Participants: Pastor John Lomacang
Series Code: TWH
Program Code: TWH000034A
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00:32 Just before we read the scripture reading,
00:34 I want to give you a little bit of background on this message. 00:40 Each day, my wife and I read our devotions together. 00:42 We read our Bible. 00:44 We read one of our favorite devotional writers, 00:50 a man by the name of Oswald Chambers. 00:54 And number of years ago I did a sermon called, 00:57 "The Silence of the Lambs" which was about prayer. 01:02 This is not the same sermon. 01:05 This is the silent of the lamb 01:07 which can be summarized in a simple question, 01:10 "What do you do 01:12 when God doesn't seem to be responding to you?" 01:17 There we were sitting on the mountaintop 01:20 in the Virgin Islands. 01:24 My brother's girlfriend arranged for us 01:28 to stay at the home of the lady she worked for. 01:31 Beautifully, the house was nestled right 01:33 on the side of a hillside overlooking. 01:37 Our eyes feasted on the beauty of St. Thomas. 01:42 But we had no electricity, no running water, 01:48 none of the necessities of life were functioning. 01:51 We were just laying on a queen sized bed, 01:54 looking out this panoramic view of the beauty of disaster, 02:01 wondering what these residents of the Virgin Islands 02:07 and all the islands of the Caribbean did 02:12 while they were waiting for relief to come. 02:17 I scheduled it so that 02:20 the generators would arrive 02:21 when we got there, but they didn't. 02:24 My brother encouraged me in a beautiful way and he said, 02:31 "Brother, I know you wanted the generators to get here 02:34 when you did and they are still not here. 02:36 They'll be coming the day you're leaving." 02:39 But I just want you to know 02:42 as I went to the different aunts 02:44 of the family and family members 02:45 that are gonna get a generator, 02:47 they all expressed 02:49 how much they are so grateful 02:51 that you even thought about us in our time of need. 02:56 Because it's going to be a long time 02:58 before we get any response from the government. 03:02 What do you do 03:04 when God seem to be silent, 03:09 or when God seems to extend His arrival by two more days? 03:14 This morning the message, 03:16 the Silence of the Lamb 03:18 is an attempt to address those questions. 03:22 Let's stand together. 03:24 I'd like to just give you a reset. 03:25 If you stand with me, we're gonna read the scripture, 03:28 reading a very short one, 03:29 but I think that you've sat so long 03:31 I want to give you a chance to breathe, 03:33 you know, when they say when the lungs are folded 03:36 and you don't get oxygen, 03:38 you get comatose 03:39 and you don't want to get that today. 03:42 John 11:6, let's read this together, 03:45 is the church ready? 03:47 The Bible says, 03:48 "So, when He heard that he was sick, 03:52 He stayed two more days 03:55 in the place where He was." 03:59 Father in heaven, 04:00 as we open Your Word this morning, 04:02 open our hearts and minds, 04:03 breathe into us 04:06 the faith we need 04:08 when God seems to be silent, 04:13 when He seems to be on a delay, 04:17 when our desire for Him to arrive 04:20 had not yet been fulfilled. 04:22 Lord, give us the faith to trust You 04:26 in the moments of Your silence. 04:29 In Jesus' name we pray. 04:31 Amen. 04:33 You may be seated. 04:37 I've learned as I have been in the Virgin Islands 04:39 and seen the disaster unfolding in so many ways. 04:42 It takes the least amount of faith to say 04:44 that Jesus is an on-time God 04:49 until you are the one waiting for Him. 04:52 It didn't take a whole lot to say 04:54 we serve an on-time God, 04:56 until your lights are not working, 04:58 and there's no water to drink, and there's no food to eat, 05:03 and your car is upside-down down a cliff, 05:06 and your home has been blown away 05:07 from the second to the third story 05:09 completely obliterated. 05:11 We saw devastation 05:13 that I didn't think as my brother said, 05:15 he said, "Take your heart pills." 05:16 I don't take heart medication, but he said, 05:19 "When you come here, take your heart pills, 05:22 you gonna be shocked by what you see." 05:25 We drove to a woman's house up the hill. 05:28 And with my drone, 05:31 she said, I'd like to get some aerial footage 05:34 so that the insurance companies can have 05:36 what they need to make an assessment of rebuilding. 05:41 And the second and third story was completely decapitated, 05:45 blown off, car blown over the cliff. 05:49 It looked like a bomb 05:50 had fallen right on her property. 05:54 And the stories go on and on. 05:56 Hotel roofs completely removed, third floor is removed, 06:00 cars turned upside down 06:01 as though they were made of paper, 06:03 poles everywhere. 06:05 And I said, "Is this how it is all the time?" 06:07 She said, "This is how it is." 06:09 So what are you guys doing about it? 06:10 We're just waiting for help, 06:14 been praying for more than a month, 06:16 waiting for help. 06:18 What do you do 06:21 when God seems to be silent 06:24 and you had hoped He would come, 06:27 but He had not yet arrived? 06:29 The story begins in John 11. 06:31 If you have your Bibles with you this morning, 06:33 go there with me. 06:34 We're gonna walk through this scenario 06:36 to see how important it is 06:38 to trust God even when He is silent. 06:45 It takes the least amount of faith to say 06:46 that Jesus is always on time 06:49 until you are the one waiting for Him. 06:53 We pick up the narrative in John 11 06:56 and we read verse 1 to verse 3. 06:59 The Bible says, "Now a certain man was sick, 07:03 Lazarus of Bethany, 07:06 the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 07:10 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord 07:12 with fragrant oil and wiped his feet 07:14 with her hair, 07:16 whose brother Lazarus, was sick. 07:21 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, 07:24 "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.'" 07:31 When I read the story, 07:33 the servant of the Lord said that when the news 07:36 of Lazarus's illness reached Jesus, 07:38 Mary and Martha did not send it 07:40 with an urgent tone connected to it. 07:44 They didn't text Jesus and say, 07:47 "Respond, if you get this text." 07:49 They didn't send 07:50 a red letter saying, "Come now." 07:53 Because Mary and Martha did not feel 07:55 the need for persistence, 07:57 they considered Jesus to be the closest 08:00 of their friends. 08:05 When they called on Jesus, 08:07 they did not call on Him like others did. 08:09 This was the one that spent time in their home, 08:12 this was the one that ate with them, 08:15 and laughed with them, and talked with them. 08:17 This was the one, 08:20 the family with whom Jesus was most comfortable. 