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I want to share this verse from 1 John 1:2&3, “The life was manifested, and we have seen and we testified and proclaimed to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. What we’ve seen and heard we proclaim to you, also, so that you, too, may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.” With that in mind, the Lord has unveiled Himself and we have the privilege of sharing that, and the goal, of course, is that you may fellowship with us, one another, and we with the Lord.
Father, thank You for the indwelling Holy Spirit, the One who guides us into all truth and points us continually to our Lord Jesus Christ. We commit our little session unto You and thank You for the privilege we have to gather. We ask that by Your grace, You would unveil the Lord Jesus to us and that you would enable us to embrace Him. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
We’re in a New Year and just want to remind you of the infinite possibilities of walking in union with Jesus in 2025. There’s no end to how He’s going to lead us. We’ve come a little far in our meditation to have any kind of a thorough review. This is actually lesson thirty-nine, so that review would take up all of the time. Let me go back to the great message of the book, and then where we left off, and the Lord guiding us, we’ll continue. John 20:31, “These are written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you might have life through His name.” Once again, I’ll point out that the Apostle John told us why the Lord wanted him to write, so that we would know the Lord, and so that we’d trust the Lord, and so that we’d experience life and enjoy the Lord. We take a lot of pains as we go through the book together to stay on that theme. I hope when we’re finished, you’ll know Him better, trust Him more and live in the enjoyment of His life.
We’ve come in our study to John 11; this is sort of a transition in the gospel John. For ten chapters Jesus has been presenting Himself and people have been rejecting. In the early chapters He presented Himself as the light but man chose darkness rather than light. Then He presented Himself as the food, the bread of life, and as the water of life, and men would rather be thirsty and hungry rather than have the Lord Jesus. Then He presented Himself as the healer, but they rejected His signs and wonders, and they would rather be uncured and crippled. Then He showed Himself as the Shepherd, but they would rather close their ears to the Shepherd’s voice and listen to the voice of strangers. Now we’ve come to chapter 11 where He presents Himself as the resurrection and the life. Now, rejection will come to a climax. More clearly than anywhere else in this chapter He presents Himself as the God-man, Messiah, the One who can work these wonderful miracles.
This public miracle, raising Lazarus from the dead, should have put an end to their hard heart and their rejection, but the exact opposite is true. This is the final visit that Jesus has to Jerusalem before He goes to the cross. We’re getting very close to Passion week, the last week, that will begin in chapter thirteen. John 11:53, “From that day forth they took counsel together to put Him to death.” All through the ten chapters they’ve been rejecting, rejecting, and now from this day on, they determine in their hearts, and it’s all over, and they’re not going to turn; they’re going to reject. Added to that, John 12:10, “The chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus to death, also.” What an ending to the section on rejection; they reject the Lord, and now they even want to kill Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. That’s shows the hardness of their heart and their determination to hate Jesus. Lazarus pictures those who He raises from the dead. Things haven’t changed; they still hate Jesus and those of us that He has raised from the dead. They want us fallen just as well.
Let me get you back into the flow, where we were before the Christmas break. John 10:10, “The thief comes not but to steal, to kill and destroy. I’m come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” I suggested that the raising of Lazarus from the dead is a powerful object lesson of the abundant life. If anybody ever experienced abundant life, it was Lazarus who was called out of the grave, and delivered from corruption, and to enter into a life not his own. Lazarus’ life is now in the grave, and rises by a power not His own, and will experience a life not His own. I suggested that the raising of Lazarus is a wonderful illustration of living the abundant life. John 11:25&26 in my understanding is the prevailing revelation of Jesus in this chapter, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’”
I made a huge point when we met last to make a separation of those two titles: He’s the resurrection and the life. He’s not saying the same thing twice; He’s not saying, “Resurrection and life, and that’s two ways to say the same thing.” No; resurrection is one thing, and life is another. In the illustration, and I’ll give you the illustration and then the reality, in the illustration in verse 43, “And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’” That’s Jesus as the resurrection; He’s calling Lazarus out of the grave. That’s the picture. In the reality, it’s like Ephesians 2:1, “You has He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin,” and in verse 5, “Even when we were dead in sin, He quickened us together with Christ; by grace are you saved.” The picture is Lazarus come forth; the reality is when He called you and when He called me to come forth, and we accepted the Lord, and we entered into life. That’s the reality. Just so, the life in the illustration is one thing, but in the reality it’s another. In the illustration it’s verse 44, “The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrapping. His face was wrapped around with a cloth, and Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind Him and let him go.’” That’s the picture. He comes out of the grave, and he’s delivered from the grave, but not yet delivered from grave clothes. He needs to be delivered from His grave clothes, “Loose him and let him go.” That’s the picture.
