The book
of Hebrews depicts Christ “Our Intercessor and Mediator.”
I’m using
one verse of scripture with sixteen words.
(KJV)
Text: Hebrews 10:37: For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
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When you’re really desperate for an answer from God, it can be tempting to start thinking the Lord will not respond in time. Someone once said a humorous line about the timing of God. They said, “God is never late, but He sure is last-minute!” Sometimes it feels like the Lord is going to
miss the window of time for a much needed miracle. I am sure there were many
people in the Old Testament who wondered why it was taking so long for the
promised Messiah to appear. After
all, couldn’t God see all the problems occurring? Without a doubt, many were
convinced that the time for the Messiah had to be now! Yet it
was to be years before His appearance. They
probably were like many of us and thought God had not come through in time. But how
many know He was there all the time!!! Exodus 13 and 14: He was a pillar of a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night to give light unto the Israelites. Numbers 20: He was the rock that Moses smote that gave them water abundantly. Daniel
3:
Nebuchadnezzar the king rose up in haste with astonishment and said Lo, I see
four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and
the form of the fourth is like “the Son of God.’’ What we
need to know about the timing of God is that God is eternal and sees
everything from that perspective. He knows that the events of today are never
the final answer. God is
not about making you suffer, but realize that the miracle answer will not be
late. If you
trust that today, your confidence will agree with His perfect timing, and
you’ll realize that things really are well with you. The
bottom line is that He will come, and His answer will never be late! Right on Time – Over
2000 years God spoke to Abraham (Genesis
17:19) “Sarah … shall bear thee a son;
indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him.” In a
matter of time, it was manifested. Galatians 4:4: But when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the
law..." (1 Timothy 2:6) "Who
gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." And
according to Paul in (Titus 1:2-3). Vs 2: In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before
the world began; Vs 3: But hath in due times manifested his word
through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of
God our Savior. "For then must he often have
suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrew 9:26). God’s
timing is Not accidental. Paul
makes it very clear that God had an appointed time for this event. God was
not premature in revealing Himself in the flesh to man some 2000 years
ago! He was Right on time! St. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Vs 14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and
truth. There
are no accidents with God, nothing just happens, but everything is according
to His time table. Come
here Lazarus!!!! John 11:1-7, 11-15, 39-40. 1 Now a certain man named Lazarus was
sick. He was
from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now
lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet
with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus,
“Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness is not unto death. No,
it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister
and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was sick,
he stayed where he was two more days, 7 And then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 11
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake
him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”
13 Jesus had been speaking of his death,
but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14-15 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not
there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 39
“Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister
of the dead man, “by this time he’s
stinking: for he has been dead four days.” 40
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you
that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Lazarus’
name means:(whom God helps, succor of God, aid or assistance of God; to
(surround) that is protect or aid: grace of God; not of help; without succor;
helpless). Lazarus
refers to the part of the consciousness that is helped by the good, though apparently utterly neglected by the
man himself. Meaning,
the part of the consciousness that is helped
by the power of God, though utterly neglected by the man himself, or utterly
incapable of helping itself as itself, but must receive its help from something higher than
itself, representing God.” In the
parable (Luke 16:19-31) Jesus
describes the state of consciousness of one who passes through the change
called death. When one
understands the disintegration/decay that death produces in man, this parable
is perceived to be rich in description of that process and of the new
relation of the segregated parts of the complete man. The
raising of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, signifies the restoring
to consciousness of the idea of youth, which is asleep in the sub-consciousness,
or tomb of the body. People grow old because they let the youth idea fall asleep. This idea is
not dead, but is sleeping, and the understanding I AM (Jesus) goes to awaken it. Now when
that word youth is used, please
don’t be misled. Most people are naturally going to signify or suggest
turning back the clock when you use that word, and taking on the body of a
young person again, in terms of time.
Whereas the meaning of youth
I’m referring to was not turn back the clock to the early days, but ever-renewing. That is the real meaning, not going back to
the age of sixteen, but the ever
renewing process of life expression in the body. There is
no age; age and time span have nothing to do with it. A body can take on
characteristics of age and yet ever within
itself be undergoing renewal. This is
to be permanent, eternal: and the
idea of this is the symbol of Lazarus. "I am the resurrection and the
life".