08:24 So they didn't feel the need to say, 08:26 "Come now, we need your help. 08:30 Please, if you would, just come." 08:33 These two sisters knew 08:36 that they had such a friend in Jesus 08:39 that He would come knowing 08:41 that his friend Lazarus was severely sick. 08:46 The Bible continues the story though. 08:49 In verse 4, the Bible says, 08:52 "When Jesus heard that, 08:54 He said, 'This sickness is not unto death, 08:58 but for the glory of God, 09:00 that the Son of God may be glorified through it.'" 09:04 This is not something that is gonna cause 09:07 any major impact, 09:09 this is not unto death, this is not that bad. 09:12 But when you read the narrative and you understand 09:14 what had happened prior to this, 09:16 that response caused his disciples 09:18 to further doubt his divinity because not long before this, 09:22 they'd already questioned the silence of Jesus 09:24 in reference to not visiting John the Baptist, 09:26 when he was in prison. 09:28 And even the question, 09:30 "Are you the one 09:31 or is there somebody else to come?" 09:32 When Jesus doesn't respond, could you possibly be Jesus? 09:39 Could you be the Divine One? 09:41 So to hear this again, 09:43 they begin to further question his divinity, wondering, 09:46 is He in fact the Christ, 09:49 or is there something in our mind 09:53 that may be a little off kilter to think 09:55 that he really does care. 09:58 Because He listens to the news 10:01 and He says it's not that serious. 10:06 But when you do follow the story, 10:08 you'll find that the next two verses 10:09 could severely cloud your understanding of God. 10:13 If you received a message like this 10:15 while your brother is slipping away. 10:17 Look at verse 5 and 6. 10:20 The Bible says, "Now Jesus loved Martha." 10:22 Now Jesus what? 10:24 "Loved Martha, and her sister and Lazarus." 10:30 And this is the verse on which the sermon is founded. 10:33 "So when He heard that he was sick, 10:38 He stayed two more days in the place where He was." 10:44 Now you got to get this. 10:47 Two days had already passed 10:50 and when you think about 10:51 the absolute silence in the home of Bethany, 10:53 Martha and Mary thinking 10:55 that by now Jesus would have come, 10:57 I could think of day one 10:58 they would have said to each other, 11:00 "I know He's on His way, He loves us. 11:02 I mean, this is the guy that is always at our house, 11:03 He loves us. 11:05 I know He's on His way." Day two. 11:08 Martha, "He'll be here soon." 11:11 There's got to be some reason for the delay, 11:16 but to compound it. 11:18 Verse 7 comes into the story. 11:20 Verse 7 comes into the scenario. 11:23 Verse 7 comes now 11:24 into the movie roll as it were. 11:29 "Then after this," 11:31 after He said, let's stay two more days, 11:34 He said the following words, "Let us go to Judea again." 11:39 You've got to get the picture. 11:41 You've got to look at the setting. 11:43 Here is Lazarus slipping away in illness, 11:47 Mary and Martha says, 11:49 "Come, our brother, the one that You love," 11:52 and they specifically said it that way, 11:54 "The one whom You love is sick, would You please come." 11:58 And Jesus says, 12:00 "Well, let's go to Judea first," 12:02 and then He decides 12:04 to stay away for two additional days, 12:07 almost with a sense 12:08 that this is not as urgent as it needs to be. 12:12 And Mary and Martha are there waiting for Jesus 12:16 and when you think about 12:17 where they're located, they're in Bethany. 12:19 Judea is on its way to Bethany, 12:21 but the reason why the disciples did not want 12:23 Jesus to go to Judea, 12:25 but directly to Bethany 12:26 is disclosed in the very next verse. 12:29 Look at verse 8. 12:31 "The disciples said to Him, 12:32 "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, 12:34 and You are going there again?" 12:36 But I want to say, 12:37 when I read this verse I paused and I thought to myself, 12:39 you see the emphasis is not just about 12:43 what we're going through while we wait for Jesus, 12:46 but hear me carefully. 12:47 The emphasis is what Jesus is willing to go 12:50 through just to get to us. 12:53 Because He put Himself in harm's way 12:57 just to get to Bethany. 12:59 He didn't have to go to Judea, 13:01 but He went to Judea 13:03 knowing that His life was in jeopardy there, 13:06 knowing that He could have been killed, 13:08 He could have been injured, 13:09 His disciples were fearful for their lives, 13:11 but He went through Judea knowing the circumstances, 13:16 but He did that ill-concerned about His own safety, 13:21 but more concerned by the safety 13:24 and the need of Mary and Martha. 13:27 So when you're going through stuff, 13:29 remember this, 13:31 what we're going through, hear me carefully, 13:32 is nothing compared 13:34 to what Jesus went through for us. 13:40 Every crisis we face 13:42 is based on a particular time frame. 13:46 What we're going through 13:48 is nothing compared to what Jesus went 13:50 through for us. 13:51 In times like these 13:53 we tend to minimize His sacrifice 13:54 and maximize our anxieties. 13:57 We tend to focus less on His investment 13:59 and we tend to focus more on our requirements. 14:02 I know what He's doing, but what about my needs 14:05 and I thought about that in the Virgin Islands, 14:07 while we were there walking the streets, 14:09 asking people to tell us their story. 14:12 There's a restaurant that we frequented there 14:14 in the Virgin Islands, 14:15 and I asked my brother about this place, 14:17 it's called Victor's Hideout, a Caribbean restaurant, 14:20 very good food. 14:22 You know, when you're in a place 14:24 like the Caribbean, you don't need to cook, 14:26 everything tastes like home cooked food. 14:28 Anybody know what I'm talking about? 14:31 When you go to those countries 14:32 where they really know how to cook. 14:39 I'm not talking about Paris. 14:43 I'm talking about good old Caribbean food, 14:46 seasoned like mama would cook it. 14:48 When you're there 14:50 and you remember the name of your favorite restaurant... 14:53 What happened to Victor's Hideout, 14:55 because it's perched on the hill 14:57 overlooking the bay, 14:58 glass windows all the way through the restaurant, 15:01 and I said, what happened to Victor's Hideout? 15:03 And my brother said, 15:04 well, I'm sure it sustained some kind of damage. 15:07 But he didn't tell me, 15:09 he did not prepare me for what I saw. 15:13 The roof had been ripped off of the entire restaurant. 15:17 I mean, think about a restaurant, 15:18 the width of this room, the roof is completely gone, 15:21 every window was blown out, 15:25 everything was completely devastated. 