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00:00 Even though you gotta go through it, it will not end in it.
00:08 Don't confuse the through with the end.
00:16 I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there, watch this, that you may believe the delay
00:23 was intended to deepen their faith.
00:29 But in order for God to move, they had to take a step of faith.
00:33 They had to at least remove the stone.
00:36 But Resurrection Sunday is about God showing us the worst day of our life doesn't have
00:45 to be the last day of our life.
00:47 It was a horrible Friday night, but Sunday morning there was a getting up.
00:52 You might go through something.
00:54 Jesus had to go through the cross and the grave to get to the crown.
01:08 John 11 and 1.
01:10 Now a certain man was sick.
01:16 In a few verses we're going to find out that this man had a very close relationship with
01:22 Jesus.
01:25 But how many of you live long enough to know that just because you love Jesus doesn't mean
01:30 that you're not going to face pain in your life?
01:37 God said hurting is feeling, and feeling is living.
01:47 So when it hurts, I've learned to say to myself at least I'm still alive.
01:54 How many have some people in your life that didn't make it this far?
01:58 Some folks you love that you thought would be here always, but they're not.
02:03 And it may hurt, but at least I'm still here.
02:07 And what I've learned in my journey is God doesn't always shelter me from hurts, but
02:15 He'll always get me through them if I look to Him, if I look to Him, if I look to Him.
02:23 A very familiar Psalm, Psalm 23 and 4 says, "Though I walk through the valley, the shadow
02:35 of death."
02:37 More times than you realize God has taken you around that valley.
02:42 But every now and then God chooses to take you through, through the valley.
02:51 And some days just require more in our lives.
02:58 "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for
03:08 you are with me."
03:11 God's presence is the only thing that makes me okay when I'm not okay.
03:17 The reason I'm here for the worship part of every service we have, whether we have four
03:22 services, five services, three services on the weekend, is not just to be on time, but
03:30 because I need another experience in the presence of God to keep me sane in this crazy world.
03:38 Folks done lost their mind, I need a touch from God.
03:45 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany.
03:52 His name literally means God who has helped.
03:57 But how many of you know that life has a way of testing what we call ourselves?
04:03 Many of us are okay being called Christian, as long as actually being a Christian is not
04:09 required.
04:12 Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
04:18 Now notice the town was not identified based on Lazarus, it was identified based on Lazarus's
04:26 two sisters.
04:30 These women were emerging rock stars in the Jesus movement.
04:35 And Bethany was like Gary, Indiana for some—who's from Gary, Indiana?
04:44 Yeah, my references are easing out.
04:50 How about Hope, Arkansas?
04:53 Nobody voted for Clinton.
04:56 All right, this one should be easy.
05:00 Dumfries, Virginia.
05:01 Grace Church, Grace Church, Grace Church.
05:02 Some places get identified by the people who live there.
05:12 And in fact, more is said about these two women than many of the 12 disciples in the
05:18 Bible.
05:21 And it was that Mary, Mary was one of the "it girls" if you will, spiritually speaking,
05:30 who anointed the Lord with expensive, fragrant oil.
05:37 The oil was so fragrant and so expensive that when she gave it, Judas got mad, because he
05:44 wanted her to give him cash so he could steal some of it.
05:48 Listen, there will always be pretenders in church.
05:51 That will never, ever go away.
05:53 I mean even with Jesus as the pastor, there were pretenders in church.
06:00 But don't let the Judases of this world keep you from getting to know the Peter, the James,
06:05 and the Johns of the kingdom.
06:09 And she wiped his feet with her hair.
06:15 Mary really challenged the status quo.
06:18 She was a mover and a shaker.
06:21 But in my experience, perfectly behaved women never make names for themselves.
06:27 >> FEMALE #1 (off camera): Say so, Michelle.
06:30 >> And whenever you care too much about what people think, you begin to care less about
06:36 what God thinks.
06:37 And Mary and Martha were living for an audience of one.