Here is the reality. Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.” The reality is when He sets us free, and we are delivered. As the resurrection, He frees us from – from death, from corruption, from sin. As the life, He frees us unto Himself, unto the Lord, and unto a life of liberty and abundance with Him.
In the illustration of Lazarus there’s a short time between Jesus as the resurrection and Jesus as the life, and probably only minutes. He calls Him out of the grave, and then He says, “Loose him and let him go.” There does not need to be a lot of time between knowing Jesus as the resurrection and knowing the Lord Jesus as the life. Sometime there is. For example, they wandered for thirty-eight years (not including Mt. Sinai) in the wilderness; they didn’t need to wander. Once they were delivered from Egypt, according to Deuteronomy 1:2, it was only an eleven-day journey. They could have gotten from Mt. Sinai to the Promised Land in eleven days. It took them thirty-eight plus years because they did not trust in the Lord.
For me, I shared in our last session, that I came to know Jesus as the resurrection in 1958 and that’s when the Lord came into my heart, but it took seven years before I even heard that He wanted to be my life. It doesn’t need to take seven years; for me it was. Those two titles, “I’m the resurrection and the life,” is one person and when you receive Christ as resurrection, you also have Him as life. He can’t be divided.
I don’t want to get lost in theology but this illustration, Lazarus coming out from the dead and still being in grave clothes, being set free, is so tremendous, I just want to give you the teaching, in other words, the doctrine, and I want to show that truth that we’re illustrating from the book of Romans. I won’t spend long here. You are probably familiar with the great chapters of Romans 6, Romans 7 and Romans 8. I’m suggesting that Romans 6 pictures Jesus as the resurrection, and Romans 7 pictures Jesus as the life, and Romans 8 pictures the truth of abundant life. In doctrinal form, in teaching, you have exactly in Romans 6, 7, and 8 what you have in John 11.
Romans 6:10&11, “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all. The life that He lived He lives to God, so consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” That’s Jesus as the resurrection; we were dead and now we’re alive in Christ. Romans 7, and this has been a hard chapter for many, many Christians, and continues to be. Some actually think this is God’s plan for the Christian experience, and that’s because we can so easily identify with what is written in chapter 7. Romans 7:19, “The good that I want I do not do, but I practice to the very evil that I do not want.” Verse 22, “I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner, but I see a different law in the members of my body waging war against the law of my mind, making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.” Sadly, that’s the experience of many Christians, but it is a million light years away from abundant life. This is not God’s will for us to live in Romans 7 and this is not the abundant life and it’s not even close.
What is Romans 7? Let me suggest that this is the testimony of the Apostle Paul. Paul is giving his testimony and telling us how and when he received Jesus as the exchanged life. The Apostle Paul came closer, came further by works to living the Christian life than any other human being that ever lived. He attempted by works, not to earn merit from God, but because the Lord had done so much for Him, his heart was full of gratitude, because he wanted to worship the Lord and he desired to obey the Lord, and because he loved the Lord, he tried to live a life pleasing to the Lord. He came, as I suggested, further than anybody, but how far did he come?