15:28 And I have some video to show you about that. 15:31 But I thought about it 15:33 when we are in moments like those, 15:36 I had a chance to talk to the owner of the restaurant. 15:40 And I said, can I see Victor? 15:43 Because I knew that he wanted pictures 15:45 for obvious reasons to see 15:47 what it looks like now and ask him 15:49 whether or not he plans on rebuilding. 15:51 And I said, Victor, what happened? 15:52 He said, you know, 15:54 the day after the restaurant was blown apart, 15:56 we were open for business. 15:59 I said, "How is that?" 16:00 He said, in the basement. 16:03 The kitchen was left intact 16:05 and we opened immediately the very next day 16:07 because our focus was that people need our help. 16:13 They gave food to the emergency responders, 16:17 to the police department, 16:18 to those whose homes were devastated. 16:20 He said, after I saw 16:21 what had happened to the restaurant, 16:23 I determined there is no way 16:24 that I'm going to rebuild in this location. 16:27 But he said, 16:28 when the people began to show up. 16:30 He said, I didn't have 16:31 the desire to go through rebuilding again, 16:33 but now I see, I've got to rebuild 16:36 because they need 16:38 this kind of service in the community. 16:41 So he's rebuilding. 16:43 But when you're in that moment, 16:44 the seeds of darkness tend to give way to misunderstanding 16:47 and we tend to think that 16:49 because help hasn't come right away 16:52 that we lean more on our anxiety 16:55 than on the investment that Jesus is on His way. 16:59 And the story is endless. 17:01 We try to go visit some of the hotels, 17:02 but they were barred, there are police everywhere, 17:04 and there are emergency responders 17:07 and there are military. 17:10 There's some places you can even get to see, 17:12 they've been so devastated. 17:17 But when you begin to embrace misunderstanding 17:20 that's why Jesus inserted verse 9 in the story. 17:24 Look at it with me. 17:26 "Jesus answered, 17:28 'Are there not twelve hours in the day? 17:31 If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, 17:34 because he sees the light of this world.'" 17:37 In other words, if we keep our eyes on Jesus, 17:40 we won't be troubled about what we don't know. 17:43 Amen. 17:45 If you've got the light of the world, 17:47 how can you be in darkness? 17:50 He says, "If you keep your eyes fixed on the light, 17:56 you won't walk in darkness." 17:58 Look at John 8:12. 18:01 "Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 18:03 'I am the light of the world. 18:06 He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness," 18:08 but have what? 18:10 "The light of life." 18:12 When the moment doesn't make sense, 18:15 you got to trust 18:16 that Jesus is still in control of the final outcome. 18:24 My brother and I were standing there 18:25 at the window 18:27 and he begins to talk to the guy 18:28 behind the window in a very comfortable way, 18:29 and I'm thinking, does he know? 18:31 I said, "You know him?" 18:32 "No, I don't know him, 18:33 but I know the guy standing behind him." 18:35 "Who was that guy?" 18:36 He calls him to the window, I won't mention his name 18:39 and they begin to talk about their fishing experience, 18:41 how they were out on the ocean together 18:43 and my brother caught a shark 18:44 and pulled it on board and he looked around 18:46 for his friend to help 18:47 and he was in the back of the boat 18:50 and they began to laugh together 18:51 and then this friend says, "What are you doing here?" 18:53 He says, "I'm here to pick up 18:54 some generators four generators." 18:56 And then he said to his friend, "What are you doing here?" 18:58 He said, "I'm the manager of the warehouse." 19:01 And what does that mean? 19:03 When anything arrives, I know it's here. 19:08 Can I see your paperwork? 19:10 They exchange numbers. Praise the Lord, He works. 19:13 The Lord get you in touch with those you need 19:16 in the most crisis of moments. 19:19 Gave their phone numbers to each other, and he said, 19:21 "When it gets here, you will have it." 19:27 And you need that kind of assurance 19:28 because people have taken stuff, 19:32 people are mailing things down that disappear, 19:36 never get to the people that it intended to get to. 19:39 But Jesus said, "If you follow Me, 19:41 you will not walk in darkness." 19:43 You see, when I read that text I thought about the text, 19:45 "The just shall live by faith." 19:47 The just shall live by what? 19:49 Which means, when you're following the Lord, 19:51 you don't need all the facts, 19:52 you just need to trust God that He is in charge 19:55 and He will handle the moment. 19:58 In Desire of Ages, 20:00 the Lord's servant says in page 527, 20:03 speaking about those who trust God, she says, 20:04 "The light of God's guiding Spirit 20:07 gives him a clear perception of his duty, 20:10 and leads him aright till the close of work." 20:14 In other words, when you are following God, 20:17 you don't need to be caught in anxiety. 20:19 If you simply keep your eyes on the light, 20:21 the light will guide you 20:22 because the light belongs to God, 20:24 belongs to Jesus 20:26 who is, in fact, the light of the world. 20:29 But go back to John 11 and look at verse 10. 20:34 He reiterates this even further. 20:37 John 11:10, the Bible says, 20:41 "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, 20:44 because the light is not with him," 20:46 which simply means 20:47 when we attempt to use the reasoning of humanity 20:50 to figure out the intellect of divinity, 20:53 we will always fall short. 20:55 Amen, Joe? 20:56 When we use human ingenuity 20:59 to try to corner divine intellectuality, 21:02 we'll always fall short 21:04 because the fact of the matter is, 21:06 the Lord doesn't have to tell us everything 21:07 that He's gonna do before He does it. 21:09 If we believe Him by faith, all we need to have is faith, 21:13 not necessarily all the facts. 21:22 That's what He said in John 10. 21:25 John 11:11. 21:28 Look at these words. Look at these words. 21:37 "These things He said, and after that He said to them, 21:41 'Our friend Lazarus sleeps, 21:45 but I go that I may wake him up.'" 21:50 If I walk on the light I won't stumble, 21:53 if I walk in the dark I will stumble. 21:56 If I trust you by faith, I don't have to worry, 21:59 but if I don't trust you by faith, 22:00 I'll always fall short of understanding 22:02 what's taken place. 22:04 Hold on to that, but now let's go see Lazarus. 22:06 Lazarus is sleeping, 22:08 but I'm gonna go that I may wake him up. 22:10 Since your mind is on the death of Lazarus 22:12 that's going to finish the scenario, 22:13 verse 12 and verse 14. 