[0:01]We're so excited about our new single Never Lost that we were just singing. We pray that you'll get that song and what I want to do today is I actually want to take something that was in that song that you were just singing and bring it to your life at a really practical level today. And the song says that God still shows up at the tomb of every Lazarus. And I want to show you the scripture that that line came from today, and then I want to speak to the Lazarus in your life. Everybody in here has a Lazarus and everybody in here has a God. And today we just want to bring these things into God's presence for a few moments. John chapter 11 is the scripture. Welcome to our E-Fam around the world. There are tens of thousands of people right now who are joining us on their devices and let's thank God for them as well, that this word would be received in your life. I got smart to V up I brought my iPad today my Bible. I'm preaching from John 11 and I'm covering quite a few verses of scripture. And my Bible yesterday kept blowing the pages kept blowing it wasn't the Holy Spirit it was the the air vent and it just kept blowing to different scriptures and so I brought it on the iPad today. I hadn't preached from it in a long time and it's locked and loaded and charged. I want to preach to you Well, it's not locked. It's going horizontal. This is some old man stuff right here. You know every preacher gets persecuted. Paul had shipwrecks and I have iPads that go horizontal. It's kind of on the same level, don't you think? But we're going to look at something today together uh from John chapter 11 verse one. Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, Lord, the one you love is sick. When he heard this, Jesus said, this sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Everything up until this point, by the way, makes total sense to me. Uh, we're giving the name of this man, Lazarus. His name literally means the one who God helps. Have you ever had God just help you out of a a mess that you got yourself into? Or a mess that you couldn't get yourself out of. His name means the one that God helps and his sister was Martha. She's the one who made the mortgage payment. His other sister was Mary. She was a good listener. And Jesus liked going by and visiting because Martha made these incredible lemon pepper wings. He liked to eat her food and then Mary would sit at his feet and be discipled. And there's nothing better than somebody, well, I was going to say there's nothing better than a good listener, but a good cook is better than a good listener. And if you ever find a good cook and a good listener, marry him, marry her. And Jesus loved to go to this little place two miles outside of Jerusalem and he would often be refreshed there in his ministry travels but now they need his help. And it says that he loved them. He loved all of them. He loved Lazarus. He loved Mary. He loved Martha. And as Lazarus sickness begins to overtake uh the affairs of the family, Martha issues not necessarily an invitation to Jesus, but a request for help. Lord, the one you love is sick. I love how she phrased it. You know, send him a message. Say, uh Lazarus, no, no, say, the one you love is sick because he's very busy and we need to get him here. So let's just remind him of of how much he loves Lazarus and get him here real quick so he can do that healing thing that he does for us. And everything makes sense, you know, that he loves them so he would come to them and he would visit them and he would help them because Lazarus name means help. So it's in his very nature to expect the help that his name identifies just like as a child of God, you call on your father and you expect him to help you. And everything up until here makes sense.
[5:43]But the next verse is something that I want us to talk about for a few moments today because some of you are at a place in your life that doesn't make sense anymore. And it's that I want to speak to. It says that he loved them that Jesus loved them. He really loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus. Verse six, so when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. And that's what I wanted to work on together today. Because it would be one thing if the Bible said, he loved them but he stayed where he was two more days. Because that would mean that he couldn't come. He had other people to help. But it says this this interesting word, so, so he stayed where he was two more days. And that means that verse six flows directly from verse five. He loved them so he did not come when they wanted him. And I want to talk about this today from my heart. I'm going to title this message, The Lazarus Factor. The Lazarus Factor.
[7:19]And Lord, I just pray that you would enable me to preach this word beyond my human understanding or my oratorical abilities. God, I pray that something would go forth from this pulpit today that would call forth from the hearts of your people the kind of faith that makes the difference. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated.
[7:56]Spoiler alert, Lazarus dies and gets resurrected in John chapter 11. I didn't want to leave you in suspense too long.
[8:12]But you ever think about how different people have different love languages? They have a book about it, the five love languages.
[8:28]And, uh, I'm so thankful that God gave me a wife that one of her love languages is physical touch. Do you know how happy that makes me? What a blessing. I'm so glad her love language isn't acts of service. I've much prefer physical touch. Amen.
[8:52]You know what? God's love language is trust.
[9:03]If you were to ask me from just studying the Bible for however many years I've been studying since I was 16, how does God receive love? He he loves to be trusted. More than he even loves to hear you sing and I'm not saying you don't have a great voice. He loves when you trust him. More than he even loves and I probably shouldn't say this as a pastor, but more than he even loves when you come to church. He loves when you trust him on Tuesday. He just loves to be trusted. One of the most difficult things I think in our life is that we often equate love with comfort while God equates love with trust. If we are not studious and if we don't give attention to the scriptures, we will conflate and confuse our human definition of love with a divine love. A love that is not simply an action but an essence of who God is. I don't know about your first job. But I would put myself out there as maybe having the most interesting first job in the whole room because my first job at age 15 was to work at Pet Rest cemetery and cremation service. And I'm proud of that. I did those funerals with dignity. And I lifted 180 pound bullmastiff. That's part of how I learned to, you know, preach in dead churches was. Because right after my my ministry of of burying dogs and cremating dogs, I had to go preach at Baptist churches and, you know, the atmosphere could sometimes be real similar some of the churches. Don't be hateful. I'm just telling you about my experience. Um, it was a good job and and people often judge me when I tell them because you remember we used to go out there and on the way to the mall. I I'd tell Eric, I just need to stop by real quick and take care of these dogs real quick. And you could tell who your friends are when you stop by the crematoria on the way to the mall, who who your your friends are. But some people would judge me. You know, you tell them that that you've cremated dogs and they look at you like you deal drugs. And it was a service with dignity. It was a I'm again, very proud of the fact that I was 15 years old with a job that paid $150 a week. Yeah. And I got my own beeper. You don't know nothing.
