 The title of our sermon is believe to the glory of God believe to the glory of God John's intention in writing the gospel of John is to reveal to us Jesus as the Christ the promised Messiah the Son of God God the Son who has come to save his people from their sins and he is Intending to reveal him as the Christ so that you and I would believe in him And have eternal life And we've seen as we work through the gospel of John so far. We've seen the Lord's power revealed We've seen the Lord's wisdom revealed his compassion his grace his mercy We've seen his oneness with the father We've seen his redemptive purpose. We've seen his righteous indignation as he cleared out the temple We've learned so much about the Lord and that's John's intention John wants to reveal to us Jesus as the Christ the Son of God that believing in him Putting our faith and trust in him. We would have life eternal Now we've seen throughout the gospel account how Jesus testifies with his words and then he affirms with his works That he is the Christ and the works during his earthly ministry ministry were numerous and his works are Glorious they are Inarguable proof of his messianic credentials John would later say that there are so many things that Jesus did Which if they were written one by one I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written now of those many works Many works innumerable works of those many signs that he did the Holy Spirit in the gospel of John specifically chooses Signs or works to include here Various miracles to record and the bulk of those miracles are recorded here in John chapters 2 through John chapter 12 in a section that many have called the book of signs It's called the book of signs because these signs these works or miracles all point to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ Now in building to a glorious Climax these miracles or signs of his earthly ministry culminate here with the Lord Jesus Christ raising a man named Lazarus from the dead and this even a foreshadowing of the Ultimate miracle which is Jesus Christ himself being raised from the dead and the viewpoints Concerning Jesus are becoming more and more polarized as he continues to preach and perform miracles many in Jerusalem at this time Are hard-hearted they are steeled in unbelief while many as we saw last week beyond the Jordan believe in him the start contrast This start contrast is the setting in which Jesus Christ raises Lazarus from the dead Believers are going to be added as the Lord performs this miracle and yet There are going to be others who become more and more hostile and as we'll see as we work through this text this text will eventually become or this event this miracle will eventually become the impetus if you will for those in Jerusalem who opposed him to put him to death the raising of Lazarus Indisputably points to Jesus Christ as the Son of God However raising of Lazarus also fear further infuriates the opposition You think about it. It's just like Pharaoh right just like Pharaoh Before the devastating judgment miracles of God in Egypt Just like Pharaoh the Jews are going to harden their hearts and unbelief in verse 47 They'll even call a council to decree his death, and they will eventually murder their Messiah It's a great difference isn't it a great contrast the question becomes where are you on either side of that great chasm What side are you on this morning? There's no middle ground. This is black or white There's no middle ground. You're either for him or against him, right? You're either for him or you scattered abroad There is no middle ground Are you with a hard-hearted Jews in Jerusalem against him in your unbelief in your apathy in your indifference? Are you on that side of the chasm? Remember the Jews in Jerusalem those that oppose him are obsessively religious Are you just playing religion this morning? Or are you following? Fervently the Lord Jesus Christ in faith Those in Jerusalem are religious hypocrites Are you one of those or are you one who follows Christ who lives for Christ by faith in him? If Jesus Christ has the power and the authority to raise Lazarus from the dead Then the Lord Jesus Christ has the power and has the authority to grant Eternal and everlasting life to those who will turn from their sin and put their faith in him You are going to die But listen Jesus Christ has conquered death He is the resurrection and the light And the Lord Jesus Christ has the power and has the authority to raise Lazarus from the dead If he has the power in the authority to raise Lazarus from the dead Then he has the power in the authority to grant you eternal life put your faith and Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ glorify God and believe in him John's account of these events begin in chapter 11 verse 1 Where the Bible reads now a certain man was sick Lazarus of Bethany the town of Mary and her sister Martha And it was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother Lazarus Was sick verse 1 begins with a certain man was sick central impersonal But Jesus Lazarus Mary and Martha all knew each other very well if you remember turn with me to Luke chapter 10 if you remember Luke chapter 10 The Lord was making his way through Judea When he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem in Luke chapter 10 He sends out the seventy disciples two by two into the cities ahead of him and they come back Having served the Lord and they come back rejoicing right and he meets a certain lawyer in Luke chapter 10 teaches in the parable of the Good Samaritan and Then he spent some time in a certain village with a certain woman and her sister look at Luke chapter 10 beginning at verse 38 Now it happened as they went Then he entered a certain village and a certain woman noticed a similarity of language there Don't you a certain village and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house And she had a sister called Mary who also sat at Jesus's feet and heard his word But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached him and said Lord Do you not care that my sister has let me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me and Jesus answered and said to her Martha Martha You are worried and troubled about