Stand Till Death

We believe in the Lord, we trust the Lord, and then I get sick, and the doctor said, you have three weeks to live, and I am finished, I'm dead, I'm destroyed, I am gone. No faith, no God, no nothing, because a doctor said, you will die in three weeks time. Hallelujah.

Man, I welcome death, because death for the true believer in Christ is the vessel that will get me to the love of my life. It is no longer I'll see him through a mirror, it is no longer I'll see him through a maze, it is no longer I'll see him through little windows called the eyes, I will see him face to face. I'll see Jesus Christ every single moment in paradise, wholeheartedly and wholesome, the entire Jesus, no more dreams, no more visions, no more reading signs.

Christ, you will see him face to face. So thank you, doctor, for saying I've got three weeks to see the love of my life. Hallelujah.

Nothing else matters outside of him, because outside of him is nothing but temporal, and everything that is temporal is a dream, and every dream is a story based on a lie, because the moment you wake up from the dream, you are no longer that person that you saw yourself in the dream. Maybe in the dream, you saw yourself a king or a queen, but it's only a dream. The moment I woke up, I looked at myself, and I'm still cleaning Fairfield-Neather City.

Christ is the truth, never changes. Reality is a dream that changes at the awakening, that changes at the awakening. So I need to live for the Lord Jesus, my beloved.

So we see Martha's faith diminishes in verse 39. Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days. Then the Lord reminds her of all this in verse 40.

Again, I'm making an emphasis on this. Did I not say to you, if you would believe, you would see the glory of God. I wish our faith was unshakable, because the unshakable faith will make you see the glory of God.

The unshakable faith will make you see the glory of God. But I want you to believe without doubt, without suspicion, without weakness, without hesitation. I want you to be confident when you believe in me.

Now, whether I take you to me or keep you here, you better have faith. Either way, I want you to be confident. Don't you want to come to me? Why are you afraid of leaving this world? Oh, so you love this world more than me? You don't want to leave it? I love you, Lord.

Whatever, however, whenever, all good. All good. You want to keep me? Let it be your will.

You want to take me? Let it be your will. I suffer? Let it be your will. You can make me comfortable? Let it be your will.

But whatever you do, Lord, one thing I'll beg you never to do. Don't ever let me walk away from you, because I will. I'm weak.

I'm a sinner. I'm blind. I'm dumb.

I'm foolish in every way. But Lord, you're the Savior. You're the Redeemer.

Whatever happens from my side, please, you are the faithful one. You are the loyal one. I'm not.

Hold on to me. Have mercy on me. Be patient with me.

I know I am nothing but a pain to you. But please, just be tolerant with me, Lord. Because at the end, I want to be with you.

I don't know how, but you can. I trust in you, Lord. I believe in you.

Amen? Amen. Now, here we discover something, and that is being engaged with God in a discussion or in an argument, more so, does not produce any positive outcome from God's side. When you engage with the Lord Jesus in an argumentative approach, you're not going to get the Lord's attention.

He's not interested now. You're arguing with him. He wants you to have faith and say, Amen, Lord.

That's it. And leave it and move. It is done already.

I'm not going to sit and think, did he hear me? Is he going to listen to me? Is he going to answer me back? Is he going to give me my wish granted? Not. Stop it. This is totally against faith.

So when you argue with the Lord, God won't do much at all. But tears and submission, on the other hand, we see how much this impact has on the Lord. Tears and submission.

We see how much it impacts the Lord Jesus. Now, we come now to Mary. See, Martha, when she went where the Lord was, she met him.

But look what the Holy Bible says about Mary. In verse 32, when Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, not met him. She fell down at his feet.

The moment she saw him, she fell down at his feet. Martha met him. Mary worshipped him the moment she saw him.

Humongous difference. And Mary said the exact words which Martha said to the Lord. And those words are, if you were here, my brother wouldn't have died.

The very exact words that Martha said, Mary also said. But the difference was, Martha met the Lord. Mary worshipped him when she saw him.

