Nov 10
15
Lazarus Raised: A Picture Of God’s Saving Grace
John 11:43-44 – Don Fortner
There are many pictures of grace in the Bible, by which God illustrates the gospel message of salvation by grace alone. One of the most instructive of these pictures is the resurrection of Lazarus. Read John 11 and 12, and note these five things about Lazarus:
HIS CONDITION (11:4) – Lazarus was dead. That is the state of all human beings by nature, spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins, incapable of either knowing or changing their condition (Rom. 5:12).
HIS CALLING (11:43) – When the Lord Jesus cried, “Lazarus, come forth,” the dead man arose to life. There is a general call which goes out to all men when the gospel is preached. But this was not a general call! It was a personal, particular, powerful call, irresistible, effectual and distinguishing. The only way any sinner will ever be saved is if the Son of God, by the power of his Spirit, calls him from death to life. And all who are called by him do live (John 5:25).
HIS CONVERSION (11:44) – Once he was called, Lazarus was converted. His conversion was both immediate and gradual. He was immediately changed from death to life. But he was gradually freed from his “grave clothes”. And sinners saved by grace are immediately transformed into a new creation (II Cor. 5:17). But throughout our lives we are being saved, gradually, from the “grave clothes” of sin, unbelief, and self-righteousness (II Cor. 7:1).
HIS COMMUNION (12:1-2) – Soon after his resurrection Lazarus is found sitting at the table with his Savior. You will notice that the house and the table belonged to Lazarus, but the Master of the house was Christ. Lazarus surrendered all to his Lord! (Read Lk. 14:25-33). The believing, surrendered heart is the heart with which Christ holds sweet communion.
HIS CONFLICT (12:9-11) – Because of Lazarus many others believed. But the Jews sought to kill him. Why? Because he had been raised from the dead! This is the last we hear of Lazarus. His life with Christ was a life of unceasing conflict in this world. And all who believe will find it so with them (John 16:33).
THE VOICE OF THE HEAVENLY BRIDEGROOM
My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.” –Song of Songs 2:10-13
The speaker is the heavenly Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is his voice we hear; the voice which is as the sound of many waters; which spoke the “gracious words” the like of which were never uttered on earth. It is to his bride he speaks; “the bride, the Lamb’s wife;” his chosen, redeemed, called, sanctified one; given him by the Father before the world began; his one spouse, his “love, his dove, his undefiled;” of whom it is written, “Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Of the saints of all ages is this “bride,” this “body,” composed; all of them washed in the same blood, and clothed with the same righteousness.
1. It is the voice of LOVE. “My darling” is his name for his church. Other names of endearment he has for her, but this is chief. All in him betokens love. All that he is, and says, and does, intimates love; a love that passes knowledge; a love stronger than death and the grave; a love which many waters cannot quench nor the floods drown. It is in tender love that the Bridegroom thus addresses the Bride.
2. It is the voice of ADMIRATION. “My beautiful one” is his name for her. “You are all beautiful, my love, there is no spot in you.” The “fairest among women, “is his name for her, even as her name for him is the “chief among ten thousand.” The heart of the Bridegroom is full of admiration for the beauty and perfection of his bride. She is “perfect through the loveliness which he has put upon her.” He has ravished our heart, and we have ravished his!
3. It is the voice of AUTHORITY. The husband is the head of the wife; so is Christ the head of the church; and though it is love that speaks, it is authoritative love. “Arise,” “come with me.” Obedience is our true position; and no amount of love in him can ever alter this. It is not bondage; but it is obedience. It is not sternness on his part, yet it is authority. Our Bridegroom is Jehovah, Immanuel, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Shall we treat his voice as that of an inferior or an equal; or as the voice of him whom no amount of condescension and endearment, and admiration, can ever make less truly the Head of the church, Head of principalities and powers, the Head of the universe, of whom it is said to the church, “He is your Lord, worship him.”— author unknown
Jesus proved that he is the resurrection and the life! What reason is there to doubt the second part of his claim, that whoever believes in him will live even though he dies? He proved the first part of his claim in history, we have no reason to doubt he will prove the second part in our future!
The way Jesus treated Lazarus is a wonderful follow on from John chapter 10 where Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd. For the account of Lazarus is a beautiful picture of what the Good Shepherd does with his sheep. When Lazarus was dead, he had absolutely no desire to live. But Lazarus was powerfully called by name and lead out. In heaven, Lazarus won’t be absorbed into a nameless multitude. Jesus will not forget Lazarus’s name for he is one of Jesus’ sheep. If you are in the Good Shepherd’s flock, it is because he loved you first and called you from the grave by name. Will he lose you in the multitude of his flock? No, of course not. He is the one who never speaks empty words, there are never any escape clauses in his promises. Extract from “The Raising of Lazarus” – Andrew Doran.
Come, then, empty of self—to a full Christ!
To be sensible of our unworthiness before God is good; but to look within ourselves for anything to render us worthy—is evil.
This is pride—when men would bring something to Christ, instead of being willing to receive all from Him!
And this is true humility—for a soul to be nothing in itself, and to come to Christ, according to that gracious invitation: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!” (Isaiah 55:1.)
Come, then, empty of self—to a full Christ! -Thomas Sherman
The Death of Lazarus
Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. (Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.” When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, but to God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.) So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he remained in the place where he was for two more days. John 11:1-6.