many things But one thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her The relationship begins here in Luke chapter 10 and so Jesus and Martha and Mary and Lazarus all knew each other well So back in John chapter 11 verse 1 We learn that Lazarus now the brother of Martha and Mary is sick Lazarus is an abbreviated form of the name Eleazar which means God helps God's gonna help Lazarus here in this section of scripture But Lazarus Mary and Martha all live in Bethany It's one of a couple of Judean cities with the same name and this one just a short distance from Jerusalem It's about two miles along the road to Jericho if you went east from Jerusalem across the book Kidron around the Mount of Olives You'll hit the town of Bethany the little village of Bethany, and that's where Mary and Martha and Lazarus live then John Offers an explanation of who Mary is in verse 2 look at verse 2 with me Mary was a very common name But this particular Mary and her particular story would have been Obviously and commonly known to the people John and others were telling her story And so John uses her story. We're gonna get to that story in the next chapter But John uses her story as a way of identifying her here. He says in verse 2. It was that Mary Who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother Lazarus was sick Look at John chapter 12 And look at verse 1 here John writes then six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus who had been dead whom he had raised from the dead There they made him a supper and Martha served but Lazarus was was one of those who sat at the table with him Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spark spike nerd Anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil So in John chapter 11 verse 2 the Lord identifies Mary by that act that we'll get to it's a beautiful story We're gonna see that as we work verse by verse through the gospel of John So in this now between Luke here in John and the account with Mary we see how Interconnected Jesus was with these people with Mary and Martha and Lazarus so much so that the sisters Reach out and contact the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 3 with serious news about Lazarus And in their statement to him you get a sense of the relationships that they had how close they were with one another It's also clear from the statement that they felt loved by the Lord Jesus Christ look at verse 3 Therefore the sisters sent to him saying Lord Behold he whom you love is sick by the word Lord there Not quite yet used the way that we would use that term of the Lord Jesus Christ Having the blessing of progressive revelation. We know that the Lord here is the Lord of glory right the Lord of lords the king of kings Worthy of glory honor and power But Mary and Martha would come To clearly understand what this title means however in verse 3 they use it more like a title of respect He's their master and they are his disciples. They might have used the term rabbi or the term teacher as well as we come to verse 4 We see the Lord's intention behind the miracle that encompasses chapter 11 We see the point then of our entire text In verse 4 when Jesus heard that he said This sickness is not unto death But for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified through it Now because of his sickness Lazarus is going to physically die But his sickness isn't unto death in any ultimate sense Because his sickness is ultimately unto resurrection and life Jesus Christ is going to raise Lazarus from the dead This is a glorious miracle Now in verse 4 as we prepare for the Lord Jesus Christ to perform this miracle and raise Lazarus from the dead That resurrection in life has a three-part purpose It has a three-part purpose that we begin to see in verse 4 The first part of that purpose in verse 4 It's for the glory of God Now let's think about that for a moment not primarily That God would be praised for the miracle that's certainly going to take place, but that's not the primary meaning here It's not primarily that God would be worshiped for the miracle He certainly will be but that's not primarily what's being spoken of here in verse 4 It's primarily for the purpose that God's glory Would be revealed through the miracle. Do you see the difference? Now it demonstrates or displays his power It demonstrates or displays God's sovereignty over life and death The purpose for which Jesus will raise Lazarus from the dead is to reveal To display for us the glory of God a second God's glory is nowhere more preeminently revealed than in his own son the lord jesus christ God's glory is most Splendidly wondrously displayed In his own son the lord jesus christ And because god the father seeks to glorify god the son the second purpose for raising Lazarus from the dead in verse 4 Is so that the son of god may be glorified through it So god the father now in revealing his own glory Glorifies god the son God the son in doing the work that the father has given him to do in raising Lazarus from the dead Glorifies god the father jesus said in john chapter 5 verse 23 that the father's intention For The miracle there and all of his miracles is so that all should honor the son Just as they honor the father So the purpose for which jesus christ will raise Lazarus from the dead is so that the father may glorify the son In revealing him as the christ the promised messiah the son of god incidentally We can take from verse 4 That god the father god the son and god the holy spirit are glorified when they are revealed for who they are They're revealed in their glory So think about it If the glory of the lord jesus christ is revealed in his work to raise Lazarus from the dead Then how much more is his glory revealed in his work at the cross and dying for sinners It's why the the cross we think of as where god the father Glorifies god the son at the cross. He is revealed as the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world Right. He's revealed as the sacrifice for sinners And at the cross. He is most glorified the cross is the supreme display of the glory of the son of god And he is glorious in our sight amen Now one in raising Lazarus from the dead god reveals his own glory two In raising Lazarus from the