22:15 Verse 12 to verse 14. 22:17 "Then His disciples said, 'Lord if he sleeps, 22:19 he will get well.'" 22:21 If somebody is sick and they're getting rest, 22:23 praise the Lord, they will get well, 22:24 the body will recover itself. 22:27 "However, Jesus spoke of his death, 22:29 but they thought 22:31 that He was speaking about taking rest and sleep. 22:34 Then Jesus said to them plainly," 22:36 can we say this together? 22:38 Are you ready? "Lazarus is dead." 22:46 Two more days. I know He is on His way. 22:50 There must be some reason for the delay. 22:52 Day three, I don't know what happened to Him. 22:57 Day four, nobody says anything just eye... 23:09 Just eye contact, just physical gestures, 23:13 frustrated and to add insult to injury... 23:16 to add insult to injury 23:18 a total of four days 23:22 culminate with Jesus arriving at the scene, 23:26 walking in with great confidence 23:28 into a scene 23:30 that had become paramount to death, 23:33 devastation, disappointment, grief, 23:37 and a crowd of mourners are gathered, 23:41 mourning the death of Lazarus. 23:44 And Jesus walks in, 23:46 and then there are religious leaders, 23:48 the Pharisees, believing in the resurrection, 23:50 the Sadducees not believing in the resurrection, 23:53 they're all gathered there at the home of Mary and Martha 23:57 in Bethany and Jesus walks in. 24:01 And He's met with the grief stricken statement 24:03 of the two sisters 24:05 and Martha leads the way in verse 21. 24:07 Go there quickly with me, with these words. 24:10 John 11:21, "Martha said to Jesus, 24:15 'Lord, if you had been here, 24:17 my brother would not have died.'" 24:20 And when you continue the story in verse 32, 24:21 Mary says the same thing, 24:23 "If you had been here, 24:24 my brother would not have died." 24:27 Now indulge me for a moment, because when I read this, 24:31 it takes me to the same statements 24:33 that many people have made today, 24:34 a lot of people have said that. 24:36 I've heard a lot of people say... 24:42 As Martha and Mary did, they accused Jesus 24:46 of not preventing the death of Lazarus. 24:51 And I asked you the question, 24:52 how many times have you heard people say, 24:54 "I'm not blaming Him for his death, 24:56 I'm just saying 24:57 that He could have prevented it." 25:01 Have you heard that, everyone? 25:02 "I'm not saying that Jesus is the cause, 25:05 but He could have done something." 25:08 I've been to the funerals of people who said, 25:09 "I prayed, nothing happened." 25:12 But what they did not know and I have to insert this here, 25:15 what they did not know, Tim, was this that Jesus had far, 25:20 had something far better than preventing death, 25:24 Jesus came not to prevent death, 25:27 Jesus came to defeat death. 25:32 You got to understand that. 25:35 Jesus did not come to keep the Hebrew worthies 25:37 out of the furnace, 25:39 He came to sustain them in the furnace. 25:41 He didn't come to keep Daniel out of the den, 25:43 He came to show you 25:44 that He's a big enough God to take care of us 25:47 even when we are in the den. 25:50 He didn't come to deliver the disciples from the storm, 25:52 He came to be with them in the storm. 25:55 And so often we get to that place 25:57 where I've heard family members and people say, 26:00 "He could have done something," 26:01 and there are people that leave the church, 26:02 they walk away from God. 26:04 They're upset that He did not do something. 26:06 I didn't get the job. My deal fell through. 26:10 My house got destroyed in the hurricane. 26:12 And they wonder, why didn't God do something 26:16 to prevent all this hurt, and pain, and devastation. 26:21 After all He is God. 26:24 And by the way, do you know that that is the statement 26:26 that atheists use the most to throw at Christians. 26:30 If God really is God, why is there so much suffering, 26:34 they say. 26:35 If He really is God, why is there so much death, 26:39 and pain, and suffering in the world? 26:42 And my response is, but is there joy in the world? 26:45 Oh, yes, there is. 26:47 So that if you see that pain 26:48 is the evidence of the absence of God, 26:50 then joy must be the evidence of the presence of God. 26:58 Jesus did not come to prevent death. 27:01 Jesus came to defeat death. Amen somebody. 27:05 But now there He is, 27:06 Lazarus wrapped 27:07 in the grave clothes of his inactivity, 27:09 sealed in the tomb of finality, his hopes and dreams are dead, 27:13 and any thought of a tomorrow finally ceased. 27:19 But there is Jesus. 27:22 As I was sitting on the plane yesterday, 27:25 working on my sermon, 27:28 I didn't want to go to bed at 3 o'clock, 27:31 so I went to bed at 3:44 instead... 27:37 On the plane working on my sermon, 27:40 in the airport working on my sermon, 27:44 got to get this done. 27:45 When I got home last night, 27:48 "Oh, closer to 1 o'clock, 27:49 I said, well, I only have the last page. 27:52 I didn't know the last page 27:53 would take 2 hours and 24 minutes. 27:56 How does the last page take that long, 27:59 when the first five didn't take much time at all? 28:03 Because the Lord said don't rush 28:04 through this message, you've got to get it clearly. 28:07 You see, amid the undeserving accusations of the crowd, 28:11 Jesus is there, but He narrows His focus, 28:14 under the unceasing hail of condemnation, 28:16 Jesus remains resolute, 28:19 surrounded by satanic confusion, 28:21 nothing distracts Jesus as He walks His way 28:24 toward the crowd, 28:26 the mourners, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, 28:28 the religious doubters, 28:29 those who continually doubted 28:31 whether or not He had any power at all. 28:34 Jesus is focused, He remains resolute. 28:36 He is not distracted 28:37 by anything happening around Him. 28:39 Would to God that would describe 28:41 some of us in the midst of our difficulty, 28:46 nothing distracts us, and what does Jesus say, 28:49 I love what He says. 28:50 Look at verse 34. 28:52 What does Jesus say to the accusations, 28:54 to the condemnation, to the confusion, 28:56 what does Jesus say? 28:57 I love the words. 28:59 A short verse, but powerful verse 34, 29:01 and He said together, 29:03 "Where have you laid him?" 29:07 Where have you laid him? 29:08 There's more to the question that meets the eye. 29:13 And let me tell you what is meant by that. 29:15 Jesus could have easily come 29:17 when there was Martha and Mary alone, 29:20 there would have been no crowd, 29:21 but here's a point that came to me so clearly 29:23 as I was thinking to myself. 