The silent unity affirmation is "I
am the ever-renewing, ever-unfolding expression of infinite life." Bringing
this sleeping life to outer consciousness is no easy task. Because Jesus
himself groaned in spirit and was
troubled at the prospect. The
higher must enter into sympathy and love with the lower to bring about the
awakening…that’s why “Jesus wept.” But
there must be more than sympathy and love----- “Take you away the stone.” The “stone” that holds the sleeping life
in the tomb of matter in sub-consciousness is the belief in the permanency of
present material laws. This “stone”
must be rolled away through faith. The man
who wants the inner life to spring
forth must believe in the reality of spiritual
powers and must exercise his most high faith by invoking in prayer the
presence of the invisible but Omnipresent God (present everywhere at the same
time). This
reveals to consciousness the glory of Spirit, and the soul has witness in
itself of a power that it knew not. Whew!!!! God is a Spirit and they that worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) Look
people this raising of Lazarus is performed every day by those who are
putting on the new Christ body. The
flesh must die in order for the spirit to be lifted up. If you trust and
allow the spirit to lead, He will guide those who trust Him, and lead them in
righteous ways if they listen patiently to the inner guide. We’re still Talking about an On Time
God!!! How many
people do you know or maybe even yourself always believes in being punctual?
Being late is a bad thing for me. Like the old cliché, “Better an hour early
than 5 minutes late.” Even trains
and planes leave at appointed times. Connecting flights are dependent on the
earlier flights being on time. Delays
or cancellations cause big problems for people. But, by
far the most punctual person in the universe is God! He set
up the galaxies and our solar system like giant time pieces, running with
precision. The time of the sunrise – a thousand years from now – can be
calculated to a millisecond! How strange and contradictory it is then, to
find God being late! God – all-knowing and all powerful – how can He not be
on time? Yet, it’s true! He was
twenty five years late getting Abraham a son; fifteen years late fulfilling
Joseph’s dreams; seventeen years late making David to become king; Samuel was
late to make sacrifice for Saul, and a good number of other instances! And here
we find God being so late to heal a man, that He even missed his funeral by
four days! Yet we’ll find out, God may
be “four days late, but He’s right on time!” Getting back to Lazarus… A. THE
SITUATION OF LAZARUS 1. You
remember the two sisters from Luke 10, where Martha slaved over a meal and
Mary just wanted to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His words. Mary was also
the one who anointed Jesus for His burial (John 12:3). 2. Their
brother Lazarus’ name means “assistance of God”, pointing to the fact that,
no matter what our circumstance, we all need God’s help! 3. They
lived in the town of Bethany which means, “the house of unripe figs or the
house of misery.” 4.
Everywhere we turn in this life there’s sickness, pain, death, depression,
discouragement and constant trouble. Job said, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble."(Job 14:1). 5. WE
ALL HAVE OUR BETHANY! No one is immune to the attacks of Satan or the
troubles and trials of life. B. BASIS
OF THE SISTER’S REQUEST 1. The
message they sent was very short, not even a petition. They didn’t dare to
direct the Lord in what to do. It barely related the situation, but contained
the tender insinuation, the unspoken plea for Jesus’ assistance. 2. “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” a. They
did not say, “He whom we love, but he whom You love.” Our greatest
encouragements in prayer are derived from God’s character and the motivation
of His grace. b. They
did not say, “Lord, behold, he who loves You, but he whom You love.” “Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us.” But His love to us can
never be enough spoken of and it’s more than our love to Him. II. Now let’s see how: JESUS’
RESPONSE TO THE PLEA A. JESUS COULD EASILY HAVE HELPED
LAZARUS 1. Jesus
has power to alter the forces of nature: to calm the winds and the waves;
power to suspend the movement of the universe in answer to the prayer of one
man. Jesus did miracles with many elements -- He made arms grow out, made
bread and fish multiply, transformed water into wine. 2. Sometimes
He didn't have to be present to work a miracle. He told the Centurion, "Go your way your servant will be
made whole." Another long-distance healing was the Syro-Phoenician
woman's daughter (Mark 7:25-30). No
circumstances could stop Him. No limits of time could be a factor. Nothing
limited Him. He had the power to heal sight, restore hearing to deaf ears,
speech to the mute; freedom to the demon possessed, healing to the lepers,
and He’s moved with compassion – “touched with the feelings of our
infirmities.” 4. Why
then does He wait until a man, whom He clearly loves, is dead, before setting
out to help him? Even the disciples knew there was a special bond between
Lazarus and Jesus; "He whom You love is sick." B. THE CALL 1.
“Jesus Wept.” Why did Jesus weep? He knew that in a few minutes He was going
to raise Lazarus from the dead, yet He still wept, because He felt the hurt
of Mary & Martha so deeply and grieved for their hurt. He is touched with
feelings of our infirmities! But most of all because even those who were
closest to Him failed to recognize that He was, as He declared in verse 26, “The resurrection and the life” and was
in their presence. Hallelujah!!! 2.