dead god glorifies jesus as the christ the son of god And the third purpose for this miracle is so that as the lord says down in verse 15 So that you may believe that you may believe that jesus is the christ the son of god and at believing you may have life in his name God doesn't have to reveal his glory to us does he But he chooses to Paul says he's not worshiped with men's hands as though he needed anything God didn't have to send jesus christ into the world to die But he did And he did so that you and i would believe in him and have eternal life in his name The third purpose for which jesus will raise Lazarus from the dead is revealed in verse 15 where jesus says I am glad for your sakes that i was not there So that you may believe He's speaking there to his disciples. We know that the faith of his disciples was strengthened In witnessing this miracle We know that the faith of mary and martha and lazarus was Grounded and rooted and established and strengthened by this miracle And we know From our text that many will come to believe in him as a result of the miracle I'm glad for your sakes. Jesus says that I was not there that you may believe So mary martha and lazarus are in bethany Think about their circumstances for a moment. The sisters are desperate Right, they love their brother lazarus Lazarus is terribly sick Terribly sick. He's sick to the point of death Those are his circumstances That's where they're at The purpose that governs these circumstances is the revelation of the glory of god I want you to I want you to let this sink in as we talk through this The purpose of this trial that lazarus and his sisters are enduring Is so that the son of god would be glorified in it The purpose is further expanded In the fact that the lord jesus christ in revealing his glory as the son of god Intends to strengthen their faith and to save others Verse 45 that many of the jews who had come to mary and had seen the things that jesus did believed in him What can we take from this? horrendous circumstances desperate circumstances God's purpose governing these circumstances listen God intends to use your circumstances in the same way And for the same purpose God intends to use your circumstances. It may be to strengthen some It may be to save others It's certainly going to be to grow and to mature you If you're in christ, it is certainly to conform you into the image of his son who was made himself perfect through suffering God intends to use your circumstances In verse four the sickness is not unto death The sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of god that the son of god may be glorified through it The trial Is not unto despair But for the glory of god the adversity Is not unto discouragement But that the son of god may be glorified through it. Do you see The hardship is not unto faithlessness The busy schedule Is not unto disobedience The marriage Is not unto strife or contention or divorce The relationship Is not unto suspicion or bitterness The singleness Is not unto loneliness The job Is not unto complaining The difficulties you face in the church are not unto fleeing The liberty is not unto licentiousness The desires are not unto worldliness The life lived is not unto self The circumstances you face are certainly not and ultimately not unto you But for the glory of god that the son of god may be glorified through them. Do you see And So that some of you may be strengthened And so that others of you may be saved So that you may believe So that you may believe that god is sovereign over your sickness So that you may believe that god builds faith through the trial So that you may believe that god is your comfort in adversity That god is your provision in hardship That god is to rule and reign over your schedule That god builds character through perseverance That god gives peace when you love one another That god gives joy when you find your sufficiency in him That god gives contentment when you are grateful That god esteems holiness in his people That god is our portion that god is our hope that god is the very breath of our lives and the very purpose of our being That god alone is worthy of all praise honor and worship and glory To god be the glory forever and ever amen Here's how you apply that truth I want you to consider for a moment how you handle difficulty How you handle trial. What are you going through right now? What are you dealing with? How are you handling? difficulty Here's how you apply that truth You stop grumbling and complaining You stop grumbling and complaining You work out your salvation in that circumstance whatever it is Because it is god who has that work in you and he has ordained it In fear and trembling You see to it that you glorify god in that circumstance rather than attempting to glorify yourself by complaining and grumbling. You see Stop playing the victim to a busy schedule Stop being disobedient or unfaithful and using your big busy schedule or anything else for that matter as an excuse Work out your salvation among the many demands of this life Because it is god Who is at work in you and he must be preeminent In fear and in trembling See to it that you glorify god by seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness Rather than attempting to glorify yourself and acting like you know best how to manage your own life Have you ever thought that The purpose of a busy schedule Might be so that you will learn to glorify god by getting your priority straight Stop being bitter toward your husband Toward your wife your boss or your brother Work out your salvation in those relationships It is god who is at work in you and he intends for you to love one another In fear and trembling see to it that you glorify god in that relationship by forgiving as you have been forgiven By loving as you have been loved we can go on for days making applications of this right I want you to do that do that for yourself right now What circumstance are you facing? Where are you at? Do that for yourself right now make application You have several circumstances right now truth be known in your life That are blessed opportunities from the lord whereby you may mortify your flesh and glorify him amen Think about what those are don't neglect god