“Leaving” – John 16:33

How many of you are good at math?  I don’t mean you know what 2 plus 2 is real good-like.  How many of you took college-level math or at least some serious high school math like physics or quantum equations or like… division and stuff?  I hated math.  I wasn’t good at it and didn’t want to be good at it.  I didn’t see the need for learning anything past addition, subtraction, division and multiplication.

I asked the teacher one time why we needed to learn how to do all this stuff and she told me that I wouldn’t always have a calculator with me.  (Pull out iPhone) Really, Mrs. Overman?  Really?  Not only does it have a calculator but I don’t even have to use it.  (Ask Siri) I had another teacher tell me that learning all this different kinds of math would expand my mind.  Expand my mind?  I don’t even know what that means so obviously she was wrong.

I have always been the kind of person who wanted to know why I needed to learn something before I learned it.  I understand learning history.  I don’t want to make the same mistakes that others before me have but why do I ever need to know the square root of anything?  Not one time in my life have I thought, “Man, I wish I knew what the square root of this hamburger is.”  Sorry kids, but anything beyond about 12 times 12 is a waste of brain cells.  Just my opinion.

We are continuing our sermon series entitled, “It’s All About Easter” with Jesus telling His disciples why He has been teaching them all the things they have been learning over the past few weeks.  He has been preparing them for the day when He will be tried, convicted, killed, buried and then resurrected.  He wanted them to understand what was going on and why and so, like a good teacher, He tells them in John 16:33 why He has taught them all this.

He has told them that they would abandon Him, deny Him and sell Him out.  He has told them that He would die, be buried and come back but that He would leave them again.  He would send the Holy Spirit.  He would go to prepare a place for them and then come back to get them.  You and I have grown up hearing all of this but don’t you know the disciples were drinking from a fire hose with Jesus trying to tell them all of this?

Jesus had started out teaching in parables but as time got closer to the cross, He started teaching them more plainly.  Now, He has given them a lot to think about and He could see their minds were smoking and their eyes were starting to glaze over and the night was getting late and so He finally said, “Ok, let me tell you why I have been teaching you all this stuff.”  He said, “It’s to expand your mind.”  No, no!  That’s not it.  Let’s read what He said in one little beautiful verse.

John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

My friend Gerry Lewis at Harvest Association taught us how to give criticism one time.  He said we are to use the sandwich method.  The sandwich method is starting with a nice, soft, piece of bread, you then add the meat and then end with another nice, soft, piece of bread.  If you are giving criticism or bad news or something negative about somebody, start with something nice, then tell them the bad stuff but end with something else nice.

In John 16:33, Jesus uses the sandwich method on the disciples.  In me you may have peace.  There’s some lovely bread.  In this world you will have trouble.  That’s the meat.  But I have overcome.  More bread.  Great sandwich!  Right?  Jesus was a great sandwich maker and the sandwich He made the disciples tastes just as sweet and is just as filling today as it was back then.  He may have been speaking just to the disciples here but this is definitely something that can benefit us as well.  Let’s look at it closer.

“In Me you may have peace.”  We all want peace.  We all need peace.  The older we get the more valuable it is and here Jesus explains in just two words how we get it.  “In Me.”  Sounds pretty easy, right?  But what does it really mean?  Well, first off, notice what He doesn’t say.  He doesn’t say, “In church you may have peace.”  While that may be true, it’s not the secret to finding peace.

He doesn’t say we find peace by being in wealth or by being in health or by being in anything except Him.  It’s not about being pretty close to Him or in Him sometimes.  He says peace comes by being in Him.  It means to be right with Him; to be right with Him in every way.  It means He is your hope, your faith, your rock and you are obedient to Him.  Your sins are forgiven.  He has searched you and tried you and has not revealed any hidden sin or evil motive.  You are not perfect.  You are abiding in Him.

Being in Him means that what is important to Him is important to you.  What is not important to Him is not important to you.  While church is not the secret to having peace, without church you will not have peace because church is important to God.  Worship is important to God.  Prayer and Bible study are important and without all that you can’t say you are in Him or abiding in Him so don’t be surprised when peace seems like a distant dream.

I heard a good definition for peace.  It said that peace was being in possession of adequate resources.  However you want to define it, you know when you have peace and when you don’t.  It’s easy to have peace when the sailing is smooth and the wind is calm.  You don’t need many resources then, do you? But what about when the storm comes? 

What about when the doctor says you have a horrible disease from which you will never recover?  Only God has the resources to weather that.  What about when your spouse, your boss and your last dollar all say “See ya” and there seems to be no way out of it all?   That’s when, as you abide in Him; following Him, worshipping Him and being in Him you realize that He has all the resources you are ever going to need.

Peace manifests itself in the person who says, “I don’t know how to do it.  I can’t do it.  I want to give up.  It seems hopeless to me but I know, in fact, I am in the One Who does know and my peace is in Him.”  That’s what peace looks like and do you know why you can have that kind of peace?  You can have that kind of peace because you know that you are forgiven.  You have peace because you are loved and you have peace because you are secure.

Do you really need any other resource than that?  You are forgiven.  You are loved and you are secure.  When you have that you have peace with yourself.  You have peace with others.  You have peace with God.  Hebrews and Romans both say to live at peace with others to the best of your ability.  We all know some people who don’t have peace and don’t want you to have it so they need to manufacture some drama.  But to the best of your ability you have peace with others, yourself and even with God.  Now, that’s peace.

That’s the first piece of bread but now we come to the meat.  Unfortunately, you don’t get to decide if you want meat or even what kind.  Jesus says, “In this world, you will have trouble.”  The photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene hampered him and he asked his home office to hire a plane. Arrangements were made and he was told to go at once to a nearby airport, where the plane would be waiting. When he arrived at the airport, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, "Let's go! Let's go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind and they soon were in the air. 

"Fly over the north side of the fire," yelled the photographer, "and make three or four low level passes." 

