In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of God manifesting Himself through His friends. The story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus is used as an illustration of this concept. The first ministry mentioned is prayer, as demonstrated by the sisters sending word to Jesus about Lazarus' sickness. The speaker also highlights the infinite passion of Jesus to reveal Himself to His friends and encourages the audience to approach Him with childlike faith. The sermon concludes with a prayer for a new revelation of Jesus and a reminder of the special fellowship and communion that can be enjoyed with Him.

Good morning, brothers and sisters. I'll ask you to open your Bibles, please, to John chapter 11, if you would. As we come again to the study of the Word of the Lord, I remind you of that principle of Bible study that is absolutely indispensable, and that is total reliance upon God's Holy Spirit. There is no amount of research of human wisdom that can open the Word of God to our spirits. Like our Lord Jesus, the Bible has two sides. It's human and it's divine side. And we need to apply academics to the human side. But at the end of the day, we need to come to the Lord as little babies, as little children. And we need to ask Him to unveil the Lord Jesus to our hearts. Listen as I quote this wonderful prayer of Paul, Ephesians 117, I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened. God has put all fullness in the Lord Jesus Christ. And of His fullness, we've all received. As a mother longs to give her fullness to her baby, and as she is pained if that fullness is not received, so our Lord Jesus hurts if we don't draw from His great fullness. He's full and He's full for us. If we could only see His infinite passion that He wants to manifest Himself to us. He promised if we would come as little children that He would reveal these things to us. Bow with me, brothers and sisters, in the presence of the Lord, and let's seek His blessing on this precious Word. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank You again that You have not left us on our own when it comes to seeing Your heart, knowing You through our Lord Jesus. But You have put a Bible teacher in our hearts, the Holy Spirit, the life of God, who knows and searches the depths of God and reveals it unto us. We know light dwells with You. And we'd ask You to dawn upon us in a living way, our Lord Jesus Christ. On scale our eyes, we pray, discoveries with You. Discover to our hearts a new revelation of Him. We thank You in advance that You ever over-answer prayer. We claim it in the all-prevailing name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. I'd like to continue our little look at John chapter 11 this morning. Last evening we homed in on the first part. If you weren't here last evening, don't feel like you'll be lost, because when you present the Lord, every message stands on its own two feet. And so you can come in anywhere and still see the Lord. There is connection, however. And let me just get a little bit of what we were looking at. In John chapter 11, we have a special family. The Bible says they love the Lord, and the Bible says the Lord loves them, and the Bible called Lazarus His friend. There was a union. There was a fellowship. They were getting it right. They were friends of the Lord. And the chapter is full of instruction on how the Lord manifests Himself to His friends, to those who are loving Him and are loved by Him and are enjoying a fellowship and a communion. And so last night we looked together at what it means for the Lord to manifest Himself to His friends. By way of review, I remind you that in the illustration of the sickness and death and raising again of Lazarus, that all of the Lord's dealings are designed to manifest Himself. I pointed out yesterday that He could have easily prevented this sickness and this death. But He said He was glad that He wasn't there to prevent it. And the reason He was glad He wasn't there to prevent it was because now He had the opportunity to manifest Himself in a greater way as One who overcomes. If He had prevented it, He would have been known as the One who prevents death. But now He is known as the One who overcomes man's most unsolvable problem. He ever lets things go from bad to worse because He desires to reveal Himself in a greater way to His friends, to those who walk in union with Him. I won't get into much more review, only to say this, how does He manifest Himself to His friends? By testing their faith. And yesterday we looked at the illustration by the things He allows in our life and by His deliberate delays and by removing His sensible presence and by confusing us to pieces with what we think is a clear word and turns out not to be a clear word. By ministering and dealing with us as we are and where we are to bring us to the place that He would want us and to turn us into those that He would want us to be. That's how He manifests Himself to His friends. Now this morning, I'd like to begin where we left off with the words of Martha to her sister Mary. If you'll glance please at verse 28. When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, the Teacher is here and is calling for you. Well, in the context of the chapter, the Teacher is here and is calling for you, calling you to Himself. And according to the record, to the truth of resurrection life. Jesus is everlastingly the same and that call has been true