06:41 She didn't care what nobody thought about her hair and how she was worshiping and how
06:45 she was behaving.
06:46 It was all about her Jesus.
06:49 And this woman whose brother Lazarus was sick, now we have this generous, this celebrated
06:56 and radical worshiping woman.
07:01 But despite these incredible qualities, we see she still faced issues.
07:08 She still faced problems.
07:11 And you won't like this, but problems are a sign of life.
07:17 Often the more problems you have, the more you're alive.
07:21 The more people, the more problem.
07:24 You heard the saying, and I'll put it this way, the more money, the more problems.
07:31 Problems are a sign of- why'd I have to go to money before y'all got it?
07:37 All right.
07:41 Therefore the sisters sent to him.
07:48 They had problems, but these two women were wise enough to bring their troubles to Jesus.
07:58 And even though, you know, something bad had happened, they still called him Lord.
08:04 Can you still call him Lord when you're hurting?
08:07 Can you still call him Lord when you're disappointed?
08:10 Can you still call him Lord when things have not gone the way you wish they would have
08:14 gone?
08:15 Saying, Lord, behold, you whom he loved is sick.
08:24 Their difficult, painful, I mean real loss.
08:27 I know we're reading it in the narrative here, but it was deeply personal.
08:32 But it did not make them doubt Jesus' love for their brother or for him.
08:42 And just because you're in trouble doesn't mean God does not care for you.
08:51 When Jesus heard that, he said something that they didn't immediately get.
08:59 He said, "This sickness is not unto death."
09:05 The NIV reads, "This sickness will not end in death."
09:13 And what we see is he's saying, even though you've got to go through it, it will not end
09:25 in it.
09:28 Don't confuse the through with the end.
09:38 But we've got to learn to put a comma instead of a period in our places of hurt.
09:49 Your situation, he's saying, will not end it.
09:51 But listen, you're going to go through it.
09:53 But then he says something that really bothers me, "But it's for the glory of God."
10:04 And what you're facing this Resurrection Sunday may not only be about you, but it might be
10:13 about God trying to show you something bigger if you pay attention.
10:20 But it's for the glory of God that the Son of God may be—watch this—glorified, and
10:25 here's that word again, through it.
10:29 God will get you through it.
10:32 He doesn't always stop it.
10:33 He doesn't always block it, but he will get you through it.
10:42 When I was a kid we had to read Mark Twain.
10:46 And Mark Twain was a little bit different when he was younger than when he got older.
10:51 And the age Mark Twain said this, he said, "I had a lot of worries in my life, most of
10:56 which never happened."
11:03 Most of the obstacles in life melt away when we make up our minds to boldly go through
11:09 them.
11:12 Jesus said here that the Son of God may be glorified through it.
11:22 Little adversity, little glory.
11:27 Jesus actually preached, and teached, and lived speaking Aramaic.
11:35 And then it was translated into our Greek Bible.
11:40 And the word glory here in Aramaic literally means weighty.
11:50 So he's saying that the Son of God may be made weighty through it.
11:58 Lightweight problems are for lightweight people.
12:04 If you're facing heavyweight opposition it may be that God moved up your weight class,
12:11 and you just didn't know it.
12:16 Now Jesus loved.
12:18 They're in pain.
12:19 They lost somebody they love, but Jesus loved Mary, and loved Martha, and Lazarus.
12:25 It seems like a contradiction.
12:26 God, if you love me so much why is my family in such crisis?
12:31 I mean God if you're really with me how could this have happened?
12:38 So when Jesus had heard that he was sick, watch this.
12:41 Jesus is tough.
12:44 You don't play with Jesus.
12:47 He heard it, and see here's all the emotion, and he stayed two more days in the place where
12:55 he was.
12:56 They're thinking, "God I'm dying here."
12:59 "Where are you Lord?
13:02 You love me."
13:03 Here's the deal.
13:04 God has not abandoned you.
13:07 That's not what happened this year.
