======================================================================== THE DAY JESUS CRIED by Carter Conlon ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon focuses on the day that Jesus cried, highlighting the depth of God's love and compassion for His people. It emphasizes the importance of belief in God's power to bring life and transformation, even in the face of impossibilities. The message calls for surrender and faith in God's ability to work miracles and bring victory in every area of life. Duration: 38:31 Topics: "God's Love", "Faith in Miracles" Scripture References: John 11:35, Hebrews 4:15, Zephaniah 3:17, Isaiah 53:5, Numbers 14:11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon focuses on the day that Jesus cried, highlighting the depth of God's love and compassion for His people. It emphasizes the importance of belief in God's power to bring life and transformation, even in the face of impossibilities. The message calls for surrender and faith in God's ability to work miracles and bring victory in every area of life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thank you, worship team, God bless you, you may be seated. And for those that are joining with us tonight online, we're going to celebrate communion at the end of this service tonight, which if you have any bread or juice in your home, then please feel free to access that and you can join the celebration of Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross for you and I 2,000 years ago, giving us the victory that we're singing about and talking about tonight, hallelujah. If you'd like to tell people online that you're praying for them, just go to itstimetopray.org. It's time to pray, all lowercase, all one word, .org. And there you will see where prayer requests have been submitted from all over the world and you can actually let somebody know that you're praying for them. And so we encourage you to avail yourself of that. I'm going to speak to you tonight about the day that Jesus cried, the day that Jesus cried. The gospel of John chapter 11. And we're going to go to verse 35. John chapter 11, starting and finishing at verse 35. Father, I thank you tonight, God, for the presence of your Holy Spirit in this room. And I know, I know the people online are feeling your presence as well. We've sung about your faithfulness. We've sung about the fact that we're not slaves to fear anymore. We've talked about your healing. We've prayed, we've believed, we've laid out people's prayer requests before you and now I'm going to speak about you, Jesus. But all we can do is bring the people online to you tonight. We can't heal them, only you can. We can't give them sight that belongs to you to do that. We can't open their prison doors. We can't give them a hope for the future. That is all up to you. All we can do tonight, all I can do is talk about you and speak from my own experience and say that you have always been faithful. I have never known you to be unfaithful. God, thank you for your mercy. Thank you, Lord, that you're sending a moment of mercy in this last generation, which we find ourselves living in now. Even in the midst of this perversion and evil that seems so prevalent in our world, Lord, you're still willing to show mercy to those who turn to you and to do it in a spectacular way that will give glory to your name. This is our prayer. This is what we ask you for. Do it, Lord, in such a way that the world will know that you are God. There will be a testimony set upon a hill that cannot be hidden. Songs of victory and deliverance that don't come from human effort, they come from the mercy of Almighty God. Thank you for the ability to speak this tonight, to speak it simply, and I thank you for it with all my heart. In Jesus' name, amen. John chapter 11, verse 35. Jesus wept. The shortest verse in the Bible, yet this one verse that encompasses two words tells us more about the heart of God than entire chapters in the Bible could, or books that could be written about the heart of God or the character of God or the certain aspects about God. The fact that Jesus wept, even though he was surrounded by unbelief, we see something about the character of God in this verse. Now the story, the background story is that Jesus shows up in the cemetery. A friend called Lazarus had died. He'd been in the grave for four days. All around him are people that he has, actually, many of them have seen his power. They've seen the things that he can do. They've been the recipients, perhaps, of miracles, of the multiplication of loaves and fishes and such things like that. They know he can heal the sick. They've been eyewitnesses or at least verbal witnesses of many of these things that he had done at this stage in his ministry. He had been at the table with some of his friends and he had been sharing the things concerning himself and about the kingdom of God with them. And there's strong evidence that he had told at least Martha because at one point he said, did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? The way I read this is that at some point in the past he had told her this. Martha, if you would believe, you would see what only God can do. If you would believe, if you would put away all of your human effort and all of your human reasonings, you would see something that only God can do that will bring reputation to the name of God and God alone. Surrounded by unbelief, surrounded by his close friends not being able to bring themselves to the point of believing that he could actually change something which they considered to be unchangeable. And this is the dilemma that we all face as believers in Jesus Christ or if you're on the margins of believing in Jesus Christ. We can study the word of God. We can have fellowship with one another. We can meet in prayer and devotions in the morning. We can read the word of God. We have the testimonies of the power of God. But when we face something which we believe to be impossible, that's where it becomes difficult to believe that he can do things that cannot be done by human effort, that can't be reasoned by the human mind. He can do things out of a heart of compassion, out of the fact that he is God and he does with an unmeasurable love, love his creation. He