29:24 Why didn't He show up earlier and I know theologically, 29:28 you understand some of you're really deep, 29:30 Jesus stayed away 29:31 because there was a belief that continued to exist, 29:34 that the soul would try for four days 29:36 to get back into the body 29:38 and if it did then the person would come back to life. 29:40 That's the one reason 29:42 why Jesus stayed away for four days. 29:44 He wanted to show them 29:45 that you don't come back to life 29:47 because the soul is in charge, 29:48 you will only come back to life because I'm in charge. 29:52 That's the one reason, but there's a deeper reason. 29:58 Had Jesus showed up 30:02 when He first received the news, 30:05 there would have been no mourners, 30:08 there would have been no skeptical religious leaders. 30:11 There would have been no Pharisees, no Sadducees, 30:14 nobody there that doubted His divinity. 30:17 Mary and Martha would have been 30:18 the only ones to witness the miracle. 30:23 But get this, this is about to get deep. 30:25 Sometimes Jesus waits 30:27 until you are surrounded by your doubters for Him 30:32 to do something spectacular for you. 30:35 Sometimes Jesus waits 30:37 so that the very ones that celebrated your defeat 30:39 will be the first ones to witness your victory. 30:43 Think about that. 30:44 The ones that said, nothing is gonna happen, 30:48 and all of a sudden something far greater than 30:50 you can ever imagine happens before their eyes, 30:53 and instead of doubting now 30:55 they become the first ones to witness the victory 31:00 that Jesus brings your way 31:02 in the presence of those that doubt, 31:05 and that is why 31:06 the Psalmist David wrote these words, 31:08 "Thou prepare us a table before me 31:11 in the presence of mine enemies, 31:13 Thou anointed my head with oil, my cup," what? 31:16 "Runs over." 31:17 So Martha and Mary are there. 31:19 The Pharisees are there. 31:21 I don't believe in resurrection, 31:23 I believe in the resurrection. 31:25 He cannot do it, He can do it. 31:28 He's not divine, He is divine. 31:31 That's not the Christ, He is the Christ. 31:33 Then why don't He do something? 31:35 Show me where he is laying. 31:38 And what they did not know is this is the moment 31:41 that Jesus had been planning for a long time. 31:43 Come on, Pastor Shelton, can you say amen? 31:45 And planning this a long time, 31:46 He couldn't do this earlier 31:48 because had He done this earlier, 31:49 they would have made their minds 31:51 to get rid of Jesus a long time ago. 31:55 But this was the story 31:58 that pushed the mission of those 32:00 that sought His death. 32:02 This was the miracle that sealed the fate of Jesus. 32:08 They didn't mind that He fed the 5000. 32:10 They did not mind 32:11 that He multiplied the loaves and the fishes. 32:12 They did not mind 32:14 that He restored the sight of the blind. 32:17 They did not mind that He gave feet to those 32:20 who could not walk. 32:21 They did not mind that Jesus calmed the waves 32:25 and stilled the seas and said to the winds hush, 32:28 they didn't mind all that. 32:30 They heard what had happened. 32:31 But this was the sealing moment 32:33 that Jesus waited for to let them know that, 32:35 "You all doubted My divinity and My ability, 32:38 but this is My moment." 32:43 And we read 32:46 verse 43 to verse 44. 32:54 I went ahead of myself, verse 39. 32:59 Verse 39. 33:04 Jesus said... 33:05 What did He say? 33:07 "Take away the stone." 33:10 Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, 33:14 'Lord by this time there is a stench, 33:18 for he had been dead four days.'" 33:21 Now, I read that and thought to myself, 33:23 did Jesus not know that? 33:26 Now, let me give you 33:28 the context of why she said that. 33:29 You see, Jesus could have said to the stone, 33:32 "Move," but what we ought to realize 33:35 is there are certain things that God calls us to do 33:38 that He's not going to do. 33:41 So when we don't do our part, He won't do His part. 33:45 He could have said to the stone, 33:46 "Be moved," He could have thought 33:48 and the stone would have moved, 33:50 but there are moments, hear me carefully, 33:52 there are moments in your life 33:53 that you fail to do what you have to do 33:57 and you fail to experience 33:58 the blessing of what Jesus will do, 34:01 which is what His responsibility is. 34:04 He's not going to do what we are called to do, 34:06 and we cannot do what He is equipped to do. 34:09 So He said, 34:10 "Roll away the stone," and instead... 34:11 instead of Martha rolling away the stone, 34:14 Satan gives a moment of discouragement, 34:16 discourages humanity 34:18 from participating with divinity 34:21 because Satan knows that when we... 34:23 Hear me carefully, when we respond 34:26 and follow the command of the Lord, 34:29 victory and blessings also follow. 34:31 Can you say amen? 34:33 When we follow the command of the Lord, 34:36 victory and blessings will naturally follow. 34:39 Roll away the stone, "By now he stinks." 34:45 I put this in the sermon, but I deleted it. 34:48 I got to add it back, I mean, 34:49 I was just impressed to add it back. 34:53 And I want to say this kindly, 34:55 but the thought came to my mind on the plane. 34:57 The only thing 34:59 that was thinking at that moment 35:01 was her inactivity to follow the command of God. 35:05 If you would just simply do what I ask, 35:08 the blessings will follow. 35:10 "If you'd simply follow My command, 35:14 the victory that you've been longing 35:15 for would be yours." 35:17 Roll away the stone. 35:20 Verse 43 to verse 44. 35:22 They finally took away the stone 35:23 and Jesus turned up the volume. 35:25 You know what? 35:27 When I read the story, I wish I had been there. 35:28 Come on, somebody say amen. 35:29 Amen. 35:31 The physically dead, bound and buried, 35:33 and his only hope is the physical resurrection. 35:35 You find verse 43, 35:36 they finally took away the stone, 35:38 and Jesus says in verse 43, 35:40 "Now when He had said these things, 35:42 He cried with a loud voice, 35:45 'Lazarus, come forth!'" 35:49 Is that what He said? 35:51 "Lazarus, come forth!" 35:54 Is that what He said? 35:56 Can I say what He said? 35:57 "Lazarus, come forth!" 36:03 Amen. 36:04 And the servant of God says, the voice of the life giver, 36:08 opened the ears of a man who had been dead 36:13 and had He not specified 36:19 by name, 36:21 the one to whom He called, 36:23 everybody in that graveyard would have come out. 36:29 Oh, that's what the Bible means 36:30 when it says the Lord himself shall descend 36:32 from heaven with a what? 36:33 Shout, 36:35 with a voice of a trumpet... 36:40 He called Lazarus. 36:42 The Bible says in verse 44, 36:44 "He who had died came out bound hand and foot 36:47 with graveclothes, 36:49 and his face was wrapped with a cloth. 