Imagine that you or I call our best friend on situations and you needed them
right then, and our friend responds,
"Well, I'm busy.” Or “It's Sunday, I'm in church, I'll try to
make it by Friday.” “Do you think you can hang on that
long?" I know
“A MAN, A FRIEND that’s never too busy to answer a call!!! His line is never
busy!!! EMERGENCY
PHONE NUMBERS C. Jesus’ response to the plea: IT WAS A SIGN OF GREATER LOVE 1. You would
think, “When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, He would have stopped what He
was doing and immediately went to him.” You’d think that if He loved them, He
would “burn the road up to get to him/Lazarus.” 2. But
He showed His love the opposite way. Because He loved them, He determined to
do something great and extraordinary for them, to perform a miracle greater
than He’d done for anyone else. So, He waited so that Lazarus might be dead
and buried before He came. 3. If
Christ had come immediately, and healed the sickness of Lazarus, that would
not have been a superior act of love than He’d demonstrated for thousands of
others. 4. If
He’d raised him back to life right after he’d died, that would not have been
a superior act of love than He’d demonstrated for the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11), or Jairus’ daughter (Matthew 9:18). 5. But by delaying to answer their prayer and letting the situation become so hopeless and impossible, He showed more love for them than anyone else! Look,
God’s greatest intentions may be signaled by His longest delays! 6. Christ’s friends at Bethany and their distress were not out of His thoughts, though He didn’t hurry to them. By His omniscience (infinite knowledge), He was present in spirit, when Lazarus at last died and when the sisters carried their brother to the grave. Then Jesus said, “Let us go into Judea.” Meaning “the praise of Jehovah.” This is a key to the mental attitude in which the Christ consciousness will be opened to us—while we are praising the Lord. In John 4:47, the great I AM (Jesus) dwelling in “praise of Jehovah” (Judea), identifies man with Christ
thoughts and leads to greater expression of divine power. 7.
Listen to Ezekiel 37:11,
13; “They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’….Then
you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and
bring you up from them.” People of
God that’s what He’s doing in your Lazarus situations. D. Jesus responds to the plea: IT WAS FOR
THE DISCIPLES TOO. 1. John
11:15, Jesus says, “For your sakes I am
glad I was not there, so that you may believe.” If Jesus had immediately
gone there, He would have healed Lazarus’ disease and prevented his death. 2. But then His disciples would have seen no further proof of His power and their faith would not have been enlarged. Contrary to natural thinking, God’s delays are often a tremendous blessing. Many people believed on Jesus because of this miracle. III. PURPOSES OF GOD’S DELAYS God may
be delaying because delaying is GOOD FOR US. He may
be testing our faith or developing perseverance in us. It may
actually be dangerous to give us something at this moment. Another
idea is that God is setting up an impossible situation, in order that He may
perform a miracle, or a bigger miracle. Sometimes
Jesus waits until your situation really stinks! When it stinks, God will get
complete Glory! That’s when you come to the end of yourself! You
don't get resurrected while you're alive! You get resurrected when you're
dead! It's not
until we've died out to ourselves, all our efforts, have given up, resigned
ourselves to the defeat of our efforts, had a stone placed over our tomb,
that a change can come. “For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh” 2 Corinthians 4:11. The principle is
LIFE OUT OF DEATH. God wants
us to grow to handle any situation that arises in our lives. If He
didn’t take us through situations to make us stronger; we would collapse
under the weight or pressure life throws at us. Over time God strengthens and prepares us
like and oak tree so it can handle the weight of what it can bear in
maturity. We might
want everything now, but God knows we can’t bear it, so He only gives enough
according to our faith until we grow spiritually stronger. God
wants us grounded and rooted; “the deeper the foundation, the taller the
structure can go.” The depth of our spiritual foundation determines how high
we can rise. God
must dig us down before He can raise us up. Many
believed that life in the center of God’s will, will be easy, and if it’s not
easy then we’re out of His will. This
isn’t necessarily true. Many biblical heroes experienced betrayal, hardship,
loss and disappointment while being in the center of God’s will. Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life, he that believes in Me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:45). That's present tense. So, people of God; BE PATIENT! “Don’t
throw in the towel and do not throw away your confidence, because it will be
richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of
God, you will receive what He has promised.” Heb. 10:35-36. 35 Cast not away therefore your confidence,
which hath great recompense of reward. 36 For you have need of patience, that, after
you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. Never
close the book of your life when GOD HAS NOT FINISHED writing your story.
Never hang up when GOD IS STILL ON THE LINE with you. Hang in there. GOD IS
STILL WORKING IN YOUR LIFE. God
wants us to know, that even if we don’t see Him, He’s there and He will be right
on time! God will be there to catch you if you fall! |
CLAP YOUR HANDS AND GIVE GOD THE HIGHEST
PRAISE!!!!!
Assistant
Pastor, Jackie Burton