Now, if you were here, Lord, my brother wouldn't have died. That is a statement said based on absolute weakness. Because Martha and Mary, both of you are acknowledging that he is the Lord.

And the Lord means he is God. Now, does God need to come where your brother is for your brother not to die? Can't God raise your brother wherever God is? Why does he need to come where your brother is? You see, a contradictive statement when it comes to faith. So, that statement is said by someone who is weak.

By someone who's weak, God doesn't need to come where your brother is for your brother to remain alive. God can keep him alive wherever God is. Amen.

But you see, my beloveds, we see the weakness is in both Martha and Mary, but with a difference. Martha's weakness was based on argumentative engagement. But Mary's weakness was based on worship.

So now, as believers in the Lord Jesus, so many Christians come to the Lord and ask the Lord for things. Some Christians get what they ask for, some don't. Why? Because those who come and receive nothing, they come on the basis of arguing with the Lord.

Why aren't you doing this? When are you going to give me this? I've been begging you for so many years and you've done absolutely nothing. I've had enough Lord. If you don't give me my wish, I will not talk to you ever again.

The Lord says, then bash your head against the wall and move on. Because this kind of nonsense has no place in me here. But when you come and say, Lord, I can't do it anymore.

But you can. I don't know what to do anymore. But you know, Lord, I'm dead.

But you raised the dead. Lord, I'm lost. You have a good shepherd who found the lost sheep and brought it back to the fold.

Lord, I'm hungry. You are the living bread. Lord, I'm thirsty.

You are the living waters. Lord, I am finished. You are the beginning and the end.

Nothing is lost. When you come with a weakness, but acknowledging the infinity of God, God will move mountains for you. Rest assured, my beloved.

But you see, when you come with a broken heart, with humility, yet you're weak. All of us are weak. But when you come with humility, not self-pride, not arguing, but submitting to God.

When you come this way, the first thing will happen to you. Tears will start flowing down your face. Tears.

Why? Because now you're speaking the language of the heart, not the lips. The heart. That's where tears come from.

From the heart. When you speak the language of love, you will cry about the one you love. When they are distant from you, when you are longing for them, you will cry.

When you miss them, you will cry. And this is where the Lord Jesus, we find that he is reacting to Mary in a completely different way than to Martha. In verse 33, this is all chapter 11 of John, the gospel writer.

In verse 33, look what verse 33 says. When Jesus saw her, meaning Mary, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, the moment the Lord Jesus saw those tears, in the beginning of our topic last week, the Lord said, turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me. Song of Solomon, chapter 6, verse 5. The moment the Lord saw the tears on Mary's face, and those Jews were with her, he says, turn away those eyes.

I can't handle my children crying. It breaks me to smithereens. I have to do something about it.

When I see my son, and I see my daughter crying, I will not be silent anymore. I will do the impossible for my children. Because the only thing that overcomes God are your tears.

Why? Because tears never lie. But the tongue always twists things and lies. Tears never lie.

And God loves a human to be honest with themselves, before they are honest with God. Be honest with yourself, and know what you are saying and what you're asking for, before you come to me and ask me for it. Be honest with yourself.

Be honest. Now, in verse 33, when the Lord Jesus saw those tears, it says, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. It really shook him.

It really hurt him badly. He says, I gotta do something about this. And in verse 34, the Lord Jesus says, where have you laid him? In verse 35, it says, two words only, Jesus wept, cried.

He cried. You win. He has done what you asked for.

He cried. Now the question is, Lord, why are you crying? Aren't you the one who is going to raise Lazarus from the dead? You should be happy. You should be joyful, because you're going to raise him.

And you're able to raise him. You're capable of God. So why are you crying? The Lord says, no, I'm not crying for Lazarus, but I'm crying for the entire human race, not Lazarus.

I'm crying for the entire human race. But how, Lord, are you crying for the entire human race? You're at the tomb of Lazarus. Because when the Lord Jesus came to the tomb, how many days had gone by since Lazarus was dead? Four days.