Let’s look at Romans 7. He discovered three things. Number one, he saw the law of God, the word of God, God’s will and pleasure, as good and he loved it. Romans 7:12, “So then, the law is holy; the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” That’s his first discovery, “I love the Lord, I love His will, I love to obey Him.” The second thing he learned, verse 15, the second part of that verse, “What I’m doing I do not understand; I’m not practicing what I’d like to do; I’m doing the very thing I hate.” Put those two things together, “I love the will of God, I hate my sin,” and those are two things he discovered. Then he discovered the third thing, Romans 7:18, “I know nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is present with me, but the doing of the good is not.” Let me put that together. Paul, coming further than anybody ever came by works concluded, “I love the will of God, I hate my sin, and I can’t perform.” That’s frustrating, to love the will of God, to hate sin and not be able to live. That was so frustrating to the Apostle Paul and here is how he ends this testimony, Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am; who will set me free from the body of this death!” That’s why I say that John 11 pictures Jesus as the life. This man needed to be set free from grave clothes; he needed “loose him and let him go”. This poor man came so far in the Christian life, that he says, “I love the Lord and His will, I hate my sin, and I can’t perform.” That is so frustrating. I’ve been there, and I’ll tell you, nothing has been more frustrating to me than not knowing how to live the Christian life. Jesus is promising abundant life.
I used to think that Christians who claimed that they had a victorious life were lying and I thought they were faking it because I couldn’t get it, and I tried to get it, and I wanted to get it, and I loved the Lord, and I wanted to obey, and I hated my sin, and I couldn’t stop sinning, and I couldn’t perform, and I ended up with, “Who is going to deliver me from the body of this death?” That’s chapter 8. Romans 7:25, how do I get out of Romans 7 and enter Romans 8? Romans 7:25, “Thank be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Do you see how Romans 7 ends? It’s with a thank you. That’s it! Can anything be simpler than that? Thank you! Who is going to deliver me? Thank you, by a simple thank you, you can enter the abundant life. Romans 8:2, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Now it’s a new life; it’s His life, and He sets me free.
Ezekiel promised that many years ago in the New Covenant, Ezekiel 36:27, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” Dear friends in Christ, don’t do what I did for many years and what many Christians do, and don’t think that Romans 7 describes the Christian life; it does not! Some think, “That’s how it is; it’s going to be that way, and it will always be that way. I love the Lord, and I’ll try to live a Christian life, and I’m going to fail, and I’ll never change, and it’s going to be that way forever and ever. There’s nothing higher and there’s nothing more and there’s nothing greater and nothing else.” There is something else; it’s called abundant life in Christ. Nobody on the planet was more sincere than Paul; nobody tried harder and nobody got further to love the Lord, to hate sin and not perform, and his testimony is, “Don’t go there; be delivered! Let God deliver you! Say, ‘Thank You,’ and receive the life that He gives for free, and it’s all by grace. Anyway, that’s the doctrine of chapter 11.
Let’s go back to chapter 11., the raising of Lazarus from the grave and from corruption, and then from grave clothes, Jesus as the life called him as the resurrection, called him out of the grave as the life, out of the grave clothes, and then he ended up sitting at the table in wonderful fellowship and we’ll come to that in chapter 12. Those are the great realities. Once again John 10:10, “I come, that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly.” Don’t settle for less than abundant. It’s available and it’s yours for a thank you.
Let’s return to Jesus as the resurrection in John 11:43, “When He said these things, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” That’s His part. Only God can do that. We have no part in that. Only the Lord can call us out of death and call us out of corruption. God will not share His glory with another. That is His job and His alone. You need to know that Lazarus was already a Christian before he died. He’s called a friend of God, and Jesus loved him and he loved the Lord. I know he’s a Christians for a couple of reasons, not only because it claims that he loved the Lord, but everybody that God ever raised from the dead in the Old and New Testament were already Christians. He never raised an unbeliever from the dead. The reason I know that is that if He raised an unbeliever from the dead, that would mean that they would have a second chance at salvation, and there is no second chance after death. It’s appointed to man to die and then comes the judgment. There is no second chance. Lazarus had faith before he died. Some people look at this, “Lazarus, come forth,” and they say, “Well, where is his faith?” He can’t have faith; he’s dead. He’s not going to have faith. He had faith before he died, and now Jesus calls him from the dead.
Only the Lord can do that. I know that we use expressions like, “We are soul winners and we’re evangelists and we’re missionaries,” but in reality, we know that it’s only the Lord. We can’t save anybody. Only the Lord can call somebody out of death in corruption. I read one time that a drunkard stumbled up to the evangelist D.L. Moody and in a drunken state he said, “I’m one of your converts,” and Moody said, “You must be, because the Lord never converted you.” You could see the difference there.