"Why?" asked the pilot. 

"Because I'm going to take pictures," cried the photographer. "I'm a photographer and photographers take pictures!" 

After a pause the pilot said, "You mean you're not the instructor?"  The Jokesmith.

I don’t know if either one of those guys had peace but it is always available because we are always going to need it.  Job knew about trouble if anybody ever did.  He said “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.”  (Job 14:1) Sometimes we have trouble because of other people.  Sometimes it comes from circumstances we can’t control.  Sometimes it comes from circumstances we should have controlled but didn’t and sometimes it comes from God Himself, as Job can attest.

Paul knew that as well.  He said in Romans 8:18 that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  That was said by a man who knew peace; by a man who knew what it meant to abide in God and because he did he said he could be content in whatever state he was in. (Philippians 4:11)

Peace!  Contentment!  How is that possible in this nasty old world?  Do you ever wonder why Jesus would tell His disciples this?  Do you think Jesus knew that His disciples would be attacked and put in prison and killed all for His name?  Of course He did.  That’s why He told them this.  What better example of this being taken to heart by a disciple than good old Peter who was put in jail and was to be killed the next day.  Do you remember what happened?  The angel came and had to wake him up before he could get him out of there.

How do you have that kind of peace?  Jesus tells the disciples and us the answer to that question in the last sentence; the last piece of bread, if you will.  He says that we can have peace because He has overcome the world.  He says, “Take heart!”  which literally means, “Cheer up!”  Jesus has just given them all this bad news including that He is leaving and then says, “Cheer up!”

Have you ever had a really bad day and somebody comes along and says, “Hey, come on.  Smile!”  Don’t you just want to poke ‘em in the eye?  But Jesus then goes on to tell them why they should take heart.  He says, “In this world you will have trouble.  But I have overcome the world!”  Isn’t that great?  I love that.  But wait a minute.  Maybe Jesus misspoke here.  Maybe it is mistranslated or something because He uses the word “overcome” like it’s already done; like He has already overcome the world.

His death, burial and resurrection is not for another couple of days so why do you think He said “I have overcome”?  He says, “I have overcome” because it was not His death that overcame the world.  It was His life.  His death and resurrection overcame sin and the power of sin that leads to death.  His resurrection overcame animal sacrifice for redemption.  His resurrection overcame Satan and his schemes but it was the life of Jesus that overcame the world and it gave us hope, joy, comfort, truth…and peace; that ever-elusive peace; peace that passes all understanding as Philippians 4:7 says.

His life overcame this world because He overcame lies with truth.  Satan is the father of lies and has lied since at least the Garden of Eden and he is the prince of this world so we know that this world is full of lies.  This world lies about the resources we need.  I told you the definition I heard that peace is the possession of adequate resources and the world lies about what we need.

The world says we need nice stuff; in fact we deserve nice stuff.  How many times have you heard a commercial that says you deserve our product?  Really?  How do you know?  You don’t know me.  I might be a serial killer.  It says it because it lies.  How much stuff do you really need?  Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Jesus overcame the world by overcoming the lies of the world with truth.  He also overcame the world by overcoming sin with holiness.  His life was perfect.  He was sinless.  He was perfectly holy and while none of us can be perfectly holy and sinless we can be more like Jesus by being “in Him”.  See how all that ties in?  His life affects our life even today.  Even today His overcoming helps us to be overcomers as well.  1 John 5 says that we, too, are overcomers when we obey the words of Jesus.  That’s just what it means to be “in Him”.

His life overcame this world by overcoming lies with truth and sin with holiness and also hate with love.  This world lies and this world lives in sin because this world hates.  Jesus said to expect it.  Go left in your Bibles just a chapter over to chapter 15 of John and look at verses 18 and 19.  Jesus said to expect the world to hate you because it hated Him first.  If you belonged to the world it would love you.

But Jesus overcame that hatred by loving and we can have peace when we do the same thing.  Have you ever, even one time, had peace with someone who hated you by hating them back?  No.  that’s impossible.  But you say, “Yeah, but it’s impossible for me to love someone who hates me.  That’s not how I was made!”  That’s exactly right.  You can’t do it because that is how you were made but when you became a believer in Jesus, you were re-made.  You live a new life; a life “in Him” and through Him you can also be an overcomer.

What do you need to overcome today?  Is it worry, lust, greed, food, alcohol, drugs…math?  What resources do you need?  Now, do you think the Creator of the universe has those resources?  Of course He does and that should bring you great peace.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

“Promise” – John 14:1-4

If I were to say the words, “It doesn’t get any better than this” where does your brain go?  To what place does your mind take you?  Maybe it is the beach or the mountains.  Maybe you have your family with you or maybe it is all by yourself.  Are you doing something fun or doing something relaxing?  Somebody tell me what you are doing when you say, “It doesn’t get any better than this!”

For me, I think it would be sitting on a back porch overlooking the beach watching the sunset while eating what my Mama and my sisters have cooked with all my family.  Man, that would be great!  You may not believe this but, for me, another place I love to be is right here on Sunday morning worshipping with my church family when everybody just forgets themselves and lets the Holy Spirit move however He wants to. “It doesn’t get any better than this!”

But wherever that takes you, wherever it is, whatever you are doing, there is a problem.  All good things must come to an end, right?  The sun goes down.  The food gets eaten.  You run out of gas or the cops come or whatever happens, it’s always going to come to an end.  Don’t you hate that?  Don’t you wish times like that could go on forever?