The Lord Jesus deliberately waited till the fourth day. Now why? Why after four days he comes? You see, Lazarus here, my beloved, represents the entire human race. Sorry, I'll stop for a sec.

Is it cold? No? Yes? No? Okay, I'll continue. But if you think it's cold, just put your hand up and I'll just ignore it. So now, why did the Lord Jesus come after four days? See, when we read in the scriptures, when we study the scriptures, we will find that from Adam to Abraham, it was a 2,000 year period.

And from Abraham to the Lord Jesus, another 2,000 years. In other words, from Adam to the coming of Christ, the Messiah, 4,000 years had gone by. And when we read the epistle of Saint Peter, 2 Peter 3.8, Saint Peter says, and with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

4,000 years, a day is like a thousand, and a thousand years is like a day to the Lord Jesus. Then 4,000 years is four days. Jesus coming to the tomb of Lazarus after four days, meaning I wept for the entire human race from Adam till the last one who comes.

And the word of Martha, which she said to the Lord Jesus in verse 39, Lord, by this time there is a stench for he has been dead for days. She said it, not for her brother, but for the entire human race. Because my beloved, everyone sinned, and through sin death entered, and death got us into the grave, and we rotted in the grave.

The Lord Jesus wept for the death which entered through sin, and brought stench to the human being, and destroyed the image of God in which man was created. Christ cried for that image which God had created you with. He said you sinned, death entered, and death distorted that image.

I'm crying for that beautiful human that walked away from me. The Lord Jesus says, take away the stone. A very strange request from the Lord Jesus, take away the stone.

But Lord, you said to us in Matthew 17 20, in Matthew 17 20, you said to us the following, if you have faith, he's talking to us, if you have faith as a mustard seed, a very minute piece of seed, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here and go over there, it shall happen. It will move. So now Lord, you're asking us to move mountains with a faith of a mustard seed, and aren't you able to move a stone with a word? You're God.

You're asking the human, if you have a mustard seed faith, you can move a mountain. But you're God, and you're asking us to move the stone. Can't you move the stone Lord? He says of course I can, but I will not.

You need to move the stone. My job is to raise the dead. My job is to make resurrection possible.

But you need to move the stone. See the Lord here is saying, resurrection will not happen until we remove the stone of our sin. That stone placed on the tomb of Lazarus represent our sin.

A stone here is heavy, and sin weighs heavily on us when we live in a sinful way. It really puts a lot of load on us, and it gets us to a stage where we fall, and we can't carry on anymore. So the Lord says, resurrection will not happen until you move, remove the stone of your sin, and what? And inhale the very stench of your sin, and hate your wrongdoings.

I will not raise you from the dead until you remove the stone of your sin, and smell your own stinking smell of sin, and then begin to hating that sin that made you rot in the grave. Until that moment I will not raise you. See the his father's house, mansion.

He lived like a king. He didn't want it. He wants to be free, Mr. Genius.

So he goes to a far away, far off country, and he lives in a bad way. Then he realizes, one day he said, I've had enough smelling the stench of the pig's field. He started longing for the bread in his father's house.

He said, I've had enough of this stinking life. See, I've been taking drugs for too long. I've been gambling for too long.

I've been an alcoholic for too long. And by the way, once I was talking like that, they thought I was a drug addict. I'm just talking in general.

I never took drugs. Please relax. But you live this kind of a life, and one day you wake, woke up, and said enough is enough.

Until when am I going to live in this filth? Until when am I going to remain swimming in this sinful life? I hate myself. I hate sin. I hate the smell of sin, which is filth, stinking filth.

Enough is enough. I'm going to make a change once and for all. When you say that wholeheartedly, the Lord will raise you from the dead, will change you.

But until you are honest, truthful to yourself, nothing will change. You can come and beat your chest and say, Lord, have mercy on me. Come on, Bishop, hurry up.