in your circumstances. He is sovereign over your circumstances Work it out right now in fear and trembling because it is god who is at work in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure If we think about our lives that way and that that's the way the bible teaches that we should think about our lives and our relationship to him We live by faith and the son of god who died and gave himself for us We live by faith in him. We live and we move and we have our being So to simply say right to simply say I glorify you god is utterly meaningless right? Unless you're actually glorifying him to actually glorify god You would seek to know him As he has revealed himself in in his word So that in accord with that truth that you find in his word about god You can worship him from the heart when you worship him from the heart in spirit and in truth That is glorifying god. Do you see? To glorify god you would seek to conform yourself to his holy character As he has revealed himself in his word. He said be holy For I am holy so to glorify god you would obey his commandment you love as he loves you forgive as he forgives You were created in christ jesus for good works And so you will live to serve him with good works You would seek to conform yourself to his holy character to glorify god You would proclaim him As he has revealed himself in his word you would preach christ and his glory to law centers You would speak of him to your children as you lie down as you rise up and as you walk along the way So how do you display the glory of god in your circumstances? You display the glory of god through words through works and through worship I think about that through your words through your works and through your worship You glorify god through praise Proclamation and your pattern your pattern of living You do that and god will be glorified god will be revealed In all splendor in your own life God is revealed the son of god glorified through it. You will be sanctified and sinners will be saved That's what we see here happening in john chapter 11 The purpose for which jesus christ raises lazarus from the dead is so that god's glory would be revealed The son of god will be glorified through it and so that you may believe Your faith will be strengthened and matured and grown others will come to salvation Take all of that into consideration Take all of that into consideration the glory of god the glory of the son of god The strengthened and matured faith of his disciples The sanctification of his saints the ultimate glorification of his saints Their conformity to their lord The resulting as a result of the trials and the difficulty and the diversity that the lord ordains the resulting perseverance The resulting character right the resulting hope The salvation of sinners think of all that the lord accomplishes In his omnipotence and in his omniscience Taking all of that in consideration. Do you think that god is mean? By putting you through a tough time Right look you put it in that light. It's comical. We can chuckle about that. It's it's foolish to think that right But do we sometimes think that? No god is not mean by putting you through a tough time god is not Heartless or callous or cold-hearted toward you in your trial God is not not uncaring Toward you and what you're going through No god is intimately involved in everything that you're going through John doesn't want you to think that either he makes a point of saying in chapter 11 verse 5 Listen to this Now jesus loved martha and her sister Lazarus The sickness and death and resurrection of lazarus are certainly for the glory of god But it's also for the ultimate good Of martha and mary and lazarus and the disciples and you and i It's ultimately for good There are many who think that in the pages of john chapter 11 here that they find that god is callous and heartless and mean believing that god is good believing that he's merciful and gracious and then trusting him alone for salvation i think about this believing that god is good and gracious and merciful right and then trusting god alone for salvation While entrusting yourself to him in all the circumstances of your life is the very fabric Of genuine saving faith Many simply won't Do that they say they trust him i trust christ i believe in him i'm saved But they're not exercising that day by day Faith that minutes sometimes second by second faith in christ in their lives to obey him And to live for him in their circumstances They'd rather believe that god is mean Maybe they believe that god intends to do them harm Or he intends to make them miserable in a sinful marriage Maybe he intends to oppress them With a hated job or torment them with bad health or god is going to prop them up On a fence post like pharaoh and shoot them down for his own glory And rejoice while they burn in hell It's not what the bible teaches. That's not the god of the bible Romans 8 verse 28 We know that all things work together for good to those who love god to those who are the called according to his purpose Well, someone may retort. Well, how do I know i'm one of the called? Turn from your sin trust christ and you are Some people actually look at verse 6 As proof that christ is mean And some people actually look at verse 6 as evidence that jesus christ is cold hearted that he's callous towards some people Or that he's callous or uncaring in our Need we give verse 6 So when he heard that lazarus was sick He stayed two more days in the place where he was And then they add eor in verse 16 He's gonna die. We might as well die with him. All right And then they add martha In verse 21 lord if you had been here my brother would not have died Or they add mary in verse 32 Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died Or they add some from the crowd in verse 37 Couldn't he have kept this man from dying? All of a sudden you get a bunch of faithless people that somehow believe that jesus christ is cold hearted uncaring or even mean in their trial Some have even implied That it was the lord's fault that lazarus died Think about this now Your suffering Your difficulty that trial that you're facing that hardship It does not mean that the lord jesus christ is uncaring It means exactly the opposite That