Do you realize what an impossible command that was, “Lazarus, come forth.”? Only a miracle of God could do that. He’s not only dead, but he’s tightly wrapped in a linen cocoon; He’s in grave clothes from his head down to his toes. It was not only a miracle to hear the voice of God when you’re dead, but to come out, “Lazarus, come forth.” My imagination goes crazy; how did he do that? He’s all wrapped up in grave clothes? Do you think he hopped out? Do you think he rolled out? Do you think he shuffled out? Do you think he flew out? I don’t know how he obeyed that command, but the Bible says, “Come forth,” and he came forth. On the level of earth, if I were there, if I saw somebody coming out of the grave in grave clothes, I wouldn’t be in the audience very long. I’d run away. I don’t mean to be irreverent, but that’s a little creepy, when you think of somebody dead coming out of the grave. Anyway, this command, “Lazarus, come forth,” represents all the commands in the Bible. Do you realize that there is not one command in your Bible that you are able to perform? Every command is impossible. You can’t do anything.
Let me give you a few. “Rejoice ever more.” Do you do that ever more? “Be anxious for nothing.” Did you ever try to obey that? “In everything and for everything give thanks.” Is that a possibility? “Have no silly talk among you.” Is that a possibility? “Love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength all the time.” Did you ever try to obey that? “Be not deceived.” That’s a command of God. “Turn the other cheek,” “Go the second mile,” “Give your cloak, also,” “Love your wife as Christ loved the church.” Can we do these things? The answer is that they are impossible to do. How about the end of the Sermon on the Mount? “Be perfect as your Father in heaven in perfect.” Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Every command is impossible, but if God says you must, you may. If God says to me, “You must,” then I may. How? It’s because God, with the command, always gives the enablement. If He says, “Stretch forth your withered hand,” He’s going to give you the power to do it. If He says, “Little girl, rise up,” He’s going to give the power to do it. If He says, “Take up your bed and walk,” He’s going to give you the power to do it. Every command also has a promise, and unless He gives the enablement, nobody can obey the Lord. “Lazarus, come forth,” not by Lazarus’ life; that’s over and done and that’s in the grave, but by a life that does not belong to Lazarus, by the life of Christ, Lazarus obeyed. It was a miracle life.
When he came forth, he had grave clothes on; his head was wrapped up, so he couldn’t see, and probably couldn’t hear, though he did hear the voice of the Son of God, he couldn’t speak, and he couldn’t do anything. His hands are bound. He couldn’t go anywhere. His feet are all tied up. Only the life of the Lord was able to do the impossible.
I told you that Jesus as the resurrection is all Him; it’s all grace and I can’t help with that, but it’s quite different with the revelation of Christ as the Life. Of course, it’s still His from start to finish; He does it all and it’s all by grace, but when it comes the life, He involves His people. He tells them to set him free. He could have done it without them. He didn’t need them. He said, “Roll away the stone,” verse 39. He didn’t need the stone rolled away. Jesus could have said, “Lazarus, come forth,” and he could have come right through that stone, if that was the will of God, or the angel who rolled away His own stone could have rolled away Lazarus’ stone. The stone was no obstacle to the Lord Jesus. If He could raise the dead, that little pebble in front of Lazarus tomb, that’s not a hindrance; that’s not a problem. He could have brought Lazarus right through the grave clothes. Why did He say, “Unwrap him and let him go?” He could have done that. In fact, that happened to Him. John 20:5, “The other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter,” that’s John, “and came to the tomb first, and stooping and looking in he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. The face cloth that had been on His head was not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.”
Jesus, in His resurrection, came right through the grave clothes. Nobody had to unwrap Him and let Him go free. Remember, He had a hundred pounds of spices added to that, and that acted like glue on those grave clothes, and He came right through it. That, of course, illustrates that Jesus was raised in a glorified body, never to die again. Lazarus died again after this. It’s not certain how long. Some say as much as thirty years later, that he lived another thirty years. We don’t know for sure, but later he died again because this mortal must put on immortality. He wasn’t immortal, yet.