I want to go to Mondi Beach after this. You're not going to change, brother. You need to be honest.

The day you hate sin is the day of your resurrection by the Lord Jesus. The day you hate sin, it is the day that you will offer a genuine true repentance. It is the day that you will offer a genuine true repentance.

Christ is waiting to raise you. But you can come and say, yeah, I'm a sinner. But you know what, man, I still love going to Las Vegas.

I still love going to the pub with me mates. I still love the white powder. I still love this.

I crave for this and I miss this. You haven't hated sin yet. You need to be honest for a change to happen.

You need to be honest. The day you're honest, Christ has changed you. You don't need to go to him.

He came where Lazarus was. He came. Nobody needs to tell the Lord he is God.

He knows you and everything more than you and more than everything. But the Lord is the truth. He loves somebody speaking the truth.

And what is the truth about humanity? We're all sinners. We all fail God. We need to be honest with it.

Stop trying to make it look good. Say I'm ugly because you're speaking the truth. If you're going to say, Lord, you know, I'm not bad.

What is not bad? That's either bad or good. What is not bad? You see, it doesn't make sense. What do you mean you're not bad? You're either bad or good.

Don't paint it. Not going to work with the Lord. If you're going to say good, if you're going to say you're good, the Lord says, I came for the bad.

Sorry, I'm not going to choose you. But if you say, Lord, I'm bad and I need the good God to heal me and raise me from the dead, you've got the Lord. Amen.

Now, for this, we must take away the stone. When we get close to removing the stone, we will smell our own stench. The moment we smell our filth, we're going to make a stand, a genuine stand.

We'll take a stand. We'll hide our foolishnesses and we'll hide sin. And the moment we begin to hide sin, it is the moment we offer a genuine repentance.

So now, what happened at the tomb? Two things, my beloved, happened at the tomb of Lazarus. Number one, death came out of Lazarus and entered Christ and life, number two, life came out of Christ and entered Lazarus. I'll say it again.

Death, number one, death came out of Lazarus and entered Christ. Number two, life came out of Christ and entered Lazarus. The Lord Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus took what was ours and gave us what was his.

What was ours? Death. And what was his? Eternal life. He took our death and gave us his life.

He took our filth and gave us his holiness. And the Holy Bible says this and I'll finish off on this. The Holy Bible says the following about Lazarus.

The Bible doesn't mention that Lazarus came out of the tomb. It says the dead one came out of the tomb, not Lazarus. Yet he is Lazarus.

But it didn't mention Lazarus came out. The dead. Look at this.

And he who had died came out. He who had died is Lazarus. But the Holy Bible didn't say Lazarus.

It says he who had died came out. But the Lord, when he stood before the tomb, he said, Lazarus, come forth. He called him by his name.

But the Bible says the one who had died came out. Why here the Holy Spirit says the one who had died came out? Because, my beloved, for the first time ever in Lazarus' entire life and the moment him being in the grave, for the first time ever, the one who called him to come out heard the voice of the living one. I am absolutely sure when they put Lazarus in that grave, at least his sisters Martha and Mary, both cried heavily and they shouted and yelled and screamed and begged, Lazarus, please come out.

Lazarus, you are not just a brother. You are our father. You are the backbone of this family.

What are we going to do without you? Two females without a man in their life. You left us orphans. Without you, we are shattered, destroyed.

Lazarus, please come out. They begged him. The people of the town begged Lazarus, come out, come out.

Lazarus did not come out. Why? Because all he was hearing was the voices of dead people like him. For the first time ever, somebody rocks up at the tomb.

His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth and says to him, Lazarus, come forth. He says, whoa, hallelujah. For the first time, I hear the voice of the living one and when the dead hears the voice of the living one, they shall rise.

Amen. A dead cannot raise another dead like him, but the living one, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, can raise the dead. A blind man cannot lead another blind man unless they fall into the ditch, but the one who says, I am the light of the world, will show you the way where you never fall again.