13:09 It's just that the teacher is always quiet.
13:13 It's during the test.
13:18 Verse 11, "These things he said, and after that he said to them, 'Our friend Lazarus
13:29 sleeps.'"
13:30 First he said it would not end in death.
13:32 Now he says that he sleeps.
13:35 And sometimes it could seem like God is making light of our situation.
13:39 He's not taking it seriously.
13:41 He acts like our problems are not as much as they seem to us, and he calls, you know.
13:48 I mean come on, they're weeping, and they're mourning, and they're remembering their times
13:52 with Lazarus.
13:53 And he looks at their situation, and he said that he's just sleeping, insensitive.
14:00 This is a funeral, sleeping.
14:05 But I need you to understand God sees things differently than we do.
14:10 He's the Alpha and the Omega.
14:14 He sees the end from the beginning.
14:18 And because he sees the end at the beginning, he's calm all the way through.
14:25 There have been times in my life I was like, "God, if you really cared, man you would fall
14:28 off your throne.
14:29 You don't know what just happened to me.
14:30 You don't know."
14:31 But see, God sees the end from the beginning.
14:36 And Paul caught on to that, and he said these momentary affliction are working a greater
14:42 weight of glory.
14:43 Now he was talking about, you know, being shipwrecked, being beat, being stoned, and
14:48 being robbed, all different types of things.
14:49 And he called them momentary afflictions, because he understood that God saw the end
14:54 of the thing.
14:55 And there's nothing that happens to you in this life God can't reward you in this life
14:59 and the next.
15:00 He believed that God kept the ledger.
15:04 So he just called it momentary.
15:06 While you're in it, it seems like forever.
15:09 But from God's perspective, he sees the end.
15:13 So he's not troubled.
15:14 God never gets depressed.
15:16 He knows how your story is going to end.
15:19 So he said, "But I go that I may wake him up."
15:25 Jesus was trying to tell them that Lazarus' situation was not permanent, it was temporary.
15:32 If he slept, guess what?
15:33 He wouldn't wake up.
15:35 A famous comic said, he said this, "Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even
15:39 our troubles."
15:43 Then his disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get well."
15:46 And I think Jesus is shaking his head a little.
15:50 However Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought he was speaking about taking a rest
15:53 in life.
15:54 He's like, "Guys, you've been with me three years now.
15:56 You should have a sense of what I'm trying to say and how I look at things."
16:02 But they still didn't get it.
16:06 And here's another truth.
16:07 If you're going to lead anything, I don't care, mom, dad, boss, or what have you, you
16:11 got to accept the fact that at times you're going to be misunderstood.
16:15 And Jesus here was misunderstood, because it comes with the territory.
16:22 But then he understood, okay, okay, I know where your head's at.
16:25 I know where mine was, but I know where your head's at.
16:27 He said, "Listen guys, let me say this to you.
16:32 Lazarus is dead.
16:35 Faith is not denying the facts.
16:38 It's simply trusting God despite the facts."
16:42 He said, "I'm glad for your sakes," whose sake?
16:44 Your sake, everything for us, "that I was not there."
16:48 Now, again, how insensitive.
16:52 People are mourning.
16:53 He's saying, "I'm glad I wasn't there."
16:56 And there will be moments that God doesn't look sensitive.
17:00 He doesn't look patient.
17:01 He doesn't look kind.
17:02 He doesn't look loving.
17:04 But are you going to believe his word, or are you going to believe what you feel at
17:10 the moment?
17:12 Jesus was nobody to play with.
17:16 He will tell you the truth.
17:17 He's the way, the truth, and the life.
17:20 He cares about your emotions, but he's more concerned about truth.
17:26 That's truth with an F at the end.
17:27 I mean, he tells the truth.
17:33 I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there.
17:36 Watch this.
17:37 "That you may believe the delay was intended to deepen their faith."
17:46 When God takes longer than you expect, he might be working on something deeper.
17:54 I want Johnny on the spot.