through the ages. And this morning, as last evening, I say to you with great confidence, the Teacher is here and He is calling you to Himself and to the truth of resurrection life. All of this is wonderfully illustrated in this chapter. Now this morning, I'd like to look at the second part of this tremendous chapter. Just as really as the Lord has an infinite desire to manifest Himself to His friends, this chapter also illustrates that He manifests Himself through His friends. And that's the part I'd like us to consider this morning. When the Lord deals with us, He always deals in a redemptive way. That is, not only for you, but for others, for someone else. And every time God works in your life, every time God works in my life, it's a redemptive deliverance, a redemptive work, so that it can reach out unto others. There's no question that Lazarus was ministered unto by the Lord in this chapter. But when you read the record carefully, you see that the Lord had instruments to minister unto Lazarus. And He ministered unto Lazarus by His family, by His sisters, by those related to Him. To properly discharge the burden that I believe the Lord has laid on my heart this morning, I think it would be helpful if I gave two preliminary observations. I sort of want to back off and then come to the chapter, but so that we're on the same page, so that we're moving together, if you will bear with me in a little bit of donkey work, just to set up the chapter, then I think it'll be clear how wonderfully it's illustrated that the Lord manifests Himself through His family, through His friends. Glance, if you would, at verse 23, please. My first observation is this. It's that distinctive title of our Lord Jesus that's given in this chapter, beginning at 23. Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha said to Him, I know He'll rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? It's that title, I am the resurrection and the life. So much has been written. So much excellent material has been written on that wonderful title. Certainly far more than we have time to meditate on this morning. He's the resurrection. He's also the life. The title life is an advance on the title resurrection. He's not saying the same thing twice. I'm the resurrection and the life. He's saying I'm the resurrection and I'm the life. I think the shortest route to get across what is on my heart is an Old Testament illustration. And I'm sure you're familiar with it. That's why I've chosen this as the shortest route. Deuteronomy 6.23. Deuteronomy 6.23 says He brought us out in order that He might bring us in. I love that little verse. He brought us out. And you know the context of that. He brought us out of Egypt. And all that's pictured by the slavery and bondage of Egypt. He brought us out in order to bring us into Canaan. And all that's pictured by the land of Canaan. The first is a salvation from. He brought us out. He delivered us from in order that He might deliver us unto. He brought us out of Egypt to bring us into Canaan. And of course, all that, that picture. He brought us out of sin, slavery, that He might bring us into Christ, the life of milk and honey. The land is a picture of the life. It's a picture of our Lord Jesus. And as they entered into the land, as they possessed the land and dispossessed the enemies and settled down and lived off of the land, we are to live in and off of that which it pictures our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe in the context of John 11, when Jesus called Himself the resurrection, it was in terms of deliverance from. Resurrection. Deliverance from. And you can see that in Lazarus. Deliverance from the grave and from death and from corruption and from man's most unsolvable problem. But He also needed, after He came from the grave, to be delivered unto. A salvation unto life. He was all wrapped up in grave clothes and so on. Unfortunately, many, many Christians have only gone the half way, you know. They know deliverance from. I'm not undermining that praise of God for the life that would show us our salvation from. But there's a life too. There's a deliverance unto. There's a salvation unto. He's the resurrection and the life. I don't know if you love that title of Jesus. I'm the resurrection and the life. But if you do, then thank God for Martha. Because of Martha we have that title. It was because of her own struggle that God has given this manifestation of Himself. She was struggling with an incomplete view of the Savior. And He completed the view by giving this revelation. Yesterday I told you how God deals with us as and where we are. And Mary was Mary and Martha was Martha. They were different. Though they had the same problem, they weren't dealt with in the same way because God deals with us as and where we are. And Martha needed to talk. And Martha needed a theological explanation. She needed to discuss theology and the immortality of the soul and the resurrection and the last day. And He met her there. But it was in that discussion, that was the occasion of this great revelation of Himself as the resurrection and life. Now, glance at 22 if you would. Rather 23. Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha said to Him, I know He will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this, Martha? What was wrong with Martha's statement? I think her statement revealed that she had not yet laid hold of a complete Savior. I think she understood a little about the first part, the resurrection, deliverance from. But I think God had yet to dawn Himself upon her heart as the life. Martha, it looks like her eyes were more on doctrine than on the Lord. She was expecting doctrine to do something for her that only Jesus could do. Evidently, she inherited her creed from the Jews. They believed in the resurrection. And she was leaning heavily on her theology, on her doctrine. Doctrine is a wonderful thing, but as Owen reminded me last night, it's not Jesus. It's not Jesus. It's a wonderful thing, but it's not Him. Many, many Christians expect resurrection to do something for them that only Jesus can do. And the second coming to do for them what only Jesus can do. And heaven to do something for them that only Jesus can do. And death to do something for them that only Jesus can do. His glory He will not share with another. Heaven's not going to do a thing for you. Heaven's not going to do a thing for me. Now the Lamb that's on the center of the throne who will shepherd them, the Lamb who's the shepherd, He'll do something for you. But He's not going to share His glory with something called heaven. I've heard Christians long for death. They say, oh, I can't wait for death. This abiding corruption in my heart. This old sin nature. I can't wait to die and I'll stop sinning. Death's not going to help you with that. Doctrine's not going to help you with that. Listen to I John 3, 2. We know when He appears, we shall see Him. When we see Him, we'll be like Him. That's the cure for the old sin nature. That's the death blow. It's the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. John Newton wrote many hymns, more than amazing great. That's a great one. But he wrote other hymns as well. One of my favorite hymns of Newton is a hymn called Hatred of Sin. We don't sing that a lot. It's a wonderful, wonderful hymn. And in the fifth verse of that wonderful hymn, it says, Oh, no foe invades the bliss when glory crowns the Christian's head. One sight of Jesus as He is will strike all sin forever dead. Isn't that a wonderful, wonderful verse? One view, one sight of Jesus as He is will strike all sin forever dead. Exactly so, exactly so. Martha said, my brother will rise again someday in the future, down the road, by and by. It's going to happen, you know how I know? Because I believe the doctrine of the resurrection. And she had this doctrine of the resurrection. Well, was she right? Indeed she was. She says, my brother will rise again someday down the road. But why is that true? It's true because down the road, Jesus would be there to make sure it happened. That's how it's going to happen. He's going to be there. He's going to do it. And Martha needed to know, Martha, the only reason your brother's going to rise again down the road is because I'm going to be there to raise him up. I'm here now. It's the same me. I am the resurrection and the life. And you don't have to wait until the future. You can enjoy a present foretaste of that right now. It's Jesus, brothers and sisters in Christ. Not something called resurrection. Not some doctrine called the second coming or something like that. It's a precious, precious thing to have doctrine. You look to the Lord and your doctrine will straighten out. You look to the doctrine, you might miss the Lord. You know, we think someday down the road it's going to happen. Ask God to help you not to make a goal out of a starting point. Oh, what a trick of the enemy to try to get us to make a goal out of a starting point. Well, someday down the road I think I'll be filled with the Spirit. And someday I'm looking forward to it. I'll be sold out. And someday I'll be totally surrendered to the Lord. And someday I'll appropriate the life of Christ. And I'll be with Him in the heavenly. And someday I'll enjoy victory and enter into His rest. What do you mean someday? Now. It's Him. There's a present foretaste right now. And if it's true that someday I'll see Jesus, and that's the end of the old sin nature. One view of Jesus as He is will strike all sin forever dead. Then what's my hope for victory now over the lust of the flesh? It's seeing Him. I need to behold the Lord and you need to behold the Lord. That's your hope of glory, Christ in you right now. And so we need, as Martha needed, to take our eyes off of doctrine, even orthodox doctrine. Say, well, I believe in eternal security. Get your eyes... Eternal security never secured a flea as a doctrine. Put your eyes on Jesus, the Keeper of your soul. There's your hope. He's the one that keeps you. It isn't the second coming. It's the second coming of Christ. It's the one who's coming again. And we need to have our eyes on the Lord. And we need to look away from there. It's not death that's going to help you. It's Jesus. It's not heaven that's going to help you. It's our Lord Jesus. Some people talk about this. Are you pre-this or post-this or mid-this or pre-this and the other thing? I don't know how you all are here and all of this. Say, I can't wait for the millennium, you know, when Jesus reigns on a solitary throne and Satan is bound in the knowledge of God, covers the earth like the waters cover the sea, where there's righteousness and peace and He rules with a rod of iron and justice, removing everything that hinders peace. Are you pre-mill? I'm better than that. I'm pre-pre-mill. I'm enjoying it now. He reigns now. Satan's bound now. The knowledge of the Lord covers