Martha was correct when she said John 11:24, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day,” and he will, but Jesus didn’t need help with the stone or the grave clothes. We need to see the Lord here, and may God open our eyes! He wants to use us; He wants to use you; He wants to use me. He gave two commands. The first is in verse 39, “’Remove the stone.’ Martha and the sister of the deceased said to Him, ‘By this time there will be a stench; he’s four days dead.’” Remove the stone is the first command. The second command is the end of verse 44, “Unbind him and let him go.” The Lord Jesus is not putting a burden on the church, on His people, when He gives two commands. “I call them from the grave, and they are alive, and now you have this privilege. I want you to roll away the stone, and I want you to unbind them and let them go.” Those commands have not passed away. That’s still our great privilege. He’s giving us a privilege.
I want to meditate on those two commands one at a time. Verse 39, “Remove the stone.” We see from this verse how reluctant Martha was when Jesus said, “Roll the stone away.” Verse 39, “By this time there will be stench,” he’s going to stink; corruption has begun. It’s the smell of death. As God often does, in the gospel of John, He uses extreme illustrations., and there couldn’t be a more extreme than a rotting corpse, and that’s what this is, it’s a rotting corpse. Lazarus was dead, corruption had begun, and this is the worst case, death and corruption. Martha and her sister and the people that were there, they all knew what was behind the stone, and they could say, “I know it’s my brother, and I know I love my brother dearly, but Lord, when You say to roll away the stone, I know what’s behind the stone, and it stinks. I know what’s behind the stone, and it’s foul; it’s awful and it’s offensive and it’s intolerable and it’s disgusting and it’s loathsome. Don’t make me roll that stone away.” Martha knew what was behind the stone and it wasn’t pleasant and she shrunk back and recoiled.
There are thousands of Christians today who are still strangers to the abundant life. They know Him as the resurrection, but they haven’t experienced Him as the life, and they’re hopelessly bound up in their grave clothes. It might be some addiction to drugs or to alcohol or to gambling or to sex or to some other passion, to violence, or to power or to overeating, and all kinds of addictions. I personally was addicted to lying and to unreality, and I needed to be delivered. They say, “Lord, I know these people. I know their situation, and it stinks. So, if you don’t mind, we’ll just wait for the future, but not now.” And the Lord says, “Roll away the stone.” And you say, “But, Lord, the situation stinks. There’s broken health, failure, loss, financial problems, rejection.” You don’t have to think about somebody else behind that stone. Remember when you were there. I remember when I was there, in the dark and the cold, frustrated; I loved the Lord, hated sin and could not perform. Who is going to deliver me from this wretched man that I am?” In fact, not only would it be disgusting for you to roll the stone away, “Just leave me alone; don’t bother me; I’d rather stay here; I don’t want to be exposed and I don’t want people to see me as I really am. Leave the stone there.
The spiritual message of the rolling away of the stone, what is the spiritual message? Jesus commands His church, His people, you and me to roll away the stone. I’ll state it negatively, and then I’ll state it positively. I’ll illustrate it negatively. Mary Magdalene was the first one who saw the stone rolled away, John 20:1&2, “The first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark, and she saw the stone already taken away from the tomb, so she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple who Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They’ve taken away the Lord out of the tomb; we do not know where they laid Him.’” Mary saw the stone rolled away and to her it was bad news, somebody stole Jesus, somebody took His body. The rolled away stone registered bad news to Mary, but the message of the rolled away stone is the opposite of that. It’s not bad news; it’s good news. Jesus had risen from the dead; it’s good news.
In the case of Lazarus, when He said, “Come forth,” only Jesus could do that, but now they have the privilege of rolling the stone for proclaiming good news. “I know what’s behind the stone, and it smells; it’s horrible and it’s horrifying, but He’s commanded me to roll away the stone. I can’t do anything about what’s behind the stone, but I can announce good news, and I can roll away the stone and I can say, “Jesus can do something here.” This is good news. The rolled away stone is good news; it’s the message of liberty; it’s the message of hope for those, not only those who are confused and struggling with the Christian life and trying to enter into the abundant life, but it’s easy to proclaim good news to them, but those whose situations seem hopeless, and they’re in the place of death, and they’re living lives of corruption, and they don’t even look like Christians. They are doing things and saying things and their language and what they’re involved in, they don’t even seem like they’re Christians. Sometimes we’re tempted to give up on them, “Just leave the stone there and leave them behind the stone,” and the Lord says, “Roll away the stone. Don’t you know there is no marriage that I can’t heal. Let them know that. Roll away the stone. There is no despair or discouragement that I can’t lift. Let them know; roll away the stone.” You can’t do the miracle, but you can announce the good news, and you can tell them by rolling away the stone, that the Lord hasn’t given up on you. There is no sin so ugly and repulsive that He cannot forgive. There’s no chain so strong that He cannot break. There’s no circumstance so negative that He can’t turn that whole thing around. “Roll away the stone.” He could have done it Himself, but He wants to use you and me, and so He gives us that privilege to proclaim good news.