17:57 I want to rub God's belly a couple times, and he, you know.
18:02 But God is God.
18:04 His ways are not our ways.
18:05 His thoughts are not our thoughts.
18:09 And Jesus says, "Nevertheless," I got it, "let us go to him.
18:17 He may not come when you want him, but when?"
18:21 Verse 17.
18:24 So when Jesus came, he found out that he'd already been in a tomb how many days?
18:28 Four days.
18:29 Jewish tradition held that a human spirit might stay around a grave or a death site
18:36 for up to three days before it went to its final rest.
18:40 But here's what I'm about to say is important.
18:45 Sometimes God waits because it's not impossible enough yet.
18:53 Because if he would have did this miracle on the first, second, or third day, they might
18:57 have thought he resuscitated because, you know what, his spirit was around.
19:01 But he intensely waited until the fourth day until there was no natural explanation for
19:09 what was about to occur.
19:11 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.
19:15 And many of the Jews, and it appears that these were the Jerusalem Jews.
19:18 These are the who's who of the religious elite.
19:20 I mean, these are serious folks.
19:22 That joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
19:28 So right now the stage is set for Jesus to do a miracle that no one could deny.
19:35 When it's hardest, that's when God can show himself the strongest.
19:45 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him.
19:53 Again deeply disappointed, deeply grieving over her brother's death.
20:00 But she still knew who to run to.
20:03 And you've got to remember who to run to when things go sideways.
20:10 Now Martha speaks up, and she said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would
20:16 not have died."
20:18 Now are Martha and I the only ones who ever blame God for loss?
20:27 But what I want you to notice here, she may have been wrong, but at least she did one
20:31 right thing.
20:32 She brought it to Jesus.
20:35 A lot of times when stuff goes wrong, we run from God, we run from the church, we run from
20:38 prayer.
20:39 We run from that.
20:41 But these women were rock stars because they understood something about God.
20:45 And when they were in trouble, in water above their head, they learned to bring it to Jesus.
20:55 Then Jesus, again meaning he'd been doing this for a little while now, groaning in himself.
21:01 Real prayer is not always pretty.
21:05 Sometimes you've got to groan.
21:07 Sometimes you'll scream.
21:09 Other times you'll cry.
21:10 Other times you'll be angry.
21:12 But you've got to bring it to God.
21:17 Jesus did care, and just because he didn't put his emotions before truth didn't mean
21:25 he didn't have emotions, because he's groaning.
21:31 He's disturbed.
21:32 He's bothered.
21:33 He's hurting.
21:34 Groaning, he came to the tomb, and John says it was a cave and a stone lay against it.
21:45 How many of us in this room feel like you're right now deep down in a cave with a huge
21:51 load blocking, a huge weight blocking your way out?
21:56 If you are, I want you to know you're in the right place this morning, because God wants
22:00 you to bring it to Jesus.
22:06 Jesus said, "Take away the stone."
22:10 And this is important.
22:11 If you're going to walk with Jesus, you've got to understand something about his ways.
22:14 He doesn't operate the way we operate.
22:17 He requires faith.
22:19 Without faith it's impossible to please God.
22:23 So, before he did the miracle, he required the people around him to demonstrate faith
22:31 before they saw the result.
22:33 Okay, you might have missed that.
22:35 Take away the stone.
22:37 Listen, that's a lot of work.
22:41 I mean there were several guys had to get together, risk the stone falling on them at
22:47 that to move this stone.
22:51 They had to trust Jesus' command to do it.
22:56 Why would you just move a stone for God that's been dead four days?
23:01 And as a matter of fact, we're going to see some more here.
23:05 He said, "Take away the stone."
23:06 And by the way, if you're willing to move it, Jesus will bring it.
23:09 Yep, he will.
23:12 He will.
23:14 Martha the sister of him who was dead said to him, "Lord, by this time there's a stench."
23:21 Remember he's been dead four days.
23:23 This is the Middle East, it's hot.