36:51 Jesus said to him... 36:54 Jesus said to them," 36:56 This is our added responsibility, 36:57 Jesus said to them, do what? 37:00 "Loose him, and let him go." 37:01 Two times in the story that Jesus asked for humanity, 37:05 humanity to participate with divinity. 37:08 Roll away the stone, lose him and let him go. 37:10 And we got to remember that 37:12 because there are things that we can do 37:14 to cause somebody else to be free. 37:17 Amen. 37:20 There're stones in some people's lives 37:22 locking them in, 37:24 stones in some people's lives barring them 37:26 from the blessings of God. 37:27 Stones that have been built 37:29 in people's lives keeping them locked 37:31 into the things that bind them. 37:33 Stones that if we were to use our effort to roll them away, 37:36 I so loved what Little Richard said 37:38 when he was here. 37:40 I just love what he said when he was here. 37:41 When you talk about the story where he had gone to a man 37:46 and he told him about his plight, 37:49 and the man had the money to help him in his need, 37:52 and he said, 37:53 "I'm going to pray for you," and he said, 37:55 "No, God sent me to you, not for you to pray for me, 37:58 but for you to help me." 38:00 Amen. 38:02 There are some folk that could help, 38:03 but they choose not to lift a finger 38:07 to roll away the stone. 38:11 When somebody is in crisis, 38:12 when somebody is in disaster, they won't even lift a finger, 38:15 they are content for that person 38:17 to be bound and immobilized. 38:23 If somebody lifts a finger and then the Lord says 38:24 to the gathered crowd, "Loose him, and let him go." 38:28 And there are those so complacent 38:30 about the condition of fallen humanity, 38:33 dead and trespasses in sin 38:35 that they wouldn't lift a finger 38:37 to help somebody become loosed and set free. 38:45 Well, now you know the story 38:46 to the Christian death is asleep. 38:49 And for those of you that understand 38:51 the topic of death, I must say this just for those 38:52 that may be listening or watching 38:53 that don't fully understand. 38:55 Death is asleep, can you say amen? 38:57 Amen. 38:58 Forty times in the Old Testament, 39:00 physical death is called sleep. 39:04 That's why at the second coming of Jesus, 39:06 He will call the saints from their dusty beds 39:08 to eternal life. 39:10 And He says to us, 39:11 "Behold I show you a mystery 39:12 we will not all sleep, 39:16 but we will all be changed." 39:20 Now, I'm gonna take you some place 39:23 that you didn't think you're gonna go. 39:30 The death and resurrection of Lazarus 39:35 is filled with remarkable parallels 39:37 to our spiritual lives. 39:39 You know, God has been working in my own heart, 39:42 in my own life, taking me deeper into my Bible. 39:46 And I wish I could say 39:48 that was true 15 years ago or 20 years ago, 39:50 or 2 years ago, or 5 years ago, 39:52 but God has taken me to a new place in my Bible. 39:56 And I'm now able to look at stories in the Bible, 39:59 and He's able now to peel back the curtain 40:01 and show me things that I never saw before. 40:06 And this was one of the stories as I was sitting on the plane 40:09 there on Delta Airlines, close to the window, 40:12 typing with my laptop, close up to me, 40:15 I kept going ooh, ooh... 40:18 And she said, what's wrong? 40:19 I said, "Oh, this is getting too deep for me." 40:24 I never saw that before. 40:26 You see, I'm talking about death. 40:29 Amen. 40:30 As literal death affects 40:32 every functioning organ of the body, 40:36 so also spiritual death, hear me carefully, 40:39 Lord, open their ears. 40:41 Hear me carefully. 40:42 As literal death affects 40:44 every functioning organ of the body, 40:47 spiritual death affects 40:49 every functioning area of our lives. 40:59 All five senses of a dead person 41:02 cease to function, and I must say 41:05 all five senses of a person spiritually dead 41:09 are affected in a parallel way. 41:15 Dead people are unresponsive, so are the spiritually dead. 41:20 Nothing moves them. 41:22 You could preach to them and they're like stones. 41:27 No one knows what I'm talking about. 41:32 Elijah knows, the prophets know, 41:34 Stephen got stoned for saying that. 41:36 How many prophets has the Father sent to you 41:40 and you stoned every one of them. 41:45 I know you gonna stone me too, but I've got to tell you 41:48 the same thing that every one of them told you, 41:51 I know, I know what it's like. 41:54 All five senses of a dead person 41:58 cease to function. 41:59 Dead people are unresponsive, nothing moves them, 42:02 God's word affects their senses. 42:05 In this way, it doesn't make sense 42:09 when it's preached. 42:10 You know why? 42:11 Because they're spiritually dead. 42:13 So why is He getting all bent out of shape over a test? 42:17 Dead people have lost their sense 42:18 also of right and wrong. 42:21 Their senses don't function. 42:24 The spiritually dead are unconscious 42:26 even of their own decaying condition, dying. 42:31 A Laodicean dying in church can't witness, have no joy. 42:37 The gospel means nothing. 42:39 The second coming of Jesus has no impact 42:41 on the way they live. 42:43 They don't care about the three angels' messages. 42:46 Who cares about that? 42:48 So what about hurricanes, and death, 42:50 and tornadoes, and nuclear weapons, 42:53 all the signs of the times couldn't budge them 42:56 because they are dead, 43:01 decaying in their own inactivity, 43:03 and satisfied to be like a walking leper, 43:08 body parts falling off and they don't even feel it, 43:11 and God is saying, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, 43:16 if My church would hear Me, they could come out. 43:21 Amen, amen. 43:24 So I'm not concerned if you sleep in church anymore. 43:27 God said, "Forget them, they're going to sleep 43:29 because they're dead, that's what dead people do. 43:33 Lazarus was sleeping. 43:35 Everybody that's spiritually dead 43:37 is gonna asleep. 43:39 So I got past that, 43:41 I'm not gonna ask you anymore to wake up 43:43 because I now understand your condition. 43:45 Thank you, Jesus. 43:48 Sleep on, Lazarus, 43:50 until Jesus comes the second time. 43:54 You will come out to the stark reality 43:57 that you've been sleeping all this time 43:59 and the message to Laodicea has no impact on you 44:03 because you're spiritually dead. 44:04 The Word of God doesn't make sense 44:06 because dead people can't make heads or tails 44:08 out of anything that God says, until He gives them life. 44:13 He said to them, and I'm gonna hit you that 44:15 in moment, just a moment. 