[12:22]And, uh, You know what?
[12:30]I think the one of the worst jobs would have been to be the PR manager for Jesus Christ. To to have to explain his actions. Or or or to have to give a press conference for Jesus, especially when John chapter 11 says things like he loved them. He received hospitality from them but when it came time for him to help them, he stayed away two extra days because he loved them. I don't know what to do with that. Humanly speaking, my love language is presence. You know, I love you, Pastor, but you don't come. You don't love me if you don't come. That's how I feel about it.
[13:40]You know, people would say things sometimes, we're there with you in spirit. I appreciate that. But there with me in spirit doesn't help me move these boxes. Huh? There with me in spirit doesn't cook chicken noodle soup when I have a cold. Talk to me somebody. There with me in spirit and then people are real annoying. They'll give you cliches. And think that's supposed to comfort you. Well, if, you know, God put it on you, he won't give you any more than you can bear. They always got a scripture for you, you know? That's why when I sent you the scripture the other day, I said, delete this if you don't want to see it right now. Because sometimes the scripture is annoying. I love how y'all look at me when I say stuff like that. That's how I know I'm preaching good cuz you give me that face. It's the face that you make when you've thought it but you would never say it out loud. Hallowe'en is over. Take your mask off. And admit for a moment. Come on, y'all, this is my job to say the stuff that you're thinking anyway. So you don't think you're going to hell for thinking it. You can have great faith and still be frustrated. You can have great faith and still wonder sometimes what the
[15:31]The real situations. The one you love is sick. And we often conflate God's love with the circumstances of our life. Now, if you look to the circumstances of your life for the proof of God's love, you are looking for love in all the wrong places. So Jesus says, um, one of those things that could sound like a cliche on the surface. He says, this sickness will not end in death, but for the glory of God. Well, hallelujah. Do you know what I mean? God is your provider, but he's not paying my rent. The stuff you won't say. In fact, when we put this online, let's put the stuff you wish you had the guts to say. But Martha Martha said it. And I want to show you how she responded because everybody has a Lazarus. Everybody has a turn that your life took that you didn't see coming and that God didn't prevent. And as simple as this message may be, I think it may be the deepest one that you ever hear because God is saying, take me to that place.
[17:40]It is not a physical location. It is an emotional one. Take me to that place where you laid him.
[17:57]Where you stopped being optimistic.
[18:05]Where you started going through the motions.
[18:13]Swinging an axe with no blade. Take me to that place where you just learned to manage the addiction rather than fighting it. Take me to that place. Where you just decided to show people a facade because you don't think they can handle what's really you in the core of your being. That place.
[18:50]Everybody has a Lazarus.
[18:55]And the question is not whether or not you have a Lazarus. The question is, what are you going to do about it?
[19:08]Now Jesus made the the trip to the tomb. And when he got there, some of y'all said you were going to memorize more scripture this year. I'm going to give you one to start. Verse 35. Jesus wept.
[19:26]So you can go home and tell somebody you memorized the whole Bible verse today. That's the whole verse. Jesus wept. How powerful that before he spoke the word he wept. Before he demonstrates his authority, he demonstrates his empathy. He wants you to know I'm with you while you're waiting for it. I'm with you while you're waiting for it. I'm with you. I was with you when you didn't see me. I was with you when you didn't feel me. I was with you when people couldn't do it for you. I was with you. And he wept.
[20:14]And when they saw that, verse 36, many of the Jews gathered there said, see how he loved him. Look how much he loved him. And then some of the other Jews said, verse 37, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? So now I got one voice saying he loves you so much and then I got another voice saying if he loves me so much then why? And the Bible says that Jesus once more deeply moved did not respond to their opinions but operated according to his purpose. I feel the presence of God in this place. Now watch this moment. And receive it for your Lazarus in your life. It says Jesus once more deeply moved came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. The stone across the entrance means nothing else is going in and nothing else is coming out. That's some of your hearts today.
[21:37]It is a place where you feel exhausted and it's sometimes a place where you're embarrassed of it. It's not the rooms in the house that you show the guests. It's the other rooms. That place.
[22:01]What I couldn't figure out was why did Jesus wait when he could have come and spoken a word? And if he could have come and spoken a word, why didn't he just speak it from a distance? He didn't even have to come to Bethany to heal Lazarus. But I think he wanted us to see that he likes to come close to what other people would push away. Everybody has a Lazarus. And the question is not whether or not you have a Lazarus. The question is, what are you going to do about it?