I remember so well in 1965 when the stone was rolled away. Seven years I was in my grave clothes. You don’t know the names I’m about to recite, but I know them and my Lillian knows them. These are people that God used to proclaim good news to me; Bron Carlisle, Frank Sells, James Haggs and Ray Shepherd, Major Ian Thomas and Watchman Nee. God used those instruments in my life when the stone was rolled away. I thought there was no hope. “I love the Lord, and I hate sin; it’s not working.” I couldn’t perform. Who is going to deliver me from the body of this death? I needed to be delivered, and they rolled the stone away, and they showed me the Lord Jesus Christ, and that He can roll the stone away. And that’s just the beginning.
He brought others into my life, as well as those I’ve mentioned. John 11:44, “And the man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth, and Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him and let him go.’” I want to make a couple of observations about the second privilege. Not only roll away the stone and announce good news, this is family. Lazarus was part of their family. My first observation is, because there’s the resurrection and the life, sometimes Christians, because of that double revelation, they get the idea that it’s not the same person. In my case seven years between resurrection and life, and they say, “Well, when you accepted the Lord, that was the first step, but now you need a second lesson.” Different groups call it by different names. Some call it the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and some call it the second work of grace, and some call it entire sanctification, some call it consecration. I don’t care what I call it, but it is not possible to have Jesus in your heart and not have the Holy Spirit at the same time. That’s not possible. Listen to Romans 8:9, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” How clear can it be? When you accepted the Lord, God, the life of God, the Trinity (we’re going to see that when we come to chapters 13-17) lives in your heart. It’s not my purpose here to focus on the Holy Spirit. We’re going to get to that when we come to 13-17, but for now I just want to point out to not come to the place where you think, “I need more than Jesus.” You’ll never need more than Jesus. Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.” Colossians 2:10, “In Him you have been made complete.” 1 Peter 1:3&4, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and Godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence.” If you don’t have the Spirit of the Lord, you don’t have the Lord. It’s not, “I accept Jesus one time, and then five years later I accept the Holy Spirit.” No, it’s all at once. You can call it second blessing, but it’s really a rediscovery of the first blessing; when you received Christ, you received every blessing, all that pertains to life and Godliness. Don’t get hung up on terms, and don’t argue with those who have a different way of saying it. If they have the real experience, embrace that.
Back to the story. When Jesus said, “Unbind him and let him go,” I want to sort of read in between the lines; this is what He didn’t say. Here is what Jesus did not say, “Do we have any ordained people here, because we need to release this man from his grave clothes?” He didn’t say that. He didn’t say, “Is there anybody here that knows Greek and knows Hebrew and knows Aramaic?” He never said that. “Is there anybody here who has been to seminary or been to Bible school or has a degree of some kind in religion? We need that person.” He doesn’t say that. He invited the people that were there, His body, His church, to take part, “Loose him and let him go.”
Because this was family, I don’t know if it was Mary and Martha that did it, or who started it, but it’s very interesting, how sympathetic would you be if that were you and one of your family members, and He said to you, “Unbind him and let him go.”? Where would you begin? Would you begin with the head, unbinding him? What would it be like when you first saw his eyes flash with life? What an amazing thing! I imagine there were those who did it, did it with tears and joy and rejoicing, “He’s alive,” and then they unbound him some more, and he could hear, and then he could speak. This is so amazing! What a privilege they had to unbind somebody in the family. First they could see, and then they could speak, and then they could hug and embrace, and I’m sure all of that took place.