Well, I have some good news and I like the way one man wrote it.  Thinking of the fullness and duration of this wonderful life, W. B. Hinson, a great preacher of a past generation, spoke from his own experience just before he died. He said, "I remember a year ago when a doctor told me, 'You have an illness from which you won't recover.' I walked out to where I live 5 miles from Portland, Oregon, and I looked across at that mountain that I love. I looked at the river in which I rejoice, and I looked at the stately trees that are always God's own poetry to my soul. Then in the evening I looked up into the great sky where God was lighting His lamps, and I said, ' I may not see you many more times, but Mountain, I shall be alive when you are gone; and River, I shall be alive when you cease running toward the sea; and Stars, I shall be alive when you have fallen from your sockets in the great down pulling of the material universe!' "  sermonillustrations.com

Hinson is obviously referring to having eternal life in Heaven with Jesus Who has made all things new. (Revelation 21:5)  As great as it would be to sit on the seashore and eat a great meal, it can’t compare; it’s a waste of time and energy  and I despise it; I’m bored with it and I don’t want to ever do it again, compared to spending eternity in Heaven with the Creator of the universe.

This life is too hard.  There is too much pain and sorrow and difficulty but the good news is that this life is short and for believers in Jesus Christ, we have a most comforting promise that when this nasty old life ends, we will immediately be in the presence of Jesus.  (2 Cor. 5:8)  While we may have some good times and we may live a full life like God says we can and we may have friends and family that support and love us, I can’t wait to leave this place and spend eternity in Heaven with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Now, some of us need to learn a word.  It’s a good word and it applies to this situation in which we find ourselves today.  The word is “amen.”  Do you know what “amen” means?  It means “So be it” or “That’s truth and I believe it.”  I’m not complaining that you don’t say it enough.  I’m not talking down to you at all but “amen” just fits here.  It’s not complimenting the speaker.  It’s just saying that what you have heard you know to be truth.

“Amen” fits here and you know it is truth because you read it in scripture.  You know it’s truth because in John 14 it is written in red as the words of Jesus and it is the most comforting words in all of scripture.  Do you know why I say it is the most comforting?  Because Jesus intended to comfort with this promise.  He intended for His words to bring comfort and joy to His friends and we can take comfort and joy from them still today.

Let’s read John 14:1-4 and let’s see why these red words are so comforting.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Have you ever been in a really serious life crisis and some well-meaning person says, “Don’t worry.  It’s gonna be ok.”?  Don’t you want to look at that person and ask them just where they get their information?  I would like to believe you but it looks to me like my life is a train wreck and that it’s not gonna be ok for a long, long time.  Why should I believe you when you say it’s gonna be ok?

Well, Jesus doesn’t just say, “Don’t worry about it.”  Even if He did that would be fine.  We know we can trust Him but He actually backs up that first statement of “Do not let your hearts be troubled” with three reasons why we should not have troubled hearts.  Jesus is speaking to His disciples and they needed to hear this if anybody did. 

For three years they had been with Him and He had protected and provided for them.  He had educated them, given them great wisdom, laughed with them, cried with them, motivated them to be better people and now Jesus has just told them that He is going away (13:33).  Not only that but one of them would betray Him (13:21), they would all abandon Him and Peter would deny Him 3 times. (13:38)  Oh, and by the way, Satan has said He wants to sift you as wheat. (Luke 22:31)

Don’t you know they had to be looking at Him like the guy in the movies who has been shot and is bleeding like crazy from this sucking chest wound and the medic says, “Don’t worry.  You’re gonna be ok.”  Then the medic looks at the other medic and shakes his head.

Jesus said “Don’t be troubled.  Don’t worry.  It’s gonna be ok.”  But He’s not just trying to make them feel better so that their last moments are a little better.  He is telling them truth and then He backs it up with three reasons why they - and we - should not be troubled, no matter what this life brings.

In verse 1 He says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”  “Believe in God; believe also in me.”  This command to believe in God and in Him is not just a command.  It’s deeper than that.  This is an encouragement.  Yes, we should trust God, and Jesus is God so we should trust Him but the biggest part of what He is saying here is what He leaves out.  He leaves out what we are not to trust, namely ourselves.

I have bad news and I have good news.  The bad news is you are going to fail.  You are going to fail at pretty much every aspect of your life.  I’m sorry but it’s true.  You are going to fail at being the person you should be.  You are going to fail at being the spouse you need to be.  You are not going to be the employee or employer that you should and you are going to fail at being the parent that God wants you to be.  The bad news is that you cannot trust yourself to be good enough at anything.  Some of you should say “amen” right there.

The good news is that it doesn’t matter how good or bad you are.  I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to be the people God wants us to be at all, but in the end, your peace and your joy, your comfort, your forgiveness and your happiness, not to mention your salvation does not depend on you at all.

Can you imagine if Jesus had said, “Don’t worry.  I know you will be good enough to get through all this.”?  I would be a nervous wreck.  When He said to believe in God, He is not saying to believe that God exists and then everything will be ok.  He is saying to put your faith and trust in Him.  Know Him.  Have a relationship with Him.  Be close and intimate with Him and then you will understand that your peace and comfort depend on the One Who can be depended on.  Not on you.  Isn’t that great news?

Now, Jesus could have stopped right there by just saying that we should believe in God and not in ourselves but He continues with this great promise.  Not only will He provide everything you need but He will also prepare a place for you.  Look at verse 2.  He says that in His Father’s house are many rooms.  That word “rooms” is sometimes translated mansions but it really just means “abiding places” or places to live.

Some of the commentaries spend a lot of ink debating whether it is mansions or rooms in a mansion and just what that’s going to look like and I believe that is missing the point Jesus was trying to make here.  The emphasis is not on what the place is going to be like.  The emphasis is on Jesus going to Heaven to prepare it just for us.

I think if a person wants to be a preacher, they need to have either kids or dogs so you can have some illustrations and I highly recommend dogs over kids any day.  I have two dogs.  Sometimes they are in the yard and sometimes they are in the house but if I say, “Let’s go for a ride” they know what that means and they jump around and bark and run to the door and just go crazy because they can’t wait to go for a ride.

Now, life for my dogs is not too bad.  They are not mistreated.  They get plenty to eat and we have fun there at the house but they know that going for a ride is going to be better than anything they are doing right now.  I don’t have to explain where we are going or what we are going to do.  They wouldn’t understand anyway.  They know I would never take them someplace that is going to hurt them.  They know I’m not going to put them in the car and leave them or tell them we’re going for a ride and not take them.  They know we are going to have fun and adventures if we go for a ride.  That’s all that matters.

