For as the Father has life in Himself, He's also granted the Son to have life in Himself, and He has given Him authority to execute judgment, also because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this. Verse 28. For the hour is coming, in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and hear the words, Come forth, come forth. And we know that those words will come first to those first fruits, and one day there's going to come after those thousand years, a judgment period in which God will give those who aren't called in this life, that command as well, and they'll have their opportunity in that time of judgment period.

So, you see now, I see, the picture given to us in the death of Lazarus is actually a picture of a promise of what is to come. And I'm here to tell you on the strength of Scripture, the Teacher has come and He calls for you now, today. And if you will hear Him, and if you will respond to His call, one day at His return, you will hear this command as well. And He's going to say, take those grave clothes off of her. Lose Him. I think that command to lose Him, lose her and let them go, that's a command to death. Death, you can no longer have a stronghold, a hold on my children. I command you to lose Him and let Him go and let them live. Let them live. And one day, if we persevere to the end, we will hear these words and we will rise to live with Him forever.