Let me ask this, would your emotions be the same if you were unwrapping a stranger? It’s one thing to unwrap a family member, but if you’re unwrapping a stranger? Let me remind you that in the context Lazarus was a Christian. He doesn’t tell you to unwrap strangers; He tells you to unwrap the family, brothers and sisters in Christ, who are in bondage, it’s all the family of God. This is the privilege that God has given us to announce good news. Don’t give up on anybody; never say it’s hopeless. Don’t say that they’re too far gone. It’s not; we need to announce the good news, roll the stone away and say, “I know your situation stinks, but Jesus can do something, and He wants to do it, and then when you come out in your grave clothes, let me help you. Let me help you see, let me help you think, let me help you speak, so you can praise the Lord. Let me help you untie your hands, so you can serve the Lord. Let me help you untie your feet so you can follow in the path of the Lord. This was the privilege that He gave them that day, and what a privilege it was for them.
I want to close with an Old Testament illustration. I’m suggesting that those who unwrapped Lazarus that day did it in love, sympathy, patience, and I can’t imagine anybody, unless there was a child there, who would see a loose end of his wrapping and want to spin him like a top. I don’t think that happened. I think it was careful and gentle and loving and compassionate.
I want to give an illustration of somebody who needed to be delivered in the Old Testament. He’s a believer, and his name is Jeremiah. Here’s the situation; Jeremiah 38:6, “Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.” I don’t know if you can get more graphic than that; he’s thrown into a pit and it’s like quicksand and he’s up to his chin in mud. The story that follows is so instructive, and it blesses me now that my grandchildren call me an old man. A man named Ebed-Melech had concern for his brother; his brother is in the mud up to his chin. Here is what the king told Ebed-Melech, he went to the king to ask what he could do as our brother needs to be set free. Jeremiah 38:10, “The king commanded Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.’” It’s not just the privilege of me or you; we need each other. I need you to help me get unwrapped and you need me to help you get unwrapped; we need each other, but now it’s thirty; get the whole body involved in this. How are you going to get him free? How would you deliver a man up to his chin in mud? How are you going to get him out of the pit?
Here is what Ebed-Melech did, Jeremiah 38:11, “Ebed-Melech took the men under his authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. Then Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian, said to Jeremiah, ‘Now put those worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes,’ and Jeremiah did so. So, they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern.” Those old worn-out rags, those old warn-out clothes tell a story. I think some Christians see others in bondage, and especially younger Christians, and they’re quick to judge, and they’re quick to be critical, and they just say, “What in the world are you doing running around with that group? Why do you read that stuff? Why do you go to those places? How can you say that, if you are supposed to be a Christian?” We get a little bit frustrated with those who are hopping around in their grave clothes. We tell them to come around and start being good Christians, and live a Christian life.
I love the expression “old worn-out rags”. Again, I’m getting old, and sometimes, you feel like your ministry is gone. I used to travel all over the place to have ministry in many different places and conferences, and all, but now you just sometimes feel like an old rag, an old garment that is cast aside with no ministry. Yes, you do; old people have a ministry to help the younger people out of the pit, and in such a way that they don’t pull their arms out of their sockets, that they don’t hurt them. We’ve been there and we’ve experienced it, and we’ve been in the pit, and we know how to be gentle, and we know how to be loving, and we know how to be patient, and we know how to be kind. God doesn’t give up on anybody, and no matter how old anybody gets, God will use them. One of the great ministries of elders, of older Christians, is counseling and helping those who are still in bondage and to bring them up gently without damaging them, and without hurting them.
I’ll close here. Only Jesus can raise the dead, but He’s given us a privilege to roll away the stone and announce good news. I don’t care how it stinks back there; pronounce good news that the Lord can do something with that, and then gently, carefully unbind them so that they can start to think the thoughts of God. Uncover their eyes, that they can see spiritual reality, release their tongues, so that they can praise the Lord. Unbind their hands so they can serve the Lord. Unbind their feet, so they can follow the Lord, and do it in such a way, with love, compassion, mercy, grace, that you don’t injure. They’re already vulnerable because they are in their grave clothes. We need to have mercy on those He has saved and who have not entered the exchanged life.
Father, thank You for Your word. Thank You, Lord, for how gracious You are to us to give us this privilege to have a ministry in union with You to help people be set free. Grace us, we pray as we come in contact with those who need to be set free. In Jesus’ name. Amen.