I don’t know what Heaven is going to be like.  I have read books on it.  This book by Randy Alcorn (Heaven) is about the best of them and it goes into as much detail as possible but I can still say that I don’t really know what Heaven is going to be like exactly.  I know it is a physical place.  In Revelation 21 and 22, the New Earth and the New Jerusalem are described as actual places, with detailed physical descriptions.  It is real and not just a state of mind or an altered state of consciousness as some people like to make it out to be.

Also, there is no reason to think of Heaven as being a figurative place.  When Revelation 21 and 22 talk about Heaven having rivers, buildings and streets, we know what those are and we can expect something very similar to what we know in Heaven.  We know what cities are and Hebrews 10 and 13 describe Heaven as having cities.  Cities have buildings, culture, art, music, athletics, and fun.  We can expect something very similar in Heaven.

We are told we will have resurrection bodies in 1 Corinthians 15 and while we can’t imagine having perfect bodies, as least most of us can’t, we do know what bodies are like and we can expect something very similar in Heaven.  We will rest (Revelation 14:13) but we will also serve and work and we will find great reward in our work.  (Rev. 22:3)  The Bible talks about there being mountains, trees, water, people, animals and while I don’t know if your pet is going to make it or not, wouldn’t it be just like Jesus to prepare a place for you that included little Fido or Fluffy?  We don’t have all the details and I believe we don’t because that is not the emphasis.

Richard Baxter expresses the thought in these lines:

My knowledge of that life is small,

The eye of faith is dim,

But it's enough that Christ knows all,

And I shall be with him.

That’s the emphasis – being with Jesus.  He is going to prepare a place for us and it is enough to know that.  Amen!  Now, while the thought of Heaven ought to blow your mind, I am going to top that with something else.  It’s not me saying it.  Jesus says it in the next verse.  Verse 3 says, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

Have you ever known a little kid who asks “Why?” all the time?  That’s how I feel sometime when I think about what God has done for me.  I’ll admit there have been bad times in my life when I have asked God, “Why me?”  But the longer I live and the closer I get to Him the more I ask it in the good times.  Why, Lord, have you been so good to me?  Why do you care if my heart is troubled?  Why would you allow me to trust in you?  Why would you prepare a place for me and now I ask, “God, why would you make a special trip to come back to get me?”

I won’t go into great detail about this because I don’t believe it is needed but you need to know or be reminded about what Jesus is saying here.  The first time Jesus came to earth was when He was born as a baby in Bethlehem and we celebrate Christmas because of that day.  He is also coming back to earth a second time and we cleverly call that His “Second Coming” but there is also going to be a rapture and it is different than the Second Coming.

The rapture will happen before the Second Coming and Jesus will not come all the way to earth.  1 Thessalonians 4:17 says we will meet Him in the air and that is what Jesus is talking about in our passage this morning.  He is talking about the rapture.  We will actually be coming with Him back to earth at His Second Coming.  That’s different. 

So, in verse 3 when Jesus says He is coming back to get us, I don’t know why He would be so good but I believe it.  I look forward to it.  I’m ready and I want you to be ready.  I heard the story about a little girl who was quizzing her mother after church one day where she had learned about the rapture.

"Mommy, do you believe Jesus will come back?"

"Yes."

"Today?"

"yes."

"In a few minutes?"

"Yes, dear."

"Mommy, would you comb my hair?"  Don Hussong

Thankfully, we are not going to have to look good and he is not going to wait for you to brush your hair.  I know how long it takes some women to get ready and we don’t have that kind of time.  1 Corinthians 15:52 says it will happen in the twinkling of an eye. But like this little girl, we should want to be ready, expecting the rapture at any minute; living like this is our last day on earth and knowing that all of our problems are almost over.

I don’t have all the answers.  I don’t always know why.  But what I do know is that Jesus loves us so much that He doesn’t want our hearts and minds to be troubled.  He is going to prepare a real place for us and then come back to get us when He is ready.  We don’t have to trust in our own ability for any of it.  That ought to bring great comfort and joy if you really do know Jesus.

In verse 4, Jesus says, “You know the way to the place I am going.”  It’s not that we know where Heaven is or the latitude and longitude coordinates.  We know the Way and Jesus is the Way as He says in verse 6.  If you know Jesus, you know the Way.  It’s more than knowing about Him or believing that He exists.  It is having an intimate relationship with Him, worshipping Him daily in scripture and prayer and even in song.

Let me close with the words to this old hymn.

VERSE 1
It could happen in a moment, In the twinkling of an eye,
It could happen in a moment, He could break the Eastern sky,
Tho our hearts will feel unworthy, yet how happy we will be
When the Savior comes from heaven, When His blessed face we see.
CHORUS
I am list'ning ev'ry moment for the mighty trumpet sound,
What a time we'll have together when the saints shall leave the ground.
All our toiling will be over, all our sorrow and its pain,
It could happen in a moment, Jesus Christ could come again.

And everybody said…Amen!!!

“Dying” – John 12:23-26

I hope you are all registered to vote this Tuesday.  Some people feel like their vote doesn’t matter but I believe it is our duty, not only as citizens but as Christians, to vote every chance we get.  I won’t try to tell you which candidate to vote for but basic Christian values that often come up in elections are gay rights and abortion and the Democrat party is always going to fall short in both of those areas.

Also, did you hear that Hillary Clinton went to a psychic the other day?  I don’t remember what state she was in campaigning but evidently the psychic predicted that her husband, Bill, will soon be killed.  Hillary said, “Oh no!  Will I be indicted?”  So, you know she’s not the one to vote for.

When Bill Clinton heard the news, he immediately switched from being a Democrat to being a Republican.  When asked why he said "Well, I'd rather it was one of them that died and not one of us."  It’s sad, really.