difficulty that hardship that you're facing Does not mean that jesus christ is callous or oppressive or Sinking to punish you it's exactly the opposite Let me tell you about the truth of verse 6 look at verse 6 Now it begins so when he heard that's the correct translation So when he heard that's correct Verse 5 Says jesus loved martha and her sister and lazarus So when he heard that lazarus was sick verse 6 he stayed two more days Now does that mean that jesus thought to himself right? Lazarus has got the flu so i'm gonna love lazarus from afar No, that's not what that's not what's going on here. He loved them And so he waited His love for them was the motivation for why he waited to go now. Let that sink in for a moment while you're letting that one marinate Follow me While i give you explain it another way in verse 3 Jesus hears that lazarus is sick In verse 6 He waits two more days Right that in verse 11 after those two days He tells them that lazarus has fallen asleep and it's time to go now falling asleep was a euphemism For the fact that lazarus has died All right lazarus is now dead So in verse 17 They finally leave for bethany they arrive there and they find that lazarus has been dead in the tomb for four days Now it was custom Jewish custom to bury a body the day that the person died Burial took place A vast majority of the time on the same day right That means if you put the math together right and you start looking at this figuring this out The lord jesus christ was about four days away Well, we know from john chapter 10 the end of john chapter 10 That the lord jesus christ had gone back to where john was baptizing That's bethany beyond the jordan bethabara or a region known as as bethany bethanea bethanea was about a hundred miles From jerusalem About a hundred miles from jerusalem We know from jewish records that a man could walk about 25 miles a day Well, there you have your four days worth of travel time, right? So lazarus was sick When he got the news in verse three the lord jesus christ said that he was sick The lord waits two days until in verse six He knows that lazarus has now died When he knows in his omniscience that lazarus has died he tells them it's time to go They then travel for four days to get to bethanea, which is just two miles to the east of jerusalem They got there in verse 17 and lazarus has now been dead in a tomb for four days Now think about this for a moment Despite all the accusations against the lord jesus christ here Even if he had left immediately when he got the news lazarus would have still been dead in the tomb for two days right He would have still died So lazarus didn't die because the lord drugged his feet here The lord wasn't being exorbitantly callous Or neglectful or fearful because of the persecution in jerusalem. It was none of those things So what was the purpose of waiting then? Well verse five says he loved them We're gonna put this together verse five He loved them and so verse six he waited the two day delay Was motivated by his love for them his love for his disciples his love for lost people now why why According to the talmud the talmud was a collection of rabbinic writings First century jews believed that the soul Of a deceased person hovers around the body for three days after death They described the soul as being lost or confused and wanting to re-enter the body And they believed that in a three for a three day period That people might resuscitate and the soul would re-enter the body that would come back to life again After the body begins to decay They thought around the fourth day The soul finally departs for good and never returns We know from martha in verse 39 That that decay had begun to set in Martha the sister of him who was raised from the dead said to him lord By this time there's a stench for he has been dead Four days now put it all together then okay put it all together a great trial has befallen Three people that the lord loves that the lord cares for The purpose of the trial is so that god's glory would be revealed So that the son of god christ jesus christ would be glorified through it And so that his disciples would grow in their faith and that others would be saved Now jesus loves them jesus loves them so he's not going to let some silly superstition Rob them of this tremendous blessing So he waits long enough to in arguably demonstrate that he is the resurrection and the life And in the process he cultivates the faith of his disciples He firmly grounds and roots and establishes the faith of lazarus and his sisters and he grants saving faith the sinners along the way Right praise the lord God knows what he's doing amen God knows what he's doing listen because god knows what he's doing you can trust him in your trial God knows what he's doing You can believe him this is this is Often in our lives, right? We incur the fatherly correction of god We incur the fatherly Discipline the fatherly chastening of a good Heavenly perfect father who chasens us as a father chasens his son We incur fatherly instruction oftentimes that comes in the soil of difficulty in the soil of suffering and trial and adversity But through those circumstances You can believe christ to the glory of god but when you moan and grumble and complain and Whoa is me god doesn't care about me Or worse yet god is heartless or callous or mean toward me You're not glorifying god Right not glorifying god When you think about all that good all that good all that blessing that comes through difficulty, right? We can say as the people of god who trust christ We can say with james can't we count it joy brothers Count it joy Consider it right reckon it in your mind count it doesn't mean you necessarily feel joyful in the trial You're counting it reckoning it considering it All joy to fall into various trials because you know what god is producing in you through those difficulties through those trials God knows what he's doing The circumstances we find In john chapter 11 our circumstances that are going to severely test the lord's disciples The lord's decision to return to judia As soon after having narrowly escaped The opposition in jerusalem narrowly escaping death there It's a fearful and dangerous notion to them They want to as