loves you and I. God so loved the world. We quote that so easily. We quote it so readily but we don't even begin to remotely understand the depth of that word. God so loves you. We see in this one verse of scripture, Jesus wept, that God is not distant, he's not remote, he's not unfeeling, nor is he unconcerned about our struggles. Now there's a theory that goes around in the church and I suppose there's a measure of truth in it but the theory is that God is complete in himself. He doesn't need you, he doesn't need me, he doesn't need anything about us. He's not, in a sense, he's totally self-contained but I think that this one verse with its two words puts all of that to rest where it belongs. If he was completely self-contained, if he didn't need us in some aspect, or may I put it this way, if he didn't cause himself to need us, let's put it that way. He can cause himself to, in his heart, to love his creation. He can cause himself to have a need in his heart to show his glory among those that have been born and created in his image. Hebrews chapter four, verses 15 and 16 says it this way. We don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. He was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. He's touched with our struggles. He's touched with the places of impossibility, for he himself actually faced one called the grave. He's touched with our trials. He's touched with our difficulties. He's touched with the things that you and I have to go through, and being so, there's a desire. He calls us to the throne of grace to find help in our time of need, when we face something that only the power of God can change, as he did. When he said, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit, there was no chance of coming out of the grave without the assistance of God, his Father, and the power of the Holy Spirit, and he knew it. He's touched with our struggles, but he also was touched by that power, that incredible power of God that can even raise the dead, that can take impossible things and make them possible, take impassable things and make them passable. We sang about it tonight, how he made a way through the sea for his people in days of old, and many of us here tonight could say that, too, as well. He made a way for me through the sea of impossibility. I can say it, and I can say it honestly. There were struggles in my life that there was no way that I was ever gonna get through it. I had been bound by fear for nine years. I'd lived through hell, taking Valium like candy to get through just a day in my life, running like a fiend to keep my body always in a state of exhaustion to try to abate the fear that had so dominated my life, but when I came to Christ, in one minute of time, he set me free from nine years of hell. I know what he can do. I know he's touched with the feelings of our infirmities. I know that there's an invitation to come to the throne of grace to find help in time of need. Jesus wept. I've meditated on that verse so many times. He already knew what he was going to do. He knew what he could do. He even knew that the unbelief that surrounded him would not stop the miracle that would bring his name to glory, of which we actually speak about it tonight. So why did he weep then? Knowing these things, why did he weep? And here's my perspective on it, and you can disagree with me if you want, but this is my perspective. I feel that he foresaw the sheer numbers of people through the ages, the numbers of people who would sit with him in fellowship, yet not be able to believe that he could change a situation in their eyes, which was hopeless. That's why I think he wept. He saw the struggles. He saw the many, like Martha and Mary, who would sit at his table in fellowship with him, and they would be aware of his promises. They would be aware of the history of his faithfulness. They would be aware that he's not a liar. He doesn't boast of things that he can't do. They would be aware of the incredible depth of his faithfulness, yet when something impossible was presented to them, they chose to believe the impossibility rather than believe the Son of God. And I feel in my heart that he stood in the cemetery, and not being bound by just what he sees with his natural eyes like we are, he could see 2,000 years down the road. Do you understand what I'm saying? He could see throughout all of history, and he would know his mind was not like ours. It was an explosive mind with knowledge that we would never even understand if it was explained to us. And he could see people of every language, every culture, every race, every place throughout the world through all the years fellowshiping, going to church, reading their Bibles, but when it came to a place of impossibility, not able to bring themselves to believe. Oh, Martha, didn't I tell you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God, that if you would believe that you would see God do what only God can do, that if you would believe your prison doors can open, that if you would believe your blinded eyes can see a future, that if you would believe your wounded heart can be healed, that if you would believe that things that you feel are dead and lost and beyond repair can be brought back to life again for the glory and the honor of God, if you would believe. In Numbers chapter 14, after the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt with a strong hand and led to the sores of this incredible promise of living in a place of God's provision and God's promise, they chose not to believe that he was able to bring them in or bring them through what they considered an impossible place, in spite of the history, in spite of the recent miracles that they had either seen or somebody had talked to them about. Then the Lord said to Moses, how long will these people reject me? And how long will they not believe me with all the signs that I have performed among them? You know, I wonder if Jesus could say those words about our generation, 2,000 years of testimony. How many testimonies of God's miracles do we have to hear about? How many alcoholics set free to have to stand before us? How many people like myself tonight set free from fear have to be here? How many people taken out of a complete place of inability