I’ll tell you what really is sad.  Dying is sad.  Dying is sad but maybe not like you think I’m talking about.  We are all going to die if the Lord doesn’t return first and while there are any number of ways to die – old age, cancer, drowning, Hillary, whatever – the worst way to die is spiritually because spiritual death is for eternity.  One dies spiritually when one does not have Jesus in their life as Lord and Savior.

But there is also a good way to die and Jesus talks about it in John chapter 12 and it is not sad to die this way.  In fact, it has great benefits.  We are continuing in our sermon series entitled, “It’s All About Easter” by looking at how Jesus prepared His disciples for His death, burial and resurrection.  We looked last week at the story of Lazarus and how that taught the disciples about resurrection.  This week Jesus talks about dying.  He talks about His own death and He talks about ours as well but it’s not a morbid picture at all.

Now, the first few times I read this I was unclear what Jesus was trying to say but I finally realized that it was basically Jesus telling His disciples and us what His responsibility was and then what our responsibility is and then what the reward is for doing what we are supposed to do.  Let’s read John 12:23-26 and then we will see that verse by verse.

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

This is a fairly short passage but it is as deep and meaningful as anything ever written.  Do you ever feel like your life is without purpose or meaning?  Do you get distracted by doing life and miss out on living?  Do you ever feel like nothing ever goes right for you or that you don’t live a full and blessed life?  We all feel like that at some point in our lives and the reason is given right here by Jesus.

Let’s take it verse by verse.  Look at verse 23.  Here Jesus says something He has never said before.  Twice up to this point Jesus has said, for one reason or another, that His time has not yet come.  In John 2 when the wedding party runs out of wine: “My time has not yet come.”  In John 7 when the brothers of Jesus wanted Him to go to a feast: “My time has not yet come.”  He has predicted it several times but here Jesus finally says that His hour has come.

He is talking about the climactic event of Jesus' death and resurrection which will be the ultimate display of His glory.  Now, in verse 24, Jesus tells a short parable.  It’s an illustration of His death and why it is so meaningful but it tells us the responsibility that Jesus has.

The story is just how a kernel of wheat has to die in order that a stalk of wheat with many seeds can grow.  Jesus is telling this story to people who are very aware of the process by which wheat grows.  With bread being a staple of their diet, they knew what Jesus was talking about better than most of us do.  I learned that one stalk of wheat will produce from 20-100 little flowers at its top and it is from these little flowers that we get the edible grains.

Have you ever planted anything from a seed, whether it is wheat or anything else?  It’s a miracle.  It’s an everyday, ordinary miracle.  Think about a watermelon.  You take a watermelon seed that is only about the size of your pinky fingernail and plant it in the ground deep enough for it to die and it will grow a vine 20 feet long with a watermelon that weighs 10 pounds or more and that watermelon has 100 seeds in it!  How does that happen?  It amazes me.

Jesus here is talking about His own death.  He is saying that His responsibility is to die and be buried so that He can rise again and be glorified.  Now that’s a miracle!  Putting a seed in the ground and then watching it come to life and grow more seeds is amazing but Jesus is saying that He is about to do the same thing only with the lives of His followers as the fruit or the seeds He bears.

Can you imagine having that kind of responsibility?  Can you imagine knowing that you are going to die one of the cruelest ways to die imaginable but that it is going to be for the good of every person in the world?  Do you think knowing that it was for the good of the world made it any less painful?  Do you think it made it fair for Jesus knowing how many people would benefit?  No, of course not.  I can’t comprehend what he had to go through on the cross or even what He had to go through leading up to it.

The people Jesus was speaking to were Jews and some Greeks.  The Jews thought that zeal for the Law of Moses was the way to Heaven and the Greeks thought their good deeds would get them there.  Then in 1 Corinthians 1, Paul said, “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”

It’s the same today here in the United States.  Some people think that following laws or being very religious is the way and lots of people like to think that their good deeds just have to outweigh their bad deeds and everything will be cool with “the Man upstairs” but that is not the case. Those people don’t know God and they don’t know truth.  When it comes to your eternity, don’t you want to make sure that you know the truth?  Well, the truth is that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no man comes to the Father but through Him (John 14:6) and the only reason we can go through Him is because He paid our sin debt on the cross.

Imagine if you went to the movies and you really wanted to see the latest show so you got there early and you can’t wait to get a big bowl of $42 popcorn and a $12 Dr. Pepper and you go through the front door and the guy taking the tickets asks for your ticket.  So you tell him that you’re friends with the guy down the street and he said to let you in.  The guy is going to refuse to let you in to see the movie because you don’t have a ticket.  It doesn’t matter how well you know some guy down the street or how much peace you have in that relationship.  You need a ticket or you will have to leave.

Jesus didn’t suffer and die on the cross so that you could sneak in the back door of Heaven.  Unless you have a life-changing relationship with Him, the Father will say, “Get away from Me.  I never knew you.”  (Matthew 7:23) Dying on the cross was a huge responsibility for Jesus and He took it very seriously and yet did it with joy.  Hebrews 12:2 says, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  He had joy in His responsibility because He knew His glory would come from it.

Now, in verses 25 and 26, He starts telling us about our responsibility.  Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.  Let’s stop right there and look closer at what He is saying.

We are all glad that Jesus did His responsibility and died on the cross on our behalf but so many times we don’t really think about what our responsibility is when we are saved by that death, burial and resurrection.  Yes, thank you, Lord, that I don’t have to work for my salvation and I don’t have to be good enough to get to Heaven because none of us would make it.  But here Jesus says that we have a responsibility once we are saved and it is a call to radical discipleship.

Christianity is not for sissies.  That word “life” in verse 25 is the Greek word “psyche” and it refers not just to our physical life but our spiritual, mental and physical life.  It is one’s whole being – our “self” – and it is the love of this “self” that is the root of all sin.  When Jesus says we are to hate our lives, He is, of course, not saying we should despise who we are and have a poor self-esteem.  He is saying we should hate that “old man”, that sinful person we are saved from.