my life like the waters cover the sea now. He rules with a rod of iron now. And God always intends us to look to a living Christ right now. He's the resurrection and the life, and right now we can have a present foretaste of all that's coming. He didn't tell you about the future so you'll know about the future. He tells you about the future so you know the Lord now. And every future truth contains a present principle on how to know and enjoy the Lord Jesus Christ right now. And so He calls us right now. All of that, that's my first preliminary observation. I went way around the block to tell you that if you understand that this passage is dealing with Christ as the resurrection and the life, it will help you understand when God takes Lazarus out of the grave and then when He takes him out of his grave clothes. It's different. Resurrection and the life. Hold that a moment, and let's do a little more donkey work and then we'll get to the text, I trust. I think there is light by relating chapter 11, verse 4. This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. With 1 John chapter 5, verse 16. 1 John 5, verse 16 says, If any man sees his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for the sin that is not unto death. Now remember, the Apostle John is the same one who is writing the Gospel of John who wrote the first epistle of John. In one place he says, this is a sickness not unto death. In the other place he said, there is a sin not unto death. And I think there is a relationship between the sickness not unto death and the sin not unto death. Someone says, are you 100% sure that God intended that relationship? No, I'm not. I think it's so, but I'm not 100% sure that God intended to unite those two things. But I know this, whether God intended it or not, it's a wonderful illustration. And the truth I'm going to share is true to the balance of Scripture, to the balance of truth. So if you don't like the illustration, throw the illustration out. But don't touch the truth that we're going to look at. I think it's a good illustration. But if you don't accept that, that's all right, scrap it. But don't scrap the great truth that's illustrated by this. Now before we develop that illustration, let me get a little bit technical. This is the last time. And then we'll get practical and look at the heart of the Lord. In 1 John, what's the difference between the sin unto death and the sin not unto death? The book of 1 John opens and closes the same way. That is, it opens with a description, actually, a double description of His people. In chapter 1, He describes those that are living in fellowship with Him as those who are walking imperfectly in light. And if you walk imperfectly in light, you have fellowship with Him. And the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses you from all sin. And then, in contrast to those who walk imperfectly with Him in light, are those who walk in darkness. That's not the same thing, walking imperfectly in light and walking in darkness. Those who walk imperfectly in light are open to the Lord. Their heart is saying, yes. They're positive. They love the Lord. But they're not perfect. They still sin. But they love the Lord. They're open to the Lord. They've responded to the Lord. But there's still, many times, many imperfections in their lives. Those who walk in darkness, that's willful rebellion. They've said no. So they've gone off into darkness. And to them, the blood of Christ is not automatically cleansing them. If you're in the light this morning, if your heart is open to the Lord, as I talk to you and as you listen to me, the blood of Christ is cleansing us from sin. We're not perfect. He's perfect. And we walk imperfectly in the light of Christ as God shows us Christ. You have one light of Christ. I have another. You're to walk in your light and not put that on me. I'm to walk in my light and not put that on you. But the blood of Christ cleanses us. But if you're in darkness, then the invitation is to repent and confess and come back into the light where the blood of Christ cleanses you automatically. That's where the confession comes in. There's a lot we could say about that, but I want us to move on. Just so, as the book begins with those who walk imperfectly in light and those who walk in darkness, the book ends. The sin not unto death and a sin unto death. And I think the sin not unto death has to do with Christians who walk imperfectly in light. There's still a lot of hang-ups and a lot of uncrucified filth practically in their lives. But it's not unto death. And so he says, pray for them. Pray for Christians walking in the light who are sinning but not unto death. And I'll grant them life. And then there's a lot you could say about the ones we're not supposed to pray for. I think that's willful rebellion, but that's a subject all its own. I'll let the brothers here handle that one. Come back please to John chapter 11. Our Lord Jesus manifests Himself through His friends. I think Lazarus is a wonderful picture. He's a lover of Christ. Christ loved him. There's this fellowship. He's a friend of God. But sickness got in his life. Now don't think physical sickness. That's a principle. Sickness, death got in his life. What happens when a friend of God, one who loves the Lord, when sickness gets in the way and when death gets in the way? And I think we have this illustration of salvation from and unto. Now let me take you to the text. Verse 