44:16 "He said to them, if you roll the stone away, 44:18 I could do something for them." 44:20 Now I tell you brother, the reason why God calls us 44:23 is there are some people that are dead 44:24 and trespasses in sin, 44:25 and we have the responsibility to roll the stones away. 44:29 Evangelism, sharing our faith, witnessing for Christ, 44:34 giving out a track, investing in evangelism, 44:38 going to somebody that you know 44:39 and talking to them about Jesus, 44:41 help roll their stones away, 44:45 but the spiritually dead are unconscious, 44:47 not only of their own decaying condition, 44:50 but the spiritually dead cannot be reasoned with. 44:52 Why? 44:54 Because they have no discernment, 44:55 their minds have ceased to function. 44:58 Look at Acts 28:26-27. 45:02 Acts 28:26-27. 45:04 Look at the Bible. Look at the Bible. 45:07 Powerful. 45:08 I was sitting on that plane, I thought, 45:10 Lord, why are You doing this? 45:12 He said, "John, you worry about people 45:14 sleeping in church?" 45:15 Don't worry about that anymore, stop talking about that. 45:18 They got to edit that out of the sermons, 45:19 don't mention that. 45:21 Just preach. 45:24 Let me worry about the spiritually dead. 45:27 Powerful passage. 45:29 That perfectly describes a person 45:31 in a lethargic Laodicean unconditioned, 45:35 uncaring, unmoved condition. 45:38 Acts 28:26-27, saying, 45:42 "Go to these people and say: 'Hearing you will not hear...'" 45:45 Why? Because their ears are dead, 45:47 and shall not understand. 45:49 Why? Their minds don't function. 45:51 "And seeing you will see, and not perceive," Why? 45:53 Because their eyes are closed. 45:55 "For the hearts of this people have grown dull." 45:58 That's what happens when people's hearts die, 46:00 they can't feel anymore. 46:03 "Their ears are hard of hearing, 46:05 and their eyes, they have closed," 46:09 unconcerned, I want to be dead. 46:11 When you close your own eyes, there's only one thing worse 46:14 than having your eyes closed is closing your own eyes. 46:21 "Lest they should see with their eyes 46:24 and hear with their ears, 46:26 lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, 46:29 so that I should heal them." 46:33 God wants to heal us. 46:34 Come on, somebody say amen. Amen. 46:36 God doesn't want people that have... 46:37 God is not concerned about membership. 46:41 He's concerned about fellowship. 46:43 If you walk in the light, as He is in the light, 46:46 you have fellowship with one another. 46:48 He's not concerned about 46:50 how long you've been in the church, 46:51 but He's concerned about how long you have been in Him. 46:55 Some folk are Adventist, but they ain't Christians yet. 46:59 And some people are not Adventists 47:01 and they're living with all they know. 47:03 And by the way, let me put this in context, 47:05 I am by no means 47:07 talking down to this beautiful message we have, 47:10 but I'm saying don't be a person who keeps the Sabbath 47:13 and is unconcerned about his own salvation. 47:18 The Pharisees kept the Sabbath, the Scribes kept it, 47:20 the Sadducees kept it. 47:23 When I read this text, I thought, "Lord, 47:25 that's amazing, that's amazing." 47:28 I almost ask the question as I begin to close, 47:31 can we say that Jesus has come to wake up the spiritually dead 47:35 for the same reason He came to wake up Lazarus? 47:38 Can we say that Jesus wants to wake up the spiritually dead 47:41 for the same reason He went to wake up Lazarus? 47:45 Look at Ephesians 5:14, go there with me. 47:48 Ephesians 5:14. Look at it. 47:51 Look at it. Look at it. 47:57 Remember the message is the Silence of the Lamb. 48:00 Look at it. 48:01 This is the reason why Jesus wants us to wake up. 48:04 Ephesians 5:14, "Therefore He says, 'Awake...'" 48:08 What a powerful text? Come on, what does it say? 48:11 "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, 48:14 and Christ will give you light." 48:17 Until we respond to the invitation to wake up, 48:22 we will never be able to see the light. 48:24 Dead people don't see light. 48:26 Dead people don't have eyes. 48:28 You can shine a flashlight one quarter of an inch 48:31 from their eyes and they cannot see it, 48:32 so He says, there's so much light for my church, 48:35 but they're sleeping. 48:36 They can quote the Bible, 48:38 but they have no connection with Me. 48:40 They know the Sabbath school lesson, 48:41 the 28 fundamentals are in place, 48:44 but they need to awake from the dead, 48:46 I need to give them some light. 48:48 Why? You are the light of the world. 48:50 We can only be the light of the world 48:52 if the light of the world is living within us. 48:58 That's what the Apostle Paul says, 49:01 "Knowing the time." 49:03 Come on now, how many more disasters do there need 49:06 to be for God's people to say, "He's coming soon." 49:12 How many more murders must we hear about? 49:14 And nuclear threats, and ISIS, and bombings, 49:18 and shootings, and hurricanes, and tornadoes, 49:22 and earthquakes, and disasters. 49:25 How much more immorality must we hear 49:27 and read on the news before we wake up? 49:31 Knowing the time that now it is high time 49:35 to awake out of sleep for now, brothers and sisters, 49:39 our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 49:43 Amen. 49:47 This is not 1925. 49:50 This is 2017. 49:52 The world should have been over a long time ago, 49:55 but in his mercy somebody's got to wake up. 49:59 I want them to be in my kingdom. 50:02 "Lazarus," He is saying to the Church, 50:04 "Lazarus, come forth!" 50:08 They're saying, I'm comfortable in here. 50:11 I've got a good place to lay. 50:15 I feel good. 50:16 Being dead makes me feel good, just leave me alone. 50:20 Do not worry about anything else, 50:23 while He wants to give us light. 50:26 But let me wind up with this very important point. 50:29 The timing of the resurrection of Lazarus 50:31 has a deep spiritual meaning also. 50:34 The timing. Get it. 50:37 For two days Jesus did not talk about 50:41 the illness of Lazarus when the news came to Him. 50:43 For two days Jesus said nothing to the disciples 50:45 about the message from Martha and Mary. 50:48 For two days the House of Mary, Martha and Lazarus was tense. 50:52 For two days there were no return messages from Jesus, 50:58 no estimated time of arrival, 51:00 no sight of and no news from Jesus, 51:03 no dust in the distance signaling His approach, 51:05 no approaching crowd, noise indicating He's near us. 51:09 For two days Jesus entered a mode of silence. 51:13 For two days they had to learn to trust in Jesus 51:20 in His time of silence. 51:23 Two days. 51:29 I don't like asking questions, 51:30 but I got to ask you this morning. 51:32 Can Jesus trust you with His silence 51:35 or are you still demanding answers 51:37 according to your timing? 