The chapter we have now begun is one of the most remarkable in the New Testament. For grandeur and simplicity, for pathos and solemnity, nothing was ever written like it. It describes a miracle which is not recorded in the other Gospels–the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Nowhere shall we find such convincing proofs of our Lord’s Divine power. As God, He makes the grave itself yield up its tenants. Nowhere shall we find such striking illustrations of our Lord’s ability to sympathize with His people. As man, He can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Such a miracle well became the end of such a ministry. It was fit and right that the victory of Bethany should closely precede the crucifixion at Calvary.
These verses teach us that true Christians may be sick and ill as well as others. We read that Lazarus of Bethany was one “whom Jesus loved,” and a brother of two well-known holy women. Yet Lazarus was sick, even unto death! The Lord Jesus, who had power over all diseases, could no doubt have prevented this illness, if He had thought fit. But He did not do so. He allowed Lazarus to be sick, and in pain, and weary, and to languish and suffer like any other man.
The lesson is one which ought to be deeply engraved in our memories. Living in a world full of disease and death, we are sure to need it some day. Sickness, in the very nature of things, can never be anything but trying to flesh and blood. Our bodies and souls are strangely linked together, and that which vexes and weakens the body can hardly fail to vex the mind and soul. But sickness, we must always remember, is no sign that God is displeased with us; no, more, it is generally sent for the good of our souls. It tends to draw our affections away from this world, and to direct them to things above. It sends us to our Bibles, and teaches us to pray better. It helps to prove our faith and patience, and shows us the real value of our hope in Christ. It reminds us that we are not to live always, and tunes and trains our hearts for our great change. Then let us be patient and cheerful when we are laid aside by illness. Let us believe that the Lord Jesus loves us when we are sick no less than when we are well. J.C.Ryle.
“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” – Isaiah 49:16
No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word “Behold,” is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said, “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me.” How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding than the unfounded doubts and fears of God’s favoured people? The Lord’s loving word of rebuke should make us blush; he cries, “How can I have forgotten thee, when I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands? How darest thou doubt my constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon my very flesh?” O unbelief, how strange a marvel thou art! We know not which most to wonder at, the
faithfulness of God or the unbelief of his people. He keeps his promise a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt him. He never faileth; he is never a dry well; he is never as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapour; and yet we are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God were the mirage of the desert. “Behold,” is a word intended to excite admiration. Here, indeed, we have a theme for marvelling. Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of his hands. “I have graven thee.” It does not say, “Thy
name.” The name is there, but that is not all: “I have graven thee.” See the fulness of this! I have graven thy person, thine image, thy case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses, thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee, everything about thee, all that concerns thee; I have put thee altogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsaken thee when he has graven thee upon his own palms? Charles Spurgeon.
ALL-SUFFICIENT GRACE
“God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all-sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good word and work.” —2 Corinthians 9:8
All-sufficiency in all things! Believer! Surely you are “thoroughly furnished!” Grace is no scanty thing, doled out in pittances. It is a glorious treasury, which the key of prayer can always unlock, but never empty. A fountain, “full, flowing, ever flowing, over flowing.” Mark these three ALL’S in this precious promise. It is a three-fold link in a golden chain, let down from a throne of grace by a God of grace. “All grace!”—”all-sufficiency!” in “all things!” and these to “abound.” Oh! precious thought! My need cannot impoverish that inexhaustible treasury of grace! Myriads are hourly hanging on it, and drawing from it, and yet there is no diminution—”Out of that fullness all we too may receive, and grace for grace!”
My soul, do you not love to dwell on that all-abounding grace? Your own insufficiency in everything, met with an “all-sufficiency in all things!” Grace in all circumstances and situations, in all vicissitudes and changes, in all the varied phases of the Christian’s being. Grace in sunshine and storm—in health and in sickness—in life and in death. Grace for the old believer and the young believer, the tried believer, and the weak believer, and the tempted believer. Grace for duty, and grace in duty—grace to carry the joyous cup with a steady hand, grace to drink the bitter cup with an unmurmuring spirit—grace to have prosperity sanctified—grace to say, through tears, “Your will be done!” John MacDuff, 1849
DYING GRACE
“I have the keys of hell and of death.” —Revelation 1:18
And from whom could dying grace come so welcome, as from You, O blessed Jesus? Not only is Your name, “The Abolisher of Death;” but You Yourself have died! You have sanctified the grave by Your own presence, and divested it of all its terrors. My soul! are you at times afraid of this, your last enemy? If the rest of your pilgrimage-way be peaceful and unclouded, does there rest a dark and portentous shadow over the terminating portals? Fear not! When that dismal entrance is reached, He who has the keys of the grave and of death suspended at His golden belt, will impart grace to bear you through.
Death is but the messenger of peace. Your Savior calls you! The promptings of nature, when, at first, you see the darkening waves, may be that of the frightened disciples, when they said, “It is a ghost, and cried out for fear!” But a gentle voice will be heard high above the storm, “It is I! Do not be afraid!” Death, indeed, as the wages of sin, must, even by the believer, be regarded as an enemy. But, oh! blessed thought, it is your last enemy—the cause of your last tear. In a few brief moments after that tear is shed, your God will be wiping every vestige of it away! “O Death! where is your sting? O Grave! where is your victory? Thanks be unto God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Welcome, vanquished foe!—Birthday of heaven!—”To die is gain!
“John Mac Duff,1849.