and brought to a place where only God could do what God has done through them have to stand before us before we will believe? And yet, even though the miracles were there, God judged their enemies. God opened the sea to these people. He drowned their enemies. He went before them in a pillar of fire by day and a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of the cloud by day. And yet, they came to this place. And this is, I believe, what the weeping is about. We all come to a place where we consider something impossible. We all come to a place where we just don't believe that we can live in this area of our lives again or we can be brought into something that we once believed was a promise. How long will it be before they believe me? They had just a short season of being taken out of Egypt and being brought to this place of the shores of promise. We have 2,000 years of testimony. We have scriptures they didn't have. Amazing. We have testimonies all around us. And yet, we find ourselves, even as the people of God, and I'm speaking also to those online tonight, we find ourselves drawing back and saying, if only you had come when there was hope. If only you had come while there was still breath. If only you had come in a season that's long gone. And I have no hope for the future. Jeremiah chapter two. The Lord says these words through the prophet Jeremiah about his people of that time. He says, moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, thus says the Lord. Listen to what he says about his own people of that time. I remember you and the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal when you went after me in the wilderness and the land not sown. I remember you, God says, about his own people. When you were young, you had a heart that wanted to believe. You loved me when you said you belonged to me. And you went after me even in your dry places. And you went after me in places that were not yet bearing fruit, but you believed that I could bring life into these places. Israel was holiness to the Lord, the first fruits of his increase. All that devour him will offend. Disaster will come upon them, says the Lord. You were separated to me and life was being born through you. That was the promise that God had made to Abraham. And it was supposed to be the promise to the descendants of Abraham that you would be blessed. In other words, made more than you are, given more than you could possess, taken farther than you could go. I would bless you. And because of the blessing that would come into your life, the whole world would be blessed. You see, the knowledge of God would come into societies. The knowledge of God would come into homes and families. The knowledge of God would be brought through my people into places all throughout the world. Then he goes on and says, hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord, what injustice have your fathers found in me that they've gone far from me? What did I do that you walked away from me? What did I do to you? Where did I fail you, God says. What did I speak and I wasn't willing to do it for you? What promise didn't come to pass that I told you if you would believe you would see the glory of God? And you saw you went far away from me and you began to follow idols and become idolaters. In other words, the idols were the reasonings of your own mind. That's where idolatry stems from. That's what is the ground that produces idolatry. You started following your own reasoning and you left off. In other words, you're saying you once loved me. You once believed me. You once went after me, even when your life was dry and you were not bearing fruit. And you believed and because you did, you were the first fruits of what I wanted to do in the earth and what I planned to do in the earth. But what did I do? What did I do that you walked away from me? You see, the mind of Christ is not bound like our minds. He's not bound by time as we are. He's still there in the book of Jeremiah and he's way ahead 2,000 years down the road and he's remembering this cry, this weeping that's in the heart of God for us. God loves you. God loves me. And it's always been the intent of his heart to bless us and to make us a blessing and to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves and to bring us out of places we can't escape and bring us into places we can't go into and to give us increase in our lives that is that the people would look and say, only God could have done this. Only God could have made this girl, this guy into what they have become. What injustice have you found in me? I was reading this and I trembled as I read it. I said, God, have I found any injustice? Have I accused you? Of failing me. Have I has pointed my finger at you and refused to believe that the situation that we're facing cannot be remedied by your, simply by your coming. And so today I wanna ask a question to people who are listening online and will be. And believe me, there's thousands of you. By tomorrow morning, there are thousands of you who will have heard these words. And the question is, what will the response of Christ be towards you? It's a legitimate question. Will he weep when he looks at you and I don't know what your name is and I don't know where you are, but God sees you. You may think that nobody knows you even live, but he knows you live. And he loves you with an everlasting love and he looks at you and he says, did I not tell you that if you would believe, you'd see the glory of God? Did I not tell you that if you would believe, I could raise you out of this place of death? Did I not tell you that if you would believe, I could make your life a praise in the earth? I could give you a new song, a new heart, a new mind, a new reason to live, a new future, not only in time, but in eternity. Did I not tell you if you would believe, you'd see the glory of God? You see, I think he waited till Lazarus was dead to prove to you and I that there is no circumstance we could face where God can't bring us back to life again. It was proof once and for all. When they said, Lazarus is sick, we must go. And he waited until he was dead. I do believe in measure, he did it for you and for me. Just to set the record straight, there's no captivity taking you that