51:43 I need it now, Lord. 51:46 Are you busy morning because Jesus 51:48 has not yet verbally responded to your prayer? 51:55 When you don't hear from Jesus, 51:57 do you begin to doubt His divinity? 51:58 Think about it. 52:00 The silence lead you to believe that 52:02 Jesus is not as powerful as death, 52:05 but that death is more powerful than Jesus. 52:12 Just to let you know that I don't forget 52:14 the heart of the story, follow me as I close. 52:17 And who is gonna play the piano 52:18 just come and play softly. 52:19 Adam, just play softly for me... 52:21 Alex. 52:23 The most powerful part of the story 52:25 I left to the last. 52:28 John 11:23 and 26. 52:31 Look at it. 52:37 Jesus said to her, as they are dialoguing 52:39 before the stone is rolled away. 52:40 And Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 52:43 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise 52:46 in the resurrection at the last day." 52:49 And Jesus said to her, 52:51 "I am the resurrection and the life, 52:54 he who believes in Me though he may die, 52:59 yet shall he live, and whoever lives 53:02 and believes in Me shall never die. 53:03 Do you believe this? 53:05 The messages, there are some dead folk, 53:07 and he said, even though they are dead people 53:09 they can live, 53:11 but if you're alive and you believe in Me, 53:14 your spiritual walk with Me will never die. 53:17 Your spiritual walk with Me will never die. 53:20 Mary pushed her expectations to the last days. 53:25 Thinking that my dreams will never come to pass 53:27 until the last day. 53:28 My hopes will maybe come to pass 53:30 just before Jesus comes in the last days. 53:33 I got to say to you this morning, 53:34 don't let your ETA overshadow God's ATA. 53:37 Don't let your estimated time of arrival 53:39 overshadow God's actual time of arrival. 53:43 Two days, the blessing... 53:46 Hear me, the blessing was only two days away. 53:52 But here's the most powerful part of the sermon. 53:55 When they did not hear from Jesus, 53:58 He was working on giving them a better answer 54:01 than they prayed for. 54:04 They said, "Stop him from dying," Jesus said, 54:06 "What if I just bring him back to life, 54:08 would that be all right?" 54:09 Amen, somebody? Amen. 54:11 Stop my dream from dying, 54:13 but what if I resurrect your dreams? 54:16 What if I resurrect your hopes? 54:17 You think that there is no more time 54:19 for your dreams to come true. 54:21 What if I resurrect those dreams 54:22 that have been dead for years? 54:23 What if I restore the feelings of appreciation 54:28 that you thought was long gone and buried? 54:34 Had they fully trusted in Jesus? 54:37 Hear me carefully... 54:39 Little softer. 54:40 Had they fully trusted in Jesus? 54:43 Time would have made no difference. 54:49 That's why I'm concerned about all the prophecy people. 54:52 Oh, I love prophecy, but let me tell you some, 54:54 my brethren, I don't care when Jesus comes, 54:56 I just want to be ready. 54:58 Come on, somebody say amen. Amen. 54:59 All the chart people, two and half hours here, 55:03 15 seconds there, this empire fell, 55:06 that one rose, this fellow, that rose, 55:08 that does not matter if you don't know Jesus. 55:10 Amen. 55:12 Now what matters, it lets us know where we are, 55:14 but if you don't know Him, 55:16 you're getting close to your own death, 55:19 and you're doing nothing about it. 55:24 When Jesus is silent, you got to remember 55:27 the sign that your answer. 55:29 When Jesus is silent, 55:31 it is a sign that your answer is on the way. 55:36 Your life is about to start over. 55:37 Your dreams are about to be resurrected. 55:42 And I'm not gonna run through these last three points, 55:44 I got 3 minutes and 22 seconds. 55:48 Time. 55:50 Jesus allowed Mary and Martha to experience His silence, 55:54 not to hinder their relationship, 55:56 but to strengthen it. 55:59 Can He trust you when He's silent? 56:01 His silence was proof that He loved them. 56:05 Because He didn't come to prevent 56:06 their brother's death, 56:08 He came to resurrect their brother. 56:10 There is somebody in your family, 56:11 maybe you need to be resurrected, 56:15 maybe you've been dead so long that 56:17 you're just comfortable sleeping without Jesus. 56:21 When you cannot hear Jesus, 56:23 you will learn in hindsight 56:28 and this is the most powerful point of the message. 56:32 You will learn in hindsight that when you cannot hear Him, 56:37 He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible, 56:42 His absolute silence. 56:45 Amen. Amen. 56:50 The Lamb is only silent, to those for whom 56:55 He is planning an even bigger revelation. 57:02 I don't need to be there to prevent his death 57:05 'cause I'm gonna be there to bring him back to life. 57:09 Amen? Amen. 57:11 What's He's saying? Nothing. 57:13 He doesn't need to say anything. 57:15 If we simply trust and obey, for there is no other way 57:20 to be happy in Jesus than to what? 57:23 Trust and obey. 57:26 You got silent spots in your life right now? 57:29 You got things that have not yet been answered? 57:34 The help ain't coming as fast as you hoped it would? 57:37 The plans are not being fulfilled 57:39 as quickly as you pray they would? 57:41 All the things you invested are not coming to fruition 57:43 as you are praying they would? 57:45 Oh, don't despair my brother, my sister, my friends, 57:49 those listening and watching don't despair, why? 57:51 Because Jesus has given you the blessing 57:54 of the most intimate thing He has, silence. 57:58 He's only silent to those who He knows know Him. 58:01 That's why He chose this family. 58:03 They had an intimate connection, 58:04 He didn't need to tell them, they already knew 58:06 about all the doctrines, so He said, 58:08 "I can trust Mary and Martha," but even those who know Him 58:10 sometimes have their faith challenged 58:13 and He would do for us if we would simply trust Him 58:16 when He is silent. 58:17 He would do for us far greater than we are praying for Him 58:21 to do. 58:22 So your dreams are not dead, they're just buried, 58:25 but He's the resurrection and the life. 58:27 Your hopes are not buried, 58:30 they just have been inactive for a long time, 58:32 but He's the resurrection and the life. 58:35 So today, if you want to trust God 58:38 in the silence of your life, stand with me right now. 58:41 If you want to trust Him, when there does not seem 58:45 to be a rational reason why He's delaying, 58:49 I'm encouraging you today to trust and obey 58:52 for there's no other way, 58:55 when the moments of silence come to be happy in Jesus 59:00 than to simply say, He's got it, I'm not worried. 59:04 He'll be here when He needs to be. |
Revised 2018-01-10