43 please. When He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. That is salvation from. Lazarus, come forth. But did you notice verse 44? The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrapping, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said unto them, Unbind him, loose him, and let him go. Delivered from the death and grave and corruption and pollution. Man's most unsolvable problem. He's alive, but he's not free. He's alive, no question about it. But he needs to be delivered unto another life. He's still in his grave clothes. He's wrapped in the linens of death. He's raised, but he's entangled. He's encumbered with the rags of death and he needs to be set free. The risen man is still in bondage. Now if you remember in your life, you can probably testify to this same experience. I know it's true in my life. 1958, Ed Miller, come forth. And I was born again. Bless God. I came out of the grave. I came out of the grave. And I lived like that for seven years. In my grave clothes. I had no clue that I was given a life not my own. That there was a supernatural life. I didn't know. You're saved to serve. Alright. You ever try to serve the Lord when you're wrapped in linens and grave clothes? And I did. I served the Lord like that. And what a terrible picture that was. Alive, but still bound, the new life was not released. Even now, by God's grace, as I walk imperfectly in light, God is using His dear children to unwind me and release the life that is now from God. It's a glorious, glorious ministry. Alright. All that by way of introduction. Having said that, the Lord manifests Himself through His friends. Let me suggest from the text three ways God ministers through His friends. He not only manifests Himself to us, but through us. Mary and Martha had a wonderful three-fold ministry. And I believe He's called His body to that same ministry. Let me give the illustrations up front and then go back and comment on each one. Number one, verse three, And so the sisters sent word to Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. The first ministry is prayer. Prayer. Simple, little truth. Verse 38, please. Jesus again, being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, Remove the stone. Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, Lord, by this time there'll be a stench. He's been dead four days. Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you, If you would believe, you would see the glory of God? And so they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. The first ministry, prayer. The second ministry, remove the stone. There is a ministry of removing the stone. And then the third ministry is in verse 44, The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings. And his face was wrapped around with a cloth. And Jesus said to them, Unbind him and let him go. There is the ministry of unbinding. There is the ministry of loosing. There is the ministry that we have in the life of a friend of God who has death in his life. But it's not unto death. We have a ministry to release the new life that he has. To unbind him and to let him go. And so those are our three ministries. Let me mention a comment or two about each. Pray. Remove the stone. Loose him and let him go. Mary and Martha came to the Lord Jesus or sent a messenger. He whom you love is sick. Remember the verse I quoted in 1 John 5, 16. Listen again. And Jesus said of those who sin, that sin not unto death. If you see someone sinning a sin, not unto death, ask, and I will give life. Boy, that is a neglected, precious verse that God has given to us. Verse 3, Behold, he whom you love is sick. They didn't ask the Lord Jesus to come and heal their brother. I'm not saying that's wrong to do that. I'm just saying they didn't do that. Certainly, Jesus could have healed Lazarus. Could have raised him up. No problem at all. But they just left it to the Lord. They just brought the brother and said, he whom you love is sick. You almost have to recall Kings. 2 Kings 19 where Hezekiah received that letter from Sennacherib that threatened the people of God. The Bible said that he just opened it up, laid it on a table. He said, Lord, read it. There it is. Brothers and sisters in Christ, we all walk imperfectly in the flesh. We haven't arrived. We walk imperfectly in the flesh. If you see someone who sinned a sin, not unto death, in other words, they love Jesus. They love the Lord. They love His Word. But somehow death comes in and sickness comes in. Do you pray for them? That's so easy. Do you bring them before the Lord? Do you pray for them? Someone has a short fuse, but they love the Lord. And they have this short fuse and they blow their temper. Well, they need counseling. Maybe, but maybe they need prayer. And God will give them life. You see someone who's unforgiving, or you see someone who is lazy, or someone who neglects the Word of God, but you talk to them and they love the Lord. And they neglect the people of God, but they love the Lord. And it looks like their heart is open if they had some life, but all these imperfections. And maybe they gossip or maybe they exaggerate or maybe they're lazy or maybe they're presuming. And we say, well, that offends me. We need to separate ourselves. Have a censor on them. Let's rebuke them. Maybe, but start off, Lord, He whom You love is sick. If you would present one another, if I would present my brothers and sisters, we all don't have the same