far away from jerusalem Jerusalem's possible What are you to do when you face difficult circumstances when that difficulty is coming you see it coming right? Happens in two ways you may see it coming a mile off or it may blow up in your face all of a sudden right? What do you do? How do you respond? How do you react? With the remaining verses of our text here, let me encourage you To believe in christ to trust him in your circumstances to the glory of god in four ways First you trust and obey you trust and obey Secondly you trust in work You trust and you keep serving Just keep swimming just keep swimming You trust and believe And then you trust all the way You trust all the way First you trust and obey. Let's look at the example of his disciples verse seven After all this he said to the disciples. Let's go to judia again The disciples said him rabbi Lately the jews sought to stone you and are you going there again? The lord says hey guys, let's go to judia and it had to be the last thing that they would have considered doing Have you thought this through lord the jews just tried to put you to death there? They picked up stones against you and you want to go there again They might have thought in their minds listen lord. Why don't you heal lazarus like you healed the nobleman's son You didn't have to go there Let's not go back to judia The disciples are fully aware of how dangerous this is the conditions in jewsland were not good Him going back could very easily have resulted in his own death or their death. Do you see so The disciples are fearful. These are extremely fearful Circumstances, but what does the lord jesus christ do let's look at his example The lord jesus christ obeys the father Obeyed the father. What do the disciples do ultimately the disciples obey the lord jesus christ? And they go back to judia with him So whenever circumstances you find yourself trust the lord and obey Don't compromise when the going gets tough. Obey the lord Deny yourself take up your cross daily and follow him You're in a tough circumstance adversity calamity. Whatever your circumstance Obey the lord. Don't compromise right you maintain faithfulness to him You pray and you worship and you plead with god for god to help you you read the bible You study his word you cry out to god to help you You live for him you attend the assembling of yourselves together You put yourself around the brothers you serve them and you love them and you keep crying out to god to help you in the trial You keep doing that which god has ordained for your good as a means of grace to you And you obey the lord through the trial what a lot of people do a lot of times the The reaction is to shut down Right i'm in this terrible difficulty and so i'm not going to go to church We do the exact Opposite of what we should do right we know that in times of need We are desperate for him and that we should cling ever tighter to the cross And yet somehow even though we know that intellectually when we face trials or difficulties We abandon those things and we take our hands off right take our eyes off the road take our hands off the wheel You wind up in a ditch when you do that trust him obey him Cling to christ when the going gets tough cling Tighter you deny yourself you take up your cross daily and follow him But jesus now is determined to go up to judia again Disciples understandably fearful and so jesus responds to their fear with a metaphor in verse nine In verse nine jesus answered to these fearful disciples Are there not 12 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 From this i want to encourage you to trust and work Trust and work you're going to obey christ You're not going to stop serving him either you trust and labor trust and serve trust and work This was a metaphor in verse nine. They would have easily understood here It applies both to jesus and to his disciples. We're gonna see how the lord responds and we see how the disciples respond people of that time they didn't have watches and alarm clocks and iphone's and so They worked during daylight hours and when daylight hours ended work stopped Right they worked while it was day when it got dark you stopped working A life they understood was also a portion to them as a day so to speak you lived During the day That day symbolized the duration of your life that was allotted to you by god. We're all given a day We're all given a day that day has been allotted to us by god We have 12 hours of light so to speak that you've been given when you die The daylight is over you stumble into death and your day is done Your day is done Each person has an apportioned amount of time that is determined and given them by god God knows its length and god knows its brevity No one can change it That time is fixed by god. It has been given you by god No one can lengthen it and no one can shorten it You can't lengthen it or shorten it by caution or concern You can't shorten it You can't lengthen it that includes Death threats being uttered by jews But that includes fears that you face in day-to-day life God has fixed your appointed time Right in that sense our day our lives so to speak have been ordained by god. What's the Point of the lord's metaphor here in verse 9 Use all 12 hours Use up the whole thing Right Walk in him as long as you have daylight because it won't be long that day is going to be over As long as you are laboring for him you won't stumble as long as the lord Jesus christ is obeying the father Seeking to please the father. He's not going to stumble He's got his day. His day has been apportioned by god. He is invincible until god is done And he is going to use all 12 hours laboring for him work in the light When it's over your time is up the work day ends you stumble into death For the disciples and for us If you call yourself a christian you are walking in the brilliant revelation of he who is the light of the world Walk and work while there is light and you won't stumble We're not walking around in the dark You walk around in the dark. You're going to stumble. We don't walk. We are people of god. We are christians We serve him you walk in the light. Don't walk in the dark. You walk in the dark. You'll stumble The way the transgressor is hard and then