I can't take you out of. There's no wound I can't heal, there's no prison I can't open. There's nothing I can't do in a life that is surrendered to me. And even if you're dead, I'll raise you. There's no iniquity in God. There's no unrighteousness in God. He's not a man that can lie. He doesn't boast, he doesn't brag, he doesn't exaggerate, he doesn't stretch the truth. What he says has the power to create a universe. What he says has the power to raise the dead. He's eternal, everlasting, always, ever will be God. And he weeps for those who can't bring themselves to the place of believing that. Zephaniah chapter three, and I'm gonna close with that. Beginning at verse 17, he says, the prophet says, the Lord, this is to a people back in his day that were to come. He says, the Lord, your God in your midst, the mighty one will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love, and he will rejoice over you with singing. I tell you folks, we have a choice to make. Jesus will either look at us and weep because we won't believe, or we will get up and come out of the grave and he will rejoice over us with singing. It's really that simple. We come down the road like the prodigal son, we've got no bragging, we've got no boast, we've got no resume, we haven't been faithful, we've made a mess of everything, but he was the one that the Lord rejoiced over with singing in the scriptures. He was the one that just said, only you can give me life again. Only you can cover my failure. Only you can empower me one more time to be the person that I'm called to be. I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly who are among you, to whom its reproach is a burden. Behold, at that time, he said to Israel, I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame and gather those who are driven out, and I will appoint them for praise and fame in every land where they were put to shame. Do you hear the words of God? Do you hear the words that God spoke to his people of that season and that time? I will deal with those that afflict you. I will deal with those things that hold you back. I will smite your enemies. I will bring you through the seas of impossibility. I will raise you out of the places of death that are trying to wrap themselves around your mind and your life and your future. I will gather you who are driven out, you who feel you've got no place in my kingdom. I will gather you. I don't care who drove you out. I love you with an everlasting love, and I will gather you and bring you home, and I will appoint you for praise and fame. Isn't that amazing? I will appoint you. I will give you a calling, and it will bring praise to my name and fame to my name in every place where you had been formerly put to shame. Hallelujah. You might be the worst drug addict in your community, but there's a day coming, if you will believe tonight, there's a day coming that you're gonna walk down the streets of your town, and you're gonna have a song in your heart, and you're gonna have a strength in your life that you never had, and people are gonna look and say, what happened to him? What happened to her? How did they get to this place? At that time, he says, I will bring you back. Even at the time I will gather you, I swear I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I return your captives before your eyes, says the Lord, when I reverse your captivity, when I give you life, for all you had was death. So the question is really simple. When Jesus looks at you today, will he weep or will he rejoice with singing? The choice is yours. You don't need to clean up your act to come to God. You can't. Don't even try. Don't even try. If you're dead, you're dead. There's not much you can do about that. But you can hear the sound of his voice and move towards the sound of his voice. You can do that. Lazarus couldn't even unwrap himself. All he could do is hear his voice and move towards his voice. I don't want Jesus to weep over me. I don't know about you. I don't ever want him to weep over my life. I don't ever want him to look through the corridors of time and said, oh, I just wish Carter could have known. I just wish he could have taken that last step. I just wish he could have believed for that final thing. I don't want any weeping over my life. I want him to rejoice over me with singing. I want him to rejoice over you with singing tonight. You say, what do I have to do? Just admit you can't save yourself. Don't make it difficult. Believe that God loves you. And he came to this earth as a man and went to a cross and the punishment that we deserve for what we have done, he took upon himself and paid the price for the wrong that we have done. A guilty man was set free by an innocent man who took his punishment. That's what the cross is all about. And then just with your mouth, say, Jesus, I come. I come to you and I believe God. I believe you can raise me from death. I believe you can give me life. I believe you can give me a song. I believe you can take something of my life and make a praise to your name through it. My life's a mess. I can't bring you a resume. I can't bring you a litany of faithfulness. I'm a walking disaster, but God, here I am and I give you what I am. I give you the mess of my home, my life, my family, my mind, my body. I believe that I will see the glory of God. I believe. God, please tonight, give somebody the courage to say those words. I believe. I believe I will see the glory of God. I believe my life will be different. I believe I will be cleansed of my sin. I believe I'll be given a new heart, a new mind, a new spirit, a new future. Oh God, I believe. If that's your heart tonight, pray this simple prayer with me online. And those that are in the sanctuary, pray along with me, please, and along with them. Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for loving me. Even in my confusion and my failure, you never stopped loving me. You never stopped longing for me. You never stopped desiring me. Even through the messes I've made, your love for me never changed. I don't want to resist that anymore. I give you my life and you're so gracious to take it. And anything I will become, it will all be because of you. But from this day forward, you're the Lord of my life, my savior, and you are my God. I love you, Jesus. Thank you for loving me. Hallelujah, hallelujah. If you prayed that tonight and you meant that, just text the word decided to 51,000. Just your first ever act of faith. It's your Lazarus coming out of the tomb moment. Just text decided, 51,000. Don't try to figure it out. I can't explain it all. Just do it and somebody will get in touch with you. We want to help you start this new walk, this new life that God has for you. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. God, we just feel the depth of your love tonight. We feel the longing in your heart for your people to return to you again. We feel the burden that you, even if you allow us to experience just a measure of the compassion you have for the wayward, the ignorant, the struggling, the dead in sin. God, help us to help them to believe. Make our lives a praise and glory to your name. We don't want to be religious, we want to live. We want life. We want the life that you have for us. We want all of it, Lord. Please, Jesus, please, God, show yourself strong again in this generation. As you said to your people of Zephaniah's day, I'll bring you back and I'll give you fame and praise. Oh, Jesus, God almighty. Do it again in your precious name. We're gonna go to communion and celebrate the victory of Christ on the cross in just a moment. We're gonna sing one song and I'll be right back. It's a chance for you to get some bread and some juice. You might be a total mess out there tonight, but if you want Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you're more than welcome to partake of this with us and celebrate this incredible victory he's given to you. I'll be right back in just a few moments. ♪ How great is our God ♪ ♪ Sing with me, how great is our God ♪ ♪ And all will see how great, how great is our God ♪ ♪ Is our God ♪ ♪ How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God ♪ ♪ And all will see how great, how great is our God ♪ ♪ Is our God ♪ ♪ How great, how great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God ♪ ♪ And all will see how great, how great is our God ♪ ♪ Is our God ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ You are worthy of all praise ♪ ♪ And my heart will sing how great, how great is our God ♪ ♪ Is our God ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ You are worthy of all praise ♪ ♪ And my heart will sing how great, how great is our God ♪ ♪ Is our God ♪ ♪ How great is our God, sing with me, how great is our God ♪ ♪ And all will see how great, how great is our God ♪ If you can get ready to sing that again, Isaac, in just a moment. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, Lord, for how great you are, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. When he'd given thanks, oh God, he gave thanks for you. He gave thanks for the joy that was set before him, the fellowship, the beauty of you and I opening our hearts and letting him be God within each of our lives. He broke it and said, take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Let's do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. I wanna give an altar call tonight. Here in this sanctuary and online. Now online, what you can do is go to your knees. If you're in your car, just bow your head. If you're sick and in bed, just lift your hand. But let there be just an act of surrender on your part. And here's the altar call that God's put on my heart. The Holy Spirit put this on my heart. I believe that you can bring life into the world where I don't believe that life can come. By any amount of my own strength or ability, I believe you, Jesus. And because of it, I will see the glory of God. I will see you do what only you can do. I will see your power be made known in my life. You will change me. You will strengthen me. You will give me these giftings that I don't have and these abilities I don't possess. And it will be a song of praise and glory to you. And you know, all the young students that are here tonight from the Bible school, it's great to learn about God and thank God for study for we're told to do that. But it has to bring us to a conclusion. It has to bring us into a relationship. It has to bring us into a place where Jesus himself is glorified. Otherwise, it's just knowledge. We end up like Martha quoting scripture at the son of God when he wants to raise the dead. There's a point where we just say, God, I believe. And whatever that area is, maybe you're afraid of crowds. I don't know. Or you just don't believe that God could ever use your life. Or maybe you've made such a mess for so many years that it's almost a wonder to you that maybe it won't be a mess in the years ahead. I don't know what your struggle is. But the point is, I believe. I believe in the greatness of God. I believe in the goodness of God. I see something, just in two words, Jesus wept. I see something, God, about your heart for me. And so I'm gonna ask you, Isaac, to sing that song again. And for those that are online, then when people do come forward, we're gonna worship for a moment. Then Pastor Pavel's going to come. And we're not just gonna pray for you. We wanna pray tonight for Pastor Pavel's brother who has cancer and needs a miracle. And I want you to ask Pastor Pavel that, and this is gonna be the prayer of my heart, that when he's raised, that you would travel as a family and sing and testify of what God has done. That you would be made a song and a praise in the earth as a family. And so, Father, thank you for tonight, God, for it is undeniable that your presence is in this sanctuary. Lord, I feel your presence as thick as oil. It's as if you can be touched tonight. So, Father, thank you, God. Thank you that you're going to give us the ability to believe and see the glory of God in areas of our lives where we never thought we could ever see it. We thank you for it in Jesus' name. Now, as Isaac and the group sings, just come on out. Wherever you are, young and old, just come. Just come, we're gonna sing together. How great is our God. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/k9FF3Y1_gIg.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/carter-conlon/the-day-jesus-cried/ ========================================================================