So, now, all of you are sitting there thinking, “Oh, okay.  I just won’t sin anymore.  No problem.”  Right?  Yes, we all wish.  The Apostle Paul was one of the greatest Christians who ever lived.  He told churches that they should be like him so we know that he surely didn’t know the struggle that we all have with sin, right?  It wasn’t near as hard for him, surely.

"For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:14-24).

Does that sound like somebody who didn’t struggle with sin?  No.  No, he struggled with it just like we all do but do you see his response to it?  He hated it!  He despised the “old man”.  He hated it spiritually, mentally and physically.  He hated it with his whole self, so much so that he was willing to do whatever it took to root that sinful man out and replace it with the servant of God that Jesus is calling us to be.

Jesus said in Matthew 5 that if your right eye makes you sin, gouge it out.  If your right hand makes you sin, cut it off and we know He’s not being literal and so we don’t take Him seriously enough.  Maybe we should take it to mean, if your TV causes you to sin, kick it to the curb!  If your computer causes you to sin, burn that thing!  If it’s a relationship that is the problem, get away and don’t go back.

Let me ask you a QUESTION (a strange one, but it helps make this point): If I were to ask you this morning to make a SOLEMN COMMITMENT to NOT KNOWINGLY EAT ANY INSECTS for an entire year...how many of you could sincerely raise your hand and say “Pastor...unless someone slips me one that I don’t know is there...I will eat NO INSECTS in the coming year! No more flies! No more spiders! I’m laying off on the ants! Not even one more cockroach!  Show of hands?  WHY, with confidence and enthusiasm, could you make that commitment?
—Because YOU DON’T WANT to eat insects!!! You don’t like them! The thought of eating them makes you feel ill!!!

SO HERE’S THE QUESTION: Why is it so hard to follow through on our spiritual CONVICTIONS and COMMITMENTS to stop a particular sinful behavior? Why do we have certain patterns of failure and weakness that plague us for years???  BECAUSE we don’t hate sin. In fact, we LIKE sin...we ENJOY sin...we CRAVE sinful pleasure.  “How to Hate Sin” by Craig Cramblet

Part of your responsibility is to hate that old sinful man or woman living inside of you and to do whatever it takes – whatever it takes – not to be that person just like you do whatever it takes not to eat nastiness.  You should think of sin as eating a spider.  The problem with that analogy is that sin is much worse for you and will hurt you much quicker.

Now, there is another responsibility that Jesus talks about.  Look at verse 26.  Jesus says our responsibility as a disciple is, first, not to sin and then in 26 He says, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.”  He says something similar in Matthew 16:24. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

To really get to the heart of this, I want us to think about the options that Jesus had at this point.  He knew that He would be denied and abandoned and lied about and wrongfully convicted.  He was facing death on a cruel cross.  He knew that.  But He had options.  A lot of the people really loved Him at this point and were ready to make Him their king.

As God, He could have called down angels and wiped out all of His enemies and had all the glory that earth could possibly provide and all of that makes good sense, doesn’t it?  I mean, that would the advice I would give Him, if He were to ask me.  That’s what I would do.  Avoid the harshness and the difficulties and do what makes sense.  But I’m so glad He didn’t ask me because I am reminded of the verse in Proverbs 14 that says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

When Jesus says, “Whoever serves me must follow me” it means to keep on following and we sound just like Peter who said, “Oh, Lord, I will follow you even to death” and then before the rooster crowed he denied him 3 times.  We do pretty good most of the time until it gets really, really hard and then we think that while we know what the Bible says and we know what Jesus wants from us but that is going to be really, really hard and it’s going to cause more problems if I do it that way so I’m just going to have to do it my way because I know best.

Jesus said follow me and keep following me even when it makes no sense.  Follow me when nobody else does.  Follow me when it is going to cost you everything and it’s going to be painful and it’s not going to be fair.  Do what God says to do no matter what.  When He said don’t worry, don’t worry.  When He said to forgive that means to forgive.  When he said husbands love your wives and wives submit to your husbands it means unless it leads to sin to do it always, all the time, no matter what!

You know, sometimes I dislike the Bible.  Seriously.  Just this week I was talking to a lady and I told her that if it were up to me, I would say that you should do such and such but unfortunately the Bible says you should do this and not that so I’m afraid I have to tell you to do what the Bible says – even though it is going to be hard – even though it is going to make you uncomfortable and it is not fair and it is not fun and I wish it were different.

I dislike the Bible sometimes because it makes me uncomfortable but I love it because it leads me in the right path always, all the time, no matter what!  “Whoever serves me must follow me.”  That is our responsibility and just like Jesus’ responsibility was painful and hard, sometimes ours will be as well.  But just like Jesus was honored and glorified by the Father for His submission, His following of the Father’s will, so too, will we be honored.  Look at the end of verse 26.  Jesus says it right there.  “My Father will honor the one who serves me.”   (Repeat)

Have you ever done something difficult and in the end you thought, “Well, that wasn’t worth it”?  Maybe you stood in a long line at Six Flags or you went on a blind date or sat through another boring sermon and when it was over you thought, “What a waste of time.  That was not worth the hassle.”

In Matthew 19:27, Peter asks Jesus what I think is a great question.  It’s a question we probably all wonder but rarely have the guts to ask so leave it to Peter to ask Jesus, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?"  What’s in it for me, Jesus?  Don’t you know the other disciples were glad Peter was there to ask Jesus questions like that?

Some people are not too sure if it’s really going to be worth it serving Jesus all the time.  Do you remember what Huckleberry Finn said?  Huck lived with the old spinster, Miss Watson, and this is what his impression was:  She went on and told me about the good place. She said all a body would have to do there was go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever. So I didn’t think much of it…. I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and she said, not by a considerable sight. I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together.