you die Don't retreat into a dark corner when you face difficulty like the heathen who do not know god Don't live out your lives in isolation. There's no such thing as a lone ranger christian Get out there and labor while it is day God is sovereign and nothing will happen to you outside the ordained plan of god. You see You're invincible until god is through with you. Don't squander your time Redeem the time because the days are evil. You have 12 hours. Do you see? Labor use those to what don't squander it. Don't waste it Before the light goes out for these disciples, they're going to face some tough tough times They're going to face tough circumstances But with with so great a cloud of witnesses, right? They are faithful even to the end Those tough circumstances will eventually take their lives But you trust god you believe in christ You trust him and you work Deny yourself take up your cross daily and you follow him amen I can just press upon you from the lord's words in verse nine Redeem your time Redeem your time next trust and believe trust and believe in verse 11 These things he said And after he said that to them he let the truth of this metaphor that he had just given sink in for a moment And then he said our friend Lazarus sleeps But I go that I may wake him up A sleep is often used as a metaphor for death in the bible especially of believers And the old testament they slept with their fathers. They slept with their fathers. They slept with their fathers, right? Awaking him up obviously refers here to the lord's intention to raise him from the dead And I don't know if it's the disciples being a little fearful about what they were heading into Or what the circumstances may have been but they're a little confused by what he said They're still a little shaky about their upcoming trip to the more. I mean Not the morgue but judia And so then the lord has to explain in verse 12 his disciples said lord If he sleeps, he'll get well. We don't have to go but if he's sleeping he'll get well However verse 13 jesus spoke of his death They thought that he was speaking about taking rest and sleep And jesus said to them plainly This is an example a clear display of the lord's omniscience He says in verse 14 lazarus is dead He says in verse 15 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there. He's not rejoicing in the death of lazarus He's rejoicing With regard to the fruit that will be produced in the disciples He says i'm glad for your sakes that I was not there that you may believe Nevertheless, let us go to him Count it joy my brothers when you fall into various trials Be glad Count it joy my brothers when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing Trust and believe He'd raised gyrus's daughter from the dead He'd raised the widow of nane's son And now he was about to raise lazarus a little different here, right both gyrus's daughter and the widow of nane's son Raised almost immediately after they had died here. I think it's consequential that Martha mentions he's been in the tomb four days partly because of that superstition and again the purpose of this miracle in raising Decomposing lazarus from the dead is so that the glory of god would be revealed He's about to raise lazarus from the dead But lastly, I want you to see Not just trust and obey Not just trust and work not just trust and believe certainly all those things but listen trust all the way Trust all the way verse 16 Then thomas Who is called didimus it means the twin Thomas who is called the twin said to his fellow disciples Let us also go that we may die with him But thomas gets the reputation from the end of john For being a doubter I get that from his conversation with the lord at the end of the gospel There are some who in addition to painting thomas is a doubter also try to paint him here is nothing more than a complaining pessimist Because of the statement that he makes here But I want you to see the obvious truth of his statement in verse 16. This guy is no coward thomas is not a coward thomas is bold And he is a courageous pessimist He is confidently pessimistic He is bold. He's no coward thomas says i'm ready to trust and obey I'm gonna use my 12 hours and if my 12 hours ends in judia, then let it end. I'll die with my lord. Do you see? I'm gonna trust and work. I'm gonna use my 12 hours. I'm ready to trust and believe. I'm gonna trust christ I'll go with you lord to judia I'm ready to trust all the way to my death thomas says I'm ready to deny myself take up my cross right now and follow him It wasn't only thomas that displayed that kind of courage. They all followed the lord jesus christ to judia the bethany They all went with him. You know, it's interesting too being that bethany was so close to the city of jerusalem People knew Lazarus people knew well mary and martha They were very well known and it was customary and we will find as we work through the text Many jews that word used again and many of those who certainly were in opposition against christ and others Came out of jerusalem. Just the quick two miles over to bethany around the mount of olives Many came out. It was considered their duty And they would have taken great honor in performing this duty of coming out and mourning with mary and martha the death of lazarus It was customary for them to do that. So many would have been there The lord thomas and his disciples knew what they were headed into And here thomas let us go and we'll die with him and all the disciples followed him to bethany Many will say Easy right to roll off the lips. I'll die for christ. I'll die for christ and like peter They'll deny him in lesser things Lord is gracious lord is merciful lord is compassionate and he's slow to anger He is of great kindness He restores peter Listen, he'll restore you from your neglect this morning if you will repent and put your faith in him As you have considered your circumstances. Have you neglected Being faithful to the lord in them that god might be glorified Listen repent of that sin now Turn from it and with all your heart soul mind and strength Trust and obey trust and work trust and believe and trust him all the way Regardless of where those circumstances lead you god is in sovereign control Working through