23:26 And they didn't have refrigeration.
23:27 I mean, he's dead.
23:29 He's not only dead, he's dead dead, completely dead.
23:35 And they're like, "Lord, it's too late to fix it."
23:39 But in order for God to move they had to take a step of faith.
23:43 They had to at least remove the stone.
23:46 They were in a situation, they were like, "Jesus, you know, my situation not only looks
23:50 bad, it's decomposed.
23:51 It's gone from bad to worse.
23:53 It stinks, God."
23:56 Sometimes God waits because it's not impossible enough yet.
24:05 Now when he had heard, or when he had said these things, watch Jesus.
24:09 He whispered, "No."
24:13 He cried with a loud voice.
24:18 "Lazarus, come forth."
24:25 It said that if Jesus didn't call Lazarus by name, everyone who had ever died would
24:30 have started walking out that tomb.
24:33 And they'd probably still be walking out today.
24:38 But why did he call Lazarus by name?
24:44 Because this was a miracle with Lazarus' name on it.
24:49 Your miracle may not look like everyone else's, but if you bring it to Jesus, he will fix
24:55 it his way.
25:01 There was a famous hit Gospel song, "There's a miracle in this room with my name on it."
25:12 There is a miracle in your life.
25:19 It may not look like Shannon's, it may not look like Jerry's, it may not look like Anna's,
25:25 but a miracle with your particular name on it.
25:35 I'm talking about God choosing to not always protect us from, but take us through.
25:48 But Resurrection Sunday is about God showing us the worst day of our life doesn't have
25:57 to be the last day of our life.
26:00 It was a horrible Friday night, but Sunday morning there was a getting up.
26:05 You might go through something.
26:07 Jesus had to go through the cross and the grave to get to the crown.
26:13 Just because you're going through doesn't mean that God is surprised and somehow He's
26:19 not working His purpose.
26:22 He said, "I'm glad that I was not there."
26:28 And sometimes to deepen us, God's like, "I'm glad, not because I'm insensitive, but because
26:33 I got to grow you.
26:35 I'm not always going to stop everything, but I will help you get through anything and everything."
26:47 Back to verse 44, and I'm done for the morning.
26:53 And he who had died came out.
27:01 You better believe it.
27:04 If you bring it to Jesus, you're going to come out too.
27:11 I don't know exactly what it's going to look like for you.
27:15 I mean when it came to the widow at Nain, you know the boy died.
27:19 He touched the coffin.
27:20 He came up, but this time it's hid behind a rock.
27:22 Other people, you know, He healed them before they died.
27:25 You know a little girl was just about to, you know, actually she did die.
27:28 The girl I was just talking about, she died.
27:30 He raised her up.
27:31 The other person was basically on the deathbed.
27:33 Jesus raised the person up.
27:35 I don't know when or how He's going to do what He's going to do, but I do want to tell
27:41 you God cannot create a stone He cannot lift.
27:46 It's just not possible.
27:52 There is, He can't create a demon He can't defeat.
27:56 There's no problem He can't solve.
27:58 A setback He can't reverse.
28:04 Resurrection Sunday is about God showing us the worst day of our life doesn't have to
28:11 be the last day.
28:14 Give God a hallelujah in a hand clap.
28:20 Come on, think about what God's about to do for you.
28:23 It might look different than your neighbor.
28:24 I know I sound like a broken record, but it might look different than your neighbor.
28:28 It may not look like what He did for me, but He has a miracle for you with your name on
28:34 it specially custom made for your situation to get your attention that God might be glorified
28:43 through it.
28:44 I know it's dark.
28:45 And you're like, "God, how could it get so dark and you're supposed to be the light of
28:50 the world?"
28:51 God's working on something.
28:54 If I lit a torch outside in the bright sun, you'd be like, "What's the value?"
29:01 But when you light a light in a dark room, oh my God.
29:06 So He often waits until it's darkest before He does His greatest miracles.
29:16 [music]
29:27 [music]