light, but if you see an inconsistency in a life, sometime God may lead you to go to that brother or sister and open the Scriptures and deal with it. But very often I think He's called us to just say, Lord, He whom You love is sick. I have a dear, I want to say friend, I don't want too much to get on the tape, relative that I am praying for. There is something in this life, and I'm excited because of this new promise I got. And I just know He's going to give life. If they have impatience, it doesn't say He's going to give patience. He always gives life in answer to your prayer. He always gives the revelation of Christ. And I've been praying for this, and I'm looking, I'm watching, and I want to see God do a wonderful thing. Well, that's the first part of how the Lord ministers through us. I think Satan has gotten us so distracted from the second half of 1 John 5, 16. What about the sin that is unto death? And what does it mean we shouldn't pray for them? And we get all wrapped up in that. We lose the promise of the first half. The first half is that we can pray for our brothers and sisters, and God will give them life. What a power God has put in our hands. And we're not using it. We're not praying for one another. Look at verse 39, please. The second part of the Lord's manifestation of Himself through His friends, remove the stone. What does it mean to remove the stone? How will you remove the stone from My life? How do I remove the stone from your life? What's pictured by the rolling away of the stone? I think if you look at the grave of our Lord Jesus, you get a little light on what it means. The rolling away of the stone was a messenger of good news. That stone was to tell a story. When that stone was rolled away, it announced good news. Gospel. Jesus is alive. But you remember John 20, 1 and 2, when Mary Magdalene saw the stone. She didn't hear good news. She heard bad news. She looked at the stone and said, bad news, somebody's stolen His body. It wasn't designed to say bad news. It was designed to say good news. Jesus is alive. He's no longer here. What does it mean to roll the stone away? I think what it means is to declare good news. It's to go to a brother or sister who has death in their life and roll the stone away and say, something wonderful can happen here. There's some good news for you. Jesus can do something with this situation. When you roll a stone away from a brother or sister who has death in his life, you might think that's an easy thing to do. It's a lot easier to pray than to roll the stone away. A lot easier to pray. And one reason is because of verse 39. The New American Standard words it this way, Lord, by this time there'll be a stench. I like the King James. By this time he stinketh. By this time he stinketh. And one reason it takes the life of Christ and an act of faith to roll away the stone from a brother or a sister who has death in their life is because very often by this time it's stinketh. The situation stinks. It's so corrupt. It's so vile. It's so rank. Christians generally open to the Lord, but they can get themselves so messed up. And then death takes over and things begin to disassemble and to disintegrate. You know they love the Lord, but in the hour of temptation, they go down. Their marriages get messed up, and their kids get messed up. They violate the law. They get in trouble with the law. They get into depression, awful depression, fretting and nervous breakdown, lust of the flesh, and then they're in bondage to pornography or something else. They start on drugs. It's amazing what Christians can get involved in. And you know they love Jesus. You know they love the Lord. And it takes a miracle of God for you to go to that situation that stinks and roll the stone away and say, I'm announcing that He can do something wonderful for you. We have a dear sister in Newport. I've got a battle going on in my soul. Because up here, I honestly don't believe even the Lord can help her. I have struggled. I want so much to roll the stone away from her life. Her situation stinketh. It's horrible what she got messed up in. And then she'll come and weep and love the Lord and pour out her heart, and she goes right back into this same old thing. There's no deliverance. And I want to be able to roll the stone away and just say with assurance and conviction, I won't name the name, God can do something for you. There's a miracle that's possible. And yet in my heart, I don't even believe it's going to happen. We need to trust the Lord to give us the faith to believe, first to pray for our brothers and sisters. If there's trouble in their life, if there's inconsistency, if they're not living up to the character of Christ, pray for them. And He'll grant life. And then by God's grace, roll the stone. And I know your heart will recoil and say, oh, Lord, no. You can't. Roll the stone away. Watch what the Lord will do. You can't raise Him from the dead. He's got to do that. But you have a ministry in rolling the stone away. And I have a ministry in rolling the stone away. Jesus could have rolled the stone away by word. Roll away. He could have done it with an angel. He's done that before. He could have used an earthquake. He wants to use you. He wants to use me. He wants to use the family of those that are friends of God. Pray for them. Roll the stone away. Announce that this is not impossible. Not for the Lord. I know it stinks. I know it's corrupt. I know it's vile, but it's