your circumstances for both his glory and your good Right if you think to yourself I want to live for christ. I'm ready to die for him Don't deny him Don't deny him in the work Don't deny him In the means of grace Don't deny him in obedience and in faithfulness and in fervency to him Trust and work trust and obey trust and believe trust all the way Take up your cross right deny yourself follow him What are you going to do What are you going to do? There's some of you here this morning that don't know christ You've never turned from your sin. You've never put your faith in him Maybe you have an understanding of god's sovereignty over these things You have an understanding that both grace and faith and repentance are all gifts from god and you think to yourself I can't do anything unless god grants it to me Listen, don't be fatalistic in your thinking if you're here today and you don't know christ God calls out to you from his word Turn from your sin and trust him So god, I want to repent grant me repentance and god calls back to you repent For the kingdom of heaven is at hand I want to repent god, but I can't repent unless you grant it to me god says repent For the kingdom of heaven is at hand and trust me in your circumstances You can't think there's there's absolutely no excuse to think fatalistically about these things Turn from your sin stop being foolish Stop putting yourself in the very circumstances that are oppressing you Obey the lord serve the lord avail yourself of the means of grace Repent from your sin trust christ alone and you'll be saved god says he will save you What does that look like? It looks like facing the circumstances of your life And choosing not to sin in them But choosing to honor the lord in them Choosing righteousness by faith in the son of god who died and gave himself for you Jesus christ, I'm going to trust you that when I do righteousness in this circumstance That you're there with me that you'll be with me you've promised to be with me to the end of the age forever and ever amen I'm going to trust you christ in my circumstances. I'm not going to sin I'm going to trust you all that sin is a bunch of waste I mourn it. I hate it god. I want you. I want salvation. I want forgiveness I want christ and so when the difficulty comes I trust you lord and I obey I trust and I serve I trust and I live for you I trust that I read your word to know you I trust and I pray crying out independence upon you I trust you lord and I turn from my sin not in my own strength, but in the strength that you provide I trust you lord. I depend upon you Live that way stop being foolish Turn from your sin the way the transgressor is hard Lord Jesus christ says that if you'll trust In him turn from your sin You can be saved He'll wash you and cleanse you and forgive you Stop living like a fool If you're here today and you're a genuine brother a genuine sister in christ Then with all your heart soul mind and strength seek to glorify god Day by day minute by minute circumstance by circumstance when that difficulty faces you God I know that you have ordained this How can I most honor you and the way that I respond and the way that I Act in these circumstances and the way that I conduct myself. How can I glorify god? How can the glory of god be revealed in me when in his strength and in his power independence upon him The sun is glorified through me by the way that I respond in my circumstances Want to live for you god want to obey you In the trial. I want to labor for you even more. I want to cling to the cross lord in my trial that you might be glorified in it We don't just glorify god with our lips when our hearts are far from him Now we don't just simply glorify god by saying I glorify you lord Shows up in our words shows up in our works Shows up in our worship Shows up in our praise Shows up in our proclamation of him shows up in the pattern of our lives Trust and obey amen Let's pray father in heaven We thank you for this text. Thank you for the example of our lord What a glorious example what? kind Instruction or do you know all things? God we are so short-sighted in our thinking God, but you are infinitely wise And immeasurably gracious In god and your great omniscience And with that great love with which you loved us lord you ordain our circumstances for our good help us to See beyond the immediate difficulty And see the glory of god in our circumstances Help us to live for you god forgive us for times where we have Blamed you for the things that we've gone through or difficulties that we face god, please forgive us for that Travesty God we acknowledge your goodness and your kindness and your compassion And what we desire from the heart to live for you and to honor you and to See you exalted you are worthy of all praise and honor and glory and power so help us lord we We often fail miserably, but lord we We see how gracious you are that even in our failings you Lovingly chasing us as a heavenly father and you strengthen us by your spirit and you inform us through your word You're so good to us. God We want to respond to that goodness and that Passion and that kindness and that sanctification lord with praise and worship and obedience and service and love and evangelism and with all those things that We need to be spending our day doing Help us god We need you we need your word god We need your spirit to empower us to enable us help us to use the 12 hours you've given us To max it out for you lord to serve you faithfully and fervently What it it We know how prone to wander we are lord. I know lord that When we say amen to this prayer and we get up to leave this room There will be many that will leave to go back to their lives unchanged God, I pray that it wouldn't be Please forgive us god. Please grant repentance When the alarm goes off tomorrow morning god, please let us hit the ground Running for you Believing in you trusting and you worshiping you praising you serving you living for you fervently For your people called by your name and for your great names sake Hollow yourself in our eyes Grant us repentance and faith lord strengthen us To live for your glory We love you lord It's for christ because of christ that we pray all these things in jesus name Amen