When Peter asked Jesus what was in it for him and the disciples, Jesus’ answer first was strictly for the disciples but He added a promise that we can all claim and that was, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”

I’ll be honest and say I don’t know what all the rewards will be but Jesus says they will be great and I trust Him.  I trust Him to give us a full life here in this world like He promises in John 10:10 and I trust Him to make inheriting eternal life worth it as well.

Jesus has done and continues to do what he has been responsible for and this life is but a vapor; a wisp of smoke so we can, through the power of Jesus, do what our responsibility is.  We can hate sin like we hate eating spiders and we can follow Him always, all the time, no matter what.  However he chooses to reward us, I know it will be worth it. 

Ask Him into your life today to be Lord of your life and your Savior.  Ask Him for forgiveness as you repent or turn away from that sin and accept the peace and joy that he gives even in the most difficult times of your life.  It won’t always be easy but it will be worth it.

Lazarus – John 11:17-44

About 10 years ago, I rode my motorcycle out to see my sister living in Georgia.  I stopped in Birmingham, Alabama to get some gas and when I went in the little convenience store to pay I didn’t really pay much attention to the young lady behind the counter.  I was tired from travelling and it was getting late and I just wanted to get going and find some place to stay for the night so when she slid me the receipt to sign, I just scribbled my signature and slid it back to her.  Then she spoke.

“You…sure…have…an…interesting…signature.”  It took her a minute and a half to say those 6 words and by the time she was through I was smitten!  I didn’t want her to stop talking.  This little Birmingham Belle went from being average in every way to the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.  I couldn’t even respond.  I was afraid the only words that would come out of my mouth might be, “I love you.”

When she spoke it was so soft and sultry and that southern drawl was like honey dripping off her tongue and I found myself just staring at her, mesmerized by her words.  Even now, I don’t remember what she looked like but I remember the caress of her speech on my ears.  Am I making too big of a deal about this?  I’m telling you it’s worth a trip to Alabama just to hear the women speak!

Have you ever heard words that soothed you?  Have you ever heard somebody say something that brought great peace and you didn’t want them to stop talking?  You’re thinking that is not the case today, aren’t you?  Well, I am not blessed with a great speaking voice or with great words to speak but I know of One who is and His name is Jesus.

When Jesus spoke in the New Testament His words had great power.  They had the power to attract like they did for the disciples when Jesus simply said, “Follow me” and they immediately dropped what they were doing and followed.  In John 5 Jesus told a lame man to pick up his mat and walk and just the power of His words healed that man. 

He had words to convict like He did with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 where He talked of living water and the woman’s life was changed.  He spoke words of comfort in John 14.  “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God.  Trust also in me.”  And when He said, “I am He!” to the men coming to arrest Him, the very words coming out of His mouth knocked them off their feet.

The words of Jesus had great power and maybe nowhere more so than in John chapter 11 where we see the words of Jesus have the power to comfort, to encourage, enlighten and even bring the dead back to life.  We are starting a new series today looking forward to the coming of Easter.  Yes, I know Easter is another month and a half away but I want us to gradually start focusing on it because Jesus was trying to get His disciples to start focusing on it months ahead of time as well because it was all about Easter for Him and it is for us as well.

While Jesus preached and taught on all kinds of different subjects, His whole focus; His whole reason for even being born, living and dying was so He could be glorified on that Easter Sunday when He rose from the grave and broke all the rules and changed everything as He fulfilled prophecy and the Law.  So, as He went He gradually started preparing His disciples for that special day so that they would know without a doubt that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Chosen One, the Son of God come to earth to redeem all of mankind.

Turn to John 11 and I want to read verses 17-44.  It’s on page 760 of most of the Bibles in the pews.  Here we see a passage that is used oftentimes at funerals and well it should be.  There is great comfort in the words of Jesus but we also see the great power of His words as well.  Jesus has gotten word that His good friend Lazarus is sick and his family has asked that Jesus come to him.  The problem is that Jesus waits for a while before leaving and by the time He gets there Lazarus has been dead for 4 days.  It’s obviously too late for Him to do anything.

Lazarus was dead.  He was decayed but at the risk of spoiling the ending, we will also see that he was delivered.  Let’s read John 11:17-44.

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁹ and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. ²¹ “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” ²⁸ After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” ²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. ³² When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”  ³⁸ Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” ⁴⁰ Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Several times in this passage I find myself wanting to ask the question, “Why?”  Why did Jesus wait?  Why didn’t He just heal Lazarus from a distance like He had done others?  Why did He cry?  Why did He tell them to move the stone when He could have done it Himself with a word?  Some of these questions we can probably answer and some of them we can’t.

One thing I do know is that none of this happened by chance.  It didn’t surprise Jesus.  It happened for a reason.  Jesus Himself says it happened so that God might be glorified and in this glorification Jesus prepares His disciples for His own resurrection.  If He has the power to bring Lazarus back to life after 4 days, He surely has the power to resurrect Himself after 3.  I see this as one of the first ways Jesus was preparing them for what we now call Easter.

We don’t know what kind of disease killed Lazarus and it doesn’t really matter.  It worked quickly and now Lazarus was dead.  I remember the first time I saw a dead person.  I was just a small child and my dad was about to officiate a man’s funeral and he and I got there early for some reason before anybody else and we went to view the man’s body in the casket at the front of the church.

Pop picked me up so I could see into the casket and he told me I could touch the man’s arm if I wanted.  I wasn’t about to do that but I remember Pop gave him a bit of a nudge.  It wasn’t disrespectful at all.  It just showed me that the guy wasn’t asleep.  He was dead and dead people don’t respond to things like people who are alive.  You can shout at a dead man or beg him to wake up or try to bribe him with his favorite food or lots of money.  We all know that is ridiculous because he is dead.  He couldn’t make that decision if he wanted to.