not impossible. Not for Jesus. Declare the good news. Declare the Gospel. Roll the stone away. Tell them that the Lord can do something. And then stand by and watch Him do it. And then finally, verse 44, And the man who had come forth bound hand and foot with wrappings, his face wrapped around with a cloth, Jesus said unto them, Unbind him and let him go. You know, Jesus could have brought Lazarus right through those grave clothes. He did that for Himself. Of course, the difference, He was raised in an immortal body. Lazarus would die again. We know that. But my point is this, that if He could break the bands of death, certainly He could break the bands of death clothes. He could have done it. But He wants to use you. He wants to use me. He wants to use the body to minister unto the body. He wants us to have a redemptive part in bringing our brother or sister to the place where the life that God has put within might be released. Don't read this la-la-la. I read the traditions on how they used to bind these people. They tied their hands and tied their feet and wrapped them around like a mummy in layers and put spices in between the layers. It was like glue. And they just glued them together. I don't know if you've got a mental image. Lazarus come forth. How did He do that? Do you think He floated out of there? Did He shuffle out? Did He hop? Did He fall over and roll out? It's almost as sad as it is funny because that's how many Christians live. You know, they live there. And they're just doing the work of the Lord. And they're trying to minister. They're so tied up in the life, the life of Christ, the resurrection life, the life not their own, the new life. It's all bound up. I wonder what their emotions were. If they floated out, I'd know their emotions. I'd have been out of there. I don't know about you, but maybe they were excited. Maybe they were terrified to see this. Maybe they were happy to see it. I don't know. Can you imagine if it was your loved one in that sheet? That's your grandfather. That's your mother. That's your wife that you laid away. That's your husband. That's your little baby. That's your child. That's your neighbor. That's your friend. If that were my Lillian, and Jesus said, loose her and let her go, how tenderly I would do that. That's my wife. I would take those claws off, and when I saw her eyes, I would cry, and I'd hug her, and I'd kiss her. Is that how you treat your brothers and sisters who are bound by death? Pray for them. Roll the stone away. Declare that Jesus can do something for them. And then by the grace of God, help them to see with His life. And help them to hear again with His life. Help them to speak by the life that's within. He's not calling you to give them lessons on how to have a good family, and how to be a husband, and how to evangelize, and how to do mission work. How to release the life of Christ, that's what it's all about. The life that's within, loose Him and let Him go. Let Him see with God's eyes, and hear with God's ears, and speak with the life that God gives Him. Let Him serve with God's hands and walk in the paths of the Lord. Help Him. Help Him. God has left that to us to minister that. To release the life of Christ. Tradition tells us that Lazarus lived another 30 years after this. I don't think he needed a course on evangelism. I don't think he needed a course on missions and how to present the Gospel. Chapter 12 gives us the sequel of this. Last time he's mentioned in the Bible. They had a big feast. And the Bible says he was there and people came to see him who was raised from the dead. When you know Christ as the resurrection and the life, then you become a channel through which He can minister His life and help others to know Him as the resurrection and the life. And when you know Christ as the life, all you've got to do is show up. That's all Lazarus did for the next 30 years. He just kept showing up. And as he showed up, there was an attraction because it wasn't his life. It was a new life. And God's children had the privilege to help set that life free. Oh, brothers and sisters in the Lord, the Teacher's here and He's calling for you. Calling for you to come to Him and to come to the truth of resurrection life. He'll try your faith so He can manifest Himself to you. But it's so that He can manifest Himself through you. If you see a brother or a sister who sinned the sin not unto death, pray for him. And God said, I'll grant him life. All glorious promise that. May God help us to embrace it. Roll the stone away. You might be Lazarus. You might be the one like this. Then know that your brothers and sisters are here to help you. They'll tell you what God's done in their life. They'll announce that it's not impossible. You say, but you don't know how rotten, how corrupt. It doesn't matter. Jesus can do something. He can make something. And then your brothers and sisters are here to love you and to tenderly help you to see with His light. Hear with His light. May God help us. He wants to manifest Himself to us and through us. The Master's here. He's calling for you. Let's pray. Thank You, Our Father, not for what we think these things might mean, but for all that You know they mean. Will You work that in our hearts? You've inspired these things. Burn them into our spirits, we pray. And we ask You by Your grace to deliver these saints from anything that was not from You. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.