The Bible says that unsaved people are dead in their sins.  (Eph. 2 & Col. 2)  They are spiritually dead and there is nothing you can do; no power of your own that will bring them to life.  It is only the Word of Jesus that can do that.  Have you ever tried to witness to somebody only to have them completely blow you off?  They aren’t interested in church or the Bible or worship.  They wouldn’t come in here if we were handing out free money.

Do you know why?  Because they are spiritually dead and it is ridiculous to think they would be motivated by spiritual things.  In John 6:44 Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.”  The act of coming to faith in Jesus is initiated by God but it is the power of the Word of God through His Son and written in the Bible, the Word of God, that brings a person out of death and into life.

I quote my friend Scott Parrish again when I say that Jesus did not come to earth to make bad people good.  He came to make dead people alive and we have the responsibility to share the Word of God with people to give them the opportunity to truly live.  What dead people don’t need is education or sermons or religion.  What they need is new life in Jesus.  Just like Mary and Martha did, we need to bring Jesus to those who are dead and let His Word resurrect them spiritually.

Lazarus was dead.  He had been dead for 4 days and he was decayed.  Jesus waited for a while after He got the news about Lazarus.  Why do you think that was?  (Response)  I always like to research every aspect of what I am going to say to make sure that what I say is truth and so I researched how long it takes for a human body to decompose.  I wish I hadn’t.

Trust me.  I will NOT go into detail but I did learn that 4 days is plenty of time for the human body to seriously start decomposing.  That’s all you really need to know.  Lazarus was decayed and Jesus waited on purpose so that there would be no doubt of His power to bring life.

In Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel is led by God to a valley of dry bones and God says to him, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ 10. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

Isaiah 26:19 says, “But your dead will live, LORD; their bodies will rise-- let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy.”  Even the people who are nothing but dust and ashes will one day be resurrected.  Now, I have a question.  Was Lazarus more dead than somebody who was only dead for 2 days?  Was he less dead than somebody that was dust and ashes?  No.  Dead is dead.  Lazarus was more decayed but he was not more dead. 

People sometimes think that they are too far gone for Jesus to forgive them or for them to be used in God’s Kingdom.  Imagine with me, if you will, that every time you sin a thousand times you get one of these red pieces.  (Pieces of red construction paper cut up) Some of them are big and some are small.  Some are fairly normal and some are pretty ugly.

Ok, this is the life of, say, Billy Graham.  He only has a few of these normal shaped red pieces.  Here is the life of your grandmother.  She has a few more, bless her heart.  She really tried.  This is your neighbor.  He has quite a few and you don’t even want to know what he’s into.  It’s pretty bad.

Now, here is your life.  Yep, you have a bunch.  Lots and lots of red pieces and some are pretty gnarly.  Ooh yuck.  Look at this one.  I can’t believe you did that.  Now this is horrible.  How can a human even do something like that?  Over and over and over again!  Have you no shame?  It’s too much!  It’s just too much!

But Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  All unrighteousness.  Yes, you are decayed.  Yes, you are nasty and putrid and disgusting and that is on your best day but you are not too decayed for Jesus.  Nobody is.

In fact, being decayed brings all the more glory to God for His love that He has shown to us because while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)  We were dead and spiritually unable to come to Him and so He came to us.  Then He cleansed us from all unrighteousness even though we were decayed.  Now look at verse 43.  When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

That phrase “called out” is the same word used to describe what the crowd did as they cried out “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” just a short time later.  They called for death.  Jesus called for life and look what happened in verse 44.  The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

He was dead.  He was decayed but now he is delivered.  “Let him go!”  By the power of the word of Jesus, His friend Lazarus was set free.  Freedom is a big deal.  Nobody wants to be a slave.  You know we sing that song, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!  I am free to dance, free to love, free to sing when I can’t carry a tune…or whatever it says.”

But what does it really mean to be free?  (Response) What are we free from and what are we free to?  Romans 6:22 says, “But now you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God.”  See, you are going to be slaves to something.  That’s just the way it is.  You are either going to be a slave to sin and the death and decay that goes along with it or you are going to be a slave of God.  Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came to give us a full life.

When you see that neighbor of yours that we talked about earlier who is into some really weird, nasty stuff, just know that weird and nasty is what sinners do.  They are supposed to.  I’m not saying it’s right.  In fact, just the opposite.  I’m saying that unbelievers are slaves to sin and they are going to do what sinners do.  You can expect it.  Don’t be surprised when dead people start to decay and don’t be surprised when sinners sin.

But we have been called out of that.  We are free from sin and free to new life.  Romans 6:4 says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”  That’s what our baptism is about.  It represents the death and resurrection of Jesus and just like Lazarus, we are called to new life.

Let him go!  He doesn’t have to decay any longer.  He is living a new life.  For us, we don’t have to keep sinning.  That pet sin of ours is kicked out.  By the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit working in our lives, we are new creations.  We are free to live without sin.  In fact, sin should be the exception and no longer the rule.  Did you know that you can’t sin when you are worshiping?  When you are communicating with Jesus, there will be no sin.  So when you are tempted, run to Him.  Grab your Bible.  Sing a worship song.  Worship.

Just like thousands and thousands of our military men and women have died to provide us with freedom as a country, Jesus died so that we might live free; free from sin and free to a full life.  Lazarus was physically dead just like we are spiritually dead in our sins and decay.  But he was raised to live a new life just like we are when we meet Jesus.

If you are a Christian struggling with sin then something is wrong.  You are no longer a slave to sin.  Give it to God in worship.  Do it right now.

If you are not a true believer then that would explain your struggle with sin.  That’s what you are supposed to do.  You are supposed to decay.  But if you don’t want to live in that life of death any longer then come to Jesus today to be cleansed of all unrighteousness and live a full life.

Repent of your sin.  Turn away from it and ask God for forgiveness before it’s too late.  There is a real Heaven and a real Hell and while being a believer in Jesus will not always be easy, it brings peace and joy in this life and eternal life in Heaven with our Savior Jesus in the next life.  Ask Him to be your Lord and Savior today and by the power of His word you will be changed.